Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted

If such things can be forgiven without question... then what is the purpose of all that I have done, and the revenge I crave?!

Is this a joke?!

Meeting Sagat's resentment, Yuan Chen fell silent for a moment, then looked at Sagat and asked, "When you killed me... did you feel happy?"

"……Um?"

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Sagat paused for a moment, then fell silent. After a while, he looked at Yuan Chen and asked, "What...do you mean by that?"

"Kill me, or kill Hibiki Takeshi, or in the moment of victory... did you get what you wanted? Did you feel happy or satisfied?"

"...So, what do you mean?!" Sagat clenched his fists unconsciously.

He couldn't understand what Yuan Chen was saying, but he could sense that Yuan Chen was saying something he had never noticed before, something that had captivated his mind and eyes.

"Those endings you don't want to accept mean the journey isn't over yet."

_____

I suddenly realized that Chapter 15 has been significantly revised... I forgot to upload it before, which caused a connection error with Chapter 16. Those who have already read it can read it again.

Volume 1: Chapter 22 - Vijay's Father

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Sagat was slightly taken aback, then stood still, seemingly unsure how to respond.

He seemed to understand some of what Yuan Chen wanted to express, but also seemed not to understand. While Sagat seemed to understand something, Chun-Li and the others were completely confused. Only Yuan, looking indifferent, stroked his beard and watched Sagat's reaction with great interest.

"A surge of murderous intent."

Yuan Chen stretched out his hand, and after a moment of preparation, a scarlet aura appeared in his palm.

Almost the instant that wisp of blood appeared, Tong Ang frowned deeply.

Chun-Li might not know what this is, but having once infiltrated the Shadow Sect, Copper Ang had some understanding of the fluctuations of murderous intent.

This thing can be described as Vega's strictest 'father'.

Although it appears to be a type of 'qi', it is actually a kind of spiritual energy that allows martial artists and fighters to fly and teleport during battle, and to directly strike the soul.

Putting aside everything else, Akuma, as the most skilled user of the Killing Intent Wave, used Instant Hell Slash to instantly kill Vega four times in Capcom's official games Super Street Fighter II X, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter EX, and SNK vs. CAPCOM: SVC Chaos... literally Vega's father.

Although none of this has happened yet, Tong Ang had conducted extensive and in-depth investigations into Vega, and he was intimately familiar with this special ability that was highlighted within the Shadow Clan.

Not to mention, there was already a legendary assassin by Colossus's side who had once mastered the power of killing intent but then actively eliminated its influence.

But this was clearly not something that Sagat and Chun-Li knew or understood.

Sensing their confusion, Yuan Chen explained:

"This is like a special kind of spiritual energy that has the characteristic of eroding one's spirit. Theoretically, everyone has it, but only the most extreme and obsessive individuals have the opportunity to awaken."

Those who awaken will stop at nothing to win, valuing victory far more than life itself, ultimately perishing in endless battles.

Upon hearing this, Chunli, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but take a step back, looking at the red light in Yuan Chen's hand with worry in her eyes.

In contrast, Sagat's face was filled with solemnity, and he said with slight hesitation, "This is... what I left inside you back then?"

"Something like that. It's mainly used to ignite my life energy, like the embers that haven't completely died out yet?"

Yuan Chen shrugged, then dispersed the slight residual wave of killing intent, and then said unhurriedly:

“This should have been a pure expression of murderous intent, but I can sense your confusion… In other words, you don’t want to kill; you’re searching for something.”

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Sagat fell silent, then simply sat down on the ground. After a moment, he looked at Yuan Chen and said, "Then do you know what I'm looking for?"

Yuan Chen remained silent for a moment, then helplessly pointed to himself and said, "I'm only eighteen, and you're asking me?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Sagat's lips twitched, realizing how stupid a question he had asked.

Thinking this, Sagat stared at his fist and then said, "So... what should I do?"

Sagat has realized his mistake, but it is clear that he does not know what to do or how to handle the situation.

Yuan Chen didn't know how to answer this—he couldn't very well say, "Go back to Yingluo and become one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and then you'll gradually understand," could he?

While pondering, Yuan Chen shrugged and gave a convincing answer: "I don't know."

"The surge of murderous intent..." After pondering for a moment, Sagat said, "If that's the case, perhaps I should accept the surge of murderous intent?"

"I don't know." Yuan Chen shrugged again, then gestured with his chin toward the old man beside him.

