Martial Artists

## Secret Techniques World

They are those who train in secret martial techniques. This makes them achieve a superior physique to normal humans.

It is separated into two groups: the official ones that train accordingly to build their physique and mentality; and the unofficial ones who train people to morph themselves into a human weapon to take lives.

*"To pursue strength unscrupulously is the representation of demonic." The blonde man turned the children around and stood up, "Martial arts were a terrifying murder technique created so humans could fight against creatures that were stronger!"*

*"It was not meant to be used between the same species! It was not meant to hurt and kill species of your own!" - to Garen*

The Secret Martial Arts scene was divided into the Northern and Southern sects. The Celestial Circle Gate and the Crimson Sand Sword led the Southern sects while the Gramdon Sword Sect led the North.

It was unclear to them what the situation in Northern side was, but the Southern scene was very chaotic. Small sects came and went every decade. Even some middle-sized sects fell from power. Only the unshakable Celestial Circle Gate and the Crimson Sand Sword thrived on throughout the years.

The biennial exchange held by Celestial Circle Gate was less of a communication event for all sects and more of a show of power between it and the Crimson Sand Sword.

The strongest sects in the Secret Martial Art world in the South are the Celestial Circle Gate and Crimson Sand Sword. I don't have to say much about the Celestial Circle Gate. They train in the Celestial Circle Fist. Their fingers are extremely powerful. You will see it in the next few days. Crimson Sand Sword is another large sect. They occupy two provinces in the South, but are slightly weaker than the Celestial Circle Gate. This Beo is currently the most outstanding disciple in Crimson Sand Sword, comparable to Andrela of the Celestial Circle Gate. It is rumored that he has trained in the Secret Martial Art of his sect to a terrifying stage. His true strength has almost surpassed their masters and elders.

In the Secret Martial Art world, strong youths have the physical advantage. Experts who are a generation older can only rely on their rich experience. In order to achieve a higher level, if they don't do it in their youth, by twenty-five or so, they wouldn't have a chance after that. But before then, it all comes down to talent and effort. Andrela of the Celestial Circle Gate and Beo of Crimson Sand Sword are the type of geniuses who are not lacking in both. Coupled with the best Secret Martial Arts, it wouldn't be difficult for them to become powerful. The body weakens with age. No matter how you maintain it, your true strength would start declining. Such is the law of nature. There is no way of resisting.

### Methods of Secret Technique Selection

"There are essentially a few different methods of secret technique selection. One, based on their special effects, the effects after training in these sets of techniques where one would be able to produce special effects like the Red Jade Palm or the *Toxic Sand Palm*. Two, based on their base advantage, wherein after training in these sets of techniques, one’s speed, vitality, defense, attack and other stats can attain special enhancements. Three, based on balance, these types of techniques have no extremities, and unleashes the overall potential of the body, gives one longevity and significantly enhances one’s spiritual strength."

### **The Ranking/Grades System**

The first level are ordinary people who know a little fighting technique, or people who are interested in learning. This level also includes special forces from the military who are able to easily take care of one or two hooligans. We call this level Amateur.

Next, there are the real inheriting disciples. The key traits to look for are potential and the fundamentals. They should be taught with all care since they would need to step up in the future when the master gets old and weak and can’t fight anymore. They need to be strong to maintain the reputation and the status of the dojo brand in the industry, so the brand doesn’t become a stepping stone for other people.

The selection process for heritage disciples is very rigorous; it's very different from teaching other disciples. Many heritage disciples came from bad family backgrounds, so the master needed to be there to cultivate them. This kind of master-disciple relationship would be the most solid; it would be very close to a parent-child relationship. Eventually, the strongest heritage disciple would inherit everything that the master had. The other disciples would become the backbone of the brand.

Therefore, you guys have to pay attention to these criteria when you’re looking for a disciple. If you want to cultivate disciples properly, you have to have money and resources.

Let’s focus on the rankings/Grades. Amateurs can be considered at the bottom. One level higher would be the professionals; the professional fighters who were trained from a young age. This becomes more complicated and ranges from people who are able to fight off three to five hooligans to people who are not afraid when faced with a dozen people to a few dozen people. As long as firearms are not involved, fighters in this rank/grade can handle it. No one knows how strong someone is in this rank/grades unless they fight them first hand. Most people can only estimate someone’s strength by using their fame and influence. Oh, the Confederation’s five ranks/grades from A to E also applies here.

