Chapter 212: Just Movements Technique

Chapter 211

Shi Gubing’s gaze was filled with both happiness and joyful glee. Liyu had given him one shock after another, shock after shock. At this point, Shi Gubing had started to see the kid as a potential mighty trouble for the Shi Clan. There was simply too many hidden within him, too many abnormal abilities, too many cards, and too many things that shouldn’t have been possible at his age.

For a while, Shi Gubing had even believed that his son might have trouble dealing with Liyu. But now... after seeing Liyu shaking on the stage, his gaze completely listless as he stared around while behaving as though he was desperately searching for something that simply wasn’t there... like a blind man wandering through an unfamiliar world... Shi Gubing couldn’t help but feel a wave of joyful glee.

Perhaps... that was exactly what was happening to Liyu right now. Shi Gubing knew for certain that Liyu’s senses were being influenced by Vacant Wind, one of his son’s forms. And seeing Liyu struggling so badly against it made Shi Gubing realize something: he had been too focused on Liyu. He had seen too much of a freak in Liyu that he had forgotten something equally important.

His son... was an even greater freak than Liyu. After all, what his son had managed to achieve at the age of twelve was still something that terrified Shi Gubing every single time he thought about it. His son was an Architect. And that talent... was something that only a super few people in the entire world could ever possess.

But even among those super few who possessed an Architect talent, only a very, very small number of them would actually be able to develop it. It wasn’t enough to simply have the talent. One needed the ability to awaken it, develop it, understand it, and most importantly... use it.

Architecture was one of the rarest, perhaps even the rarest, occupations in the entire world. An Architect was someone whose prestige even surpassed that of an Alchemist, Blacksmith, Rune Weaver, and even Array Master. That alone showed just how terrifyingly valuable an Architect was.

After all... an Architect could be said to be a one-man army. With the talent of an Architect, one could develop, shape, modify, and even upgrade cultivation arts, powerful Sutras, mantras, Combat Arts, techniques, and countless other forms of cultivation-related knowledge. They could create entirely new techniques from scratch, improve existing techniques, reshape flawed techniques and make them stronger, and take an existing form of power and transform it into something completely different.

In simple words... Architects were one of the major pillars of the world as a whole, and their importance couldn’t be overstated. And yet... the path of an Architect was anything but easy. Most Architects only began to properly develop their talents when they became older.

They would truly start designing and creating techniques after reaching the peak of the Mortal Stage, and some would even wait until they entered the Core Stage before they began seriously designing their own techniques. After all... designing and bringing arts, forms, techniques, and all sorts of cultivation creations into existence consumed an enormous amount of willpower, essence, resources, time, and mental energy.

It wasn’t something that could simply be done casually, as it required an incredible amount of effort. A single technique could take months or even years to perfect. That was why most Architects began by designing relatively simple techniques... usually, an Earth Grade, Bronze Grade technique. Even that was already considered an impressive achievement for someone who had just begun developing their architectural talent.

The time required to create such a technique depended heavily on the quality of their talent. For example... someone with poor talent might take an entire year to design a Bronze Rank, Earth Grade technique from scratch. Someone with better talent might only need a month or two to accomplish the same thing.

And someone with truly exceptional talent... someone possessing an extremely pure and powerful Architect talent... might only need two or three days to design the exact same technique. That was the difference talent could make. And even then... those were only Bronze Grade techniques.

The higher the grade and rank of the technique, the more complicated the process became. The resources required increased, the amount of willpower required increased, the mental burden increased, the time required increased, and everything became more difficult. That was why becoming an Architect was such a ridiculously difficult thing.

It wasn’t simply about creating something; it was about creating something that actually worked, something stable, something powerful, something that could be cultivated, and something that could withstand the test of time. And the worth of an Architect was ultimately based on what they had managed to create... the higher the quality of their creations, the greater their value.

If one followed that logic... then Shi Gubing could confidently say that his son was one of the best Architects in the world, if not... perhaps the very best. Because Shi Gubing had never heard of anyone creating a Sky Grade, Gold Rank technique as their very first design. Never. Not once.

The mere thought of it had terrified Shi Gubing for days. He had spent countless hours wondering what kind of monster his son actually was. Is he some ancient monster who reincarnated? The thought had genuinely crossed his mind, because it made no sense... none whatsoever.

A twelve-year-old child. A twelve-year-old who had somehow designed a Sky Grade, Gold Rank technique as his very first creation. It was simply absurd. It went completely against common sense. But after several weeks passed, Shi Gubing eventually came to terms with it.

There was no point continuing to torment himself with questions he couldn’t answer. Instead, he accepted the fact that his son was simply an abnormal existence. And once he had accepted that... Shi Gubing began having him design various skills and Combat Arts for the clan.

After all... if he possessed such terrifying talent, then the Shi Clan would be foolish not to make use of it. At first, Shi Tian didn’t want to. He had absolutely no interest in designing anything for the clan. In his eyes, almost everyone in the clan was nothing more than worthless trash.

Why should he waste his time designing skills and Combat Arts for people he didn’t even consider worthy of learning them? That had been his attitude from the very beginning. But eventually... he was threatened by the only thing he feared. And because of that, he reluctantly decided to do as his old man asked and design some skills for the clan.

Most of what he designed were Earth Grade techniques. Yet even those techniques were all around the Silver Rank to Obsidian Rank. That alone showcased just how insanely talented Shi Tian was. He could casually design Earth Grade techniques that were already at the higher ranks of their grade... Silver, Gold, Emerald, even Obsidian... and he did so without treating it as anything particularly special.

