Time slipped by, and Qin Yu devoted most of his time, aside from training, to grasping his attack methods. He set three aspects for understanding his attack methods: movement technique, close combat, and weapons.
Movement technique.
The movement technique is related to dodging defense, close combat, and tracking and escaping. Qin Yu's requirement for movement technique was simple: to be as rapid as lightning and as agile as a crafty rabbit. To study movement techniques, he had to explore the arts of Qimen Dunjia and other various movement techniques.
Close combat.
During training, Qin Yu found he enjoyed pushing his limits, reveling in the rush of adrenaline. When it came to choosing his method of attack, he chose to cultivate... close combat! A battle at close quarters could decide life and death in an instant, the most dangerous, yet equally filled with the zest of life.
Weapons!
Up to now, Qin Yu had not decided what weapon to use. Among the eighteen types of weapons like sabers, spears, staffs, and clubs, each had its own unique traits. Qin Yu preferred to use his own fists and legs, at least he had not yet decided on a specific weapon.
In the study.
Qin Yu was holding a book titled "The Book of Changes."
"Hmm, the principles in this chapter seem... they seem quite similar to the movement technique written on the third sheet of the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique,' the 'Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances," Qin Yu muttered then closed the book in his hands, naturally beginning to organize the knowledge he'd seen in his mind.
Various principles of movement techniques, as well as other Qimen Dunjia arts, continuously floated through Qin Yu's mind...
"Six Forms, Three Wonders, Eight Gates, Nine Stars layout, these form the power of Qimen Dunjia, with Eight Gates including Du, Injury, Jing, Rest, Life, Death, Shock, and Opening. Qimen Dunjia is divided into Heaven, Gate, and Earth, known as Three Talents..." The basic concepts of Qimen Dunjia took root in Qin Yu's mind.
Although these were the most basic, they were also foundational; countless formations and Escape Techniques evolved from these fundamental principles.
Various profound movement techniques were more or less influenced by them.
Since Qin Yu cultivated Outer Strength and had no Inner Strength within his body, he could not cultivate the usual qinggong movement techniques and had to create his own. Sixty-eight Inner Power Secret Manuals typically included corresponding fist techniques, sword techniques, and movement techniques related to Inner Strength.
Even among the twenty-eight Outer Strength Secret Manuals, there were various methods of attack.
Qin Yu embraced all wisdom, observing the attack methods and movement techniques from the ninety-six Inner and Outer Strength manuals and then combining what he observed with the essential principles hidden in Qimen Dunjia and "The Book of Changes" to find the hidden truths within these movement techniques, a highly challenging task. Yet Qin Yu persisted, day and night, studying diligently whenever he wasn't training his body.
...
To cultivate Outer Strength to the utmost, one must study medical knowledge. This was what Zhao Yunxing taught Qin Yu on the first day, and at this moment, Qin Yu was reading a medical book. Over three years, he had read many medical books and had gained much insight.
"Every bit of strength, every bit of attack must make the enemy pay the highest price. A palm strike to the belly may at most cause some stomach pain, but the same palm could shatter the opponent's throat, leading to their demise."
Qin Yu closed the book, his eyes gleaming with insight.
The various vulnerabilities of the human body were engraved clearly in Qin Yu's mind—bones and joints, intersections of meridians, points where qi and blood flowed. Attacking vital points, striking vital acupoints, targeting physiological weaknesses, or techniques to break bones and joints, and so on.
In short, Qin Yu's principle of attack was: to ensure that every bit of strength inflicted the maximum damage, absolutely no waste of energy!
A single hand with a force of one hundred pounds must reach, or even surpass, the attack power of a master with double that strength!
To achieve this, one must strive through various methods: movement techniques, attacking vital points, utilizing the surrounding environment, and exploiting psychological changes in opponents, among other factors. Qin Yu was confident; his body was well-coordinated in speed, explosive power, flexibility, and more. He also had access to various secret books for reference.
At noon, on the training field.