"Ask him, he knows."

Upon hearing this, Sagat also looked at Yuan with some surprise.

Yuan just chuckled twice, and after examining Sagat for a moment, shook his head and said, "You're not suited for the Wave of Killing Intent."

"Why?" Sagat asked back, his eyes filled with doubt.

In response, Yuan simply closed his eyes. When he opened them again, an inexplicable, chilling killing intent suddenly descended, as if even the air temperature had dropped slightly. Thick, scarlet blood energy rose from his body, floating around him like black smoke.

This suffocating killing intent that momentarily took hold only for a fleeting instant, after which Yuan Ye resumed his cheerful demeanor and said:

"When you first awaken the wave of murderous intent but still have hesitation and confusion in your heart, you lose the possibility of mastering the wave of murderous intent. Even if you force a hug, you will only become a belligerent puppet of revenge."

“Your talent supports your awakening, but your soul is unwilling to succumb to the control of this power,” Yuan Chen explained from the side. “The purity is insufficient.”

"Is it a bad thing?" Sagat asked.

“No,” Yuan Chen shrugged and said.

"There are many forces in this world that are comparable to the wave of murderous intent... such as the power of yoga mastered by the Indian master Darshim, the spiritual power of Vajra, and other spiritual powers, the spiritual power of nature, the wave of nothingness, and so on."

"Being able to awaken the wave of killing intent means that you possess the talent and spirit to cultivate this level of power. Of course, how to awaken it and how to master it is your own business."

Upon hearing this, Sagat's face showed a hint of confusion, but after thinking for a moment, he looked at Yuan Chen and said, "If that's the case... is the life energy you possess also one of these powers?"

Yuan Chen was momentarily stunned, somewhat surprised that Sagat would inquire about life energy.

But it's clear that Sagat isn't the only one curious about this.

Sure enough, after Sagat asked, even Dungeon, Chun-Li, and Yuan, who were standing nearby, showed curious eyes.

Seeing this, Yuan Chen stroked his chin and said:

"Hmm... I guess so, but it's probably not on the same level. After all, it was something I awakened naturally, not something I comprehended through cultivation. It's more like a gift from heaven, something like a superpower?"

Yuan Chen didn't take Ingrid's talk about the power of the emblem to heart.

The specifications are too high; now I'm thinking that all I can do is make myself drool.

Meanwhile, watching Yuan Chen speak eloquently, Yuan also stroked his beard, then nodded thoughtfully.

Clearly, while Yuan Chen was unconscious, he seemed to have seen many interesting things and learned a lot of interesting knowledge...

Volume 1: Chapter 23 - Modern Muay Thai

Although she noticed, Yuan did not disturb Yuan Chen, but simply looked at him with great interest.

It was a dying space unlike any other...

Unaware of Yuan's thoughts, Yuan Chen simply looked at Sagat and said:

"Aside from being born with it, similar powers can only be comprehended by reaching a certain level through cultivation, or by being exceptionally similar in characteristics to a certain power and naturally merging into it upon encountering it."

"And what about yours?" Sagat asked.

Upon hearing Sagat's question, Chun-Li quickly reached out to stop him, then glared at Sagat with displeasure and said, "No matter how you look at it, there's no need to tell you something like this, is there?"

Upon hearing this, Sagat fell silent, then nodded without speaking, acknowledging Chun-Li's statement.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with Chun-Li's actions. Rather, in Sagat's view, he had indeed been a bit too hasty, casually inquiring about such a secret about someone else's livelihood.

This might seem normal to modern martial artists, especially in professional combat, where maximizing the absorption of other techniques within the bounds of the rules is quite common.

However, Sagat, who came from the Qingmai Ancient Fist Sect, was well aware of how strict the rules were for ancient practitioners.

For example, Sagat is now facing the punishment of being expelled from the Cheong Mekken School.

As the highest punishment in the Qingmai Quan sect, minor mistakes, such as running rampant in the countryside, certainly don't warrant such harshness.

However, if it involves some secrets that are not passed down, such as meridians and pathways, then in addition to being stripped of their titles, they may also be stripped of their spiritual practice and have their limbs removed.

And Yuan Chen...

"Actually, it's nothing serious." Yuan Chen seemed very calm.

"It's no big deal!" Chunli raised her hand in dissatisfaction, as if she wanted to poke Yuan Chen's forehead hard.

