Chapter 98:
Chapter 98:
Chapter 98:
Opening his eyes, he saw a unfamiliar ceiling.
Qiao Mu looked around and saw that it was a simple and ordinary house.
"Did the people from Wuji Association bring me to this unfamiliar place?"
Qiao Mu instinctively touched his face, feeling a slight shock in his heart.
"The skill of changing flesh, the disguise technique of the Flesh Changing Skill, right?" A stranger, a middle-aged man, suddenly appeared at the door, smiling as he looked at him.
"….." Qiao Mu fell silent for a moment.
Guo Yan, Qiao Mu’s "good friend", gave him a book called "Flesh Changing Skill". From the moment he arrived in Heyang City, he disguised himself using the makeup techniques described in the book, pretending to be "Qiao Pifu" and "Qiao Zhong" at different times.
"Flesh Changing Skill" is a special technique that is not strictly a martial arts secret manual.
The first half of the book that Qiao Mu received teaches various skills such as makeup, disguise, and bone shrinking, showing people how to change their appearance.
The second half of the book teaches how to directly control one’s own flesh and blood by using the power of a martial artist, allowing them to change their appearance and adjust their body.In other words, the true "Flesh Changing Skill" can only be used by martial artists who have reached the 3rd rank of Spirit Refining, as it is a miraculous technique with a high level of difficulty.
Qiao Mu has become skilled in using the "Flesh Changing Skill", which means he has mastered the art of makeup and can use it flawlessly in his daily life, making it difficult for others to recognize him.
But things are different now.
While Qiao Mu was unconscious, his disguise on his face was removed.
It seems that this "Flesh Changing Skill" was actually created by the Martial Saint.
Can his makeup skills deceive others, and even deceive Martial Saint?
But it doesn’t matter.
Even Qiao Mu’s true appearance is already sixty years old.
And "Qiao Pifu" is already dead, without being exposed, what is he afraid of?
"Who are you again?" Qiao Mu didn’t deny it, and asked directly.
"My name… Wu Qizheng." Wu Qizheng looked at Qiao Mu with a strange look in his eyes.
But this name immediately made Qiao Mu alert.
Wu Qizheng seemed to understand what Qiao Mu was thinking and explained with a smile:
"That’s right, I am also one of the three thousand disciples of Martial Saint."
"The number of the three thousand disciples from the past who are still alive today is only a hundred."
"As for me, Wu Qizheng, I can actually be considered as the seventieth among the ‘seventy two wise men’ under the Martial Saint."
Three thousand disciples?seventy two wise men….
"This Martial Saint really thinks highly of himself, huh?" Qiao Mu shook his head secretly.
He was deeply wary of both the Martial Saint and Wu Qizheng.
However, Wu Qizheng ignored Qiao Mu’s hostility and continued to explain himself.
"The so-called ‘seventy two wise men’ who are still alive today are not only powerful in martial arts cultivation, because no matter how strong their martial arts cultivation is, it is still difficult to compare to the Martial Saint."
"Each of the so-called seventy two wise men possesses at least one talent or unique skill, and they can even be said to surpass the Martial Saint in a certain aspect."
"This is the key to why we are able to survive until now."
Are there seventy-two wise men who surpass the Martial Saint in a certain aspect?
Qiao Mu squinted his eyes. He had personally experienced the power of the Martial Saint, and this was definitely the strongest person he had ever seen in his life.
So this Wu Qizheng, who seemed ordinary and friendly, must be someone of significance.
Wu Qingxin is special among the three thousand disciples. What makes her special is that she escaped the cultivation field of the three thousand disciples and didn’t participate in this bloody trial.
Although Wu Qizheng is not ranked high among the seventy-two wise men, since he is still alive now, he should be far superior to Wu Qingxin.
Qiao Mu got up from the bed, stretched a bit, and suddenly realized a problem.
"The injuries on my body are already almost healed?"
Qiao Mu has a lot of experience with injuries and the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method.
Before this, he experienced the burning of the Etching Bones Li Fire, challenged the Martial Saint, and used the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method multiple times. His entire meridian system had torn injuries, and both of his fists were fractured.
Such injuries could actually heal so quickly, which is simply more outrageous than that cunning Wang Songhe.
"Your injuries are indeed a bit tricky," Wu Qizheng smiled.
"If treated with ordinary medical skills, it would probably take several months to half a year lying in bed."
"But even though you are not young, you have already reached the 4th rank and your Qi and blood are not declining, you are not an ordinary person… and I am the same, so naturally we can use some more radical medical methods."
"Your talent surpasses that of a Martial Saint, could it be in the field of medicine?" Qiao Mu asked tentatively.
He was trying to find out more information about the Martial Saint.
"Medicine?" Wu Qizheng smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
"Qiao Zhong, I have already heard about what you have done, daring to challenge the Martial Saint and saying such words, it is indeed quite bold."
"The Martial Saint doesn’t kill you because he believes that even though you are old, you can still make further progress and should be able to step onto the path of Spiritual Refining Method."
"Not just you, but also the Jade faced Flying Dragon and another martial artist of the 5th rank."
