36: Chapter 36 Martial Arts Holy Land

The Martial Arts Holy Land is located in the heart of the Huaxia Alliance, thousands of kilometers away from the Academy of Awakened Abilities.

Lin Wu boarded a flight vehicle, and after several hours of flying, he finally reached the outskirts of the Martial Arts Holy Land.

Looking down from the air, the Martial Arts Holy Land was a continuous range of mountains, with Peaks towering into the clouds and mist swirling around, appearing like a fairyland. But Lin Wu knew that within these beautiful mountains lay countless hidden dangers.

"Martial Arts Holy Land, here I come." Lin Wu took a deep breath and walked toward the mountains.

As soon as he entered the mountains, Lin Wu felt an ancient and mysterious aura. The Spiritual Qi here was several times denser than in the outside world, and it possessed a special quality, as if it could stimulate the martial arts potential within the human body.

"Such dense Spiritual Qi..." Lin Wu thought to himself.

He circulated the Martial Dao Origin Scripture and began to absorb the surrounding Spiritual Qi. As soon as that Spiritual Qi entered his body, it was rapidly refined into True Essence, replenishing his reserves.

"Cultivating here, the speed is at least several times that of the outside world," Lin Wu marveled.

But he had not forgotten his purpose. He came to find the heart of the grandmaster, not to Cultivate.

"According to Master, the heart of the grandmaster is usually hidden in the core area of the Martial Arts Holy Land." Lin Wu consulted his map and headed deep into the mountains.

The deeper he went, the denser the Spiritual Qi became, but the dangers also increased.

Lin Wu encountered all sorts of mechanical traps: spikes hidden beneath the ground, arrows shooting from mountain walls, and boulders suddenly falling from the sky. If not for his quick reactions, he would likely have been injured long ago.

"These mechanisms... must have been left by the ancient martial arts civilization." Lin Wu observed his surroundings while dodging the traps.

He discovered that although these mechanisms were dangerous, they all followed a certain pattern. As long as one observed carefully, a way to crack them could be found.

"The martial arts civilization is not just about the cultivation of power, but also the inheritance of wisdom," Lin Wu thought to himself.

He continued forward and gradually arrived at an open valley.

In the center of the valley stood a massive stone tablet, covered in ancient inscriptions.

"This is..." Lin Wu walked up to the stone tablet and carefully examined the script.

He didn't recognize those characters anymore, but strangely, as he gazed at them, their meanings surfaced in his mind.

"The path of the Martial Dao begins beneath one's feet and ends at the horizon. Where the heart desires, the sword points. Only through Eternal Indestructibility can one become a Grandmaster..."

"Is this... Martial Dao True Intent?" Lin Wu was shaken.

The characters on the stone tablet contained profound martial principles. As Lin Wu stared at them, he gradually felt his state of mind undergoing a transformation.

"Eternal Indestructibility... so this is my Martial Dao True Intent..." Lin Wu murmured to himself.

He thought back to his cultivation journey. Since the Awakening of his martial arts inheritance, he had experienced countless battles and hardships. Each time, he had given his all and never backed down. No matter how powerful the enemy or how difficult the challenge, his will would never be extinguished.

"My Martial Dao is the Martial Dao of Eternal Indestructibility. No matter how many hardships I experience or setbacks I face, my heart of the Martial Dao will never burn out."

"This is—Eternal Indestructibility!"

Lin Wu closed his eyes, sinking his entire mind and soul into the Martial Dao.

He felt his Martial Dao True Intent becoming clearer and more resolute. That unyielding will seemed to transform into a tangible force flowing through his body.

*Boom!*

A roar echoed from his Dantian as the True Essence Core trembled violently, emitting an even more dazzling light.

"This is..." Lin Wu opened his eyes and was surprised to find that his cultivation level had actually increased.

Although he hadn't broken through to the Grandmaster Realm yet, his understanding of the Martial Dao had reached a new level.

"The characters on the stone tablet can actually help me comprehend Martial Dao True Intent..." Lin Wu thought.

He continued to gaze at the stone tablet, wanting to gain more insights from it.

But just then, a low roar echoed from deep within the valley.

"Roar!"

Lin Wu's expression changed. He turned to look and saw a massive beast emerging from the depths of the valley.

It was a giant beast, over four meters long, looking like a tiger yet not quite a tiger. Its entire body was covered in dark golden patterns that seemed like natural martial runes, emitting a faint golden light. Its limbs were thick and powerful, its claws and teeth sharp as knives, and most striking was the golden character for 'King' marked on its forehead, like a natural brand of the Martial Dao. Its aura was powerful and steady—it was an A-class exotic beast, equivalent to the early stage of the Legendary Realm!

