Otherworldly Desert Dust

"Ah, right, I haven't asked your name yet. I am Du Mao, a True Martial Hero, and an Earth Fighter," said Brother Zhenwu.

"Wu Hen, Hip-hop Emperor, Rhyme Star..." Wu Hen was not to be outdone and announced his own titles.

Although Brother Zhenwu, Du Mao, didn't quite understand the meaning of Wu Hen's words, he still cupped his hands and nodded to show respect.

The cultures of different dimensions varied. Even though there were common titles, most had their own evolutions. Regardless, Brother Zhenwu, Du Mao, felt the young man in front of him was a master—reserved yet sharp.

One must know that in the outside world, just uttering the titles "Human Hero" and "Earth Fighter" would draw exclamations and the highest respect in the Jianghu.

But this young man remained indifferent, even a bit puzzled...

Perhaps the other had overestimated his cultivation and strength, leading to such an expression.

Alas, the Scroll Realm indeed was full of monsters.

Even a young man who had fallen from grace like himself had such composure and ease. At this juncture, he should lay down his past arrogance, humbly seek advice from others, and strive to return to the peak soon, traversing the myriad worlds!

Brother Zhenwu, Du Mao, reflected on himself thrice daily, and today was the second time.

The first reflection was given to a wild boar.

As for Wu Hen, he didn't particularly like mental consumption.

The reason he was puzzled was that he remembered Cai Jinlin had once mentioned something about the Human Clan.

The Human Clan had a myriad of veins, with different levels of high and low, but there was one title used to measure all strong individuals of the Human Clan.

Talented Person, Wise Person, Heroic Person, Human Hero, Human Emperor.

True Martial Hero??

The one who was just beaten into a pig's head by a wild boar was actually a Human Hero??

This title of Human Hero was it measured against the myriad veins of the Human Clan, or relatively to their True Martial Lineage?

After all, according to his civilization's standards, he himself would be considered a Human Emperor!

Cai Jinlin was from a small place, and the information he had gathered was limited. He only knew the titles existed but couldn't figure out the measure.

Anyway, he was a Human Emperor of the Nuwa Divine Duan Lineage.

This Brother Zhenwu, Du Mao, was still a level lower than himself.

"No, both of your skinning methods are wrong. The beast hides skinned like this can only be cooked. You should know that when the Cold Era comes, without these beast hides, you won't survive to the Warm Era!" At this time, the Ancient Clan youth Xiao Jiang walked over and began to criticize the Human Hero and Human Emperor.

Wu Hen and Du Mao looked baffled. Isn't skinning just about tearing it off; what else could there be to it?

"These hides of mythical creatures are as tough as divine iron, and their toughness is formidable. If I don't use True Qi, my blade can't even pierce it," said Du Mao.

"You're not holding the blade correctly; it should be like this..." The Ancient Clan youth shot Du Mao a glare and then demonstrated himself.

The Ancient Clan youth took the same blade and, without using any Qi, inserted it into the beast hide's texture and cleanly cut off a whole piece of skin!

His technique was skilled, and his movements were natural, just like a child from a hunter's family, clearly knowing the textures and angles needed to cut open the hide.

At first, Brother Zhenwu, Du Mao, was displeased. How could someone teach a True Martial Great God how to hold a knife? But after carefully watching the youth's skinning and scraping techniques, his expression turned serious.

Something was off, something was definitely off!

These seemingly simple Ancient Clan people were definitely more than they appeared! Find adventures on empire

Their knife skills were not primitive or ordinary; they embodied the essence of countless knife techniques in their simplicity, achieving the ultimate technique - the Great Dao in simplicity.

"You cannot use that messy Qi on you; rely solely on your technique, understand?" the Ancient Clan youth instructed.

"That's True Qi, True Martial...all right, I understand a bit." Du Mao wanted to argue, but seeing the other's impatient look, he sensibly shut his mouth.

"Is it like this?" Wo Hen, beside them, had already started changing his skinning approach, quickly imitating the Ancient Clan youth's blade technique to extract a whole piece of hide.

"Yes, yes, you learn quickly. Do not use any Qi from your previous learning; that's all impure. Return to the basics, and you'll adapt to everything here," the Ancient Clan youth lectured.

Du Mao glanced at this youth, and any doubts he had were completely dispelled!

Indeed, he was a Human Emperor, his perception far surpassing his own.

Moreover, the other had a Holy Breath similar to his True Qi, yet he had not used it from the beginning, clearly indicating he knew the laws of this place better and returned to simplicity!

Impressive, the other must belong to a supreme human civilization on the Happy Planet. The warships he mentioned earlier weren't the narrow definition he had in mind; how could he boast about destroying one with a punch now?

