As soon as the two stepped out of the wooden house, they witnessed the end of a fierce battle outside.
The two combatants were Bai Feng and another student named Lu Yiming, who happened to rank fifteenth in the Tianjiao Camp. It was evident that this was a challenge initiated by Bai Feng. Fang Yuan didn't see the entire process, only that Bai Feng stood firmly with a blood - stained hem, while his opponent conceded defeat.
Bai Feng had successfully triumphed over his opponent and advanced into the top - fifteen ranking. It seemed that this genius from Lincheng indeed had some real skills.
Right after winning the challenge, instead of entering the wooden house, Bai Feng rushed over to Fang Yuan cheerfully. "Brother Fang, we're neighbors now!"
Indeed, they were neighbors. As soon as the three of them arrived at the Tianjiao Camp, they became the bottom three of the top - fifteen geniuses.
"I'm going to the central attic to study martial arts techniques. Care to join me?" Fang Yuan casually invited Bai Feng.
"Sure!" Bai Feng nodded immediately. Deep down, he was touched. Brother Fang had actually invited him on his own initiative this time! Their relationship had taken a step forward.
The three of them then walked towards the central attic together.
In the attic, Shi Mo was still sitting cross - legged on a futon, eyes closed in meditation. Seeing Fang Yuan and the other two approaching, he smiled and asked, "What can I do for you?"
"Lord Shi, we want to learn some martial arts." Fang Yuan stated their purpose.
Unlike their first encounter, both sides were much more amiable this time. Fang Yuan was like this. If you were arrogant, he would be arrogant too; if you were polite, he would be polite in return. It was only proper to reciprocate.
"Alright, follow me upstairs." Shi Mo immediately stood up.
The four of them then went to the second floor. Shi Mo introduced, "This is the library. You can freely browse through all the martial arts stored here. As for whether you can successfully practice them, it depends on your own talent and fortune."
Freely browse? Fang Yuan couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. The Tianjiao Camp was really worth joining. They could learn at will! Wasn't this exactly what he came here for?
Lin Jing and Bai Feng also smiled. Seeing the rows of dazzling martial arts manuals in front of them, they were overjoyed. When had they ever been so wealthy in terms of martial arts resources?
Even though both Lin Jing and Bai Feng were from martial arts halls, those small - scale civilian martial arts halls only had some first - realm martial arts, and second - realm ones were extremely scarce... Compared with the official ones, it was like comparing heaven and earth.
However, with so many martial arts manuals here, they were momentarily at a loss as to where to start.
Fang Yuan was in the same situation. At this moment, an idea suddenly popped into his mind. "By the way, Lord Shi, are there any incomplete martial arts?"
"Incomplete martial arts?" Shi Mo was a bit puzzled.
"Yeah, those that are actually very powerful, but because the words are illegible or the second half is missing, making it impossible to fully practice?"
Shi Mo shook his head. "No, all the martial arts techniques here are well - preserved."
"There aren't any?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. He remembered that in novels, the protagonists often practiced such things. What was wrong with Jianghai Palace? Why did they preserve the martial arts so well?
"Then are there any extremely powerful martial arts, but with extremely high risks in practice, ones that can easily cost a person's life?" Fang Yuan threw out a second question.
Lin Jing and Bai Feng beside him were stunned. What strange requests were these from Fang Yuan? Weren't normal martial arts good enough? Why did he have to seek excitement?
"This... there actually are!" This time, Shi Mo gave an affirmative answer. "There are so many martial arts in the world, and naturally, there are many strange ones. Many martial arts creators blindly pursued power, resulting in too many flaws in other aspects, and those who followed to learn suffered as well..."
"Can I take a look at them?" Fang Yuan quickly said, his interest growing stronger.
This was exactly what he wanted. After all, with the "Book of Good Deeds" in hand, flaws meant nothing to him. And such off - the - beaten - path martial arts, after overcoming their flaws, would undoubtedly become a powerful weapon.
Shi Mo fell silent. He suddenly thought... did this young man really have some kind of strange illness?
Nevertheless, he retrieved a rather thin manual from a corner as Fang Yuan requested. "Here you go."
This manual looked rather worn - out and moldy, as if it hadn't been touched for years. Great, based on Fang Yuan's experience of reading novels in his previous life, generally, things with this battle - damaged look were definitely good stuff.
Fang Yuan took it and found that there was only one word on the cover of the book: "Slash."
"The name of this martial art is so casual?"
"Hmm." Shi Mo nodded. "It is said that this martial art was created by a martial arts master over a hundred years ago. He dedicated his life to the art of slashing and painstakingly compiled it."
"It sounds impressive." Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"What comes next is even more astonishing. One day, while pondering this set of martial arts, he accidentally cut himself, and his body was sliced into fine pieces..."
"Do you know why it's called 'Slash'? It's because the master died before he could name it, and later people just randomly gave it this name."
"..."
Seeing that even this troublemaker Fang Yuan was silent, a smile appeared on Shi Mo's face. He continued, "Because it was created by a master, there were still many people who wanted to practice it later. Well, their fates were all similar."
"Some were cut into pieces, and the worse - off ones were sliced into shreds..."
It had to be said that Shi Mo's use of "sliced into shreds" was very vivid. Fang Yuan could even visualize it in his mind. This made him think of the news in his previous life about "being stabbed dozens of times, and the police determined it was suicide..."
He never expected there to be something even more outrageous here.
After hearing this, Lin Jing and Bai Feng also looked pale... Neither the creator nor the learners survived? Was this really a martial art?
"So, Fang Yuan, are you sure you still want to learn it?" Shi Mo looked at Fang Yuan with a smile.
"Whether I learn it or not, let me take a look first..." Fang Yuan wasn't deterred. He was joking. With his golden finger, how could he be afraid of this?
Moreover, he had "The Fourth Calamity" to take the brunt. Slash, slash at him with all your might. Let's see whose "health bar" is stronger, his or this martial art.
"Actually, from another perspective, this martial art still has great value." Fang Yuan said as he flipped through the manual. "After all, among all the people who have learned it, not a single one has given a negative review!"
Shi Mo opened his mouth. Hmm... what he said seemed to make sense.