Chapter Seven: The Path of Severed Hearts

Liu Tian was startled to his core. Before he could even process what had happened, the swift and urgent fist of Tiandao was already at his face.

Boom!

Unable to mount any defense, the powerful force surged through his visage and spread across his entire body, sending his six-foot, two-hundred-pound frame flying through the air.

"Damn it!" Warm liquid trickled from his nostrils. As Liu Tian climbed to his feet and wiped his nose with his arm, a crimson smear appeared starkly against his bronze skin.

He had never expected that the first injury he would suffer since arriving in this world would come at the hands of his own master, Tiandao.

"Master, couldn't you at least give a warning before you hit me?"

Although the aura around Tiandao had not yet dissipated, Liu Tian understood that since he hadn't been killed by that blow, Tiandao had no intention of truly harming him. As he had said before, he wanted Liu Tian to face the Heavenly Martial Killing Path with his own body, to learn its essence as quickly as possible.

This was the first time Liu Tian had seen his master in such a state.

Such powerful and domineering Tiandao.

Even when teaching him the Heavenly Martial Fist in his memories, Tiandao had never shown such intensity—at most, he would become silent, then return the next day.

And ever since the war marks vanished from Tiandao’s face eight years ago, he had grown endlessly patient and attentive, always wearing a smile, never minding how often his disciple failed or how slowly he progressed.

This patience was the very reason Liu Tian, with talent only slightly above average, could master the Heavenly Martial Fist.

The Heavenly Martial Fist, which drew from the strengths of a hundred schools, would have been impossible for Liu Tian—whose talent was far from exceptional—to master before the age of eighteen, unless he had the founder himself guiding him with infinite patience and care. Mere effort alone, even to the utmost, was still within the realm of the ordinary. For Liu Tian to achieve such accomplishments at his age, barring cheats or miracles, it could only have come from risking his life with ample resources at his disposal.

"Will your enemy wait for you to be ready?" Tiandao, still maintaining the fierce, wild, and overwhelming demeanor he had summoned from his own memories to ensure his teachings did not stray from the true Heavenly Martial Killing Path, did not forget to offer guidance: "I will only use strength less than yours. Abandon hesitation. Abandon overthinking."

"Fight with everything you have! Battle, battle, battle!"

"Meet the first path of my Heavenly Martial Killing Path with your entire mind and body—the Severing Heart Path!"

At the very moment Tiandao spoke, Liu Tian seized his chance. Just as Tiandao had said, he acted without hesitation, launching his strongest, most devoted attack—the Heavenly Martial Giant Shark Fist.

With the martial artist’s ability to mobilize all his strength in an instant, even a brief acceleration brought the Giant Shark Fist to its peak.

Ever since he had killed, and after Tiandao had told him that the driving force of the Heavenly Martial Fist must be killing intent and the will to dominate, Liu Tian had incorporated killing intent into his technique.

Because Liu Tian had not yet had the chance to strengthen his body after his breakthrough, the power he could now exert was only marginally greater than before. Yet, when he infused his attack with killing intent, the strength of the Giant Shark Fist, which he thought had reached its limit, surged once more.

And Liu Tian gained an insight: even if the power and speed were the same, a Heavenly Martial Giant Shark Fist with ‘spirit’ would always suppress one without. With killing intent, he could fight two, even three, of himself without it.

But faced with such power, and with Liu Tian seizing the moment for a silent strike, Tiandao—who had promised to use only lesser strength and to control himself so as not to inflict serious injury—could he withstand it?

Of course he could! And with ease!

The moment Liu Tian’s fist reached the point of no return, unable to alter its trajectory, Tiandao, as if he had foreseen everything, shifted perfectly, not with speed but with precision, just enough to avoid the powerless blow. Then—

Sever!

The first path of the Heavenly Martial Killing Path—the Severing Heart Path.

With Liu Tian’s defenses wide open, Tiandao’s left fist struck directly at the critical node of his exertion, dispersing and disrupting his force with strength weaker than Liu Tian’s. Then, with his right fist, which had long been poised to strike, Tiandao sent Liu Tian flying like a helpless puppet, slamming him into the wall.

The force was so great that the training chamber, built of blue stone and earthen bricks, trembled slightly. Liu Tian, plastered against the wall, only slowly slid to the ground after a brief pause.

"When facing someone with greater stamina but lesser strength, attacking is correct, but unless absolutely necessary, never exhaust all your power." Tiandao advised, "You cannot know if your opponent has already seen through your moves and prepared in advance."

"If they have, then you have been lured into a trap."

"Attacking with nothing held back is when your defense is weakest. If you are deceived at that moment, you will die!"

As he listened to his master’s words, Liu Tian clutched his chest and slowly rose from the ground.

His face shifted between pale and blue, and he felt utterly drained, as if the force that had once surged through his whole body had been scattered by Tiandao’s blow. Taking advantage of this moment, he worked to steady his breath and asked, "Master, was that punch just now the Severing Heart Path of the Heavenly Martial Killing Path?"

"That’s right. The first path—the Severing Heart Path. Its secret lies in striking at the heart of one’s power, shattering the core of their strength. The victim’s energy becomes disordered; ten parts of strength can barely muster three. It is especially effective against those who have not trained hardening arts and who attack with everything they have, leaving nothing in reserve."

Of course Liu Tian knew exactly whom Tiandao meant by ‘especially effective.’ Embarrassed, he said nothing in his defense, focusing instead on calming his breath. Now he understood why Tiandao insisted that experiencing the Killing Path with one’s body was the best way to learn.

For mortal-shaped beings without special energies, the core of power is much the same—chest, heart, legs, spine. When you are battered day after day and your strength is scattered, you naturally learn how to scatter another’s force.

Moreover, the Heavenly Martial Fist itself was born from the Killing Path, and Liu Tian had a solid foundation. With a few more defeats and experiences, he would naturally master this killing technique.

But the process would be nothing short of agonizing. And this was only the first killing technique of the Heavenly Martial Killing Path—who knew how many more awaited?

If there were too many, would he survive to learn them all? And why was Master in such a hurry?

Imagining the countless beatings that were sure to come, Liu Tian’s face twisted in bitterness, and a phantom pain swept over him—pain that seemed to encompass his whole body.

But before he could think of a plan, Tiandao, already impatient, moved in again. "Good disciple, let’s start with a hundred rounds today!"

"No, please!"

His agonized cry pierced the soundproof walls of the training chamber, startling the children who were eavesdropping outside the door.

"What are Master and Senior Brother doing in there? They just won’t come out—even our fathers are here to pick us up..." Piglet scratched his head. As the last one left, ready to say farewell, he realized Master and Senior Brother wouldn’t emerge for a while. No longer interested in the martial-obsessed pair inside, he turned and ran into his father’s embrace. "Daddy, Daddy, let me tell you..."