"When the Divine Sword appears, corpses litter the field; it’s time for the rise of the Ling Family, Tianfeng City shall change hands!"
A whole day had passed.
Such a saying was circulating within Tianfeng City.
There were rumors that on that day the Shi Clan had joined forces with the Li Clan, coordinating with the Ninja Clan’s personal guard to exterminate the Ling Family.
The Ling Family fought until only a hundred members remained. Suddenly, a divine sword descended from the sky, annihilating all the enemy Martial Artists, except for Martial Masters such as Shi Long and Li Yunsheng.
Shi Long, Li Yunsheng, and others were terrified, and immediately fled in embarrassment, heading to the Baiyun Capital to surrender to the Ninja Clan without further mention.
"It truly was a shocking scene indeed, the Divine Sword descended from the sky, its sword light covered almost the entire Ling Family and the surrounding area for thousands of meters!"
Along the road walked a Martial Artist, explaining animatedly to his companion as they went.
"Keep bragging, as if you saw it with your own eyes."
Another laughed and scolded.
These young Martial Artists had all come in admiration.
Their strength ranged from Martial Veins Third Layer to around Martial Pulse Fifth Level. They had heard that the Ling Family was resisting the Ninja Clan and those traitors and greatly admired them.
Therefore, they specifically came to join the Ling Family, hoping that the Ling Family would recruit disciples again.
Although the Ling Family had suffered heavy losses in this battle, if they took in all these people, not only would their strength remain unharmed, it would actually increase.
However, those opposed to the Ling Family naturally did not wish to see this happen.
As these two were walking along, suddenly a group of thieves wearing black scarves sprang out from the bushes by the roadside—unquestionably the active Black Scarf Thieves near Tianfeng City.
"Those who seek refuge with the Ling Family shall die! Either leave or die!"
This was what the group declared upfront.
"We are going to join the Ling Family; who can stop us?"
The two young Martial Artists who greatly admired the Ling Family revealed their weapons.
But in that instant, countless hidden weapons flew like leeches. Even though the two were not lacking in strength, they were only around Martial Vein Quadruple Layer Martial Artists and couldn’t withstand such an attack.
They died on the spot.
Scenes were almost continuously happening around Tianfeng City.
The only difference was that some people were killed, some pledged allegiance to the Black Scarf Thieves, and some chose to leave.
Yet at this moment, the Ling Family knew nothing of these events. They were too short-handed and were currently focusing on cleaning up their family’s mess, simply unable to attend to outside matters.
Ling Xiao, Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, Ling Shuang, Ling Zhan, Ling Fei, Ling Wuheng, and other Ling Family disciples were all granted special access to the Book Pavilion Fourth Floor to contemplate the Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secrets.
In the past, only the Clan Leader and the Elder Supreme had the qualifications to enter the fourth floor of the Book Collection Pavilion. Among the younger generation, only Ling Chen and Ling Feifan had been inside.
But this time, after discussion with the three Elder Supremes, Ling Xiaotian decided to open all four floors of the Book Collection Pavilion, allowing all participating Ling Family disciples a chance to study within.
Because the remaining hundred or so people were all really loyal to the Ling Family, having passed the test of life and death.
There was no reason to doubt their loyalty or character.
The disciples each delved into their Martial Arts without disturbing each other.
The fourth floor of the Book Collection Pavilion was different from what Ling Xiao had imagined.
Instead of books, what was stored here were stone tablets.
Some were broken, some incomplete, and others had even shattered into pieces of rubble.
There were also some intact stone tablets, but the text carved upon them had been intentionally destroyed for some reason, making it impossible to fully discern.
"In everyone’s mind lies a different Transcendent Martial Art; it can be said that Transcendent Martial Arts is a realm, not a fixed set of moves. If any of you can understand even a part of it, not only will you achieve a significant breakthrough in combat strength, but also attain an enhancement in realm."
It was by studying these stone tablets that Ling Xiaotian had managed to advance to Martial Vein Seventh Layer, though ultimately he failed.
Not only were these stone tablets incomplete, but they were also obscure and difficult to understand. He could only grasp some fragmented meanings, unable to comprehend the full essence.
In fact, the so-called Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secret that people like Ling Chen and Shi Yu Lian had understood was quite laughable.
Because what they had understood was not even close to the Mystic Art; it was merely a tiny fraction of the skin of the Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secret.
Listening to Ling Xiaotian’s words, Ling Xiao looked toward the stone tablets, and in a trance, he seemed to see many people practicing various techniques in front of the tablets.
Some were like thunder descending from the heavens, able to shatter a mountain in an instant;
Others were like an earthquake erupting, instantly destroying a town;
Some were like a fierce wind ravaging the land, capable of overturning countless beings in an instant;
And some were just a person with a sword, who, with a casual flick, could split the sky, making the sun and moon change colors.
Almost every stone tablet represented a terrifying form of Transcendent Martial Arts.
What a pity that not a single tablet was complete.
Otherwise, what a terrifying thing that would’ve been.
If the Ling Family possessed so many complete Transcendent Martial Arts, not to mention ruling over Tianfeng City, it would be a piece of cake even to dominate Baiyun Province.
But a fragmentary secret is just a fragmentary secret.
Already extremely arcane and difficult to comprehend, Transcendent Martial Arts were seldom understood, and now that they were only fragmentary secrets, the difficulty had increased a thousandfold, even ten thousandfold.
"Everyone, listen! These Transcendent Martial Arts are incredibly terrifying. Absolutely do not remain in the Illusion Realm for too long. If you exceed one shichen, we will forcibly interrupt your cultivation; otherwise, if you’re not driven mad with an overheated mind, then you’ll become stupid and silly, or at worst, you might even die on the spot!"
Ling Xiao dared not take Ling Xiaotian’s warning lightly.
Having reached this point, Ling Xiaotian would definitely not be mystifying them without reason—it was certain that in the past, someone practiced for over one shichen and experienced various problems.
And there wasn’t just one such person, which was why the Ling Family had established such a rule.
Ling Xiao didn’t want to waste time. One shichen would definitely not be enough to fully master the Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secrets here.
Thus, Ling Xiao picked one of the more suitable and relatively complete Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secrets for his practice and focused on studying it.
In an instant, Ling Xiao entered the state of Soul Entry, and at that moment, everything before his eyes changed.
A shadow appeared on the stone tablet that his gaze was fixated on.
That shadow was none other than his own.
According to Ling Xiaotian, Transcendent Martial Arts actually had no fixed techniques, only the core Mystic Art. Once one mastered the Mystic Art, one could create techniques of their own.
This was also why Transcendent Martial Arts were so difficult to learn.
After all, without reaching the level of a Martial Master, let alone entering the Transcendent Realm, one’s understanding of Martial Arts was very weak. The idea of creating one’s own Martial Arts was no more than a pipe dream.
But Ling Xiao’s situation was slightly different.
His own understanding of Martial Arts might not be enough, but the Mountain and River Martial Soul’s understanding of Martial Arts was definitely on par with a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist.
It might even be stronger.
When he fully operated the Mountain and River Martial Soul, the shadow in front of him changed faster and faster, performing various movements repeatedly, as if pondering the true essence of the Mystic Art of the Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secret.
In the end, all these shadows merged into one, and then a clear sequence of movements formed in Ling Xiao’s mind.
"First Form—Flying Snow!"
Ling Xiao had understood the first sword move from this stone tablet. Although this sword move was not perfected and was merely in its rudimentary form, it already embodied the Mystic Art of the Transcendent Martial Arts Fragmentary Secret. As long as he continued to improve and refine it, he would eventually perfect it.
The first form was successfully comprehended.