"Dao Pattern Tiger!" Lin Wu's heart tightened.

The Dao Pattern Tiger is an exotic beast unique to the Martial Arts Holy Land, a descendant of the guardian beasts bred by the ancient martial arts civilization. The natural martial runes on their bodies give them an extremely strong affinity for the Martial Dao, allowing them to perform attacks similar to those of a Martial Artist. They are the most common testers in the Martial Arts Holy Land.

"Human... intruder... die..." The Dao Pattern Tiger spoke in human tongue and lunged at Lin Wu.

"So fast!" Lin Wu hastily retreated, dodging the Dao Pattern Tiger's attack.

The Dao Pattern Tiger's speed was incredible, reaching Lin Wu in an instant. The golden 'King' mark on its forehead suddenly lit up, and a beam of golden light shot out from the mark toward Lin Wu.

"Dao Pattern Wave!"

That golden light contained dense Martial Dao True Intent; wherever it passed, even the air was distorted by the vibration.

"Martial Dao True Intent—Defend!"

Lin Wu condensed True Essence on the surface of his body, forming a thick shield.

*Boom!*

The golden light slammed into the shield, producing a deafening explosion. Lin Wu was knocked back more than ten paces, a trace of blood leaking from his mouth.

"Such powerful strength..." Lin Wu thought.

The Dao Pattern Tiger was an A-class exotic beast, equivalent to the strength of the early Legendary Realm. However, as a tester of the Martial Arts Holy Land, the Dao Pattern Tiger would not go all out; it adjusted its attack intensity based on the challenger's strength. Even so, the martial runes on its body gave it a natural resistance to martial attacks, making the battle difficult.

"I must find its weakness..." Lin Wu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He began to carefully observe every movement of the Dao Pattern Tiger. In the brief exchange just now, he noticed that while the Dao Pattern Tiger's attacks were fierce, it seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally protecting a certain part of its body.

"Its movement on the left is more flexible than on the right, suggesting the right might be a blind spot... no, it used its right side to tank that hit just now." Lin Wu analyzed rapidly in his mind.

The dark golden patterns on the Dao Pattern Tiger acted like natural armor, shimmering with a metallic luster under the moonlight. Lin Wu noticed that those runes brightened and dimmed rhythmically as it moved—when the runes lit up, the tiger's defense clearly strengthened; when the runes dimmed, its movements became slightly sluggish.

"These runes... they are its source of power, but they might also be a limitation." Lin Wu narrowed his eyes, trying to find the pattern of the runic flow.

He recalled the scene when the Dao Pattern Tiger launched the 'Dao Pattern Wave': that golden light shot precisely from the mark on its forehead. Furthermore, after every attack, that mark would flicker slightly, as if energy was being gathered.

"Wait..." Lin Wu's gaze locked onto the golden 'King' mark on the Dao Pattern Tiger's forehead.

He suddenly realized that the mark was not just a medium for launching attacks, but also the convergence point for the power of all the runes on its body. Much like a Martial Artist's Dantian, it stored the purest energy, but because of that—

"The strongest point is often also the weakest point." A flash of insight crossed Lin Wu's mind.

He remembered a record from the Martial Dao Origin Scripture: All things have Yin and Yang; where there is extreme Yang, there must be hidden extreme Yin, and where there is extreme strength, there must lurk extreme weakness. The mark on the Dao Pattern Tiger's forehead was the core of its power; once attacked, at best its power would become chaotic, and at worst its runes would collapse.

"But that position must be heavily protected..." Lin Wu observed the Dao Pattern Tiger's posture and saw that it always kept its head slightly lowered in a wary stance, the mark on its forehead shrouded in layers of runic light.

"I can't attack head-on; I must wait for it to show a flaw." Lin Wu plotted silently. "Every time it fires a Dao Pattern Wave, the mark dims for a split second. That is the chance!"

He intentionally left a flaw in his defense, luring the Dao Pattern Tiger into attacking.

Sure enough, the mark on the Dao Pattern Tiger's forehead lit up again, and golden light began to gather—

"Now!"

"Myriad Manifestations Sword Intent, Third Form—Sword Qi Condensation!"

An extremely thin golden Sword Qi shot from Lin Wu's fingertip toward the Dao Pattern Tiger's forehead.

"Roar!"

