Chapter 532: The Demeanor of a Ten-Scene Martial Artist's Fist
Chen Ping'an suddenly opened his eyes, furrowed his brows, and barely stopped himself from cursing.
It was already deep in the night, with a bright moon hanging in the sky.
He had slept like the dead.
And the pain was enough to make Chen Ping'an want to curse—so it must have been real pain.
His blood had long since dried, sticking together with the mud in the pit. The slightest movement sent a heart-wrenching, lung-tearing pain through him.
Even so, Chen Ping'an took a deep breath, roughly assessed the condition of his body, and abruptly sat up.
Nothing unusual around him.
Why had that pure martial artist, who was at least at the Mountain Summit realm, struck without killing him? Chen Ping'an couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
Could it be some custom of Northern Julu Continent? That the old man simply disliked how he moved through the stakes and decided to throw a few inexplicable punches?
From above the pit, a voice sounded, “Finally slept enough?”
Chen Ping'an simply stood up slowly.
He didn't even open his fist frame, but the intent in his fists became purer and more restrained.
At the edge of the pit appeared the figure in a blue long gown and cloth shoes—it was that old martial artist.
The old butler who had hidden his name for years at the Sweeping Clean Manor, Wu Fengjia—or, setting aside the sudden appearance of Li Er, he was one of the three native Ten-Scene martial artists of Northern Julu Continent, Gu You of the Great Seal Dynasty.
Why did the Great Seal Dynasty and its surrounding nations only have a single Golden Scale Palace led by a weak Nascent Soul? And why was the Golden Scale Palace so feeble that Rong Chang of Floating Weed Sword Lake regarded it as an unheard-of waste sect?
It was because the martial artist Gu You had beaten down the mountain immortals of a dozen nations with his fists, almost all of them driven out of the country by this man.
Gu You once said, “Heaven is vast, earth is great—immortals, get lost.”
Such bold words require great deeds to become a true hero.
The old man smiled. “Your fist intent is passable. Six-step walking stakes, over a million punches?”
Chen Ping'an nodded. “Almost one million six hundred thousand punches.”
The old man asked, “Born into a small, humble household, you got a tattered fist manual as a child, treasured it, and started practicing fists from a young age?”
Reading the omens from the smallest details.
No child from a powerful clan would ever practice the Mountain Toppling Fist.
So this young man’s background couldn’t be too good.
Chen Ping'an shook his head. “I only started practicing fists around the age of fourteen.”
The old man was somewhat gratified. “Everything else isn’t hard; throwing punches is dead work. Anyone with a bit of perseverance can achieve a million punches. The only real difficulty is consistently practicing this walking stake method.”
Chen Ping'an was completely baffled, from start to finish.
But there was no doubt that the old man meant him no harm. In fact, after those few punches, the benefits were unimaginable.
It wasn’t even about his body or soul—it was about his fist intent and his heart.
At this moment, Chen Ping'an lightly clenched his fist and then just as lightly released it, feeling that the title of “strongest” in the sixth realm was already within his grasp. That was an uncommon feeling for Chen Ping'an.
The old man said, “My name is Gu You.”
Chen Ping'an immediately understood in his heart. The foundation of his fist technique came from the manual Gu Can had given him back in Mud Vase Alley, so he directly asked, “That Mountain Toppling Fist manual?”
The old man nodded. “It must have been taken to your homeland by scattered Gu clan members. During an early disaster, our already small clan shattered and scattered like birds and beasts.”
The old man sighed, “When your lifespan gets long, it's hard to hold too much attachment to the clan. Each generation has its own fortune. What else can you do? If you pay too much attention, you'll just get pissed off to death.”
Chen Ping'an cupped his fists. “Chen Ping'an of Vase Bottle Continent pays respects to Senior Gu.”
Gu You laughed. “Having a Ten-Scene martial artist protect you while you sleep half the day—you sure have some nerve, kid.”
Chen Ping'an grinned.
Gu You beckoned. “I’ll walk with you a bit. I still have things to do, so I don’t have much time to chat.”
Chen Ping'an staggered up the slope and walked side by side with that culmination realm martial artist.
Gu You asked, “How many times have you been the strongest martial artist at your realm?”
Chen Ping'an said, “Twice, at the third and fifth realms.”
Gu You shook his head. “That means you're far inferior to Cao Ci of the Central Continent. That kid is the strongest every time—not just that, he’s unprecedented in history.”
Chen Ping'an smiled. “Slow and steady. I still have a chance around the ninth and tenth realms.”
Gu You turned his head in puzzlement. “The one who taught you fist techniques—was it Cui Cheng of Vase Bottle Continent? Otherwise, you shouldn’t have this kind of temperament.”
