Secret Techniques World

* Everlasting Beings
* Werewolf
* Catmen
* Mousemen

Tainted half-breeds

* Telekinesis / Psychokinesis User

Chris(Shield Strike Gate)

Vicard(Circling Dance Gate)

General Bert(Seven Moon Gate)

Luther(Crimson Sand Sword)

Also know as **Secret Technique World**, **Martial Arts World** and **Secret Martial Arts World.**

## Overview

This world was similar to Europe prior to the Nuclear Age. There were cars, planes, and firearms like guns and cannons, but weapons of mass destruction had not been developed yet.

At least in Yalu Confederation and the Stonecliff Continent. The lifestyle was like that of the 20th century Europe.

Asides from the difference in names and lifestyle, things were very similar to Earth. People who lived here received education as well, starting from elementary school, then middle school, and finally college.

In this culture, martial art was similar to music or dancing, a part of the regular educational curriculum aimed at making the children more versatile and well-rounded.

In this world there is a greater variety of hair and eye colors than on earth. Garen and his sister were born with dark purple hair and eyes the color of wine. Their hair color was passed down from their father and eye color from their mother. It is not known of anyone who born with these hair and eye colors on Earth.

Math, ancient history, social history, foreign language, and physics were all mandatory subjects required by the school, with no exceptions. Throughout the entire country, students were required to pass these classes in order to graduate.

##### Date

Calendar year **2986** at the beginning of history

##### Festivities

* Children's Day
* December 30th, Carnival day

##### Flora & Fauna

* White bear
* Panaja Snake
* Mindtwister Vine
* Bat-eared Fox
* Sprites
* Viridian Nematode
* Red Hawk
* Blue Hawk

##### Tribes

* Crimson Tribe(Ancient)
* Thukk Tribe(Werewolfs)

##### Poisons

* Roman King's Poison
* Mindtwister Vine's Poison
* Spider venom No. 9

## Geography

### Known world

The most powerful countries in the world were the Yalu Confederation, Weisman Empire, and the Republic of the Tulip. Just like Earth, there were a few hundred other countries of varying sizes and governments.

The map of the known world looks as follows. The white rectangular area represented the ocean; three irregular gray lands were floating in the middle of the ocean. The three lands formed a ring pattern with a tiny gap in the upper left corner. The upper strip of land was labeled Stonecliff Continent, the bottom left was Azura Continent and the bottom right was Fivestar Continent. These three continents were surrounded by countless islands of various shapes and sizes.

If your finger slowly and steadily glided on the Stonecliff Continent and finally stopped at the middle part of the continent, slightly to the left. There was an irregularly shaped land in that location, labeled as Yalu Confederation. This region was close to a third of the entire Stonecliff Continent.

This world sure is strange... Even though planes exist, no one has been able to explore the entire world. The continents are entirely surrounded by water with no end in sight. All of humanity revolves around the three continents, and the surface area is equivalent to all of the continents on Earth combined, if not more.

The porcelain from the East, spices, and handicrafts are among the most expensive luxuries. With the establishment of a stable route, New Pacific Corporation would be the center of attention for a long time," Crohn exclaimed. "If it is possible to establish a trade relationship with the giant ancient kingdom on the other side of the sea, it would be immensely helpful to the Confederation!

### Stonecliff Continent

Most citizens from Sin Gerro and some smaller countries around it commonly use the Confederation language, barring some minute differences in accents and dialects. To be more precise, the Confederation language is the lingua franca of the whole Stonecliff Continent.

#### Yula Confederation

The Confederation have 13 provinces.

An insignia of a black and white striped flag with a black bird spreading its wings on the white stripe. This was the national flag of the Yalu Confederation.

#### Sin Gerro

Near Xi Fan Province of the Yula Confederation. Sin Gerro deals in ores and gems. Sin Gerro produces a myriad of ores and gems. There was a lasting superstition that it had properties that relaxed one’s body.

