Chapter 121: Even Fools Can Cultivate Martial Arts

After questioning, Xu Xi left with Wu Yingxue, not directly killing the tax collector.

The tax collector’s final fate.

He was dragged away by a middle-aged man with a scarred face.

The tax collector looked at his face in utter terror, while others who also had grudges against him silently allowed the middle-aged man to take him away.

From Xu Xi, Wu Yingxue learned the story of the middle-aged man.

It was a tragic fate that occurred long before Xu Xi arrived in Qingniu Town.

The middle-aged man, surnamed Li, was once a wealthy merchant from the inland of the Great Qian Dynasty. After offending a county official, his entire family was exiled to the borderlands.

Misfortune always comes in waves.

Not long after arriving in Qingniu Town, the middle-aged man’s sister was targeted by the tax collector, and from then on, the girl disappeared from the world forever.

“What can you do to me?”

It is said that the tax collector was just as arrogant then as he was today, stepping on the man’s head and cutting a scar on his face.

The man endured, for a very long time.

Until today, he finally had the chance to avenge his sister.

He wailed as he dragged the tax collector home, his hoarse, mournful cries contrasting sharply with the tax collector’s terrified pleas for mercy.

“Killing him a hundred times wouldn’t be enough!!”

After hearing the story, the girl fell silent for a long time before finally speaking fiercely.

Her hands danced, her fingers instinctively reaching for her long spear, unable to resist the urge to act. But after staring at the Li-surnamed man for a long time, she decided to let the person involved handle it.

The dead sister could never be brought back to life.

This was the only way the man could comfort his sister’s spirit.

Wu Yingxue didn’t want to take that away.

The matter of the tax collector was thus settled, and Qingniu Town returned to its usual calm and rhythm of life.

Xu Xi and Wu Yingxue either stayed home to refine martial techniques or ventured into the Ten Thousand Mountains, harvesting demon meat while engaging in real combat.

The townspeople used scarce materials to prepare for the harsh winter.

Everything seemed unchanged.

But A Niu knew, and all the residents of Qingniu Town knew, that something invisible had quietly appeared in everyone’s hearts.

Even the world before their eyes seemed a bit brighter.

…

After returning home, Xu Xi quickly entered the inner room, picked up the original copy of the “Nourishing Origin Technique,” and swiftly flipped to the first page, carefully reviewing each word.

“Nourishing Origin, nurturing vitality.”

“If we want to improve it, making it easy to learn while also incorporating Qi and Blood Martial Arts…”

Xu Xi fell into deep thought, one inspiration after another leaping into his mind.

[“A technique that ignores talent doesn’t exist.”]

[“A technique that ignores physique doesn’t exist either.”]

[“Everything has two outcomes, good and bad.”]

[“For every martial genius who grasps things instantly, there is a corresponding fool.”]

[“Even siblings from the same family are different, let alone people with no blood relation. Expecting one technique to turn everyone into martial artists is unrealistic.”]

[“But today,”]

[“After witnessing the townspeople of Qingniu Town beating the tax collector,”]

[“You realized, even those on the brink of starvation, those with nothing, possess something no weaker, if not stronger, than ordinary people.”]

[“That is an unquenchable will to survive.”]

[“That is a resilience like weeds.”]

[“The people of Qingniu Town may not understand martial arts or the flow of Qi and blood, but they understand—”]

[“Eating.”]

“Sir, what does eating have to do with martial arts techniques?”

“It does, and it doesn’t.”

“You said one can become stronger by eating. Is that true?”

“It’s not that eating makes one stronger, but that eating is their only way to become stronger.”

[“You and Wu Yingxue worked together to create a hybrid technique. It’s not a traditional martial arts technique, with no fixed energy flow paths.”]

[“Farmers using it will circulate energy while farming.”]

[“Porters using it will circulate energy while walking.”]

[“The flow of Qi and blood is extremely simple, so simple that even those who don’t understand techniques will unconsciously circulate energy during daily activities.”]

[“And its foundation is eating.”]

[“Not the ordinary kind of eating.”]

[“But eating with the will to survive, the struggle against despair, consuming the nameless yet real Qi and spirit, igniting the essence within the body.”]

[“You feel somewhat conflicted about this result.”]

[“On one hand, you are pleased with the successful improvement of the ‘Nourishing Origin Technique,’ truly seeing a future where even ordinary people can practice martial arts.”]

[“On the other hand, you feel uneasy about the side effects of the ‘Nourishing Origin Technique.'”]

[“The improved Nourishing Origin Technique, as long as the practitioner’s will is strong enough, can reward them with abundant Qi and blood cultivation.”]

[“But it is fragile, like a castle in the air.”]

[“If one replenishes nutrients in time, the body can sustain itself. But if there is nothing, the practitioner will eventually self-devour.”]

[“That is, they will eat themselves.”]

[“Burning blood, burning life, burning everything.”]

“Can such a technique really be used…”

“No, there’s no need to think. For those on the brink of death, this is truly useful.”

After the martial practice ended, Xu Xi slowly stood up.

He walked out of the room, and in the utterly serene atmosphere, he looked up at the cold sun, exhaling mist and inhaling cold.

Winter was coming, and this year’s demon tide was more dangerous than ever.

Xu Xi had recently been frequently exploring the Ten Thousand Mountains, and he was certain that this demon tide would include a Great Demon of the Innate Realm.

In the face of such a being, mortals wouldn’t even have a chance to escape.

Slow as ants, escape is impossible.

If one practiced the “Nourishing Origin Technique,” even if the final outcome was self-devouring, it would be better than being devoured by demons.

“If we don’t dare to take this step, how can we ensure everyone survives?” Xu Xi took a deep breath, feeling the cold air enter his lungs, circulating before being exhaled.

In reality, the time left for Xu Xi and Qingniu Town was far too little.

So little that even if they started practicing now, Qingniu Town might not produce any martial artists.

“Sir, should this technique be renamed?” Wu Yingxue asked, standing beside him.

Whether in content or function, the “Nourishing Origin Technique” was vastly different from its original version. Continuing to call it the “Nourishing Origin Technique” didn’t seem appropriate.

“A technique even fools can practice.”

“What?”

“That’s its name.”

The girl was stunned but found it oddly fitting.

The birth of this technique was the work of a fool, for another group of fools struggling to survive.

“I feel like spending too much time with you has turned me into a fool too,” the girl joked.

[“The Fool’s Technique was born.”]

[“Its name is simple, but its content is enough to shock the Thirteen Provinces of the Great Qian Dynasty. It is a technique that could shake the Great Qian Dynasty and even the blockade of the Ten Thousand Mountains.”]

[“You made the technique public, and A Niu became the first practitioner, as he voluntarily requested.”]