Chapter 2

"Those who wish to practice the divine skill must first castrate themselves!"

The eight large characters at the beginning of the *Perverse Sword Manual* loomed like a mountain in the hearts of all who obtained it. Those with low martial arts skills who couldn't understand it thought it was a prank by someone.

But those who had achieved great martial arts skills and could be considered experts could see the power of this technique.

It was powerful, indeed...

But the conditions for practicing it were too harsh. What did most people practice martial arts for? To settle scores and enjoy life, to ride fine horses and drink good wine, to be with beautiful women.

Practicing the *Perverse Sword Manual* would take away the greatest joys of life. What good would it be to be invincible in the world then?

Moreover, the Chinese have always believed that the body, hair, and skin are gifts from one's parents, and one dare not damage them, for that is the beginning of filial piety.

They also believe that among the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest.

The Han people governed the world with filial piety, so the *Perverse Sword Manual* could be said to go against the universal values of the era.

Furthermore, the *Perverse Sword Manual* was so widely spread that, although it wasn't true that everyone had a copy, anyone with some martial arts skills could read it without any trouble.

If you had it, everyone else had it too. It wasn't a secret, so what was the point of practicing it?

If no one practiced it, everyone would be on the same starting line, maintaining a delicate balance among the experts.

But this delicate balance was soon broken.

In Henan, a young man's entire family was killed.

This young man had a copy of the *Perverse Sword Manual*. In a fit of rage, he castrated himself. Three months later, he killed the entire family of his enemy who had wiped out his family.

The initial killer belonged to a third-rate minor sect, but he had some relatives and friends, and old acquaintances in the martial arts world.

The young man, who had no sect or school, had stirred up a hornet's nest, causing many to attack him.

But to everyone's surprise, most of those who attacked him were killed or injured. It was only after his internal energy was exhausted that they slowly managed to kill him.

A young man with seventh or eighth-rate martial arts skills had such combat power after practicing the *Perverse Sword Manual* for a year, which made people realize its power and peculiarity.

Those with many enemies or sects feared that their enemies might take a knife to themselves and then they wouldn't be able to resist, so they began to study the *Perverse Sword Manual*.

Most of them didn't have the courage to castrate themselves, but almost all the famous martial artists in the world were studying the *Perverse Sword Manual* to see if there was a way to bypass the initial castration.

Human wisdom is infinite. In modern society, with such advanced technology, it is the result of global cooperation.

Modern people know that isolation is not feasible, and cooperation is the only way to truly develop.

For example, China once closed its doors, resulting in a pile of junk. India also once closed its doors to develop technology, but the result was also a pile of useless waste.

So now everyone is open.

When everyone studies a topic together, if your research proves that a certain idea is wrong, I will naturally take another path, saving a lot of time and avoiding disconnection from demand.

Such research, combining the wisdom of all, can naturally burst with incredible power.

In the *Smiling, Proud Wanderer* world, the *Perverse Sword Manual* was first studied within sects, then exchanged between friendly sects, gradually leading to a trend of cooperation across the entire martial arts world.

There were rumors about the *Perverse Sword Manual* everywhere in the martial arts world.

"Grassland Lone Walker Tian Boguang practiced the *Perverse Sword Technique* in a brothel, planning to solve the problem of desire by indulging in it.

But during his indulgence, he couldn't control the rampant true energy, which led to a backlash, causing him to lose most of his true energy..."

"Black and White, the master of West Lake Plum Manor, used the Cold Finger to seal the acupoints around his lower abdomen, but the true energy still went rampant, causing him to die suddenly...

What a fool, the acupoints near the dantian are so close, yet he dared to seal them..."

"The White and Black Bears of the Desert robbed the Qing Mountain Escort Agency and ate a lay disciple of the Hengshan Sect...

The two were pursued by the Hengshan Sect. In a fit of rage, the White Bear decided to practice the *Perverse Sword Manual*, but just after he castrated himself, the Hengshan Sect found him. The White Bear was killed on the spot, and the Black Bear escaped to the northern desert..."

"The old man Yujizi of the Taishan Sect, who was eighty years old, was crazy about becoming the sect leader and decided to practice the *Perverse Sword Manual* to usurp the position...

But he was killed by Daoist Tianmenzi and two elders... It seems the *Perverse Sword Manual* is not omnipotent!"

"Zhang Furen, a wandering member of the Demon Sect, and Sang Sanlang, a member of the Demon Sect, disregarded their gender and practiced the *Perverse Sword Technique*, resulting in blocked internal energy, stagnant blood, and a loss of most of their martial arts skills..."

...

Xiao Ran used the *Perverse Sword Manual* to further stir up the already turbulent martial arts world.

And he himself was not idle. He was a martial arts enthusiast who, as a child, had always dreamed of achieving supreme martial arts skills. As an adult, he knew that martial arts were non-existent, but he still practiced boxing and kickboxing.

Now that he had this opportunity, he naturally practiced diligently. After three months of cultivation in this world, Xiao Ran's cultivation had reached the peak of the second level of Body Tempering.

But he had always held back from starting to practice Qi, knowing the consequences of practicing Qi before reaching the peak of Body Tempering!

Regardless of the strength of the body, the ability to withstand the output of true energy, and the abundance of essence and energy, just from the perspective of controlling true energy!

Starting to practice Qi before reaching the peak of Body Tempering would require several times, or even tens of times, more effort to reach the level of those who started practicing Qi after reaching the peak of the third level of Body Tempering.

He knew that the martial artists in the city, such as his ex-fiancée, all started practicing Qi after reaching the peak of Body Tempering.

Starting to practice Qi before reaching the peak of Body Tempering was considered giving up one's future.

