Thirin's Unique Martial Technique - Boneless Chicken

The noble saint Thirin had finally secured her first test subject.

“Kyaaaaah!”

The result was utterly disastrous. It was never going to work in the first place. The priestess had spent years training to pierce through the human body’s acupoints and vital points. But Thirin? She was like a baby who had just learned to walk suddenly attempting a full marathon. All Thirin knew was the vague sense of acupoints awakened by the system and the fact that if something blocked those points, the body would hurt. She had no concrete idea where to strike, how to strike, or how hard.

Thirin knew nothing about the proper penetration of internal energy.

Driven by the seductive lure of Rebirth, Thirin’s mind was in a state of desperate urgency. The fact that her victim was nothing more than a mold-spore-carrying piece of trash only fueled her impatience. The outcome was obvious.

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!!!!!”

The thug’s limbs twisted wildly as he rolled across the floor. There was destruction, but no healing. Watching the scene, Thirin thought to herself, So this is what it means for the bones and muscles to be dislocated and ruptured.

Without realizing it, Thirin had already begun to grasp the profound principles behind Bone Dislocation and Muscle Rupture. But this was not what she had intended.

With a serious expression, Thirin stared down at her fist. The destruction part worked, but the connection didn’t. Since she couldn’t reconnect what she had severed, only ruin remained. In the first place, she hadn’t even struck the correct points.

The thug screamed, tears streaming down his face. “What the hell did I do wrong?! I just wanted to have some fun together…! Ughhh!”

“Yeah, yeah, you did say you wanted to have fun. With a club and a rusty knife, that is.”

Thirin ignored the thug’s pitiful sobs. Failure is the mother of success. The important thing was learning from it. Thirin had always been an optimist.

She raised her fist again, intending to test another acupoint.

“!”

Her sharp ears caught the sound of shouting. In the distance, urgent cries approached alongside the flickering light of torches.

“What’s all that noise over there!”

“I heard screaming! Check it out!”

It was the security forces.

These useless bastards.

Thirin gritted her teeth. The empire’s forces were always one step too late and causing a scene again. She looked at her “patient” with regret. There were still so many acupoints left to test. But she had no choice. Getting caught here and dragged into annoying complications was the last thing she wanted.

Before the imperial troops could spot her, Thirin used the mysteries of the Beggar’s Concealment Art to melt into the shadows.

Back at the inn, Thirin clicked her tongue and flopped straight onto the bed. Her head was a mess. Blinded by the thought of obtaining a new martial art—the Heavenly Demon Divine Art—she had immediately grabbed a thug and beaten him up. But honestly, that was an area far beyond what the current Thirin could properly replicate. She had simply let herself get carried away by impatience.

In the end, Physical Realization required understanding the original source. Just as she had only grasped the concept of Flow after observing Bjorn’s Illusion Sword and gaining deep insight in the moonlit forest, proper mastery demanded both knowledge and enlightenment.

But right now Thirin’s mind was a chaotic jumble of random thoughts.

“Huu…”

She let out a long sigh. When things got complicated, she needed to start with the simple stuff. Thirin opened her system window. The priestess’s belly punch had spat out several system messages besides the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Come to think of it, I should have checked these first.

With that thought, Thirin opened the system.

“……!”

A new message floated before her.

“This damn…”

Thirin muttered a low curse. She had beaten down the physical manifestation of a forgotten god and even swallowed its Divine Core, yet her realm was still only at Late Stage Second-class? This had nothing to do with whether she understood wuxia or not. The term “second-class” itself was an insult.

How the hell did they even calculate the experience multiplier?

Anger surged through her, but she held it back for now. There was other information in the system window. Maybe the answer lay there. Thirin shifted her gaze to the next section.

The system had kindly attached the label [Incomplete] to every technique. This much, Thirin had expected. She already knew that the skills she had gained so far were merely fragments, not complete martial arts. Like a puzzle missing random pieces.

The problem was the next section.

“……”

Thirin’s brain froze at the dazzling array of martial arts spread before her. There was nothing like this before. She didn’t know exactly what the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was, but it had clearly influenced her system.

No, more than that…

After acquiring the priestess’s belly punch—that is, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art—new martial arts had become available. In other words…

Does that mean the Heavenly Demon Divine Art serves as the foundation for all martial arts?

“……”

Thirin reached out toward the list, but nothing happened. The system simply displayed the techniques. The rule that martial arts could only be acquired through Physical Realization and Mental Comprehension had not changed.

Thirin’s mind spun rapidly. She was not the type to charge in blindly. Though she did have a tendency to fall for temptations—like searching for cheat-like “body transformation magic” instead of diligently training—she could think clearly when necessary. Just like when she had regained her speech.

She reviewed every moment of Physical Realization she had experienced so far.

Heres’s Acceleration had become Point. The concept of piercing rapidly.

Gordo’s superhuman strength had become Power. Brutish, overwhelming force.

Bjorn’s Illusion Sword had become Flow. Ever-changing, overflowing transformation.

The system DLC—Martial Arts in Fantasy Land (tentative name)—translated the blessings of gods, mysteries, magic, and physical techniques of this world into forms Thirin could use through the filter of martial arts. She already knew this much.

