I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 46

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Obtaining Guan Yu’s martial prowess 046
Huangtian
After completing seven days and nights of training, Guan Hui and his party set out directly for Mount Tai in Shandong Province.
The distance from Shanxi Province to Shandong Province is not terribly great.
For martial artists, a Lightness Skill could cover it in two days of continuous travel, day and night without rest.
Of course, going without sleep while running ceaselessly was hardly easy, and the strain began to show on everyone quickly.
“Huff…… Gasp…….”
Zhang Cheng exhaled in ragged breaths, a trail of mucus from his nose.
That a man who normally prided himself on composure would abandon all propriety spoke volumes to the group’s relentless pace.
It was Zhang Chaoshan at the lead, deploying a Lightness Skill of absurd caliber.
“Gasp…… How is this…… Gasp. Keep up!”
Zhang Cheng groaned and drove Internal Energy into his Yongquan Acupoint.
But from his Dantian, now as desiccated as dried squid, barely a drop of power emerged.
‘And Huang Xiaoxiao…….’
Zhang Cheng’s gaze drifted toward Huang Xiaoxiao.
As an archer, her particular gift for Lightness Skill kept her breathing relatively steady.
Yet the pallor creeping into her complexion suggested she was nearing her limit.
“……Even she’s struggling. Just what is Guan Hui made of?”
Zhang Cheng clicked his tongue in exasperation.
Guan Hui moved directly behind Zhang Chaoshan, keeping pace with his own Lightness Skill.
The remarkable thing was that the Lightness Skill Guan Hui now deployed had been learned only a day ago.
“I understand. You compress the Qi explosively from the Yongquan Acupoint and propel yourself forward.”
“Exactly! You do grasp things quickly.”
The corners of Zhang Chaoshan’s mouth lifted slightly.
There was such a thing as harmony between teacher and student.
When you teach one thing and the student understands three without being told, that was when teaching became a joy.
In that regard, Guan Hui was like a delicacy freshly prepared for the palate.
Tell him one thing and he grasped three; tell him three and he comprehended ten.
“It is called the Tianbu Liuxing Lightness Skill. It blends the logic of Daoism with the discipline of martial technique.”
“Ah. Thank you for teaching me.”
“I should thank you, rather. For learning so well, unlike those fools back there.”
The fool gasping behind him suddenly cried out.
“What! You show a Lightness Skill once and expect us to replicate it just like that?!”
“He’s doing it.”
“……Blast it all. Fine. Just watch the path and run.”
Zhang Cheng exhaled in helpless resignation.
Being with those two made him feel like the two-eyed man in a kingdom of the one-eyed.
“Would it be acceptable if I taught this to the soldiers of the Guan Clan?”
Guan Hui’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
The Guan Clan possessed excellent Saber Techniques and External Skills, but no Lightness Skill.
During Guan Yu’s lifetime, the generals had primarily moved on horseback, so Lightness Skill had never been particularly necessary.
‘A Lightness Skill of this caliber would meaningfully boost our overall strength.’
The Tianbu Liuxing focused purely on velocity, which meant its progression was simpler than other Lightness Skills.
In exchange, it was relatively easy to learn and could be readily applied to any martial discipline—which directly benefited the Guan Clan’s own martial system.
The Guan Clan’s martial teachings emphasize simplicity as a means to magnify power.
“Hmm. No objection. There’s no one to pass it on to anyway.”
Zhang Chaoshan replied without apparent concern.
Yet a subtle joy lingered in the corners of his eyes.
His martial legacy, which would otherwise vanish without trace after his death, was now being spread among many through Guan Hui—and as its creator, he could not have been more pleased.
For his teaching to persist through others meant his will endured as well.
“Do not forget the other things I taught you during these seven days and nights.”
“I shall remember every word.”
Watching Guan Hui deploy the Lightness Skill, Zhang Chaoshan smiled with quiet satisfaction.
The emotion in that gaze held neither enmity nor suspicion anymore.
Over the seven days and nights of teaching, he had come to regard Guan Hui as a true student.
“Brother. There it is ahead.”
Zhu Hu, perched on Guan Hui’s back, pointed with one finger toward the mountain.
A verdant peak thrust skyward, towering as if to touch the clouds.
It was Mount Tai, symbol of Shandong Province and one of the Five Sacred Mountains.
“We’ve finally arrived…… Wait. What in the world……?!”
Zhang Chaoshan’s expression grew grave as he sensed the presence of Mount Tai.
The verdant vital energy of the mountain was nowhere to feel; instead, only a sinister, corrupt aura emanated from it.
Whatever the three brothers had done, the mountain’s essence had been catastrophically defiled.
“The situation is worse than I feared. Everyone, prepare yourselves.”
Zhang Chaoshan’s gaze hardened as it turned toward the mountain.
“……!”
