Chapter 132: Are you human?

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Are you human?

Chen Yue’s steps grew faster and faster. The light in the courtyard seemed to stir with his movements. Afterimages appeared, some in front, some behind, blending the real with the illusory, making it impossible to tell where his true body was.

Liu Wenying was initially just watching casually. She knew her Body Technique couldn’t compare to Chen Yue’s; she’d already seen that for herself a couple of days ago. But as she watched, her expression gradually froze.

She realized that her eyes could barely keep up with his Body Technique.

The afterimages flickered before her. She tried her best to lock onto Chen Yue’s true form, but every time her gaze caught a figure, it would dissipate, and a new afterimage would appear in a different direction.

Her eyes darted back and forth, and her forehead even beaded with sweat from the intense concentration, yet she could still only see a blurry streak of light and shadow weaving through the courtyard.

Liu Wenying’s lips parted slightly, then closed, then parted again.

She realized with a hint of despair that the gap in their combat power had grown to an absurd degree—so absurd it felt ridiculous.

’What kind of Bone Forging Realm is this?’

’A Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist whose Body Technique is so fast that someone of the same realm can’t even follow it with their eyes? Who would believe that if you told them?’

Meng Yu Jin’s gaze was fixed on the figure constantly flashing and weaving through the courtyard. Her expression shifted from calm observation to focused attention, and finally, her eyes glinted with an unusual light.

She was in the Refining Organ Realm, so her perception was naturally on a different level from Liu Wenying’s.

To her, every detail of Chen Yue’s Body Technique was perfectly clear: the placement of his steps, the shifting of his center of gravity, the flow of his Qi Force, and the creation and dissipation of his afterimages.

It was precisely because she could see it so clearly that she was all the more astonished.

Two days ago on the Life and Death Platform, Chen Yue had displayed combat power far beyond his realm. However, he hadn’t shown much of his Body Technique during that fight.

At the time, Meng Yu Jin had assumed Chen Yue’s Body Technique was merely at the Bone Forging Realm level. After all, for a Loose Cultivator, it was already quite remarkable to have mastered a Cultivation Technique and Fist Technique to that degree.

But now, seeing Chen Yue execute his Body Technique with her own eyes, Meng Yu Jin knew she had been mistaken.

Chen Yue’s Body Technique had reached the level of a top expert in the Marrow Refining Realm, even rivaling some of the less agile Martial Artists in the Refining Organ Realm.

Her fingers tapped twice inside her sleeve as she quickly calculated in her mind. ’With such a foundation in Body Technique, what kind of advanced technique would be the most suitable match?’

A moment later, the afterimages in the courtyard dissipated one by one. The final afterimage flickered and then vanished abruptly. Chen Yue’s real body reappeared in the spot where he had first been standing.

He stood perfectly still, his breathing even, without so much as breaking a sweat. If one hadn’t just witnessed the courtyard full of afterimages, they would have thought he hadn’t moved at all.

Watching this, Liu Wenying’s eye twitched.

She opened her mouth, hesitated for a long moment, and finally managed to squeeze out a question. "Junior Brother, all these skills you have... did you really learn them all in that... what was it, Youlin County?"

Her tone was a complex mix of surprise and bewilderment.

In Liu Wenying’s mind, a small place like Youlin County was just a remote backwater, lacking resources and having only crude Cultivation Techniques. How could it possibly produce any decent Martial Artists?

And yet, Chen Yue had come from just such a place. And yet, he had acquired such incredible skills. And yet, his Body Technique was simply divine.

Chen Yue turned around with a slight smile and nodded. "I just cobbled them together from here and there. I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, Senior Sister."

The words "cobbled together" and "made a fool of myself" fell on Liu Wenying’s ears, making her eye twitch again.

She looked at Chen Yue’s sincere, harmless face, an indescribable sense of frustration churning within her.

’If that’s what he calls ’making a fool of himself,’ then what does that make my Body Technique?’

’In front of him, her own techniques weren’t even worthy of being called a joke.’

Liu Wenying took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her right hand unconsciously clenching into a fist.

