Martial Star Ocean - Chapter 4 Li Mu is a Master

Chapter 4 – Li Mu is a Master

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The back county hall was the private residence of the county magistrate.

The previous county magistrate was a zealot who fanatically tried to cultivate the immortal path. He loved practicing the daoist arts and would often spend his time in the back county hall brewing pills or cultivating. Finally, he resigned without accomplishing anything. It was said that he hung up his sign and quietly retreated to the depths of the Alabaster Mountains to seek the immortal way.

It was because of his actions that the dwelling within the County Administrative Hall faintly resembled a daoist temple. There was a daoist hall where the ancestors were consecrated, two study rooms, one training room, one alchemy room, six bedrooms, as well as cluttered rooms used for various other purposes, several small courtyards, a garden, and even a water spring terrace. All in all, it was a quiet and peaceful place.

But, because there had been no one living here or cleaning the place, the entire area was covered in dust.

Li Mu casually strolled through, familiarizing himself with his new dwelling.

The young girl attendant Ming Yue borrowed the power of her young master to order several janitors to come and clean up the entire back county hall.

Like this, the day soon ended.

Nightfall –

Li Mu stood in front of an open window in his bedroom, calmly looking outwards.

He began to mull over some matters.

Through the one night and one day he had been here, all the things he experienced were enough to prove that what the old conman said was all true.

In other words, Earth really did face the tragic fate of being destroyed. According to the old conman’s words, he would need to cultivate the Xiantian Arts and True Martial Fist to a high enough level within 20 years, whereupon he could break past the shackles of the planet and leave. Only by entering the greater star territory around him would he be able to change Earth’s fated annihilation.

On Earth, there were Li Mu’s friends, his schoolmates, his fellow villagers, and even that old conman himself. There was even that fat and happy husky, as well as…as well as…Li Mu’s young and pure unrequited love…all of this happiness and joy was worth Li Mu protecting with every ounce of his heart and soul.

“But to accomplish that I will need to place all my hopes in the Xiantian Arts and True Martial Fist.”

Li Mu’s thoughts became increasingly clear.

During his time on Earth, the old conman had used 14 years to teach Li Mu all sorts of things. For instance, ghost catching, magic drawings, geomancy, psychic skills, spiritual channeling, and all sorts of random things. Most of the stuff he was taught was used in order to trick and deceive others. But above all of that, what the old conman took most seriously was the True Martial Fist and Xiantian Arts. He once said that once these two cultivation methods were trained to the peak, he could freely dominate his own part of a star territory.

In the past Li Mu thought that the old conman was just emptily boasting. But now, it seemed there was a chance that what he said was all true.

“Maybe the reason my strength is so great right now is because I practiced the Xiantian Arts back on Earth.”

Li Mu remembered how his one casual push the previous night had killed two martial arts masters from the Bloodmoon Gang.

On Earth, there was no spiritual energy so it was impossible to cultivate the Xiantian Arts. But, these 14 years of training had laid down a perfect foundation for Li Mu, and after arriving on this strange planet that was filled with spiritual energy, those 14 years of accumulations began to thrive and rise at once. With every breath he took, he could feel an indescribably wonderful feeling percolating in his body. The air all around him was incomparably sweet and fragrant; was this the so-called spiritual energy?

And as the spiritual energy entered his body and nourished him, Li Mu’s strength began to rapidly rise.

In the last day, Li Mu had once tried to clarify just how strong he was, but he still wasn’t able to find out.

And these were the effects from being on this other planet for only a single day and night.

If he were to train in this environment for years, just how powerful would he become?

As Li Mu thought of this, he found himself bubbling over with excitement.

“Xiantian Arts, True Martial Fist…”

He stood up straight in his bedroom. Then, he slowly moved into the correct stance and started to practice the True Martial Fist.

There were a total of 18 different styles in the True Martial Fist.

Each style wasn’t too complex. They were simple movements that were clearly distinct from each other.

On Earth, Li Mu had trained in these 18 different styles to perfection and never thought that there was anything special about them. To him, practicing them was no different from daily stretches. After practicing for 14 years he could completely reiterate every movement even with his eyes closed.

But this time, Li Mu felt something strange occurring.

The 18 styles of the True Martial Fist. Let alone a single style, he couldn’t even practice the opening static stances. Just by moving into the required stance he felt as if all the muscles in his body would be torn apart, an agonizing ache spreading through him. It was as if thousands of sharp needles were being thrust into his muscles, bones, and meridians.

Li Mu cried out loud. His entire body was soaked in a cold sweat.

“How could this be?”

He felt this entirely inconceivable.

What was going on here?

After arriving at this other planet, changes had occurred to the True Martial Fist?

After several dozen attempts, he finally managed to get into the initial opening stance of the True Martial Fist.

But he could only hold this stance for three or four seconds. His entire body was wracked with unendurable pain as if he were being cut to pieces. His complexion turned sallow and large beads of sweat began dripping down his forehead. With a shout, he fell down face forwards.

As for the first three styles of the True Martial Fist – Sky Charging Hammer, Heaven Chasing Thrust, Skyshatter Collapse – let alone display them, he didn’t even want to think about them.

Li Mu collapsed onto the blue tile floor. His chest wildly heaved up and down and his breath was rapid.

He began to rapidly think about why something so strange would occur.

But after another quarter hour, a strange surprise occurred yet again.

