The Divine Martial Stars

Chapter 20 – Second Form of the True Martial Fist

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County Administrative Hall.

The back county hall, in the training room –

Li Mu sat cross-legged on a round cushion, his eyes cast down in meditation.
He breathed in a peculiar rhythm as he revolved the Xiantian Arts.

He was refining the strength of the snake blood within his body.

White mist wafted upwards, rising from his head as if he were a steaming furnace.

Li Mu could clearly feel that as he revolved the Xiantian Arts, the burning pain that coursed through his body from the snake blood began to fade away.
Instead, that burning pain became an extremely comfortable warmth that flowed through him, making him feel as if he were soaking in a hot springs bath.

The variation python that Sikong Jin called green dragon had been raised by him in the headquarters of the Divine Orchard Gang and fed all sorts of precious medicines via secret techniques.
It had almost gained the ability to communicate and two flood dragon horns had begun to grow from its head, indicating that it was evolving into a flood dragon.
To a martial artist, this sort of variation python was incredibly valuable.
It could enrich one’s blood vitality, inner energy, and even alter their physique and allow them to resist the majority of poisons afterwards.
The snake’s entire body could be called a treasure.

Sikong Jin had arduously raised this python for many years in preparation to use it to increase his own strength.

If it hadn’t been for the strange turn of events, it was likely that he would have taken the snake blood already.
But finally, it had ended up benefitting Li Mu.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, half a day passed.

Li Mu was wreathed in white steam, as if he had been placed in a steamer.
Every single one of his pores emitted hot steam.

The temperature of the training chamber rose by several dozen degrees.

“Hu…” Li Mu took a long breath and opened his eyes.
He slowly stood up, feeling entirely comfortable.

In particular, there was no pain from his wounded shoulder at all.

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Li Mu unwrapped the bandages.
As he saw what was underneath, he was immediately stunned.

“Eh? The wound completely regenerated…there isn’t even a scar left behind?”

This left him completely dumbfounded.

This was because the arrow wound was a giant puncture, and in order to continue on with his act, he had forcefully pulled it out, barbed tip and all.
This caused the wound to tear even more, almost to the point of seeing a hole through it.
But now, in just a mere half a day, it had completely recovered without even a small scar…this was just too unbelievable.

What was going on here?

Could it be because he had fused with the snake blood? Or was it the effects of the Xiantian Arts?

Li Mu was excited to the extreme.
For a moment, he found it hard to think about the possible reasons.

With great enthusiasm he went and found a small knife.
He thought of cutting the back of his hand a few times to see how fast his wounds would regenerate, but as he suddenly thought about how painful this might be, he hesitated several times before thinking it over.

After all, no matter what, being able to recover from such a deep wound in half a day was good news.

Moreover, Li Mu could faintly feel that some sort of change occurred within his physique.
His strength had increased a great deal from when he first went to demolish the Divine Orchard Gang headquarters, and his body was filled with overflowing power.
It was like a punch of his could break open the skies or shatter the earth.

In addition, Li Mu could feel that after the battle, his senses became much sharper than before.
It was like a seal had been released within his body.
His joints became much more flexible and his ligaments more pliable.

Li Mu tried to use the True Martial Fist.

He could easily position himself in the standing stance.

When he practiced the first form, the Sky Charging Hammer, the feelings of pain and agony that haunted him in the previous days had disappeared.
The invisible chains that seemed to bind him down had vanished and there was no longer any numbness when he continued for a long time.
Instead, he felt an unprecedented level of comfort.
Strength rose up between his waist and abdomen, coursing through his spine like a howling dragon.
It released through his fists and legs, exploding outwards like strikes of thunder.

Li Mu was simply intoxicated by such a feeling.

After he displayed the first form, Sky Charging Hammer, he didn’t continue onto the second form, Heaven Chasing Thrust.
He continued to repeat the Sky Charging Hammer again.

Each time he did so his movements became increasingly nimble and skilled.

Li Mu could feel strange information appear within his mind.
This was a sort of skill and strength, and was incredibly profound.
It was just like a blessing that sharpened his heart and mind, allowing Li Mu to understand the changes that occurred within the Sky Charging Hammer and also to integrate these changes into his body until they became an instinctual part of his physique.

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After an unknown period of time, Li Mu’s entire body dripped with sweat.
But now his movements were finally rid of the explosions of air that they created.
Instead, every punch and kick flowed like gentle clouds in the sky, like gently murmuring streams curving through mountains.
There were no longer any explosions of power, and in fact, one couldn’t feel any power contained in these moves at all.

Li Mu stopped.

He knew that he had taken another step forwards in controlling his strength.

The True Martial Fist was not some buddha-slaughtering type of martial art.
But in terms of tempering the body, condensing one’s intent, enlightening the mind, or even opening up the heart to the road of martial arts, it actually possessed an unparalleled effect.
It could be said to contain the wisdom of the Great Dao within every small movement.
The old conman had said that the True Martial Fist was the fist of the immortals, and now Li Mu finally believed him.

Indeed.
It would be impossible for ordinary martial arts cultivation methods to possess such functions.

The True Martial Fist and Xiantian Arts were Li Mu’s greatest assets.
He absolutely could not reveal them to anyone ever.

Otherwise, even though he was innocent, his treasures would arouse the envy of others.

If the martial arts masters of this world were to learn of the existence of such cultivation methods, it would just be like in the Jin Yong novels like the Return of the Condor Heroes, where a sacred martial arts book like the Nine Yin Manual appeared; it would surely stir up a great storm of blood and death.

