Chapter 5: Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand

Chen Yuan looked at Lin Jingqi with great interest.

He hadn’t expected that there was such a hidden story behind what happened back then.

Actually, he had felt something was off from the start; Lin Jingqi’s behavior was far too weak and indecisive, lacking even the decisiveness shown by his wife.

Could a personality like that really pull off seizing a martial arts academy?

Now that it turned out Zhang Qiuhe was the one in control, it made much more sense.

While spitting out blood, Zhang Qiuhe glared venomously at Lin Jingqi. “Useless! You’re just like Duan Mubai, both of you are useless!”

Lin Jingqi looked at Chen Yuan expectantly, hoping Chen Yuan would spare his life.

But in the next instant, a blade flashed, and Lin Jingqi’s head fell to the ground in a split second.

Chen Yuan flicked the blood droplets off his blade, sheathed it, and said to Zhang Xiaoyi, “Take the head, and bring that woman along too.”

Zhang Xiaoyi nodded and immediately found a ragged cloth to wrap Lin Jingqi’s head in, then escorted Zhang Qiuhe out of the academy.

The academy Disciples were as quiet as cicadas in winter, all of them proactively clearing a path.

In truth, it had been redundant for Chen Yuan to bring these Disciples from the Skill Transmission Hall to bolster his presence.

The Disciples in the academy were just there to pay for martial arts lessons; they didn’t have a true master-Disciple relationship with Lin Jingqi.

Upon learning that Lin Jingqi had offended the Heaven Wolf Gang, they had even considered simply quitting the academy; none of them were going to lift a finger.

After taking a carriage to Wuyi Alley, Chen Yuan took the head and threw it in front of Duan Mubai.

Duan Mubai seemingly hadn’t expected Chen Yuan to move so quickly.

He froze for a moment before using his trembling hands to pull back the ragged cloth.

Seeing the familiar head inside, Duan Mubai let out a series of whimpers that sounded like both crying and laughing, his entire body shaking.

“Oh, there’s one more thing I should tell you.”

Before he died, Lin Jingqi said he wasn’t the mastermind behind the plot against you; your fiancée, Zhang Qiuhe, was the mastermind. He was actually seduced and manipulated by her.

I’ve brought the woman to you as well. Do with her as you please.”

With a wave of Chen Yuan’s hand, Zhang Qiuhe was thrown directly in front of Duan Mubai.

Duan Mubai looked at Zhang Qiuhe tremulously. “It was really you?”

“Of course it was me. Otherwise, did you think a useless person like Lin Jingqi could pull these things off? Even if he had the heart for it, he wouldn’t have the guts!”

Facing Duan Mubai, Zhang Qiuhe showed not a shred of guilt; instead, her face was filled with hatred.

“Why!? My father was the one who adopted you, taught you martial arts, and treated you like his own daughter! I also saw you as my own sister!”

“But I am not your sister! I was your fiancée! I was the wife of the Academy Head!”

Zhang Qiuhe glared fixedly at Duan Mubai. “I didn’t care how much of a playboy you were when you went out looking for women, but you shouldn’t have said you treated me like a sister and didn’t plan to marry me!

I spent over a decade preparing to be the Academy Head’s Wife. Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy was my home. I’ve already lost one home; I didn’t want to lose a second one!

You treat me like a sister, but if you marry someone else, will she treat me like a sister? Will Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy still be my home?

It doesn’t matter who becomes the Head of Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy, but I must be the Academy Head’s Wife!”

Duan Mubai looked at Zhang Qiuhe and suddenly burst into loud laughter, but as he laughed, he began to wail again.

He never would have dreamed in his life that he would fall to such a state because of such an absurd reason!

Having had his fill of the drama, Chen Yuan waved his hand and had someone drag Zhang Qiuhe away.

“Alright, I’ve brought you both the one who did the deed and the mastermind. I’ve been more than fair; it’s time to hand over the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand, isn’t it?”

Duan Mubai said with a raspy voice, “Get me paper and a brush.”

Chen Yuan brought paper and a brush, and Duan Mubai tremblingly wrote out the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand technique.

Satisfied, Chen Yuan put away the technique and set down fifty taels of silver. “Take the money and live out the rest of your life well.”

Duan Mubai waved his hand. “Don’t waste the silver. I’ve been lying here for several years; I’ve gotten used to it.”

“What about that woman, Zhang Qiuhe? Should I take care of her?”

“Let her go. In the end, it was I who failed her.”

Chen Yuan glanced at Duan Mubai and shook his head slightly.

A total pushover.

Chen Yuan got into the carriage, called Zhang Xiaoyi over, and said indifferently, “In a moment, take that woman to a secluded place and finish her off.”

Zhang Xiaoyi asked in surprise, “Young Master, didn’t you promise Duan Mubai to let her go?”

“I only asked him if she needed to be handled; I never promised to do as he said.”

Chen Yuan said coolly, “That woman is not someone to be trifled with, and her mind isn’t right.

I killed her husband and destroyed Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy; there’s no telling what kind of trouble she might stir up.

As the saying goes, ‘When will the cycle of vengeance end?’ If you kill them all off, there won’t be so many messy stories of revenge.”

Zhang Xiaoyi scratched his head in confusion.

Is that what ‘When will the cycle of vengeance end’ means?

But since the Young Master said it, then there shouldn’t be a problem.

After returning to the Heaven Wolf Gang, Chen Yuan immediately began a period of secluded cultivation, preparing to practice the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand.

Wiping out the Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy was a trivial matter, one that didn’t even require a special report to Jiang Kaitai.

