Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Thirty-Six Hours!? Qin Fen smiled as he thought to himself, Who else in this world knows more about Thirty-Six Hours than me?
“That’s right, most of the martial artists should have heard of Thiry-Six Hours.” Ma Juntie looked up at the twinkling clear sky, his eyes filled with an inexplicable admiration. “He is a legend on Sky Battle Net, someone who wins every single battle. The invincible Money-Sucking Vampire, the trendsetter of Arhat Fist, the leader of the huge Dragon Hall, the legend admired by countless young martial artists. If only I could see his real face and admire his invincible demeanor.”
Ma Juntie, withdrawing his gaze from the starry sky and turning to Qin Fen, said, “Although many people think that Thirty-Six Hours has disappeared from the Sky Battle Net because he had encountered a bottleneck at the peak of the nine-star level, unable to achieve the Blood Transfusion Rebirth, I don’t believe he is unable to achieve the Blood Transfusion rebirth. I believe he must be reaching for a higher goal now. Countless speculators will be shocked when he returns to the Sky Battle Net, spreading the reputation of our Dragon Hall again!”
Qin Fen, looking at Ma Juntie’s eyes that were overflowing with excitement, asked subconsciously, “Your Dragon Hall?”
“That’s right, our Dragon Hall.” Ma Juntie scratched his head as a shy smile spread across his lips. “I am also a member of Dragon Hall. Like many people on Sky Battle Net, I joined Dragon Hall because I admire Thirty-Six Hours. Speaking of which, I am a little famous on the Sky Battle Net now, my ID is Little Money-Sucking Vampire. Unfortunately, I am not as powerful as my idol. Out of one hundred and seventy-five matches, I won one hundred and sixty-eight, two ended up as draws, and lost five.”
Qin Fen gazed at Ma Juntie’s eyes, a pair of bright and clear eyes filled with the longing for martial dao, longing to become a legend and the shyness that could only be found in some youngsters.
Qin Fen sunk into his thoughts for a while. Staring at Ma Juntie’s eyes for a while again, he came to a decision in his heart secretly. This young man’s eyes are bright and clear. His speech is lacking any secret machinations. If he becomes strong in the future, he will not likely do any evil. It’s better to correct the small flaws in his muscles and teach him the exercise, Eighteen Innate Static and Dynamic Forms. This could be considered as repayment for guiding me into the realm of the unity of man and nature.
“Your shoulder… and your arms…” Qin Fen stood up slowly and started stretching his body. “Move them as I do, and feel your shoulders and arms.”
It was a set of broadcast gymnastics that used to be popular in school a very, very, long time ago. The simplest basic exercise to relax the body.
Ma Juntie wondered why this unknown martial arts expert suddenly proposed to do this kind of broadcast gymnastics that had long been replaced by the fitness exercises compiled by martial arts experts.
Ma Juntie, following Qin Fen’s movements, slowly stretched his body, feeling the slow stretching of his skin and muscles. He performed the broadcast gymnastics over and over again.
A long and loud whistle suddenly interrupted the two’s broadcast gymnastics. The old huge steamer of the Sacred Martial Hall had reappeared at the port.
Standing at the bow was that old captain. The moment he noticed Qin Fen, the cigarette held in the corner of his lips shook up and down several times as an extra respectful look appeared in his eyes.
Thirty-Six Hours, the legend of Sky Battle Net! Qin Fen, the legend of the Sacred Martial Hall! The old captain would never forget what Qin Fen did on the sea when he came to join the Sacred Martial Hall, and more importantly, he would never forget what he heard from the members of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall when he ferried them to and fro.
The Sacred Martial Hall, it was a holy land of martial arts where young genius martial artists in the Federation gathered! As such, it was really hard for anyone to gain a foothold here, let alone create a remarkable record.
But Qin Fen… not only did he gain his foothold quite easily but he also created many miracles in a short period of time, rewriting the records of the Sacred Martial Hall non-stop, creating records that would astound the future and former members of the Sacred Martial Hall.
