Chapter 1089: Great Compassion Heavenly Demon Palm

“Take Ancient Sage Qiu Wu as a disciple?”

Wu Shi and the others all twitched their lips, then shook their heads. Not a single one believed him.

It was hardly surprising. Ancient Sage Qiu Wu was an exceptionally powerful figure, a contemporary of Confucius. Even the current Hall Master of the Master Teacher Pavilion, a true 9-star master teacher, would respectfully address him as 'senior,' not daring to utter a single disrespectful or presumptuous word.

Yet, Master Zhang claimed he wanted to take him as a disciple. Was he serious? If he had really said that, Ancient Sage Qiu Wu would probably have slapped him dead.

Seeing their expressions, Zhang Xuan knew they didn't believe him. But he couldn't be bothered to explain; he preferred to keep a low profile, and their disbelief was actually ideal, saving him a lot of trouble.

‘Let’s keep studying. Since an assessment was left, there must be a way to solve it!’ Not wishing to dwell on the matter, Zhang Xuan waved his hand and continued to examine the stone tablet before him.

Using his Eye of Insight, he discerned that the stone tablets' material wasn't special. They were merely ordinary rocks, perhaps a bit harder than usual, allowing them to last longer. There was nothing unique about them, so their material offered no clues.

It seemed the answer lay in the text itself. Yet, these inscriptions involved multiple languages; even if translated, their meaning remained incomprehensible. What exactly did they signify?

Unable to resist, he stepped closer and ran his fingers along the stone tablet. Instantly, a corresponding book appeared in his mind. He quickly opened it.

‘Bluish-gray stone tablet, carved by Ancient Sage Qiu Wu. Contains the complete cultivation method for the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm, with twenty-seven flaws. First, this cultivation method is overly affected by emotions, requiring a buildup before combat; otherwise, one cannot unleash its full power, making it unsuitable for fast-paced battles. Second, it demands an extremely high level of true qi…’

The book meticulously listed every single flaw of the cultivation method.

‘So, there really is a cultivation method…’ His eyes lit up. It seemed Ancient Sage Qiu Wu hadn't deceived them; these stone tablets truly were a form of assessment.

He quickly finished the book, then scratched his head. He had seen all the flaws and knew the name of the cultivation method, but… he still couldn't understand the cultivation technique itself!

Knowing only the flaws without the actual technique was like knowing the symptoms of a disease but having no patient to treat. For him, it meant no problem had been solved.

He needed to find a way to understand the meaning of the inscriptions on the stone tablet and fully comprehend the cultivation method.

He stopped consulting the book and focused his gaze back on the stone tablet.

The dense characters still made his eyes ache, and reading them brought no understanding.

‘Wait, if I can’t understand it directly, I can use the flaws to reverse-engineer the technique…’ Suddenly, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up as an idea sparked in his mind.

Observing it normally would mean deciphering beast language, ancient divine language, Spirit Devil language, and many other scripts. Fully translating them would take a tremendous amount of time, let alone completely understanding them.

Furthermore, since the assessment was supposedly for comprehension, simply translating the text wouldn't be enough to reveal the cultivation method; there had to be more to it.

Instead of struggling this way, it would be better to… use the flaws to reverse-engineer the cultivation method! Though difficult, if successful, he could potentially derive the complete technique.

‘Everyone, does anyone have cultivation manuals for palm techniques? Could you lend them to me?’ With this thought, Zhang Xuan no longer hesitated and looked around at the others.

‘Palm technique manuals?’ Everyone seemed puzzled, not understanding why.

The priority was to study the stone tablets left by the Ancient Sage; what did he need palm technique manuals for?

‘I have many here, all copied from the Palm Technique Hall!’ Though puzzled, everyone still nodded. Jiang Yuan was the first to pull out a pile of manuals, easily several hundred volumes. Battle Masters specialized in various forms of combat, meticulously researching palm power, fist power, spear arts, and sword arts. Thus, most of them possessed numerous palm technique manuals.

‘I do too!’ Feng Xun also produced a stack. Soon, the Battle Master Hall's collected palm technique manuals numbered two to three thousand volumes.

‘I don’t have as many as them, but their quality isn’t low…’ Wu Shi and President Han chuckled simultaneously, collectively offering over a dozen volumes. Most of these palm techniques were Saint-tier and extremely valuable, but since Zhang Xuan wanted to see them, no one offered any objection.

‘Thank you,’ Zhang Xuan nodded, then looked over the manuals, quickly committing all of them to his mind.

‘All palm technique manuals… merge!’ A soft hum echoed in his mind. Countless books soared, and along with the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm he had just seen on the stone tablet, they coalesced. *Whoosh!* A brand new book appeared before him.

He quickly took it and gently flipped it open. ‘Sure enough, many of the flaws in the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm have been corrected…’ After scanning it, Zhang Xuan’s fist tightened. Just as he’d expected, merging so many palm technique manuals had significantly reduced the flaws in the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm. There were twenty-seven before; now there were only nine. In other words, more than half had been resolved.

However, the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm was, after all, a higher-tier technique. Even with the thousands of books provided by everyone, combined with those he had previously studied, not all its flaws could be resolved.