Behind him, Guan Hui and his companions watched the peak, their faces turning rigid with shock.
Below Mount Tai, famous for its steep terrain and winding ravines—
“What madness is this……!”
A horror beyond comprehension was unfolding before them.

* * *
Qingshan Village, a small settlement nestled at the foot of Mount Tai.
What had once been suffused with the serene clarity that the mountain’s essence bestowed had transformed into a landscape of devastation.
The thick, metallic reek of blood assailed the nostrils, while screams as if from hell itself pierced the ears.
Hundreds of villagers, severed of arms and legs and other limbs, shrieked as they died, their spilled blood pooling into a crimson lake.
“What is this…….”
Confronted with a vista that resembled hell itself, Guan Hui and his companions could not suppress their horror.
“……They’ve deployed a Grand Ritual.”
“A Grand Ritual?”
“A dark art that elevates one’s cultivation by offering human lives in their entirety.”
“……It resembles the work of those Blood Cult dogs.”
Zhang Cheng’s face twisted into something grotesque with rage.
The abandonment of all human decency kindled a fury that burned to the very crown of his head.
“……I am sorry I could not help you sooner.”
Zhang Cheng approached a woman who had lost both arms and legs, her screams piercing with agony.
Thwack—
His Long Blade pierced her heart in a single, clean stroke, ushering her into eternal silence.
There was no way to save her; he had merely ended her suffering.
Clink—
Huang Xiaoxiao’s eyes turned icy and remote.
“Vermin.”
An archer by trade, she maintained composure at all times, and her face revealed little of the rage that burned within her.
Yet her bowstring, clenched in her hands, trembled as if it might snap.
“……Brother. This…… how could this be.”
Zhu Hu’s breath came ragged and uneven, his feet frozen by dread.
As one untrained in the martial arts, fear gripped him more keenly than anger.
“…….”
Guan Hui surveyed his surroundings with a measured gaze.
Corpses piled at the mountain’s base, blood pooling in vast lakes—this devastated landscape was the Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood itself.
-Remain steady.
“…….”
Guan Yu’s voice touched Guan Hui’s ear, carried on a tone that roiled like a cauldron of seething emotion.
-Lose your composure to rage, and even winnable battles become defeats.
“…….”
Rather than answer, Guan Hui tightened his grip on the Yangyue Dao and drew forth his Internal Energy.
Without haste, his power rose calmly through his Dantian, blooming forth along the Yangyue Dao with each breath.
Guan Yu watched in surprise as the Yangyue Dao suddenly blazed with a vivid Blade Aura and spoke with wonder.
-That advice was premature of me.
When a martial master loses their composure, the power they wield becomes unstable.
Yet Guan Hui’s aura now flowed as calm as a still lake.
-That’s right. Now that I think on it, every time you’ve grown angry, you’ve only grown more cold. It was the same from the start. I forgot.
Come to think of it, it was so even at your first meeting.
Whether facing death at the hands of the Honeyed Pact Sect or dueling against Fang Zhu, master swordsman Guang Sixun.
Guan Hui was someone who grew colder and more composed the more fury consumed him.
-But be cautious. A Formation has been deployed in this place. A Formation powerful enough to blind the eyes of heaven itself.
What manner of Formation it is, I cannot say, but the Formation woven by the patriarchs of Huangtian has obscured even heaven’s gaze.
That is how Guan Yu was able to manifest himself once more.
“Everyone, exercise caution. A Formation has been deployed here.”
“……!”
Zhang Chaoshan’s eyes widened slightly.
He hadn’t expected anyone to perceive the Formation before he did—a Daoist master of his caliber.
“Hmm. So it’s true. Let me break this Formation.”
Zhang Chaoshan closed his eyes, expanded his Qi Sensing, and struck the ground with his Stone Staff.
He was searching the surroundings through the fluctuation of Qi to locate the Formation’s core.
“Found it. It’s a Formation that scatters blood across the earth, then uses that blood as a catalyst to absorb the Heaven and Earth’s vital energy.”
“Could you explain that more simply?”
Zhang Cheng’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“……It’s a Formation that renders those three brothers’ Internal Energy limitless.”
“Damn. Can’t you break it?”
“I can. But it will take time.”
Zhang Chaoshan planted his Stone Staff in the ground and sat cross-legged before it.
“Breaking this Formation will require time. I won’t be able to move until then—protect me, if you will.”
“Understood.”
Guan Hui exchanged a glance with Zhang Cheng and Huang Xiaoxiao, then took a protective stance around him.
Zhu Hu, whose martial skill was so poor he was little better than an ordinary civilian, quickly hid inside a half-collapsed pavilion.
“Everyone, be careful. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Zhang Cheng let out a derisive laugh upon seeing the worry in Huang Xiaoxiao’s expression.
“There’s nothing here but corpses. We can simply wait in peace.”
