Martial King's Retired Life

The quartet was lucky Yu Feiyuan didn’t have Fool on hand to utilise Void Spawning Slash, but it didn’t mean they could slack. Knowing this, Feng Jian ordered, “She’s coming with everything she’s got. Defensive formation!”

One punch from Yu Feiyuan was all it took for the quartet to feel their organs jumbled around even though they were in a defensive formation, only for her to surprise with a second, third… seventh consecutive punch of the same magnitude. The defensive formation deserved equal praise, nonetheless, for not crumbling.

When Yu Feiyuan retreated three steps, Feng Jian commanded, “She’s spent! Attack!”

Once the four broke out of their defensive formation, Yu Feiyuan thereupon uncoiled another bomb harder than before – still augmenting with Vajra Divine Might. Had they not been in another formation, she would’ve finished them.

Elder Shou rushed over to Yu Feiyuan succour: “… Are you out of your mind?! You can’t use Vajra Divine Might consecutively!”

Yu Feiyuan put one leg in front and extended her left arm before fully retracting her right arm, using energy from her left hand to draw them in again – Imminent Wind and Rain. The four couldn’t get into any formation this time as they were stumbling back, while she was imposing even more pressure. Consequently, the pressure she generated suffocated them.

Is she… a monster?!

“Ultimate God-Shocking Formation! To the death!”

Ultimate God-Shocking Formation derived from Repository Sword Theory’s God-Shocking Theory’s phrase “Peerless edge, void of despair”. Among the six theories, it was the first choice for offensive strategies. That was why Feng Jian used the same theory for his Enlightenment, except that he hadn’t refined it enough to be “shocking”.

“Crap! Freaking kids these days!” cursed Elder Shou, as he witnessed the sword qi surpass Vajra Divine Might in power.

“Elder, please take cover behind this great one to stay safe.”

Despite having heard of Yu Feiyuan’s stories and seeing her in action, she continued to wow Elder Shou with her reveals. This time, golden energy enveloped her silver armour, gradually growing more visible. Not even he could remain in the same spot when the shockwave at the point of impact emanated, yet both parties hadn’t budged an inch once the dust settled.

Yu Feiyuan was far stronger than Feng Jian and their imaginations. Imminent Wind and Rain’s pressure was still there in the room, and it was still as suffocating as before.

“Na.” Yu Feiyuan dispersed the dust with a voice and then recollected energy in her right hand for another round of Vajra Divine Might. “Let’s continue.”

Yu Feiyuan was brimming with energy and without a blemish after using Enlightenment twice in addition to Vajra Divine Might eleven time. It wasn’t the four who were most astounded but Elder Shou.

“You learnt…”

“Freedom Realm…” Feng Jian enunciated on his shaky legs. “You’ve reached Freedom Realm, haven’t you?”

Yu Feiyuan’s nod evoked despair. It would no longer be a contest if they were to continue as they were no longer in any condition to enact the formation, not that they stood a chance against her when she was going all out, anyway.

The idea of Wutong Jin Yuxuan’s Vajra Divine Might and their most advanced style, All-Encompassing Snow Technique, is that they act as counterbalances for each other. In other words, practitioners needed to progress both in correspondence with the other. Zi Wutong lost to Luo Ming by one exchange and almost crippled herself precisely because her Vajra Divine Might was too dominant.

Freedom Realm is the point in which the practitioner can harness Vajra Divine Might even if they were to casually flick their fingers; it’s akin to having superhuman might at one’s fingertips at any moment.

“This old one missed it. The defensive stance, the way she defused incoming forces without sustaining damage, this old one cannot face his great patriarch.” Elder Shou heaved a heavy breath. “How is she already so proficient at it? It takes a decade, at the very least, to be as proficient as she is. When did she start learning it?”

Yu Feiyuan hadn’t mastered All-Encompassing Snow Technique to the same degree as Zi Wutong purely because she hadn’t lived as long. To work around the time issue, Yu Feiyuan learnt another style that taught her how to control her output to her heart’s content.

“Lass, you can’t thoughtlessly use Vajra Divine Might from now on,” Ming Feizhen cautioned when he coached Yu Feiyuan one day.

“Why?” Yu Feiyuan looked up to see Ming Feizhen preening with his lips.

“Because I taught you.” Ming Feizhen tapped Yu Feiyuan on the nose, amused by her blank face. Switching to a serious tone, he expounded, “As long as you follow my method, your version of Vajra Divine Might will leave everyone else’s version in the dust. Once you have it down, one strike is all you’ll need to kill someone; you’ll likely kill multiple people in one strike. You don’t like killing people and don’t want to see people die, so you should refrain from using it. Else, you’ll be sad.”

Yu Feiyuan didn’t understand everything Ming Feizhen said. Nonetheless, she always obeyed him, and that advice was no exception.

Back then, Ming Feizhen imparted to Yu Feiyuan his understanding of Tai Chi’s mental cultivation and training method so that she could use it to balance the brute force of Vajra Divine Might. Ever since she mastered it, Ming Suwen had constantly chided Ming Feizhen for teaching Tai Chi to Yu Feiyuan for not even Ming Suwen was a rival any longer. That is also the origin of how Yu Feiyuan’s unblemished fight record came to be.

“Two people at home can use Tai Chi, and two outsiders have mastered it. Which school owns Tai Chi now?” Elder Shou mumbled. As Yu Feiyuan came over and sat down against a wall, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Once I use Freedom, I feel weak, so I need to sleep for a few hours to recover.” Yu Feiyuan let her heavy eyes fall and added, “The rest is in your hands.”

“This old one doesn’t want to be a nag, but you could’ve just laid Feng Jian out right from the beginning. Why waste your time and energy asking him those questions? You wouldn’t be so exhausted if you had done that.”

“… I wanted to ask.” Elder Shou was going to shake his head upon hearing the wilful answer. Howbeit, Yu Feiyuan added, “… I’ve crossed deserts, swamps, rivers and oceans. I’ve seen people with blue eyes and blonde hair. I’ve worn clothes I’ve never imagined existed, heard a language I can’t understand and lived in foreign lands far from here. I’ve spent so many nights pondering: don’t we learn martial arts to protect people? Why do people kill others for entertainment? Why do people feel entitled to bully others because they know how to fight? I’ve seen what people call hell. I’ve seen fields of blood. Why do they think that’s normal? Regardless of how far I travel, how many people I meet or how long I ponder, I cannot understand or answer those questions.”

Almighty Yu Feiyuan entered a slumber, leaving behind pure Yu Feiyuan, who looked as pure as she was when she was a child.