Although Li Mu was confident in himself, the time was too early and his foundation was too shallow.
He hadn’t grown at all, and his wings hadn’t even taken form.
When he crushed the Divine Orchard Gang today he had seemed invincible, but the Divine Orchard Gang was merely a small faction in a small county city.
If he were to face the true martial arts giants of this world, Li Mu had no faith he could win.

Li Mu stretched his limbs in the training room.

He stepped in front of a stone tablet within the training room.
Without using any strength, he slowly stretched a fist forwards until it collided with the stone tablet.
His fist seemed to fall into mud, directly entering the stone tablet without even creating a crack in the process.

This was a sign of converging his power to the peak.

A flash of enlightenment lit up Li Mu’s mind.
He suddenly put force behind his fist.

Bang!

A light sound cracked through the air.

The stone tablet that was as hard as iron suddenly burst apart like flour, turning into stone chips and dust that scattered outwards.

Li Mu blew the stone powder off his body, satisfied with this power.

He realized that the True Martial Fist’s first form, Sky Charging Hammer, contained the mysteries of using great strength with ease.
This fist contained tens of thousands of jins of strength, but it actually fluttered out like a piece of straw in the wind.
When facing off against an opponent, it would be incredibly difficult to guard against.

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“The only thing to regret right now is that it seems my body hasn’t yet produced the inner energy that the martial artists of this world cultivate.”

Li Mu was a bit confused by this.

The Xiantian Arts didn’t seem to be a martial arts method that cultivated inner energy.
When he breathed, there was a warm current that passed through his meridians.
But when his cultivating finished, this warm current also disappeared and wouldn’t stay in his body.

Perhaps he should try training in the cultivation methods of this world’s martial arts?

After all, the Xiantian Arts and True Martial Fist seemed to be auxiliary cultivation methods that increased strength and enhanced the physique; they didn’t seem to be true combat fighting methods.

As Li Mu was lost in his thoughts, he stepped outside the training room.

Outside the door, the night was deep.

Moonlight fell down upon the world like water.

Beneath the moonlight, a thin figure stood outside the door, completely silent, just like a lost ghost.

“Who is it?” Li Mu was frightened for a moment.
He walked closer before recognized that it was the little girl attendant Ming Yue.
“The hell, what is a little thing like you sneaking around here and hiding for? Are you trying to give me a scare?”

Ming Yue turned her head, her crescent shaped eyes sparkling, as if the moon were reflected within them.
She unhappily said, “Young master, your words are becoming increasingly wrong.
What do you mean sneaking around and hiding? I am just enjoying the view of the moon…oh, that’s right, that buttlicker Feng whatever his name is was waiting for you in the County Administrative Hall.
He’s already been waiting there for two hours.”

As Li Mu heard this, he thought it quite humorous.

Even this little girl Ming Yue could see that this Feng Yuanxing was nothing but a suck-up?

He likely came here to report on wrapping up today’s duties.

Just as Li Mu was about to leave and meet Feng Yuanxing, he suddenly recalled something.
He chuckled and asked Ming Yue, “In the back county hall, are there any chickens, ducks, or other living creatures?”

As the moonlight fell upon the little attendant Ming Yue, her skin seemed as pale as snow.
She lit up with a smile and tilted her head before nodded, “Probably…young master, did you want to butcher one to eat meat? I want to eat chicken butt.”

Li Mu helplessly slapped his forehead.
“Very well, you can have the chicken butt.
Go and butcher a chicken first and bring me back a bowl of chicken blood.”

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County Administrative Hall, front lobby –

Feng Yuanxing waited, his heart filled with trepidation.

He had already been waiting here for two hours.
Although he was extremely nervous, he didn’t reveal any of this on his face.

As he waited, everything that occurred in the Divine Orchard Gang headquarters began to echo in his mind.
Every time it did so, his awe towards Li Mu would deepen.

Today, in the rock cave, he had chosen to decisively betray Zhou Wu.
This was because he had determined that Li Mu was a youth with an impulsive personality.
A person like this might have powerful martial strength, but as long as his methods were good enough, such a person could also be manipulated.
Feng Yuanxing had stayed by the side of that wily and corrupt official Zhou Wu for a long time and was confident in his scheming ability and political prowess.
He had believed that he could control Li Mu and have this young county magistrate follow his suggestions.
Like this, he could be the one controlling all authority within Alabaster County.

But now he felt more and more uncertain of his plans.

Li Mu’s performance had left his heart filled with dread.

At this time, footsteps rang out.

Feng Yuanxing’s heart shook.
He knew that the county magistrate had arrived.
He hastily stood up and straightened his robe, putting a respectful and earnest smile on his face.

But as he looked up and saw the person walking in from the side gate, he was left stunned.

The one who came was indeed Li Mu.

But he looked completely different from how Feng Yuanxing expected he would be.

The Li Mu in front of him had an upper body completely wrapped in an overly exaggerated amount of bandages.
Dark red bloodstains seeped through the bandages, enough to shock and alarm the mind.
Moreover, Li Mu’s overall demeanor seemed tired and he leaned on a walking stick, walking slowly into the lobby.
He had the appearance of someone who was severely wounded.
Compared to the overwhelming majesty that he displayed this morning, when he seemed to have been overflowing with vitality, he had undergone a complete reversal.

“Greetings to the lord county magistrate.” Feng Yuanxing quickly bowed.