Of these so-called "grades", Grade D is the limit. Anything above that was not used to assess humans. In other words, this alphabet grading was originally used by countries to grade firearms. Grade E was for handguns and other small firearms, Grade D was medium-sized firearms. Going up the scale would be weapons that were even more powerful.

This was merely because martial art practitioners unwilling to be phased out by the times refused to withdraw from this stage of history, so they graded their own martial art powers with firearm gradings, all to prove that martial arts could reach a level not inferior to firearms. But alas, the highest could only be Grade D.

### Bravery

Bravery is the combination of a martial artist’s physique, technique, spirit, released as a single **Aura**. Or, it can also be called a sort of threat! A sense of danger! You should know, every living being has natural responses to danger. As for elite martial artists, they have a method to blend everything in and of themselves together, giving off a fierce, threatening feeling. This method is called bravery. When you see a venomous snake, would you feel that it is dangerous, highly toxic? Your entire body would then be nervous. This is a similar principle.

As for excellent martial artists, having such an ability lets them display their strength, and can even achieve an exaggerated effect without having to resort to battle, making their opponents desist from having thoughts of retaliating! This is to achieve victory without having to fight.

#### Momentum

Momentum was one of the byproducts of Bravery, generated from the absolute confidence in oneself. Different from Bravery, the existence or non-existence of Momentum wouldn't affect much. Moreover, Momentum with a poor foundation would lead to self-aggrandizement, which made one vulnerable.

Bravery was not the same; it was the basis of Momentum. Astute Grandmasters of Combat had to cultivate their Bravery, something akin in nature to a force field. It wasn't merely linked to martial arts strength; it was also related to one's spiritual cultivation. It was the amalgamation of strength, Qi and spirit.

#### Effects & Uses

Bravery was something all Grandmasters of Combat had. If one's Bravery was suppressed by their opponent before combat, Qi and blood wouldn't be affected, but the spirit would be affected by negative emotions like shock, hesitation, panic and so on.

Once the spirit is unstable, moves will not be as intense and reactions will be slower. In critical moments, one would fall into temporary hesitation, leading to a delay in response and entering a vicious cycle of reduced pace. Eventually, one would lose the upper hand and regret bitterly.

Whereas once one manages to crush their opponent's Bravery, they can attack their opponent in a complete state with strength, Qi and spirit as one, and completely quash their opponent physically and mentally. In the end, their opponent's defeat would be the only result. An opponent defeated in this way would not even have the intention to make a comeback: it was a complete collapse of one's soul and self-esteem.

This was the fundamental power that a strong Grandmaster of Combat with remarkable Bravery had. A truly superior Grandmaster of Combat had to have remarkable Bravery.

### Key Elements

"In my opinion, there are two key elements to a martial artist." Garen slowly said.

"**Number one: Talent**. To be more precise, physical talent. You’ll learn faster and save more time if you’re physically stronger. This allows you to go to the higher level."

"**Second: Spirit.**" Garen raised one of his fingers to emphasize on this point.

"No matter if you’re a hobbyist, martial artist, or even Grandmaster of Combat. Spirit is very important." Garen was slightly emotional, "Take those who fights on the street for example. If one were spiritually threatened before the fight, will it determine the outcome of the battle?"

Garen continued his explanation as they seemed to be confused.

"If two commoners with the same physical attribute, strength and speed fight, the one with weaker spirit would have less confidence in himself and try to defend and avoid more. The one with a stronger spirit would continuously attack. If there are no major unexpectations, the winner will always be the one with stronger spirit."

"What about the tier of the martial artist?" Yuan Reese followed up with another question.

"Martial artists want to be stronger so that they can showcase their courage and challenge the limits of the human body. so that they could become the Grandmaster of Combat." Garen calmly explained. "The spirit of martial art is formed from the courage and spirit of the user, which will show the personality of the martial artist. The effects differ from everyone. Some use courage to oppress the enemy, some use it to disrupt the enemy’s spirit. Since I have not met many Grandmasters of Combat, my knowledge here is limited."

"What’s the importance of spirit to a Grandmaster of Combat then?" Yuan Reese asked another question again.

"It’s too early for you to ask such a question." Garen sat down firmly as he looked at Yuan Reese, who was a youngster not older than fifteen years old. He was indeed a good seedling as he was able to converse with him without feeling pressured. "However, I can tell you a little bit." Garen answered him with some admiration.

