The training ground, usually filled with the shouts of young disciples, was now empty except for me.
My father had gone to sell a tiger pelt and decided to take a few days off from the White Martial Hall.
"Phew……"
I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and began to loosen up my body.
Following the first six forms of the Green Forest Eighteen Techniques, I started moving my limbs gently and smoothly.
"Hahaha! Are you talking about my martial arts?"
Every time I asked about his martial arts, Meng Huo'ak would puff out his chest proudly and say, "My martial arts? I created every single one of them with my own hands!"
"Tsk, tsk. You just slapped together a bunch of random techniques and still have the nerve to brag."
"Guangma, you bastard! If we ever get out of here, I'll kill you first!"
"Hmph. Who are you to talk?"
"……Even in my memories, these two keep fighting."
Meng Huo'ak, the Green Forest King, and Guangma, Xuan Yuanhou, were sworn enemies.
Surprisingly, they had never clashed while active in the martial world, but after being imprisoned in the Thunder Prison, their rivalry began.
At first, it was just minor arguments over the ultimate goals and philosophies of their martial arts, but over time, it became a daily routine to bicker whenever they opened their mouths.
"An ignorant brute with no depth in martial arts!"
"A swordsman who only knows how to bark like a dog!"
It usually went like this.
Though they were locked in adjacent cells, they never actually fought each other.
'I wonder what would happen if they really went at it……'
……In the end, their duel never happened.
Right after escaping the Thunder Prison, we had to immediately fight our way through countless Blood Sect martial artists to escape.
I remember how well their movements synchronized, as if they had been sparring for decades.
'They probably knew each other's martial arts better than anyone else, given how much they argued.'
Anyway, to get back to the point, the Green Forest Eighteen Techniques, created by Master Meng, was a compilation of various martial arts passed down through the Green Forest.
The Green Forest has a long history.
But no one acknowledges it.
The prestigious sects and families (even the demonic sects) treat the Green Forest as mere bandits who prey on the common folk, often sending their junior disciples to gain their first experience in killing.
"Those damn righteous sects. They treat us like bugs they can crush anytime. Do they think anyone wants to become a bandit?"
"Hmph. If you didn't like it, you should've gone out and farmed. You became a bandit because you didn't want to work hard."
"……Work hard?"
One day, during their usual bickering, Meng Huo'ak responded to Guangma with a colder tone than usual.
I had never seen Master Meng so icy before.
"Have you ever farmed even once before spouting that nonsense? You, born into a privileged family, raised with all sorts of resources and elixirs—do you know what it's like to be born into a dirt-poor family, exploited by corrupt officials? Do you know what it's like to see your father beaten by constables, your mother and sisters violated, and your whole family starve during a famine? Do you think that life would change if we just worked hard?"
Guangma was slower to respond than usual.
"……Is that your story?"
"No. It's all made up. Hahaha!"
"Crazy bastard. Nice sophistry."
Whether it was made up or not, sophistry or not, the Green Forest was a gathering of those with nowhere else to go, forced into banditry.
The government and righteous sects treated them as evils that needed to be eradicated.
The martial arts of the Green Forest evolved to be practical and quick to learn, as they needed to survive.
"When you're struggling to eat, do you have time to sit around and cultivate internal energy? No! You swing your fists first and think later!"
Bandits didn't have the luxury of time to cultivate internal energy over long periods.
That's why their martial arts focused on external techniques that strengthened the body.
Internal energy could take months just to feel the energy in the dantian, but external techniques showed results relatively quickly.
Thus, the Green Forest's martial arts, being external-focused, were often dismissed as shallow and dependent on natural physical talent.
But Master Meng once said, "That's just nonsense spouted by those who haven't pushed their bodies to the limit. Even the greatest masters never neglect physical training. They just practice a few techniques and spend most of their time trying to increase their internal energy! Do you know how bad sitting in meditation for long periods is for your back and knees?"
Meng Huo'ak, who had trained in external techniques his whole life (though he wasn't without internal energy—he just had less compared to the other three), gave a long speech about the human body and concluded, "The potential of external techniques is never inferior to internal energy! Extremes meet! When the body reaches its peak, energy naturally flows into it, and that alone is enough to reach the pinnacle!"
Sorry, but I had to break the mood a bit.
"But Master Meng, didn't you say you used to take a lot of elixirs?"
In fact, Master Meng loved elixirs more than anyone else among the four.
He said he had a grudge from not being able to eat them as a child, so after unifying the Green Forest, he ate as many as he could get his hands on—snakes, centipedes, tigers, turtles, frogs, and so on……
Guangma narrowed his eyes and looked at the giant man in the next cell.
"Energy naturally flows into the body? With how much you've been eating, how could it not?"