But then he realized that Yuan Chen was still a patient, so he snorted and crossed his arms, saying:

"This is a secret that belongs only to you. Even if you are willing to tell it, you cannot tell it so easily."

As she said this, Chun-Li turned her gaze to Sagat and said:

“If it weren’t for Yuan Chen’s ability to bring him back to life, he would be dead now. Yuan Chen may not care about this, but I won’t pretend it never happened.”

Upon hearing Chun-Li's words, Sagat pursed his lips, then nodded understandingly: "...You're right."

After a pause, Sagat added, "If that's the case... I'll teach you Muay Thai."

"...Huh?"

Upon hearing this, not only Chun-Li, but even Yuan-Chen and Tong-Ang couldn't help but raise their eyebrows.

"Muay Thai?" Yuan Chen asked.

"Hmm." Sagat nodded, stood up, and crossed his arms, saying:

"Ancient Muay Thai is ineffective because it involves the flow of Qi and the flow of Qi through the meridians."

But I overheard it outside the door: your line of training is damaged, and you haven't been able to mobilize Lompran for a while, so you're preparing to work on modern martial arts. As for professional Muay Thai... no problem, I participate in both competitions.”

Upon hearing Sagat's words, Yuan Chen's face showed a slight hint of interest.

The so-called 'Sen Line' can be roughly understood as Thai meridians, while Luang Pram is also the way Chiang Mai Kung Fu interprets ki.

Of course, similarity does not mean that they come from the same origin.

Muay Thai's understanding of bodily energy is closer to the system of Indian yoga. Luang Pramban is considered to be driven by the breath, which is the life essence that combines innate and acquired elements...

For the Qingmai Quan Sect, the Senxian lineage and the Longpulan mental techniques are its core lineages.

“While professional Muay Thai has abandoned some of the secrets of ancient Muay Thai, it has also given rise to many new things along with the progress of time,” Sagat said. “If you want to…”

As he said this, Sagat paused, then shook his head and sighed:

"Never mind, I won't ask for anything. I'll teach you whatever you need as compensation and thanks."

“I’ll learn, of course I’ll learn!” Yuan Chen immediately agreed.

Muay Thai covers all parts of the body, from short to medium to close range, with extremely strong cleavage strikes. Its hardness and endurance are also top-notch, making it one of the most effective professional boxing styles in actual combat.

As he said this, Yuan Chen turned his gaze to Yuan beside him and said, "Grandpa, you don't have any objections, do you?"

"What opinion could I possibly have?" Yuan chuckled, then said with a melancholic expression, "It's just that people grow up and leave home, and it seems you look down on my old-fashioned skills, since you won't even come to me to learn."

"You talk as if you're giving a lecture..."

Yuan Chen rolled his eyes, completely unconcerned.

As early as when Yuan Chen first sensed his own meridians, Yuan Ye frankly admitted that the Sang Ji he practiced was an assassination fist that he had specially developed for himself, and it was not suitable for Yuan Chen's personality and physique.

For example, the "Sang Liu" style, although it aims to defeat the enemy with a simple and powerful blow, is often a heavy and forceful punch in Yuan Chen's hands.

In Yuan's hands, however, the attacks are more often destructive strikes targeting numerous meridians and acupoints in an instant.

Whether it's the "Shadow" that directly counters "Instant Hell Kill" or the rarely used "Death Point Strike," the ultimate techniques of his Slaughter Flow compress numerous fatal blows into an instant.

Although both aim to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, there is a clear difference between them and Yuan Chen, who compresses all his strength into a single strike.

Thinking this, Yuan sighed: "If you used your life energy on mourning, it would be much more effective than mine... but what can I do? Your personality just isn't suited to my sense of mourning."

In Yuan's view, Yuan Chen's life energy, as a gift from heaven, is ridiculously powerful. Just a trace of it needs to be transferred into another person's body and then triggered at a fatal point to directly injure or even kill the enemy.

In particular, Yuan Chen has such a good physique that he can secretly cultivate the plank road and transfer a large amount of life energy during fierce battles, and then explode internally.

This is much better than anything like mental power.

But there's no way around it; martial arts is a cultivation of both spirit and flesh. Martial artists have personalities, and so do their martial arts techniques.

Even a forced relationship won't be sweet; it would be misleading to force martial artists who are passionate about direct combat to learn poisonous or soft martial arts techniques.

Based on this, what Yuan Chen realized himself was actually the most suitable mourning for him.