Chen Ping'an hesitated, then nodded.
Gu You said in sudden understanding, “No wonder. But you must have suffered a lot in your early years, right? That fits. Without that tempering, you wouldn’t have made it this far.”
Gu You suddenly asked, “What did Cui Cheng think of the Mountain Toppling Fist manual?”
Chen Ping'an only dared to reveal half the truth, slowly saying, “The spirit of the fist technique is extremely lofty.”
Old man Cui wasn’t here, so there was no reason for him to take a punch for nothing.
Even if that culmination realm martial artist suppressed his realm to throw punches at Mountain Summit level, it would still be too heavy for him, a mere sixth-realm martial artist, wouldn’t it?
Gu You grunted, “As expected of Senior Cui. His eyesight is excellent.”
Cui Cheng of Vase Bottle Continent had once traveled alone through the Central Sacred Continent. Although it was said his outcome was extremely tragic, even in the eyes of top-tier martial artists from other continents like Gu You, he was still a true hero.
Putting aside whose fist technique was higher or lower—since they had never fought, Gu You wouldn’t have any admiration for Cui Cheng. Beyond that, considering age and deeds, addressing him as Senior Cui was no problem.
Of course, if not for the word “lofty,” Gu You wouldn’t have changed his address to “senior.”
Chen Ping'an seemed to want to say something but held back.
Gu You said, “Speak your mind.”
Chen Ping'an asked, “Is Senior Gu a mortal enemy with Sword Immortal Ji of Ape Cry Mountain?”
Gu You said, “A mortal enemy—one of us must die.”
Chen Ping'an said nothing more.
The complexities of the world.
It’s about bad people killing good people, good people killing bad people, and bad people also killing bad people.
Beyond that, good people also kill good people.
For many matters that don’t involve right and wrong, if you don’t truly know the facts, rash criticism or grandstanding isn’t a huge problem. But don’t assume that right and wrong are already clear, that good and evil are already distinct.
Gu You smiled. “You’ve probably only heard about the unusual phenomena near the capital of the Great Seal Dynasty—something about a great flood dragon in the Jade Seal River trying to drown the capital and build a dragon palace. But I know very well that Ji Yue is using a clear scheme to force me out. I’ll go. In fact, even if he didn’t come for me, I would have gone to find him. Hah, a mountain sword cultivator who nearly exchanged lives with me back in the day—is he really that impressive?”
Gu You paused briefly, then continued, “Of course he is. That’s why I injured my physical foundation back then and hid for so many years. In the end, my fist technique wasn’t high enough. The three stages of the culmination realm: Vigorous Qi, Return to Truth, and Divine Arrival. Before the tenth realm, every step I took wasn’t bad, but after entering the culmination realm, I couldn’t help it. I was too eager to be the first to enter that legendary realm. At the time, I didn’t feel any flaw in my mindset, but in truth, I had been practicing fists for speed, missing a lot of the essence. Kid, remember this well: living in the same era as someone like Cao Ci can be despairing and perfectly normal, but it’s also a great blessing. If you have the chance, you can temper each other. Of course, the prerequisite is that he doesn’t kill you in three punches or shatter your confidence. For a martial artist, once your spirit falls, everything ends. Keep this firmly in mind.”
Chen Ping'an nodded. “I will.”
Gu You asked casually, “Since you’re afraid of death, why did you learn to fight?”
It was a strange question.
Being afraid of death and therefore learning to fight—that seemed to be the logic.
Chen Ping'an replied, “It’s not that I’m truly afraid of death; it’s that I can’t die, so I’m afraid of death. They seem the same, but they’re different.”
Gu You was silent for a moment. “That makes a lot of sense.”
In fact, this was what Gu You found most puzzling.
When a young martial artist knew he was about to die, especially when he could say “I’m already dead,” that was when his fist intent was at its peak.
That wasn’t ordinary “fear of death.”
So Gu You could be absolutely certain: once this young man died, if he just let his soul drift, the world would immediately gain an extremely powerful ghostly creature. Not only would it not be blown to dust by the astral wind, it would be like finding life in death.
To be so terrified of death to such an extreme degree, how much of a great obsession must this young man be carrying?
But saying more about these things served no purpose.
His purpose in appearing here was for this young martial artist who had once walked through the town of Sweeping Clean Manor.
Only by truly experiencing life and death could his nearly bottlenecked fist intent become even purer.
