"Come one, come all! noctilucous jade from the new mine, top quality!"
"Don't miss out! Newly written couplets, perfectly structured, flowing antithesis, guaranteed to bring a year of good luck!"
"Baozi, freshly steamed baozi, delicious and affordable!"
…Liyue Harbor was indeed as lively as Baizhu described. Even though it was barely dawn, the streets near the docks were already bustling with noise.
Considering the streets here were two-tiered, Yu Jin estimated the current foot traffic was probably double that.
While Liyue was usually prosperous, at this hour in the morning, such a throng of people was unprecedented.
It was a pity Dain couldn't witness this lively scene; he had immediately run off after leaving Bubu Pharmacy.
It seemed the Lantern Rite wasn't quite appealing enough for Dain.
Looking at the once bustling scene before him, Yu Jin had a new question: hadn't Baizhu said the Lantern Rite was a rare period of leisure for Liyue people? Why was everyone up so early?
But seeing the smiles on people's faces, Yu Jin quickly found his answer.
Because when people are doing something they love, they don't care about so many things. Whether it's busy or not, or if they have enough rest, those are only considerations when working.
Walking along the street, the shouts from both sides were incessant. The items on the stalls were dazzling, almost too much for the eyes to take in.
Amidst the vast flow of people, Yu Jin suddenly spotted a familiar figure. It was Dugu Shuo, a young man who had once'sparred' with him and aspired to be a great hero.
He was currently sitting on a stool at a stall, his eyes intently focused on something.
Yu Jin pushed through the crowd and walked over, discovering that Dugu Shuo was at a bookstall, and in his hands were two books.
One was the Nine Wisdom Warrior Training Guide Yu Jin had given him earlier; the other was a book Yu Jin didn't recognize, and it appeared to be much thicker than the Nine Wisdom Warrior Training Guide.
"This kid is so fond of studying?" Yu Jin was first greatly astonished, then a wave of worry followed—if Dugu Shuo studied enough to exceed nine points in intelligence, then his book would be useless!
…Meanwhile, on the other side, was Dugu Shuo fond of studying? The answer was, of course, no.
During his usual studies at the academy, his mind was always on how he could sneak out to 'practice his sword' when the teacher wasn't paying attention.
As for why he was studying now during the Lantern Rite, it was purely because his path to becoming a great hero had encountered an obstacle.
"This character… is pronounced 'ji' (halberd)? When facing a mage, a halberd compared to a straight sword…"
After identifying the character he didn't know in the dictionary, Dugu Shuo pointed at the characters in the Nine Wisdom Warrior Training Guide on the other side, reading them out word by word.
The obstacle Dugu Shuo encountered on his path to becoming a great hero was that he couldn't even recognize all the characters in the book.
It must be said, this was a sad story.
"Hiss… so that's how it is? A halberd? It should be a weapon similar to a spear, right?"
"I never thought Polearms could be used this way; my thinking was too narrow."
Behind Dugu Shuo, someone had finished reading the dense small print in the book before him.
"Alright, Xingqiu, stop looking! This is definitely someone's secret technique; let's go quickly, lest we cause displeasure!"
A young man with light blue short hair was pulling another young man with dark blue hair, a guilty expression on his face.
These were the Exorcist Chongyun and the hero Xingqiu!
Originally, Xingqiu and Chongyun intended to check the Night Market during the Lantern Rite to see if any new books had been released.
Unexpectedly, they found no new discoveries at the bookstall, but instead gained a great harvest from a fellow book-lover who was also reading.
"Ah~, no rush!" Xingqiu ignored Chongyun's actions; he was now completely engrossed in the Nine Wisdom Warrior Training Guide in Dugu Shuo's hands.
Once, Liyue had many martial arts sects, and martial arts texts frequently appeared. But later, people discovered that twenty years of martial arts practice were no match for one punch from a Vision.
Thus, the martial arts sects that once stood tall across the land of Liyue gradually faded away, eventually dwindling to just a handful.
Xingqiu himself was a martial arts enthusiast, and he also possessed extraordinary Talents in martial arts.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have mastered all the martial arts of the Guhua Sect within four years and thoroughly comprehended the Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua.
However, after comprehending the Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua, while Xingqiu was ecstatic, he also gained a deeper understanding of the current decline of the martial arts world.
The Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua consisted of the spear technique [Stabbing Brightness], the sword technique [Raincutter], and the dual spear-sword technique [Life and Death Cycle].
Over hundreds of years of transmission, these three techniques had gradually been obscured, with no one able to inherit them.
But Xingqiu had comprehended them thoroughly. What were called spear techniques and sword techniques were, in fact, Vision techniques.
The Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua never explicitly mentioned Visions, yet every word alluded to them. All of its techniques were built upon the foundation of possessing a Vision.
This was why it was no wonder the Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua had been obscured for hundreds of years.
How few Vision wielders were there? In all of Liyue, there were probably no more than a hundred people, and as for those who were dedicated to martial arts, he was probably the only one.
With such stringent requirements for practitioners, it was no wonder these Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua were lost.
Situations like the Three Ultimate Techniques of Guhua, in Xingqiu's view, were common in the martial arts world.
All major sects developed their moves with the Vision as their core. The moves were powerful, but no one could learn them.
If the martial arts world back then had taken a different path, not focusing on how to strengthen the use of Visions, but instead teaching ordinary people how to become stronger, perhaps the martial arts world today would present a different scene.
Xingqiu sighed at this thought.
Then he lowered his head and continued reading—because Dugu Shuo had turned the page.
Xingqiu was completely immersed in the book; in the martial arts book of the boy before him, he saw another path for the martial arts world.
That was to teach people how to become stronger, step by step!
How should weapons be used? How should muscles be trained? What should be used to ascend one's limits… All sorts of methods for becoming stronger were in these books, and they were very easy to understand. It was like… like teaching the reader as if they were an idiot!
The more Xingqiu read, the more delighted he became, and he also developed a longing for the author of this book.
To be able to explain profound and obscure martial arts techniques so vividly, even humorously, to the point where even five or six-year-old children could understand them.
The author of this book had reached a level of martial arts attainment that Xingqiu could only look up to.
Such a person no longer needed a Vision to prove himself.
"So slow! Kid, can't you turn the pages faster!" Xingqiu, seeing a thrilling part, suddenly found there was no more to read.
Seeing Dugu Shuo still looking up words in the dictionary, he directly squatted down and urged Dugu Shuo.
"Who are you? Don't interrupt my path to becoming a great hero!" Dugu Shuo, seeing someone grab his precious martial arts manual, immediately jolted and closed the book.
This was his treasure; absolutely no mishaps could occur!
With this thought, Dugu Shuo clutched the Nine Wisdom Warrior Training Guide in his arms even tighter.
This made Xingqiu even more anxious. He casually pulled up a stool and sat beside Dugu Shuo, smiling, "Just like you, someone who wants to be a great hero and uphold justice!"
This left Chongyun, who was nearby, dumbfounded; he actually saw flattery in Xingqiu's smile.
Was this still the Xingqiu he knew?
"Oh ho ho, so that's it! It seems we are kindred spirits!" Dugu Shuo was also very happy to hear this, because he had finally found someone with the same ideals as him.
And so, Dugu Shuo generously opened the book again and read it with Xingqiu.
Chongyun, seeing Dugu Shuo's unreserved manner, also pulled up a stool and sat down.
Soon, the small bookstall had three young men engrossed in martial arts.
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