Martial Arts Longevity Begins with the Equipment Slot

Chapter 55 Madness and Dislocation of Bones, Blade 1 Kill

The third shelf of the bookshelf is dedicated to swordsmanship.

Chen Yu pulled out a copy of "Eight Styles of Iron Slaying".

Gently turn the page; the paper rustles.

The inscription on the title page reads: "Only by testing iron with a knife can one know its sharpness or dullness."

The diagrams are detailed and include techniques such as starting moves, turning around, diagonal slashes, and straight cuts.

Each formula has a small annotation in cinnabar next to it.

"The third movement requires strong waist strength, otherwise it is easy to injure muscles and bones."

"The seventh move is to change the grip to three inches, and the force can penetrate the back of the blade."

The handwriting is quite different, clearly indicating that it was written by two different people.

It is estimated that later generations continue to climb on the shoulders of their predecessors.

Chen Yu put the book back and then took down another book, "The Manual of Forging Knives".

This book on knife techniques is quite unique, as it is written entirely in the terminology of knife making.

"Quenching is for defense, forging is for offense."

"Tempering is like sheathing a knife; too much will make it brittle, too little will make it soft."

Chen Yu watched in amazement.

"The creator must have been a martial artist who came from a background in weapon forging, for his swordsmanship actually contained the skills of forging."

Further on, there are "The Secrets of the Quick Blade," "An Initial Exploration of Blade Qi," "Twelve Styles of the Curved Blade," and more...

They all look pretty good, but they all lack a certain menacing aura.

Chen Yu looked up and gazed deeper into the bookshelf.

One of them is "The Twelve Cuts of Broken Steel".

"This sword technique can not only cut through wrought iron, but also through fine steel."

Upon closer inspection of the diagrams, the figures within appear exceptionally sharp and menacing.

Each strike is a straight line, a desperate gamble.

The annotations beside it were also quite stern.

"The fourth strike is purely offensive and offers no way to retreat; practitioners should use it with caution."

"On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of Yongchang, the inner disciple Zhang Sijian practiced this sword technique."

"On the sixteenth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of Yongchang, Zhang Sijian was already dead. Because he failed to cut the steel, the blade broke off and a piece of the blade broke into his throat, killing him instantly."

Upon seeing this, Chen Yu observed three seconds of silence for his senior brother, Zhang Sijian.

"This swordsmanship looks ordinary, but I never expected it to have killed someone before."

"You can't learn that, it's too unlucky."

He continued searching through the bookshelf.

The "Stone-Splitting Knife Technique" requires a strength of 600 jin to break through armor with a heavy knife.

"The Eight Slashes of Flowing Clouds" is a sword technique that flows like clouds, continuous and unbroken.

"Three Cuts to Cut the Flow" is said to be a fragment of the sword technique "One Cut to Cut the River," consisting of only three disjointed moves.

A book titled "The Art of Cutting Jade" caught Chen Yu's attention.

The cover is wrapped in gold foil, which makes it look very luxurious.

Upon opening the book, one finds that someone had boldly crossed out most of the inner pages with ink.

"Showy but impractical, it misleads and misleads young people!"

The other handwriting offered a rebuttal.

"You haven't grasped its true meaning, and you speak falsely!"

The conflict between the two generations is frozen on yellow paper.

"It's just an ordinary sword technique, why argue about it so much?"

Chen Yu was too lazy to investigate who was right and who was wrong, so he simply closed the book and put it back in its original place.

Then he reached into the deepest part of the bookshelf.

It was almost completely dark there, with only the outline of the oldest wooden frame visible.

There were three more books I hadn't read yet, so I took them all down.

The first book is "The Bone-Dislocating Knife".

"When you draw your knife, don't cut the skin and flesh, just cut the vulnerable parts of the bones and joints."

"The first step to learning to feel bones is to practice until you can touch a person while blindfolded and immediately tell them the number, direction, and gaps between all the bones in their body."

"The method of cultivation is to first touch one's own body and memorize the 206 bones; then touch fellow disciples and distinguish the differences in height, weight, and build; finally, touch the enemy, which should be done while walking, running, or throwing a punch, and discern the stillness within the movement of the bones."

"Only after mastering bone palpation can one learn individual techniques such as finger cutting, arm breaking, spine fracture, and skull crushing."

"Once the swordsmanship is mastered, a life can be determined at a glance."