To the outside world, he could just say the Town Mountain Martial Arts Academy was colluding with the Blackwater Gang and showing contempt for the Heaven Wolf Gang.

Although Lin Jingqi, the Academy Head, could barely be considered someone of note, in the eyes of the Heaven Wolf Gang, he was just like Hu Lao San who Chen Yuan had killed in the Wangyou Tower—just another nobody who couldn’t take the stage.

Chen Yuan had been doing things like this frequently lately to gain favor with Jiang Kaitai, so Jiang Kaitai had become accustomed to it.

Back in his room, Chen Yuan took out the technique and studied it carefully.

After his Transmigration, Chen Yuan inherited the memories of ‘Chen Yuan’ from the game, and he also inherited this body’s incredibly powerful martial talent.

Chen Yuan had only been practicing martial arts for two years before taking charge of the Skill Transmission Hall, and he was even able to command the deep respect of the old instructors there because of his freakish martial talent.

Chen Yuan could gain a basic mastery of any Cultivation Technique with just a glance, and after practicing for a short while, he could understand it thoroughly.

The proprietress of Wangyou Tower had said Chen Yuan’s Heavenly Wolf Swordplay had seventy percent of Jiang Kaitai’s charm, but she had actually underestimated Chen Yuan.

When Jiang Kaitai was at Chen Yuan’s level of cultivation, his attainments in the Heavenly Wolf Swordplay were far inferior to Chen Yuan’s.

When he first transmigrated, Chen Yuan felt like he didn’t even have a Golden Finger, thinking he was a bit too pathetic for a transmigrator.

But looking at it now, this body he transmigrated into was his greatest Golden Finger.

As long as he could survive this calamity in Lianshan City and grow in this Jianghu, his future achievements would be limitless.

A Genius who hasn’t grown up is just a dead person; one who has grown up is a legend.

Duan Mubai hadn’t held anything back; he had indeed written out the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand technique in its entirety.

After reading it all in one go, Chen Yuan let out a long breath.

He was now certain that the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand was definitely not an ancestral technique of the Duan family; their family didn’t have that kind of foundation.

The core of the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand was extremely sophisticated; it wasn’t purely a grappling-type Martial Skill, but also a technique that could mobilize internal breath and temper the Meridians.

Externally it practiced grappling, while internally it cultivated Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy. These two forces—one hard and one soft—transformed into Internal Energy that circulated through the body, aligning with the principles of Yin and Yang to continuously temper the Meridians.

Even if one hadn’t cultivated an Internal Skill, years of tempering would allow them to step into the Pulse Opening Realm under the impact of this hard and soft Internal Energy.

No wonder Duan Zhenshan could reach the Pulse Opening Realm without having cultivated an Internal Skill; it was because he had cultivated the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand to an extremely profound level.

Logically, a technique of this level should have a matching Internal Skill to go along with it.

The Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy only served a supplementary role.

But the Duan ancestors never had an Internal Skill passed down, which showed that this technique was likely something the Duan ancestors had obtained by chance.

Chen Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, continuously circulating the two forces of Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy.

He felt the two forces—one hard, one soft—constantly clashing within his body, bringing waves of needle-like pain.

But Chen Yuan’s expression didn’t change as he continued to forcibly control these two forces, using them to carry the weak Internal Energy cultivated by the Azure Wood Heart Method to impact his Meridians.

If Duan Mubai were to see this scene, he would surely be devastated.

His martial talent was considered decent, but when Duan Zhenshan taught him the Silken Thread Shattering Jade Hand, it took him a whole month just to sense the Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy.

As for controlling these two hard and soft forces to temper the Meridians, that was even more of a pipe dream.

He couldn’t control these two forces at all; if they appeared at the same time, they would start to conflict, and trying to forcibly temper with them would simply destroy his Meridians.

So Duan Mubai had practiced this technique for over a year, but he hadn’t even reached basic mastery.

And now, Chen Yuan had taken only a day to reach a level of control over the Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy that was almost no different from his father, Duan Zhenshan.

Chen Yuan endured the intense pain, pushing through and opening his blocked Meridians one by one.

This wasn’t a game with pain perception shielding; Chen Yuan had to endure all the pain himself.

Accompanied by the impact of the hard and soft forces, the Governor Vessel, the Conception Vessel, the Penetrating Vessel… were opened one after another.

He had already cultivated to the Peak of the Body Tempering Realm, but because the progress of the Azure Wood Heart Method was too slow, he had been unable to break through.

Now, with the help of the Silken Thread Energy and Shattering Jade Energy, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were completely opened. Internal Energy flowed through his body like water, circulating in a complete cycle, endless and self-sustaining.

The Pulse Opening Realm was achieved!

Chen Yuan let out a long breath. At this moment, he was drenched in sweat, as if he had been fished out of the water.

Compared to the Body Tempering Realm, the biggest difference in the Pulse Opening Realm was the increase in power.

One merely used the pure strength of muscle and bone.

The other could use Internal Energy to stimulate the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and mobilize the power of the entire body; the two were on completely different levels of explosive power.

Furthermore, after opening the pulses, the body’s cycle was completely cleared. Even when Chen Yuan was sleeping, his Internal Energy would subconsciously circulate, and the speed of his Internal Energy growth would increase further.

However, at this stage, there was an even greater need for a good internal heart-Cultivation Technique.

In Chen Yuan’s state of focused cultivation, it took two hours for the Internal Energy of the Azure Wood Heart Method to complete one cycle.

A high-grade technique might only take fifteen minutes, or even less; the difference was vast.