Chapter 9: The True Self Art of Burning Blood

Chapter 9: Blood-Burning True Self Art

Martial arts secret technique? A divine ability?

Qin Zhe was stunned. He carefully examined the cover of the tome in his hand. This was clearly the most basic introductory martial arts manual, recording the "Heart Sutra of the True Self." How had it suddenly become a martial arts secret technique?

Should he learn it? Absolutely! He had spent forever flipping through martial arts books without any gain, and he was nearly desperate. Now that a prompt had suddenly appeared in his status bar, how could he pass it up?

As Qin Zhe confirmed the learning process, another prompt popped up in the status bar.

Prompt: Learned martial arts divine ability "Blood-Burning True Self Art." Realm improved: Martial Arts Novice.

Divine Ability Annotation: Blood-Burning True Self Art. Uses the burning of one's own blood and qi as a price to awaken the "True Self" dormant within the body. Enhances combat capability based on individual physical constitution. Duration: three minutes.

Additional Annotation: Blood-Burning True Self Art places a massive burden on the body. Use with caution if not robust in blood and qi; do not use if elderly or physically frail.

His realm had actually improved? Qin Zhe’s eyes lit up, and his face filled with joy. This was truly an unexpected harvest! His realm was finally no longer "None"! Although it was only at the novice level, it was better than nothing, right?

Looking at the annotation for the "Blood-Burning True Self Art" again, Qin Zhe grew excited. Based on his many years of experience as a bookworm in his past life, this was the kind of desperate, last-ditch divine ability martial artists used, and its power was definitely nothing to scoff at! The part about enhancing combat capability based on his physical constitution was even more impressive! If there was one thing Qin Zhe was confident in, it was his physique—he had dumped all his potential points into it. Did he need to worry about the strength of his constitution?

From every perspective, the Blood-Burning True Self Art was a technique tailored specifically for him! As for the negative side effects, Qin Zhe chose to ignore them. With his maxed-out physique, it was just burning a little blood and qi; he didn't think it would have much of an impact.

Suppressing his inner joy, Qin Zhe focused his mind to check the status bar.

Race: Human (20% Atavism)
Talents: Counter-shock, Essence Conversion (1%)
Potential Points: 0
Divine Sense: 0
Spiritual Qi: 0
Realm: Martial Arts Novice
Divine Ability: Blood-Burning True Self Art

Looking at the realm and divine ability that no longer displayed "None," Qin Zhe saw hope. The path of cultivation had finally opened up. Having a start in martial arts was a good omen! Come to think of it, the status bar was truly an incredible bug; it even had an option to learn things directly! Being able to learn a martial arts divine ability just by looking at one page of a text was simply invincible!

***

Flipping through the tome with great satisfaction, Qin Zhe discovered that it did indeed contain a section on the "Blood-Burning True Self Art." Just as he expected, it was a desperate, last-ditch move.

Closing the book, Qin Zhe looked around, focused his mind on the status bar, and activated the "Blood-Burning True Self Art." Since he had finally learned a new skill, how could he not test it out?

The next moment, Qin Zhe felt his body temperature soar rapidly, and an indescribable power surged within him! It was a destructive force, and its intensity far exceeded his expectations. Compared to this, the power accumulated by his "Counter-shock" talent during his bet with Zhou Wentong was merely a light drizzle.

Strong! So strong! The "Blood-Burning True Self Art" was worthy of the name "divine ability"! Qin Zhe was beside himself with excitement, and without realizing it, he began to feel a bit cocky. This was the first time he had truly felt the possession of power, so it was no wonder he felt inexplicably inflated. Feeling his overflowing strength, Qin Zhe even felt there wasn't a thing in the world he couldn't smash to pieces with a single punch!

Just as he was feeling good about himself, Qin Zhe was stunned to find that one of his hands had moved on its own. Not only did it move, but it also pulled his phone out of his pocket...