"Before the enemy moves, we can already see the direction of their bone joints, the location of old injuries, and their power habits."

"The knife is thrust out, not to cut through the skin and flesh, but to insert along the bone seam, like a key locking a lock."

"The enemy's blocking, dodging, and counter-shock are all calculated within the gaps in their bones. A block breaks the bones of the one blocking, a dodge seals the joints of the one dodging, and a counter-shock uses the force of the shock to penetrate deeper into the gaps."

"There was once a master swordsman who had mastered ten levels of swordsmanship. He faced a hundred enemies alone, and without shedding a drop of blood, all one hundred died."

"The autopsy revealed no external injuries. The enemy died wondering, 'When was I stabbed?' Little did he know that when he was stabbed, he only felt a gentle breeze on his face, but in reality, he was riddled with holes."

At the end, there's a message from the creator.

"My creation of the Misalignment Bone Setter was originally for bone setting."

"Seeing the cries of those with broken bones on the battlefield, I created 'peeling the cocoon' to quickly set the bones, and 'breaking the elbow' to correct deformities. Later generations used these techniques to break people, which was not my original intention."

"Those who practice this sword must remember that you can break bones, and you can also mend them."

"For every finger severed, a new one must be attached; for every person killed, a new person must be saved; otherwise, one will not have a peaceful end."

"The founder had missing teeth, and in his later years he atoneed for his sins by setting bones. He set 3,000 bones and died at the age of 150."

Chen Yu watched very carefully, and he seemed to have gained some insight.

"Luckily, I only killed bad people. I was innocent to begin with, so why should I save others to atone for my sins?"

After finishing the first book, I moved on to the second.

The second book is titled "A Thousand Blades Kill," and the title alone is very appealing.

"A thousand blades gather their power, then unleash it all in one strike."

"A thousand days without drawing the sword, but drawing it means life or death."

"Practicing this sword technique takes a thousand days but only a moment."

"For the first 365 days, I practiced only the 'Sheathing the Sword' technique. The sword was drawn an inch from its sheath and then returned to its original position, repeated 10,000 times."

"Starting from the second year, practice 'Concentrating the Stance': draw the sword halfway out, hold it for three breaths, then return it to its sheath, repeating this a thousand times a day."

"From the third year onwards, practice 'locking intent,' where the sword is fully drawn but not used to strike; instead, the eyes are used to focus on the enemy, and the sword is sheathed when the enemy retreats."

"After a thousand days, practice 'Shiyuan' and unleash a single strike, channeling all the power accumulated over the past three years into this blade."

"Our school's swordsmanship has no moves or forms. The first three years are spent cultivating the sword's intent, storing the blade, condensing the momentum, and locking the intent within the blade, like water stored in a deep pool."

"After mastering the 'Shiyuan' technique, the sword intent becomes concentrated, and the sword intent can reach wherever the eyes look."

"The sword intent penetrates the body; though the sword is not drawn, the spirit has already been severed. When the enemy is in a daze, a sword is suddenly unleashed, condensing the intent of three thousand six hundred and fifty swords."

Chen Yu stared at it for a long time, but still didn't know what this so-called sword intent was.

"I can only say it's impressive but incomprehensible. Although it's a bit mysterious, it looks quite intimidating."

I put down "A Thousand Blades Kill" and continued reading the third book, "Nine Slashes of Madman".

"The so-called 'Nine Mad Slashes' refers to wielding the sword with madness, making it unpredictable for both the enemy and oneself."

"The first step in the cultivation method is to place one hundred candles in a dark room, blindfold yourself, and randomly chop at them. Within ten breaths, all one hundred candles will be extinguished, and you will have achieved initial success."

"The second step is to bind yourself to a pack of rabid dogs. If you are not bitten to death within three days, you can understand the true meaning of 'chaotic blades'."

"The third step is to take 'Madness Powder,' which contains datura, belladonna, and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Initially, take one pill a day, and your vision will be distorted, allowing you to swing your sword and slash at shadows. Gradually increase the number of pills to nine a day, and you will see enemies as beasts, ghosts, or even your closest relatives. You must identify the real body within the hallucinations, and once you identify the real body, immediately swing your sword and strike."

"Note: About 30% of practitioners remain trapped in hallucinations forever, eventually committing suicide or drowning in a basin of water."

"The fourth step is to chant meaningless incantations while practicing with the knife, with the speed of the chant synchronized with the speed of the knife. When the incantation stops, the knife will break."

