Chapter 354 - - 352 Alternative Path of a Grandmaster_1

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These days,

Duge had been formulating basic policies for the livelihood of the people.

He also introduced the popularization of vernacular Chinese, incorporating modern poetry, sketching, oil painting, and other new artistic concepts.

Following the “Linyang Daily Newspaper,” Duge successively launched magazines such as “Livelihood,” “Art,” “Enlightenment,” “Thought Trend,” “Women’s Special Edition,” and so on.

He attempted to influence society from various aspects and lead the trends.

However, compared with the astrological culture he previously promoted, Duge’s efforts this time had limited success.

In the three cities of Linyang, Linjiang, and Jiangbei near the border, there were too few usable talents, and even with the assistance of powerful figures like the State Preceptor, it was hard to sustain so many new thought movements.

Moreover, at this time, with Lin Qing’s army pressing down on the border, the citizens of the three cities were in a state of unrest.

Linjiang and Jiangbei, both troubled by their city lords having mental issues, were even more worried. The panicked citizens simply had no mind to embrace new arts and new ideas…

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Realizing that the current environment was not suitable for new thought movements, Duge turned all his attention to the upcoming war.

Anyway, his attributes were improving by leaps and bounds every day, so he didn’t need to specifically grind for them anymore.

Nowadays, the thing Duge did most was to write horoscopes and then publish them in the “Linyang Daily Newspaper.”

Here were some examples:

“Sagittarius today’s fortune: Five stars.

Overall fortune:

Your overall fortune is super awesome, and your charm and talent seem to have peaked. You will have new growth in every field, and whether it’s work or business, it will be as if you’re assisted by the gods. Believe in your own ability and potential, and you will receive rich results and rewards;

Love fortune:

You will attract the admiration of all the opposite sex around you, bringing you ease and pleasure throughout the day. No member of the opposite sex will reject your propositions…

Career fortune:

Difficulties you encounter in your work will be easily solved. Those enemies who leave you helpless won’t even require your action, as various accidents will happen to them;

When you calm your mind to practice martial arts, you will easily comprehend some insights that were previously unreachable, allowing you to easily step into the next realm…”

What is cheating?

This is cheating!

Deliberately creating fortune, achieving more with less effort.

Apart from Duge, Huangfu Yue, Luo Shuang, the State Preceptor, Huangfu Xing, Xiang Li, Ge Zong, Guan Feipeng, and other capable aides of Duge, had been enjoying five-star fortunes every day these days.

And when it comes to fortune, it’s all about sincere belief.

Veterans like Huangfu Xing were more concerned about the upcoming war each day and believed more in themselves than in the nebulous concept of fortune.

Even though Duge reminded them that they had good fortune these days and and should seize the time to cultivate,

the stubborn ones didn’t take the divination to heart at all, so their cultivation improvements were not significant.

Even alien warriors like Xiang Li and Ge Zong didn’t really believe in the fortunes Duge had fabricated.

After all, fortune has its highs and lows.

Could it be possible that every day it was just their people who were lucky?

They would rather believe that this was just a small psychological technique used by Duge to boost their own confidence, or simply a lucky charm.

Since trend was the second keyword, Duge couldn’t overtly tell them that it was a skill he had awakened.

Therefore,

their improvements were merely attribute-related, without any significant leaps either.

However, Luo Shuang and Huangfu Yue, one enamored with Duge and the other a staunch believer in astrological fortunes,

in just over ten days, Luo Shuang had broken through to the Innate realm, while Huangfu Yue had stepped into the Half-Step Grandmaster Realm, their powers improving drastically.

There were also some soldiers in the army who were just as superstitious about their horoscopes.

After their breakthroughs, their belief in the power of horoscopes only deepened.

As for the State Preceptor, who had long seen Duge’s potential, he followed Duge’s steps in silent cultivation and made a leap forward in his abilities, but how much exactly he had improved was unknown to anyone but himself.

The one who had made the most significant improvement was Duge; he knew his skills.

Moreover, these days, alien warriors from various planets had been learning from him to call upon friends and wreak havoc on the entire alien battlefield, rapidly enhancing his attributes.

With the two combined,

he had actually managed to achieve the Grandmaster Realm.

It was only then that Duge understood why the Grandmaster Realm was not achieved through Cultivation Technique.

In the Innate Realm, True Qi flows endlessly within the body;

but upon entering the Grandmaster Realm, True Qi could no longer be described in terms of quantity. It was more like mastering a rule, an indescribable feeling, somewhat similar to the Sea God’s Power, yet different from it.

Like Cao Lin’s Way of Killing, when he adhered to it, one slash could sever rivers, producing sword qi hundreds of meters long.

But once he strayed from the intent of slaughter, he could no longer unleash sword qi of a hundred meters.

Simply put, Cao Lin’s Way of Killing was all offense and no defense…

The State Preceptor’s Way of Nature was the same, invincible when merged with nature; once detached from that state, his strength would greatly diminish.

This was why the State Preceptor rarely took action—his Way of Nature was not suited to slaughter.

After stepping into the Grandmaster Realm, Duge also understood why a Grandmaster could easily determine the outcome of a war, yet rarely appear on the battlefield.

Once they left their Martial Path Realm, they too might become lambs to the slaughter on the battlefield.

As for the higher and more profound Great Grandmaster Realm, even the State Preceptor could not explain it clearly. Duge was even less aware, perhaps the Qinglan Sword Saint knew, but at this time, Duge could hardly care about the Qinglan Sword Sect.

However,

the Martial Path that Duge comprehended was somewhat strange.

As a Grandmaster who had gained insight through the Sea God’s Power and the Way of Water, he couldn’t clearly define what path he had comprehended.

He only knew that at the moment of Enlightenment Dao, he could control the air just as he controlled the flow of water.

Duge had initially thought he had become the god of air and would henceforth reign supreme.

But immediately afterward, he discovered that his control over the air was nothing like in the water.

The air he controlled was more like wind blades, or perhaps, air snakes.

The wind blades were used to strip the opponent’s clothes, while the air snakes sought out holes like flowing water…

To be precise,

the Grandmaster Path Duge had grasped had copied the techniques of water control.

Because the nature of air differs from water and he couldn’t fully control it, the bizarre air snakes and wind blades emerged…

This discovery left Duge somewhat frustrated.

He felt that if this continued, he would inevitably gain the nickname of the Clothing-Stripping Mad Demon.

If Xiang Li of the Earth Tease Army and Ge Zong of the Earth Alien Army were added to the mix, once Luo Shuang truly seized power, who knew what sort of cultural trend the country might develop!

After all,

he possessed the skill of ascending and descending effects.

People of lower positions would unconsciously imitate his behavior.

Duge previously didn’t realize why Huangfu Yue’s spear technique seemed to be heading in an indecent direction.

Now, he completely understood where Huangfu Yue’s changes had come from!

In fact,

The one more frustrated than Duge was the State Preceptor, his sparring partner.

Unlike with water, the wind blades and Air Cannons were completely invisible, detectable only through perception and therefore extremely difficult to guard against. A moment of inattention could allow Duge to exploit an opening.

The top didn’t matter; once the defenses below were breached, any nature of the Way of Nature would be shattered within minutes, leaving him at Duge’s mercy.

The State Preceptor couldn’t fathom how Duge had managed to comprehend such a Martial Path; it really was too much.

Even when Duge asked him to come up with an appropriate name for the Martial Path, he couldn’t do it.

But now, having been easily stripped to the waist by Duge, the State Preceptor was beginning to believe that the keyword for Duge was indeed ’torture'.

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