Chapter 24: The Five Supreme Arts

Chapter 24: The Five Supreme Arts

The Five Supreme Arts was never a complete cultivation system. It was a patchwork of techniques stitched together by five peerless martial masters—each contributing a move, each sharing a stance.

Unlike traditional manuals focusing on meridian circulation, the Five Supreme Arts demanded only that practitioners follow its forms. Through relentless daily practice, these movements would gradually refine and purify, eventually stirring internal energy and forging boundless inner power.

When techniques were imprecise, true qi generated was minimal. But once perfected, the internal energy would flow naturally, cycling through predetermined pathways until the body brimmed with power. With this energy and pre-existing mastery of forms, techniques like the "Sinew Metamorphosis Method" and "Redirected Force" became effortless.

The manual’s reputation was well-earned. Its speed of true qi accumulation was terrifyingly efficient.

For ordinary martial artists, it would be even more desirable than the Bridal Robe Divine Skill or Mingyu Skill. But to the overconfident Li Chaofeng, it felt inferior to orthodox sect techniques.

"This thing", he mused, "is like an electronic calculator."

If true qi theory were mathematics, major sects taught disciples progressively—starting with multiplication tables, advancing to quadratic equations, functions, and calculus. They guided students step-by-step to understand how to circulate energy and progress. Smaller sects, meanwhile, might only teach rote memorization of basics or rely on brute physical force.

The Five Supreme Arts taught neither fundamentals nor theory. It handed you a calculator; press a button, and it spat out answers. The results came swiftly and accurately, letting you solve trigonometric problems without memorizing multiplication tables. But you’d never understand why the answers were correct.

The manual relied on bodily force in combat. In close-quarters combat, you couldn’t distinguish whether a move stemmed from muscle power or meridian-coursing true qi.

Though its ceiling was high, there was a limit: You’d never surpass the martial prowess of the Five Absolute Masters who created it.

Three years had passed, and Li Chaofeng had grown formidable. Yet he felt uneasy. Initially, he’d assumed the Five Absolute Masters’ fame stemmed from their skills. Now, he realized their renown likely came from the Five Supreme Arts itself.

Its greatest advantage was rapid progress, but its ceiling fell short of perfected manuals like the Bridal Robe Divine Skill or Mingyu Skill.

Of course, these were the musings of someone standing comfortably atop mastery. The Five Absolute Masters had been peerless experts even before Yan Nantian’s rise.

Ouyang Ting sought to create the Five Supreme Arts because the teenage Yan Nantian had threatened him. The manual assured him he could defeat Yan Nantian at his peak—which was why he slaughtered the Five Absolute Masters.

If Li Chaofeng surpassed them through the Five Supreme Arts and wielded the Fivefold Beast Soulblade, he could dominate the martial world. Yet he remained dissatisfied. What he truly craved was a cultivation technique akin to immortal cultivation, not a martial art relying on physical exertion to suppress the Jianghu.

In his eyes, "dynamic" arts—building energy through movement—were always inferior to "static" ones requiring seated meditation and meridian visualization.

Now, he sighed as he set down his bowl of Super-ultimate Sea-view Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, a dish infused with true qi, watching Hu Tiehua finish his meal.

Hu Tiehua had deciphered the Marriage Robe Manuscript to create the Startling Dream of the Wandering Dragon. Li Chaofeng couldn’t replicate that—he still didn’t grasp the basics of true qi circulation.

The Five Supreme Arts might be a divine skill running on glitches, but Li Chaofeng dared not tinker with it, unsure how it even functioned.

Seeing familiar faces, he exhaled sharply and set the dish aside.

He recognized Hu Tiehua, so he already guessed the identity of the dashing man beside him, his clothes perfumed with tulips:

The bandit general, the rogue nobleman—the Thief Lord, Chu Liuxiang.

Li Chaofeng didn’t greet Chu Liuxiang. There was no need. He merely snorted, fixing Hu Tiehua with a glare.

"I’m curious", he growled. "Don’t you wonder what my half-hour-prepared dish tastes like?"

"Ah?"

Hu Tiehua blinked, finally recalling the table’s feast was all Li Chaofeng’s cooking. Naturally, the dish requiring the most time would be the best.

But after three years of hardship, he’d gorged himself on the sight of delicacies, leaving him too full to eat more.

He patted his belly, sniffing the faint aroma with a wry face. Chu Liuxiang stifled a chuckle.

No wonder Hu Tiehua claimed he’d never see the host before the meal was ready. The restaurant owner was clearly the chef himself.