"If you have a weak spirit, you will not be able to react fast enough to the enemy’s attack and the sudden change in the situation. If you have a weak spirit, you’ll hesitate, and slow down when it comes to making a decision. One mistake leads to another, and this causes the fighter to lose confidence in his decision, which then delays his actions even further. The chances of winning will definitely lessen, no matter how strong you are."

He added on: "If your spirit isn’t strong enough, you’ll not be able to react in time due to your hesitation. Most of the time it will be that crucial moment that decides the outcome of the battle. This is the importance of spirit and courage."

"This is why a lot professionals would try to break the opponent before battle. If they succeed, the opponent’s chances of winning will greatly diminish." Garen looked at Yuan Reese and continued, "Professionals who do not have a strong spirit will use other methods to attack their opponent. For example, they would use words to agitate, or hidden schemes to fight their opponent,"

"I understand." Yuan Reese nodded his head. "In short, one has a higher chance of losing a battle of equals, if one’s spirit is disturbed. This is because one is unable to bring out his true strength as the spirit, hence the chances of winning will decrease."

"How do we increase our spirit then?"

"This depends on the individual itself. There are a lot of methods in strengthening one’s spirit. All you need to do is find a method that suits you best." Garen didn’t give him any indication. He couldn’t help but to smile as he looked at the four of them who was pondering on what he just said.

### Cryptic Secret Technique

Cryptic Secret Technique It’s the kind that simplifies some of the application method in some Secret Techniques for normal fighters. A lot of stronger non-Martial Adept fighters will learn a little at some point. Of course, these sort of Secret Methods are less powerful than the full version, and most of them will have some sort of side effects.

### Psychology

Practitioners of martial arts, regardless of our characters and personalities, will easily become impulsive due to the continually abundant and strong Qi and blood within our bodies. You have no idea how a military unit with stronger physicality and true strength will cause more trouble. Constantly having a strong power in the body without being able to use it developes into a mentally repressive grievance, so they will easily become impulsive.

Of course, there are those with strong spiritual attainment who are able to disregard such situations, but they are a rare minority.

### Origin

#### Theory

According to the records of the non-human clans, all their ancestors have their own genetic abilities. Some of their abilities are very similar to the secret techniques used by the Grandmasters of Combat in the ancient bible. What you’re saying is that it is very likely that the secret techniques created by the Grandmasters of Combat mimic that of the non-human clan’s genetic abilities?" Garen asked. No," Andrela shook his head with respect. "I’m not finished yet. My biggest discovery wasn’t this, but another matter.

Oh?" Garen was stunned that this was not the biggest discovery. Andrela focused his aura and released in an instant, forming the gigantic black word ‘ten’ behind his back, which thoroughly covered the whole colosseum. Just to keep this between us. He softened his voice. He spoke of his discovery softly after stabilizing his aura and confirming that no one was eavesdropping their conversation.

I suspect that the secret techniques that we have been using are magic spells originating from the warlocks from the fairy tales! They were the ones who obtained their genetic abilities via a special stimulation method. Although Garen’s expression didn’t change, excitement bubbled in his mind.

While Garen had witnessed the werewolves, demon hunters, telekinesis and secret techniques with ridiculous effects, he thought that he was currently in a world where the modern society was not as technologically advanced as earth. Now Andrela told him that warlocks once existed in this world and that the secret techniques were traces that they had left behind. Do you have proof!? He directly asked. Of course I do." Andrela nodded. My Blink technique has a mystical component in order to be trained.

I’ve been interested in the fairy tales related to the warlocks ever since, and I’ve started collecting information everywhere. I came to a shocking theory about when the first secret method came about. What theory? Garen listened carefully. There is a high chance that warlocks once existed in this world. I have seen a record in an ancient book that does translations of ancient fairy tales." Andrela paused. It was written that: the warlock had enslaved species that were not their kind, and called them demons. They have ruled the world for a hundred million years.

Garen churned his brain as he tried to recall the legends of warlocks of this world. If they really did exist, how did they meet their demise, being such strong creatures?

I’m not so sure about that. However, I still suspect that our secret techniques originate from the warlock’s magic spells.

The connection between secret techniques and the legendary warlock’s genetic ability might be the key to to go beyond the limits (Grandmaster of Combat - Grade C).