The Dao Pattern Tiger seemed to sense the danger and jerked its head aside, narrowly dodging the Sword Qi attack.

"What fast reactions..." Lin Wu's heart sank.

Enraged by Lin Wu's attack, the Dao Pattern Tiger let out a deafening roar and lunged at him.

"Heavenly Collapse Fist, Unified Form—True Interpretation of Martial Arts!"

Lin Wu shouted as golden fist energy surged from his hand, colliding head-on with the Dao Pattern Tiger.

*BOOM!!!*

The two forces exploded in the air, stirring up countless energy ripples. Lin Wu was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.

*Pfft!* Lin Wu spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as though his internal organs had been rattled.

"Damn it... the gap in strength is still too large..." Lin Wu struggled to stand up.

An A-class Dao Pattern Tiger, augmented by martial runes, was far harder to deal with than an ordinary Grandmaster Realm expert. Even if it was holding back, Lin Wu could barely hold his ground.

"I have to find a way..." Lin Wu thought of a countermeasure while dodging the Dao Pattern Tiger's attacks.

Suddenly, he remembered the words on the stone tablet.

"The path of the Martial Dao begins beneath one's feet and ends at the horizon. Where the heart desires, the sword points..."

"Where the heart desires, the sword points..." Lin Wu murmured, a flash of realization appearing in his eyes.

He understood that the Martial Dao was not just a contest of strength, but a clash of mind and soul. Only by completely merging one's mind and soul into the Martial Dao could one unleash true power.

"Martial Dao Avatar, Manifest!"

Lin Wu gave a great shout, and golden True Essence surged wildly from his body, condensing into a massive figure in the air.

That figure looked exactly like Lin Wu, but it radiated a terrifying aura, as if a god of war had descended upon the world. More importantly, it emitted a will of Eternal Indestructibility that even made the Dao Pattern Tiger feel a hint of trepidation.

"Is this... a Martial Dao Avatar?" The Dao Pattern Tiger's eyes widened. "Human... you actually condensed a complete Martial Dao Avatar?"

"Suppress!"

Lin Wu controlled the Martial Dao Avatar and threw a punch at the Dao Pattern Tiger.

*Boom!*

The Martial Dao Avatar's fist collided head-on with the Dao Pattern Tiger's claw, erupting in a deafening roar.

This time, Lin Wu was not knocked back; instead, he was locked in a stalemate with the Dao Pattern Tiger.

"How is this possible?" The Dao Pattern Tiger's eyes bulged. "Your strength... how did it suddenly increase so much?"

"This is the power of the Martial Dao!" Lin Wu shouted. "Only through Eternal Indestructibility can one become a Grandmaster!"

*BOOM!!!*

The Martial Dao Avatar erupted with even more powerful strength, sending the Dao Pattern Tiger flying backward.

"Roar!" The Dao Pattern Tiger let out a cry of pain and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Now!"

Lin Wu controlled the Martial Dao Avatar to strike at the Dao Pattern Tiger again.

"Stop!"

The Dao Pattern Tiger suddenly shouted, "Human, stop!"

Lin Wu paused for a moment and ceased his attack.

"You... have passed my test." The Dao Pattern Tiger stood up and looked at Lin Wu with a hint of admiration in its eyes. "Being able to condense a Martial Dao Avatar shows that your understanding of the Martial Dao has reached a very high level. You are qualified to enter the core area of the Martial Arts Holy Land."

"A test?" Lin Wu frowned. "You mean the battle just now was a test?"

"Correct." The Dao Pattern Tiger nodded. "I am a guardian of the Martial Arts Holy Land, responsible for testing those who enter. Only those who pass the test can enter the core area."

"I see..." Lin Wu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Human, what is your name?" the Dao Pattern Tiger asked.

"Lin Wu," Lin Wu replied.

"Lin Wu..." The Dao Pattern Tiger nodded. "I will remember you. You are the first person in hundreds of years to condense a complete Martial Dao Avatar while only at the Peak of the True Essence Condensation Realm. Your talent far exceeds my imagination."

"Thank you for the compliment," Lin Wu said.

"The core area is at the end of the valley," the Dao Pattern Tiger said. "The heart of the grandmaster is hidden there, but there are also more powerful guardians. You must be careful."

"Thank you for the warning." Lin Wu gave a respectful bow and then walked toward the depths of the valley.

The Dao Pattern Tiger watched Lin Wu's departing figure, a hint of expectation in its eyes.

"This human... perhaps he really can become a Grandmaster..."