Section Nine: Soul General Card

Tang Tian carefully caressed the soul general card in his hand. This was his first martial skill soul general card. About the size of a playing card, it was very thin, yet it exuded a strong metallic feel—hard, yet flexible. The soul general depicted on the card was a vague, slender figure, standing empty-handed, but radiating a chilling aura.

A second-tier martial skill—he could finally cultivate a second-tier martial skill!

Excitement surged in Tang Tian’s heart. He took a deep breath, calming himself. His gaze regained its composure as he channeled his true power, infusing it into the card. The bronze-hued soul general card glimmered with a faint light, and the figure on its surface seemed to come alive, the oppressive aura intensifying severalfold.

Suddenly, the card transformed into a streak of light and merged into Tang Tian’s body.

A thunderous boom erupted in Tang Tian’s mind as countless pieces of information were abruptly forced into his head, leaving him momentarily dazed. But he quickly shook off the stupor, a strange sensation welling up inside him. The flood of information felt both familiar and foreign, two contradictory feelings intertwined, making him uneasy.

Abruptly, a searing sensation flared in his palm, snapping him to full awareness. He looked down and saw a cross-shaped mark had appeared on his palm at some point.

“Huh?” Tang Tian was startled, but before he could react, a powerful suction surged from his palm, ripping away all the information that had just been crammed into his mind.

The suddenness of it almost made Tang Tian cry out in alarm. When he came to his senses, his face changed dramatically.

Damn it!

Would the bronze medallion swallow up the soul general card he’d gained with such difficulty?

At this thought, Tang Tian’s eye twitched. Without hesitation, he focused his mind on the bronze medallion.

The surroundings darkened rapidly, and once more the cross-shaped luminous door appeared before him. But as Tang Tian’s gaze settled on the door, he froze in astonishment. The soul general card that had just vanished was now displayed on the door itself. Though the slender figure was still indistinct, Tang Tian recognized it at a glance.

Yet now, the aura emanating from that slender figure was many times stronger than before.

The cross-shaped door was divided by its vertical axis: on the left stood a gray figure that looked strikingly like himself; on the right, the indistinct, slender shadow. One left, one right—the gray figure’s expression indifferent, the shadow’s demeanor dangerous and fierce.

Tilting his head, Tang Tian studied them for a moment. Suddenly, two words popped into his mind—

Gate Guardians!

The two figures on the door resembled nothing so much as an unconventional pair of gate guardians, even their expressions uncannily appropriate.

Tang Tian burst out laughing, finding his own idea both amusing and apt.

But after a short while, his laughter faded. As novel and interesting as the gate guardians were, the thought that his hard-won soul general card might have been consumed left Tang Tian crestfallen.

Suddenly, he smacked his forehead. He remembered that when the gray figure had appeared, he’d ended up fighting it. Could it be that he needed to fight the shadowy figure as well?

His eyes lit up, eager and unafraid. Though the shadow’s aura was fierce, Tang Tian, who’d never learned fear, felt only greater anticipation.

“Hey! Kid—uh, no, old man!” Tang Tian suddenly stretched out a finger, pointing directly at the shadow on the door, and shouted, “Want to fight?”

The shadowy figure on the door showed no reaction.

Wrong method…

Tang Tian muttered to himself, stepped closer until his face was nearly pressed to the door, his eyes bulging as he stared at the shadow, mumbling, “Hey, you scared?”

Still not working…

Without thinking, Tang Tian reached out and slapped at the shadow on the door.

His hand passed through empty space.

Tang Tian stared in astonishment at his arm now half-embedded in the door, his palm tingling with a strange sensation. The luminous door felt like a soft, fine net, his arm stretching it as he pushed in.

Strangely, though, countless pieces of information seeped from this net into his arm, flooding into his body.

Wait…

Tang Tian’s eyes widened in delighted surprise. Wasn’t this the same information that had just been stuffed into his mind when the soul general card merged with him?

So this is where you went!

Grinning, Tang Tian attempted to push his arm further in, and as more information seeped into him, he eagerly shoved, eventually pushing his entire body into the door.

Half his body was now embedded in the door. As he passed the halfway point, a powerful suction suddenly dragged him fully inside before he could react.

Everything went black, then a faint light appeared.

His vision was shrouded in gray mist.

Looking around, Tang Tian realized he was standing on the black mirror-like ground behind the luminous door.

As his attention fell upon the lines underfoot, a sense of déjà vu washed over him. Tang Tian stared at his own fist.

What a strange feeling… as if he’d practiced the “Flash Fist” technique for a long time.

Suppressing his sense of strangeness, Tang Tian tried throwing a punch.

