Hunyuan!

A copper coin! And a "flawless" copper coin at that! Perhaps precisely because of this prefix, the "mimetic information readout" that followed no longer contained the word "elementary" as it had the first time. His Iron Hand had been obtained using a copper coin. "Option 3," Ye Huan said. An intact, bronze-colored copper coin etched with gear-shaped circular lines quietly emerged. "Instructions for use: "1. Select a target and insert the coin; "2. Obtain a projection of the target's complete life information elements, lasting 3 minutes. "3. This time, the copper coin you obtained is of a higher grade and can be used on individuals one major realm higher than you." The third clause was an addition! In other words, a "flawless" copper coin could create a mimetic projection of a Jiuyao-realm martial artist! An immense fortune! Ye Huan was overjoyed. Though it was already late into the night, he didn't feel the slightest bit sleepy. He immediately began considering whom he should use this copper coin on. Xia Luoning? She seemed to come from an exceptionally prestigious family, had joined the Taiyin Sect, placed first among the official disciples, and many years had passed since then. She was at least in the Jiuyao realm! Song Fushan? An expert known as the "Lone Wolf," who had carved his way through hundreds of pursuers and survived all on his own! He was an option too! However— As Ye Huan calmed down, he found himself hesitating. Using Taiyin Sect techniques and moves without being a disciple was a cardinal taboo in the martial world. From what he had observed during his three months of training at the Taiyin Sect, according to sect rules, anyone who stole their techniques would have them "reclaimed." Which meant being wiped out. His only option would be to learn a Taiyin Sect technique and sacrifice it for skill points to fuel other skills. Besides— What if he chose Song Fushan? He commuted and worked alongside the section chief every day. If they encountered danger one day and he used the exact same moves as the chief to fight an enemy, wouldn't he be done for on the spot? Even if he were careful, Song Fushan's techniques might not suit the Disaster-Averting Survival Skill Tree! That was far from reliable. That meant he still needed to find an unfamiliar Jiuyao-realm martial artist. Who should he find? Ye Huan fell into deep thought. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Perhaps... it could work..." Ye Huan murmured. He suddenly stood up, walked out the door, and looked down the corridor. The door to the General Affairs Office was open, its light still on. He didn't need to actually seek her out. He only had to walk past the doorway. Holding his phone and pretending to browse it, Ye Huan strode past the General Affairs Office. At that moment, several investigators happened to be walking out. Ye Huan glanced into the room with complete naturalness. In a flash. *Insert coin, choose Xia Luoning,* he chanted in his mind. The copper coin instantly vanished from before his eyes. A message immediately surfaced in his mind: "Using a 'Flawless Copper Coin' for mimetic projection only allows you to select a target one realm higher than you. "The current target was originally ineligible for projection. "However, because the target has completely restrained her power, even suppressing her spiritual force to the absolute minimum, this attempt has barely succeeded." It worked. ...Damn it, what realm was this Xia Luoning actually in? Ye Huan's heart trembled, but he quickened his pace and hurried upstairs. He returned to the rooftop. It was already midnight. The entire city was plunged into darkness, with only sparse pinpricks of light reflecting off the vast, sprawling architectural clusters, outlining their faint silhouettes. "You're here." A young girl appeared before Ye Huan. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, a baseball cap sat on her head, and she wore an oversized T-shirt, looking only seventeen or eighteen years old. —She looked quite similar to the young girl Ye Huan had seen during the Taiyin Sect entrance test. "Is the one down in the office really you?" Ye Huan couldn't help asking. "Of course! Something like that just takes a specially made mask. Don't you think I seem very mature and steady?" Xia Luoning said smugly. "Are you a mimetic projection, or her actual self?" Ye Huan asked again. "I'm a projection, of course. My tone and demeanor just now were simply me mimicking her personality—all right, our time is very short, so I'll explain everything clearly." Xia Luoning took a step forward, pressed a finger against the center of Ye Huan's brow, and said, "Most of the arts she knows are things you cannot learn. The implications are too vast and the entanglements run too deep; the moment trouble is stirred up, you're done for. "Furthermore, those arts are excessively ferocious and intense—they can't be placed onto your skill tree. "So just honestly learn the Cangshan Stance. It has profound origins and is well worth your dedication." Her finger pressed tightly against his brow. "Wait—she already explained the Cangshan Stance to me. You're going to teach it again?" Ye Huan couldn't help asking. "How vast and profound this stance technique is! "You've merely learned the beginning. In the long years of cultivation ahead, as you grow and deepen your understanding of the technique, you will encounter an endless stream of cultivation hurdles. "It's unlikely you'll be able to consult her every single day in the future. "So this time, I will impart the entirety of the Cangshan Stance to you. Moving forward, you won't need to ask anyone; all you need to do is cultivate." In an instant. A vision appeared before Ye Huan. When Xia Luoning was three years old, dedicated instructors had begun teaching her this stance technique. Spring went and autumn came. She grew year by year. During stance training, all sorts of wondrous phenomena occurred within her body. For instance, while breathing, she would feel her whole body swelling, or her limbs moving on their own, or even every joint and bone cracking and popping in succession. Even when igniting acupoints, she discovered that her acupoints differed from those of ordinary people. Whenever an anomaly