High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

The Star Beasts began to grow restless. They halted their charge, looking around and letting out low whimpers. A few Blade-toothed Beasts at the very front tried to retreat, but the surging pack behind them blocked their escape. The entire beast pack descended into chaos.

Xu Wuyi watched this scene, his expression remaining calm. He knew this chaos wouldn’t last long; those Great Commander Level Star Beasts would soon stabilize the situation and reorganize their offense. But he didn’t need the chaos to last long. A single instant was enough.

He loosely gripped his right hand, then suddenly clenched it tight. The invisible net covering the entire battlefield abruptly constricted at that exact moment. Every single thread of the net entangled a Star Beast. The Power of Order surged into their bodies like a tide, precisely dismantling the Rules that maintained their life functions.

But this time, the method of dismantling was completely different from before. Xu Wuyi deliberately controlled the destructive extent of the Power of Order. Unlike how he had dealt with that Ape-shaped Beast King, he didn’t destroy all the Rules. Instead, he only dismantled the core Rules that maintained their life functions—the flow of Qi and Blood, the operation of consciousness, and the transmission of perception.

As for the Rules that constituted their physical forms—the Rules maintaining their bones, scales, and flesh—he deliberately preserved them. This process was incredibly delicate, requiring exceedingly precise control over the Power of Order. The slightest carelessness could cause the entire Star Beast to completely disintegrate. However, Xu Wuyi’s two-plus months of systematic training at the Red River had made this level of control second nature to him.

Thus, an incredibly bizarre scene unfolded on the battlefield. The Star Beasts fell one after another. Yet, after falling, their bodies didn’t vanish; they remained perfectly intact where they lay. Starting with the Blade-toothed Beasts at the very front—they had charged the fastest and fell the quickest. Their ferocious bodies crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. But upon closer inspection, every single one was as unblemished as if they had merely fallen asleep.

The Star Beasts behind them were still surging forward, but they couldn’t escape the lock of that invisible net either. They collapsed one after another, falling in droves, and soon piled up into a small mountain in front of the Rift. In just two or three seconds, over two thousand Star Beasts collapsed, densely covering the entire battlefield. Those ferocious bodies, sharp fangs, and thick scales were all perfectly preserved, gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the afternoon sun.

Only those four Great Commanders remained on the battlefield. They were vastly stronger than ordinary Star Beasts and possessed a far greater resistance against the Rules. Although the invisible net had locked onto them, instantly dismantling their Life Rules required a much more concentrated force.

Xu Wuyi did not hesitate. He slightly shifted the direction of his clenched right hand. The threads of the invisible net abruptly tightened, singling out the four Great Commanders. Then, he stepped forward and drew his spear. The movement was too fast for the eye to catch. There was only a crisp metallic scrape as a flash of cold light shot out from behind his back, tracing a graceful arc in the air.

The first strike targeted the Rock Armor Commander. The beast let out an earth-shattering roar. Its thick rock armor glowed with an earthy yellow light—its defensive Rules operating at full capacity. But the moment the spear tip pierced its body, it felt its internal Life Rules begin to collapse. Its Qi and Blood no longer circulated normally, its consciousness began to blur, and its perception grew sluggish. It let out a miserable, agonizing shriek, its massive body trembling violently before crashing down. The six-meter-tall frame slammed into the earth, kicking up a sky full of dust. That thick rock armor remained completely intact, gleaming with a grayish-brown luster in the sunlight. But it had completely lost its life.

The second strike targeted the Shadow Leopard Commander. The beast’s speed was astonishing. It began to evade the exact moment Xu Wuyi struck out with his spear, transforming into a black afterimage that frantically darted across the battlefield to dodge the blow. But it couldn’t escape. Not because Xu Wuyi’s spear was too fast, but because the beast’s perception was malfunctioning. It clearly saw the spear aiming to the left, yet as it dodged, it found the tip had already pierced its right side. That discrepancy between perception and reality completely stripped it of any possibility to evade. The moment the steel pierced its hide, the same sensation welled up in its heart. Its Life Rules were dismantled, and its consciousness plunged into darkness. It didn’t even have time to let out a scream before it suffered the same fate as the Rock Armor Commander. The pitch-black Shadow Leopard Commander fell from midair, smashing into the ground motionless. Its fur was still smooth and its claws still sharp, but it was already dead.

The third strike targeted the Giant Scorpion Commander. The scorpion was already scared out of its wits. Having seen with its own eyes how the first two Great Commanders died, it knew it was absolutely no match for this human. It desperately shrank back, wanting to retreat deep into the Rift, but it couldn’t. The invisible net had long since locked onto it. No matter where it tried to hide, it could not break free from those unseen restraints. It could only watch helplessly as the long spear drew closer and closer, ultimately piercing into its body. And then its consciousness sank into eternal darkness.

The fourth strike targeted the Centipede Commander. This beast was the most cunning among the four Great Commanders. It didn’t flee, nor did it try to resist head-on. Instead, the moment Xu Wuyi thrust his spear, it curled its entire body into a tight ball, using its densely packed legs to protect its vitals. But this trick was useless. Xu Wuyi’s Spear Technique didn’t attack on a physical level, but on a Rules level. Those legs could protect its body, but they couldn’t protect the Life Rules within it. The instant the spear tip pierced through, its curled body abruptly stiffened. Then, it slowly uncoiled, slumping limply to the ground, never to move again.

Four strikes.

From start to finish, less than ten seconds had passed. All four Great Commanders were dead.

The battlefield was densely carpeted with the corpses of Star Beasts. From ordinary Star Beasts to those at the Great Commander Level, not a single one was missing. The corpses were as perfectly intact as if they had fallen asleep, without a single tear or scratch. The sunlight shone upon them, highlighting scales, fangs, and fur that all gleamed with an alluring luster.