Chapter 44: The Ultimate Secret – The Art of Combat

Ye Feng found the “Privileges” section in his character stats and selected the first-level ultimate privilege.
“Are you sure you want to activate the first-level ultimate privilege?”
“Sure,” Ye Feng nodded.
“Please choose the category of the ultimate item!” Another dialog box appeared in front of Ye Feng.
“Secrets!” Ye Feng made his choice based on Boy’s advice.
“Nine ultimate secrets are available. Please choose!” The dialog box disappeared quickly, replaced by nine three-dimensional books lying diagonally in mid-air, seemingly held up by an invisible force.
Ye Feng glanced at Boy, who didn’t comment but simply nodded at him.
Ye Feng slowly walked from the first book on the left to the last, then turned around and walked from the right to the left. After observing them twice, he approached the book in the middle and reached out to touch it…
“Are you sure you want to use your privilege to exchange it?”
“Yes!” Ye Feng nodded.
The other eight books disappeared, leaving only the chosen book in Ye Feng’s hands.
“What is it?” Boy stepped closer.
“The Art of Combat!” Ye Feng himself didn’t know what he had chosen.
“Why did you pick this? What did you feel?” Boy asked eagerly.
“I felt… the two characters on the cover were beautifully written!” Ye Feng nodded.
“What? Are you joking?” Boy was speechless. “Such a secret might only appear once in a lifetime, and you made such a hasty decision…”
“Some secrets can’t be practiced just because you have them. They choose their own masters—they know who’s suitable to cultivate them. If this book is one of those, then I must tell you that you’ve wasted a great opportunity to become a true powerhouse!” Boy seemed furious.
“I was just joking. No need to be so serious,” Ye Feng shrugged helplessly and smiled at the angry Boy. “Actually, every book reacted to me. I could even sense their emotions—some were cold, some arrogant, some fierce, some bloody, even deathly… Only this one gave me a sense of peace, that’s why I chose it.”
“Every book reacted to you?” Boy widened his eyes and stared at Ye Feng. “Is that true?”

“That’s right, every single one!” Ye Feng nodded. “I could also sense the levels of those secret manuals. As a result, this one is undoubtedly the strongest! Although the other two—one with black light emitting a strong sense of death, and the other red with terrifying bloodthirsty violence—are both impressive, it’s undeniably the king among them, even though it seems plain and unremarkable.”
“But I didn’t see any color difference. Are you sure what you saw was real and not an illusion?” Boy was curious.
“Yes, I could also sense the pressure being emitted by the two books on either side of it. The others were struggling to resist, but it showed no reaction at all. That’s why I determined it to be the highest-ranked one!” Ye Feng nodded.
“But will it accept you?” Boy seemed worried.
“We’ll find out by trying!” Ye Feng reached out and touched the title on the cover, and the “Martial Canon” in his hand gradually disappeared.
“This is…” Ye Feng looked puzzled at what was happening. “Did it not accept me?”
Suddenly, a burning sensation came from the tip of his left finger, which had touched the cover. Ye Feng turned his palm over, and a faint golden light appeared on his left index finger, spreading slowly down its length.
Ye Feng clearly felt a slight burning sensation wherever the golden light passed. He could sense it traveling along the meridians of his arm throughout his body, and after completing a remarkable full circuit, it rushed toward his brain.
“Is it like the Void Realm? Does it need to find a place to reside in my brain?” Ye Feng was speechless. Whether it was the Void Realm or this book, both had entered his brain without his consent.
“What just happened?” Boy looked at Ye Feng’s strange expression, having no idea what had just occurred. All he knew was that the book had suddenly disappeared into the air.
“It circled in my meridians and then entered my brain…” Ye Feng said weakly.
“So, it accepted you?” Boy was relieved for Ye Feng.
“What’s so good about that? If something enters your brain without your permission, do you think that feels good?” Ye Feng disliked such things happening outside his control.
“Anyway, it has accepted you. You should feel relieved, not complain about it.” Boy also understood why Ye Feng was so upset.

“And you just said it circled around your meridians—so let’s see if it’s done anything to you.” Boy seemed to have guessed something.
“How do I check?” Ye Feng was confused.
“Use the detector! See if your long-standing bottleneck has been broken!” Boy winked at Ye Feng.
Unsure, Ye Feng put on the detector:
Strength: 100.8
Speed: 100.5
Mental Power: 101.2
Unknown Energy: 100
“Broken through? How did unknown energy suddenly appear?” Ye Feng could hardly believe it.
“It’s simple. It transformed your physique. Clearly, that unknown energy is a type of spiritual energy. Now you’ve reached the innate level, meaning you have 100 points of innate internal energy,” Boy explained.
“What exactly is unknown energy?” Ye Feng still didn’t understand.
“You can further enhance the detector’s energy analysis capability. It won’t take much domain value—then you’ll understand. In short, unknown energy is a type of energy different from physical energy, and it’s the most commonly used by ordinary cultivators in battle—whether it’s acquired internal energy, innate internal energy, various supernatural abilities, or higher-level spiritual energy. The first-generation detectors can’t distinguish between them, so they’re classified as unknown energy.” Boy gave a rough explanation. “Once you start formally practicing with that secret manual, you’ll understand the differences between these energies.”
“Okay. I just enhanced this analysis capability, and it only cost less than 1,000 domain values,” Ye Feng nodded with a smile. “Let me see what unknown energy is inside me.”
Strength: 101.8
Speed: 101.5
Mental Power: 102.2
Innate Internal Energy: 101
“Could the machine be malfunctioning?” Ye Feng looked at Boy doubtfully.