Chapter 409 Country-defending Martial-arts God

“Brother Xiahou, where is the ancient martial world?”

Ding Ning said the doubt that he kept in his mind for a long time.

“Where is the ancient martial world?” Xiahou repeated the question.

In a surprise, Xiahou cast a glance at him and could not help laughing. “The name ‘ancient martial world’ was made by those martial sects. To be exact, it is not a self-contained world. Some individual practitioners who didn’t belong to any sect or family, and there were people of some small forces. Usually, they lived in many cities or towns like those ordinary people. They will not easily show their skills. The ordinary sects usually live in those untraversed mountains and forests where the air hasn’t yet been polluted much. These kinds of places still had some spiritual aura left. As for these big sects and forces, each of them occupies the cave paradises with rich spiritual aura in one area. Thus, they will not go out easily.”

“Ah? Isn’t the ancient martial world located in a secret area?” Ding Ning asked.

He was shocked. He thought that the ancient martial world was in some secret area. If people there wanted to go in and out of this world, they needed the approvals of the Bureau of Religions. Thus, Ding Ning didn’t have any scruples when he killed these Ancient Warriors.

But now, when he learned that it wasn’t like what he thought at all, Ding Ning’s blood froze all of a sudden. “It turns out that my strength is far from enough.”

“Of course not. Such a secret area is not so easy to find. These people will be satisfied if they can live in a cave paradise. But each of the Four Holy Gates has taken up a secret area, in which the spiritual aura was rich enough for these sects and families to practice. Thus, few of them are willing to go out. After all, the secular world’s dirty air cannot supply the spiritual aura that they need for cultivation.”

Xiahou said with envy.

“You are the master of national martial arts, how do you know the ancient martial world so well?”

Ding Ning asked, a little curiously.

Xiahou slightly narrowed his eyes and gazed off into space with a faraway look in her eyes. He was silent for a long time, and then he said lightly, “I was originally an Ancient Warrior. But since I was from a small family, there was no enough Spiritual Energy for me to practice. Thus, I turned to practice national martial arts.”

Upon hearing his words, Ding Ning remained silent for the moment, knowing that his questions might have touched on Xiahou’s distressing memories that he was unwilling to recall. Just when Ding Ning was about to change the subject, Xiahou suddenly said, “Young master, there is no need to hesitate between the ancient martial arts or the national martial arts. All roads lead to Rome. People who cultivate to extremes will get to the same destination. Do you know how the Shenzhou’s founder persuaded the Four Holy Gates to sign the Peace Agreement?”

“Weren’t they touched by the founder’s sincerity?”

Ding Ning said with a blank look.

“Sincerity? Hehe, No matter what kind of the world it is, it is based on the superior of the strong. Since the founder dared to come to the Four Holy Gates and forced them to sign the Peace Agreement, he must have something to rely on. The national martial arts has become one of the major ways that people nowadays use to cultivate. It must have its strong points. Although it doesn’t have a long history as that of the ancient martial arts, it has a style and unique charms of its own. In fact, many of the practitioners of the national martial arts are originally Ancient Warriors,” Xiahou said.

He looked into the distance as if some magnificent scenery had taken his breath away and continued, “That year, the founder raised troops to conquer the world. Since then, he encountered countless assassinations and aboveboard attacks. But being protected by the 13 dauntless guards around him, he stayed safe and sound from beginning to end. All the 13 dauntless guards were Ancient Warriors initially but then changed to practice the national martial arts. Together with the founder, they fought throughout the country. In secret, they protected the founder. On the overt side, they eliminated the villains. These people who had fought a lot of hard battles and had achieved notable merits were then honored as National Warriors by the founder.”

“National Warriors?” Ding Ning asked.

As Ding Ning was listening, his blood boiled with excitement. He could imagine the scenes at that time. The 13 invincible, dauntless guards ran through a great many battlefields, and finally, they opened up the flourishing age of Shenzhou Country. Thinking of this, he could not help feeling fascinated and excited.