If she didn’t know she couldn’t beat Chen Yue, she would have already attacked.

Meng Yu Jin paid no mind to Liu Wenying’s petty frustrations. Her attention remained fixed on Chen Yue’s Body Technique.

Now, seeing Chen Yue finish his practice, she retracted her gaze, lowered her eyelids, and quickly replayed every detail she had just witnessed in her mind.

Meng Yu Jin pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "Your Body Technique is already quite strong for long-distance travel."

She paused, then continued, "When you break through to the Marrow Refining Realm or even the Refining Organ Realm, with your current foundation and the increased Inner Strength that comes with higher realms, it will be sufficient for most situations."

Chen Yue detected the turning point in his master’s words. His eyes flickered slightly as he quietly waited for what would come next.

As expected, Meng Yu Jin’s tone shifted. "However, its instantaneous burst is a bit weak."

Hearing this, Chen Yue was slightly taken aback, then nodded thoughtfully.

To be honest, though, Chen Yue hadn’t really felt that his instantaneous burst was weak before.

The reason was simple: the opponents he had faced were, at most, at the Marrow Refining Realm. At that level, very, very few people could surpass him in Body Technique.

But since his master had said so, it must be a judgment made from a higher perspective.

Meng Yu Jin stood up and reached for the teacup on the table. She didn’t drink, but merely turned the cup in her palm as if contemplating something.

After a moment, she gently set the teacup down.

Her body leaned forward slightly, her center of gravity dropping abruptly. In that instant, her entire being seemed to transform into a fully drawn bow.

In the next moment, Liu Wenying’s vision blurred. A series of eight afterimages appeared in front of Meng Yu Jin at almost the exact same instant.

These afterimages didn’t appear one after another. Instead, it was as if eight identical copies of Meng Yu Jin had split from her body simultaneously, each frozen in a different pose, like a single, captured frame of a painting.

Then, Meng Yu Jin straightened her body, and all the afterimages vanished at the same time, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

Chen Yue’s pupils contracted slightly. His eyesight was far better than Liu Wenying’s, and he had barely managed to capture Meng Yu Jin’s movement trajectory.

’That wasn’t running at all. It was a burst of speed akin to teleportation. The distance between each step was not large, but the rhythm was incredibly fast—so fast that new afterimages appeared before the old ones had time to fade.’

’In a real battle, that distance would be enough to dodge any attack or instantly close in on an enemy’s vital points.’

Meng Yu Jin turned around, her expression calm, her breathing undisturbed.

She looked at Chen Yue and spoke slowly. "This Body Technique is called the Soaring Void Nine Transitions. When cultivated to its peak, you can create nine afterimages in an instant."

"The essence of this Body Technique lies in its transitions. Each transition is a change in direction, a burst of power. Once you’ve reached a high level of mastery, your opponent won’t even be able to touch the corner of your clothes."

Chen Yue listened, captivated, his eyes fixed on his master without blinking.

Meng Yu Jin continued, "Furthermore, this Body Technique is not a standalone art. In the future, when you break through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm, you can go to the Hidden Skills Pavilion and exchange for its more advanced version, the Soaring Void Crossing."

"Soaring Void Nine Transitions is a simplified, Entry Level version derived from Soaring Void Crossing. Master this one first. If you have the good fortune in the future, you can seek the more advanced form."

At this point, Meng Yu Jin picked up her teacup, finally took a sip of the cool tea to wet her throat, then set the cup down and began to explain the cultivation method for the Soaring Void Nine Transitions in detail.

Her voice was unhurried. She began with the Heart Method, explaining how to circulate Inner Strength for this Body Technique: how to instantly compress Qi Force into the meridians of the legs, how to release it in a burst, and how to gather power again the moment one’s feet touched the ground.

Next, she explained the footwork, detailing the specific foot placements, shifts in center of gravity, and body postures. She broke down every single detail meticulously.

She even used her finger to draw a few simple diagrams of the steps on the stone-paved ground, marking the distance and angle between each step.

