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

Yan Gaotian's eyes were wide open, and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was saying something.

He couldn't understand it until his death.

Why could a martial artist at the Qi Opening Realm use such a sword strike?

That sword strike was no longer within the scope of the Opening Meridian Realm.

It doesn't even belong to the Qi Gathering Realm.

That is……

He couldn't tell what it was.

But he knew that it might be a level he could never reach in his lifetime.

The arena fell silent.

Blood gushed from Yan Gaotian's neck cavity, dripping down the cracks in the wooden planks onto the soil below the arena.

Sun Fan sheathed his sword.

His face was paler than usual, and his hand gripping the sword trembled slightly. Three days and three nights of building up strength, releasing the sword in one strike, had taken a toll on his body more than he had anticipated.

But he stood there.

Standing steadily.

A deafening roar erupted from the audience.

"Dead...dead?!"

"One sword! Just one sword!"

"Who exactly is that scholar?!"

Dong Dahai stood below the stage, watching Sun Fan's back, and remained motionless for a long time.

His eyes were a little red, but the scar on his face looked particularly ferocious in the sunlight.

Red Wolf's mouth was agape, unable to close it for a long time.

Du Ming's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Mu Xue'er covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

Shen Huaishan stood at a distance, watching Sun Fan on the arena, and remained silent for a long time before sighing.

"This young man..." He shook his head and didn't continue.

Shen Zhaoyuan stood beside him, his expression complex.

He had always thought Sun Fan was just a learned scholar, but he never expected that his martial arts skills were even better than his academic achievements.

Sun Fan stepped off the stage.

His steps were steady, but each step felt like walking on cotton. Dong Dahai stepped forward to support him, and he did not refuse.

"Squad leader." Dong Dahai's voice was a little hoarse.

"It's nothing," Sun Fan said. "I'm just a little tired."

He turned his head and looked at Yan Gaotian's corpse on the arena.

"Bury him. He was a martial artist after all."

Dong Dahai nodded.

Sun Fan didn't say anything more and turned to walk into the city.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky.

In his eyes, there were barely noticeable blood vessels spreading.

The sun was already high in the sky, and the sunlight was so bright that it hurt his eyes.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The matter in Jingzhou City has finally come to an end.

The ferocious tiger is dead, Hua Tiegan is gone, the Blood Blade Sect members are still on the run, and the four great families are still in pursuit. But those are things for the future.

All he wants to do right now is go back to sleep.

Take a nap and we'll talk about it when I wake up.

Behind him, Mu Xue'er caught up and draped an outer garment over his shoulders.

"Squad leader, you're sweating a lot."

Sun Fan put his hand on Mu Xue'er's shoulder, a sudden little gesture that made her blush.

But the force that followed made her expression change.

Sun Fan's hand was very heavy.

She immediately understood, and pretended to help him get dressed, but secretly supported him.

Back at the villa, Sun Fan locked himself in the training room.

He sat cross-legged and tried to activate the Divine Illumination Sutra.

The inner energy surged from his heart, warm and clear, like a spring, slowly flowing into his limbs and bones. But this time, that warm spring water contained something else.

Black.

Like ink dripping into clear water, it spreads out in fine, thread-like strands.

Sun Fan frowned slightly.

He knew what it was.

Heart demon.

That sword strike was not something someone of his level should be able to control.

The deadly sword strike, a sword technique he comprehended after observing Xie Xiaofeng and Yan Shisan's ultimate duel, contained a killing intent and a sense of destruction that far exceeded his current capacity to withstand.

He forced it on.

After he finished using it, the killing intent and sense of destruction did not dissipate, but instead rebounded along with the sword intent and seeped into his heart.

If it's ordinary internal energy cultivation, this inner demon will grow stronger and stronger, eventually driving a person insane.

But the Divine Illumination Sutra is different.

Ding Dian wrote in his notes: "The Divine Illumination Scripture cultivates destiny, and destiny resides in the heart. If the heart is not upright, destiny will not be upright. If the heart is filled with demons, destiny will be distorted."

Conversely, if one's heart is righteous, evil will retreat.

Sun Fan calmed himself and guided the internal energy of the Divine Illumination Scripture to circulate slowly within his body. The warm current of energy washed over his meridians again and again, and each time it passed through his heart, it carried away a trace of black substance.

very slow.

But it is indeed decreasing.

He sat in the training room for a whole day and night.

The following evening, when Dong Dahai pushed open the door and came in, Sun Fan's complexion was better than the day before, but he was still very pale. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were also bloodless.

"Squad leader, the task panel has been updated."

Sun Fan opened his eyes and glanced at the system panel.

Main quest (factional conflict): Completed.

The third-party faction wins by defeating the ferocious tiger Yan Gaotian.

Rewards: Divine Illumination Scripture (already obtained), 500 Quest Points, Secret Realm Treasure Chest ×1.

Side Quest: Help Di Yun escape (in progress).

Mission Description: Di Yun has been kidnapped by the Blood Saber Ancestor and is fleeing towards the snowy mountains of Tibet. Lu Tianshu, Liu Chengfeng, and Shui Dai, three of the Four Heroes of the South, are in pursuit. Please hurry to the snowy mountains and rescue Di Yun before the Blood Saber Ancestor kills him.

Task reward: ? ? ?

After reading it, Sun Fan remained silent for a while.

"Where is the Blood Saber Ancestor?"

Dong Dahai opened the booklet in his hand: "Latest news: Three days ago, someone saw Blood Saber Ancestor leading two people across western Sichuan, heading towards the Tibetan border. Judging by their pace, they should have already entered the snow mountain area by now."

"Where are the people from the four major families?"

"Lu Tianshu, Liu Chengfeng, and Shui Dai were chasing after them, two days' journey behind. Hua Tiegan—nobody knows where he went; there's been no news of him since he left Jingzhou."

Sun Fan stood up and stretched his stiff shoulders.

"Get ready, we're leaving tomorrow."

Dong Dahai was stunned for a moment: "Squad leader, your injury—"

"It's alright." Sun Fan walked to the window and looked at the sky outside. "The Divine Illumination Scripture is slowly recovering. By the time we reach the snow mountain, it should be almost fully healed."

Dong Dahai opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just nodded, turned around and left.

Sun Fan stood by the window, looking at the old locust tree in the yard.

The leaves on the trees have begun to turn yellow. When the wind blows, they rustle and a few leaves drift down, landing on the surface of the pond and swirling around.

He suddenly remembered what Ding Dian had said before he left—"To reach the third level of the Divine Illumination Scripture, one needs a special opportunity."

Perhaps this trip to the snow-capped mountains was his destiny.

Early the next morning, Sun Fan, along with Dong Dahai, Hong Lang, Du Ming, and Mu Xue'er, rode fast horses out of Jingzhou City and headed west.

Five horses, five people, traveling light.

Sun Fan, still pale on his horse, was in much better spirits than yesterday. The internal energy of the Divine Illumination Scripture was slowly circulating within him, and every hour, he could feel the warm current growing stronger.

But the bloodshot in his eyes never faded.