Chapter 1: The Fox Demon at Home
Kenmu State, Qi Wang Fu.
The Qi Wang Fu is the oldest and most prestigious aristocratic family in Jianwu Kingdom, with a history dating back to the founding of the kingdom. The founder of the Qi Wang Fu followed Emperor Wu in his early years, helping him establish the country and expand its territory, earning great merit and wealth. As a reward, he was granted a noble title and his descendants have inherited it for generations, making the Qi Wang Fu the most illustrious royal family in Jianwu Kingdom.
Jianwu State was founded by martial arts, and the Qi family rose to power with martial arts. The ancestors of the Qi State were a pair of flesh palms that defeated all opponents in 51 states, even transcending the limits of martial arts, cultivating the divine wheel and refining the divine powers. Only then could they obtain the heavy imperial seal and be enfeoffed as the King of Qi!
The Qi royal family naturally attaches great importance to martial arts, and the Qi family's children practice martial arts without exception. There are often outstanding young people who enter the imperial court as officials, become high-ranking generals, and the Qi family is even more unshakeable, with no one able to shake it.
The princes of the Qi royal family practiced martial arts every day at the fifth watch, until the sun was high in the sky before they rested. Therefore, when it reached the fifth watch, oil lamps were lit in the palace, with fierce flames burning brightly, illuminating everything as bright as daylight.
On this day, many of the Qi family's young men finished their martial training and dispersed. After a while, two young servants came forward to tidy up the scattered equipment.
"Zi Chuan, just now those young masters were practicing martial arts, I sneaked a peek and even learned two moves!"
A robust and powerful man, like an iron tower, made two moves with his hands, his palms raised a whistling sound, loud and clear, the move was strong and fierce, with a solid foundation, it was indeed the two ultimate techniques of the Qi Wang Fu, which he had unintentionally stolen and learned, and now showed off in front of his companions.
The "Zi Chuan" in his mouth was actually his partner, the clear and elegant young man beside him, a young servant of the Qi Wang Fu, surnamed Jiang, named Nan, with the courtesy name Zi Chuan, 14 or 15 years old, with a refined and handsome appearance, not looking like a lowly servant, but rather like a young master from a wealthy family.
"Zhùzi, nǐ bù yào mìng le!"
Translation: "Pillar, you're going to get yourself killed!"
Jiang Nan looked around cautiously and said in a low voice, "As servants, we can only learn some lower-level martial arts from outside the manor. What you just used was the high-level martial art of the Wang Manor. Last time, Liu Hei Da was discovered stealing the high-level martial art of the Wang Manor and was killed by an expert from the inner manor, his body was exposed for three days!"
"Zi Chuan, you're being too cautious. What I've learned is just techniques, not internal skills."
Tie Zhu heavily patted his shoulder and laughed, saying: "Last time Liu Hei Da was killed, I heard it was because he stole one of the four great divine skills of the Wang Fu, Jiang Yue Po Lang Jue!"
A boat can go safely for a thousand miles with careful navigation...
"Zi Chuan, although I'm just a lowly servant now, it doesn't mean I'll be one for the rest of my life! If I can hone my skills and become proficient, in the future I can also rise to greatness, bowing to no one, with millions bowing to me!"
Tie Zhu's expression turned serious as he said, "Zi Chuan, I heard you bought a fox in the market? Foxes are the most evil and seductive creatures. If you want to keep it alive, I advise you to abandon this idea, or else you'll be drained of your yang energy. The poor alleys of Qi Wang Fu are the easiest places to attract monsters and demons. I heard that there are foxes and wolves that have cultivated into demons, roaming around the alleys, sucking the yang energy from young men. You're a handsome young man, and a scholar at that, you're absolutely the favorite of those demonic creatures..."
Jiang Nan smiled and said, "Where did so many monsters come from? I just saw that fox being burned to a crisp, the hunter was going to skin it and eat it, really pitiful. At the time, my heart softened and I bought it. When it recovers from its injuries, I'll let it leave on its own."
"I heard my mother say that the demons also like to eat the hearts and livers of young men, there are sturdy men like me who sleep with female demons in the slums for a night, and when they wake up the next day, they find their two kidneys have been eaten away, some even had their heads gnawed off, and their bellies emptied of heart and liver..." Iron Pillar continued.