Qin Fen nodded lightly and stepped on the stairs leading to the ship.
Very soon, over a hundred large containers were brought into the docks; bunches of daily necessities for the Sacred Martial Hall were quickly loaded onto the ship.
Mu Juntie followed Qin Fen in a daze, with only curiosity and confusion remaining in his eyes. After doing the sets of broadcast gymnastics, he actually discovered the flaws in his body that he had never noticed before. It was these small flaws that would not only hinder his road of martial arts, but it will also hinder his combat efficiency in a fight.
Ma Juntie couldn’t understand how someone could find so many problems after only seeing him display a set of Arhat Fists. What he could not understand even more so was how this simple set of broadcast gymnastics could have the ability to repair these flaws.
“Now I will teach you the Eighteen Innater Dynamic and Static Forms.” Qin Fen slowly took a stance again. “This set of exercises is different from most internal arts. It can be practiced while remaining still or while moving. Every word contains endless martial dao. I, too, created it by relying on a certain cognitive creation. I couldn’t completely understand this set of exercises in a short period of time.”
Ma Juntie could care less about his doubts. He immediately started practicing the Eighteen Innate Dynamic and Static Forms under Qin Fen’s guidance.
With the foundation of Four Pillars of Dynamic Art and Qin Fen’s simplified guidance method, Ma Juntie learned it very quickly. When the ship stopped at the sea to enter the port of the Sacred Martial Hall, he had learned the Eighteen Innate Dynamic and Static Forms completely. As for a real understanding, it was not a matter of a day or two.
Qin Fen withdrew his stance and nodded, looking at Ma Juntie who was withdrawing his stance as well. To be able to learn it to this extent in such a short period of time was a pretty good feat already. As for the next development, he must rely on himself. Even if Qin Fen had the time to guide him, he absolutely could not continue to guide.
After committing the blunder of helping Bai Sheng and the others improve their control over true energy oscillations to the apex-level in the Sacred Martial Hall, depriving them of any hope to advance their star-class for a lifetime, Qin Fen understood this even more so. Oftentimes, martial arts could not be completely taught to the opposite party. Oftentimes, one needed to feel, comprehend, and fumble around with it by oneself.
Only by doing so could one really make progress in martial arts.
“Sacred Martial Hall is a very good place, good luck.”
Qin Fen patted Ma Juntie’s shoulder before he flew into the air with Lin Ling, flying towards the island of the Sacred Martial Hall using the Wukong Technique.
“Wu…Wukong Technique…” Ma Juntie, gawking at the disappearing back of Qin Fen, stuttered, “Martial dao master… who… who in the hell is he…?”
Although he had long suspected Qin Fen might be a martial dao master after having seen him split the sea with his palm, the shock from seeing it from his own eyes still have an additional blow.
“Who is he!?” The old captain, holding the cigarette in his mouth, looked at Qin Fen’s back as he landed on the island. “He is the legend of the Sacred Martial Hall. In just less than a year after entering the Sacred Martial Hall, he improved his star-class to the fifteen-star level from the ten-star level.”
“In less than a year…” Ma Juntie tubbed his forehead as he drew in gasps of cold air, one after another. “It turns out there are still such strong people besides Thirty-Six Hours.”
Since its creation, the Sacred Martial Hall had its own rules, such as the Outer Sacred Martial Hall and the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. Their rules included that if a person had left the Sacred Martial Hall, he or she could not return to the Sacred Martial Hall arbitrarily.
If one wanted to re-enter the Sacred Martial Hall, he or she must either submit a written application in advance and get approval from the Sacred Martial Hall or chased by someone back to the Sacred Martial Hall, only then one could enter the Sacred Martial Hall.
Apart from these two methods, there was another method.
As the holy land of martial arts, the word martial arts occupied a very special position. If the visitor couldn’t resort to the first two methods, then there was only one other method.
And that was to fight! Very simple and straightforward! A method that could be explained in one word!
