Chapter 22

"Stay back, I'm afraid of blood."

"Don't worry, we'll be gentle."

"Slap slap slap... Ouch ouch ouch..."

Several barons fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Bai Cangdong patted the dust off his shoulder: "I told you, I'm afraid of seeing blood, but you wouldn't listen."

"Leave your name if you have the guts, we will definitely take revenge for this."

"Idiot." Bai Cangdong ignored him and walked towards the Martial Pavilion.

The Painful Blade Technique was indeed more effective against humans than against the undead. This was Bai Cangdong's first impression. Humans had too many vulnerable points, and just hitting one of them would render the barons almost powerless.

"Can I borrow the martial techniques here?" Bai Cangdong arrived at the Martial Pavilion and showed his token.

The guard looked at the token, then at Bai Cangdong, and said indifferently, "I heard that Lord Daolun personally sent a martial instructor here, but I didn't expect it to be a baron. The second floor is where the martial techniques are stored. You can browse them, but the rule is that no secret manuals can be taken out of the Martial Pavilion. Even if you are a martial instructor personally chosen by Lord Daolun, you will be severely punished if you violate this rule."

"Thank you for the reminder, I understand." Bai Cangdong put away his token and went straight to the second floor.

The entire second floor was lined with bookshelves, filled with many martial technique manuals. A rough count showed there were about three to four hundred.

"This is the martial instructor's Martial Pavilion. How dare you sneak in here? You have some nerve." A man who was flipping through a manual immediately shouted at Bai Cangdong.

"Forget it, he must have accidentally wandered in. Just let him leave." A woman who was also browsing a manual said.

"How can we do that? This is such an important place, it's not somewhere ordinary members can come and go as they please." The man looked at Bai Cangdong sternly: "If you immediately sever one of your arms, you can keep your life."

"He hasn't seen anything, there's no need to be so harsh." The woman said softly.

"Mengyun, the Daolun Society has its rules, and they must not be broken, or it will lead to chaos. Those who break the rules must be severely punished." The man shouted at Bai Cangdong again: "Hurry up and sever one of your arms, or I will do it for you, and it won't be just one arm."

Yan Mengyun opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. Although the man's handling was a bit harsh, Bai Cangdong had indeed broken the rules of the Daolun Society.

"May I ask what rule I broke that you insist I sever one of my arms?" Bai Cangdong asked calmly.

"This is the martial instructor's Martial Pavilion. You entered here without permission, which is a violation of the rules. Today I'm in a good mood, but if I were in a bad mood, even killing you wouldn't make anyone say a word." The man sneered.

Bai Cangdong looked at the man with a strange expression: "So, you mean that because this is the martial instructor's Martial Pavilion, I violated the rules by entering here and must be punished?"

"Exactly."

"Then may I ask, why should a martial instructor be punished for entering the martial instructor's Martial Pavilion?" Bai Cangdong showed his token.

Seeing the token, the man's expression stiffened: "Impossible. From your aura, you are clearly still a baron. How can you be a martial instructor of the Daolun Society? And I know all the martial instructors of the Daolun Society. Unless you are..."

"I am Bai Cangdong, newly arrived at the Daolun Society. Please take care of me." Bai Cangdong smiled.

"Hmph, what nonsense. Appointing a baron as a martial instructor of the Daolun Society is an insult to us." The man turned and left.

Bai Cangdong watched the man leave the second floor, puzzled. He hadn't provoked the man, so why did the man have such a grudge against him.

"Bai Instructor, don't mind him. He is Liu Shiquan, also a martial instructor of the Daolun Society, but he has the position of vice-president, nominally one rank higher than us. He also manages many affairs in the society, so it's best not to offend him." Yan Mengyun said, "I am Yan Mengyun, also a newly appointed martial instructor of the Daolun Society, not much earlier than you."

"Yan Instructor, do you know why Liu Shiquan seems so unhappy with me? I've never met him before and haven't offended him." Bai Cangdong asked.

"Don't you know? The Daolun Society originally had two martial instructor positions, and they were already assigned to me and another person. That other person was related to Liu Shiquan. But Lord Daolun suddenly added you, so the other person couldn't become a martial instructor. That's why Liu Shiquan is treating you this way. Be careful, as Liu Shiquan manages many affairs in the society and might find a way to harm you."

"Thank you, Yan Instructor, for telling me this. I will be more cautious. When you have time, I'll treat you to a meal." Bai Cangdong finally understood why Liu Shiquan was so hostile towards him.

