Chapter 48

Time ticked away, and Sun Yan meticulously studied the text on the wall dozens of times, even to the point of reciting it backward.

In the end, Sun Yan could only sadly admit a fact: the text was just a mythological story, with no relation to combat techniques or cultivation methods.

After recognizing this fact, Sun Yan thought of another possibility: perhaps there were hidden mechanisms in this secret room, and Zhang Zhengri had hidden the reward in a safe somewhere.

Unfortunately, Sun Yan searched the walls and floor for a full hour, crawling up and down, back and forth, but found nothing.

Plop... Sun Yan fell to the ground, exhausted, letting the dust fly around him. Lying on his back in the shape of a "大" (big), he sighed inwardly, thinking that he had no choice but to accept the torment from Zhang Zhengri, who was a master at tormenting people.

"Damn, Zhang Zhengri is such a despicable old bastard. They say that Instructor Lin Xinghe is a half-step Martial Ancestor, wise and mighty, and his words are law. How could he teach such an extreme student? Hmm, that's not right. Instructor Carter said that Lin Xinghe and Zhang Zhengri have similar personalities. Truly, if the top beam is crooked, the lower beams will be askew!"

Sun Yan grumbled inwardly, feeling depressed. He imagined how Wind Chime, Snow, and the others would laugh at his misfortune when he told them about it, making him feel as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Once I become a high-level warrior, I'll set up a similar trap and torment the next person until they cry."

The young man cursed inwardly, and it was clear that a corner of his worldview was quietly collapsing under the dual torment of body and mind.

"Ah, I'll just sleep for 2 hours and then leave when the time is up."

Turning his head, Sun Yan closed his eyes in fatigue, preparing to sleep. Just as he was about to doze off, a strange thing caught his eye.

"Huh! What's this?"

Flipping his body, Sun Yan lay flat on the ground, squinting his eyes, and looked closely. He noticed that the center of the secret room's floor seemed slightly uneven.

Sun Yan immediately moved closer, crawling to the center of the room and lying down to observe carefully. He finally confirmed that there was a slight indentation in the center of the room.

The indentation was extremely shallow, less than 0.01 millimeters deep, which was why Sun Yan hadn't noticed it before.

Such a slight indentation might go unnoticed elsewhere, but in this secret room made of cobalt alloy, it was quite unusual.

Touching the indentation, Sun Yan quickly determined it was a footprint, likely Zhang Zhengri's.

"Did Zhang Zhengri step here after carving the text on the wall? Or did the old bastard stand here, release his inner energy, and engrave the text on the walls with his force?" Sun Yan's mind raced with possibilities.

Regardless of which possibility was true, Sun Yan had to admit that, apart from Zhang Zhengri's twisted sense of humor, his strength was indeed unfathomable. His contributions during the Third Sino River War were enough to earn the admiration of future generations.

It was said that 210 years ago, during the Third Sino River War, Luoshan City almost suffered a catastrophic disaster. The JW Alliance's elite Panlong Fleet was at the city gates, and it was Zhang Zhengri who, with his own strength, held off the entire Panlong Fleet until reinforcements arrived.

Such a feat still brought tears to the eyes of those who heard the story.

Following the outline of the indentation, Sun Yan's fingers traced out a footprint. He sighed and muttered, "Old bastard, no matter how you tormented me today, you are a true man, a real hero. Sitting alone at South Eagle Academy, you staged an empty city ruse for 15 days. If I could have half your ability, my life would be worth living."

"Old bastard, may your soul rest in peace. The current Luoshan City is prosperous, and you should be smiling in heaven."

Stretching out his foot, Sun Yan placed it on the footprint. His foot was two sizes smaller. At that moment, a spark flashed in his mind, and a footprint suddenly appeared.

Sun Yan was startled. This wasn't the first time he had encountered such a situation. When he helped Shuilian Qing perfect the "Weak Water Technique," his mind had reflected a series of characters, completing the third level of the technique.

Three days ago, at the Luoshan Stone Tower, a fist imprint had suddenly appeared in his mind, which he still remembered vividly. Now, a footprint had appeared in his mind.

"What's going on?" Sun Yan cursed inwardly, then fell silent.

Each time this happened, Sun Yan would naturally enter a meditative state, whether he wanted to or not. His mind would focus on the changes in his mind.

In his mind, the footprint gradually became clearer, then emitted a light and shattered, flooding his mind with information, causing his head to throb.

Images flashed before his eyes, and Sun Yan felt the environment around him change. The next moment, he was standing on a lake, the water deep and mysterious.

Behind him, a thousand-foot waterfall cascaded down with a thunderous roar. Suddenly, the lake's surface churned, and a giant dragon emerged from the water, its scales like fans, its body stretching for miles. Golden claws gripped the air, and a thunderous sound echoed as the dragon soared into the sky, shocking the world.

