Chapter 1140 - 1140: The Ancestor of Magicians

On the road to the Profound Sword Sect.

The Monkey had taken over driving, while Liu Zixuan sat in the back and asked, "So what's the story with that magician?"

Wang Liang took a drag on his cigarette. "Before I answer that, let me ask you: what's your impression of magic?"

Liu Zixuan scratched his head and replied, "Isn't it just some blinding tricks? You see it in circus shows and gala performances—stuff like making people appear out of nowhere, card tricks and all that. Isn't that what it is?"

"Hahaha, so you have your ignorant moments too. I thought you knew everything!" The Monkey laughed loudly as he drove.

Liu Zixuan cursed, annoyed. "Bullshit, I've never come across it before. If I'd had the kind of experiences you two have, you think you'd still get to make fun of me, huh?"

"What you're talking about does fall under magic, but that's just the most superficial part. When it comes to magic, the classifications are actually very detailed. That Mo Chengfeng belongs to the Thief Sect, and you should know the Thief Sect is one of the outer Eight Gates, right?"

Listening to Wang Liang, Liu Zixuan frowned. "So magic is like the outer Eight Gates too, split into a lot of branches?"

"Not really branches—more like different specialties. From a certain point of view, magic experts are just like us cultivating Martial Arts Techniques, maybe even more eclectic than we are. In terms of principles and technique, magic has four categories. There's sleight-of-hand, relying on finger movement at extreme speed to achieve the effect. Then there's device-based—what you called large-scale transformations with living people, that's one type of device-based magic."

"Then there's psychological magic—that one's very tough. Turning an ordinary man into a well-built guy is easy, but making an ordinary person master hypnosis-type magic, that's hard. Apart from that there's technological magic, which requires knowledge of physics and chemistry."

Liu Zixuan half-understood and asked, "Then when a magician attacks an enemy like a Martial Artist, does he just use blinding tricks to confuse them, then throw out hidden weapons or something?"

"You're putting it too broadly. If it was just ordinary blinding tricks, do you really think you could fool the eyes of Martial Artists at our level? He hides hidden weapons in his Finger Technique and lashes them out at you and me in an instant—do you think you wouldn't be able to dodge?" Wang Liang countered.

Liu Zixuan laughed. "Of course I could dodge, and I'd see it coming too!"

Others might need a very high Realm to tell what's a blinding trick and what's real, but Liu Zixuan has X-ray Vision—no matter how brilliant the blinding trick, it can't escape X-ray Vision.

But if that's the case, how does that magician attack?

Before he could ask, Wang Liang said, "Actually, magic is just like other forms of Magic—it's structured differently. Take Fighting Technique: taekwondo kicks, Inch Fist Strong Wind, and so on. Magic, by contrast, doesn't rely on something that concrete."

"For example, magic includes disappearance, displacement, penetration, restoration, invulnerability to blades and bullets, Mind Reading Technique, and so on. Disappearance and displacement are defensive magic; penetration, invulnerability, Mind Reading Technique and the like count as advanced offensive magic."

Liu Zixuan thought for a moment, then nodded. "So whether it's disappearance or displacement, it's similar to Ninjutsu from the Witch Country, right?"

"You could put it that way. Everything in the world is interconnected. As I recall, your speed-type Magic is pretty terrifying too—it should be able to compete with Ninjutsu." Wang Liang smiled.

Liu Zixuan nodded. "By that logic, their offensive Magic just looks more eerie and mysterious; the rest can all connect with our Cultivation Techniques."

"Right. The most formidable aspect of a magician is that his offense and defense are extremely hard to catch. He can deceive your eyes in an instant. You know that when experts fight, victory is often decided in a single thought. If he blindsides you for just one breath, he's already seized enough initiative. In a clash between Martial Artists of the same Realm, that one breath is enough to decide life and death."

Wang Liang smiled meaningfully. "So when you're fighting a magician of the same Realm, you absolutely have to be careful. Every move they make is trying to trick your eyes."

"Besides their usual blinding tricks, magicians have one more type of Magic that's really advanced."

"What?" Liu Zixuan asked.

"Mind Reading Technique."

Wang Liang raised three fingers. "This Mind Reading Technique doesn't just mean he can guess what you're thinking. First, when he locks eyes with you, he can see into your heart and thus know what your next attack will be. That way he can prepare a counter in advance."

"Second, in battle, when you meet his gaze, if your mental state isn't steady, you can be hypnotized very quickly and fall into an Illusion Realm he constructed, letting him literally kill you without a trace."

"Third, the highest-level magician can manipulate all things to attack you—especially living creatures, which he can hypnotize very quickly. And sometimes he can even hypnotize his opponent and make them kill themselves."

Hearing this, Liu Zixuan sucked in a cold breath. "This sounds like the same kind of thing as psychology."

"Exactly, but it's far more advanced than ordinary psychology. In the Martial Realm, this kind of method is called Spiritual Power. So every qualified magician has extremely strong Spiritual Power. With a tiny movement he can affect your emotions; with a slight facial expression he can hypnotize you."

Wang Liang shifted the topic. "We've actually seen the magician the Netherworld Hall sent this time before, and even indirectly crossed hands with him. But it wasn't a real fight in the full sense, so everything I've been telling you is just theory we came up with from our research. How it'll play out in actual combat—that depends on the situation."

Liu Zixuan nodded. "Thinking about it now, it seems like any kind of Magic can kill. I never thought that magic meant to entertain people could be this badass!"

Wang Liang laughed. "Do you know who the founding ancestor of magicians is?"

"No idea. But in my impression, magic seems to have come from the Dark side, right?"

At this point, the Monkey spoke up. "Wrong. The man who created magic was from the Star Sea, and you're actually very familiar with his name."

"Who?"

"Lv Dongbin!" Wang Liang said slowly.

"From the myth stories?" Liu Zixuan raised a brow.

"It's more than just myth stories; historically he was a real person. He lived in the Huang Dynasty era and was a Grandmaster-level figure of the Star Sea Daoists. Funny thing is, when he first created magic, it really was just for entertainment. At first his magic was turning water into wine, making dead fish come back to life. Later it gradually evolved into many more things."

Wang Liang laughed. "Back in the Huang Dynasty, there was a lot of contact with other lands, so naturally magic spread out. After hundreds or thousands of years of change, it split into Star Sea magic and Dark Magic. Dark Magic focuses more on slapstick, comedy, and thrill, while Star Sea magic aims more for subtlety and wonder."

"So the magician we're going to meet on this trip—what category is he?" Liu Zixuan asked.

"He's mastered them all." Wang Liang gave a wistful smile. "And that's exactly what makes him such a pain to deal with."