"Xiao Guizi, come on, let's go play a couple of rounds!"
"Not long ago, Fathead went out of the palace on business for his master and raked in a pretty penny in rewards. Tonight, he's acting as the banker..."
Those two were about Xiao Guizi's age. Flanking him on either side, they spoke with beaming excitement.
Working in the palace required the utmost caution.
Unranked eunuchs like them never knew when they might offend some high-ranking noble. A minor offense would get you a bloody backside, while a major one would cost you your life.
With such high pressure, there was naturally a need for a way to relieve it.
Women and gambling?
Forget about women!
Castrated wretches like them could only gamble.
"No way!"
Xiao Guizi shook his head.
"Did I hear that right?"
The eunuch on the left wore a look of utter astonishment.
"Xiao Guizi, and you're actually not going?"
A fiend at the gambling table—that was Xiao Guizi's nickname. You could make him go without food, but keeping him from gambling was asking a bit too much of him!
"Sigh!"
Xiao Guizi shook his head.
"Tonight, I'm on duty to wait on my godfather..."
"Oh!"
The two eunuchs released their grip on Xiao Guizi.
The one on the right looked at him with sympathy, saying with considerable regret:
"Other eunuchs might be fine, but your Eunuch Wu is a man who tolerates no sand in his eyes. If he found out we dragged you off to gamble and it messed up his affairs, we wouldn't be able to bear the consequences..."
"Yeah!"
The other nodded hurriedly.
"Anyway, it's your bad luck. Tonight it's our turn as brothers to sweep the board—we're going to make Fathead lose even his underwear!"
With that, they burst out laughing and strode away.
Xiao Guizi watched them leave, the envy on his face slowly fading.
He truly enjoyed gambling, but he was no fiend at the gambling table. The only reason he joined games was simply to curry favor with certain people.
If a lowly little eunuch wanted to climb the ranks in the palace,
the favor of nobles, natural talent, ability, and connections were all indispensable.
Synchronizing with Xiao Guizi's thoughts, Gu Xinchao felt a sense of déjà vu.
Wasn't this just a eunuch version of Julien Sorel?
An ambitious careerist.
The history of a eunuch's rise.
Interesting!
He curled the corners of his lips and smiled.
Then, he continued his immersive experience from Xiao Guizi's perspective.
After finishing his evening meal, Xiao Guizi returned to the communal sleeping quarters, picked up a few sets of clothes, and headed back to the small courtyard where Wu Dafu lived.
At that moment, the setting sun hung suspended above the Forbidden City. Its orange-yellow light spilled downward, sweeping across the walls paved with Liuli tiles and falling slantwise into the courtyard, illuminating Wu Dafu as he sat upright in a grand master's chair.
"Godfather!"
Xiao Guizi hurried over, knelt before Wu Dafu, and kowtowed.
"Good boy, get up..."
Wu Dafu said with a smile.
"Have you read the Blood Shadow Divine Art?"
After Xiao Guizi stood up, Wu Dafu asked.
"Not yet..."
Xiao Guizi smiled honestly and shook his head.
"Well, go read through it once. If there's anything you don't understand, you can just ask me!"
Wu Dafu smiled.
"Yes!"
Xiao Guizi nodded vigorously.
Then, he walked off to one side.
Opening the manual of the Blood Shadow Divine Art, he slowly flipped through it from beginning to front.
For any cultivation technique, relying solely on a manual—even without a single error or omission—was no easy task to master.
Merely committing the manual thoroughly to memory consumed a vast amount of time.
In the past, when practicing the Seventy-Two Paths of Jade-Breaking Fists, even with a master from the Imperial Book Hall teaching him hand-in-hand, it had taken Xiao Guizi several days just to memorize the fist stances. As for executing the whole set flawlessly, that had been a month later.
Even so, he could already be considered naturally gifted.
The manual for the Blood Shadow Divine Art was much thinner than the Jade-Breaking Fists, and in his mind, it would still take two or three days to memorize.
He had even prepared a brush, intending to copy it out.
After all, the best memory is no match for a worn-out brush.
However...
That preparation proved unnecessary.
After closing the manual, everything written inside remained vivid in his mind, without a single omission.
Could it be that I'm a genius with a photographic memory?
Xiao Guizi wore a look of shock.
"What is it?"
"Is there something you don't understand?"
Wu Dafu glanced at him.
"I..."
Xiao Guizi stammered.
"Godfather, I think I've memorized it all!"
"Huh?"
Wu Dafu frowned and stood up.
"How do you circulate the blood?"
"At the third quarter of the Zi hour, drive the vital energy to the Shanzhong acupoint, using one deep and three shallow breaths as the mainstay, while visualizing a bright moon above the head..."
Without hesitation, Xiao Guizi replied instantly.
"Eh?"
Wu Dafu was dumbfounded.
Xiao Guizi's reply wasn't just word-for-word; it was completely identical.