Whoosh!

His fist seemed to vanish into thin air, reappearing in a flash as it pierced through the air.

What a formidable Flash Fist!

Tang Tian’s spirits soared. With his extensive combat experience, he immediately understood how troublesome such a technique would be in a real fight.

“Soul General Possession—duration: three days.”

“You are as weak as an ant. Your talent is poor. You are as humble as dust. You are empty-handed—sweat is your only weapon. You have no time to waste.”

Red characters floated in Tang Tian’s gray-hued vision. He read on with curiosity until the final line, at which point his fists clenched tightly.

How true!

He had fallen far behind others—only by working harder, pushing himself further than anyone else, could he glimpse hope.

With his mind filled with thoughts of cultivation, Tang Tian pushed aside any curiosity about the mysteries of the bronze medallion; over the years, he had long grown accustomed to those cold, jumping numbers.

“Tang Tian, keep going!”

He raised his fist high, shouting encouragement to himself.

His face radiated determination and earnest resolve.

Sweat streamed down his cheeks as Tang Tian gasped for breath, his harsh, ragged inhalations like a bellows. His face was pale, arms too heavy to lift, legs leaden.

Over two hours of continuous training had nearly drained every bit of his physical strength. He sat cross-legged, practicing the “Breath-Nourishing Formula,” letting its gentle warmth gradually replenish his body.

An hour later, his fatigue vanished. Springing to his feet, he resumed training.

The essence of “Flash Fist” lay in its suddenness—the fist vanished in an instant, and when it reappeared, it had already struck the opponent.

The speed was astonishing, demanding explosive power in the moment. Beyond the technique of sudden arm strength, it required the use of core muscles and precise footwork.

Most challenging of all was the rhythm. Only with lightning speed and abrupt changes in tempo could one unleash a true Flash Fist.

Though only one tier above basic fist techniques, Flash Fist was much more complex and demanding. Likewise, its power far surpassed that of elementary martial skills.

While possessed by the soul general, Tang Tian quickly found his rhythm. Though he couldn’t make every punch “flash,” he could manage one in every five or six attempts.

The soul general’s possession was time-limited; he had to seize this opportunity to engrain the physical memories. Only then, when the possession faded, would he avoid regressing to his old self.

During possession, Tang Tian inherited the card creator’s insights into Flash Fist. But these insights had been forcibly implanted—if he wanted to truly make them his own, he had to train and reflect relentlessly while the possession lasted.

He dared not waste a moment, focusing his mind and delving deep.

With the wisdom of predecessors at hand, learning martial skills became far easier. Though teachers could impart knowledge, they could not, like the soul general card, directly convey the sensation of practicing a technique. The popularity of soul general cards was directly related to this advantage.

Bronze cards gave the shortest duration of possession—only three days. Silver cards lasted a month, and gold cards up to a year.

Tang Tian continued to punch, painstakingly studying the mechanics of force, utterly immersed.

Punch after punch, his spirited shouts echoed.

He repeated the cycle: punching, pondering, exhausting his strength, meditating to restore himself, then starting again. The space behind the luminous door was wondrous—though he felt tired, he never grew hungry.

Three days slipped by before he knew it.

Tang Tian’s body jolted. That strange sense of unfamiliar familiarity vanished.

He looked up, dazed, and let out a long breath. It was his first time training for so long—three days without a moment’s rest, save for meditation.

He opened his hand, hardly able to believe he’d achieved so much.

Clenching his fist, a ripple of a smile spread across his lips, his teeth flashing white, his face radiant as sunshine.

Raising both arms high, Tang Tian embraced the sky, shouting with all his might.

“Tang Tian! You will become stronger! You will!”

Suddenly, a line of red text appeared before his eyes. He paused, lowered his arms, and read carefully.

“‘Flash Fist,’ Second Tier. Number of perfect executions required for mastery: 200,000. Number required to master the killing move: 400,000.”

“Hard training mode activated. Duration: Ten days.”

What—

Tang Tian was stunned, but quickly understood. When training basic fist techniques, he had needed to complete 200,000 perfect punches to attain mastery.

There’s a killing move!

He was instantly elated.

Bronze cards were the lowest tier; their martial skills were vague and their insights shallow, so it was impossible to comprehend a killing move from them. Only silver and gold cards included such moves.

Who would have thought this luminous door would allow him to grasp a killing move!

Killing moves were precious—any martial skill’s killing move was far more powerful than its standard techniques, and some could even rival higher-tier martial skills.

As for the 400,000 Flash Fists—Tang Tian didn’t even blink. Enduring some hardship to learn a killing move—where else could you get such fortune?

He’d hit the jackpot!