Martial Arts Secret Realm: Only I Can Know the Plot?

The day Sun Fan went to find him, Feng Congyun was drinking on a small hill behind the martial arts school. The hill wasn't high, and there was a small pavilion on it, where Feng Congyun used to practice swordsmanship. The pavilion was old, and the paint on the pillars was peeling off, but it was very clean, and a tea set was placed on the stone table.

"You're here?" Feng Congyun leaned against a pavilion pillar, holding a wine pot in his hand. When he saw Sun Fan come up, he raised his chin and pointed to the stone bench opposite the stone table. "Sit down."

Sun Fan sat down.

Feng Congyun pulled a cloth bag from his pocket and threw it on the stone table. The bag wasn't big, but it was heavy, and it landed on the stone table with a dull thud.

"Open it and take a look."

Sun Fan untied the cloth bag, inside were three things—a jade pendant, two porcelain bottles, and a thin booklet.

"The jade token is your pass to the Scripture Pavilion," Feng Congyun said. "The Dark Martial Arts Academy's Scripture Pavilion has three floors. The first and second floors are open to all students, while the third floor is only accessible to teachers and a few privileged students. This jade token allows you to enter the third floor an unlimited number of times."

Sun Fan picked up the jade pendant and examined it. It was made of white jade, smooth and lustrous, with the character "Yun" (cloud) engraved on the front and the emblem of the Dark Martial Arts School on the back.

"Those two porcelain bottles, one contains Peiyuan Pills and the other contains Ningqi Powder. Peiyuan Pills strengthen the foundation and nourish the meridians; Ningqi Powder helps open the meridians and accelerates the circulation of internal energy." Feng Congyun took a swig of wine. "These are things that can't be exchanged in the Scripture Pavilion, my own stockpile. Don't be stingy with them, use them when you need to."

Sun Fan picked up the porcelain bottle, uncorked it, and took a sniff. A faint medicinal fragrance wafted out, crisp and slightly sweet, and just smelling it made the warm current in his heart feel more active.

He put down the porcelain vase and picked up the booklet.

The cover was blank, but when you opened it, you found a handwritten manual of internal martial arts techniques.

The handwriting was messy and had many corrections, like a casually written note, but the content was extremely detailed—from the Opening Meridian Realm to the Gathering Qi Realm, the key points of cultivation, common problems, and solutions for each level of the technique were written clearly.

The book also includes a comparative analysis of several representative internal martial arts techniques, including their advantages and disadvantages, difficulty of conversion, and suitability for different body types.

Sun Fan read a few pages, then looked up at Feng Congyun.

"Teacher Feng, this is too precious."

The valuable items were not just the elixirs and the pass, but also this handwritten notebook.

This is a summary of cultivation insights by a sixth-realm swordsman; it's something that money can't buy.

"Valuable?" Feng Congyun scoffed. "These things are just sitting there, I don't need them. The Qi-Nourishing Pills are leftovers from when I was practicing, the Qi-Gathering Powder is something I smuggled from someone, and the notes are just something I jotted down, they're worthless."

He paused, looked into Sun Fan's eyes, and his gaze suddenly became serious.

"Sun Fan, let me tell you the truth. I'm helping you not because you kindly treated me to half a pot of wine, nor because you're talented or have potential. I'm helping you because I don't want to see another Ye Liuxing."

His voice lowered.

"Ye Liuxing is the biggest failure of my life. I taught him martial arts, I taught him mental techniques, I taught him how to win. But I didn't teach him how to lose, I didn't teach him how to stop, I didn't teach him how to live."

He took a big gulp of wine, placed the wine pot on the stone table, leaned against the pavilion pillar, and looked up at the sky.

"That kid, I don't know who he learned it from, he just charges ahead without ever looking back. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. He's too competitive, too eager to prove himself. And the result—you saw it too."

He turned to look at Sun Fan.

"You're different from him. You know when to stop, when to think, and when to calculate. You know when to advance and when to retreat. You were right not to participate in the year-end competition."

Sun Fan remained silent for a while, then rewrapped the three items and put them into his pocket.

"Teacher Feng, I will not become the second Ye Liuxing."

Feng Congyun looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"I know," he said. "You're smarter than him."

For the next month, Sun Fan practically locked himself in the training room.

One pill of Peiyuan Dan per day, and three doses of Ningqi San per day. The medicinal power dissipates within the body, working in conjunction with the internal energy of the Shenzhao Jing to cleanse the meridians again and again. The three Yin meridians of the hand are opened, then the three Yang meridians of the hand, then the three Yin meridians of the foot, and finally the three Yang meridians of the foot. One by one, the twelve primary meridians are opened, like a dried-up riverbed receiving water, the parched riverbed becoming moist again, the silt being washed away, and the water flowing more and more smoothly and abundantly.

The internal energy of the Divine Illumination Scripture surged in his chest, each heartbeat like a heavy drumbeat, pumping warm blood throughout his body. His blood and qi flowed like a tide, his internal energy like a spring, endless and inexhaustible.

Sun Fan could feel his body changing—his strength was increasing, his speed was improving, and his reaction time was accelerating. It wasn't a leap forward, but a solid, gradual, and intrinsic improvement. Every bit of strength he gained was through his own training, and every inch of progress he made was earned through his own hard work.

There are no shortcuts, no tricks; it's all about practicing each move one by one and accumulating knowledge bit by bit.

Every time Dong Dahai brought food, he could sense the changes in Sun Fan.

It wasn't a change in appearance, but a change in temperament. A month ago, Sun Fan sat there like a drawn sword, its sharpness exposed, making people afraid to look directly at him. Now, he sits there like a sheathed sword—its sharpness is hidden, but you know that a fine sword lies within its sheath.

"Squad leader, you look much better lately." Dong Dahai put the food on the table, glanced at Sun Fan's face, and said, "The bloodshot in your eyes has faded too."

Sun Fan opened his eyes, stood up from the meditation cushion, and stretched his limbs, his joints making a series of soft cracking sounds. He walked to the table, sat down, picked up his rice bowl, took a bite of food, and ate slowly.

"It's faded, but it hasn't disappeared," he said. "I guess it'll never disappear in this lifetime."

Dong Dahai was silent for a moment, then asked, "So... will you still be able to use that sword in the future?"

Sun Fan finished chewing his food, swallowed it, and then said, "Yes. But after using it, the blood will become darker. The more you use it, the faster it will darken."

He didn't say "what happens when it gets too concentrated," and Dong Dahai didn't ask either. The two tacitly avoided the topic, as if avoiding a bomb that could explode at any moment.

Dong Dahai looked at him and suddenly asked, "Squad leader, don't you think...this is unfair?"

"What's unfair?"

"You saved so many people and helped so many people in the secret realm, but you came out with nothing. You learned the Divine Illumination Scripture yourself, you obtained the Blood Blade Scripture yourself, and you earned the mission points yourself."

Sun Fan put down his chopsticks, looked at Dong Dahai, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Dahai, did you help me with this so that I would repay you?"

Dong Dahai paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"That settles it then." Sun Fan picked up his bowl and continued eating. "I help them not so they can repay me, but because they deserve it."

He finished chewing the last bite of rice, put down his chopsticks, and wiped his mouth with a tissue.