Li Mu felt the agonizing pain disperse from his body like a falling tide. A warm and crisp feeling suddenly surged through him, bringing with it a ridiculous sense of comfort, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

Li Mu flipped up onto his feet.

He waved his hands and feet and felt his entire body satisfied. He was filled with an unprecedented level of energy.

As if all the pain he felt before was nothing but an illusion.

“Eh?” Li Mu uttered in surprise. He discovered that there was some dark dirt covering his skin. Looking more carefully, he could see that this dirt had emitted from his pores, just like the blackheads that some people on Earth pushed out from their noses. His arms, legs, chest, belly, even his face and feet…it was all over his body.

This is…

Could this be purifying his body and improving his physique?

Li Mu seemed to understand a little bit more.

On this different planet that was filled with spiritual energy, some of the deep meanings within the True Martial Fist had been primed and aroused and began to reveal themselves. Thus, this was why even a simple static opening stance was filled with an unprecedented level of might. When he practiced the True Martial Fist just now, the deep meanings within this immortal fist arts had activated and silently changed his physique. That severe pain should have been a side effect of his body transforming.

As he understood this he suddenly became excited.

This really was a fist of the immortals.

Since the True Martial Fist had such potent might behind it, then what about the Xiantian Arts?

In his elation, Li Mu couldn’t be bothered to cleanse his body of the black filth. He immediately sat down cross-legged and began to impatiently cultivate the Xiantian Arts. He looked down, lowered his head, and began to meditate, starting to breathe in a strange rhythm.

The Xiantian Arts was a breathing and guidance technique.

With every breath he took, feelings that Li Mu never experienced on Earth began to flood his body.

Moonlight shined down and illuminated Li Mu’s body, making it seem as if he were emitting a layer of silver light, casting him in a phantasmal atmosphere.

His legend would begin from here.

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At the same time –

Nightfall –

Within the residence of Alabaster County Deputy Zhou Wu, a considerably large meeting of government officials was beginning.

Besides Zheng Longxing who commanded the local military, all of the other officials, both large and small, appeared in the Zhou Mansion.

“The imperial court is unfair. County Deputy Zhou, you’ve governed Alabaster County for an entire year already. You were conscientious in your actions and toiled through much work in your service. Originally, you should have been the one to take over the position of county magistrate, but your position was actually stolen from you by such an uncouth youth. He’s nothing but a student just like the hundreds of others out there, so why does he get to stand above Sir Zhou?” An official loudly spoke up in earnest.

“That’s right. I observed him this morning and he is nothing but an uncivilized piece of waste from the wilderness. He simply doesn’t have the ability to manage an entire county by himself. To have such a useless magistrate in charge of everything, I refuse to accept this.”

“Hehe, I suppose it doesn’t matter. In any case, I will still continue to listen only to Sir Zhou in the future.”

The crowd of officials shoved against each other to express their loyalty to Zhou Wu.

County Deputy Zhou Wu was dressed in casual black clothes. He sat in the seat of honor, swirling a cup of wine in his hand. He was just like a rich and friendly man, listening to the crowd and not speaking.

The Zhou Family was amongst the highest ranked families in Alabaster County. As for Zhou Wu who was the current head of the Zhou Family, he was absolutely a local bully of the county.

A year ago when the previous county magistrate resigned, his position had remained vacant. Zhou Wu had managed everything for the whole year, and the entire Alabaster County had already united beneath him. Moreover, he was even active in the upper circles. This position of county magistrate should have been in his bag already, but somehow, in the final moments, a problem occurred somewhere and his spot had been stolen away by this little brat that was still wet behind the ears.

Zhou Wu was unwilling to see this happen.

But after so many years he was already used to hiding his emotions. He would never reveal such thoughts.

At this time, the County Registrar Feng Yuanxing, who had yet to speak, suddenly put down the wine cup in his hands. He seemed to already have a plan in his mind. He faintly smiled, saying, “There is no need to worry everyone. From what I saw today, that Li Mu is overly vain and timid, and he was only pretending to put on a show of calm composure. And from other signs and information I obtained, he shouldn’t come from some powerful family background so there is no need to care about him too much. They say a dragon cannot suppress a local snake, and this Li Mu cannot even be considered a dragon; he’s only a worm on the ground trying to crawl his way up. As long as we join forces then in the future the government power of Alabaster County will still remain in the hands of Sir Zhou. Only Sir Zhou’s words count; Li Mu is nothing but a joke.”

In terms of the rankings of government officials, the County Registrar Feng Yuanxing was on par with County Deputy Zhou Wu. They were each one of the three heads that worked beneath the county magistrate. However, Feng Yuanxing was someone who came from another land and didn’t have a considerable family background. He was all alone in the government of Alabaster County and had found it difficult to steady himself. Thus, he had always attached himself to Zhou Wu as a subordinate, never competing for power.

“Haha, everything will depend on everyone’s help here. Come, let us drink to our hearts’ content!” Zhou Wu revealed a satisfied smile. He laughed, raising his wine cup for a toast.

The entire banquet scene in the great hall was filled with happy talk and laughter.

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County Commander’s mansion –

In a chamber, one of the three county chiefs of Alabaster County, Zheng Longxing, had a surprised look on his face.

A warrior in black knelt down in front of him.

“Reporting to the ceremonies master, news has been sent from the gang. This Li Mu is a master of the martial arts world and was able to kill two brothers of the gang in a single move…the assassination mission failed this time.”

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