"Can I try again?" Du Mao, always strong-willed, set aside his self-reproach and mustered his courage.

"Use your eyes to carefully observe the grain, and use your hands to feel the different textures. Understand where to go slowly, where to go quickly, where to be gentle, and where to be firm!" the Ancient Clan youth seriously guided.

Upon hearing this, Du Mao suddenly realized, after all, these "beasts" were mythical species. Their hides couldn't be simple; even a rock buried for a million years wouldn't compare in toughness...

After the Ancient Clan youth finished teaching, he left, as he was also the main force of the hunting Ancient Clan, needing to handle those mythical beasts.

"Brother Wu Hen, this old man might be a bit slow. If there's anything I haven't grasped in the future, please enlighten me," Du Mao sincerely said.

"Enlighten might be too much; let's learn together!" Wu Hen scratched his head.

"Let's learn together!"

Wu Hen's skinning speed indeed was fast.

Because from the beginning, he hadn't used Holy Breath. The Saint Void state didn't give him much to use.

Additionally, when the Ancient Clan youth demonstrated, he used his hearing to understand the texture distribution of the mythical creature's hide. The blade technique actually followed a simple method that easily removed the hide.

Because he had no systematic martial arts training or practiced techniques, Wu Hen found himself highly compatible with this return-to-simplicity approach.

The more one learns, the more chaotic it becomes.

Forgetting the essence of things.

Even mythical creatures' hides were ultimately just hides. Knowing the grain, one cut could cleanly and efficiently slice through!

Thus, Wu Hen derived a very simple theory.

It didn't matter if Senior Brother Gu Yue or the Purple Robed Master seemed invincible, as if a thousand warships and mechs wouldn't harm them. In truth, their muscles, Holy Bones had some texture; follow that texture, and cutting through would be as easy as slicing salmon!

If mythical creatures had clear textures, wouldn't worldly things have it even more so?

Like a grand mathematical palace starting from the cornerstone of one plus one.

Grains!

Master the grains, and you break through all defenses!

Du Mao used his eyes to see.

Wu Hen used his ears to listen.

At this moment, the two kindred spirits truly set aside their past arrogance, patiently learning the most straightforward techniques and seeking the fundamental laws followed by all things!

...

The Ancient Clan people moved towards the mountain, arriving at the foot of the Red Snow Mountain.

Red Snow Mountain was the forbidden land of the Ancient Clan. Even though they only needed to cross a small snowy peak to reach their hunting grounds, they took a wide detour, not daring to dirty even a speck of Red Snow Mountain's snow.

Along the way, Wu Hen and Du Mao gained much.

The two would take the opportunity to observe the Ancient Clan's battles during their downtime.

If one didn't watch quietly, the Ancient Clan people seemed like primitive barbarians, only showing crudeness and ferocity. But abandoning such thinking and observing with utmost respect revealed that while they were in the first layer, the others were in the stratosphere!

Mythical creatures, ancient but ever-changing in abilities. A Sky Demon Bear even had a Seven-layered Demon Body. Each layer, once broken, would strengthen the next multiple times. When it used its seventh layer, the Sky Demon Bear became a supreme demon capable of destroying the human world!

In dealing with this Sky Demon Bear, the Ancient Clan did not rush. They too preserved their strength, refusing to use any excessively exhausting offensive methods in the early stages.

Without haste, when the opponent was in the first layer, the Ancient Clan only used the most ordinary punches and kicks.

When the opponent burst into a stronger demon body, the Ancient Clan also unleashed greater power, but this power would not immediately overwhelm the opponent's current layer!

"Restraint!"

"One must learn restraint when sparring with masters!"

"I understand. In the past, I was always open and dominant, thinking any opponent wasn't worth much, feeling that defeating an enemy in one move was the greatest satisfaction."

"Now I see I was too shallow."

"No matter the opponent, one should show the highest respect. Techniques are ever-changing, and during the exchange, we can comprehend more, including some seemingly weaker opponents who have grasped unique combat techniques. When we control our power to their level, we will discover we can also learn new things from them during the battle!"

While observing, Du Mao spoke continuously.

Du Mao was too reliant on True Qi. As a prodigy, his True Qi was different from others, powerful enough to overpower any peer.

But how was this different from cheating?

It was his innate ability, not something he learned postnatally. Some opponents had higher perception and greater creativity; they lost to his dominant True Qi, not him.

He had to learn, had to practice!

Beside him, Wu Hen's realizations were slightly different.

"Seventeen cards and you can beat me in a second?"

"One can't have this mindset..."

"If someone has three aces, you just bomb them, you're purely overconfident!"

"Even knowing you have a perfect hand, someone with three aces—you just have four. You never know what true combo lies behind their seemingly lousy hand!"