Jiang Nan glared at him, but Tie Zhu didn't seem to notice and continued to mutter: "I've also heard that some female demons like to absorb yang energy to supplement their yin. There are even sturdy men like me who sleep with female demons in the poor alleys, only to have their yang energy drained overnight, turning them into...
Jiangnan had been busy for a whole day and returned to his own residence, the poor alley of Tiezhu. The slaves and servants of the Wang Mansion were also divided into three six nine grades. The upper-class servants lived in the Wang Mansion, enjoyed the most favor, had high wages, often received rewards, had no worries about food and clothing, and their treatment was comparable to that of ordinary rich families' young masters. The lower-class slaves lived outside the mansion, doing miscellaneous chores, doing dirty and hard work, with little pay, sometimes going hungry, and were often scolded and beaten, and it was not uncommon for them to be beaten to death.
A call from the south, and a fox with mottled fur emerged lazily from the house. The young man picked up the fox and headed towards the setting sun on Luoxia Mountain outside the city.
Refugees in troubled times, cheaper than dogs!
He was not a native of Kenmu, but a refugee who had fled his homeland after it was devastated by disaster. Thousands of miles were scorched and flooded, said to be the result of two heavenly gods waging war, bringing calamity upon mortals.
Millions of refugees fled for thousands of miles, with corpses littering the ground and skeletons filling the fields. At night, the desolate wilderness was filled with ghostly fires, and wild dogs and wolves that had eaten human corpses and become demons drove in on rolling black fog and mist, bursting into the crowds of refugees at midnight to find living people to devour.
The Jiangnan family was originally a large and prestigious clan, but this disaster led to the collapse of the family, with masters and servants scattering in all directions to escape. Jiangnan escaped from the chaos to Jianwu Country, where he was forced by circumstances to sell himself into slavery to the Qi Wang Fu.
In the mountains of Luoxia, Jiangnan calmed his mind, took a deep breath, and his chest slowly expanded, as if there was a big drum hidden in his chest. His heart beat rapidly, like the sound of drums, thumping loudly.
All that could be heard was the crackling and popping sounds coming from his body, as thick muscles contracted under his skin, like a crossbow being drawn taut, making a "twang" sound with each slight movement.
Bang!
He slapped his palm into the air, like a whip fiercely lashing through the air, producing a crisp sound!
His move was exactly the same as the Quwang Fu's martial arts that Tiezhu had secretly learned, only much more skilled and majestic!
"The young masters of the Qi Wang Fu are mostly idiots, and it took them more than a month to learn something as simple as the Hunyuan Opening Scripture!"
Although he looked slender, his moves were now big and bold, his two hands like two mountain-opening axes, chopping and slashing, left cutting right cutting, in a few breaths he had already used the Qi Wang Fu's ultimate skill, Hunyuan Kai Bei Shou!
The rustling sound of the wind in the mountains, the palm wind fist of Jiangnan rolled up dry branches and leaves, the style was fierce, like a strong man waving a giant hammer, it was simply a master who had been immersed in martial arts for more than ten years!
He was as imposing as an iron pillar, and had also secretly learned the martial arts of the Qi Wang Fu. However, unlike Tie Zhu, who only scratched the surface, Jiang Nan had clearly learned more, grasping the essence, and even mastering techniques that the young masters of the Qi Wang Fu had yet to learn.
No one knew that Jiangnan, who had always been gentle and elegant with a weak bookish appearance, would have such an overbearing and powerful physique!
"Zhu Zi doesn't want to be a subordinate all his life, and neither do I! In a chaotic world, it's not wisdom that gets you ahead, but military power!"
His fists and feet suddenly slowed down, transforming into another martial art of the Qi Wang Fu, with his hands sometimes embracing the bright moon, and sometimes pulling a galloping Yangtze River, appearing extremely heavy, and within that heaviness, there was a bright moon rising from the river with clarity!
The great river emerges from the deep valley!
The bright moon is suspended in the vast sky!
The great river flows with the tide!
This is another martial art of the Qi Wang Fu, the third move of Jiang Yue Po Lang Jue, one of the four ultimate arts of the town house. Jiang Yue Po Lang Jue far surpasses other martial arts and can be said to be the best among all martial arts in Jianwu Country. It is the pinnacle of Qi Wang Fu's martial arts!
Jiang Yue's Breaking Wave Fist has ten major forms, each containing a layer of martial arts heart method, corresponding to the ten major realms of martial arts. Jiang Nan only obtained three of them.