Chen Yue listened with extreme focus, nodding from time to time, occasionally frowning in thought, and at other times, a look of sudden understanding would flash in his eyes.

He mentally simulated every movement his master described, gradually translating the abstract key points into concrete physical sensations.

’The short-distance burst of this Body Technique is truly astonishing.’

When he had previously used the Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step, Chen Yue had aimed for continuous, flowing movements, sustaining his Qi Veins for one step after another.

But the Soaring Void Nine Transitions was completely different. It was bold and unrestrained, a technique of instantaneous, wild bursts.

Taking a step was not merely striding forward but a full-on sprint. His body would cross a distance in an extremely short time, closing in on an opponent before they could even react.

It wasn’t just about the burst, either. Chen Yue keenly sensed that this Body Technique was by no means weak for long-distance travel.

If one’s Qi Force and stamina could support it, using this kind of explosive power for long-distance travel would produce even more exaggerated results.

However, very few Martial Artists possessed the Inner Strength and stamina to sustain it.

A single burst consumed enough Qi Force to travel a great distance using a normal Body Technique. The cost of consecutive bursts grew exponentially, something an ordinary Martial Artist simply couldn’t handle.

As this thought crossed Chen Yue’s mind, his heart stirred.

He cultivated the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield, and one of the core effects of this Cultivation Technique was tempering the physical body.

His Copper Skin Iron Bones were now on the verge of completion, and his body’s strength and endurance far surpassed those of Martial Artists at the same level.

’As for Inner Strength, how could the Inner Strength cultivated from the Vast Heart Rock Skill possibly be weak?’

’So, when the need arises, it might not be impossible for me to use the Soaring Void Nine Transitions for long-distance travel.’

Of course, this was just a theoretical deduction. Whether he could actually do it would only be known after he truly practiced it.

But Chen Yue already had a faint feeling that the Soaring Void Nine Transitions might be even more suitable for him than his master realized.

This time, the explanation for the Soaring Void Nine Transitions took even longer than the one for the Fifth Layer of the Panshi Skill.

The shadows of the trees in the courtyard stretched longer and longer, like a black ink scroll being slowly unfurled.

Meng Yu Jin sat on the stone bench, her explanation incredibly detailed. She described how the Qi Force for each transition originated from the Dantian, passed through the Huiyin, traveled along the Du Meridian, and then was channeled into the legs.

She was so detailed that she specified where the point of contact between the sole of the foot and the ground should be with each step. She even got up to demonstrate several times, breaking down the nine transitions of the Soaring Void Nine Transitions and performing them for Chen Yue, one form at a time.

Chen Yue maintained his intense focus the entire time, his gaze locked onto his master’s every move and every word.

As for Liu Wenying, who was sitting to the side, her situation was completely different.

At first, she tried her best to listen, but as she listened, her gaze grew more and more vacant.

The explanations about Qi Force circulation and footwork changes pounded into her ears word by word, only to slip right out of her brain, leaving not a single trace behind.

She had only ever learned the most basic Panshi Stepping, the Entry Level Body Technique the Panshi Sect used to build a foundation for its disciples. It was simple, direct, and had no frills.

Now, suddenly jumping to a Body Technique on the level of the Soaring Void Nine Transitions, the gap was absurdly large. There were many parts she couldn’t understand at all. She couldn’t even ask questions, because she didn’t even know what she didn’t know.

When Meng Yu Jin finished explaining the final form, she let out a long, slow breath. She glanced at Liu Wenying’s expression of utter despair, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly, but she said nothing.

She knew this disciple well. Liu Wenying’s natural talent wasn’t top-tier; her strength lay in her diligence and willingness to practice, taking things one step at a time.

’It would be a miracle if she could understand a Cultivation Technique this advanced all at once.’

Meng Yu Jin hadn’t expected her to understand it immediately. In fact, it could be said that she was explaining it just for Chen Yue’s benefit. Whatever Liu Wenying could absorb was a bonus; if she didn’t understand, it didn’t matter.

Meng Yu Jin turned her head to look at Chen Yue, her gaze filled with both scrutiny and expectation. "Do you have any questions?"