But there were exceptions. It was said that the disciples of major sects were implanted with a Qi seed in their bodies from a young age, allowing them to start practicing Qi from a young age without these side effects!

However, Qi seeds were extremely precious and were not available in a small city like Jin Guang City!

So if Xiao Ran started practicing Qi before reaching the peak of Body Tempering, he would start at a lower level than others. Even if he dominated the *Smiling, Proud Wanderer* world for a while, he would still be a novice when he returned to the main world.

Xiao Ran was just a passerby in this world.

This time, it was a system discount, allowing Xiao Ran to stay in the *Smiling, Proud Wanderer* world for a year.

In such a short time, Xiao Ran did not expect to achieve much.

Xiao Ran's main goal was to collect martial arts techniques.

...

While practicing, Xiao Ran used silver to buy a small escort agency, a tavern, and a brothel in Fuzhou, mainly to gather intelligence about the *Perverse Sword Manual* in the martial arts world.

After these three businesses were running smoothly and he had established a small intelligence network, he went to Huashan to become a disciple.

By this time, three and a half months had passed.

He was bringing his own skills to become a disciple, and Yue Buqun was very strict about accepting disciples, making it difficult for him to be accepted.

But Xiao Ran had a family recipe for Body Tempering Soup, which, while not too precious in the Ancient Continent, was only used to supply poor people who couldn't afford to practice martial arts!

But in the *Smiling, Proud Wanderer* world, it was rare. He offered this recipe to Yue Buqun and finally managed to become a disciple.

According to Huashan's rules, new disciples had to train for three years before they could start learning internal energy.

This was similar to the Body Tempering stage in the Ancient Continent!

The time was too short, but Xiao Ran didn't expect to learn any profound martial arts from the stingy Yue Buqun. His main goal in going to Huashan was to get close to the main character, Linghu Chong.

Xiao Ran was a martial arts enthusiast and had a strong liking and curiosity for Linghu Chong.

More importantly, he wanted to become familiar with Linghu Chong and see if there was a chance to learn the *Nine Swords of Dugu*.

In the *Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, the two most powerful sword techniques, the *Nine Swords of Dugu* and the *Perverse Sword Technique*, were often debated as to which was more powerful.

But compared to the *Perverse Sword Technique*, the *Nine Swords of Dugu* had a more magical aspect.

When Linghu Chong lost his internal energy, he could blind fifteen second-rate experts with one strike, surpassing Feng Buping, who was only slightly weaker than Yue Buqun, which was simply incredible.

It was very suitable for Xiao Ran, who had not yet started practicing Qi.

If Xiao Ran learned the *Nine Swords of Dugu*, even if he didn't cultivate internal energy for now, he would have a chance to win against a major sect leader like Yue Buqun.

A few days after arriving on the mountain, Xiao Ran saw Lu Dàyǒu provoke Lin Pingzhi, but was accidentally injured by Lin Pingzhi's "Phoenix Comes" technique, and his heart suddenly stirred.

He had read *Smiling, Proud Wanderer* several times and remembered this plot.

Lu Dàyǒu was a die-hard fan of Linghu Chong and couldn't stand to see Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan getting along, so he constantly caused trouble for Lin Pingzhi. But he was unexpectedly injured by Lin Pingzhi. When he was injured and delivering food to Linghu Chong, it was just when Linghu Chong broke into the secret cave behind the Reflection Cliff.

Xiao Ran found Lu Dàyǒu at noon and said that he had heard of Linghu Chong's great name in the martial arts world and wanted to meet the eldest brother, so he asked Lu Dàyǒu to let him deliver the food.

Lu Dàyǒu was already angry and didn't want Linghu Chong to see his miserable state, so he agreed when he heard Xiao Ran's request.

Xiao Ran went up the Reflection Cliff and, seeing no one in the cave, walked straight in and found the secret cave.

This secret cave was dug by the ten elders of the Demon Sect who were trapped on Huashan. It was filled with the sword techniques of the Five Mountains and the methods to counter them. Xiao Ran thought for a moment, put down the food, and entered the secret cave.

At this moment, Linghu Chong was seeing the Huashan sword techniques being completely countered, feeling disoriented. Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong and shouted, "Who?"

As he spoke, he thrust his long sword outward, using the "Falling Leaves" technique that had just been countered on the cave wall.

For a moment, the sword light was intense, and sword shadows filled the air.

Xiao Ran had been on high alert. He had fought with people in the martial arts world before, but none of them could compare to the direct disciple of the Huashan Sect.

The coldness of the sword made Xiao Ran's skin tighten, and his hair stood on end. Using his raised hair to sense the air flow, like a radar, he perceived the direction of the sword and instantly dodged three meters away, shouting, "Eldest Brother, I'm here to deliver your food!"

Linghu Chong had lost confidence in his own sword techniques. After the initial thrust, his strength was insufficient, allowing Xiao Ran to dodge. Hearing Xiao Ran's words, he was taken aback. He vaguely remembered Lu Dàyǒu mentioning that his master had taken a new disciple named Xiao Ran.

Linghu Chong shook his sword and shouted, "Don't try to trick me! Your movement is as fast as a galloping horse, a top-level external skill, not a technique of our sect!"

"I came with my own skills..." Xiao Ran shrugged and smiled, "If Eldest Brother doesn't believe me, I won't go down!

Wait until tonight, if I don't come down, Sixth Brother will come up, and then it will be clear."

He spoke casually, but Xiao Ran had broken out in a cold sweat. In terms of strength, Linghu Chong was no match for Xiao Ran, but that sword, enhanced by internal energy, was even faster than Xiao Ran had imagined.

If it hadn't been for the lack of strength, Xiao Ran might not have dodged without injury.