Gao Wu: My setting is above yours.

Chapter 12 Stealing Skills

Xia Ming looked at Li Siyun and, to be honest, his throwing knife skills were only at the beginner level.

For a martial artist like her who specializes in hidden weapons, it's completely inadequate.

However, before he could exchange a few polite words, Li Siyun said with great interest:

"Senior Xia, why does your throwing knife trace an S-shaped arc in the air? Is there some special trick to it?"

Although the two are of similar age, Xia Ming's cultivation level surpasses Li Siyun's, so it's not surprising that he calls her "senior".

broken.

She actually figured it out.

To the other onlookers, Xia Ming's throwing knives were extremely fast; basically, they would strike and hit the target with a whoosh.

They didn't even notice its trajectory as it glided through the air.

However, for Li Siyun, a master of concealed weapons, her eyesight far surpasses that of ordinary people.

As soon as she said those words, Li Siyun realized that she had lost her composure.

This must be Xia Ming's special skill. The two have no connection whatsoever, so why would he tell you?

Li Siyun then apologized, "I'm sorry, Senior Xia, I just... I seem to have hit a bottleneck in my knife-throwing technique."

"While the accuracy is barely acceptable, it's difficult to make breakthroughs in speed and radius. I wonder..."

"Could you please offer some guidance, Senior Xia?"

Xia Ming's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Guide?"

"sure."

"Could you please describe your current carrying skills, Li? It would be best if you could demonstrate your secret weapon so I can see where you can still improve."

Xia Ming's calculations were practically obvious, but Li Siyun didn't notice, taking it all as Xia Ming's genuine advice to her.

Li Siyun immediately clasped her hands in thanks, then reached into the leather pouch at her waist with her right hand and pulled out a thin-bladed throwing knife with three fingers. The blade was only a little over two inches long and the edge gleamed with a cold, dark blue light.

She held the throwing knife flat in her palm, her thumb lightly pressing the spine of the blade, and explained, "I've been practicing throwing knives with my dad since I was a child."

"My family's lineage of throwing knives emphasizes using silk instead of thread, which is called 'Five Knots Condensed Silk'."

When an ordinary person wields a throwing knife, they channel internal energy into their arm, passing through the wrist, palm, and fingers, before unleashing it the instant it leaves their hand.

This is correct, and it's the most basic thing.

She shook her head and continued, "But my training method is different. From the first day I started practicing with the sword, my dad wouldn't let me use my whole arm to exert force."

Xia Ming's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"He told me to condense my internal energy into a single thread."

Li Siyun raised her left hand, put her index and middle fingers together, and started from the Jianjing acupoint on her right shoulder, slowly sliding down along the inside of her arm, pressing Quchi, Lieque, and Taiyuan in sequence, finally stopping at the Shaoshang acupoint on the tip of her thumb.

"Jianjing is the first knot, Quchi is the second, Lieque is the third, and Shaoshang is the last."

With each touch, a subtle fluctuation of internal energy emanated from her fingertips.

"Before the throwing knife is released, the internal force threads must pass through these five acupoints in sequence. With each knot, the twisting force of the threads tightens a little, and the power transmitted to the blade rotates an extra layer."

Xia Ming understood.

The force of a regular throwing knife comes from the coordinated contraction of the entire arm's muscle groups; while the power is great, it is scattered.

It's like a brute throwing a punch.

The martial artist could at most release a little internal force or true energy in their wrist, increasing their strength slightly, but there was no qualitative change.

Li Siyun's "Five-Knot Condensation Silk" method divides power into five nodes and transmits them sequentially. Each node is an independent acceleration and reorientation.

It's like a whip being lashed out; the speed and angle of the whip tip can be finely adjusted at each segment of the whip.

"Hmm, not bad, it's exactly the same as my luck-enhancing method. Anything else?"

Xia Ming pressed for an answer.

Li Siyun pursed her lips, seemingly thinking about how to express herself well.

"The Five-Knot Condensed Silk is merely the framework for generating power; what truly makes the throwing knife obey commands in the air is the section of the internal force thread that remains after it leaves the hand."

