Book 10: Chapter 24 – Secret Skill
“Is your body that much stronger than Ku Meng’s?” Xue Ying stared at Lord You Lan. “I can kill him with a single spear, and I can do the same to you!”
“General Ku Meng’s demonic body might be powerful, but how can it compare to mine? Hmph.” Lord You Lan had just finished half of his sentence when he suddenly shot out both his palms without warning. His arms starting elongating explosively, and within the blink of an eye, those two black arms had reached Xue Ying. This pair of enormous palms was covered with gold seals, and some circles of gold seals were also amassed on his fingers.
That pair of enormous palms directly slapped against the body of Xue Ying.
Hua.
Xue Ying’s body dissipated, leaving behind only a destroyed illusion.
Hong hong!
Even though those enormous palms had suddenly stopped, the airflow they had generated produced two rays that rushed forward, gouging two large scars on the ground.
“Another illusion!” Lord You Lan frowned. His black and sinister countenance was filled with indignation. He remained vigilant of his surroundings. Meanwhile, time began flowing slower and slower in the domain around him. “东伯雪鹰的枪法威力很恐怖，库蒙将军的身体都是一击而灭。我这次来之前，虽然得到大魔神帮助，完善了我的魔体，是比库蒙要强些。可若是硬抗那样恐怖的一击，就算不死，怕也得受伤。”尤兰领主暗道，他的魔体是强，可也没把握去硬抗那可怕的枪法。
The power of Dong Bo Xue Ying’s spear techniques is terrifying. Even General Ku Meng’s formidable body was still killed in a single hit. I’ve attained the help of the Great Demonic God and perfected my demonic body prior to coming here. My body is now stronger than that of Ku Meng, but if I face such a terrifying attack, I’ll most likely be injured even if I don’t die, Lord You Lan thought. His demonic body was strong, but he would not be able to withstand that terrifying spear technique.
Thus, he had to guard against him!
I must guard myself against him!
I must! I must defend. Lord You Lan was on full alert. He extended his senses to cover everything around him. He did not even dare to let his spirit relax, as he had to react as quickly as possible to any incoming attacks!
That was because Xue Ying’s spear would be coming from the Mirage at an extreme speed.
If he was careless for even a moment, the spear would most likely strike his body.
Just like Nuo Nuo An! Just like General Ku Meng!
Even though Lord You Lan had helped them, Nuo Nuo An and General Ku Meng still ended up being pierced by the spear. Xue Ying’s spear was too fast, and the distance between where it came out from the Mirage and the target was really short. Of course, even though it was really short, it still couldn’t directly come out from within the body of the enemy. Even though the Mirage could reflect reality, Xue Ying would not be able to discern the enemy’s face if they wore a mask—only the outermost appearance was reflected!
Xue Ying could only enter ordinary regions when leaving the Mirage and entering reality.
For instance, a Transcendent was able to fly in the sky, swim in the sea, or tunnel through the ground. Similarly, his weapon was able to transition from the Mirage directly into the sky, underground, or the sea.
But if he wanted to kill someone, the weapon would have to pierce through the body of the enemy. Thus, coming out from the Mirage…would similarly require the weapon to pierce into the body of the enemy.
The Extreme Piercing was a grade two True Meaning—an extremely offensive True Meaning at that. It also had to pierce into the enemy’s body. During this process of piercing, the enemy would be able to sense it and defend against it!
The speed of the spear is fast, and the distance it must travel is short. Nuo Nuo An and Ku Meng were both hit by the spear. I must defend myself against it. Lord You Lan prepared himself to face his adversary.
Right here!
Lord You Lan’s eyes glowed with golden rays. He suddenly turned around, as he could sense a terrifying force emerging from the Mirage.
Hong!
A spear, one akin to a moving fire cloud, emerged from the Mirage, appearing behind Lord You Lan.
But as soon as the spear materialized, Lord You Lan turned around and started retreating, simultaneously slapping his palms out!
This single spear…
It had a terrifying undulation just like the Laws of Profound Mysteries. It was just like an enormous star. This star suddenly expanded and released dazzling lights that began caving in, accumulating into a single point just like the start of all and the end of everything. Under the powerful binding of the True Meaning of Time Deceleration, its speed was halved, yet its power and profundity remained the same as before!
“Mn?” Countless gold seals appeared on Lord You Lan’s palm. Once this palm struck out, his expression suddenly changed. He could sense that this spear…was just like a terrifying maelstrom!
It had an extremely frightening attractive force!
Just as his palm technique changed accordingly…
Chi! The spear lunged out at an extremely fast speed. At the same time, the maelstrom’s attractive force suddenly converted into a repulsive force. It was hard for one to even get near the spear. That abrupt transformation from attraction to repulsion caused his palm techniques to fluctuate. One had to know that such an instantaneous transformation of force at such a close distance was life-threatening.
Crack! Lord You Lan’s five fingers suddenly swelled up rapidly, and amidst this danger, two of his fingers directly parried the spearhead.
The spearhead pierced through his fingertips.
Lord You Lan immediately flicked a finger, causing a dim, golden light to form on his fingertip. Space itself was directly shattered apart when his finger clashed with the spearhead. The moment the finger was flicked, a strength lesser than General Ku Meng’s, when he released all of his power yet of greater offensive threat was released. That was a result of his Laws of Profound Mysteries being more profound. The extent of the force’s reduction as it entered the Mirage was also smaller.
Xiu.
The spearhead withdrew before disappearing into nothingness.
Almost! I did not think that his spear could undergo such a terrifying gravitational change. This inversion of gravitational force is comparable to a peak stage three realm True Meaning of Gravity! Lingering fear struck Lord You Lan.
