Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Damn it, on what basis has it decided I would die!

"Shen Ye."

"Ah? Um?"

Xiao Mengyu slowly unsheathed her sword from behind and said:

"Let\'s put aside the matter of taking the high school entrance exam for now. I have some pointers for you."

"Pointers?" Shen Ye asked curiously.

"I guess the Human Martial Arts Group will soon explain \'Comprehension\' and \'Resonance\' to you, so don\'t worry about that."

"They will also have someone explain the Three Great High Schools to you."

Xiao Mengyu placed her sword on the floor and began to warm up, moving her arms and legs:

"But before you get into one of those, I\'m not sure what Cultivation Technique they\'ll give you, but definitely, it won\'t be as good as our family\'s."

"——I can give you a better Cultivation Technique."

Before her words had settled, she raised her hands, clenched her fingers into fists, and launched a lightning-fast attack at Shen Ye.

Caught off guard, Shen Ye could only keep retreating.

Little did he know, Xiao Mengyu did not actually mean to hit him but, in front of him, demonstrated thirty-six moves of fist technique in one breath.

"Straight Punch, consisting of thirty-six moves, each targeting the enemy\'s weak points, fast and fierce, it\'s a rare and valuable fist technique."

"This is a fist technique passed down from our Luo family\'s ancestors. Do you want to learn it?"

Her moves were crisp and concise, each punch making a "hissing" sound in the air.

Shen Ye was overjoyed beyond measure.

Excellent, I\'ve always been distressed by the lack of offensive means.

With this fist technique learned, couldn\'t I counterattack in some situations?

But—

"Won\'t teaching your Luo family\'s fist technique to me affect you in any way?" he asked with concern.

Xiao Mengyu paused, watched him quietly for a moment, and then spoke:

"Our family\'s Fist Manual, if it were to be made known outside, countless people would go crazy trying to get it. And you still have time to worry about me?"

"There\'s a way to properly acquire things. I\'ve never liked causing trouble for others," Shen Ye said, spreading his hands.

Xiao Mengyu\'s eyes shimmered as she hid that touch of warmth and said softly:

"It\'s alright, there won\'t be any trouble."

——If it hadn\'t been for you yesterday, I would\'ve already been eaten by that person.

"Let\'s stop the demonstration of the fist technique here. You think about whether you want to learn it or not."

She reached out again and, with a light gesture in the air,

a "clang" sounded as the sword flew from its sheath and landed in her hand.

In a blur before Shen Ye\'s eyes—

The sword made continuous slashing motions in the air like lingering images, creating a gust of wind that nearly blew him off his feet.

The next instant.

The sword was already resting against his neck.

"You seem to have gotten even more powerful..." Shen Ye couldn\'t help but say.

"I have made a breakthrough," Xiao Mengyu nodded, "This is our Luo family\'s Surging Waves Sword Technique. Do you want to learn it?"

"I\'d like to, but I don\'t have a sword," Shen Ye said.

"How could I forget," Xiao Mengyu seemed somewhat disappointed, "If I had known when I was coming over, I would have stolen one from home to bring with me. It\'s a bit late now, and going back for another will attract too much attention, making it difficult to act..."

Shen Ye\'s eyebrows rose.

Stolen one?

Sister, stealing is not the way to go.

What if your family finds their precious sword on me and decides to kill me?

Perhaps sensing Shen Ye\'s change in expression, Xiao Mengyu patted his shoulder with her sword, comforting him:

"It\'s fine, I\'ve got this."

She sheathed her sword and continued:

"Never mind the swordsmanship, because it requires a good sword to truly harness its power—"

"Next, I\'ll demonstrate the Hong Leg Technique, Seven Kills Hand Blade, Thunder Palm, and the Sixteen Short-Range Combat Techniques. See if there\'s anything you want to learn."

"Hold on a second!" Shen Ye suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Xiao Mengyu had just assumed her stance, ready to kick, and looked at him puzzled as she heard his interruption.

"Did you just mention Thunder Palm?" Shen Ye asked.

"Yes, striking as swiftly as thunder, and as fierce as thunderbolt, that is Thunder Palm—only seven families keep the secret manual of this palm technique, and the Luo family is one of them," Xiao Mengyu proudly declared.

Thunder Palm!

In Shen Ye\'s ears, that voice seemed to echo once more:

"Next, you need to find a way to acquire the Undead Race\'s \'Specter\' technique and the Beast King Tribe\'s \'Thunder Palm\'."

"Why do I need to acquire those two techniques?" I asked.

"I cannot say, but if you truly acquire them, combined with your \'Moonlight Deer Step\' and \'Frostwind\', you will understand," the voice said.

"Are you constantly watching me?" I asked.

"Not at all—I spend most of my time in slumber. You need to hurry up and gather them... You will know... The secret..."

I had already gathered "Moonlight Deer Step," "Specter," and "Frostwind," able to perform the incomplete "Frosty Moon Shocking Sky."

——Only "Thunder Palm" was missing!

But!

But the "Thunder Palm" the voice spoke of was a technique from the Nightmare World!

Xiao Mengyu\'s palm technique was probably just a coincidence in name only.

"Where did this set of Thunder Palm come from?"

Shen Ye couldn\'t help but continue to ask.

