Chapter 4: The Peerless Genius of the Wuxia World
[Age 18: You realize you've transmigrated, and a flood of memories fills your mind. You learn that within a few years the realm will descend into chaos.]
[You begin laying the groundwork for what's to come.]
[Age 19: Just as in those memories, you join the Fierce Tiger Gang and obtain the Black Stone Fist.]
[Age 20: You discover that while your body isn't as sturdy as in the memories, your talent for Cultivation is leagues ahead.]
[Moreover, your Meridians are naturally unblocked.]
[All that separates you from the Peak Masters now is the accumulation of Internal Energy and the application of Moves.]
[After only one year of training in Black Stone Fist, your strength reaches first-rate level.]
[Age 21: Relying on overwhelming power, you subjugate every faction in the county seat. You pore through every Internal Skill in the city, fuse them, and create the Lin Family Internal Art 1.0.]
[This technique has no elemental attributes; it simply trains faster, makes Internal Energy vaster and fiercer, and also nourishes the body.]
[You reckon that with this method, in just one year your total Internal Energy will match the Peak of your previous life's memories.]
[But the county's stock of medicines that speed training is running low, so you decide to study medicine and try to concoct pills that boost Internal Energy.]
[You find you progress in medicine at lightning speed; within months your skill surpasses every healer in the county, and your grasp of herb properties far exceeds ordinary folk.]
[Later you even invent Qi Condensation Powder, which accelerates Internal Energy training.]
[Age 22: With Qi Condensation Powder, your Internal Energy cultivation now eclipses that of your previous life.]
[You also fuse numerous martial arts to create Primordial Chaos Palm. Your palm technique is performed to perfection, and you feel you've reached the level of the Peak Masters.]
[Yet you sense there's still room to grow, so you decide to leave the county seat.]
[Your target: the major Schools of the Great Yuan.]
[Along the road you encounter many mountain bandits; in the end you 'physically deliver' them all.]
[After delivery you meticulously loot their valuables, but find no powerful fragments of martial arts or peerless Internal Skills.]
['Seems I'm not the protagonist; though my parents are dead, I'm a heaven-sent Genius, not Trash, and now I can't even pick up a lost ultimate art.']
[Later you visit numerous Schools and obtain many martial arts and Internal Skills; at first they're unwilling to share.]
[But under your forceful reasoning they feel deeply ashamed of their rudeness and present their techniques without asking a single coin.]
[After mastering these methods you upgrade your Lin Family Internal Art to 2.0, greatly increasing training speed and making your Internal Energy more refined.]
[You even create the light-footed Ethereal Step, a skill combining close-range dodging, short repositioning, and long-distance sprinting.]
[With your current power, one stride covers seven or eight zhang.]
[Age 23: As you visit ever more Sects you witness the darker side of human nature; many Sects secretly abduct women and run sordid businesses.]
[When you meet such Schools you slaughter them outright; as the number of destroyed factions grows, your fame spreads across the land.]
[Because you always act wearing a mask, people call you the Masked Devil Head; your fearsome reputation is helped along by the very factions you visited.]
[One day, while passing through a withered forest, several dozen people block your path, all dressed differently but each holding sword or blade.]
[The leader points at you and shouts: 'Devil Head, you rob Sects and wipe out families; today we act for Heaven and will cut you down here!']
['Oh? With just you lot you think you can act for Heaven? Aren't you underestimating me?']
['Hmph, Devil Head, we know your strength. But today we've invited Great Master Ku Chan of the Formless Temple—an apex expert. Surrender now.']
[From what you know, the Formless Temple is like this world's Shaolin, forever claiming to be the Righteous Path's champion and loving to meddle.]
[After the leader speaks, an old monk in monastic robes steps from the crowd.]
['Amitabha, benefactor has created such grave karma; it truly should not be. Please, benefactor…']
Before Ku Chan could finish, you struck with a direct Primordial Chaos Palm. "Screw your courtesy—if we're fighting, we fight. Less talk."
Seeing they'd even invited Peak Masters, it was clear they wouldn't let this end peacefully, so you tuned out the monk and chose to start the fray.
No one expected you to Move first; by the script they should denounce your crimes, you retort, they reject your words, declare a Devil Head deserves no Jianghu honor, then swarm you. You're off-script.
Yet Master Ku Chan is, after all, a famed Peak Master of the Martial Forest.
As your fierce palm wind rushed in, he raised Formless Temple's supreme Prajna Palm to meet it.
The instant the palms clashed, torrents of Internal Energy erupted, forming a visible qi field ten zhang across.
Dead leaves on the ground were instantly ground to dust, the very air trembling from the force.
The martial artists who had surrounded you now found themselves unable to step within that surging epicenter.
In mere breaths you had traded dozens of moves; speed and Internal Energy so great no onlooker could intervene.
'Amitabha!' A flicker of surprise crossed Master Ku Chan's eyes. 'Young benefactor has already reached Transcendent—truly astounding. Yet…'
he continued earnestly, 'with such blood on your hands, why not return with this old monk to the temple, face the wall in contemplation, repent before the Buddha, cast away the blade, and come ashore?'
During the exchange Ku Chan realized your strength rivaled his, and a desire to cherish such talent arose.
If the Dharma could convert you, Formless Temple would gain another Protector Vajra.
You answered with a scornful smile—repent and 'come ashore' just meant becoming Formless Temple's hired thug. You couldn't be bothered arguing with the old monk.
After all, in these brief clashes you had gauged the rough power level of this world's Peak Masters.
Already you saw through every pattern of Ku Chan's moves; you suddenly exploded, Internal Energy surging like a river in flood, and a Primordial Chaos Palm shot out carrying thunderous momentum.
Bang!
The palm smashed straight through his Protective Aura and slammed square into his chest.
Hit by such force, the venerable monk flew like a snapped kite, crashed over a dozen zhang away, and lay unable to rise.
The rest, seeing even a Peak Master last only a few exchanges, were scared senseless and scattered like birds.
You shifted into Phantom Stride, weaving through them like a ghost; in moments most lay dead.
The survivors had long vanished; you didn't bother chasing.
You strolled to the dying Ku Chan and crouched. 'Master, Master—an ascetic should chant and sit in temple, yet you waded into this mess…' You shook your head. 'See where it got you?'
As the monk struggled to speak, you wasted no breath; a pulse of palm force ended his life.
After this battle your fame grew louder; though masked, your voice and bearing showed you were very young.
Now the Jianghu proclaims you history's youngest Peak Master—tragically, one who has fallen onto the Demonic Path.
You cared little for reputation, yet many self-proclaimed Holy Sect emissaries came recruiting.
Of course 'Holy Sect' was their own term; Jianghu folk call them the Demonic Sect. You pay no heed to labels, but that doesn't mean you'll join them.
Besides, their conduct disgusts you, so you slaughtered a good number, until the Demonic Sect dropped its invitations.
Recruiters weren't only from the Demonic Sect—even the court sent agents promising rich rewards for your service.
You refused. Setting aside your distaste for serving anyone, the current dynasty hasn't many years left in it anyway.