arose, someone was specifically there to explain it to her. Before age seven, two young martial artists provided specialized guidance. After age seven, they were replaced by an expert of the Baji Daozang realm. After age twelve, an old man whose cultivation could not be gauged took charge of resolving questions regarding the stance technique. All of these memories and all of the key essentials of the stance training flooded into Ye Huan's mind, deeply imprinted so that he would never forget them. Yet this was not the end— All the interpretations concerning the Cangshan Stance abruptly ceased at age seventeen. Because seventeen was precisely her current age. Immediately afterward. A line of information suddenly popped up in Ye Huan's mind: "Sampling, comparing, comprehensively analyzing. "Adopting evolution path." Yes! It had been the exact same when cultivating Iron Hand! Cultivating a technique from a mimetic projection via a copper coin would directly transcend the original technique, inducing an evolutionary mutation! By cultivating Iron Hand, he had gained the Ritual Fire hidden within it. Now, the process was about to repeat itself! Ye Huan suddenly found that he had become Xia Luoning. Starting from age seventeen. He practiced the Cangshan Stance in Xia Luoning's place. Whenever a question arose, the old man beside him would explain it in detail. Years slipped by, one after another. Everything else seemed fast-forwarded; only the cultivation of the stance technique remained vivid and complete. Age twenty-seven. The person interpreting the Cangshan Stance had become a sarcophagus. "Xia Luoning" asked questions in a secret chamber, and a voice would emerge from the sarcophagus to answer. Cultivating in this manner, never ceasing for a moment. Another thirty years passed. "Xia Luoning" came before the sarcophagus once more and posed a new question. A sigh echoed from within the sarcophagus. An aged voice sounded: "There is no need to ask this old man any longer. "In this stance technique, you have already surpassed everyone. The road ahead is one you must walk alone." At this point, "Xia Luoning" turned back into Ye Huan. Decades of stance work were completely clear in his mind. Yet he still did not halt his exploration. In the time that followed, he built a hut atop a deserted snow mountain, continuing his comprehension of the Cangshan Stance within an uninhabited cavern. When thirsty, he drank melted snow. When hungry, he hunted nearby animals, curing them into strips of meat that could keep for a long time; the roots and seeds of certain plants also served as sustenance. Year after year. Until he was one hundred and twenty-eight years old, when during a stance session he finally entered the formless, selfless realm of Cangshan, his breathing and heartbeat ceasing. At this instant. He had entered the verge of death. At this moment when his lifespan had reached its end and he was about to pass away, every scene of his entire life flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. Even under such circumstances, he still closely scrutinized every single image of his stance training, not letting a single detail slip by, meticulously pondering its subtleties. Suddenly. He let out a long breath, a smile of contentment surfacing on his face as he spoke: "A miss by an inch is a loss by a thousand miles." The snow mountain cavern returned to utter tranquility. The flame of a martial artist's life extinguished just like that. Ye Huan snapped his eyes open. Xia Luoning stood right across from him. The night was peaceful. The city slumbered deeply in the darkness, utterly undisturbed by him. "How long did I practice?" Ye Huan asked. "One second," Xia Luoning said. Ye Huan nodded, remaining silent. One hundred and twenty-eight years—fleeting as passing clouds, gone in the snap of a finger. However! This was different from when he had comprehended Iron Hand. With Iron Hand, he had directly mastered it in full and comprehended the Ritual Fire within it. Cultivating the Cangshan Stance for a full one hundred and twenty-eight years, countless insights and realizations, countless expedient methods were clear to his mind. Yet he had not reached the ultimate end of this stance technique! Even after one hundred and twenty-eight years, he did not know what its pinnacle looked like. What a terrifying art! What was even more shocking was something else. At the final moment of his life, relying on the vision of the revolving lantern, he had suddenly broken free of the martial cultivation process itself, grasping the mysteries of heaven and earth to overlook the technique in its entirety—and discovered a flaw within the Cangshan Stance! This technique was indeed deep, had profound origins, and was exceptionally powerful. Yet precisely because of this, when such a magnificent, grand stance technique contained even the slightest flaw, the further one practiced it, the more impossible it became to correct the deviation. Its effect on a martial artist would gradually shift from "beneficial" to "half beneficial, half harmful," and it could not be altered! When an elephant dances, it cannot be stopped even if it goes wrong. It was none other than this. That was why on his deathbed, he had uttered the words, "A miss by an inch is a loss by a thousand miles." Ye Huan took a deep breath, composed himself, and assumed the stance right where he stood. Following the insights from right before his "death," he made minute adjustments to the technique's key formulas, weeding out the errors and incorporating the correct essentials. Minutes and seconds ticked away. Suddenly. A brand-new notification surfaced in Ye Huan's mind: "Through one hundred and twenty-eight years of arduous cultivation, you discovered the error within Cangshan Stance and, on the verge of death, completed a correction. "Returning to the real world, at the very beginning of cultivating this stance technique, you can immediately correct it and eliminate hidden perils. Drawing upon this stance technique and your full century of cultivation experience, you have elevated your stance technique to an even higher level. "Congratulations. "You have comprehended a brand-new, even more mysterious and powerful stance technique named: "Hunyuan Stance."