Chapter 50: The Secret of the Five Forms Unified

In the wooded area behind the Five-Forms Sect's main hall, Zhang Ji stood before a desolate landscape of utter devastation.

Trunks as thick as a grown man's thigh were snapped clean in half, and deep trenches stretched dozens of meters across the ground. Every single detail bore silent witness to the supreme martial prowess of the person who had wrought such destruction.

This was the aftermath of Li Long's outburst of rage on the night Gu Shuangshuang passed away.

Zhang Ji felt that he had overestimated himself. He had thought he could measure up to Li Long, perhaps even surpass him. But the reality was that he fell far short.

Li Long had mastered all five forms simultaneously; his Dragon Form had reached the ultimate realm, and the remaining four styles were likely not far behind. Such destructive traces were beyond his current capability to produce.

"The snake is for tendons, the tiger for bones, the leopard for flesh, the crane for spirit, and the dragon for soul..."

Zhang Ji closed his eyes. Starting with the Snake Fist, he cycled through all five elemental fist techniques one by one. Following the techniques Li Long had taught him, he began to string them together.

On the first pass, the underlying meaning eluded him.

On the second pass, a glimmer of understanding began to dawn.

On the third pass, he suddenly found the key. His movements grew increasingly fluid, the five fist techniques transitioning into one another seamlessly, as if they were a single entity.

No, they had always been a unified whole, rather than isolated martial arts.

The snake represented the meridians, responsible for channeling energy.

The tiger represented the skeleton, supporting the entire framework.

The leopard represented the skin and flesh, containing everything within.

The crane represented the spirit and intent, acting as the consciousness of vital breath and primordial qi.

The dragon represented the soul, governing all while simultaneously serving as the energy source to imbue the entire system.

Abruptly, the nature of Zhang Ji's movements transformed. Wisps of primordial qi began to manifest within his forms.

With the dragon's soul governing the whole, the primordial qi contained beneath the leopard's flesh surged forth, transmitted through the snake form across his entire body, shaped by the crane's spirit and intent, and unleashed through the framework braced by the tiger's bones.

"Roar—!"

Zhang Ji thrust his palm forward, releasing a pale blue dragon-shaped bolt of primordial qi.

This bolt of qi could not compare to Li Long's dragon form, yet it remained as thick as a fist. It blasted forward with tremendous speed, punching a clean hole directly through a tree stump ten meters away. The concentrated dragon-shaped qi continued its advance, only gradually dissipating hundreds of meters further out.

"The Five Forms in One! Is this what it means to unite the five forms?"

Zhang Ji had achieved enlightenment!

He finally understood. The so-called unification of the five forms was the ability to combine all five fist techniques to unleash a single, concentrated strike of primordial qi.

Moreover, Zhang Ji could sense that it was not merely limited to firing a wave of dragon-shaped qi; that qi only took the shape of a dragon because it was being expressed through the dragon form's posture. If executed using another form, it would yield entirely different manifestations.

With a single thought, Zhang Ji retraced the process of the five-forms unification, following the power-generating principles of the five fist techniques. As the primordial qi circulated within him, a special, unique surge of energy suddenly took shape inside his body.

The next instant, Zhang Ji released this primordial qi using the posture of the Leopard Fist.

"Swish—!"

Five blue flashes swept across the space between Zhang Ji's fingertips, instantly slicing a snapped tree stump into five separate segments.

"The leopard form strengthens claw strikes. What about the snake form?"

Channeling more primordial qi, Zhang Ji decided to test it out.

He discovered that circulating the snake form caused the primordial qi to naturally convert into physical stamina, filling his body with a surging sense of boundless energy.

The tiger form enhanced physical strength, causing his muscles to bulge directly and making it easier to exert explosive force.

The crane form created the sensation of unobstructed pathways forming between his meridians, vastly increasing his body's flexibility while simultaneously heightening muscular control.