Gu You said earnestly, “When you go north, you need to be careful. Not to mention that old monster in the north, there’s also a Mountain Summit realm martial artist. Neither of them is a good person; they kill as they please. And you’re an outsider. If you die, your martial luck will stay in Northern Julu Continent. If they want to kill you, it’s just a few punches. You can either learn a high-grade mountain escape technique on short notice, or don’t easily reveal your true martial arts realm. There’s no way around it—being good or bad doesn’t stop you from reaching the top in cultivation. Martial artists are like this; cultivators even more so. One pursues purity of fist intent, the other seeks truth in the heart. There are still rules to bind them, but every cultivator who reaches a high position is no fool. They all know how to bypass the rules.”
Chen Ping'an sighed. “I’ll be very, very careful.”
Gu You stopped in his tracks, looking into the distance. “I’m very glad that the Mountain Toppling Fist could be learned by you and has the potential to be carried forward. To be honest, even as the one who wrote that manual, I have to say: this manual really isn’t that great. At best, it has a bit of meaning.”
Chen Ping'an said solemnly, “Senior Gu, I truly believe that the Mountain Toppling Fist has great meaning!”
Even back then, when facing Cui Cheng in the second floor of Fallen Mountain, Chen Ping'an had always highly praised the manual that had been his lifeline.
Gu You turned his head and smiled. “Even if you say such nice words, I’m just a martial artist. I don’t have any immortal treasures to give you.”
Chen Ping'an smiled bitterly. “Three punches were enough. Any more, and I couldn’t take it.”
Gu You patted his shoulder. “Gu You’s three ninth-realm punches—the weight is quite something, of course.”
Gu You suddenly said, “Do you know? Even I, the old ancestor of the Mountain Toppling Fist, never knew that the walking stake, standing stake, and sleeping stake could be combined into one practice.”
Chen Ping'an was at a loss for words.
Gu You thought for a moment. “Actually, you can also add the heaven and earth stake.”
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, “Walking with my head on the ground?”
Gu You saw that the young man seemed to be seriously considering the feasibility of this move. He slapped Chen Ping'an heavily on the shoulder and laughed loudly. “Don’t go crazy from practicing fists. We martial artists walk the world—can’t we have some face? With a practice method like this, any woman you meet will run away in fright. That won’t do. How can a practitioner of the Mountain Toppling Fist not have the admiration of beauties in the martial world!”
After saying this, Gu You clasped his hands behind his back, looked up, and seemed lost in remembrance.
Perhaps every wanderer of the martial world has such regrets and longings.
Chen Ping'an was knocked sideways by that slap and nearly fell.
By the time he stood straight, the blue long gown and cloth shoes had silently risen into the air and drifted far away.
Chen Ping'an didn't withdraw his gaze for a long time.
He knew.
Gu You was going to his death with dignity.
But perhaps, there would no longer be a Sword Immortal Ji Yue on Ape Cry Mountain either.
That’s life.
Chen Ping'an took out his bamboo box, set it on the ground, sat down on it, then took out his Sword Nurturing Gourd and slowly drank.
He didn’t rush to continue his journey. He would recover a bit more of his strength first.
After those three punches, it would be a blessing if he could recover to the early sixth realm within a month.
Since he wasn’t going anywhere for a while, Chen Ping'an simply let his mind wander.
Regarding pure martial artists, Senior Cui had once mentioned a broad concept.
“Seventh and eighth realms die in your hometown, Mountain Summit realm dies in your home country. Tenth realm, culmination realm, dies in your home continent.”
On the path of cultivation, only sincerity and purity matter.
As Gu You had said, many distractions go unnoticed.
That’s actually a very frightening thing.
In the end, Chen Ping'an held the Sword Nurturing Gourd, staring blankly into space.
Alive, with a distant place to go still waiting—what a good thing.
But some people in those distant places probably wouldn’t be too happy to see him when he arrived.
The closer ones: the Ma family of Apricot Flower Lane, the Great Li Empress Dowager.
The farther ones: the Moving Mountain Ape of Zhengyang Mountain, the Xu clan of Clear Wind City.
And some that needed further observation.
And some hidden behind multiple curtains.
One by one, item by item, place by place.
So Pei Qian, his first disciple, liked to keep a small notebook—she took after her master.
Only one uses pen and paper, and the other only uses the heart.
—
No matter how vast the plain, one always encounters mountains.
Gu You landed on a mountain peak.
Six black-robed figures with pale white masks. Only one remained in place; the other five quickly scattered in all directions, moving far away.
Fortunately, the old man in a blue long gown and cloth shoes didn’t seem intent on pursuing.
The one who remained, a cultivator from Ge Deer Mountain, cupped his fists and bowed. “Greetings to Senior Gu.”