### Fivestar Continent

Fivestar Continent is different from Stonecliff Continent where we are at, as well as Azure Continent. There are many backwards and ancient areas there,

### Azure Continent

#### The Republic of the Tulip

The Republic of the Tulip is the country with the strongest military in the world.

#### The Champagne Empire

The Champagne Empire was one of the three large empires in the Azure Continent, currently in a minor conflict with the Republic of the Tulip. The Champagne Empire was once a well developed country with a deep background. They were not afraid to go up against three dominating empires.

## History

The Golden Sword Throne, is from a mobile ancient ruin that the Ancient Endorian and Nabudas Empire have both explored before. The Golden Sword Throne is actually a relic key retrieved from within the ruin. What is within those ruins?" Garen asked directly.

"The legendary Blood of Secrets, some say it is the key to immortality, others say it gives tremendeous power. Nobody really knows or agrees on its true nature, but one thing is for sure: this item is incredibly valuable," Celine explained, "The locations of these ancient ruins are usually very hard to predict and pin-point. The times in which they appear are also not set. If it isn’t for the Golden Sword Throne, it would be next to impossible to open the entrance to the site."

"What you mean by that is... Exactly, there are all kinds of ancient ruins, and each of their contents are vastly different from the other, it’s as if every ruin contains traces of the existence of a different civilization from the others. However one thing is for sure, each and everyone of them contain their fair shares of dangers and opportunities. Each ancient ruin contains a plethora of items of different values, we call these items ‘Secret Treasures’. The ancient ruin in which the Golden Sword Throne used to reside, was found and explored by the Ancient Endorians a long time ago, only to be explored by the Nabudas Empire shortly after as well. It is believed that the ancient ruins still exist, in fact there is even the possibility that those two great civilizations might have left some souvenirs in there during their time within. But for whatever it is worth, because of their explorations, the Golden Sword Throne became known to be related to the Blood of Secrets. In fact, since then, Ancient Endorian Ruins and the Golden Sword Throne practically became the pronouns for the Blood of Secrets."

## Non-Humans

Most of the non-humans have life spans that far surpass humans, and the special ones are called the Everlasting Beings. The most extreme fighters among us have interested in these non-human race’s long lifespans, as they’ve come to realize that they don’t have enough time to achieve the extreme edges of martial arts.

"Hence, some of our top talents from the human race started investigating ways of attaining a lifespan equal to these Everlasting Beings. The two main methods were hybridization and food consumption, both of which are also the most effective methods. Hybridization is by far the best, as one could obtain a stronger blood lineage and offspring through copulation. This slowly begins to form some of the ethnic groups we see in certain countries. On the other hand, strong individuals like to increase their lifespan through edible consumption. After the Great Draught a millennia ago, which was the worst drought we’ve had, a lot of the Everlasting Beings left the land and went into the ocean. They took a boat and wandered the seas for decades. Humans are completely incapable of sailing the seas in the same way. Naturally, their conflict with the humans gradually dissipated."

"Since the Everlasting Beings left just a thousand years ago, there should still be human descendants who possessed the Blood of Eternal Life besides the corpses right? If they really have such a long lifespan, it should be just a few generations to them for the past millennia." Vampires and werewolves were the first thing Garen thought of when he heard the word Everlasting Beings. These mysterious creatures were known everywhere and became legends on Earth. The legendary vampire was said to be forever young and immortal. This gave earthlings a very strong impression.

"It is true that there are descendants from the Everlasting Beings. However, they hide themselves within the human world and it would be difficult to trace them unless they transformed, or use a specially made soul detector."

"There are detectors for them? Li Gaode, the academician of the Champagne Empire’s Science Academy invented a detector called the boiling blood. It’s very expensive to manufacture and we, the Behemoth Gate could only buy two sets. It’s very impractical as well due to its high electricity consumption."

### Blood of Eternal Life

Each Blood of Eternal Life has different functions. In fact, all of them come from non-humans.