### Current Situation

In the martial art world, those who were below the grandmasters of combat were extremely weak against firearms. Any slightly trained gunner could pose a great threat towards the fighters, much less go against them head on. Only the people who were the grandmasters of combat could go square ahead with firearms. Since they were different from the lower ranks, the government of each country has different attitudes towards the grandmasters of combat.

The Federation’s view towards them wasn’t too serious, but they did not take them lightly either. A grandmaster of combat was just one man after all. They could kill him instantly with specially made ammunition, from a few kilometers away with a special firearm. On the other hand, Weisman respected the grandmasters of combat. However, they did not have many information regarding them as they had the least number of them. Most of the grandmasters of combat were from the east, as all of them were mostly influenced by ancient martial arts. Most of the ships from the east made landfall at the Yalu Confederation, as the Weisman Kingdom was too far away. Geographical location was a major factor.

As for Galantia, the majority of their martial arts were bred locally. There, martial arts based on ancient weapons were advocated, with a variety of styles and types due to the sizeable amount of grandmasters of combat they inhabited. However, it was not similar to the east.

"The position of being a grandmaster of combat is gaining momentum internationally. It may be because technology is getting more advanced and there are less foundations as time goes on. As a result, people who practice martial arts become few and far between. Most people view martial arts as a form of sports that helps them train their bodies." Corbella sighed. "Although our positions are getting more and more important, the quantity of the new generation of the grandmaster of combat is much lower when compared to previous ones. For the past decade, there have been less than five grandmaster of combat that are from the new generation. Same goes for the North."

"There’s less than ten in total?" Garen frowned. The martial art world was in a worse state than he had previously thought. "This means that there are only two more people who became a grandmaster of combat in the southern region, excluding myself; Andrela and Beo?"

"That seems to be the case. Although the Celestial Circle Gate and the Crimson Sand Sword have been training a few potential candidates that could become Grandmasters of Combat, there are too little of them that might actually manage to become one." Corbella nodded with confidence. "If this keeps up, both the public and the secret martial arts worlds would become dimmer and dimmer." Gate Master Luther of the Crimson Sand Sword nodded as he frowned.

"Don’t the governments that value them not raise ones themselves?" Garen asked curiously.

"They don’t have what it takes to raise one." Gate Master of the Crimson Sand Sword smile wryly. "A Grandmaster of Combat requires huge amount of herbal resources to provide nutrients and enhance the body. It takes a long time to train them as well. Excluding talented ones like you, a Grandmaster of Combat normally requires to train the secret martial arts since young for at least a decade before they qualify to become a Grandmaster of Combat."

"The problem lies in the qualification itself. The success rate is too low. It would be considered impressive if one out of a hundred candidates qualify as a Grandmaster of Combat." Corbella continued. "A low success rate combined with the long duration required to nurture them to reach the utmost limits of a human being. Only the crazy ones are daring enough to try and train their bodies for that. Furthermore, they would need to maintain the training for long periods of time as well to prevent the body from regressing. In short, producing one is extremely difficult.

"That’s true. A country can nurture a few sharpshooters within the time and resources required to nurture one Grandmaster of Combat. Furthermore, sharpshooters pose more threat on the battlefield. All three of us here would be helpless if we go up against a canon, right?" The Gate Master of the Crimson Sand Sword sighed.

"The technology of missiles and the power of firearms are getting stronger and stronger. This means that an individual’s effectiveness diminishes as the day goes by. Each country’s military armor and air force are exceedingly powerful. The current role of a Grandmaster of Combat is mainly protection and assassination. This is one of the main reasons why The federation does not value the Grandmasters of Combat as much." Luther explained.

Garen nodded in agreement. It’s true that even if he had already mastered the body hardening technique, he would still be injured if he go against a person with firearms. If it were to be other Grandmaster of Combat, they would be torn in half in no time. However, he felt that this was because the countries were not aware of the value the importance of special operations yet. Once special operations similar to that of Earth’s were in motion, the importance of having a Grandmaster of Combat would be obvious.

## Links and References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 48
2. ↑ Chapter 49
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 80
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 79
5. ↑ Chapter 569
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Chapter 22
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 113
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 107
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Chapter 114
10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 Chapter 171
11. ↑ Chapter 145
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 94
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Chapter 182
14. ↑ Chapter 183
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Chapter 168
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Chapter 169