"You're welcome. I have something to do, so I'll leave first. Take your time browsing."

Watching Yan Mengyun leave, Bai Cangdong's gaze fell on the manuals. There were about three to four hundred baron-level manuals, and he didn't know how to choose, so he started flipping through them one by one.

After browsing many manuals, Bai Cangdong found that most baron-level martial techniques were not very useful. Most of them were techniques to strengthen the body using the Life Plate, similar to the *Skull Splitting Axe*, but with much poorer effects. It would be a waste of time to learn these techniques when he could practice the *Skull Splitting Axe* more.

"Eight Steps in the Sky, this technique seems interesting." Bai Cangdong finally found a technique that caught his interest and began reading it carefully.

*Eight Steps in the Sky* is a technique to enhance movement speed. Barons cannot fly, and even viscounts cannot. However, when *Eight Steps in the Sky* is mastered, one can take eight steps in the air, which is a very powerful ability for a baron.

The key to this technique is borrowing force in the air. The eight steps are actually eight points of force. By borrowing these eight points of force, one can make eight turns in the air, achieving surprising results.

Borrowing force in the air is very difficult. The manual had many annotations, likely added by later practitioners, stating that this technique is extremely hard to master. Most people can only reach the second step, and even many viscounts find it difficult to reach the peak of the eighth step.

Bai Cangdong browsed other manuals but found that they were not very useful for improving his strength. In contrast, *Eight Steps in the Sky* would greatly enhance his strength if he could master it, even at the viscount level.

Picking up *Eight Steps in the Sky* again, Bai Cangdong carefully memorized every word and sentence. He had decided to practice this technique.

"Young man, don't be too ambitious. *Eight Steps in the Sky* is indeed extraordinary, but it's not something you can master." The guard of the Martial Pavilion walked up and saw Bai Cangdong memorizing *Eight Steps in the Sky*.

"Whether I can master it or not, I won't know until I try." Bai Cangdong was not annoyed and said calmly.

"I've been guarding the Martial Pavilion for many years and have seen many people practice *Eight Steps in the Sky*. Those who can reach the third step are few. The only one who reached the fourth step, do you know how many years it took him?"

"How many years?" Bai Cangdong was genuinely curious.

"Twenty years."

"Ah!" Bai Cangdong was shocked. He knew *Eight Steps in the Sky* was difficult, but he didn't expect it to be this hard.

"Spending twenty years to reach the fourth step is not very useful. For a similar technique that borrows force in the air, *Soaring Clouds* is much easier to master. Although its final effect is not as good as *Eight Steps in the Sky*, it is not much worse than the fourth step of *Eight Steps in the Sky*."

"Thank you for the advice. Where is the *Soaring Clouds* manual?" Bai Cangdong had not seen *Soaring Clouds* among the manuals he had browsed.

"It's on the third row of the last bookshelf. But it's too late today, the Martial Pavilion is closing. Come back tomorrow."

Bai Cangdong thanked him again and left the Martial Pavilion. He had memorized *Eight Steps in the Sky* and was determined to practice it, not swayed by others' words.

As for *Soaring Clouds*, it seemed quite good, and Bai Cangdong was not averse to learning another powerful martial technique.

Back home, Bai Cangdong began practicing *Eight Steps in the Sky*. He soon realized how difficult it was. Just the step of quickly rotating the Life Plate to generate a force to support the body in the air was extremely challenging.

Thud!

Bai Cangdong jumped into the air but couldn't even take one step before falling and bruising his arm.

After practicing hundreds of times, he still couldn't take a single step in the air, and his body was covered in injuries.

Bai Cangdong had to stop practicing and cultivate the *Baiye Sutra* to recover his strength and heal his injuries.

After cultivating the *Baiye Sutra* from Lord Daolun, he found it much more effective than the Longevity Technique, so he continued to cultivate the *Baiye Sutra*.

After cultivating the *Baiye Sutra* for a while, he felt the pain in his body lessen, and his body felt warm and comfortable, almost as if he were floating.

Since advancing to the baron level, the effects of the *Baiye Sutra* had become more noticeable. Bai Cangdong guessed that the level of this Longevity Technique must be quite high.

Under the unique effects of the *Baiye Sutra*, Bai Cangdong's body and mind reached a peak state.

Impulsively, Bai Cangdong leaped up and used *Eight Steps in the Sky*. One step, two steps, three steps... He took three steps in the air before landing softly, his face full of surprise and disbelief.