For an ordinary Architect, creating even a Bronze Rank, Earth Grade technique could require an enormous amount of time and effort. For Shi Tian... it was almost as though he was simply playing around. And yet... none of those numerous skills he had managed to build came anywhere close to the Wind Sovereign Art that Shi Tian had created ever since he was twelve.

The Wind Sovereign Art was different. It wasn’t simply another technique. It was something Shi Tian had created himself, something he had continued upgrading and refining for the past eight years. Eight years of constant improvement. Eight years of sharpening. Eight years of correcting weaknesses, improving forms, increasing killing power, and pushing every aspect of the Combat Art closer toward perfection.

And now... the Wind Sovereign Art was approaching the Obsidian Rank. Its power was simply monstrous. But even that wasn’t the most frightening thing about it. The worst thing... was that Shi Tian seemed to have become one with the entire Combat Art.

His understanding of it had reached a terrifying level, his knowledge of every form was profound, and his control over every movement was absolute. He didn’t simply use the Wind Sovereign Art; he understood it. He had created it. He had refined it. He had mastered every single aspect of it... every movement, every transition, every attack, every defensive technique, every weakness, and every possible application.

Shi Gubing was more than proud of his son. In fact... pride was almost too simple a word to describe what he felt. He didn’t come anywhere close to his son in terms of talent, not even remotely. And that was why Shi Gubing had already decided that this match was practically won.

After all... Shi Tian had only just started using his Combat Art. And as ridiculous as it might sound... he had only been using the movement portion of the Combat Art. Yet Liyu was already at the very brink of losing. The evidence was impossible to ignore... the numerous wounds littering his body, the blood, the damaged Celestial Battle Skin, the exhaustion, and everything clearly showing just how badly he was being suppressed.

If merely the movement portion of the Wind Sovereign Art was capable of dragging Liyu into such a miserable state... then what would happen when Shi Tian finally used the forms specifically designed for attacking? The answer couldn’t have been any clearer: Liyu would die. There was simply no other conclusion.

At the Shi Clan’s camp... Shi Lan, Shi Meng, and Shi Yuan slowly began losing all hope. Their expressions became increasingly pale as they watched Liyu collapse to the ground for the second time in such a short period. Blood oozed from the countless marks scattered across his body. His condition was miserable. Truly miserable.

And yet... they had a terrible feeling. A feeling that made their hearts sink even further. Shi Tian... was still messing around with Liyu. He hadn’t even gotten serious yet.

"Wait..." Shi Yuan’s voice was low, and there was a trace of fear in it. "Isn’t that the legendary Sovereign Art of the Devil?" His voice trembled slightly as he looked at Liyu lying on the ground. The sight of Liyu being brought down for the second time in such a short period had finally made him connect the dots.

Shi Lan and Shi Meng didn’t reply. They didn’t need to. They had already reached the same conclusion. All three of them knew about the Wind Sovereign Art... the legendary Combat Art designed by the Devil himself, the highest-ranked Combat Art owned by the Shi Clan, and a Sky Grade, Peak Emerald Rank Combat Art. Just hearing its name was enough to make most members of the clan feel awe.

Only two people in the entire Shi Clan had learned it: Shi Tian and the Clan Lord. But there was a fundamental difference between the two. The Clan Lord had yet to completely learn all ten forms. Shi Tian was different. He was the designer. He had created the Combat Art himself.

Because of that... he had learned all ten forms. No. Not merely learned them. He had mastered them. Perfected them. And according to the rumors circulating within the clan, Shi Tian was constantly sharpening the forms even further.

He was always looking for ways to make them faster, sharper, more efficient, more lethal, and more deadly. He continuously refined the Combat Art until it eventually became common knowledge within the Shi Clan that... every single form of the Wind Sovereign Art was capable of ending a life. Every. Single. One.

Apart from the fourth form... Wind Veil. Wind Veil created an almost imperceptible barrier around Shi Tian at all times. It was not merely a defensive layer; it was an overwhelmingly powerful barrier, a barrier so difficult to break or shatter that most people considered it almost impossible to overcome.

But apart from Wind Veil, the fourth form... the remaining forms were capable of ending lives, even though most of them hadn’t originally been designed specifically for killing. That was the terrifying part. The Wind Sovereign Art had ten forms. The first three were movement forms. The next three were defensive forms. And the final four... were the main offensive forms.

The forms designed specifically for attacking, for killing, and for ending battles. And the final form... was something far more terrifying. It was said to be a sure-kill skill. A technique that left the victim with no way out, no escape, and no second chance.

The moment that skill was used... the victim had only one possible outcome: death. Whosoever they were. No matter how powerful they might be. No matter how strong their defense was. No matter how fast they were. They were dead. That was just how deadly the Wind Sovereign Art was. ℴℴ𝘮

And now... Liyu was already being pushed to the edge of death by forms that weren’t even meant to attack. The first three forms... Wind Step, Drifting Gale, and Thousand Winds Transverse... those were the three movement forms of the Wind Sovereign Art.

And those three alone had already caused Liyu more damage than almost anything else he had encountered in this battle. Yet the most frightening part was still to come. Because even Vacant Wind... the Fifth Form that was currently turning Liyu into such a miserable state... wasn’t an attacking skill. It was a defensive skill, a defensive form of the Wind Sovereign Art.

Shi Meng’s voice was low as she finally voiced the thought that had been lingering in all three of their minds. "If the movement and defensive skills alone are enough to push the Honored One to the edge of death..." She stared at the battlefield, her eyes slowly widened. "What would that mean... when Shi Tian stops playing around?" Her voice became even quieter. "...And uses the sure-kill moves?"