stjorthotic Chapter 61: 33 Shadowless Blades, Moon Man Technique!
Chapter 61: 33 Shadowless Blades, Moon Man Technique!
Clearly, Zhao An was not the first to try to learn the strengths of the Moon People, but without exception, all those who had tried in the past had failed.
Non-Moon Clan members simply cannot learn other people's cultivation system.
"Oh, by the way, since you're looking for martial arts techniques, there are a few secret manuals on the moon people's spells up there. If you're curious, go take a look," the old steward said, waving his hand.
"Is that okay...?" Zhao An asked in surprise.
He was only allowed to choose one martial arts technique to borrow, not others.
"It's alright. This manual of the Moon People's magic techniques is just lying around anyway, it's not very useful, it's almost rotten," the old steward said nonchalantly.
"Alright then." Zhao An thanked him and went upstairs to the second floor.
The second floor was much neater, with no clutter and only rows of shelves.
There were bookshelves displaying books and pamphlets, but even more shelves were filled with weapons, displaying exquisitely crafted superior weapons and soft armor, chainmail, scale armor, and the like.
The fact that these weapons and equipment can be displayed separately on the second floor indicates that their value far exceeds that of the standard equipment piled up on the first floor.
If the magistrate has any reward to offer, he will choose one item from these two levels.
Zhao An glanced at the exquisite equipment and focused his gaze on the bookshelf.
The Ninth-Rank Hundred Battles Spear Technique.
It is a masterpiece that combines the application of battlefield marksmanship, integrating offense and defense, and achieving perfection after hundreds of battles.
Nine Ranks of Heaven and Earth Steps.
Skilled in maneuvering during chaotic battlefield combat, it can be used for both pursuit and self-defense.
The Ninth Grade Horizontal Iron Spine Kung Fu.
Training the back horizontally enhances explosive power and also hardens the spine to the point of being as tough as steel, making it able to withstand arrows from behind.
Ninth-Rank Ground-Sweeping Blade...
He glanced at the names of various martial arts schools.
Zhao An would take out almost every book and glance at it.
However, what's on this bookshelf is just a thin, concise introduction to martial arts; the real content isn't here. You need to take it to the old steward to exchange for it.
One bookshelf was filled with ninth-grade martial arts manuals, while the other bookshelf contained only eighth-grade manuals, though in much smaller quantities.
Since the magistrate promised him that he could choose any martial art, he naturally chose the high-grade one.
"What I lack most right now is a high-level swordsmanship..."
He possesses eighth-grade body techniques, as well as eighth-grade external hard skills. He also has several well-developed fist and palm techniques, and even a lost finger technique.
In terms of swordsmanship, he only possessed one skill: the Fierce Tiger Saber Technique.
Previously, when facing local gangs, his mastery of the Fierce Tiger Saber Technique was more than enough to deal with them.
However, with the increasing strength of the martial artists he encounters now, this swordsmanship is no longer sufficient.
Previously, when he fought He Zhang, the county magistrate who had just been released from prison, he was unable to defeat him even with the Fierce Tiger Saber Technique. He had to resort to fist and foot techniques to finally subdue him.
At that time, he already longed for a more advanced swordsmanship.
The magistrate's extraordinary reward is a good opportunity for him to test his knife skills.
In the armory, there are about five or six sets of eighth-rank sword techniques.
He had his eye on a set, and just as he was about to choose, he suddenly spotted a book in the corner.
Seventh-Rank Shadowless Thirty-Three Cuts!
"Seventh rank?!" Zhao An's spirits lifted, but he was also puzzled.
Based on previous observations, it seemed unlikely that this armory would contain any seventh-grade martial arts techniques.
Even if they did exist, the county magistrate would likely have found another place to keep them safe, making them inaccessible to ordinary people.
There is only one seventh-grade sword technique here.
But soon he discovered that there was more than just this one seventh-grade martial art.
There were also a few martial arts manuals describing the seventh rank, placed in the corner.
There are seventh-rank spear techniques, seventh-rank fist techniques, and even seventh-rank staff techniques.
Zhao An went through them one by one and soon understood.
These seventh-grade martial arts techniques, displayed on the same bookshelf as the eighth-grade techniques, are indeed of the seventh grade, but they are incomplete.
In other words, it is an incomplete version, with incomplete or even incorrect content in terms of moves and martial arts levels.
It can be practiced, but because it is incomplete, it is impossible to master it to perfection. Compared with a proper seventh-grade martial art, its power will be much weaker.
That's why it wasn't taken away, but instead placed in the same place as the eighth-grade martial arts.
Of course, a seventh-grade martial arts manual like this is not very valuable for ordinary martial artists to practice; in fact, it is not as valuable as a complete eighth-grade martial arts manual.
After all, the risk of problems arising from omissions or oversights during practice is not small.
In addition, there is usually no one in the military who will teach the martial arts content in these incomplete manuals, and choosing an incomplete manual also means facing the dilemma of having no one to guide and teach you.
No one in the army practiced these incomplete manuals, but Zhao An became interested in them.
He wasn't afraid of making mistakes during practice, since he had a Soul Slave to take the fall.
Furthermore, if enough soul slaves are gathered, it's not impossible that the incomplete version here could be transformed into a complete martial art, just like the complete Fierce Tiger Saber Technique was previously deduced!
After thinking it over, Zhao An felt it was worth a try.
If he could obtain a complete seventh-grade martial arts technique as a result, then he would have hit the jackpot!
Compared to eighth and ninth grade martial arts, seventh grade martial arts are significantly harder to obtain.
"The Thirty-Three Shadowless Slashes..." Zhao An opened the book of sword techniques.
The blade flashes without a trace, swiftly slaying the enemy; thirty-three strikes can be delivered in an instant, signifying mastery!
Note: This is an incomplete version, containing mental cultivation methods. Ordinary people can master three strikes, those with talent can master nine strikes, and those who have mastered the swordsmanship can master up to eighteen strikes.
"At most, I can only master eighteen strikes..." Zhao An pondered to himself.
That is, to slash eighteen times in an instant, that skill sounds quite remarkable.
Having made up his mind, Zhao An stopped looking at other martial arts manuals and instead focused his gaze on another corner of the bookshelf.
There were several books there that were even different in terms of cover and paper quality.
Even the characters written on it are not from the Great Wu Dynasty; they look more like crooked symbols and marks.
Zhao An couldn't understand it, but he knew it was the script of the Moon Clan.
Fortunately, the contents had been translated and annotated in the language of the Great Wu Dynasty, which allowed him to read it fluently.
"Hard Skin Technique? Activated by clan blood, multiple mastery stages... localized hardening, full hardening, hardened skin and armor..."
The content is actually not much, only twenty or thirty pages, but it does include illustrations and is quite detailed.
However, Zhao An was not a member of the Moon Clan, so he only had a partial understanding of what he saw.
However, he didn't care. After reading it several times, he fed the contents of this Moon Man technique to a Moon Man Soul Slave.
Whether we can achieve results through practice will be known in the future.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Zhao An simply read through all the idle and dusty Moon People techniques and fed them to different soul slaves for research and study.
After doing all this, he went down from the second floor.
As for the third floor of the armory, it was locked, and there were some treasures inside, but he couldn't appreciate them even if he wanted to.
"You've been choosing for quite a while." The old steward yawned repeatedly, as if he had just taken a nap, before finally waiting for Zhao An to come down.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Zhao An said.
"It's alright, tell me, which department is it?" the head steward asked.
"Thirty-three Shadowless Slashes".