He asked a few more questions, and Xiao Guizi answered fluently without a moment's thought.
Not a single error.
Could it be that he was a martial arts prodigy?
However, some people possessed monstrous comprehension and photographic memories, yet their innate bone structure was mediocre; during cultivation, their brains understood while their hands and feet did not.
"Show me the Seventy-Two Paths of Jade-Breaking Fists..."
Wu Dafu said.
"Yes, Godfather!"
Xiao Guizi acknowledged.
Standing in the middle of the courtyard, he took a deep breath and assumed his stance.
His form was as fluid as water, shifting and dodging with extreme smoothness. Every single move and posture captured the true essence of the fist technique, and calling it mastery by fire would not be an exaggeration.
The longer Wu Dafu watched, the more alarmed he became.
He also understood this fist technique and had spent over twenty years deeply cultivating it. If he were to step down and spar now, the effect of his performance might actually fall short compared to Xiao Guizi's.
This Xiao Guizi really was a martial arts genius!
Yet, if he was truly a martial arts genius,
why had he always remained completely obscure?
If he had been hiding his strength, why expose it now?
Wu Dafu frowned deeply, unable to comprehend it.
While he was in shock, Xiao Guizi, who was throwing punches, was equally shocked.
He knew that in the past, he had barely been able to complete the stances of the Seventy-Two Paths of Jade-Breaking Fists from start to finish.
He could be considered barely fluent.
But it was nothing like this now.
It was smooth as floating clouds and flowing water; every punch carried new insights and progress, and the vital energy he refined surged like a tidal wave, scouring his skin, flesh, bones, and internal organs.
Silky!
Exhilarating!
Why?
He couldn't figure it out either.
Only Gu Xinchao, who shared his perspective, understood clearly.
This was the credit of the divine ability known as the Formless Heavenly Demon Wondrous Transformation.
As the host of the Demon Seed, Xiao Guizi was influenced in every possible way, undergoing a complete and earth-shattering transformation. Having monstrous comprehension and a photographic memory was just the baseline, while possessing exceptional bone structure and fist techniques that reached divine levels was entirely natural.
Right now, he was an peerless genius.
As he practiced his fists, Gu Xinchao also sensed it on his end.
Not only did a wealth of insights regarding the Seventy-Two Paths of Jade-Breaking Fists appear within his Consciousness Sea, but pure energy from the void was continuously transmitted back by the Demon Seed through an invisible channel, being absorbed bit by bit by his still-infant body.
At that moment, it felt like being immersed in a hot spring—incomparably comfortable.
Strength was generating bit by bit.
Xiao Guizi withdrew his fists and looked at Wu Dafu.
Wu Dafu looked back at him, remaining silent for a long time.
The two stared at each other with wide eyes, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.
After a long while, Wu Dafu let out a sigh.
"Ah, Xiao Guizi, you have achieved quite an accomplishment in this Jade-Breaking Fist. As for the Blood Shadow Divine Art, you don't actually have to practice it, and regarding the pills..."
He hesitated, then shook his head.
"I'm old!"
"The aged can no longer rely on muscle and bone!"
"In the end, this world belongs to you youngsters!"
With that, Wu Dafu placed his hands behind his back, hunched his shoulders, and walked into the house.
"Godfather!"
Xiao Guizi called out with some unease.
With his back to Xiao Guizi, Wu Dafu raised a hand and waved it.
"Go practice on your own!"
"You probably won't need your godfather much anyway."
As his voice trailed off, Wu Dafu entered the house and closed the door.
Xiao Guizi raised his head and looked at the Tongtian Tower on Bajing Mountain in the western part of the Forbidden City, where the orange-red setting sun hung right at the tip of the tower.
That was the highest point of the Forbidden City.
Only by becoming the Great Ancestor of the Directorate of Ceremonies would one be qualified to serve the emperor in ascending to the very top of the Tongtian Tower to overlook the White Jade Capital.
That was Xiao Guizi's ambition.
He would climb to the very top, step by step!
Originally, this dream had always been suppressed deep in his heart, but now, stimulated by the Demon Seed planted by Gu Xinchao, it could no longer be contained.
Strength!
I need strength!
Xiao Guizi took a porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured out a blood-energy pill about the size of a pinky finger, and shoved it into his mouth.
The Blood Shadow Divine Art.
He still had to practice it!
During Body Tempering and Foundation Establishment, the more vigorous the vital energy, the stronger one became.
At the same time, it would lay a solid foundation for the Qi Refining Realm.
Facing the setting sun, he set his feet a foot apart, closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and circulated his vital energy according to the path of the Blood Shadow Divine Art.
In an instant, his whole body felt like fire.
Inside his body, it was as if a magma eruption had occurred.
At the same time, Gu Xinchao felt the energy input resume.
Good!
Very good!
Keep going just like this!
With a few more times, as long as there was enough energy, even an infant's flesh and blood could grow strong and possess the power to protect itself.