He repeated these three formulas back and forth, practicing them over and over. The true energy inside him was like the Yangtze River, rolling and surging, churning ceaselessly. Then, the true energy condensed and transformed into a bright moon, rising from the waist's energy sea, like the bright moon rising out of the ocean, slowly ascending, until it finally rose to the brow point, shining brightly.
The moon rises and sets, cycling endlessly.
This is a feeling, and it's not that a bright moon really rises in the air sea, but the true energy response caused by Jiangyue Broken Wave Key.
His Broken Wave Fist was actually passed down from Liu Hei Da.
One year ago, Liu Hei Da stole the Qi Wang Fu's inner method, which was the Jiang Yue Po Lang Jue. Unfortunately, he only got three moves from it. Liu Hei Da was illiterate and although he obtained the inner method, he didn't know how to cultivate it. So, he secretly found Jiang Nan with the inner method in hand.
He was clever, breaking down the paragraphs in the Heart Method into individual sentences and coming to ask Jiangnan for explanations one by one, so that Jiangnan wouldn't realize this was a martial art. After Jiangnan explained, he would then connect these principles together to cultivate the Breaking Wave Fist.
Jiangnan quickly sensed the cat's trick here, still calmly replaced Liu Heida to answer, while secretly recording the broken wave formula, slowly sorting and deducing, finally restoring the three formulas of the broken wave formula.
Liu Hei Da's practice of the Broken Wave Fist was discovered by the Qi Wang Fu, and he was killed by General Manager Qi Dang. Jiang Nan had also been somewhat apprehensive, fearing that he would be implicated, but later the matter was dropped, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
One year of hard work, Jiangnan's true energy is quite impressive, even among the many young masters in the Qi Wangfu, it can be ranked in the middle!
"The ten levels of martial arts are divided into five physical and five spiritual. The five physical realms are skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and membranes! I have practiced the Jiangyue Broken Wave Technique and successfully tempered my tendons, every move is like a strong crossbow, my pure physical strength surpasses that of even the strongest men by several times!"
He thought to himself, "The Jiang Yue San Shi I obtained from Liu Hei Da can only allow me to cultivate up to the third level of Wu Dao, the realm of refining tendons. To progress further, I can only rely on myself to deduce and comprehend the fourth formula and fourth layer of heart method!"
In a year's time, Jiang Nan relied on the remaining Jiang Yue Po Lang Jue to cultivate and complete the three major martial arts realms of skin, flesh, and tendon, with a cultivation speed that was not slower than those young masters from the Qi Wang Fu, and even faster!
"As for the five realms of refining Qi, they are divided into Refining Qi, Merging with the Origin, Inner Cycle, Outer Cycle, and Divine Wheel! I am currently cultivating at the peak of Refining Bone, still six major realms away from the Divine Wheel. It's estimated that it will take many years of bitter cultivation to achieve this."
The Qi Wang Fu has many skilled practitioners, but there are few who can cultivate the Divine Wheel. The fifth realm of Body Refining is not difficult to achieve, but the fifth realm of Qi Refining is much harder.
Jiang Nan closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and his brain rapidly turned over, deducing the various subtleties of Jiang Yue's Broken Wave Technique. Suddenly, he moved his body, unfolding the fourth form in his imagination, then immediately stood still again, closing his eyes to continue perfecting it.
That white fox with mottled fur was dozing off under a big tree, occasionally opening one eye to sneak a peek at Jiangnan practicing martial arts. Its snow-white fur was unevenly burned by the big fire, with black and white patches all over, its tail was also bald and weak, as if it had fallen into a serious illness, but its eyes were as charming as a woman's.
Night fell, and Jiang Nan secretly returned to the poor alley outside the Qi Wang Fu, washed up and had dinner. As the night deepened, he felt drowsy, lay down on his bed and fell fast asleep.
The moon rises, casting a hazy light through the broken window frames from outside into the room, spilling onto the head of the bed.
A white fox emerged from the corner, blinking its big eyes at Jiang Nan who was sleeping soundly. Suddenly, it took a long breath in, and a strong yang energy flowed out of Jiang Nan's nostrils, which the fox absorbed into its body continuously!
The moonlight flickered, and it seemed as if a cold wind was blowing inside the room, giving people a chill.
The white fox's scorched fur began to fall off slowly, and new snow-white fur grew out at a visible speed, while Jiang Nan was still asleep, completely unaware!
