Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
It was often hard for people to face their true selves. Rather, it was safe to say that people eventually lost themselves as time went by and as stories developed.
Qin Fen always thought that his path was clear, but until he faced the seven generals, he had never known how unclear he was.
People with unparalleled power were prone to losing themselves. People who were lost wouldn’t know whether they were believing in their powers or in themselves.
“What’s the big deal with powers? In a fair environment, where no one has true energy, I’ll still become the top master in this era!”
The vast true energy was like the Three Gorges Dam with an open floodgate; it flowed and filled up every meridian in his body. This time, Qin Fen felt the flow of power more clearly than ever before, but he did not feel the same joy as when he gained power in the past.
The test this time was not just a test of his martial art techniques. Qin Fen used to take the initiative to give up the power and traveled following an ascetic life. However, the power within him could be used anytime he wanted after all. Even if he purposely forgot about it, the power was still there, ready to use.
The war horse that he was riding on disappeared. The army next to him and the huge castle opposite him disappeared too. Qin Fen found himself standing in a huge ancient amphitheater, surrounded by thrilled spectators in the seating zones. All of them were blondes and he couldn’t find even a single Asian.
The Colosseum! Qin Fen quickly recognized his position and heard the cold-as-ever emotionless voice of the figure of light, “Survive or die.”
“It’s meaningless.” Qin Fen looked at the lion that had slowly walked out. He looked at the worn knife in his hand and walked up nonchalantly.
The metal ball couldn’t seal away his true energy at all. The lion was as fragile as a worm in front of him. However, it was not the thing that was supposed to be killed. Rather, it should be those noblemen on the spectator seats who were toying with the gladiators’ lives.
His knife aura cut through the sky, chopping off the head of a nobleman who used to be the one making the life and death decision.
“Perfect.” The figure of light appeared faster than it had ever before, “You found the real enemy.”
The light and shadow surrounding him flickered, and the light dimmed again. The borderless space of darkness had once again become the master of this spiritual space.
This time, the figure of his master replaced the figure of light, “We have waited a long time for you to achieve who you are today. We can finally fight with you without having to suppress our power. We hope that you’ll surprise us even further from today onwards…”
His words were still echoing in the borderless space when the master sped to the front of Qin Fen with a style of Dragon stance. He stretched out his left arm while pulling back the right arm to execute the Swimming Dragon style, turning into a war dragon and aimed straight for Qin Fen’s jaw.
Qin Fen had long been accustomed to his masters’ styles, where they would start attacking whenever they liked. He stepped forward into a half bow stance and executed the Banlan Hammer style which could block and attack at the same time.
The borderless space of darkness was filled with sounds of explosions. The master once again had a joyful expression. Although Qin Fen had caught up with the master in terms of power, the master was still taking the lead in every single move and style.
After three exchanges, the master’s figure suddenly disappeared; Military Kill Ripper replaced the master with attacks full of murderous aura. He executed a style of Crocodile’s Bite and had his strong hands aim for Qin Fen’s neck.
The real experts seldom had fierce battles that could last three days and three nights when they fought with each other; the situation of life and death often happened within a split second. Qin Fen was already defeated by the master within three moves. Military Kill Ripper couldn’t wait any longer and switched positions with the master.
He lost and lost again! Within just seven moves of the two masters, Qin Fen was defeated twice in a row. They didn’t need to carry on until the final step of the battles as those who were in the battle knew what would happen next.
The moment Military Kill Ripper disappeared, a huge Chrysanthemum Fist suddenly blossomed in the borderless darkness. Qin Fen fought against the Vile King with his Firm and Fierce styles. His left hand executed the Eighteen Dragons Gathering Clouds style while his right hand executed Caesar’s Annihilation of an Entire Clan!
The battle couldn’t be stopped once it started. After the seven masters took turns to fight against Qin Fen, Zong Juelu did not hide as usual. As the strongest among the eight masters, his unparalleled martial dao exerted a notable aura that would never give in to anything!
Battle, battle, battle, fight, fight, fight! Qin Fen was fighting against the eight masters in the spiritual space without feeling any exhaustion. He had completely lost track of the rapid flow of time inside this spiritual space.
One whole month! Qin Fen and the eight masters had been fighting for a month! He grew a lot from the continuous losses at the very beginning. He grew until he was able to have a real match with them; he was going through an unprecedented change.
Zong Juelu stopped. Qin Fen suddenly lost his target and regained his consciousness from the battle. His mental state this month shifted from the initial fully concentrated state to fighting instinctively, back to concentrated again, and he ended up in a situation where he himself was not quite sure what was happening.
After a sudden pause, Qin Fen felt the whole world differently. Even though it was this same borderless darkness, it felt completely different for him.
Zong Juelu’s figure slowly disappeared in front of Qin Fen, who was still dumbfounded. The master’s figure once again appeared in front of Qin Fen.
Silence. There was silence in this borderless spiritual space. Qin Fen recalled everything he had gone through in this spiritual space within these two months, contemplating.
