Chapter 138 – The Second Killer Move, Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking!

“This incense seems to be poisoned…”

Lu Yuan sat in the room for a while before suddenly realizing this.

This realization hit him just after he had been staring at the ancient painting on the wall and suddenly felt that the white crane in the painting seemed to move inexplicably.

It didn’t actually move.

It was more like he was experiencing a hallucination.

“It’s not exactly poison. It should be some kind of hallucinogenic incense…”

With a little thought, Lu Yuan quickly figured it out.

The so-called true skill visualization should be about allowing the practitioner to better perceive the martial arts secrets contained in the painting while in a trance-like state.

The deeper one delves into Ancient Martial Arts, the more it involves mysterious and profound elements.

Having such a process is not surprising.

“Well, that’s not good…”

Lu Yuan’s expression turned a bit grim.

He realized that his high constitution points of 18 made him particularly resistant to poison.

During the assessment, he had been immune to most of the poisons that the round-faced boy had used.

The incense lit by Liu Daoyuan might not even be considered poison.

Initially, Lu Yuan felt a bit hallucinogenic when he smelled it, but after a while, his mind became increasingly clear.

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed.

Although he could repeatedly experience the process of true skill release through [imaginary enemy], combined with the high perception brought by his high intelligence points, comprehension was only a matter of time.

But right now, it was clearly an excellent “shortcut” opportunity. It would be a pity to miss it.

Thinking for a moment, Lu Yuan decided to take the incense burner in front of him and bring it to his face.

He took a deep breath of the blue smoke rising straight up from the burner.

The light blue smoke was entirely inhaled into Lu Yuan’s nostrils.

In an instant, a massive wave of dizziness struck Lu Yuan’s brain.

Lu Yuan’s body swayed slightly. He squinted his eyes and looked at the ancient painting on the wall again.

In the haze, he saw the white crane in the ancient painting gradually flapping its wings, swiftly moving through the boundless clouds and mist.

“Alright…”

Lu Yuan finally sighed in relief and promptly entered the state of lv3 [absolute concentration], focusing intently on observing.

…

Liu Daoyuan stood at the entrance of the quiet room, his eyes emitting two beams of blue light that projected onto his chest and abdomen.

He took a deep breath, and in the darkness, a faint white light seemed to flash.

“Boom, boom—”

A few muffled sounds came from his aged body, followed by a dark red mass that he spat out from his mouth.

Before the dark red mass hit the ground, he flicked his sleeve, and it instantly evaporated into an invisible mist, disappearing without a trace.

The air was left with a faint hint of a metallic, bloody smell.

After completing this action, he seemed to weaken momentarily but quickly regained his composure, returning to his original aloof and sinister demeanor.

Time ticked by.

No one knew how much time passed before Liu Daoyuan suddenly turned his head towards the quiet room.

“Squeak—”

Accompanied by the soft sound of the door opening.

A familiar figure appeared.

Lu Yuan walked out of the quiet room with a calm expression.

“Teacher.”

Liu Daoyuan looked at him, his eyes flickering slightly, and asked, “Did you gain any insights?”

Lu Yuan lowered his head, saying nothing.

Suddenly, he made a swift move.

His five fingers curved, forming a crane’s claw.

White light flickered at his fingertips, qi energy flowed, and a sharp, low whistle like a crane’s cry echoed through the corridor.

The air was torn apart, showing faint ripples of collapse and distortion between his fingers.

A mysterious force instantly permeated the entire space.

Liu Daoyuan’s face lit up with excitement. He flicked his sleeve to deflect Lu Yuan’s claw, and the next second, he burst into laughter, his laugh causing the corridor’s ceiling to shake and dust to fall.

Lu Yuan’s clawed hand naturally dropped, his expression neither happy nor sad, but a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

On the professional panel that only he could see.

A skill light point was dazzlingly lit.

It was the newly unlocked skill—

[Professional Killer Move Skill: Sky Water Stream Crane Style Claw Techniques Ultimate True Skill—Spirit Crane Technique: Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid!!]

…

“When will you arrive?”

“I’m not sure. Xiao Yuan has changed so much. If it weren’t for the familiar feeling I get from him, I almost wouldn’t recognize him…”

“Mm-hmm, be careful on the road. Contact us when you get there.”

“…”

Lu Jing put down her mobile phone and looked around the room, which was so large it could easily fit her entire house several times over.

A deep sense of confusion and bewilderment appeared on her delicate face.

“Knock, knock, knock—”

A light knocking sound came from the door.

Lu Jing seemed a little nervous and immediately stood up from the sofa, rushing to open the door with quick steps.

When the door opened, a middle-aged man, dressed in loose Training Attire, with a neatly tied short ponytail, stood respectfully at the door with a gentle and humble smile.