“Right, National Warriors, which meant that they were unmatched in the world. But unfortunately, more than half of the 13 National Warriors died during their battles across the country. There left only 5 of them after the founding of Shenzhou Country. At that year, the founder took these five National Warriors to fight against the Four Holy Gates. Finally, as the defeated, the Four Holy Gates was forced to sign the Peace Agreement with them, which brought a hundred peaceful years of Shenzhou. However, two of the five National Warriors were lost. The remaining three dauntless guards escorted the founder back to the capital. After that, the wounds that two dauntless guards endured along the way showed their effects and made them semi-invalid. With tears and sorrow, the founder let them live in the National Warrior’s Mansion. The Shenzhou Country would provide them from then on. All their descendants, generation after generation, can enjoy their honor.”

All these secrets said by Xiahou greatly shocked Ding Ning who did not expect that Shenzhou Country actually had masters of such great skills. In surprise, he asked, “Who is the only intact dauntless guard? Is he still alive?”

“When he went to the Four Holy Gates, he was just a beginner as a God of Martial Arts. Now that a hundred years have passed, his Martial Arts skills must have become fathomless and great. As long as he is in Shenzhou, the ancient martial world will not dare to violate the agreement. Likewise, people in the western martial arts don’t dare to invade Shenzhou Country in a century,” Xiahou answered.

The rims of his eyes turned red, and he continued in a dull voice, “He is Xiahou Weiyang. The founder gave him the title Country-defending Martial-arts God.”

“Xiahou Weiyang? Is he your…”

Ding Ning asked in surprise, his eyes flickering. He saw Xiahou crying with an extremely complicated expression. There was admiration, disgust, and deep hatred. “You are right. He is my great grandfather. Since he had no aptitude for cultivating the ancient martial arts, everyone around laughed at him. In anger, he left his family and turned to practice the national martial arts. He succeeded. After that, as one of the founder’s followers, he participated in countless battles across the country. If it were not for him, Shenzhou Country would not gain a hundred years of peace. But if he hadn’t abandoned his wife and son, misfortune would not have happened to the Xiahou family, which was a first-class family in the ancient martial world. However, nearly all its 137 members were murdered. Only my father managed to escape with me, who was only three years old at that time. But then my father died because he was so badly injured, leaving me, his little son, alone in this world.”

With deep emotion, Xiahou continued in a choked voice, “If your mother hadn’t happened to pass by me and adopted me, I, Xiahou, would have become a heap of dry bones long ago. After all those things, I discarded my first name and left my family name only. It can warn me at every moment that I will remain to be a person of no name until I revenge for all my families.”

Ding Ning’s brain was roaring. It did not occur to him that Xiahou had such an eminent family background. Then he asked tentatively, “Why don’t you go to Martial-arts God Xiahou? I suppose it must be easy for him to revenge for the Xiahou family. Am I right?”

“From the day that he left home and abandoned his wife and son, Xiahou Weiyang no longer belonged to the Xiahou family. As the only left descendant of the Xiahou family, I vowed to avenge the Xiahou families. I will not rely on anyone else to do that, Xiahou Weiyang included,” Xiahou told Ding Ning.

He clenched his fists. Deep down, he must have his pride.

Ding Ning sighed lightly and said to him with a sincere look, “Brother Xiahou, we are brothers, so your enemies are my enemies. Whoever your enemies are, I will fight side by side with you whenever you need me. Don’t hesitate to invite me to fight then.”

Xiahou looked up and took a deep breath. Finally, he managed to suppress the surging emotions in his heart and said calmly with a light smile, “You’d better take revenge on your enemies first. Anyway, 30 years have passed. I’m not in a hurry at this moment.”

Ding Ning did not speak but just patted his shoulder to comfort him. He knew that Xiahou had his own pride. All his other families were ruthlessly slaughtered, so Xiahou held deep-seated hatred toward his enemies. Because of that, he was unwilling to let others collect this blood debt for him. What Ding Ning could do was help him improve his strength and gave a better chance of winning when he took his revenge in the future.

However, Ding Ning was utterly ignorant of the national martial arts’ practicing methods. The Savage Physical Exercise Technique, which could be used to enhance people’s physical strength, was the only thing that he could offer to help Xiahou.

Immediately, he said seriously, “Brother Xiahou, though I don’t know what kind of cultivation method that you practiced, I have a method that can build up the physical strength. Perhaps, it can help you increase your strength.”

“Physical Exercise Technique? Which level?” asked Xiahou.

His eyes brightened. The top-level physical exercise techniques almost disappeared in the modern world. After all, practicing physical exercise techniques was an ordeal test of people’s perseverance and patience. It was true that people who practiced physical exercise techniques could obtain extremely great strength and were exceedingly good at defending. However, first of all, they had to practice hard days and years perseveringly.

