Chapter 78 - 77: Void Realm Combat Power

Chapter 78: Chapter 77: Void Realm Combat Power

Looking at the three colorful signs in front of him, Zeng Anmin did not hesitate. He directly chose the first one.

[(Colorful) Martial Artist’s Heart: For every ten feet of distance from the enemy, the power of the Martial Arts Aura increases by ten percent.]

In an instant, he seemed to feel the restlessness of the Martial Arts Aura within his body. It churned within his Sea of Consciousness like boiling water. A moment later, it suddenly fell dead silent.

Zeng Anmin closed his eyes, silently observing his Sea of Consciousness. The two meridians connecting his Martial Pill and Sea of Consciousness had now been opened. An endless stream of Martial Arts Aura was transported from the Martial Pill through the Celestial Bridge Meridian to the Sea of Consciousness, and then returned to the Martial Pill through the Earth Bridge Meridian, forming a perfect closed loop.

"Seventh Grade of Martial Arts, Visualization Realm," Zeng Anmin muttered in his heart.

Following that, a profoundly mysterious sensation emanated from his Sea of Consciousness. The endless, circulating Martial Arts Aura seemed to have gained sentience. Furthermore, he felt that even with his eyes closed, he could sense the rising wind and falling dust around him.

"A solidified Divine Sense that perceives everything, able to sense the enemy’s weaknesses in an instant... This is the Void Realm!" Zeng Anmin thought, a sharp light flickering in his eyes.

This was a combat instinct exclusive to the Sixth Grade Void Realm. He directed a profound gaze at the Golden Finger panel:

[(Colorful) High-end Martial Power: Your Martial Arts Combat Power is one tier higher than your Martial Arts Realm.]

The combat power of the Sixth Grade Void Realm.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Short Axe cascaded with ten thousand rays of rosy light. Zeng Anmin reached out and made a grasping motion, and the Short Axe appeared in his hand. Triggering his Martial Pill, he directed his Martial Arts Aura into the Short Axe.

BUZZ!!!

The colorful Short Axe impressively flashed with a transparent axe blade nearly three inches long. Underneath the original colors of the Short Axe, it became illusory, as if it were nothingness.

"Aura imbuing the weapon." A sharp gleam danced in his eyes.

When the Martial Arts Aura resided within the body, it was as still as a virgin; once unleashed, it was as swift as a fleeing hare! A Martial Artist in the Sixth Grade Void Realm could even be hailed as a Daoist Ancestor in places where Martial Arts were not particularly robust. He had simply taken advantage of the system. Otherwise, just grasping the application of the Martial Arts Aura would be enough to trap an ordinary person in the Seventh Grade for an entire lifetime.

"Phew." Putting away the Short Axe, Zeng Anmin stood up and walked outside.

"Young Master, Shen Jun brought over what you requested."

Just as he stepped out of the room, he heard Dachun’s naive voice. Over the past few days, the injuries on Dachun’s body had mostly healed. Moreover, it was a blessing in disguise; with Uncle Qi’s help, it seemed he was preparing to break through to the Eighth Grade recently. However, this had little to do with Zeng Anmin. With his current combat power, he was completely qualified to be the Commander of the Liangjiang Commandery’s Observation Department. What he was pursuing now was...

CLICK!

Dachun tactfully opened the large chest that Shen Jun had sent over through someone. An exquisitely carved longbow appeared before Zeng Anmin’s eyes. Seeing this longbow, a sense of fondness welled up in Zeng Anmin’s heart. Just by looking at it, one could tell the craftsmanship was extremely complex. He slowly stepped forward and took the longbow in his hands. The weight was actually quite manageable.

"Good bow," Zeng Anmin gently stroked the longbow, unable to hold back his praise.

One of the Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Confucian Dao, "Archery," required a bow to practice. And if his Martial Arts’ Martial Artist’s Heart was paired with a longbow...

"If this bow is fully drawn, it can reach one hundred and thirty paces." Dachun blinked at the longbow, his voice tinged with doubt as he asked, "Young Master, can you even draw it?"

