As the system spoke, a sense of martial arts enlightenment entered Qing Yu's mind, though it was quite superficial.
"System, what's going on? Does the inheritance come with martial arts enlightenment now? Also, does a one-star card come with a two-star item?" Qing Yu asked.
"Host, upon successfully obtaining the inheritance, you will gain the character's understanding of the learned martial arts. The star rating is based on the character's combat power, independent of the martial arts and item grades."
This turned out to be a good thing. With countless villains in the system, as Qing Yu defeated more in the future, he would acquire more and more martial arts. If he were to practice each one, there simply wouldn't be enough time. This inheritance solved a potential future problem. The related star evaluations even made Qing Yu's heart blossom with joy; there are many who are buried in the martial arts world, such as those from Zhuwu Lianlian Village in Yitian, whose mixed inheritance of the Five Extremes was truly unique.
Wei Xiaobao's understanding of martial arts was very superficial, and Qing Yu digested it in no time.
"Truly, a weakling with a combat power of less than 5. This Divine Transformation has been made into a Divine Hundred Crawls. Looks like I still need to practice hard myself. And then there's Beauty's Three Moves, all escaping techniques requiring specific poses—a pitfall. Hero's Three Techniques is even worse, purely something Sect Master Hong conjured up on the spot to tease Mrs. Hong, specifically to scratch a woman's itch. What use do I have for it?"
The martial arts provided by Duke Wei were currently of no use, but his lavish equipment was very suitable for a newbie like Qing Yu.
"Next, it's that Dragon Knight's turn," Qing Yu said, stroking his smooth chin.
Yin Zhiping was at the Postnatal Fourth Realm, a level Qing Yu was not yet familiar with. Yin Zhiping wasn't as lecherous as Lord Wei, but he was a maniac, a weakness that was even easier to exploit.
Qing Yu briefly straightened up, mostly fixing his slightly messy hair from lying on the ground, and commanded, "System, select Yin Zhiping, start the inheritance."
"One-star villain Yin Zhiping, beginning inheritance."
Following the system's prompt, Qing Yu's vision blurred and he reappeared in the Inheritance Space. A figure slowly materialized in front of Qing Yu, who hurriedly turned around and struck a pose without waiting to see the figure's face clearly.
Yin Zhiping opened his eyes and saw a white silhouette in front of him; his maniacal instincts immediately kicked in. He foolishly moved forward, extending his right hand to touch the figure before him, then quickly withdrew it as if he dared not defile the fairy descended from heaven. Hesitantly, he said, "Miss Long, is that you?"
'Miss Long' slowly turned around, and Yin Zhiping held his breath in excitement. Finally, 'Miss Long' revealed her true face—eyes one large and one small, mouth askew, left pinky picking her nose.
"It's me, yah," Qing Yu said in a strange voice.
Yin Zhiping was dumbfounded.
"Bang." Qing Yu pressed the trigger of the gun hidden in his right sleeve, hitting Yin Zhiping's left chest. Then, with his left hand, he pulled out the Mystic Iron dagger from his bosom and slashed across his throat.
"Heh...heh..." Yin Zhiping pointed at Qing Yu, trying excitedly to say something, but as his throat was cut, he could only silently spit out a mouthful of blood and fell gloomily to the ground.
Qing Yu raised his hand and blew away the lingering gun smoke from the barrel, laughing, "This act has removed the grievances of hundreds of millions, truly a boundlessly meritorious deed. Placed in the Immortal World, I'm afraid I could become a god on the spot."
"Ding, congratulations to the host for defeating and killing the one-star villain Yin Zhiping, obtaining the one-star martial arts inheritance Quanzhen Heart Method, one-star martial arts Quanzhen Swordsmanship, and one-star martial arts Golden Wild Goose Skill," the system's prompt timely rang out.
Another stream of memories flooded into Qing Yu's mind—initial learning of martial arts, diligent cultivation. Yin Zhiping's cultivation memories replayed continuously in Qing Yu's mind. Qing Yu closed his eyes, reminiscing repeatedly, "This cross-dressing trip was worth it, truly worth it. What can relieve my worries, only cross-dressing."