One by one, mechanical wooden figures were placed on the training field, forming a Wooden Man Alley. This was the pinnacle of achievement for mechanical masters. To get through the Wooden Man Alley was a great challenge, not something ordinary people could break. Yet today, Qin Yu decided to use the Wooden Man Alley to train his close-range combat techniques.
Qin Yu stood in front of Wooden Man Alley, motionless. Suddenly, he charged into the Alley. As he touched the first wooden figure, all the wooden figures in the alley sprang to life. The only thing in Qin Yu's eyes was calmness.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"…
His hands struck like lightning, swiftly breaking the joints of the wooden figures. His legs were mainly for defense, occasionally delivering powerful kicks that broke the wood. Qin Yu's speed was rapid because at that moment, he had removed his weights; he understood that wearing the hundred-pound load, it would be impossible for him to get through the Wooden Man Alley.
Shedding the hundred-pound load, Qin Yu was remarkably fast, but... there were too many wooden figures in the Wooden Man Alley. He was still struck on the head by one of them, followed by several continuous hits. Qin Yu could only roll away quickly and escape.
"Not bad, each wooden figure's joints are similar to human joints, which makes for much more effective training," Qin Yu's eyes lit up as he charged into the Wooden Man Alley again.
The Wooden Man Alley, in Qin Yu's plan, was just a more manageable training method. Above it lay the Copper People Alley. Of course, it wasn't about casting a whole figure out of copper, but covering the surface of the wooden figures with a layer of copper and iron, greatly enhancing both the attack and defense of the copper figures.
…
As for which weapon to use, Qin Yu hadn't made a decision. That night, he meticulously examined the attack techniques included in each secret book, most of which were swords and knives, with a few unusual weapons.
"Eh?" Qin Yu suddenly flipped open an Inner Power Secret Manual. In a chapter on swordsmanship, there was a particular passage: "Although our Residual Shadow Sword is an assassination sword, if we're talking about close-range assassination swordsmanship, the first place still goes to the Yu Family's One Sword. No matter whom the assassin 'Yu' targeted, he has never failed. He was even the legendary number one assassin of the assassin organization 'Heavenly Net'."
Qin Yu was startled.
Heavenly Net, Qin Yu had heard of it; an ancient assassin organization with a history spanning over a thousand years, its influence extending across the entire Hidden Dragon Continent. The histories of the three nations on the continent were not as long as that of 'Heavenly Net.' If this assassin 'Yu' was known as the legendary number one assassin, then his means of killing must be extraordinary.
Suddenly—
Qin Yu's eyes bulged in surprise.
"Yu Family's One Sword, Yu Family's One Sword… Ah, wasn't this mentioned on the reverse side of the third piece of paper of the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique'?" Qin Yu had closely read the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique' before. Nearly half of it on the three pieces of Golden Paper was an Inner Power Secret Manual. The remaining half covered movement techniques 'Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances,' Fist Technique 'Flame Dragon Fist,' and Swordsmanship 'Nine Yang Splitting Sky Sword.' The so-called Yu Family's One Sword was only briefly described at the end, and Qin Yu hadn't paid much attention to it initially.
Only now did Qin Yu realize that the inconspicuous 'Yu Family's One Sword' in the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique' was actually the swordmanship of the so-called legendary number one assassin.
'Ancestor Dragon Technique', an Internal Cultivation Method that absorbs nature's spiritual energy at an incredibly fast rate, was absolutely the best among all such methods. The movement technique 'Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances,' Fist Technique 'Flame Dragon Fist,' and Swordsmanship 'Nine Yang Splitting Sky Sword' were all extremely fearsome and formidable; however, they required the cultivation of the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique's' inner strength, which Qin Yu could only look at but not practice.
Turning to the last piece of paper, Qin Yu finally saw some information about the Yu Family's One Sword.
"Ah, there's actually a method to cultivate the Yu Family's One Sword," Qin Yu's eyes brightened with excitement. No one could have imagined that the 'Ancestor Dragon Technique' would contain the cultivation method for the 'Yu Family's One Sword.' He immediately began reading it earnestly, but the more he read, the paler his face became until it even started turning green.