Chapter 33: Internal Energy Improvement, the Flower Lang Sword Technique

An ordinary inferior martial art, when perfected to the eleventh level—the Grandmaster realm, or level 99.99—results in an increase of 5 to 7 points in internal energy.
But mental techniques are different from hidden weapons!
Due to the high demands on internal energy, progress is slow, with each improvement adding to the total. An inferior hidden weapon martial art like “Willow Leaf Flying Knife” can increase internal energy by about three times that of an ordinary martial art, roughly 15 to 20 points at its highest level.
“The Willow Leaf Flying Knife” has already reached the tenth level, with a level of 95.31…
Kai Xin checked his internal energy status and saw a significant increase: 27.28.
The improvements from the two levels of “Willow Leaf Flying Knife” and “Nine Palaces Bagua Sword” had increased his internal energy by nearly 10 points. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before he reached 40 points and entered the Exit-Entry realm.
“Mm.”
Kai Xin nodded at Xi Men Qing and replied, “A few more ten-level martial arts should be enough.”
“Senior Kai Xin, since you’re free now, why not go to the market and buy a hidden weapon martial art?” Xi Men Qing was puzzled. “Since hidden weapon skills greatly boost internal energy, following that path should allow you to enter the Exit-Entry realm faster, right?”
“No need.”
Kai Xin shook his head. In fact, in his past life, some people tried to take a shortcut—focusing solely on hidden weapons, joining organizations like the Tang Sect, acquiring several hidden weapon skills, and using large amounts of money as capital to quickly reach the Exit-Entry realm, or even the Creation realm!
In the early stages, hidden weapon experts with superior internal energy skills were indeed highly sought after, achieving remarkable success and becoming top figures in the martial world.
But…
Later, people gradually realized that when most players reached the Creation realm, their abilities increased by about 30% in attack, defense, and speed, greatly improving their ability to dodge inferior hidden weapons. Once they rushed in, the power of these hidden weapon experts diminished significantly. Thus… hidden weapons could no longer determine the outcome of a battle, and the Tang Sect returned from its peak status to a more balanced one, forced to practice other martial arts.
Kai Xin didn’t want to follow in their footsteps…
Moreover!
Rushing to master hidden weapons now would only make it harder for him to obtain high-difficulty battle evaluations. Once he truly entered the Exit-Entry realm, his ability to improve his level wasn’t very high. In fact, it might not be advantageous at all. It would be better to use this time to practice more of his own martial arts and gain some battle insights from the NPCs in the Exit-Entry realm, right?
Of course.

The experiences from past lives couldn’t be revealed yet. Happy only vaguely mentioned some of his feelings, believing that hidden weapons weren’t a sustainable solution…
Ximen Qing was smart and quick to understand, quickly showing a thoughtful expression.
Happy also thought that among these six brothers, aside from Windy Li, he might be the one to achieve the greatest success in the future!
Ximen Qing was extremely intelligent and had his own ideas and considerations for everything, but he was never slow to act—definitely not the kind of scoundrel like Lord Ximen.
He glanced around…
Windy Li also fell.
Happy shook his head in amusement. Without any appetite, he looked at the dishes on the table. Since he had nothing else to do, he took out the loot obtained from the second stronghold leader from his Qiankun Bag and began examining it piece by piece with Ximen Qing.
Ink Armor:
+100 body defense, +1 agility, worth 3,000 silver taels.
Among equipment, this could be considered near-legendary, but its design was rather crude, and it had to be worn on top of other clothes, making the wearer look like an ordinary martial artist in movies. Happy frowned, showing disapproval:
“It’s not very attractive, but it works. Do you want it?”
“…”
Ximen Qing was momentarily stunned before realizing Happy was asking him. He quickly shook his head:
“I don’t need this. But… the Qiankun Bag could be very useful before we undertake our sect missions, saving us from constantly traveling back and forth to Gusu City. If Senior Happy doesn’t mind…”
“Take it.”
One Qiankun Bag was enough. Happy had intended to give them this extra one anyway.
“Haha, great! With this, we can save a lot of time in the future. Thank you, Senior!” Ximen Qing smiled and hung it around his waist without hesitation, clearly overjoyed.
“You all also deserve a share of this loot.”
Happy continued to examine the remaining weapon and a martial arts manual.
The second stronghold leader’s sword wasn’t very good—even slightly inferior to the “Battle-Tested Sword” Happy had obtained from a tomb raider. It was worth nearly 5,000 silver taels, increased attack by 120, but required high strength. Like the Battle-Tested Sword, it was still hard to use at the moment…
The manual was a swordsmanship book:
“The Flower Hero Swordsmanship”
Flower Hero?
Happy was momentarily stunned, then his face lit up with extraordinary joy.

It’s not because the name of this martial art is particularly fancy, but… in the inferior martial arts systems of my past life, almost every martial art had several others that could counter it. For example, powerful axe techniques were vulnerable to fast close-range boxing, as well as swift sword moves focused on thrusts and slashes… Sword and knife techniques, in turn, were constrained by fast combat axe and staff techniques, along with hidden weapons… Boxing techniques were countered by sword and knife techniques, creating a balance of checks and balances.

But!

Among the countless inferior martial arts, there are very few that have few counter-martial arts, and even if they do, they are extremely rare…

And the “Hualang Knife Technique” was highly popular in my past life!

The founder of the Hualang Knife Technique was Hualang, a peculiar figure who roamed the martial arts world. Over twenty years, he studied the martial arts of various schools, and finally, at the age of sixty, he created this technique using his lifetime of experience.

The Hualang Knife Technique is of above-average quality in terms of speed, defense, attack, recovery, and mobility—almost perfect. While it can counter many inferior martial arts, only a few can completely overcome it.

Mastering the Hualang Knife Technique alone won’t make one invincible… but combined with a few other knife techniques, a long sword can allow one to dominate the martial arts world below the Heaven-Defying realm. At least, one can remain undefeated when fighting alone!

Holding the Hualang Knife Technique, Happy felt as if the strong liquor he had consumed earlier was now taking effect—his body burning with heat, as if on the verge of ignition.

It had been over half a month since he entered the martial arts world, and this was the first time Happy had been excited about an inferior martial art…

“Beauty, another pot of wine and two pounds of beef!”

“Sure, sir. Just a moment.”

Hearing this, the beautiful server with a melon-shaped face smiled brightly, stood up gracefully, brought over a pot of warm wine, and filled Happy’s cup. This sight left Ximen Qing in astonishment for a long time:

“Senior Happy, you really have a strong tolerance for alcohol!”

“I’m in a good mood today! Let’s drink!”

“Great! Ximen is here to accompany you!” Ximen Qing glanced at the five brothers lying down, took a deep breath, and raised the cup filled by the server beside him: “We won’t leave until we’re drunk!”

“What a determination! Let’s drink it all!” Happy laughed, slightly drunk.

The two raised their glasses simultaneously and drank it all in one gulp.