Speaking of this, Wu Qizheng paused, his expression looking a bit complicated:
"In the past, the Martial Saint only targeted Spirit Refining martial artists of the 3rd rank. Someone like you is actually considered a martial arts prodigy. Unless necessary, he wouldn’t bother with you."
"After all, the key to the ‘Martial Saint Spiritual Technique’ is not just absorbing internal strength, that’s just a side effect. The real key is absorbing the ‘spirit’ of Spirit Refining martial artists."
"Spirit?" Qiao Mu was puzzled.
But deep down, he felt something was not right.
His conversation with Wu Qizheng went too smoothly. He didn’t even need to use any tricks, yet this person willingly revealed important information?
"Absorbing the ‘spirit’ of martial artists? Are you saying that this Martial Saint Spiritual Technique can also take in a person’s personality, memories, and soul?" Qiao Mu continued probing.
At these words, Wu Qizheng gave him a strange glance.
"What are you talking about? The ‘Martial Saint Spiritual Technique’ is just a martial arts technique, it’s not that mysterious. Can it really absorb people’s souls?"
Isn’t it already mysterious enough? After facing the Martial Saint, Qiao Mu realized a very obvious fact: this Martial Saint is completely different from other martial artists in the martial arts world, they’re not even in the same style.
Without considering their strength, just comparing the modern martial arts created by the Martial Saint, they are completely different from the ancient martial arts of the past.
While Qiao Mu was training the Iron Crotch Skill in Yan City, the Martial Saint was training things like the ‘Martial Saint Spiritual Technique’ and the ‘Flesh Changing Skill’.
"The Martial Saint is an extraordinary figure. Perhaps only under immense pressure and inhuman circumstances can such a genius like him be born. And much of his strength is attributed to the ‘Martial Saint Spiritual Technique’," sighed Wu Qizheng.
"Thanks to this secret technique, the Martial Saint’s achievements in the Spiritual Refining Method have reached an unprecedented level."
"People in the martial arts world only know that the Martial Saint is extremely powerful and unbeatable, but they have no idea of the extent of his true strength."
"The world doesn’t know, the people in the martial arts world don’t know, and even the Nine Immortal Gates have no idea how strong he is now."
"Even the Immortal Gate doesn’t know how strong the Martial Saint is?" Qiao Mu doubted the exaggeration in the words of this Martial Saint’s disciple.
Judging from Martial Saint’s style, it is certain that he cannot defeat cultivators. Otherwise, he would not continue hiding, but would immediately wipe out the cultivators.
"Cultivators have always looked down on ordinary martial artists and have never considered them as real opponents," Wu Qizheng sneered.
"But they don’t know how much the secular martial arts have progressed under the Immortal Gate’s pressure on Jiu Province for the past forty years… Or even if they know, they don’t care."
"After all, cultivators have long lifespans. For the great cultivators among them, forty years is just a few times of seclusion."
"But it’s different for us martial artists."
"For Martial Saint, these forty years are like half a lifetime."
Forty years ago during the Inhuman War, Martial Saint was forty-five years old and already ranked first among martial artists, eleventh in the world. At that time, he didn’t yet have the Martial Saint Spiritual Technique.
Now, forty years later, things have naturally changed greatly.
"Since Martial Saint established the Wuji Association, he has broken into many renowned sects, collected the top secret manuals from all over the world, and founded the Wuji Association. This allows martial artists from all over to obtain excellent techniques from the Wuji Association at a low cost."
"Qiao Zhong, have you also received top martial arts directly or indirectly from the Wuji Association? I’m sure you understand this."
"In the past forty years, the number of martial artists practicing superior martial arts in the world is more than ten times that of the previous martial arts community."
"And the number of fourth rank martial artists is actually much higher than in any previous era."
"However, Martial Saints don’t need fourth rank martial artists, they need Spirit Refining martial artists, or even those who can Use Martial Arts to Defeat Immortals, to change the current order where cultivators are superior to martial artists."
Qiao Mu calmly walked towards the door and casually asked, "Since this Martial Saint is so powerful as you say, why haven’t I heard about him killing many cultivators from the Nine Immortal Gates?"
"Because in today’s martial arts world, there is only one Martial Saint."
"Although Martial Saint is strong, he knows that he is no match for the Xuantian Sect sect leader."
"Martial Saint, though powerful, knows that he is far from being a match for the Xuantian Sect sect leader."
"And the cultivators of Xuantian Sect have long lifespans, and the accumulation of their long years is astonishing. There is more than just the sect leader who is strong."
Is the sect leader of Xuantian Sect the imagined enemy of the Martial Saint… Qiao Mu was a bit surprised.
"So, is this the reason why the Martial Saint continues to hide and stay low?" he asked.
"If the people from Immortal Gate were to know the true strength of the Martial Saint, they might fear ordinary martial artists and try to exterminate many martial artists, including the Martial Saint, to prevent future troubles."
While speaking, Qiao Mu calmly walked to the front gate.
From the courtyard, all he could see were a cluster of low, messy houses, and there was a faint smell of urine and feces in the air.
The more Qiao Mu looked at the surrounding scenery, the more familiar it became to him…
"Is this the residential area in the outer city of Yan City?" Qiao Mu paused for a moment, finally recognizing it.