Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Tsk.

This left ordinary people far behind.

After all, if one\'s comprehension wasn\'t enough to even understand a Cultivation Technique, how could they keep up with the pace of these scions?

No wonder, in this world, the ruling class was always the great clans.

While Shen Ye was practicing his palm technique, he mulled over the essentials of the technique, losing track of time without realizing it.

He didn\'t know how much time had passed.

As he executed the palm technique, it flowed as smoothly as clouds and water, and after several consecutive strikes, a thunderous boom erupted.

A row of faint glowing small characters appeared:

"Congratulations, your comprehension is extremely high, and you have reached the Minor Achievement Realm of the \'Thunder Palm Essentials\'.

Applause came from the side.

Only then did Shen Ye come back to his senses and turned his head to see Xiao Mengyu standing nearby with a smile on her face.

"Congratulations, it seems you are well-suited to practice palm techniques," she said.

"This set of palm techniques is also quite simple," Shen Ye commented.

"Not at all," Xiao Mengyu said with a complex expression, "Many people also have good comprehension, but they ponder their whole life without ever being able to produce real thunder."

"Really?" Shen Ye said, surprised.

"Yes, it involves the compatibility of resonance—people suited for the thunder attribute are very rare," Xiao Mengyu nodded.

A row of faint glowing small characters suddenly appeared before Shen Ye\'s eyes:

"You learned other moves from the Under the Moon series, which made learning Thunder Palm easier for you."

Under the Moon Series...

Before Shen Ye could think further, Xiao Mengyu suddenly remembered something and said, "Take a look at your card, there must be a change in the evaluation of your strength."

"Really?"

"Yes, and your image will change too."

Overjoyed, Shen Ye quickly took out his card.

On the card, he was holding a skull head, with thunder light flickering on his arm from time to time.

——Looking even more like a villain.

Next to the star floating above his head, a new twinkling star appeared.

Two stars!

Several lines of small text appeared on the card:

"Having become a Two-Star Level newcomer, in addition to basic information, you can now get a personalized figurine, new hairstyle, new wardrobe, and slogan."

——"You learned Thunder Palm in an incredibly short time!"

A figurine?

What do I need a figurine for!

A new hairstyle, I could give that a try!

"Use new hairstyle," Shen Ye said.

On the card, the character\'s hair vanished in an instant.

Shen Ye was dumbfounded.

...You call baldness a new hairstyle?

And another thing.

Now I look even more like Sha Wujing.

"Put away the Divine Skills, I beg you, change it back to my original hairstyle," Shen Ye sighed.

Finally, his hair came back.

Before, he found it unattractive, but now that he was bald, he felt any hair was better than none.

"Forget the rest, let me see the new wardrobe," Shen Ye said.

Boom!

The card trembled slightly.

His wrinkled student uniform transformed into a brand-new student uniform.

New wardrobe...

It was new, alright, but this was just lazy!

"Use slogan," Shen Ye said, unconvinced.

On the card, a slogan board appeared behind him:

"Opportunistic."

"It\'s random, you can try again," Xiao Mengyu said.

"Change," Shen Ye said.

"Fickle."

"Change again!"

"Money-grubber."

"Change!"

"Lustful."

"Why do they all start with \'seeing\'? It\'s so low! I don\'t want it!" Shen Ye exploded.

He put away the card, fuming, and faced Xiao Mengyu, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Don\'t worry, it\'s just teasing you—wait till you rise to Four Stars, it will start treating you better," Xiao Mengyu consoled.

"Oh, by the way, what time is it now?" Shen Ye asked.

"It\'s just after twelve noon," Xiao Mengyu replied.

"Crap! I got so caught up in training that I forgot the time. Qian Rushan asked me to see him at noon," Shen Ye said.

Xiao Mengyu nodded, "You should also meet with the people from the Human Martial Arts Group, they must be waiting for you."

"Where will you be later?" Shen Ye asked.

"I will continue to meditate on sword techniques here. If you\'re free, you can find me anytime."

"Okay."

Suddenly, Shen Ye remembered something.

While stretching his sore shoulders and neck, he said, "Right, with your high energy, could you continue to look into the background of \'The Skinner\'?"

Xiao Mengyu paused, then quickly understood.

"Yes," she said softly, "Since Zhao Yibing came back to life, perhaps..."

"He is alive too," Shen Ye added.

The two exchanged glances, each seeing the chill in the other\'s eyes.

Shen Ye thought deeper.

——Perhaps it was because they were alive that he had been labeled \'Drowner\'.

He was fated to die at their hands.

...

The Human Martial Arts Group had a building in Yunshan Port.

——It seemed that as long as it was a relatively large city, the group would have a building there.

Since arriving here, Qian Rushan had become increasingly busy, with no time even to dine with Shen Ye.

Shen Ye had no choice but to eat alone in the group\'s canteen, then, taking his room card, went to a room assigned to him for a temporary rest.

He closed the door and asked in a low voice, "How\'s the environment here?"

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"I didn\'t sense any prying," the Skeleton\'s voice rose along with its words, "All is still good."

"That\'s a relief."

Shen Ye closed his eyes, waited for a little while, then opened them and assumed a stance on the spot.

