After the grey-robed elder showed him how, Xiao Wuchen was eager to practise his advanced-level lightness skill. He knew that the advanced-level mortal-grade "Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow" was much better than any martial arts he had learned before, and he had to master it as soon as possible. When he got back to his room, he sat down and used all the martial arts he had learned to master the new technique. "System, improve the martial arts training on 'Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow', making it easy for beginners!" Martial Art: "Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow" (advanced-level Lightness Skill) Level: This is an advanced level of Mortal-grade Proficiency.
It is 1% for 60% of the Realm. Entering the Inner Chamber Effect: It moves easily and quickly, with a lot of energy in the soles of the feet. It is also quiet, so it can cross difficult terrain very quickly. Consumption: 800 points of **[Martial Arts Experience]**
Xiao Wuchen felt a wave of movement paths and changes in body technique flood into his mind. These merged instantly into his muscle memory. He felt as if his legs had become full of energy, making them feel flexible and explosive. He got up and moved around the room easily. He was very light on his feet and quiet. He could control his strength, making the air swirl beneath his feet — like walking on snow without leaving a trace. "With this new ability, I will be able to move and hide much more easily, which will help me to complete dangerous missions within the Rootless Sect."
A Mission You Didn't See Coming
On the morning of the third day, the military officer in charge of assigning tasks found Xiao Wuchen.
"Xiao Wuchen, you have done very well. You have been given a special mission. There was some strange activity last night in a 'secret vault' in the sect, where important account books are stored. We need to send someone who can move quickly and quietly to check things out."
The officer spoke quietly and said, "You just need to sneak into the building, check if anything has been stolen, and get a 'code jade pendant' from the vault. Take it to the General Manager's office without letting anyone know. This is a very important matter; please be very careful."
Xiao Wuchen felt his heart beat faster. The secret vault must contain the most important secrets of the Rootless Sect. This mission was very dangerous, but it was also a great chance for him to show how strong he had become.
"Disciple obeys."
The Secret Vault was infiltrated at night.
As night fell, Xiao Wuchen followed the route provided by the military officer to a quiet house behind the Wugen Sect's mountain. The secret vault was hidden in a hidden room under the house.
The house was protected by many guards, but to Xiao Wuchen, who had mastered the *Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow* technique, the guards were like puppets.
He used his lightness skill, which made him disappear into a blurry shadow.
To get over walls, he lightly touched the ground with his toes, his inner strength concentrated in the soles of his shoes, his whole body moving like a falling snowflake, using the wall as a way to jump over it without making a noise.
While walking through the forest, he used the special turning techniques from the book Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow, making sure to avoid all the guards' blind spots. He was much faster than Flying Swallow Through Willows, but he didn't make any noise.
He got past all the guards and found the hidden door to the safe.
Behind the hidden door, there was a long, narrow, and creepy stone staircase. At the end of the staircase was a heavy iron door. There were three big padlocks and a lot of complicated mechanisms on the iron door.
Xiao Wuchen took out the key given to him by the military officer. It was made especially for this purpose. He took a deep breath and unlocked the locks very slowly and carefully. The exact control he had perfected in his **"Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha"** was now on display; his fingers moved as accurately and calmly as the tip of a sword.
Click! Click! Click!
I heard three soft clicks, and the iron door opened, but the hinges didn't make any noise.
A scary secret vault and the shock of an internal force.
The secret vault smelt of old ink and dust. The shelves were full of thick books, letters and files.
Xiao Wuchen found the hidden stone platform where the "code jade pendant" was kept by following the instructions.
Just as he reached for the pendant, a cold voice suddenly came from a corner:
"Ha ha, you came quickly. I thought the steward's mansion wouldn't discover it until at least sunrise."
Xiao Wuchen spun around, only to see a person dressed in black standing in the shadows, holding a shiny short knife, the tip pointed directly at his heart.
"Who are you?!" Xiao Wuchen asked, his energy levels reaching a high point.
"Someone who noticed the disturbance here before you did." The figure grinned cruelly, moving like a ghost towards Xiao Wuchen. He held a short knife in his hand, and it moved in a sharp arc.
The dark figure was clearly good at martial arts, and he was very clever and cruel with his knife. But he was up against Xiao Wuchen, who had mastered the **"Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow"** technique.
Xiao Wuchen didn't back down, but went on the attack. He moved quickly, as if gliding on ice, and got away from the short sword's attack range. His figure spun around the dark figure, moving quickly but in a way that was hard to follow.
"Too slow!" Xiao Wuchen thought to himself.
He took a chance, getting closer to the dark figure. The dark figure was shocked and quickly took back his sword.
But Xiao Wuchen's sword finger was already out! He used the speed of "Seeking Plum Blossoms in the Snow" in "Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha," his fingertip gathering internal energy and forcefully hitting the dark figure's wrist holding the sword.
"Pfft!"
The finger strike was faster than the sword, hitting the shadowy figure's wrist hard. The strong energy inside directly broke the shadowy figure's wrist bone. The short sword fell to the ground with a loud 'clatter'.
The dark figure looked like he was in pain and about to cry out.
Xiao Wuchen's eyes flashed angrily. Without stopping to think, he cut the back of the figure's neck quickly with his sword.
"Bang!"
The dark figure groaned and fell to the ground, completely unconscious.
Mission completed! We've made an unexpected discovery.
Breathing heavily, Xiao Wuchen dragged the person to a corner and quickly took the special pendant from the stone platform.
While looking around the secret vault, he found a hidden compartment that had been pried open in a corner. He went over and found several ledgers missing.
"Sure enough, someone got in, and it wasn't the same person who was there before. He must have come later, intending to steal something." Xiao Wuchen understood.