A chef wouldn’t dine until the cooking was done.

Still, despite Hu Tiehua’s gluttony, the table remained laden. As Li Chaofeng sat, Chu Liuxiang introduced himself.

"Chu Liuxiang."

"Li Chaofeng."

Chu Liuxiang hesitated, then realization dawned. His eyes flickered as he maintained composure. "You’re the Weapons Chart’s Tenth, the Demon Sword Dragon Fang’s master—Yao Long Li Chaofeng?"

The world might hold many Li Chaofeng, but one befriended Hu Tiehua couldn’t be ordinary. And there was only one extraordinary Li Chaofeng.

Li Chaofeng’s face darkened. "I prefer the Little Gourmet God title. It’s more approachable."

A culinary deity, no matter how diluted, seemed harmless.

But he’d settle scores with Baixiaosheng eventually.

Hearing the bitterness beneath his words, Chu Liuxiang smiled. In the Jianghu, if you didn’t claim your own title, others would name you.

"Thief Lord", "Flower Butterfly"—these were nicknames earned through deeds or battles.

But "Yao Long" carried fear.

Yet the real trouble wasn’t the title—it was the sword.

The Yao Long moniker didn’t stem from his skill but from wielding the Demon Sword Dragon Fang. Baixiaosheng had credited the Weapons Chart ranking to the blade itself, making the title something others could seize.

During Li Chaofeng’s three-year disappearance, the Jianghu scoured every corner, assuming he’d been secretly killed. Many believed the sword that vaulted a commoner to the Weapons Chart’s Tenth had been hidden away.

No one expected him to leisurely cook in a remote coastal city.

Though strangers, both shared a mutual acquaintance: Hu Tiehua.

As silence settled, Hu Tiehua quipped, "Never thought my created martial art would make you a Yao Long before me."

The Yao Long title had dual meanings: the Demon Sword Dragon Fang and the serpentine grace of his Dragonflow Steps.

Hu Tiehua’s Startling Dream of the Wandering Dragon had taken three years to develop, though he’d spent those years hiding in a northwestern town with a diminutive woman. None in the Jianghu had witnessed it.

Only when he unleashed it would he truly move like a dragon across heaven and earth.

Li Chaofeng’s Dragonflow Steps resembled a slithering snake—too rigid, too methodical compared to the authentic Startling Dream of the Wandering Dragon.

Hearing Hu Tiehua claim authorship of a martial art, Chu Liuxiang raised an eyebrow. Recalling the Weapons Chart’s description of Li Chaofeng’s "dragon-like movements", he glanced between them.

"A few days ago, I saw you rescue a cat. Didn’t notice your skills advancing", he remarked.

"Rescuing a cat isn’t fighting. Why use profound techniques?"

Hu Tiehua, delighted by Chu Liuxiang’s curiosity, recounted his Tiger’s Lair ordeal, with Li Chaofeng filling in details. They explained Jiang Qin’s death, the Marriage Robe Manuscript, and the connection between Startling Dream of the Wandering Dragon and Dragonflow Steps.

Chu Liuxiang marveled, "Never thought the villain Jiang Qin, who killed Lord Yan, perished in Tiger’s Lair three years ago. Truly, life is unpredictable."

"His Dragonflow Steps taught me", Li Chaofeng added. "Without it, I’d have died unknown in the wilderness like Jiang Qin."

As he spoke, he lifted the lid off the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

The aroma pierced Chu Liuxiang’s chronically stuffy nose, making his wait for the host feel utterly worthwhile.

Chu Liuxiang suffered sinusitis, but his breathless martial art hadn’t dulled his sense of smell.

Hu Tiehua gawked at the dish’s treasures—fish lips, fish maw, abalone, sea cucumber, chicken, duck, pork knuckles, ham, and more, slow-cooked in broth for three hours.

"A signature of the Misty Waters Pavilion", Li Chaofeng explained. "If not for your visit, I wouldn’t have made it."

Hu Tiehua’s mouth watered. Despite his fullness, he ladled a bowlful, sipping eagerly.

Chu Liuxiang followed suit.

Suddenly, Hu Tiehua paused. "If it takes three hours, how’d you serve it in half an hour? You didn’t cut corners, did you?"

Li Chaofeng smiled, withholding the truth.

Of course, this was Super-ultimate Sea-view Buddha Jumps Over the Wall—true qi had tenderized the ingredients, enhancing the flavor.

Rich yet delicate, crisp without char.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end