To summarize:

The unification of the five forms meant merging all five fist styles into one to generate a specialized primordial qi, which was then channeled through the techniques of the respective forms to produce distinct effects depending on the style employed.

The Snake Fist replenished physical stamina, acting as a recovery technique.

The Crane Fist cleared pathways for the primordial qi, allowing the physical body to better execute the brain's commands while enhancing muscular flexibility and control.

The Leopard Fist reinforced claw attacks, serving as a close-quarters explosive cutting technique.

The Tiger Fist enlarged the musculature and amplified raw power.

The Dragon Fist generated a destructive wave of primordial qi.

If all five forms were fully mastered, unleashing this unified technique might genuinely allow one to touch upon the realm of B-grade experts. At the very least, a fully powered dragon-shaped qi wave should possess the might of a casual strike from a B-grade master.

Unfortunately, at this stage, Zhang Ji had only mastered the Dragon and Snake forms, while the Crane form had only reached four refinements, and the Leopard and Tiger forms had barely scratched the surface.

He could only display a tiny fraction of the unified five-forms' true potential. His shortcomings were still too severe.

Even so, having a few extra methods at his disposal for the time being was certainly a good thing.

Suppressing his aura, he returned to the main hall.

Zheng Chengze was already waiting there for him.

"Are you ready?" Zheng Chengze asked.

"Yes," Zhang Ji nodded.

Neither of them intended to carry any luggage. Bringing anything along would only be a burden to them.

Zheng Chengze wore only his exoskeleton armor, not carrying a single piece of baggage. Zhang Ji was dressed even more casually in everyday clothes, intending to rely entirely on his physical body to weather whatever came.

After heating up a duck-and-rice meal in the microwave, Zhang Ji ate in quiet solitude. Zheng Chengze watched silently from the side, with no intention of sharing the meal.

Unlike a young man, he was already over eighty years old. He viewed life and death on this journey with utter indifference and harbored no lingering attachments.

His entire life had been dedicated to the Five Forms Sect, and the sect had granted him wealth and standing for a lifetime. Now, he had only a single objective remaining: to cover the escape of Zhang Ji, the true successor, so that he might live to see another day.

As long as Zhang Ji survived, perhaps the day would come when the Five Forms Sect could rise once more.

"It is the hour of Zi," Zheng Chengze said suddenly.

Zhang Ji set down his plate, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth with a thumb, and said, "Let's go."

...

Sun Xinye was the overall commander for the blockade operation against the Five Forms Sect.

By this time, the perimeter around Golden Hook Mountain was swarming with fully armed personnel, accompanied by professional snipers standing by with heavy anti-materiel rifles. Drones hovered in the night sky, monitoring the general layout of the terrain.

In addition to human forces, twenty "Spirit Soldier" combat robots had been deployed.

These robots possessed formidable defensive capabilities and were linked directly into the Eastern Pole military's core computing network, enabling ten-millisecond limb response times. They were equipped with high-frequency resonance weapons, anti-materiel firearms, laser emitters, and self-guided high-explosive grenades.

Whether engaged in close-quarters combat or ranged assaults, they represented the absolute pinnacle of technology.

One could say they were comprehensive, virtually flawless martial arts grandmasters twenty times over.

The reason such heavy forces had been mobilized was that earlier, Li Long had braved several robots comparable to the Spirit Soldiers and had nearly taken an assemblyman's life. Consequently, the higher-ups attached unprecedented importance to this mission.

Sun Xinye privately felt that this level of response was somewhat excessive.

Even so, he executed his orders to the letter without the slightest oversight. Rather than rashly charging up Golden Hook Mountain, he meticulously established his positions, intending to gather all possible intelligence before initiating the assault.

"Captain, the drones have detected two figures descending from the flank of Golden Hook Mountain. Their speed is extremely high, at least one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour or greater."

Receiving the report, Sun Xinye narrowed his eyes.

At that speed, they truly lived up to the reputation of grandmaster-level experts.

