Chapter 2231 — The Fierce Fire Fist Again

"Still, to repay you, I have here a martial-arts manual of you humans—left behind, once, by... my contracted master..." Here the Great Fire Lion's expression turned somewhat forlorn.

"Your master? You were someone else's contracted spirit-beast?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide.

"Several hundred years ago, yes," said the Great Fire Lion. "But he left... went off in pursuit of a higher plane, the so-called Way of Heaven... and he never came back. He was of an ancient sect here—its sect master, in former days..."

"Ah!" Wei Zhao sighed in astonishment. Higher martial learning—who would not chase after it? Yet how many ever truly attained it?

"This martial art was also that sect's core art, its treasure in former days, and one of the finest techniques among fire-attribute cultivators," said the Great Fire Lion. "You are an Earth-rank mid-stage expert—you should just barely be able to cultivate it to the fifth form. And once you do, you can, while unleashing the technique, at the same time discharge a Fireflow Divine Bomb, which will temporarily raise your technique's power to roughly the level of the tenth form..."

"Fireflow Divine Bomb? What's that?" Wei Zhao had never heard of such a thing.

"It is a fire-attribute attack weapon our Fire Lion clan produces with our breath—only a one-time-use weapon," said the Great Fire Lion. "Here in this central range of the mountains, our Fire Lion clan does have enemies. I myself am not concerned, but the little Fire Lion and my mate—they have no strong attacks, and can only rely on the Fireflow Divine Bombs I make to escape an enemy's assault!"

"So that's it!" Wei Zhao nodded.

"As for these Fireflow Divine Bombs, they take me a long time to make, and being consumables, I have only three finished ones on hand—so you had best use them sparingly!" said the Great Fire Lion. "With a Fireflow Divine Bomb, the fifth form equals the tenth form. The tenth equals the fifteenth, and the forms beyond follow the same rule... There is no upper limit, but the lower limit is the fifth form. Only when discharged together with a fifth-form technique can it achieve the effect of a tenth-form technique; otherwise, before the fifth form, this Fireflow Divine Bomb cannot be used."

"So powerful?" Hearing the Great Fire Lion's explanation, Wei Zhao could not help but click his tongue in wonder. This Fireflow Divine Bomb could instantly boost a technique by five grades—that meant one could keep fighting opponents above one's level indefinitely!

"Indeed. But the Fireflow Divine Bombs are produced too rarely, and we must keep two for ourselves against emergencies, so I can give you only three, benefactor," said the Great Fire Lion with some regret.

"Three... is already quite a lot!" Wei Zhao was not a greedy man. To have three of such a wondrous thing was already great fortune. Had he possessed such a thing earlier, when he crossed blows with the Fifth Protector, he would never have been so badly battered!

He only wondered whether that martial art would be hard to cultivate. As for what sort of art it was, Wei Zhao was not too worried—after all, he had studied the Fierce Fire Fist and the Myriad Transformations of Forest and Wood, and he was quite confident in his ability to unleash techniques.

But at present Wei Zhao could only discharge up to the fourth form. After advancing to Earth-rank mid-stage, he had tried releasing the fifth form of the Fierce Fire Fist and the fifth form of the Myriad Transformations of Forest and Wood, but had succeeded at neither—the reason, he guessed, being that he had not yet consolidated his Earth-rank mid-stage strength.

Now, however, it was different. Wei Zhao had consolidated his Earth-rank mid-stage strength. With some effort, he ought to be able to unleash a fifth-form technique now, no?

"This martial art was left by my contracted master, and is divided into thirty forms in all..." The Great Fire Lion had gotten this far when Wei Zhao suddenly cut him off.

"What? Thirty forms?" The Great Fire Lion's words shattered Wei Zhao's understanding. "How can there be thirty forms? Aren't all martial arts in this world—high or low—divided into twenty forms?"

No wonder Wei Zhao was astonished. When Uncle Qing had taught him martial arts, he had told him that the first ten forms could be unleashed by Earth-rank strength and the latter ten by Heaven-rank experts; and the arts he had seen in hiding at the Han family all stopped at twenty forms. So how was it that here, from the Great Fire Lion, a martial art of thirty forms had suddenly appeared?

"Heh, twenty forms... that is only what most cultivators believe—that the first ten forms can be unleashed by Earth-rank strength and the latter ten by Heaven-rank experts. But my contracted master happened to discover this secret. Even the rest of this sect—every successive sect master—held to the twenty-form understanding," the Great Fire Lion nodded and said. "And it was precisely because my contracted master discovered the forms beyond the twentieth in this art that his pursuit of realms beyond Heaven-rank grew ever more fervent—for at the peak of Heaven-rank late stage, his bottleneck was the twentieth-form technique; he could never unleash a twenty-first form. But by his research and analysis, a martial art from the twenty-first form onward enters an entirely new realm, a height never before reached... Of course, what I tell you now, just take as a curious tale. There is no need to chase after it deliberately."

"I understand." Wei Zhao knew the Great Fire Lion was cautioning him not to reach too high.

"The reason I never told the later heirs of this sect about this art and its latter ten forms was my fear that they would aim too high, or fix their hearts on higher martial learning, and neglect their proper duties," said the Great Fire Lion. "And the reason I now pass the whole of this art to you is likewise because this sect has no successor left. I give this art to you in the hope that you will pass it on hereafter, so that it is not lost..."

"Good! Until I reach the peak of Heaven-rank late stage, I will not attempt to study those latter ten forms," Wei Zhao promised with a nod.

The Great Fire Lion nodded, then from a hidden recess in a corner of the cave brought out a thread-bound ancient volume and handed it to Wei Zhao, saying, "I suggest you cultivate here. If you can reach the fifth form before going up the mountain, so much the better; but if you cannot, then go up tomorrow morning—I will not stop you."

Wei Zhao took the thread-bound manual somewhat impatiently—but then the three large characters on its cover struck him speechless!

For on the manual's cover were written the three great characters—"Fierce Fire Fist"!

The Fierce Fire Fist was no stranger to Wei Zhao; the art he cultivated was precisely the Fierce Fire Fist. But was that not Uncle Qing's family-heirloom martial art? How was it that the Great Fire Lion had a copy of the Fierce Fire Fist as well? (To be continued.) RQ