What was going on? I didn't want to take out my phone! Qin Zhe was dumbfounded, and then he realized he seemed to have lost control of his body. His consciousness was crystal clear, but he couldn't control his limbs.

Is this... a problem with the divine ability? Qin Zhe panicked, suddenly recalling the prompt mentioning that the Blood-Burning True Self Art would awaken the "True Self" dormant in his body. Was his "True Self" controlling his body right now?

Before Qin Zhe could figure it out, his "True Self" skillfully unlocked the phone, opened the browser, and entered a URL. Having lost control, Qin Zhe could only watch helplessly. When he saw the URL his "True Self" entered, Qin Zhe’s face turned black. If he wasn't mistaken, this was a link to an unspeakable website he had accidentally stumbled upon while browsing the internet that morning...

As his "True Self" confirmed the login, a video interface popped up in the browser, and his "True Self" clicked the play button without hesitation. Soon, a video appeared showing a man and a woman engaged in "hand-to-hand" combat. Along with it came earth-shattering, suggestive gasps...

Faced with his "True Self's" outrageous behavior, Qin Zhe’s consciousness nearly exploded. This is my "True Self"? No! I don't acknowledge this! I absolutely do not acknowledge this! Big brother... look if you must... but can you turn off the sound instead of playing it so loudly? What if someone hears us?!

***

Qin Zhe was shedding tears internally, silently praying for time to pass quickly and for no one to come by before he exited the "True Self" state.

As the saying goes, what you fear is what happens. Before Qin Zhe could finish his prayer, a "thud" echoed from nearby as a book hit the floor. His "True Self" turned its head instantly, and as his line of sight shifted, Qin Zhe almost collapsed. His consciousness was clear, but clearly, his "True Self" was in charge. Under the effects of the Blood-Burning True Self Art, he could only receive the information his "True Self" heard and saw. It wasn't until his "True Self" turned that Qin Zhe noticed a girl with a very pure appearance had appeared nearby.

Seeing the girl's pale face and the tears welling up in her eyes, Qin Zhe felt that his reputation was about to be ruined. At that very moment, the three-minute time limit expired. The Blood-Burning True Self Art automatically deactivated, and Qin Zhe regained control of his body. He decisively closed the video and forced a stiff, awkward smile at the girl, who was staring at him in a daze.

...

Yu Shuangshuang was currently panicking. As a student of the Immortal Dao department, her cultivation talent was quite good, and she had already reached the second stage at a young age. However, beyond cultivation, Yu Shuangshuang had a dream: she wanted to be a reporter after graduation. Because of this, she had joined the school newspaper department of the student union.

That morning, the head of the news department gave her a task: to interview Qin Zhe and get material for the headline of the next "Academy News." Yu Shuangshuang took this very seriously. A headline! Having been in the news department for two years, her articles were always tossed into a corner. How could she, a journalism enthusiast, tolerate that? Now that she finally had a chance at a headline, she wouldn't let it slip away!

Unfortunately, she had spent the whole day looking for Qin Zhe without success, until a senior finally told her he was in the library. However, what Yu Shuangshuang hadn't expected was that she would rush to the library only to catch Qin Zhe hiding away to watch adult films on his phone! In a sense, this in itself was huge news!

Yu Shuangshuang’s mind raced, and she immediately came up with a headline: "Shocking! The Mysterious Martial Arts Genius Who Defeated the Magic Department's Top Student is Actually Hiding in the Library Watching Adult Films!"

But compared to the headline, Yu Shuangshuang had to face a more immediate problem. The pervert who was so lonely that he hid in the library in broad daylight to watch adult films had discovered her, and he was now leering at her! What should she do? Although he was a martial artist, he had easily defeated a peak second-stage magic student. If he tried anything, she definitely wouldn't be a match for him! The library was deserted right now; what if he tried to knock her out and do something to her...?

Thinking about the possibility of being bullied, Yu Shuangshuang couldn't help but swallow hard. As she locked eyes with Qin Zhe, her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.