Gu You asked, “Such a big setup, here to kill? Even if it were more than a Golden Body realm martial artist about to break through, or even a Far Travel realm martial artist, they wouldn’t be enough for you to kill. Since when did Ge Deer Mountain stop following the rules? Or have you never followed them, but just been clean about it?”
The person facing Gu You was the leader of this group of Ge Deer Mountain assassins, a Nascent Soul cultivator. But facing this blue-robed old man, sweat seeped around the edges of his mask.
Simply put, in the old days, Gu You, the nation-protecting martial artist of the Great Seal Dynasty, valued rules above all. And whenever he chose to throw a punch, he would dig three feet deep and uproot everything.
If Ge Deer Mountain angered Gu You, it wouldn’t be just a matter of six people dying here.
The Ge Deer Mountain assassin shook his head. “Since the founding ancestor opened the mountain, Ge Deer Mountain’s rules have never been broken…”
The next moment, Gu You, with one hand behind his back and the other gripping the Nascent Soul cultivator’s neck, lifted him instantly. Gu You didn’t look up, only staring straight ahead. “He who moves first dies first.”
The other five, quite far from the mountain peak, were immediately speechless with fear, not daring to move a muscle.
Gu You said slowly, “If you had encircled and killed this man before I threw my punches, that would have been one thing. How much are Ge Deer Mountain’s rules worth? But after I threw my punches, you didn’t scram immediately; instead, you had the nerve to think about picking up scraps—that’s treating me like a fool. You struggled all the way to the Nascent Soul realm; why don’t you cherish it?”
Gu You frowned. He lifted the pitiful Nascent Soul cultivator, who had no thought of resisting, but didn’t kill him immediately. It seemed this long-silent culmination realm martial artist was hesitating whether to leave one alive to send word back to Ge Deer Mountain, and if so, which one to leave. Gu You made no attempt to hide his killing intent; it was as heavy as physical substance. Astral Qi overflowed, turning all grass, wood, and earth within ten zhang into powder, dust flying.
On the Nascent Soul cultivator in his hand, the dharma robe gave off a series of fine tearing sounds.
Gu You flicked his finger.
A wisp of astral Qi pierced the forehead of a Ge Deer Mountain assassin who was also a pure martial artist. The man died on the spot.
A Golden Body realm martial artist, dead just like that.
Gu You said calmly, “Moving your mind is also movement. The sound of it, to my ears, is as loud as a drum—a bit noisy.”
That Nascent Soul cultivator could no longer speak aloud, so he communicated through his mind lake: “Senior Gu, if you kill the six of us, no matter how divine your fist technique, you can protect that young man for a time, not for a lifetime. Ge Deer Mountain has no fixed mountain peak; our members drift everywhere. Of course, Senior Gu can pursue and kill at will—no one can stop your fists. Anyone you encounter will die. But during that time, as long as that young man isn’t by your side, even for a few days, he will definitely die! I guarantee it!”
Gu You asked, “A rat-in-the-street organization like Ge Deer Mountain can threaten me? Who gave you the guts? Ji Yue of Ape Cry Mountain?”
The Nascent Soul cultivator said bitterly, “Senior Gu, I’m just stating a fact.”
Gu You thought for a moment. “Simple. I’ll spread the word that I’ll fight Ji Yue at Whetstone Mountain. Before that, he must exterminate Ge Deer Mountain. I’ll give him a year’s deadline. The disciples and descendants at Ape Cry Mountain will be delighted to play cat-and-mouse with you.”
The Nascent Soul cultivator’s expression changed slightly. “Senior Gu, our gathering this time truly did not break the rules. The previous failed assassination was already over—that is Ge Deer Mountain’s unbreakable rule. As for why we are here, I cannot reveal it. That is also Ge Deer Mountain’s rule. I hope you understand.”
Gu You asked a question, “If I had encountered you on the road, would I have killed you with one punch?”
The Nascent Soul cultivator, not knowing why the Ten-Scene martial artist was asking this, had to answer honestly, “Of course not.”
Gu You asked again, “Now you’re talking to me about Ge Deer Mountain’s rules, and you expect me to follow them. So why don’t you respect my rules? That person is someone I chose not to kill with my fists, and you clearly know who I am. Can’t you even be patient for a few days? Or do I have to stand here and state my rules aloud before you understand them?”
Gu You smiled. “Funny. When did my rules become the excuse for you little shits to break the rules?”
As he spoke, the Nascent Soul cultivator’s head was twisted off and rolled to the ground.
At the same time, the hand behind his back shot out a punch, shattering both the golden core and the Nascent Soul together, leaving no chance of survival.
The violent surging of qi from the shattered golden core and Nascent Soul of a cultivator should have been enough to create a land tornado, but Gu You casually dispersed it with a slap.