So the Blood of Eternal Life was something they left behind? Yes. Due to the sparsity of these Everlasting Beings, you can only find a small amount of Blood of Eternal Life from some of the remains. But then again, these have already been contaminated by the ancient humans who consumed them into their bloodstream. Although the blood has been contaminated, its ability to lengthen one’s lifespan still remains.

Furthermore, there are a lot of types of Blood of Eternal Life." Angela added on as she glanced at Garen.

"Types? Other than increasing one’s lifespan, they can give humans different talents." Angela observed Garen’s expression closely as she explained. She found out that Garen was genuinely surprised as if it was his first time hearing such a common knowledge. This shook her assumption of Garen being a mixed between an Everlasting Being and human.

#### White Dog’s Bloodline

Once you have absorbed the bloodline, you can live for a maximum of 300 years and about two hundred years on average, which is about 145 years of increased lifespan. You can live for more than two hundred years if you incorporate a series of Essence Locking Techniques.

#### Everlasting Beings Bloodline

"What about the origins of the telekinesis from the Immortal Palace? The Immortal Palace represents the bloodline of the Everlasting Beings. They are the last remaining organization which consists mainly of tainted half-breeds, so it is common for them to have special abilities. Furthermore, the majority of those humans, including those tainted half-breeds, would do whatever it took to kill the Everlasting Beings and obtain the Blood of Eternal Life. Once the tainted half-breeds were revealed, they would be in an unimaginable state, like becoming a experiment subject or a blood slave. Flamingo and Sylphalan, the powerhouses of the Immortal Palace, are prime examples. Both of them are tainted half-breeds, and their family members were mercilessly murdered. They have an insatiable hatred towards human kind."

"The Immortal Palace consists of five people in total. Now that Duskdune Shura has left due to his severe injury, there are only four left. All of them have their own secret organizations under them. Flamingo and Sylphalan have revealed their identities to the public, and we also know that Ghette, the general of Weisman, is one of them as well. Unfortunately, the last member is still in the dark. The Immortal Palace initially had five members and there are currently four as one of them had left the group.

### Werewolves

Werewolves are strong and resilient, and their ability to kill is terrifying. Humans were once their slaves in the Ancient Era, and were only kept as livestock. That is until we discovered Holy Water." Joseph explained, "Holy Water greatly weakens the werewolves, reducing their strength and vitality to a level us humans can handle.

The Thukk Tribe is much more resistant to the holy water compared to other similar species. The amount of holy water needed to purify one Thukk Tribe members could purify three other ordinary werewolves. These beasts’ true potential would be unleashed once there was no holy water nearby. They would be twice as strong! The Thukk Tribe was unstoppable once they were not restricted.

They have a hunting ritual, which is their counterpart for coming of age ceremonies, so those were mostly underage werewolves.

As werewolves, they have accelerated healing.

There were two forces fighting against each other. One side of that is the werewolves who hunts humans for food. The other side is the Demon Hunter clan, fated to put up resistance against the werewolves. Both sides have been in a feud for so long, no one remembered what fuelled the initial battle that became the current racial war.

The werewolves are strong beyond human imagination. The have two High Elders, not the normals, who are truly at the prime of their hunting years. Their strength is far beyond your standard werewolves, and they also have the Wolf King Worthman. The Jiu Gu Clan had been oppressed for far too long because of those werewolves. Right now, they are hiding in the human society, we can’t even track them if they don’t show up during certain times. They have acclimated to the human society so well that all of them are masters in assassination.

## Warlocks

**Archon** is a language used by one of the most mysterious people in ancient times. They were always on the dark side of the world, and their powers were mysterious and enigmatic. In ancient legends, they were the symbol of the devil, blood and uncanniness, but no one had ever seen their true faces. They were called the **Warlocks**.