“Miss Lu, would you like to have dinner now?”

Lu Jing was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded, “Oh, yes, please.”

She was indeed a bit hungry. After getting off the plane, she had only eaten a few snacks on the High-speed train and nothing else.

The middle-aged man with a ponytail, having received Lu Jing’s permission, turned and seemed to give some instructions to someone.

Immediately after, Lu Jing saw a line of servants in uniform Chinese attire, each holding a dish, slowly walking towards her from the hallway.

For a moment, Lu Jing almost thought she had transmigrated into a palace drama, becoming a princess or a noblewoman in a royal mansion…

And all of this was brought about by her younger brother, who, four months ago, was introverted, shy, obedient, in poor health, average in his studies, and spent every day hiding in his room playing games and reading comics.

Lu Jing took a step back in a daze, making way for the servants bringing in the dishes.

Her mobile phone screen lit up, showing new messages in the archaeological team’s group chat.

Lu Jing gently tapped on the message notification, but her mind kept flashing back to those monsters, those Mechas, Cyborgs, and those nights filled with fear and unease, intertwined with gunfire and blood.

A sentence inexplicably surfaced in her mind—

From the moment she followed the archaeological team to Xixu, the gears of fate began to turn quietly. Everything about her life as an ordinary person had changed…

“Moon Shadow Sect… specializes in palm techniques and blade techniques. In the martial arts world of The South, it is considered a well-known first-class sect…”

As Lu Yuan walked back to his room, he pondered Liu Daoyuan’s recent words. He hadn’t expected Lu Jing’s best friend’s boyfriend to have such an extraordinary background.

Liu Daoyuan mentioned that the sect leader of Moon Shadow Sect has the surname Sun, and this man is also surnamed Sun. It seems likely that he is a direct disciple.

Lu Yuan briefly mentioned to Liu Daoyuan about Sun Zhihua and his group coming over. Liu Daoyuan didn’t say much and readily agreed.

It seemed that the Moon Shadow Sect was not an enemy, so Lu Yuan didn’t bother to think more about it.

As he neared his room, he saw Liu Si standing under the doorframe opposite his room.

Liu Si noticed him from a distance, bowed, and started to walk over.

Lu Yuan shook his head and then turned into his room.

He had arranged for Lu Jing’s room to be next to his, with Liu Si assigning people to guard it 24/7.

With many experts in Linghexuan, Lu Yuan wasn’t worried about any monsters from the temple.

He was more concerned about the Elephant Deity Sect’s curse, fearing it might involve some extraordinary, secretive power that could directly affect Lu Jing, leaving him no time to react.

Once inside, Lu Yuan immediately pulled up his professional panel.

[Professional Killer Move Skill: Sky Water Stream Crane Style Boxing Techniques Ultimate True Skill—Spirit Crane Technique: Crane Shadow Float lv1]

[Sky Water Stream Crane Style Claw Techniques Ultimate True Skill—Spirit Crane Technique: Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid lv1]

Thanks to Liu Daoyuan’s true skill visualization diagram, Lu Yuan successfully unlocked the second Professional Killer Move Skill belonging to the Crane Style!

The third one wasn’t far from being unlocked either, with gray light points starting to appear.

“Once all three ultimate true skills are unlocked, I can start attempting to comprehend True Intent…”

During the Crane Style direct disciple assessment, Lu Yuan had revealed most of his trump cards.

Now was the time to continuously draw cards to replenish his hand.

Whether he could use them or not was secondary; he had to have them first.

Thinking about this, Lu Yuan took out the items Liu Daoyuan had given him earlier and began to examine them closely.

First was the notebook of Xiang Lei, the sect leader of the Hundred Refinement Sect.

Lu Yuan entered his lv 3 [Absolute Concentration] state, maximizing his learning ability and reading very quickly.

In no time, he had extracted the essence of the notebook.

“It even records the legacy true skill of the Hundred Refinement Sect?!”

Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Although the previous previous generation sect leader of the Hundred Refinement Sect, Xiang Lei, wrote somewhat erratic diary entries, his martial arts talent was quite impressive.

Initially, the Hundred Refinement Sect was an unremarkable sect. Their core body training technique was called Hundred Refinement Body.

But the sect’s fortunes changed dramatically when Xiang Lei, a genius with the Palace of Flesh, emerged. In just over a decade, he propelled the Hundred Refinement Sect into the ranks of first-class sects.

Xiang Lei’s success was not only due to his exceptional talent but also because he combined the Hundred Refinement Sect’s body training techniques with the muscle control skills from the Palace of Flesh, creating a complete, new martial arts cultivation technique.