Sun Yan was dumbfounded. "What is this? A flying dragon ascending to the heavens!"

At that moment, a black dot appeared in the cloudless sky, growing larger and larger until it was directly overhead. It was a human figure.

But what Sun Yan saw was only the person's foot, which descended from the air and stepped on the dragon's head. Rings of golden light radiated outward, causing the earth to shake.

The dragon, seemingly crushed by a mountain, let out a mournful cry and fell into the lake, causing a massive wave. After a long while, the lake calmed, and the waterfall continued to flow, but the dragon did not re-emerge.

The person who had stepped on the dragon slowly descended, standing on the lake's surface and walking slowly toward the shore. With each step, a strange scene appeared: spring thunder, scorching summer, yellowing autumn leaves, and winter snow...

When the person's figure disappeared into the trees, Sun Yan's mind cleared, and he came out of his meditative state, realizing he was still in the secret room, covered in dust, everything back to normal.

"Damn! What was that? Was I watching a movie?" Sun Yan was shocked and confused.

But subconsciously, Sun Yan felt something was off. He seemed to grasp something, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Sun Yan frowned and muttered, "Strange, really strange. What is it? I felt something, but I can't describe it."

This feeling was the most frustrating. Sun Yan scratched his head for a long time, then his eyes fell on the last sentence on the wall. Suddenly, he felt enlightened, as if a light had been turned on in his mind.

"How to seal a dragon? Use the four seasons as a guide, harmonize the five elements, and this is called the Dragon Sealing Pile."

"So that's it, so that's it. The four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Spring is wood, summer is fire, autumn is metal, and winter is water."

"Using the four seasons as a guide, harmonizing the five elements means the five elements lack earth."

"Earth is the ground."

"Stepping on wood, fire, metal, and water, using them as a guide, and combining them with the earth to form the five elements."

"Once the five elements are formed, they generate and restrain each other, creating an endless source of power."

...

Sun Yan muttered to himself, his body moving excitedly. He finally understood what Zhang Zhengri had left behind—a unique combat technique.

With a thought, the inner energy in his dantian flowed into his feet. The image of a sage stepping on a dragon appeared in his mind. Sun Yan felt his feet vibrate, stepping on the five elements, and the power to subdue the dragon. His aura changed, like a mountain standing firm on the earth, unshakable.

Then, a strong force flowed up from his feet, and Sun Yan's body moved involuntarily. He performed the "Three Forms of the Warrior," "Bear-Ape Strike," "Crushing Fist," "Elbow Cannon," "Two-Stage Crushing Fist," and other combat techniques he had mastered.

In the secret room, the young man's figure darted about, his palm and fist movements creating a whirlwind of dust.

After a long while, Sun Yan repeated the combat techniques he had learned dozens of times, feeling refreshed and invigorated. A white mist emerged from his pores, and the inner energy in his dantian stirred, a sign that he was about to break through.

"Refreshing, refreshing!"

Sun Yan laughed heartily. "So that's it. This combat technique, the Dragon Sealing Pile, is truly unique and can be used in conjunction with other combat techniques. Even at the basic level, it can increase the power of other combat techniques by 10%. If it were at the perfect level, the increase would be even greater. Amazing, I'm rich now!"

Clasping his fists, feeling the growing power within him, Sun Yan was extremely pleased. Regardless of the grade of the Dragon Sealing Pile, its value far exceeded that of a second-grade combat technique, even surpassing the "Two-Stage Crushing Fist."

Click... A light sound came from afar, and the old man's voice echoed in his ear, "Xiao Yan, time's up, come out."

Sun Yan responded, looked around, bowed three times to the wall, and left the secret room.

When Sun Yan stepped out of the secret room and onto the stairs, he didn't know that the text on the walls and the footprint on the floor were slowly disappearing, the walls and floor becoming smooth and mirror-like, as if they had never existed.

As he walked out of the passage, everyone immediately focused on Sun Yan. Wang Sen and his group had been waiting impatiently, eager to know what the reward was, or if the "Zhengri Elimination Battle" reward was just a prank.

Under the intense gaze of everyone, Sun Yan scratched his head and said, "Mr. Zhang Zhengri left a combat technique, a real combat technique, which should be the difficult second-grade combat technique that Old Huang mentioned."

Sun Yan was being honest. Ordinary combat techniques were easy for him to master, even reaching the proficient or perfect level. However, the Dragon Sealing Pile was extremely special. After practicing for two hours in the secret room, he was still at the basic level, showing how difficult it was to master.

Hearing this, the old man's half-closed eyes suddenly flashed with a bright light, illuminating the surroundings.

Sun Yan felt a chill, as if he were being X-rayed, his entire body exposed.