"You can create your own unique 'madness spell,' such as 'Amalayeha Tuotuo,' with seven words forming one phrase, and one phrase corresponding to one slash; as the speed of the slash increases, the speed of the spell must also increase simultaneously, up to seven slashes per breath, with the spell sounding like a buzzing bee and the slashes as fast as lightning."

"Note: After mastering this skill, many people find that their daily speech contains a spell-like sound that they cannot stop, and they are often mistaken for madmen."

"After mastering the Nine Madman Slashes, one can reach the state of 'no thought,' where the blade moves before the human brain processes it, and the movement of the blade becomes instinctive, requiring no conscious thought."

"Because one does not even know how to strike, the enemy's predictions, feints, and traps are all ineffective against 'No Thought'."

Chen Yu held the three sword techniques in his hands, but did not leave immediately.

He stood there, mentally reviewing what he had just read, and then whispered his judgment.

"The essence of the 'Nine Slashes of Madness' lies in refining the routine into an instinct."

"The sword technique may seem like madness, but it is actually a process of peeling away the layers of an ordinary person's dependence on the external world."

"Blindfolding strips away vision, pain strips away touch, and medication strips away reason; with each layer peeled away, the body is purified, until the last layer of 'thought' is also peeled away, leaving only primal instincts."

"This is an extreme martial arts philosophy that believes that when a person is facing life and death, it is better not to think or calculate than not to think."

"In combat, the strength of this sword technique lies in making it impossible for the opponent to make effective predictions. Conventional martial arts emphasize 'countering moves as they come,' but the Mad Demon has no moves, and there's nothing to counter!"

"However, the person practicing it doesn't know where the next strike will go, can't coordinate with others, can't hold back, and can't stop the attack."

After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the Madman Nine Slashes, Chen Yu continued to look at the next sword technique.

"The 'Dislocating Tendons and Bones Knife' technique is incredibly refined, frighteningly so."

"From palpating bones to severing fingers, breaking arms, collapsing spines, and shattering skulls, every step is about researching how to cause the greatest damage with the smallest possible wound."

"The creator is indeed a medical student. People who study medicine know how to set bones, so they also know how to break them."

"The key to this sword technique lies in transforming 'understanding' into 'control'."

"From bone palpation to skull fragmentation, every step is about doing one thing: turning the human body from a 'black box' into a 'white box'."

"Ordinary people judge others by their appearance, expressions, and actions; those with misaligned bones judge others by their skeleton, fulcrum, and fatal flaw."

"In combat, the strength of this sword technique lies in its efficiency. You don't need to be faster or stronger than your opponent; you only need to be more accurate. With a single, precise strike, a thousand pounds of divine force is dissipated into nothingness!"

After repeated analysis, Chen Yu concluded that the Tendon-Separating and Bone-Dislocating Knife was extremely practical and should be practiced first.

"The Thousand Blades Kill technique may seem the most mysterious, but it is actually the most down-to-earth."

"It doesn't talk nonsense. It takes three years to hone a single strike. Even a fool could learn something from that."

"Every day, I draw my sword, stop, and sheathe it, without cutting anything. I'm just practicing 'building up momentum,' storing up the intent of the sword."

"When it comes to the battle, unleash the sword intent you've been cultivating through 'Shiyuan,' releasing all the power you've built up over 3,650 times at once. Each strike is the culmination of more than 3,000 strikes."

"With such a powerful momentum, the strike is indeed very strong. Records say that someone once cut through a stone wall with a single blow, cutting down the enemy behind it as well."

"But it only has this power when you first draw your sword. Once the sword intent is fully released, the swordsmanship becomes mediocre."

"Overall, they each have their own unique characteristics, and are much better than techniques like the Gale Blade or the Mad Dog Blade Technique."

Chen Yu put away the three sword techniques together, intending to take them back to his dormitory to study them more carefully.

As I passed by the miscellaneous books section, I suddenly spotted a book that interested me.

The book is titled "Sanzhuo Tongjian" (三浊通鉴), but its date of composition and author are unknown.

The so-called "three turbidities" refer to demons, ghosts, and evil spirits.

Chen Yu can be said to be plagued by evil spirits.

However, he has been struggling to find a true master who can answer his questions about demons.

Now that he has seen this book, "Sanzhuo Tongjian", he feels as if he has found a treasure.