“Ten Thousand Refined… Demon Extreme (crossed out)… Fallen Hell (crossed out)… (crossed out) (crossed out)… Domain Breaking Technique!”

“Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique!”

“Did he steal this name from some Xuanhuan Novel?” Lu Yuan wondered, frowning at the scribbled-out words in the notebook.

Ignoring the name, the “Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique” looked quite formidable.

It was said that once mastered, the Martial Body’s strength would be a hundred times that of the original Hundred Refinement Body!

It was also reputed to be able to punch through the Heavenly Domineering Physique and kick away the Amitabha Golden Garment.

“Hmm, I’ll circle ‘Amitabha Golden Garment’; it might come up in the future,” Lu Yuan thought as he underlined a few sentences in the notebook.

Private notes couldn’t be taken at face value, after all.

The claim of achieving a strength a hundred times that of the Hundred Refinement Body seemed plausible.

After all, the Hundred Refinement Sect was a weak, unremarkable sect with a feeble legacy.

The second claim, though…

“Take it with a grain of salt. If it were that powerful, it wouldn’t have been blown apart by a Mecha…”

Nothing beats firsthand experience.

Lu Yuan glanced at the time; it was now 7:20 PM.

He had already had dinner upon returning.

He quickly picked up his mobile phone to respond to some messages, mainly from his Dad and Mom.

He hadn’t told them he had brought Lu Jing back, planning to surprise them when he returned home.

Meanwhile, Quiet Bamboo Treasure had sent him another message.

A photo of a light green dress.

Lu Yuan quickly glanced at it and replied, “Looks good, it suits you.”

Then he put the phone aside.

After handling all his miscellaneous tasks, Lu Yuan turned off the room lights, powered on his computer, and took out a USB flash drive.

He inserted it into the computer and quickly located the folder labeled with Xiang Lei of the Hundred Refinement Sect.

Inside, there was only one video.

He clicked on it.

The first thing that appeared on the screen was a burly man with a bare upper body.

He looked to be in his early thirties, with short, cropped hair and thick eyebrows like two large swords.

His square face and wide mouth gave off a fierce and domineering impression.

This was probably Xiang Lei.

“Get closer! You idiot!”

At the start of the video, Xiang Lei was yelling at the camera.

The screen shook violently and then zoomed in continuously.

Soon, it focused on Xiang Lei’s arm.

Lu Yuan watched as the solid, full muscles gradually swelled and bulged…

It looked almost identical to when he activated [special exertion]!

The video included commentary, narrated by Xiang Lei himself.

His heavy regional accent made it difficult to understand in many places without subtitles.

Lu Yuan watched the entire three-hour-long cultivation techniques explanation video at triple speed.

Combining it with the notes, Lu Yuan basically grasped the entire “Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique”.

“This is clearly a body training technique tailored for those with the Palace of Flesh, mainly focusing on Muscle Training…”

Lu Yuan blinked, thinking to himself that it was no wonder the Hundred Refinement Sect declined immediately after Xiang Lei’s death.

Besides losing their formidable guardian, the lack of a proper cultivation techniques legacy was also a crucial reason.

Ordinary disciples of the Hundred Refinement Sect couldn’t practice this Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique at all.

Old Liu mentioned that the Hundred Refinement Sect later came up with a weakened version called the “Thousand Refinement Dominion Technique”. Its effect was average, but at least it was stronger than the original Hundred Refinement techniques, so the sect managed to scrape by.

“Wow, he even drew a true skill visualization diagram. Impressive!”

Lu Yuan flipped to the last few pages of the notebook in one go and saw a chaotic, almost entirely black scribble done with a black pen…

Unable to hold back, he gave a thumbs-up to Xiang Lei on the computer screen.

If it weren’t for the words “True Skill Visualization Diagram of the Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique” written beside it, Lu Yuan would have thought this was just some preschool kid scribbling endless circles on a piece of paper.

Compared to the true skill visualization diagrams of the Crane Style… the difference was beyond comparison. It was practically an insult to the term “visualization diagram”!

“Forget it, better start with the basics,” Lu Yuan thought.

He figured that at least the body training techniques at the beginning of the “Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique” seemed fine.

They even provided him with some insights.

“Old Liu mentioned he has the secret ointment recipe for the “Ten Thousand Refined Domain Breaking Technique” and will arrange for someone to prepare it for me later. For the first few levels, I won’t need the secret ointment’s aid, so I can practice on my own for now…”

With that in mind, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the floor of his room.

The computer screen had already gone dark, with only the blue indicator light on the CPU blinking intermittently.

The night breeze blew in through the open window, accompanied by the rustling sound of bamboo leaves outside.

The entire room was enveloped in a tranquil and serene atmosphere.

Then, the muscles on Lu Yuan’s body began to ripple like mercury…