Chapter 294.2: Old Matters
Yang Shan: I've encountered a true martial arts genius. His talent far surpasses mine when I was young!
The reply came quickly.
Friend: Oh? Such a good seed. When are you going to take him as a disciple?
Yang Shan: Forget it. The grudges of the past are better left buried. I don't want to stir up trouble again.
Right after, he sent a voice message. "This genius only saw me use an innate martial technique once and concluded that it might be related to blood boiling."
The other person's voice cracked with excitement.
—What? How could he know that? Such a genius actually exists?
"Not only that, he also proposed a way to break the limits. After thinking it over, I feel that it might be feasible."
—You're not making this up, are you? Breaking the limits, proposed by a newcomer? That's impossible!
The disbelief in the other person's voice was palpable. It was like a college student on Earth suddenly inventing nuclear fusion just to upgrade their degree.
Yang Shan's lips curled into a smile. "Well, only theoretically. We still need to verify. Want to test it with me?"
—How?
After all that buildup, Yang Shan revealed his true intention. "Acknowledge me as your father. Once I break the limits, your bloodline will also leap."
About a minute later, the other party sent a 60-second voice message. Yang Shan didn't even have to listen to know it was filled with curses.
The discharged soldier recounted his conversation with Qi Yuan. "This actually makes some sense. It was that young man who told me."
—Even if it works, why should I be the one acknowledging you as father and not the other way around?
Yang Shan smiled brightly. "Because my martial talent is stronger and I have a better chance of breaking the limits!"
—Right. You’ve got better martial talent, and better flirting skills to boot. You're great at tricking women into bed. Every time you message a female friend, she says she's going to sleep and will talk tomorrow.
"Get lost!" Yang Shan felt a bit embarrassed. "At least I'm not like you, leaving bad reviews on every food delivery order just to confess to Wang Yan."
His old friend had been quite a character in his youth. Once, he ordered from nearly every restaurant near the school, leaving behind bad reviews that were all confessions to Wang Yan. The stunt caused a huge stir at the school. Wang Yan was utterly humiliated. Of course, Yang Shan knew that was tied to some past grudge, and it didn't matter much now.
Jokes aside, when it came to breaking the limits, his friend was serious. After all, their entire circle existed for that purpose.
—There are less than three months until the martial arts tournament in Tianyue City. Should I come take a look and meet this genius you mentioned? Even though what he says sounds absurd, there's some logic to it.
"Sure, I'll introduce you then. But don't think about taking him as a disciple, I don't want to drag him into our circle."
—What, are you afraid of the Guiran people?
"I'm not afraid." Yang Shan fell silent for a moment. "I just find them disgusting."
The Guiran people were sent by the Ancient Wu Kingdom to attack the Qin Yuan Kingdom. As two global powers on Arch Star, the two kingdoms’ conflict dated back to the last century.
The Guiran people themselves were the primary ethnic group of Wugui Country. It was a theocratic state, with the true ruler serving as the religious leader. Like mad dogs, they sowed wars and massacred civilians left and right.
Back then, Yang Shan's circle of peak martial artists had received an order to assassinate a Guiran priest. Due to restrictions, gene soldiers couldn't enter the target area, so they had to act. Their success earned them the wrath of the Guiran people. Assassins and fanatics launched endless suicide attacks against them.
In fact, he chose to retire after sustaining a severe injury during that mission. The feud never ended. That was why he didn't want Qi Yuan to get involved. Even if he broke his limits, could Qi Yuan truly stand against Guiran’s gene soldiers?
Unlike the two kingdoms, Wugui didn’t even bother pretending to uphold fairness and democracy. Their gene soldiers were more extreme and didn’t care about survival, but also more powerful. They knew no fear.
His friend’s helpless laugh echoed through the voice message.
—They are disgusting, but what can we do?
Adults knew the world didn't bend to personal will. Even if Wugui still practiced slavery and treated lives as worthless, it continued to thrive.
Yang Shan's eyes showed rare fear. "The worst part is that the Holy Son of Wugui married the daughter of a Brilliant Star general!"
The Brilliant Star’s technology far surpassed Arch Star's. In fact, much of the latter’s technological progress was owed to the former. Without the Brilliant Star’s bloody suppression in the past, Arch Star wouldn't have advanced so quickly. The Wugui’s confidence also came from their ties to Brilliant Star.
Yang Shan's grandfather had died on Brilliant Star during a mission. He feared and hated the planet as a result. As both global powers shifted toward peaceful coexistence, rumors spread throughout Arch Star. The most common claim was that the leadership of both the Qin Yuan Kingdom and Ancient Wu had long been controlled by Brilliant Star.
Of course, Yang Shan dismissed this as nonsense. The leadership was still the same.
***
Qi Yuan was contemplating in his room. "Innate martial techniques. The ones closest to my bloodline suit me best and are the most powerful."
His insight far surpassed ordinary people. A single demonstration from Yang Shan was enough for him to grasp it more deeply than anyone else.
His eyes flashed sharply. "In other words, the innate martial technique of my bloodline's ancestor is the most suitable and the strongest!"
He stared at his blood as if seeing through eternity. There was a vision of mutated sea monsters swimming in the ocean. There was a vision of a drop of blood falling from the sky. Suddenly, clarity filled his mind and everything became clear.
His eyes gleamed as he kept deducing, as if gaining inherited memories from his bloodline. Finally, the innate martial technique took shape.
"Exploding Bird-Slaying Fist!"
Qi Yuan felt speechless looking at it. "This name is really low-class."
The name lacked any sense of grandeur, nowhere near his own naming sense.
"My ancestor was likely uncultured and disliked birds. Why would the awakened technique be called that?" Qi Yuan shrugged, casually tested the technique, then frowned. "Yeah, he definitely hated birds."
The Exploding Bird-Slaying Fist looked more like a cat swatting sparrows. There was nothing explosive about it.