“Was that really…” The Meishan Clan Master and the other golden-robed male, Jian Huang, felt an inexplicably grand wave surge through their hearts.
The spear appeared time after time from nothingness.
Lord You Lan’s heart was as calm as still water. He concentrated fully on sensing his surroundings. Every time he felt a ripple in the surroundings, he would immediately put forth his strength into defense. Now that he knew of the inverse gravitational changes, he was able to defend himself from every single incoming attack. He could even try his best in counterattacking.
It was clear, however, that after his attack was weakened by the spear and traversed through the Mirage, the threat it imposed on Xue Ying was significantly smaller. At most, he would cause Xue Ying’s palm to feel numb.
“Third Brother, have you seen through it?” The black-robed male and white-robed young woman looked towards the Meishan Clan Master.
The Meishan Clan Master lightly nodded as he continued observing the fierce fight in the distance. Lord You Lan was currently having an intense fight with a spear that pierced out from nothingness.
“I’ve seen through it.” Meishan Clan Master’s heart was shaking, and his eyes were filled with a complex emotion.
“Big Brother Wu Huang, what is the reason?” the white-robed young woman asked.
“Secret skill!” Meishan Clan Master transmitted over.
“Ah!” The black-robed male and white-robed young woman were extremely stunned.
They were all members of the Temporal Temple, so they clearly understood what ‘secret skill’ meant. This was quite similar to ‘secret technique.’
“Secret skill?” the gold-robed teenager, Jian Huang, quietly mumbled to himself. “This is crazy. Someone who cultivated for less than two hundred years in the mortal world and currently tortured by the hex poison can actually craft his own secret skill? And it is a secret skill that fuses two different True Meanings with it?”
Even though Wu Ma Hai and Chen Jiu did not see through it at the beginning, as Xue Ying fought time after time with Lord You Lan, the two of them were able to discern the truth.
“Secret skill!”
Wu Ma Hai and Chen Jiu were certain of it.
But this conclusion led the two to internally feel upset.
Was it due to envy?
What was a secret skill?
In simple words—a secret skill was also a secret combat technique!
Secret technique…
This meant unique ways of applying the Laws of Profound Mysteries!
Under normal circumstances, the Laws of Profound Mysteries was extremely crude and direct when used in battle. For example, the secret technique which Xue Ying had learnt previously, 《Magic Dragon Force》, imprinted countless Magic Dragon Divine Seals into one’s body, allowing one’s fleshy body to become stronger.
The Magic Dragon Divine Seals, by nature, were filled with the Profound Mysteries of the World. They seemed ordinary yet were transformed into complex Divine Seals! Imprinting them would produce miraculous effects!
This was a type of usage.
A unique usage!
The Xia Clan had many secret techniques, like Qi-related secret techniques and physical body-related secret techniques! These were learnable techniques. Because they were in the shape of 《Divine Seals》 and unchanging after materialization, one could use them as long as they learned them, cultivated their body, or improved how efficiently they used Qi itself.
But—
A combat secret technique was different!
Combat also represented change! A secret combat technique that was used during battle was unlike the Divine Seals, which were immutable. Instead, a combat secret technique was a type of secret technique that changed accordingly and were thus formed from a huge amount of Profound Mysteries fused in a complex manner. Since they did not consist of unchanging Divine Seals, it was almost impossible for one to learn them from books!
For a long time, everyone has agreed—a combat secret technique had to be crafted by oneself!
Even the many powerful existences in the Deity world could not impart these techniques to their disciples.
Thus, secret techniques were classified into two categories.
First, there were those that could be taught; in other words, the more orthodox ones. The Xia Clan could learn them; the Deity world could learn them. These were classified under the first category. Most secret techniques fell under this category!
As for the other category, it would be techniques crafted by the user himself. These were the secret combat techniques! For the sake of drawing a distinction, they were also called secret skills.
Secret skills…
Under the same Laws of Profound Mysteries, utilizing a special skill would cause one’s power to explosively increase!
“According to the legend spoken within the Temporal Temple…” The Meishan Clan Master looked out into the distance. “Amongst ten thousand Transcendents who grasped hold of grade two True Meanings, there would only be one who could craft his own secret skill!”
There were very few Transcendents who had grade two True Meanings, and before Xue Ying’s birth era, the Xia Clan history had more than ten thousand Transcendents with grade three True Meanings. However, only one had grasped hold of a grade two True Meaning.
But if one was to look beyond the material world…in the countless billions of mortal worlds, the Deity World, and the Dark Abyss, then after a cumulative addition across the eras, there would be a huge amount of Transcendents who had grasped hold of grade two True Meanings! Grade two True Meanings were only legends in the mortal worlds! It was the grade one True Meanings…that were legends in the Deity World and Dark Abyss!
“Transcendents with a grade one True Meaning are legends amongst the legends even across the billions of mortal worlds, the Deity World, and the Dark Abyss! Finding one of them is even harder than finding a genius who can craft his own secret skill. Even though they are rare, I’ve seen such a person once while I served the Temporal Temple.” The Meishan Clan Master sighed. “And I’m considered quite lucky. Yet when comparing myself to Transcendents who can craft their own secret skills, I’m still lacking quite a bit.”
Meanwhile, Chen Jiu shook his head. “Self-crafted secret skill! If he can reach the stage three realm in his True Meanings, with his secret skill, he should be able to kill a Deity. Such existences would most likely not be sent adventuring in the Crimson Rock Mountain, and even if they were, the price demanded by the Temporal Temple would be so high that it would seem exaggerated!”