Those people in the myths and legends that learned how to use magic. It is said that Warlocks learned their magic from the devil and fear itself, that’s why it’s called magic. In the legends, they would mate with mythical creatures and give birth to offspring with powerful bloodlines. They had control of the demon arts. They blended in with common people, becoming nobles, businessmen, or even travelers. But of course, are believed to be just myths. "However, there are numerous people worshiping these Warlocks. It was especially common in ancient times, and I suspect that entrance was constructed by some of those people."

What could these worshippers do. Ceremonies, bloody sacrifices, making flutes of people’s femurs - these are all actions attributed to them. They’ve formed some kind of cult.

#### Rituals

A simple ancient ritual. Seal up life, let it slowly die inside until it decomposes completely and fully integrates with the other ingredients. The seal will be broken when the time comes, and the content inside would be consumed. The life, blood, flesh, and soul would all be eaten. According to legend, this was a ritualistic method to attain immortality.

## Martial Arts

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.

### 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.

### Known Gates

* White Cloud Gate
* Behemoth Gate
* Celestial Circle Gate
* Orthogon Sword Gate
* Crimson Sand Sword
* Knife Fist Sect
* Figthting Association
* Shield Strike Gate
* Double Halberd Fist
* White Shark Gate
* Holy Fist Gate
* Myriad Manifestations Gate
* Asura Palm
* Order of the Iron Fist
* Jade Mountain Gate
* Eastern Pole Gate
* Seven Moon Gate
* Circling Dance Gate
* Murry Iron Chain Gate
* Red Obsidian Gate
* Lucene Brotherhood
* Southern Holy Gate
* Sky Holy Fist Gate
* White Dew Gate
* Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate
* Gramdon Sword Sect
* Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate

## Gun Arts

Gun Arts is actually similar to Martial Arts, the only difference is we lack the defense module, focusing instead on the attack and evasion modules.

### The Training Method

"In the beginning, we practiced with static targets. It’s those with bullseyes that are not moving. When we’re practicing, we also look for the guns that are most suitable to us. It could be standard issue guns or customized guns, the only thing is that it should fit you like a glove. After having found the gun you are most suited to, as well as achieving 90% accuracy with a static target, this is level one."

"Level two is next. It’s about getting used to the maximum firing range of your gun. If you’re able to keep half your accuracy while aiming at maximum firing range, and separately hit a moving target with 90% accuracy, you’ll be in level two."

"Level three is when you find what you’re best at. With the foundation you had in the previous two levels, you will develop your evasion skills, until you are able to avoid at least half of the bullets from gunners of level one and two. At the same time, you will learn about all the qualities of all firearms, the strength and weakness, bullet trajectories from all kinds of bullets, identifying bullet marks, the different usage of different gunpowders, you’ll learn it all. You will also have the ability to customize bullets and modify your guns.

In this level, your gun will become even more suitable to you, its abilities easier to wield and allows the gunner to excel." Morden had a sense of pride on his face. "I’m in this level. Even if there was a hail of bullets, as long as there aren’t any stray bullets or too many people, a level three gunner wouldn’t have too much of a danger. Of course, there will be degrees to which you are proficient in level three. Different firearms will produce different effects in different environments, in addition to the number of guns you’re dodging, your familiarity with the environment, and your willpower, tactics, reaction speed, all these can become a vital point to winning a battle.

"Level four, that is a legendary state. Controlling multiple guns at the same time, having 360-degrees vision with no blind spot, being able to swiftly attack enemies before they’ve even moved. This level, is when you can fight a Grandmaster of Combat head on. One of the strongest was a Gun Arts Master who appeared a long time ago - Yoda, the Eight-Arm Dragon King. It was said that he was able to use Gun Arts against a Grandmaster of Combat. Unbelievable."

*"A Gun Arts Master who fought against a Grandmaster of Combat… That really was something." - Garen nodded.*

"The ability to fight a Grandmaster of Combat head on, it means that the gunner must be able to keep up with the speed of a Grandmaster of Combat. As you would know, a speed-focused Grandmaster of Combat can cross a dozen meters in a blink of an eye. Without the speed to match, your head would roll before you could set up your gun."