He did nothing for ten whole days. Just contemplating. Qin Fen stood there like a wax figure, standing for ten days without moving.
The master looked at Qin Fen who was slowly relaxing his frown. He said calmly, “Do you still remember the star force empowerment?”
Qin Fen recollected himself and looked at the master with his clear eyes, “How could I forget?”
“Would you like to know what a star force empowerment is?” The master waved his hand and called out a projection screen, he proceeded without waiting for Qin Fen’s answer, “Can you see it? These are the scenes when experts are entering the realm of The Unity of Man and Nature.”
“The star force empowerment is the Unity of Man and Nature?” Qin Fen suddenly felt as if he had understood something.
“They’re close, but they’re also different.” The master said quietly, “The Unity of Man and Nature, it should be the only way for martial artists to reach the summit.”
How strong is the Unity of Man and Nature? Qin Fen knew very well. Within a short period of just one second, the aura of heaven and earth felt as if it was being absorbed in large quantities. It was a wonderful journey that cannot be described in words. The only drawback was that the time was too short; it barely lasted two seconds.
What if the Unity of Man and Nature could last for a minute? Qin Fen suspected that if it could, he would go and challenge a divine beast directly. It was an ethereal experience that could only be encountered if it was one’s destined fate; it was an extremely rare encounter.
Perhaps, if he were to have the fierce battles in reality for one whole month instead of having it in the spiritual space, Qin Fen thought that he could have the chance to experience the wonderful Unity of Man and Nature.
Unfortunately, the Unity of Man and Nature couldn’t be experienced in this wonderful spiritual space.
“I’m a researcher in martial dao.” The master’s face once again showed the pride as a researcher, “I take the Unity of Man and Nature as the ultimate code of martial dao. However, there seems to be no answer to this code at all. I’ve tried everything I could but have failed to resolve it. If he was still here, there’d be a better chance if both of us did the research together.”
Qin Fen did not interject. Everyone had their own past, and a top expert like the master must have had an exciting past. The person he mentioned must’ve been a top genius too.
“I’m frustrated that I couldn’t crack the ultimate code of martial dao.” The master was clicking his tongue, “So I try to copy it to create a situation similar to it. To put it in an old saying, I want to create a counterfeit version of the Unity of Man and Nature.”
A counterfeit version? Those counterfeit products with lower quality than the authentic licensed goods, but still had all the abilities and functions of the authentic high quality good? A counterfeit Unity of Man and Nature? Qin Fen could only show his admiration towards the master but he didn’t actually know what to say.
“It can be said that I have succeeded, but I’ve failed too.” The master waved and removed the projection in the air, “I did come up with a counterfeit version of the Unity of Man and Nature. However, it has too many drawbacks; the worst one being that everyone can only achieve the counterfeit Unity of Man and Nature once in their lifetime.”
“One time?” Qin Fen smiled, “Not too bad of a deal.”
“It’s indeed not too bad.” The master regained some pride, “In my research, I was hoping to create a counterfeit Unity of Man and Nature that is achievable even for a baby. However, I have only managed to do it for someone who has achieved the Reborn of Blood Transfusion Real Inborn. Those people will be able to achieve the star force empowerment.”
“I know you’ll definitely ask, since the Reborn of Blood Transfusion Real Inborn is the only requirement to be met, why didn’t I make you undergo the star force empowerment earlier, right?” The master’s faint smile reminded him of a savvy hunter, “Actually, it’s very simple. It’s because of another drawback of the star force empowerment. The degree and effectiveness of empowerment will be depending on the martial dao foundation of the person who received it. That is to say, you’ll undergo an empowerment of a greater power if you do it now compared to when you did it with your ten-star strength back then.”
“Of course, my version of the star force empowerment has its own advantages!” The master was trying to show off his pride, “When comparing to the Unity of Man and Nature that can only last for a second or less, my star force empowerment has an extremely long time span!”
Qin Fen completely agreed with his points. When comparing themselves to the experts of the older generation, they lacked an accumulation of time. If only they could have another ten years for this…
“Right, there is another advantage.” The master was becoming more and more prideful, “Others might not value such an advantage as much as you will. I think for you, the side effects that were created during the process of researching will make you very happy when the time comes.”
Qin Fen was more curious. What is it that can make the master’s face look even more proud?
“It has a chain effect!” The master had put up a mysterious smile on his proud face, “That is, if you have other experts next to you who are holding hands with you, when you are experiencing the star force empowerment, you can carry them together to experience the situation of the star force empowerment…”
“This…”
Qin Fen finally knew why the master said that he would be very happy to hear it. Yeah! I like this side effect very much! At this point in time, he no longer needed to keep the secret of having the metal ball from everyone around.
He wouldn’t have to keep the secret from his friends who had toed the line of life and death many times with him. At least, when he was facing two choices of whether to keep the secret or to help his friends, he shouldn’t go for the first choice.
If the master was the only one in the world who was able to perform the star force empowerment, then everyone would only have one chance in their lifetime. Qin Fen didn’t want to be selfish and enjoy it all by himself.