She flipped her wrist, aiming the blade of the throwing knife at the night sky outside the corridor. "Senior Xia, have you ever tried flicking the end of the handle with your fingertips using internal force at the very last moment before the knife leaves your hand?"

Xia Ming was taken aback, but then nodded like a seasoned expert: "Of course."

Li Siyun felt embarrassed after hearing this. With such strong knife-throwing skills, he must know what she knows too.

Then, at Xia Ming's prompting, Li Siyun recounted how she usually practiced her eyesight.

However, Xia Ming couldn't learn that; it required training from a young age.

But it's nothing, I can see further with my mental power, and I even got a free set of throwing knife technique.

It's worth it.

Xia Ming is now thinking about what he can use to guide Li Siyun later.

After explaining the theory, Li Siyun began preparing for the practical exercise.

"Senior Xia, please watch carefully."

Li Siyun's aura suddenly subsided.

The throwing knife then slipped from his hand.

There was no sound of anything cutting through the air.

Xia Ming's gaze was fixed on the thin blade.

The blade rotates at an extremely high speed, so fast that the light reflected from the blade surface forms a ring of silvery-white light.

However, its overall flight path was smooth.

A clean, crisp arc ran from above the corridor railing, around the pillar, and then the blade was slightly horizontal, the entire throwing knife slicing diagonally into the trunk of the old locust tree in the distance.

"Yes."

The sound was as soft as fingers tapping on a table.

The throwing knife was embedded entirely into the tree trunk.

Xia Ming braced his hands on the railing, staring at the throwing knife embedded in the crack of the tree bark, and remained silent for a long time.

The speed of this strike was only about 0.2 seconds slower than when he used his telekinetic power.

If one were to fully master it, the speed and power would be greatly amplified.

Moreover, without using any telekinesis, the opponent was able to bypass the pillar and hit the target using only pure skill.

"This is my limit right now."

Li Siyun withdrew her arm. "The speed was much slower than Xia Xuechang's, and the arc was relatively smooth, but I could only make it draw an arc, and I couldn't control it to change direction on the arc."

She turned her head and looked at Xia Ming intently.

"So when I saw Senior Xia's slash, I was really shocked."

"Not only did it hit the target, but it was also extremely fast, and it could even turn around and then turn back."

"This is what I want to learn."

Li Siyun looked at Xia Ming with an expression of eager learning.

Xia Ming knew at that moment that it would be a bit unreasonable not to bring out something real.

However, he remained completely calm, blaming the problem on the cultivation level, since Li Siyun probably wouldn't reach the Xuan rank in the next two years anyway.

"Hey, actually the techniques are all pretty much the same. Once you reach the Profound Rank and master the way to activate your true energy, and your amplitude and initial velocity are fast enough, you can do it too."

He knew that one sentence was still too perfunctory.

So he added, "Actually, I don't succeed every time. As you just saw, I only succeeded once out of three attempts."

"Next, I will demonstrate it to you up close. You can focus on experiencing it carefully. Some things can only be understood intuitively and are difficult to describe in words."

Li Siyun nodded quickly; of course she knew that.

For some profound martial arts, words are only part of the story; the true secret lies in the spiritual essence of the martial arts.

Many things cannot be accurately expressed in words; they require understanding.

Then, in front of Li Siyun, Xia Ming threw three more throwing knives.

One miss, two hits.

The speed and trajectory are both perfect!

"That should be enough to get this done."

Xia Ming noticed that Li Siyun was still immersed in the moment, seemingly savoring the technique Xia Ming had just used.

Although she currently lacks internal energy, it doesn't mean she can't preview the material.

Suddenly, Li Siyun exclaimed, "I know, Senior Xia?"

"Huh? What do you know?"

Li Siyun said excitedly, "I felt like when Senior Xia threw the knife just now, it was like... like I had gained consciousness and could control the direction on my own."

"This must be the wonderful use of true qi that Senior Xia mentioned earlier."

Xia Ming: ...

ber~

"Are you the God of Magic or am I? You can sense this?"