Xiao Mengyu had already started to smile:

"You haven\'t heard of the great reputation of Thunder Palm? It was discovered hundreds of years ago by the ancestors of our major families while excavating the Sky Cyan Ruins, in a dilapidated pavilion there."

Azure Sky Relic...

Tsk.

There\'s always this strange feeling, fuzzy and indistinct, hard to describe.

Xiao Mengyu continued to speak:

"Actually, if your \'Comprehension\' isn\'t sufficient, it\'s very difficult to unleash the true power of Thunder Palm, no matter how long you practice."

"I just memorized it by rote, keeping its movements and essentials in my heart."

She released her hands, transforming fists into palms, and assumed the stance once more.

"I\'ll demonstrate for you to watch."

Shen Ye immediately cast aside distracting thoughts and observed intently.

But an uncontrollable thought surfaced in his mind:

What if.

Just what if—

If this Thunder Palm was indeed that Thunder Palm, wouldn\'t it fill in the secret that the voice had spoken of?

Only to see Xiao Mengyu striking with her palm while exclaiming:

"—Remember, you must observe my Palm Technique with total focus and concentration, without any distractions. Only then can you utilize all of your \'Comprehension\'."

Comprehension.

That\'s right, I need Comprehension...

Shen Ye didn\'t hesitate to allocate all 10 Attribute Points to "Comprehension".

Rows of faint light characters instantly appeared:

"As you have never developed or trained your Comprehension, you only have the most primitive Basic Comprehension Points."

"Your Comprehension is 1."

"You have added Attribute Points."

"Current total value of Comprehension: 1+10=11."

11 points of Comprehension.

How much can I grasp?

Shen Ye watched Xiao Mengyu unblinkingly as she explained the essentials and demonstrated Thunder Palm once more.

Having finished her demonstration, Xiao Mengyu approached and asked, "How is it? Do you have a general impression now?"

Shen Ye was silent for a long while before suddenly saying:

"This Palm Technique isn\'t that impressive, right?"

"What do you mean not that impressive," Xiao Mengyu said, "If an ordinary person learns it, they could go straight into a job, buy houses and cars, marry and have children, with no worries about food and drink for the rest of their life."

"Then why did you perform it so casually and even make a mistake in one of the moves?" Shen Ye said.

Xiao Mengyu froze, staring at him with her beautiful wide eyes.

"This is your first time seeing Thunder Palm, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Shen Ye said.

"Which move did I get wrong?" she pressed.

"You just said \'This move channels the energy and blood of the Governing Vessel, Rushing Vessel, and Belt Vessel, separating and exchanging with the Twelve Major Meridians, concentrating all of your thoughts in the joints between the bones of your left palm, using Flicking Force to invoke the Fifth Evil-Banishing Charm of the Supreme Thunder Scripture Charm\' to defeat the enemy, but look—"

"Your move indeed used Flicking Force, but the force fell on the wrist joint, not the joints between the palm bones."

Shen Ye mimicked her move and struck out with his palm.

—Their postures, movements, and Palm Techniques had not a single difference!

Shen Ye then adjusted his posture and said, "Shouldn\'t the correct way be like this—"

His whole body shuddered, and he lashed out with his palm into the air, producing a muffled sound of thunder.

Thunder Palm!

Even Xiao Mengyu had not achieved this effect just now.

Xiao Mengyu held her breath, her eyes showing a glimmer of admiration, and it took her a while to speak:

"You were able to follow my explanations and even noticed a problem, it seems your Comprehension is indeed good—have you trained in perception and meditation before?"

"No." Shen Ye said.

"I do have a family Visualization Method, but I can\'t teach you that because you will learn the Visualization Methods of the Three Great High Schools in the future, and it will be very troublesome if they get mixed up," Xiao Mengyu said.

"I understand." Shen Ye nodded.

Xiao Mengyu\'s tone lightened a bit as she quickly said:

"My specialty is swordsmanship, I haven\'t learned any Palm Techniques. The demonstration I gave you just now was because I was afraid your Comprehension wasn\'t enough, so while waiting for you at the airport, I quickly reviewed several Cultivation Techniques—"

"Now you can look at it yourself."

She pulled out a thin booklet from her pocket and handed it to Shen Ye.

It was the "Thunder Palm Essentials".

Under Shen Ye\'s gaze, a line of light characters emerged next to the booklet:

"Quality: Green."

Green represents Excellent.

Xiao Mengyu had actually given him a Green Quality Cultivation Technique booklet!

This lovely lady is really something.

Shen Ye treasured the booklet as if it were a precious gift and began to flip through it.

Xiao Mengyu, on the other hand, went to the side, hugged her long sword, and stood motionless.

With her eyes closed, she seemed to transcend the material world.

Yet the sword in her arms intermittently emitted faint buzzing sounds.

—Who knows which Cultivation Technique she was practicing.

Shen Ye glanced at her once and then returned his attention to studying "Thunder Palm Essentials" intently.

As he read, several lines of light text subtly appeared:

"To comprehend \'Thunder Palm Essentials\' to the Initial Understanding stage requires 5 points of Comprehension;"

"To the Minor Accomplishment stage, 9 points of Comprehension;"

"To the Great Accomplishment stage, 12 points of Comprehension;"

"To the Peak Mastery, 15 points of Comprehension."

So that\'s what "Comprehension" is for.