He didn't make a sound, tidied up the vault, and then, with the jade pendant and the figure, quietly left along the same route.
He tied the figure up and secretly put him in a storage room that no one knew about. After that, he gave the coded jade pendant to the contact waiting at the entrance of the steward's mansion.
"Mission accomplished. The jade pendant is here." Xiao Wuchen spoke calmly and in a composed way.
The man looked closely at the jade pendant and looked a bit shocked and surprised. "You finished so quickly? And you didn't tell anyone?"
"Yes, someone stole from the secret vault. I've caught a suspicious intruder, who is currently being held in secret."
When he heard this, the contact looked at Xiao Wuchen as if he were a rare treasure.
Report back to the Chief Steward's Mansion
The next morning, the Chief Steward's Mansion was informed straight away about Xiao Wuchen's excellent completion of the secret vault mission and the capture of the suspect.
Even the Chief Steward Bixie, who was high-ranking, mysterious and authoritative, heard of this.
In his excellent book, Chief Steward Bixie listened to his helper's report on Xiao Wuchen, smiling.
"A new apprentice, able to get past all the guards, sneak in quietly, and even fight off a not-so-weak thug... He does have some talent in 'Purple Qi Comes from the East' and lightness skill."
The Chief Steward, Bixie, played with his teacup, speaking quietly: "Go, bring the shadowy figure he captured here. I am going to question him myself. Also, tell the Grey-Robed Elder."
"Tell the Grey-Robed Elder that the promising talent he's interested in is mine."
When he heard this, his trusted aide, who was standing to the side, looked very shocked.
The pressure of the bottleneck and his yearning for greater power ultimately caused Xiao Wuchen to cross the line. He knew that, in an organisation like the Rootless Sect, power was the foundation of survival.
'I'm just testing it,' he told himself. 'Just testing the effectiveness of the "Path Against Heaven". I will never succumb.'
To test the effectiveness of the 'evil deeds' points system, Xiao Wuchen targeted Eunuch Sun, a high-ranking eunuch who frequently bullied him. However, Eunuch Sun was a notorious villain, so attacking him would not carry as much psychological weight.
Xiao Wuchen began meticulous preparation, reviewing the techniques marked as "flawed" or "evil" in the system's suggestions. The system recommended an 'evil' attack method that would maximise evil deeds points.
Among the martial arts of Purple Qi, there was a sword technique called Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha, which had an elegant name but extremely insidious internal energy backlash techniques. The system specifically highlighted one move: 'Buddha's Wrath: Heart-Plucking', whose internal energy flow was unpredictable. If it struck an opponent, it could instantly cause internal energy chaos, but the user would also suffer a slight backlash.
Xiao Wuchen lay in wait at night in Eunuch Sun's secluded courtyard.
The night wind howled and dark clouds obscured the moonlight. When the drunken Eunuch Sun returned, Xiao Wuchen moved.
He didn't use his refined 'pressure point' technique, which emphasised precision and restraint, as that would only incur a slight penalty. Instead, he chose the system-recommended, viciously powerful "Buddha's Wrath Heart-Pulling".
A sword thrust out, internal energy erupting in a twisted manner as it headed straight for Eunuch Sun's chest.
"Who?!"
After all, Eunuch Sun was a high-ranking eunuch and his martial arts were formidable. Sensing the danger, he swung his long weapon instinctively to block. The weapons clashed, producing a piercing scraping sound. Eunuch Sun was struck by the vicious 'evil' force within Xiao Wuchen's internal energy. He staggered and spat blood, but did not die on the spot.
'Xiao Wuchen! How dare you..." Eunuch Sun roared in terror and rage.
The fierce yet brief fight took place in the darkness. Just as their inner strength clashed and their weapons crossed, Eunuch Sun's weapon accidentally wounded an innocent palace maid who was carrying a bucket of water.
His heavy, long weapon grazed her body as he parried; the bucket shattered and she collapsed like a broken willow branch, blood instantly spreading across the cold ground.
Sun Wuchen was made to abruptly stop by this scene. He saw the terrified and bewildered look in her eyes; she hadn't even had time to scream.
'No... don't come any closer...' Seizing the opportunity, Eunuch Sun struggled to his feet and fled in panic.
Xiao Wuchen didn't give chase; he was rooted to the spot. He wanted to rush over and save her, but as he took a step, he watched helplessly as her breathing stopped and the light went out of her eyes.
He couldn't save her.
The stench of blood filled the air, causing Xiao Wuchen's heart to clench painfully. He felt immense guilt and remorse. He had only intended to teach Eunuch Sun a lesson — he should have earned his evil deeds points for harming the 'perpetrator', not for the death of an innocent person! Just as he was overwhelmed with anguish, the system's cold notification sounded again. This time, it was not a warning, but a cruel 'reward': [Detected the loss of an innocent life. Evil Deeds Points +50. The 'Purple Qi Comes from the East' cultivation technique has advanced by 15%; the path of defying the heavens has officially begun!' Those 50 Evil Deeds Points were etched deeply into his soul like a brand. This was the first time he had felt the immense power and heavy burden of morality. He had successfully advanced the cultivation of 'Purple Qi', and the stagnant internal energy barrier within his body had noticeably loosened. However, he had also become a bloodstained person, with the lives of innocents on his hands. Xiao Wuchen staggered away from the scene. He knew that if he continued on the path of "defying the heavens" in martial arts, his future would be filled with bloodshed. He needed a way to balance the immense guilt and ever-increasing evil he felt within him. Story transition: Following this incident, Xiao Wuchen, burdened by inner turmoil and a thirst for power, accepted the main quest 'Seize the Secret Scroll' in Chapter 7. He had to gain merit points through the main quest in order to try to balance his inner self and avoid a complete descent into evil.