*"In other words, the Eight-Arm Dragon King at least has the eyesight and the speed of a first rated Grandmaster of Combat? That Yoda is not a Grandmaster of Combat, how did he acquire an eyesight and reaction like that?*

*"He must have a series of secret training method." Morden admitted his ignorance on the subject. "This is only an example of a single person against a Grandmaster of Combat. Of course, Grandmasters of Combat are strong, but they still wouldn’t be ablt to take on multiple firearms by themselves. I think you should train for a little Gun Arts, combining that and your Martial Arts, you would be a lot stronger.*

#### Time that Take to Reach Level Three

"Three years if you’re talented, but everyone has different limits. The heights to which everyone can reach is different." Morden said with a cocky air. "If you’re not talented, then you’ll need time and loads of bullet. Usually about twice the time, at least six years."

#### Amount of Level Three Gunners

"One in a thousand."

Garen was deep in thought, it’s not that the ratio was low, on the contrary, the ratio was too high.

If it only takes several level three gunners to mob a slower Grandmaster of Combat to death, there are a hundred and fifty thousand soldier in the Confederation, how many gunners would there be? Amongst those, how many are level four?

This is an unknown.

Garen can now understand how Duskdune Shura was hurt badly by the Slash Brigade.

This is the power of the government.

If there’s an unknown number of Gun Arts Experts in the Confederate Army, what about Martial Arts Experts? How many are there in the world?

A silence lingered in the cabin for a while. Everyone was plunged into a muted poignancy. This is the tragedy of Martial Arts.

Firearms are superior in destructive power, compared to Martial Arts which is difficult to master, firearms are far more common and easier to learn and use.

## Known Organizations

The various organizations working inside or outside the law.

* Golden Hoop
* Manuyllton Corporation
* Blackplume Corporation
* Weisman Trident Corporation
* The Immortal Palace
* Southern Twelve Gates
* Black Mark Association
* Duskdune Shura
* Seven Moon Group
* Five Gate Alliance
* Black Flag Gang
* International Police
* Spy Agency
* The Confederate Legislative Council
* New Pacific Corporation
* Blue Parliament
* Red Parliament
* Special Agent Bureau
* Poker Organization (from Weisman)
* Jiu Gu Clan
* Thukk Tribe
* Killer Hunters Squad
* Northern Martial Arts Union
* Belfatalia Household
* Slash organization
	+ Slash team
* Emergency Agent Department
* Hilarita Household
* Edge Security Company
* National Security Division
* Di Youwen Household
* Northern Martial Arts Union
* Siren Group
* Picardian Sculptorts
* Argentism

## Links and References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chapter 1
2. ↑ Chapter 4
3. ↑ Chapter 6
4. ↑ Chapter 13
5. ↑ Chapter 51
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Chapter 147
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 11
8. ↑ Chapter 124
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Chapter 142
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 95
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Chapter 94
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 137
13. ↑ Chapter 154
14. ↑ Chapter 130
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 Chapter 167
16. ↑ Chapter 141
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Chapter 143
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Chapter 60
19. ↑ Chapter 64
20. ↑ Chapter 49
21. ↑ Chapter 48
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Chapter 80
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Chapter 79
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Chapter 22
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Chapter 113
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Chapter 107
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 Chapter 114
28. ↑ 28.00 28.01 28.02 28.03 28.04 28.05 28.06 28.07 28.08 28.09 28.10 28.11 28.12 28.13 28.14 28.15 Chapter 171
29. ↑ Chapter 145
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 Chapter 182
31. ↑ Chapter 183
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Chapter 168
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 33.6 Chapter 169
34. ↑ 34.00 34.01 34.02 34.03 34.04 34.05 34.06 34.07 34.08 34.09 34.10 34.11 34.12 34.13 34.14 34.15 34.16 34.17 34.18 34.19 Chapter 159