‘Let’s see if I can cultivate it first…’ He reviewed the newly merged cultivation method in his mind, then shook his head. Although only nine flaws remained, bringing it closer to a Heaven’s Path cultivation art, it was still incomplete without the actual cultivation technique.

In other words, the parts where the flaws had been corrected were clear and coherent. However, the sections corresponding to the remaining flaws were still chaotic and unintelligible.

‘Let’s cross-reference it…’ Keeping the corrected parts in mind, Zhang Xuan looked at the corresponding stone tablet, but found himself still utterly confused. It was as if there was no connection whatsoever.

It was like… having the answer key but still not understanding the question.

‘These characters don’t seem to have any relation to the cultivation method…’ After another period of study, Zhang Xuan’s face was filled with frustration.

Throughout his career, he had always been able to easily identify flaws in any cultivation method using the Library of Heaven’s Path, astonishing everyone. Now, however, even with the 'answer key,' he couldn't comprehend the inscriptions on the stone tablet… The thought alone was incredibly frustrating.

‘Forget it, two hours have already passed… If all else fails, I’ll just present the eighteen corrected flaws to Ancient Sage Qiu Wu and see if I pass the assessment anyway?’ Zhang Xuan rubbed his temples, a thought crossing his mind.

He couldn't even make sense of it with the 'answer key,' leaving him feeling helpless. If he truly couldn't figure it out… he would just present the eighteen corrected techniques to Ancient Sage Qiu Wu. What if… the Ancient Sage wasn’t expecting so much and simply let him pass?

As this thought occurred, he stood up, intending to call out to the Ancient Sage. Suddenly, his eyes caught something in a corner of the stone tablet. The characters in that corner were composed entirely of Spirit Devil script, densely packed. He hadn't understood them before, but as he abruptly stood, he felt a momentary blur, and the characters seemed to shimmer like runes.

This sensation was similar to the special runes he had seen inscribed on the walls beneath King Qingye’s domain in the Subterranean Galleries.

‘Could it be… that these aren’t just characters, but runes?’ A sudden realization dawned upon him, stirring his heart.

Simply understanding the characters, even with the correct answers, had been useless. But what if they were viewed as runes?

He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked again. With this new perspective, the myriad different characters seemed to float off the stone tablet, forming interconnected runes.

These runes seemed to depict the circulation method of true qi, slowly flowing within his body.

‘Let me try cultivating it…’ Having understood the complete circulation path of the cultivation method, Zhang Xuan concentrated, and his true qi began to flow slowly along the depicted path.

*Creak! Creak!* His Heaven’s Path True Qi was incomparably potent, instantly clearing the acupoints it traversed. As it flowed through the cultivation method, any flawed sections automatically adapted to the corrected version he had previously formed.

His entire body vibrated with crackling sounds. ‘So this is how the Great Compassionate Demonic Palm is cultivated…’ Soon, his true qi completed a full cycle within his body, and he had completely mastered the palm technique.

Because of its numerous flaws, this palm technique hadn't been fully perfected into a Heaven's Path cultivation art. Its grade wasn't particularly high, only mid-tier Saint. Other Sub-Sages would find it impossible to master, and even experts at Saint realm third or fourth stage would struggle greatly to learn it.

However, he cultivated the Conferred Sage Decipherment, granting him endless true qi. Coupled with the incredibly pure Heaven’s Path True Qi and the eighteen corrected positions, he actually managed to cultivate this palm technique to the minor accomplishment stage.

Martial techniques are categorized into: Basic, Proficient, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and Perfect Mastery.

‘With so many flaws, reaching minor accomplishment is sufficient for now. I’ll visit the Battle Master Hall’s Palm Technique Hall when I have a chance, find more books, and then perfect it into a Heaven’s Path Palm Art before continuing…’ He stretched, then stood up.

This palm technique had far too many flaws. Fortunately, these flaws only diminished its power and demanded an immense amount of true qi for cultivation, rather than causing any physical harm. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have bothered to cultivate it.

‘It’s too unrefined…’ he sighed.

This was probably the most flawed cultivation method he had ever practiced since he began cultivating. The thought of it made him feel a little ashamed.

‘Master Zhang, how is it going?’ Seeing that he seemed to have made a breakthrough, Wu Shi and the others eagerly looked over.

They had been studying for a long time, accumulating many insights and translating numerous unusual characters. Yet, so far, they had gained nothing.

‘The stone tablet contains a palm technique. Not only have I deciphered it, but I’ve also practiced it for a bit…’ Zhang Xuan nodded.

‘A palm technique?’

‘And you practiced it?’

Everyone stared in disbelief. All they had seen was a chaotic jumble of characters, yet this person before them had not only identified it as a palm technique but had also cultivated it… His comprehension was simply defying the heavens!

‘A palm technique? You’ve already figured it out?’ *Boom!* Just as Zhang Xuan was about to speak, a roar erupted from the ground before them. The statue of Ancient Sage Qiu Wu, which they had previously seen, flew in from the sky and landed heavily on the ground, gazing at the young man with a hint of bewilderment. The assessment he had left behind was extraordinarily difficult. Even the most gifted among his students would have needed at least several months to decipher it, yet this young man had done so in less than three hours… Could someone truly possess such profound comprehension?