But after taking the priestess’s qi-infused fist, Thirin had finally experienced a shift in perspective.

Martial arts aren’t just about smashing things.

Because she hadn’t understood that, she had used the unreliable method of getting beaten up randomly to acquire techniques. But after receiving treatment, she had gained Point, Break, and Connect.

Martial arts were not merely destructive. The priestess’s fist was a means to a clear purpose: healing. It broke through blockages in the acupoints (Point) via destruction (Break), then reconnected what had been severed (Connect). All of it carried the intention of treatment.

“...!”

Once her thoughts reached this point, everything looked different. Martial arts were not simple tools of destruction, but a way to manifest specific intent.

I should have thought backwards from the start.

She should have first identified the underlying purpose of each technique. Getting beaten up randomly was nothing more than painful self-harm. At best, she would accidentally obtain the basics, but there would be no further growth. True progress required understanding the intent behind the art.

Fortunately, there was a way to find that intent. Martial arts reflected their originals. In other words, they served as a map leading to the source. The name and description of a technique became clues about the “original power” existing in this world. The martial arts themselves were both milestones and hints for growth.

Thirin looked again at the system messages she had previously skimmed because she couldn’t understand their meaning.

So if I go to Mount Hua, I can complete the Plum Blossom Sword Art?

Thirin nodded to herself. She had no idea where Mount Hua was in this fantasy land, though.

Next was the Sun-Shooting Sword.

A sword technique that shoots the sun, huh.

“....”

It seemed daunting, but Thirin put her mind to work. She usually mocked this fantasy world as a chaotic mishmash without any proper foundations, but she couldn’t do that right now. There had to be a god who once shot down the sun, or someone who had received that blessing.

So if I learn from that guy or fight him, I can complete the Sun-Shooting Sword.

“!”

The system responded. Her guess had been correct. Her heart pounded. She felt like bolting out of the inn right then and there.

Calm down. Calm down.

Thirin took a deep breath. There was no need to rush. The system had shown no reaction to the Plum Blossom Sword Art, but it had responded to her speculation about Houyi’s Sun-Shooting Sword.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can’t get distracted by things like Imperial Sword Form. For now, I need to follow the clues I already have.

Though she was a bundle of temptations, Thirin knew how to suppress them when it truly mattered. Just as she had refused to give up on life despite falling into the temptation of despair.

With her heart still racing, she scrolled down. A new window unfolded before her eyes.

“……”

The flashy modifiers like Peak and Super Peak didn’t matter. Thirin’s gaze was fixed solely on the very last line—the word she had dreamed of.

“...Rebirth. Bone Reformation.”

Thirin absentmindedly repeated the final sentence. It was a word she had never forgotten for even a single moment amid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the terrible sense of loss she had felt since falling into this shitty world. Rebirth was real. It wasn’t just some vain delusion of hers.

Then I can actually achieve it!

Her heart pounded so violently she thought it might burst out of her chest. Rebirth. Changing one’s bones and shedding the old self. Becoming someone entirely different. Recovering the “me” that had been lost. It wasn’t some vague fantasy after all.

Thirin wanted to scream—whether from joy or shock, she didn’t know.

Stay calm. Calm down. Don’t get excited.

Just like when she had regained her speech, one step at a time. Slowly. Carefully. Thirin forcefully suppressed her bursting heart and read through the system’s explanation once more with meticulous care.

‘Circulate your internal energy smoothly so that it follows every form and technique.’

Thirin recalled her battle against the sand demon. Back then, the flames inside her body—her internal energy—had moved exactly as she willed. It had blazed at the tip of her sword according to her intent, created paths beneath her feet, and become shockwaves that shook the earth. That sensation still felt vivid.

I can do it again.

Thirin sat cross-legged on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bed, closed her eyes, and focused all her consciousness on the gentle warmth of the flame radiating from her dantian in her lower abdomen.

While Thirin groaned and twisted her body in meditation, the golden-haired priestess at the small clinic of Lutetia’s Salvation Sect was lost in thought.

The golden-haired priestess stared blankly at the empty chair.

What exactly is that woman?

She recalled the word Thirin had casually uttered.

Heavenly Demon.

Where could she have heard such a thing? It was a blasphemous word. A forbidden term. From long ago, during the time when the Empire and the Pantheon had branded the Salvation Sect as heretics and oppressed them. They had called the founder of their order—the sole savior they awaited—by that name.

The one who defied the will of the myriad gods dwelling in the heavenly palace.

The Demon King who rebelled against heaven.

The Heavenly Demon.

The priestess shook her head. She said she wasn’t from the Holy Knights. That wasn’t a lie. If she had belonged to the Knights, she would never have dared to take the Divine Core. She would have offered it to the gods like a sacrifice.

To covet divinity… Was she truly not afraid of the gods?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“....!”

The priestess’s body stiffened at a sudden thought. She took the Divine Core and suffered no consequences?

Her green eyes shook with confusion. Then could she possibly be…

No. That couldn’t be.

The priestess shook her head, desperately trying to clear her thoughts. She was overthinking things. Her gaze shifted toward the faint groans leaking from the inner room. There was still much work to do. Many pitiful humans remained whose evil qi needed to be purged.

The priestess stood up, a benevolent smile forming on her lips. Tonight would be busy as well.