But Xiahou didn’t care about how much hardships he had to endure. As long as this technique could help him increase his strength, he would not miss it.

“I don’t know which level this technique is, but it is definitely not a low-level technique. I presume that when you achieve a high level of this technique through practice, you will have no problems in fighting against the rocket shell,” Ding Ning answered.

Ding Ning did not exaggerate the effect. He inferred it from the patterns that he saw in wall drawings: anyone of Chiyou’s clansmen could walk unharmed from a blow of the wild beast that was as high as a few dozen meters.

However, at that time, he focused on Chiyou’s story and paid no particular attention to these drawings. Thinking of that now, Ding Ning guessed that the strength of the wild beast that was as high as a few dozen meters must be equal as the rocket shell’s power.

Xiahou’s eyes blazed. With little patience, he exclaimed, “Young master, teach me this technique quickly. I want to learn it!”

Ding Ning said, “Okay, I am going to pass it to you now. Relax your mind and open the door of your heart.”

By using his spiritual strength, Ding Ning input the Savage Physical Exercise Technique into Xiahou’s mind. He had no other choice but to teach him this technique in this way. After all, this technique printed into his mind had both pictures and texts, which could not simply be described by words. Whichever way he described it, Ding Ning thought that he could not show even one ten-thousandth of its charm. Only by passing it through his spiritual strength could he completely show this charming and mysterious technique.

Ding Ning thought that the Savage Physical Exercise Technique was purely for refining physical bodies. But it was not like that—this technique aimed at refining human bodies by a set of boxing. In total, there were nine boxing styles. Each of them included nine movements. Thus, this technique had 81 boxing movements altogether. Ding Ning passed only the first three styles to Lu Zhan and Xiahou. It was not that he wanted to keep the rest. Instead, only by practicing this physical exercise technique with the medicinal liquid for physical exercise could their hard work achieve double results. Ding Ning was afraid that they might be eager to make quick success and force themselves to practice the other boxing styles. If they did so, they would hurt their foundations and leave themselves irreparable hidden dangers.

Although Lu Zhan and others felt that the Savage Physical Exercise Technique was quite marvelous, they could not tell why exactly it was wonderful.

Unlike Lu Zhan and others, Xiahou was a master of national martial arts. Only at a glance, he saw these great subtleties of this boxing method. In a surprise, he exclaimed, “What a wonderful set of physical exercise boxing! Each style and each movement implies the natural law. It is at least a physical exercise method at the heaven level. But I feel that I haven’t enjoyed it to the full. It seems that the three styles are not all of it. Is your technique incomplete?”

“Good eye! This set of boxing has nine styles. Each style has nine movements. You should practice each movement with different medicinal liquid accordingly. Only by doing so can your hard work achieve double results. I am afraid that you are anxious to achieve quick success, so I only passed the first three styles to you. After you finish them, I will pass you the rest six styles.”

Ding Ning quickly explained lest Xiahou should think that he held back a trick.

However, Xiahou did not take any notice and nodded to show that he understood. With excitement, he said, “Young master, you are right. This set of boxing is extensive and profound, which implies the truth of natural law. Once I attain perfection in the first three styles through practicing, I will be able to contend with the Great Masters merely by the strength of my physical body!”

“Great Masters?” Ding Ning was struck dumb. He didn’t expect that Xiahou would speak so highly of this set of boxing. He secretly doubted. “Can this Savage Physical Exercise Technique be that powerful?”

If this technique was indeed as powerful as Xiahou said, he seemed to misunderstand the meaning of the battle god totem in the first place. Ding Ning thought that as long as he found other totems, he could go in there and begin his second round of weapon-refining cultivation, which meant to refine himself like a weapon. In his opinion, he would no longer need to practice the Savage Physical Exercise Technique at that time.

But after thinking carefully, Ding Ning understood that since the battle god totem gave him the Savage Physical Exercise Technique, it must have some other profound meanings.

“Did the totem want me to train people under my command with it? But it sounds a bit unrealistic. Or, do I also need to cultivate this Savage Physical Exercise Technique? Perhaps in this way, I can move on to the next round of weapon-refining cultivation when my physical body is strong enough.” Ding Ning pondered.

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