Desolate Ancient Martial God

How big is the world?

Before coming to the Heavenly Net Sect, Xiao Yun was the legitimate son of the Xiao family in the capital of Yan State. His horizons had been limited to the surrounding areas of the Yan State capital.

After arriving at the Heavenly Net Sect, Xiao Yun saw a wider region—Lizhou.

The entire Lizhou region stretched 10,000 miles in length and width. It was governed by the Great Yan Dynasty, with 39 sects and 267 counties under its jurisdiction.

The Heavenly Net Sect and Yan State were located in the eastern part of Lizhou. In addition to Heavenly Net Sect, there were two other sects and 14 counties in the east.

Xiao Yun had thought Lizhou was already vast, but after witnessing Heavenly Venerable Yun’s memories, he realized how truly boundless the world was and how advanced martial arts had become.

Even Lizhou, with its 10,000-mile span, was just an inconspicuous corner of the mortal realm in Heavenly Venerable Yun’s memories.

The reason Heavenly Venerable Yun had ended up in a state where only his soul remained was an unparalleled divine object—the Ancient Secret Realm.

Heavenly Venerable Yun had accidentally discovered it in the outer domain. To open the Ancient Secret Realm, he poured in his life’s efforts, sacrificing both his mind and cultivation. It had taken nearly a hundred years to finally open the realm.

However, before he could celebrate, Heavenly Venerable Yun was betrayed and plotted against by his eldest disciple, Honglian, and others who had long been coveting the realm. Severely injured and on the brink of death, Heavenly Venerable Yun detonated his Heavenly Venerable martial body in desperation. In the end, his soul carried the Ancient Secret Realm as it fell into the endless void.

Xiao Yun had suffered a similar betrayal. His overwhelming obsession pierced the endless void, attracting Heavenly Venerable Yun’s soul, which attempted to seize his body but failed due to the cracks in Heavenly Venerable Yun’s own soul.

The Ancient Secret Realm had thus become integrated into Xiao Yun’s body.

With a thought, Xiao Yun entered the Ancient Secret Realm.

As far as the eye could see, there was endless darkness, and ancient, mysterious auras occasionally emerged from the void.

Since the Ancient Secret Realm had only been recently opened, Heavenly Venerable Yun’s understanding of it was limited. All he knew was that the realm had the power to evolve the origin of martial arts.

Thousand-Pound Fist!

Xiao Yun threw a punch.

As the punch passed through the air, fist shadows emerged one after another, each more refined than the last. The first fist shadow was rudimentary—at the entry level. As it continued evolving, the fist shadows grew stronger.

First came minor success, then major success.

The final fist shadow reached the pinnacle level, transcending basic martial arts and becoming comparable to a lower-grade yellow-rank martial art at the peak of mastery.

Xiao Yun’s expression shifted slightly.

Immediately, Xiao Yun punched again, following the trajectory of the fist shadow. This time, the power released was even greater than before.

He continued to punch, realizing that as he followed the trajectory, each punch became stronger. It wasn’t that his physical strength had increased, but rather that his understanding of the Thousand-Pound Fist had deepened.

As he punched repeatedly, Xiao Yun gained continuous enlightenment.

The origin of martial arts evolved with each punch, and Xiao Yun’s strikes grew more powerful. A sound, like surging tides, began to reverberate around him.

After ten thousand punches, the Thousand-Pound Fist reached Great Perfection.

Xiao Yun unleashed a final punch. A force of a thousand pounds surged out, unstoppable and full of raw power.

“In just a quarter of an hour, I advanced from the entry-level to Great Perfection…”

The Thousand-Pound Fist was a basic martial art of the Heavenly Net Sect. It was easy to learn but difficult to master. Xiao Yun had practiced it for three years yet had only reached the entry-level.

If practiced step by step, it would have taken at least five years to reach Great Perfection.

Xiao Yun hadn’t practiced much before—not because he was unwilling, but because he didn’t have the time. He could afford to wait, but the cloud boat would not wait.

In a quarter of an hour, it would set sail.

Once he returned to Yan State, it would take two months to travel back to the Heavenly Net Sect.

It had only been two days since the martial spirit seed in Xiao Yun’s body had been taken. If he could retrieve the martial spirit seed within three months, he could awaken his martial spirit again.

For the former Xiao Yun, retrieving the martial spirit seed was an impossible dream. But for the current Xiao Yun, there was hope.