A Ge Deer Mountain cultivator who tried to use earth escape was killed the moment Gu You stomped his foot, the astral Qi shaking him to death. A muffled sound came from underground, then silence.
Three Ge Deer Mountain assassins remained, still scattered far away, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Gu You, hands behind his back, turned to look in a certain direction and sighed.
That kid was seriously injured—how could he still have such sharp instincts?
Did the Mountain Toppling Fist teach that too? I wrote the manual—how come I don’t know?
A flash of blue came rushing over, arriving at the mountain peak. The figure bent over, panting heavily, hands on his knees. When he stopped, blood dripped all over the ground.
Gu You smiled. “What a guy who doesn’t know pain.”
Chen Ping'an straightened up, his face pale and smeared with blood. He quickly sat down on the ground, wiped his face, and said, “What happened, senior?”
Gu You said, “And you have the nerve to ask me?”
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, “I had already sensed this group of Ge Deer Mountain assassins. In fact, I had already sent a flying sword message to a friend. If I could delay a few more days, the mantis would catch the cicada, and the oriole would be behind.”
Gu You asked, “What friend? A mountain cultivator? Can he really not fear these annoying pests from Ge Deer Mountain?”
Chen Ping'an smiled. “Anyway, a good friend who is even more patient than I am and is the best at dealing with these types. I have no qualms about bothering him.”
Gu You nodded.
Gu You said, “This time I really have to go. The remaining three—want me to leave them for you to practice on?”
Chen Ping'an smiled bitterly. “Senior, I really can’t.”
Gu You laughed and asked, “So what do we do?”
Chen Ping'an sat cross-legged, hands on his knees. “Then allow this junior to learn from senior the most authentic Mountain Toppling Fist in the world!”
The Ge Deer Mountain assassins would never reveal secrets even in death. Chen Ping'an had experienced that.
Gu You said sternly, “Learning fists while sitting? Get up!”
Chen Ping'an swayed as he stood up, unsteady, but his fist intent was extremely upright.
Just like copying texts after learning to read and write.
The old man in a blue long gown and cloth shoes bent his knees slightly, twisted his wrists, formed fists, slowly pushed one forward, and pulled one back. “My Mountain Toppling Fist values above all one fist for the enemy and one fist to guard the heart. Thus, even facing the founders of the Three Religions, as long as the fist intent remains, even if you die, you can still throw one more punch! Let your immortal arts be heaven-defying, let mountains crush my head—I, the Mountain Toppling Fist, will split the mountain! This was my realization at the seventh realm, and it allowed me to write the preface to this manual. If you, Chen Ping'an, want to reach higher than I in the future, you must have such an utterly undaunted great thought!”
The three Ge Deer Mountain assassins began to flee madly—one flying on the wind, one running close to the ground, one using a divine ability to turn into blue smoke and scatter.
The old man took a step in his cloth shoes, then completed the six-step walking stake in an instant, and threw one punch.
Then he changed his walking stake, threw a punch in another direction, changed again, and still faced the sky with one punch.
Chen Ping'an stared wide-eyed, following the figure of the old man in the blue long gown.
So this was the true Mountain Toppling Fist.
It wasn’t just Gu You throwing three punches with his Ten-Scene martial arts cultivation.
It was that the fist intent of the Mountain Toppling Fist could be… so magnificent!
As for where the fist force landed and what the result was, Chen Ping'an didn’t need to and wouldn’t look.
Gu You withdrew his fists and stood still. “How was it?”
Chen Ping'an said slowly, “It felt like watching the fist was like practicing the sword.”
Gu You snorted. “Practicing the sword? What’s so great about becoming a Sword Immortal? On my trip to the Great Seal Dynasty capital, I’ll be killing one.”
Chen Ping'an scratched his head and said, “Someone once said that practicing the fist is practicing the sword.”
Gu You nodded. “That makes sense too. The reverse is also true. Die to ten thousand fist techniques, live for one fist intent—that is true fist practice.”
Chen Ping'an’s eyes were bright. “Right!”
Gu You suddenly said, “It’s hard to say how high Cui Cheng’s fist technique is, but his method of feeding punches is mediocre. If it were me, Gu You, I guarantee you, Chen Ping'an, would be the strongest at every realm!”
Chen Ping'an was speechless.
His lips moved slightly, but in the end, some words remained unspoken.
Gu You shook his head, indicating the young man need not say more.
Chen Ping'an could only clasp his fists in farewell.
Gu You also clasped his fists in parting.
It had nothing to do with realm or age.
Between heaven and earth, the Mountain Toppling Fist—first Gu You, then Chen Ping'an.