Turning to the first page of the book, a preface comes into view.

"When chaos was broken, the pure rose and the turbid sank. The pure became immortals, and the turbid were divided into three groups."

"The delusions of living beings transform into demons, the obsessions of the dead transform into ghosts, and the wrath of chaos transform into monsters."

"These three are neither born nor die, and do not enter the cycle of reincarnation; they are the people of this defiled world."

Below the preface is written "Xuandu Zifu, inscribed by an anonymous author".

"The origins of the three turbidities—demons, ghosts, and monsters—are all different."

"All things have a spirit, absorbing the sun and moon, accumulating years and lifetimes, and then breaking away from their original form, becoming called demons; demons are also called premature death, originally living the lifespan of plants, trees, birds and beasts, but going against the will of heaven, hence the addition of 'woman' to 'premature death' to describe their transformed appearance."

"When a person dies, they become a ghost, and a ghost is a place of return; if their obsessions do not die out and their resentment does not dissipate, they will not enter the cycle of reincarnation, but will wander between the yin and yang realms; the fierceness of ghosts is not because they want to harm people, but because they are unwilling to accept their fate."

"Demons are neither alive nor dead, neither yin nor yang, but the malevolent energy of chaos and the shadow of the heavenly way; demons can become immortals, and ghosts can reincarnate, but demons cannot be saved, transformed, or survived; if you encounter a demon, there is only battle, and you will either win or die."

The further Chen Yu read, the heavier his heart became.

"Demons and ghosts are alright, at least we can communicate with them, they're not all vicious villains."

"This demon is truly unfathomable."

Turning to the middle of the scroll, there is a chapter on the differentiation of the three types of turbidity.

The entire text is written in a dialogue format to explain various questions.

The question is: How can one distinguish between demons, ghosts, and monsters?

The answer is: Demons have a physical body, ghosts have no physical body, and devils have half a physical body; demons seek immortality, ghosts seek liberation, and devils seek destruction; demons can be saved, ghosts can be transformed, and devils will surely be destroyed.

"Another question: Can these three be interchanged?"

The answer is: When a demon is consumed by obsession, it becomes a ghost; when a ghost harbors evil thoughts, it becomes a demon; and when a person falls into evil ways, they also become a demon. However, demons cannot be turned away from; from top to bottom, all is chaos, with no way back.

"Then he asked: What should one do if one encounters such a situation?"

The answer is: When encountering a demon, observe its good and evil; when encountering a ghost, examine its obsessions; when encountering a devil, there is nothing to do but draw your sword.

Following the section on distinguishing differences, several examples of the three turbidities causing trouble are listed.

Most of them are related to monsters and ghosts, with very little content involving evil spirits.

It was already dark outside the window, and the lights in the library were being lit one by one.

Chen Yu then realized with a start that it was already 7:45 PM.

Put away the "Sanzhuo Tongjian" (Comprehensive Mirror of the Three Turbidities), making a total of five books.

Carrying the books, Chen Yu walked quickly down the stairs.

The old book was still on the desk, but most of the desk had already been tidied up.

The booklet was closed, the inkpad was put away, and all that was left was for the last borrower.

"There are five books in total. Please take a look, senior."

Chen Yu placed the books on the table and handed them over one by one.

Mr. Mi looked up, his presbyopia straining to focus in the dim light.

He didn't remain silent for a long time like he had during the day; instead, he immediately opened the booklet.

"Madness, Wrong Bones, Thousand Blades..."

"Deposit waived, to be returned within ten days; failure to return within the stipulated time will result in ten times the amount in compensation."

After carefully checking the book and confirming that there were no errors, Mr. Mi...

He pulled out five sheets of oil paper from under the table and hurriedly wrapped the five books.

"It doesn't matter if there are stains or damage, just make sure to return it on time."

"I understand."

Mr. Mi pushed the book over, then suddenly paused.

Under the dim light, for the first time, his presbyopia did not look into the distance, but stared directly at Chen Yu.

Don't read tonight.

Why?

Chen Yu was taken aback.

The last time this happened, it was while I was reading at night.

Could it be that this old Mi book can really see through my secrets?

"Go back and go to sleep."

Mi Laoshu's voice was low and his tone was mysterious and unpredictable.

"Reading at night is bad for your eyes. I stayed up too late reading when I was young, which is why my eyesight is so poor now..."

"..."

Chen Yu had no reply, bowed, and left.