Sacred Martial Hall had a special channel, a special channel guarded by the Sacred Martial Hall martial artists. It was quite similar to the eighteen bronze men in the martial arts novel, The Shaolin Temple.
The difference was that one would have to fight the eighteen bronze men of the Shaolin Temple when someone went down the mountain to graduate, but it was just the opposite in the Sacred Martial Hall; one had to fight when returning.
When Qin Fen left the Sacred Martial Hall, he had seen this rule. Due to time constraints, it was obviously too late to submit an application for approval. There was only the simplest way to enter the Sacred Martial Hall and that was to fight his .way in.
This was the Sacred Martial Hall, there was no place for reasoning here! Even if one was the disciple of the head of two departments of the Sacred Martial Hall, he couldn’t enjoy any privilege of ignoring these rules; he couldn’t enter or exit at will.
After having circled slowly around the island, Qin Fen halted his footsteps before a special door in the front of a mountain. He heaved a light sigh and reached out to push open the door, looking at that millstone-sized Fight word engraved on the door.
Creak…
The fight door that had experienced all sorts of hardships was pushed open slowly to either side as Qin Fen raised his hands and exerted his strength. A passage through which five trucks could pass side by side appeared before Qin Fen’s eyes as an intense glare that was even more dazzling that the morning glared outside the cave.
Immediately after, the badges of several dozen martial artists of the Department of Martial Theory of the Sacred Martial Hall beeped before their badge started glowing red.
The two martial artists of the Department of Martial Theory who just happened to be practicing looked at each other and noticed the excitement in each other’s eyes.
“Hahaha… finally, someone is trying to break through!”
“Yes! I wonder who the unlucky guy is, he is so confident that he wants to break through.”
“Don’t you try to grab this opportunity from me! I’m the first gatekeeper.”
“I say, Li Tiantian, you should go a bit easy on him. Play with him for a while and then let him through, let me play with him.”
“That’s right! It’s absolutely safe with me, Qiu Zhi guarding the final pass.”
A few dozen martial artists rushed through the streets of the Sacred Martial All. Their rush gave the impression of hundreds of thousands of heavy tanks rolling through the streets, sending large pieces of rocks and asphalt into the air; swathes of dust and smoke lingered over the streets for a long while.
Many martial artists poked their heads out of the room and watched these martial artists in envy as they left like a gust of wind. The matter of someone trying to break through had not happened for many years. Who would have thought that someone would try to breakthrough during their shifts?
In the wide passage, a series of coarse sounds of running mixed in with the echoes in the passage, like billowing thunder, resounded from the depths of the passage, unable to hide the excitement and prestige of the martial artists.
Qin fen slowly stepped into the cave, gazing at the black dot in the distance, a rapidly approaching martial artist.
The rushing martial artist was extremely fast. In a very short period of time, he had already rushed to the front of Qin Fen like a tiger. But in the next moment, his face that was overflowing with excitement and battle intent solidified completely like that of a stone statue.
That’s right! Solidified! His high spirits, incomparably intense excitement, and battle intent was solidified completely in the blink of an eye.
Li Tiantian stared at Qin Fen, the person trying to rush in, dumbfounded! Qin Fen, the most legendary martial artist apart from Wu Zun and the HoDs in the Sacred Martial Hall!
Qin Fen, who became a new legend after defeating another legendary figure of the Sacred Martial Hall, the Martial Madman on the Mountain of Blades!
While the people outside were unable to get the news of the Sacred Martial Hall, the Sacred Martial Hall could know about any news of the outside world. Li Tiantian would not forget the news about Qin Fen, who issued a challenge to the Neo Taekwondo martial dao master, Bae Seong-Joon shortly after leaving the Sacred Martial Hall.
But what Li Tiantian could not forget even more so was that not only did Qin Fen kill Bae Seong-Joon in the Battle of Hallasan, but he also killed the neo karate martial dao master, Kyokushin Kouten. And three days later, he went to the Qilin Mountain.