Zeng Anmin raised his eyes and cast a glance at Dachun. If he didn’t know Dachun’s temperament so well, any other master would have probably already flown into a rage at him.

"Back to the Government Office." Zeng Anmin rolled his eyes at him, irritably slung the bow over his shoulder, and walked outside.

Dachun knew he had probably misspoken and quickly followed Zeng Anmin.

"Hyah!"

Zeng Anmin vaulted onto his horse, hung the longbow on the saddle hook in front of him, and with a crack of the Horse Whip in his hand, headed toward the Observation Department. Dachun’s injuries had improved, so his riding wasn’t slow either. Before long, the two stopped, one after the other, at the Observation Department.

Observation Department, Office of the Chief Clerk.

At this moment, Zeng Anmin was the only one in the administrative room. He had sent Dachun away to patrol with the Red-clothed Guards. His gaze fell on the "Falling Jade Disc" that Bai Ziqing had gifted him before his departure.

[The Jade Disc refers to the Lunar Star.]

[When this technique is cultivated to Great Success, its arrows can shoot down the bright moon and stars.]

The opening consisted of exactly those lines. Arrogant! Cultivating it to Great Success could shoot down the moon?

Zeng Anmin took a deep breath and continued flipping through the pages. Bai Ziqing had held something back. The "Falling Jade Disc" should have nine stances in total, yet the Illustrated Catalog he was given contained only three stances. They corresponded to the first three realms of Martial Arts. Each realm allowed one to learn a single stance.

In Zeng Anmin’s eyes, the first three stances were incredibly easy.

The first stance corresponded to the Ninth Grade Body Forging Realm, also known as the Entry Grade. At this stage, a Martial Artist solely cultivated physical strength and hadn’t yet generated their first strand of Martial Arts Aura. Therefore, it involved two postures: a dismounted standing posture and a mounted riding posture. These corresponded to foot archery and mounted archery.

The second stance corresponded to the Eighth Grade Martial Pill Realm. At this stage, the Martial Artist had already formed a Martial Pill within their body, and their Martial Arts Aura could be imbued into the longbow. The most crucial feature of the second stance was teaching the practitioner how to use their Martial Arts Aura to stabilize the longbow in their hands. It came with a specific breathing technique and a method for circulating the aura. The breathing technique was for stability, while the aura circulation method was for sharpening one’s vision.

As for the third stance, it was a single illustration. Beneath a night sky filled with the moon and stars, a figure with a blurred face raised a longbow, aiming at the heavens in a posture ready to fire! This was a Visualization Map! It corresponded to the Visualization Realm and was accompanied by a single sentence:

[The third stance is the core stance of the "Falling Jade Disc." At that stage, the aura applied to the longbow can be transferred onto the Arrow Fletching, forming Spiral Qi. With a single arrow shot, the enemy general will fall from their horse.]

...

Training Ground.

Zeng Anmin drew his longbow, standing about fifty paces away from the large target in front of him. If anyone else were present, they would distinctly notice that his breathing rhythm was completely different from a normal person’s. At this moment, with the Relief Bow in hand, even giving it his all, he could only draw it halfway. The Arrow Fletching nocked on the bow was the most ordinary kind used by the Red-clothed Guards. A few nearby squads of Red-clothed Guards looked in his direction curiously.

TWANG!

Zeng Anmin gently released his grip, and with a SWISH, the Arrow Fletching on the bow flew toward the nearby target.

THWACK.

The Arrow Fletching missed the target entirely, shooting straight toward the courtyard wall behind it with a CLINK before falling to the ground.

Er... Zeng Anmin’s face flushed with embarrassment. This was the first time in his life he had drawn a bow. Of course, at this moment, he hadn’t used the method from the "Falling Jade Disc" to circulate his aura.

"Pfft..."

Outside the field, someone—who knows who—couldn’t hold back and let out a laugh. Immediately after, without Zeng Anmin having to say a word, a Shangguan suddenly bellowed, "What the hell are you laughing at! Are you all that free? Get your asses back on patrol!!"