"Have the five Spirit Soldiers on that side prepare for engagement. Issue a formal warning at the same time; the moment they cross the demarcation line, order the Spirit Soldiers to intercept and authorize lethal force!" Sun Xinye commanded.

As he spoke, Sun Xinye simultaneously checked the live video feed relayed back to the command console to assess the situation.

"Understood!"

With a crisp acknowledgement, the operatives on the other end carried out the order.

" Hear this, those upon the mountain! Halt your advance immediately, or we will resort to armed force!"

A booming voice resonated from the drones, echoing through the mountain trail. Yet the two figures did not slow their pace by even a fraction. The guards stationed below barely had time to blink before the intruders crossed the demarcation line.

At the same time, the five Spirit Soldiers sprang into action.

They featured a blue-and-white exterior, with slender, streamlined, and aesthetically pleasing frames. Every joint possessed multidirectional rotational capabilities, allowing them to execute movements impossible for ordinary humans. They were not even strictly bound to a humanoid shape; human form was simply adopted for convenience across varied combat environments and operational scenarios.

If necessary, they could reconfigure themselves into cylindrical battering rams, relying purely on thrusters to plow forward. Given enough runway to accelerate, their impact velocity could reach three hundred kilometers per hour.

Even a standard armored vehicle would be flipped completely over if struck by such force.

"Clack, clack, clack, clack!"

The thrusters of the five Spirit Soldiers roared to life, their feet hammering against the ground as they rapidly closed in on Zhang Ji and Zheng Chengze.

When they reached a certain threshold, a light flickered on the shoulder mount of one of the Spirit Soldiers.

"Whoosh!"

A thermal beam swept outward. Anticipating the move, Zhang Ji moved with an effortless, fluid glide, dodging the attack cleanly.

Simultaneously, another Spirit Soldier opened fire.

"Bang!"

A bullet cleaved through the air at supersonic speed, streaking directly toward Zheng Chengze.

Yet it failed to connect as well, as Zheng Chengze had likewise anticipated the danger and evaded accordingly. Having mastered the Tiger Form and concurrently cultivated the Dragon Form, his spiritual attainment was by no means inferior!

A grenade came hurtling through the air toward the two men at blistering speed. Zhang Ji raised a hand, shooting out a pale blue wave of primordial qi from his fingertips. Just as Li Long had intercepted that falling fruit pit days ago, Zhang Ji pierced and detonated the grenade squarely in mid-air.

"Boom!"

The explosion sent a massive shockwave rippling outward, scattering dead leaves and splintered branches across a radius of several meters.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Several more bullets zipped toward Zhang Ji, but he evaded them with casual ease. Each shot missed him by a hair's breadth without requiring any exaggerated, wide-range evasive movements.

Having cultivated the *True Qi Nourishing Spirit Art* to eight refinements, his reaction speed had reached an absurd degree. Furthermore, his heightened perception allowed him to preemptively sense threats before they materialized.

In moments, Zhang Ji closed the distance to one of the Spirit Soldiers.

Both sides launched attacks instantaneously.

One swung a high-frequency resonance blade for a lethal slash; the other lashed out with a predatory claw strike.

The blade was a high-frequency weapon capable of slicing through solid steel.

Yet Zhang Ji's claw strike was the manifestation of the unified five-forms' Leopard Form Divine Claw, equally capable of cutting through metal and jade alike.

"Clang! Clang, clang, clang! Hummm!"

Bathed in pale blue primordial qi, the two forces collided, and Zhang Ji actually forced the blade back.

With a slight shift of his body, Zhang Ji nimbly sidestepped simultaneous attacks from his flank and rear.

Feeling a slight chill against his neck, he tilted his head fractionally as a bullet grazed past the side of his throat.

"Only five of them came, and four of you ganged up on me at once—I really am damn lucky!" Zhang Ji muttered in annoyance as he looked at the four Spirit Soldiers that had formed a tight encirclement around him.