Subsequently, the main peak of the Qilin Mountain was said to have collapsed completely after an earth-shaking war. And afterward, Qin Fen disappeared for over a month…
“Hello.” Qin Fen cupped his fist and nodded slightly. “Are you the first gatekeeper? Then, I am ready. You can begin…”
Li Tiantian was so aggrieved that he couldn’t utter a word. After having waited for so long, someone finally tried to breakthrough. Originally, he had planned to teach the other party about the cost of trying to breakthrough. But how could he have thought that the person trying to break through the passage was actually a legend of the Sacred Martial Hall, the superstar who had killed two martial dao master on Hallsan in succession?
“I’m ready too…”
While speaking, Li Tiantian stepped to one side, giving way on that incomparably spacious passage to Qin Fen. “You win, you can go.”
“Thank you.” Qin Fen nodded slightly as he walked through in a slow and leisure pace, easily clearing the first pass.
Li Tiantian, looking at Qin Fen’s departing back, was filled with helplessness! So aggravating! I’m at the peak of the fourteen-star level with a level three control of true energy oscillations. It hadn’t been easy waiting for someone to come and try to break through, and yet, the guy who came turned out to be so fierce.
Qin Fen was famous in the Sacred Martial Hall, so famous that he didn’t know it himself.
Rumor had it that the Sacred Martial Hall’s Fight passage was the most difficult, yet it was surprisingly smooth for Qin Fen.
Before every gatekeeper saw Qin Fen, the excitement on their faces was so vivid. But when they saw that the person trying to the breakthrough was Qin Fen, everyone’s expression solidified completely, as if their faces were carved out of stone.
Just like Li Tiantian, they would all step directly to one side.
Until the fourth passage from the last, Qin Fen finally encountered a divergent gatekeeper, a fifteen-star martial artist of the Main star level!
This gatekeeper was different from the previous gatekeepers. The moment he saw Qin Fen, the excitement in his eyes was like pouring gasoline on a kindle. The flame of battle intent filled his eyes as the strength of the fifteen-star level erupted from his body. The explosive true energy blew towards Qin Fen, causing his martial attire to flap.
“The legend of Sacred Martial Hall! Come on! Let me show you the martial dao master of the Sacred Martial Hall? How does the martial dao master of the Sacred Martial Hall compare to the martial dao master of the outside world?”
Qin Fen didn’t speak. He shrugged his shoulder and immediately radiated the strength of the sixteen-star level, stopping the erupting true energy of the opposite party from rising. The fire in his eyes was extinguished in a matter of seconds, as if a fire extinguisher had sprayed on it.
The gatekeeping martial dao master was dumbfounded. He still remembered that when Qin Fen left the Sacred Martial Hall, he was indeed in the fifteen-star level. He was in the fifteen-star level when he fought with the Martial Madman. But how did his star-class improve after he returned from a stroll?
What really made the gatekeeping martial dao master retreat wasn’t Qin Fen’s strength of the sixteen-star level but the aura of power when he displayed the strength of his star-class.
Thick, majestic, and vast! The martial dao master just stood facing Qin Fen for three seconds but he felt as if a boundless mountain was pressing on his back. In such confrontation, his body would collapse without Qin Fen even needing to make a move.
Should I try to forcefully make a move? The gatekeeping martial dao master knew that he couldn’t bring out even eighty percent of his strength before Qin Fen. So, what else could he do?
As soon as Qin Fen displayed the strength of the sixteen-star level, he could go down the passage again, only to discover that the remaining three gatekeepers had automatically given him the way.
Qiu Zhi, watching Qin Fen’s back stepping out of the mountain cave, shook his head and sighed again and again, “Why is Qin Fen back? He is really lucky, today, the strongest person allotted by the system to guard was me, a fifteen-star martial dao master. What an interesting scene it would have been if the system drew an HoD as the gatekeeper.”
Walking out of the cave, Qin Fen looked up at the sun rising in the east and breathed in the purple qi from the east into his lungs. Sensing the old aura of the Sacred Martial Hall, he secretly mumbled in his heart, Sacred Martial Hall, I am back!
