Power. Fengyun Wuyi realized that almost all the martial artists in the ancient world were obsessed with power. They seemed to ignore the more refined aspects of martial arts, showing little interest in techniques or skills, as long as the martial art promised greater strength or more powerful secrets.
The art of disguise, however, was a skill-based martial art. Long before his ascension, many martial artists came to Fengyun Wuyi, known as the Sword God, carrying their proudest martial skills, seeking his guidance. The technique of disguise was one that Fengyun Wuyi had learned from one such martial artist.
In the realms before his ascension, mastering disguise required a high level of skill. The practitioner had to achieve great mastery in the art of adjusting their bones and muscles, allowing them to change their appearance at will through the power of their inner energy. Even with Fengyun Wuyi's legendary strength as the Sword God, he couldn't fully use the art of disguise before his ascension. However, after he ascended and gained the immense power of the幽无邪, everything changed. It was no longer a problem.
There are no shortcuts in the martial way. Fengyun Wuyi's success in creating his own martial art, the "Willow Fluff Wind Body Technique," opened another door for him in the ancient world: how to defeat someone stronger than yourself when your own strength is limited—at least, how to escape.
When the Heavenly Demon Sword was unleashed, Fengyun Wuyi didn't dare linger. He could sense powerful auras approaching from behind. It was clear to him that he had become the prey of many. Using a floating cloud cleverly, he blended into its shape, activating his disguise technique, which made him grow to about two meters in height, with his face changing completely.
"Have you seen that Fengyun Wuyi?" Fengyun Wuyi casually asked as he passed by a member of a free faction.
The person glanced at him in surprise and quickly shook his head. He thought to himself, Is this guy an idiot? The Xuanming Tome is something no one would casually share once they learn about it. It's best to keep it for oneself. With that, he quickly zoomed off, continuing his patrol in the sky.
Fengyun Wuyi smiled faintly and continued to look around below. After a while, the members of the Nan Sheng Bei Dou Sword Sect and other free factions, having found nothing, gradually dispersed and returned to their original positions. Fengyun Wuyi had no intention of staying there; however, he feared that leaving too quickly would attract unnecessary attention. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped, turned, and walked toward a man from the Knife Domain faction who had something protruding from his chest.
Without drawing attention, Fengyun Wuyi reached into the man's chest, feeling the shape of what he guessed was a book—a martial arts manual. It was confirmed when he pulled it out: "Annotations on the Way of the Knife," written in ancient seal script on the cyan-colored cover.
The book was half-drenched in blood. Fengyun Wuyi hastily flipped through it, his heart filled with joy. He quickly stuffed the "Annotations on the Way of the Knife" into his robe.
Greed is dangerous, he reminded himself. Fengyun Wuyi, after briefly searching for anything else, left quickly. As he had anticipated, others with the same intentions as him started looting the bodies. Not far away, a group of white-clad individuals from the Knife Domain, with even stronger auras, flew toward the scene.
Fengyun Wuyi continued eastward without stopping, traveling over a thousand miles before he sensed that there were no other auras nearby. He finally stopped. Around him stood towering mountains, thousands of feet high and spanning hundreds of miles. Fengyun Wuyi forcefully broke open a hole in the mountainside big enough for one person to fit through. He then hid at the cave entrance, where he could read the "Annotations on the Way of the Knife" in the light coming through, while also keeping an eye on any approaching martial artists. If anything felt wrong, he could quickly flee.
The "Annotations on the Way of the Knife" were not particularly advanced techniques, but Fengyun Wuyi was deeply interested because of an idea forming in his mind.
Everyone knew that Fengyun Wuyi practiced the Xuanming Tome and followed the Sword Path. However, there were few martial artists on the Sword Path, so it would be relatively easy to find Fengyun Wuyi if someone knew where to look. But what if Fengyun Wuyi began practicing the Way of the Knife instead?
The light outside the cave wasn't very bright, but it was enough for Fengyun Wuyi to read the words in the book clearly. As the title suggested, it was a book on knife techniques. The book discussed various principles of the Way of the Knife. Toward the back, Fengyun Wuyi found what he was looking for—a set of knife techniques and internal energy formulas.
He began to study it carefully. Each time he gained new insight, he practiced it on the spot. However, it was easier said than done. The sword intent and the knife intent clashed fiercely—something Fengyun Wuyi already knew, but he hadn't anticipated how intense the conflict would be. Even a small trace of knife energy he tried to form within himself was quickly consumed by the backlash from his sword energy.
For several days, Fengyun Wuyi kept reading the "Annotations on the Way of the Knife" and tried to generate knife energy within his body. Unfortunately, he came to a disappointing conclusion. The internal energy route described in the book made it almost impossible to generate true knife energy in his body. Even if he did manage to produce it, the clash between the sword and knife energies—both equally strong—would tear him apart.
Could it be that sword and knife energies can never coexist? Fengyun Wuyi wondered, stopping his attempts to practice the technique in his body and instead visualizing it mentally.
Perhaps my sword body is too domineering, completely incapable of accommodating any knife energy. After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with a plausible reason, but it only made him feel more discouraged.
But Fengyun Wuyi refused to give up. He kept thinking, seeking a solution. The intense spirit of research and creation that had driven him before his ascension reappeared. Just like when he had studied the Wind Body Technique in the cave during the storm, he now had the same sense of impending success.
The conflict between sword and knife energies existed because they both traversed overlapping meridians. But what if the two energies could coexist harmoniously, without interfering with each other? If he followed the knife techniques from the book exactly, the clash was inevitable. Once he figured out the problem's core, the rest was simple. The key was to create a new knife technique that would allow the two energies to coexist without conflict.
After more than ten days, Fengyun Wuyi finally created a new knife technique based on the internal energy formulas in the "Annotations on the Way of the Knife." To be precise, it was a completely different internal energy method, distinct from any existing knife techniques. The uniqueness of this technique lay in its path: it only traveled along one meridian, the left-hand Shaoyang meridian, which was the one meridian not involved in the sword techniques.
Without a doubt, this was a rough version of the technique, but even in its rough form, its immense power was already apparent. Practicing with only one meridian was far easier than using the entire body's meridians, and it allowed for quicker mastery. Fengyun Wuyi also felt that this new technique's power would exceed his expectations.
However, the drawback of this technique was also clear: this narrow, off-path method of the knife was powerful, but it could never reach the highest level of the Way of the Knife. Nevertheless, Fengyun Wuyi was satisfied. After all, he wasn't trying to completely replace the Sword Path with the Knife Path.
This technique would be called the Path of the Left.