Chapter 023: Peerless Lightness Skill

Su Jingxing admitted that the skill card "Seven Step Fist" held a special significance for him. After all, it was the foundation that allowed him to quickly establish himself upon traversing to this world. A martial artist possessing only internal energy but lacking martial arts skills could not wield much power. Furthermore, Su Jingxing despised brutes who forced themselves upon women. Therefore, when Wei Jiajia was nearly assaulted last time, he intervened and saved her. With that rescue, the scant intersection between him and the Wei family was essentially concluded. From then on, they would be familiar strangers. Since they were strangers, Su Jingxing naturally had no wish to deepen his ties with the Wei family. For this reason, he deliberately appeared before Wei Jiajia to clarify things, lest she continue to suspect and follow him. Matters like these must not be delayed or muddled. If every time he picked up a card he had to endlessly repay the deceased's debt of gratitude, how could he live his life? Not to mention other cases. Take the corpse puppet "Mei Jinju," for instance; Su Jingxing extracted his first martial card from her. If he had to repay favors, would he need to seek out the necromancer bug behind the corpse puppet to express gratitude? It made no sense! Nor was it realistic. Frankly, picking up cards from corpses and reaping rewards was simply waste utilization. If Wei Jiajia wanted to cling to him for this reason, she was overthinking it!

"...No...not interested? It's not...I'm not joking." Wei Jiajia was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly insisted, "I'm being serious."

"I'm serious too," Su Jingxing replied coldly, "I only saved you last time because I happened to be passing by. I don't want your gratitude, and I hope you won't follow me again!"

With those words, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Wei Jiajia called out anxiously, "I really want to make a deal with you, I'm not joking."

Without waiting for Su Jingxing's response, she continued, "You've learned my family's 'Seven Step Fist,' so you know how powerful it is. But in truth, the Wei family possesses an even more advanced martial art called 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon,' a peerless lightness skill."

"The deal I'm proposing is to exchange 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon' for a certain number of times you'll help the Wei family!"

Su Jingxing halted.

Eight-Step Rising Dragon?

It sounded promising. And judging by Wei Jiajia's demeanor, this truly seemed to be a straightforward transaction. With this in mind, Su Jingxing turned to face the anxious yet hopeful Wei Jiajia and said calmly, "'Eight-Step Rising Dragon'?"

"Yes, yes, that's it," Wei Jiajia nodded hurriedly. "Actually, 'Seven Step Fist,' also known as 'Seven Step Long Fist,' together with 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon,' and a lost art called 'Nine Steps Something,' comprised the Wei family's three great martial legacies."

"The 'Nine Steps' have long been lost, the 'Seven Steps' are mostly taught to outsiders, but 'Eight Steps' is known only to the Wei family."

"I'm not lying—once mastered, 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon' is extremely powerful!"

Su Jingxing fell silent.

After a moment, as Wei Jiajia waited tensely, he spoke, "Tomorrow night, at this hour, bring 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon' to the pavilion up ahead and wait for me."

"Alright!" Wei Jiajia dared not ask more and immediately agreed.

Receiving his answer, Su Jingxing looked deeply at Wei Jiajia but said nothing further, turning to leave.

This time, Wei Jiajia did not call after him. She stood in place, watching Su Jingxing disappear into the night.

Only after he was completely out of sight did she take a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

She had finally made a connection!

Although Su Jingxing's attitude was rather cold, as long as the connection was made, it was a victory.

With the profound mysteries of "Eight-Step Rising Dragon," Wei Jiajia could not believe Su Jingxing would remain unmoved.

Once he was tempted, the initiative would be hers; she could dictate the terms of the transaction!

With confidence, she would not panic when faced with trouble.

The next evening.

Before the agreed time, Wei Jiajia arrived early at the pavilion.

She waited nearly an hour before Su Jingxing appeared, masked.

"This is 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon,' the original version."

Without wasting words, Wei Jiajia directly handed him a quaint manual wrapped in beast skin.

Su Jingxing did not immediately take it, but instead stared at Wei Jiajia with a peculiar look and said calmly, "Aren't you afraid I'll take the manual and renege, or just kill you here, or run away?"

"I'm not afraid," Wei Jiajia smiled. "First, killing me brings no benefit, and would only attract the attention of the 'Dagger Society' and the security patrol. The patrol needs no explanation; the 'Dagger Society' is now the biggest force coveting the Wei family's assets. My brother knows I came out to meet you, so if I die, he'll report it to them. Both the authorities and underworld would come after you—I doubt you'd want that kind of life."

"Second, if you take the manual and run, it's not a big deal—consider it repayment for saving me last time. After all, if you refuse to trade, we can't keep 'Eight-Step Rising Dragon' anyway. Rather than let the 'Dagger Society' have it, I'd rather you take it."

"Third, I trust you."

Having finished, Wei Jiajia smiled sweetly at Su Jingxing, awaiting his reply.

To be fair, after hearing this, Su Jingxing regarded Wei Jiajia with new eyes for the first time.

He found himself impressed by this young girl's courage and rationality.

Or perhaps, her deep cunning?

According to Wei Jiajia, "Eight-Step Rising Dragon" was a powerful lightness skill. If she spoke the truth, she could seek shelter from the Black Tiger Gang, the Flying Cloud Sect, or even official forces with such a peerless technique.

Yet she chose Su Jingxing, whom she had met only once!

This revealed her calculation.

The logic was simple: official protection could not guarantee someone would constantly guard her and her brother, nor would it help the Wei family flourish or avenge their grievances.

Black Tiger Gang and Flying Cloud Sect were even more pragmatic—once they obtained "Eight-Step Rising Dragon," there was a ninety-nine percent chance they'd turn on her. Even if by some miracle they kept their promise and helped suppress the 'Dagger Society' and other threats, it wouldn't last. Once the storm passed, the 'Dagger Society' would surely return to torment her and her brother with every conceivable method.

They wouldn't kill outright, but behind the scenes could drive them to madness or even death.

But Su Jingxing was different.

First, as Wei Jiajia said, he had saved her once—there was a basis for trust.

Second, his strength displayed last time gave Wei Jiajia hope.

No matter if Su Jingxing was alone or backed by a force, choosing him was more advantageous for preserving and developing the Wei family!

Of course, Wei Jiajia's actions were somewhat of a gamble.

Betting everything on Su Jingxing showed remarkable courage.

And in the end...

She won her bet!

After a moment's silence, Su Jingxing took the "Eight-Step Rising Dragon" manual and began reading.

At once, his pupils contracted.

Wei Jiajia had not lied—this truly was a peerless lightness skill!