Opening his eyes, Qing Yu casually picked up a tree branch and began practicing Quanzhen Swordsmanship in the courtyard, from "Setting Sail" to "River and Mountain Dreams," with forty-nine moves in seven sword forms. Although there was no boost from Inner Strength, with Yin Zhiping's understanding of swordsmanship, he managed quite a decent performance.
After completing the entire "Quanzhen Swordsmanship," Qing Yu was drenched in sweat, but he shouted, "Thrilling, truly damn thrilling!" For four years, living in constant fear of sudden death, now that he saw a glimmer of hope, Qing Yu took the rare chance to vent.
"Next, I need to cultivate the 'Quanzhen Heart Method' and strive to reach the entry level soon. Huh? This memory isn't right! Yin Zhiping is in his forties, he must have been practicing martial arts for at least thirty years, why is his martial arts enlightenment so brief? System, what's going on?" Qing Yu asked in his mind.
"Martial Arts Inheritance only transmits memories related to martial arts. Yin Zhiping, in his early years, was playful and seldom practiced. Although he woke up in time, he then met Little Dragon Girl and afterward lost interest in martial arts."
"MDZZ, he deserves to be single for life, couldn't win anyone's heart, nor would he practice martial arts, couldn't even seize his own body. A disgrace to the villain community." Qing Yu felt unsatisfied with what he got; little did he know, without the Dragon Knight's lovesick nature, he wouldn't stand a chance even in women's clothing.
After cursing for a while, Qing Yu calmed down and returned to his room to cultivate the "Quanzhen Heart Method."
The "Quanzhen Heart Method" is Taoist martial arts, balanced and mild, very suitable for foundation building, and easy to get started with. Even someone with slow innate talent like Guo Jing could quickly enter under guidance; with related knowledge, Qing Yu found it even simpler.
Over the following month, Qing Yu stayed in the Taoist temple, didn't step out of the main gate or the secondary gate, and focused on cultivating the "Quanzhen Heart Method." Only the protagonist would start adventuring right after learning martial arts—famous villains usually left only after achieving expertise in martial arts; my goal is to be the "Ten Miles Slope Sword God." That's what Qing Yu thought, determined to cower till victory.
"ding, the new month has arrived. Would you like to start this month's Character Card draw?"
"A new month, another Character Card draw, I almost forgot." Qing Yu smacked his forehead as he thought.
"Let's begin."
"Starting the Character Card draw. Ding, congratulations to the host for drawing a one-star Character Card—Lin Pingzhi.
Name: Lin Pingzhi
Realm: Postnatal Sixth Realm
Item: Old No. 2 (Souvenir)
Martial Arts: 'Hua Mountain Heart Method,' 'Hua Mountain Swordsmanship,' 'Exorcism Swordsmanship'
Evaluation: Great luck, big profit, tonight we eat chicken, specifically, a child chicken!"
On the copper-colored card, there was an image of a young man with his eyes closed, delicate and handsome but with a touch of madness, wearing a bright red robe, the person looking rather flamboyant.
As always, an unreliable evaluation. Ignoring this capricious comment, Qing Yu asked, "Lin Pingzhi should be quite strong, right? How come he's only at the Postnatal Sixth Realm?"
"Realm does not equal combat strength. Lin Pingzhi is powerful for his 'Exorcism Swordsmanship,' not his inner power cultivation," the system briefly explained.
"That makes sense. Lin Pingzhi's martial talent really isn't that great." Qing Yu nodded. During the era of Swordsman, although martial arts seemed still flourishing, it had actually begun to decline. People in the worldly society relied more on techniques; Yue Lingshan could easily defeat the elder high expert of the Yu Generation from the Taishan Sect just by technique suppression. Ling Huchong, not using inner strength and merely relying on swordsmanship, could dominate the society—none with the ability to externalize their innate power.
"Such a drag." Qing Yu felt a headache coming on, "Although Lin Pingzhi is only at the Postnatal Sixth Realm, combined with the 'Exorcism Swordsmanship,' he could easily kill a regular seventh or eighth-layer postnatal, and probably need just one strike to kill me. And even if I could defeat him, I couldn't use the Exorcism Swordsmanship; I can't really go around castrating chickens, can I? Well, no castration for me."
"Forget it, let's not think about it anymore. Just continue training."
Having said that, Qing Yu buried his head in cultivation once again, determined to cautiously make his way to victory.