“My Qi Sea is seventy percent broken, and recovery is nearly impossible. Instead of holding onto it, it’s better to shatter the seventy percent and preserve the intact thirty percent.”

Xiao Yun’s gaze filled with determination. He immediately began circulating the true Qi in his body.

As the true Qi circulated through his body, Xiao Yun’s broken Qi Sea shattered completely. After a full cycle, only the intact 30% of the Qi Sea remained.

With his meridians unblocked, the blood stasis in Xiao Yun’s swollen internal organs was dislodged by the true Qi. After spitting out six mouthfuls of black blood, he felt much more relaxed.

Without the blood stasis, most of his injuries had recovered.

However, his cultivation level dropped from the ninth level of the Qi Refining realm to the fourth level—a full five-level decline.

Xiao Yun didn’t care. It wouldn’t take long to recover the lost cultivation.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yun stood up and walked out of the cabin.

“Stop!”

The outer sect disciple guarding the door barked at him.

“I want to see the steward,” Xiao Yun said calmly.

“Xiao Yun, do you still think you’re the fifth-ranked outer sect disciple of Heavenly Secrets Hall? You’re just trash now. Go back! The steward won’t see you,” the disciple sneered.

In reality, as long as the cloud boat hadn’t set sail, any disciple being sent away could request to see the steward. However, the guard deliberately blocked Xiao Yun, taking advantage of his current state.

Xiao Yun saw through this but, pressed for time, didn’t want to waste words.

Ignoring the disciple, he took a step forward.

“You rebel! Get back here!”

Enraged, the guard lashed out with his iron rod. With his fifth-level Qi Refining cultivation and the force of the rod, a bone could easily be broken if struck.

Thousand-Pound Fist!

Xiao Yun punched out.

The iron rod flew from the guard’s hand, and his chest caved in slightly as he fell to the ground.

“If this happens again, I won’t show mercy,” Xiao Yun said coldly, glancing at the disciple before walking away.

The guard clutched his chest, his face pale. He was just a low-level outer sect disciple assigned to guard the hatch. Thinking Xiao Yun was powerless, he had only wanted to teach him a lesson. But that punch…

It was terrifying.

On the deck, the fat deacon overseeing the ship had noticed Xiao Yun’s strike. He didn’t intervene. Instead, he squinted and watched as Xiao Yun approached.

“You dare to hurt a disciple of Heavenly Secrets Hall right in front of me? Tell me, how do you want to die?” the fat deacon said, his voice low and threatening.

“Sir Deacon,” Xiao Yun cupped his hands and saluted.

The fat deacon looked at him in surprise. He hadn’t expected Xiao Yun to remain so calm.

“If you kill me now, you’ll gain nothing but a corpse. But if you spare me and let me return to the outer sect, you’ll earn a favor,” Xiao Yun said seriously.

“A favor from you?” The fat deacon sneered, looking Xiao Yun up and down. “With seventy percent of your Qi Sea destroyed, leaving only thirty percent intact, and your cultivation fallen to the fourth level of the Qi Refining realm, do you think you still have a chance to join the inner sect?”

“How will you know unless I try?” Xiao Yun replied firmly.

“Try?”

The fat deacon studied him for a moment, then said, “You’re still better than the trash hiding in the cabins. Fine. I’ll give you this chance. Take this outer sect disciple token.”

He tossed a token to Xiao Yun.

“Thank you, Deacon. I won’t forget this favor,” Xiao Yun said, bowing his hands again.

“Before I change my mind, get out of here,” the fat deacon waved him off without another glance.

Xiao Yun wasted no time. He jumped off the cloud ship as it began to set sail.

From the deck, the fat deacon narrowed his eyes as he watched Xiao Yun striding toward the gate of the Heavenly Net Sect.

The reason he had given Xiao Yun the token was because of that punch—the force was like a surging tide, carrying the strength of a thousand pounds.

It was a clear sign that the Thousand-Pound Fist had reached Great Success.

In the Heavenly Net Sect, few could cultivate the Thousand-Pound Fist to such a level within three years of joining the sect. Such individuals had comprehension abilities far beyond the average disciple.

In the fat deacon’s eyes, even if Xiao Yun couldn’t enter the inner sect in the future, he would still do well in the outer sect. Keeping Xiao Yun’s favor now might prove useful someday.