"Ahem! That's the theory, the theory! Just wait and see. I'll create the greatest external technique that doesn't need any internal energy!"
And so, Meng Huo'ak began to refine his Green Forest Eighteen Techniques in the Thunder Prison.
While the other masters also redefined their martial arts in prison, Master Meng was the most passionate.
'The result was half a success.'
Though he never mastered it himself, Master Meng completed the new Green Forest Eighteen Techniques and entrusted it to me.
"Young one, you prove it! Pick the weakest one and teach them my martial arts! Hahaha! Prove that anyone, regardless of physical condition, can become the best in the world through external techniques!"
……Sorry, but I ended up teaching it to the strongest one.
At the time, I couldn't ignore Ma Lei's influence.
Also, no matter how much Meng Huo'ak claimed his martial arts could be learned by anyone, natural physical talent still played a significant role in mastering external techniques.
Anyway……
'I never thought I'd be using it here.'
External techniques that even the physically weak could learn.
Meaning, even this body could handle it.
"Phew……"
I paused my training for a moment to catch my breath.
Sweat was pouring down my body, but I felt incredibly refreshed.
"How did so much time pass?"
I had started training in the morning, and when I came to my senses, the red sunset was already setting.
It felt like I could hear Master Meng's hearty laughter in my ears.
"The Green Forest Eighteen Techniques are divided into three sections of six forms each! Mastering the first six forms will invigorate your body and make you as agile as a cat. The middle six forms will harden your body like iron and grant you divine strength. Fully mastering the final six forms will make your body impervious to fire and water, indestructible like diamond, and grant you immortality."
'……I don't really believe the immortality part.'
Master Meng only speculated that it might be possible.
To be honest, when objectively comparing the martial arts of the four masters, the Green Forest King's techniques were slightly inferior.
But I can confidently say this: when it comes to fist and leg techniques and external arts, the Green Forest King's martial arts are the best in the world.
"I'll kill them all!"
I recalled Meng Huo'ak leading the charge after our escape from the Thunder Prison, slaughtering Blood Sect experts as we advanced.
The Blood Sect had to shed an immense amount of blood to stop the disaster that was Meng Huo'ak.
"If Master Meng had been born into a prestigious family or caught the attention of the Nine Great Sects as a child……"
I shook my head.
The Green Forest King was impressive, but Guangma, Bingyue Shennü, and the Sword Sovereign were no less talented.
I knew the martial arts of such incredible masters.
Not just one, but four.
"Phew…… Phew……"
I trained the first six forms of the Green Forest Eighteen Techniques until the stars came out.
Except for two meals, I didn't stop.
I went slowly and gently, adjusting to my stamina.
Even so, my arms trembled, and my legs almost gave out several times.
'A little more.
I can still do more.'
I forced my shaking arms to move.
I tightened my legs to keep from collapsing.
I was still only practicing the first six forms, but soon I would learn the middle six, and someday, I would master the final six.
Then, I would reach a level in external techniques that even the Green Forest King had not achieved.
And that wasn't all.
I had Guangma's martial arts, Bingyue Shennü's martial arts, the Sword Sovereign's martial arts, and the Reversal Heaven Divine Technique.
'How strong would I become if I mastered all of these?'
It might be arrogant to think so.
Each of these martial arts was incredibly difficult to master.
And the martial world was filled with countless experts and geniuses I didn't know about.
But the possibility was there.
'I can become the strongest in the world.'
Even as these thoughts ran through my mind, my limbs kept moving.
I lost track of time, and soon my body was moving through the forms on its own.
BANG!
The gate swung open, and my father, slightly drunk, strode in.
"Son! Your father's back! Hahaha! Guess how much I sold that tiger pelt for? You'll be shocked……"
"……Phew. You're back already?"
"What's all this? Have you been doing this all night?"
"No, it's just…… I had too much energy from the medicine."
My hasty excuse only backfired.
"Medicine? Did you…… take Shou Wu by yourself? I told you to wait until I got back! It's dangerous!"
"No, it's not that."
My father glanced around the training ground, then grabbed a broom from the corner.
"You little brat…… Come here!"
"Let's talk! Let's talk!"
I spent the next while running from my broom-wielding father.
……Still, running around for nearly an hour showed that my stamina had improved.
After that day, my routine didn't change much.
In the mornings and evenings, I practiced the Reversal Heaven Divine Technique, gathering the turbid energy in my body into the nascent elixir in my dantian.
During the day, I trained the first six forms of the Green Forest Eighteen Techniques to build my stamina and flexibility.
About a month later, I received the awaited message from Bi Yingke, Gao Zhulie.
The announcement for new instructors at the Azure Dragon Academy had been posted.