Suddenly, his Physique moved—

Within a confined space, he could be seen Dodging, shifting, casting illusions of shadows, swinging his legs, and pushing with his palms. In an instant, he executed the Moonlight Deer Step, the Specter Technique, Frostwind, and the Thunder Palm in succession.

After completing a whole set of Cultivation Techniques, Shen Ye stopped moving and stood still, holding his breath.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Nothing happened.

Exhale—

He let out a breath, feeling somewhat disappointed yet also thinking it was to be expected.

"I knew it, this Thunder Palm isn\'t that Thunder Palm, it\'s laughable that I still harbored some unrealistic fantasies..."

Shen Ye muttered to himself a few sentences, then relaxed.

"What are you freaking out about?" the Skeleton asked.

"Nothing—I just wanted to test out these few moves," Shen Ye covered up.

"I do have something to say about that, do you want to hear it?" the Skeleton offered.

"Let\'s hear it," Shen Ye said.

"The Specter Technique is the crappiest of the Undead Strange Techniques; even the Undead themselves are loath to learn it, not to mention Humans, Beastmen, and Elves;"

"Frostwind has a major flaw. After that kick, if other enemies take advantage of the opening, there will be serious trouble. Only assassins, who specialize in short-range bursts, would learn it—Elf Assassins disdain this move, and only occasionally would you find a human assassin who learns it;"

"The \'Moonlight Deer Step\' is merely the battle array movement technique of normal soldiers among the Elf Race, its quality is also very average, and as the Elves accrue military achievements, they all learn higher-level movement techniques;"

"Very few among the Beastmen learn the Thunder Palm, since Beastmen are inherently fearful of lightning."

"In other words—"

"They\'re all trash."

"You need to hurry to the Imperial Military Academy and learn some truly high-level stuff."

The Skeleton earnestly advised.

Shen Ye sank into thought.

—That voice wouldn\'t do something meaningless.

Moreover, he really did comprehend the incomplete "Frosty Moon Shocking Sky" from these techniques.

Now it seems that these techniques are all unpopular and overlooked by the Four Tribes in the Nightmare World.

Why collect them?

The answer was unknowable; only by going to the Nightmare World and obtaining the real Thunder Palm from the Beastmen would he know.

Forget it.

Let\'s not worry about it for now.

After all, Qian Rushan is busy with his own matters.

In the afternoon, it might be good to meet with Xiao Mengyu and practice together and maybe ask her which high school she wants to attend.

Shen Ye reached for the cellphone lying on the bed.

Just as he picked up the phone, his body suddenly shuddered as if electrocuted.

Crack.

Something seemed to snap in his mind.

Blood oozed from every pore, and pain unimaginable struck his body causing Shen Ye to collapse to the ground.

"What\'s wrong with you?" the Skeleton blurted out.

Shen Ye couldn\'t speak, his body convulsing uncontrollably.

I\'m dying!

Endless agony rampaged through his body, making him spit out mouthfuls of blood.

Unable to breathe.

Suffocating.

Like drowning.

The world plunged into deep darkness.

Everything drifted away from him, even the Skeleton\'s calling began to sound faint and indistinct.

How ridiculous.

Why am I dying?

Shen Ye\'s consciousness began to blur, falling into an endless void.

Sinking deeper and deeper.

Everything had come to The End.

Suddenly.

A cold breath pierced through the darkness, sprinkling upon his consciousness, forcibly bringing him a moment of clarity.

No!

I have to live!

Quick, find out where this breath is coming from!

Shen Ye barely opened his eyes amid a pool of blood.

There was nothing around.

No people.

No living creatures.

He was still lying on the floor, his cellphone had fallen nearby, its screen lit up for a while, displaying Xiao Mengyu\'s number.

After a while, the phone\'s screen turned off again.

The darkness came back.

Damn it.

What exactly was that icy breath? How did it save me?

Shen Ye slowly closed his eyes again.

Just then, a bone-chilling cold assaulted him once more.

Shen Ye jolted.

The decay in his limbs seemed to be halted by this frosty breath.

With his chest rising and falling, he opened his eyes once again.

—This time he understood.

He was breathing in a way he had never experienced before, a breath that carried an icy chill, which restored clarity to his consciousness.

Breathing—

At this moment, breathing was his life!

Shen Ye\'s survival instincts burst forth, and he started to breathe fully according to that method, seeking to sustain his body\'s function and keep his consciousness clear.

Time slowly passed.

The phone lit up again, displaying "Qian Rushan" calling.

Shen Ye still could not move.

All his strength was being used to maintain breathing.

Qian Rushan\'s calls came several times in a row before the phone screen dimmed once more.

As the seconds and minutes went by.

Shen Ye didn\'t stop using that breathing technique for a moment.

During this breathing, various illusions appeared.

Sometimes Shen Ye felt like he had become the entire universe, the stars forming his body.

Sometimes he felt like he was a boulder, lying in the silt at the bottom of a river, enduring ages of erosion unchanging.

Eventually, he simply felt as though he was standing under the bright moonlight, merging with it into one entity.

Time elapsed indeterminately.

He began to master the breathing technique.

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