Zhang Cheng’s lips curved upward in confident ease.
And in that very instant, the sound of many footsteps came from the west.
Thud-thud-
They emerged between the bodies of villagers who had met their doom screaming in terror.
Each wore a Yellow Cloth Headwrap upon which a Heaven character was inscribed in crimson blood.
“……Cult members.”
Guan Hui, recognizing them as disciples of Huangtian, tightened his grip on the Yangyue Dao.
Their number was roughly two hundred.
Each of them emanated faint Internal Energy.
Their level was unremarkable, but they were all martial practitioners.
“They’re roughly second-rate in skill.”
Huang Xiaoxiao, whose Qi Sensing was acute, immediately assessed the enemies’ level.
Guan Hui’s party were all first-rate masters, so they held the advantage in power.
But they were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
Numbers have a way of leveling the field.
Moreover, Guan Hui’s party now found themselves unable to fight while retreating.
They would have no choice but to hold their ground and face these enemies directly.
“Come on. Surely they won’t actually attack us? They’ve just gathered here, that’s all. They wouldn’t dare charge at us…….”
Before Zhang Cheng could finish speaking, the cult members surged forward, kicking up clouds of dust.
Wielding swords, axes, and other weapons, they charged directly toward Guan Hui’s party.
“……Zhang Xiao. Perhaps it would be wise to hold your tongue from this point on.”
Everything Zhang Cheng said came to pass in the exact opposite way.
At times like this, silence was the better course.
“Ahem. My apologies. But at least the cult masters haven’t appeared, so we can count our blessings…….”
“Hehehehe. So a Daoist from the Taiping Dao has come poking around in our affairs.”
Tian Bao, one of Huangtian’s three cult masters—the Earth General—revealed himself.
Emerging from behind the disciples, he wielded a rust-colored Staff as he cried out.
“These are heretics who defy Huangtian! Tear them to pieces—leave not even a bone!”
Emboldened by their master’s arrival, the disciples roared savagely and accelerated their charge.
The distance closed in an instant.
……
Guan Hui and Huang Xiaoxiao stared at Zhang Cheng in silence.
“……I-I’m sorry.”
Zhang Cheng had no words left, even if he’d had two mouths.
Right now, he should have kept quiet, even with five.

* * *
Whoosh!-
The Yangyue Dao gleamed silver, tracing a horizontal arc.
The straight line, extending sharply through the mass, shattered the enemies’ weapons.
Crack!-
That alone was not enough; he bisected the bodies of his enemies.
One Blade, Two Sections—exactly as the technique demanded.
In a single stroke, a dozen bodies fell apart, becoming dozens of severed pieces.
“A monster… a monster…!”
“Where did such a monster come from!”
The eyes of the cultists who had charged forward in abandon dulled rapidly.
Guan Hui’s martial prowess was so overwhelming that even those seized by religious fervor were brought to their senses.
“Surround him in a circle! If we all attack at once, we win!”
One cultist among them, possessed of some tactical knowledge, barked orders to those around him.
The fearful cultists’ eyes blazed with madness in an instant, and they quickly encircled Guan Hui.
In moments, Guan Hui found himself surrounded by some twenty enemies.
If they all pressed their assault at once from every direction, even Guan Hui would struggle to survive.
Human vision is limited, and numbers overcome all technique.
-He must escape. This is dangerous.
Even Guan Yu, watching from afar, sent a warning in an anxious voice.
The situation was dire indeed.
‘It’s fine.’
Yet Guan Hui smiled at ease, gripping his Yangyue Dao more firmly.
-No matter how skilled you are, you cannot defend against attacks from all directions at once. You must retreat now!
Despite Guan Yu’s continued warnings, Guan Hui did not retreat; he held his ground.
In the meantime, a dozen more cultists crowded in, tightening their encirclement around him.
“Good! Now attack all at once!”
“This one is finished!”
The cultists, satisfied with their successful containment, smiled with cruel satisfaction.
-Fool! Do you not grasp how perilous this is? They will attack from distances your Yangyue Dao cannot reach!
If they hurled long weapons at him from a distance, even if Guan Yu manifested there, he could do nothing.
-You will die without striking a single blow!
Yet to Guan Yu’s frustrated cry, Guan Hui remained calm.
He had prepared a technique for this very moment.
‘Do not worry, General.’
Guan Hui lifted his knee to his chest and stamped hard upon the earth.
Boom!—
A small vortex born from his heel began drawing everything around him inward.
“…!”
“Wh-what is—!”
The cultists tried to resist, but the tremendous pull generated by Internal Energy dragged their bodies forward against their will.
Whoooosh!—
Losing their balance, the cultists stumbled helplessly as their bodies lurched forward in an instant.
Slice—
His Yangyue Dao, shimmering with silver sharper than ever before, traced a brilliant arc through the air.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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