"Kunlun Great Hand Seal is an ancient martial art from Earth's classical era, originating from ancient China. Its specific origins are unknown, but based on its name, it can be traced to a peerless martial art near the Kunlun Mountains during China's feudal period. It consists of twelve hand seals, encompassing palm techniques, fist techniques, finger techniques, grappling methods... covering everything, including sword techniques, whip techniques, hammer techniques... and various other weapon moves. The variations are intricate, and any martial art move in the world can be integrated into these twelve hand seals, making it all-encompassing and invincible..."
In his mind, a lithe, leopard-like man in form-fitting attire was demonstrating the martial art while explaining it aloud.
Feng Lin watched intently, realizing this was an ancient martial art passed down from Earth's classical era, not the gene-based martial art he had assumed.
An ancient martial art could reach such a level of power, capable of incorporating any martial art move in the world, continuously enhancing its own strength.
This was indeed as he had seen before—in the hands of the robed man, the hand seals transformed endlessly, with infinite techniques, truly a peerless martial art.
What intrigued Feng Lin even more were the intriguing names of the Kunlun Great Hand Seal techniques: "Divine Whip Seal," "Heaven-Overturning Hammer Seal," "Yin-Yang Mirror Seal"...
These names sparked boundless imagination.
Feng Lin immersed himself deeply, studying it, and found the Kunlun Great Hand Seal to be exquisitely refined. Although it didn't involve gene theory, it was steeped in martial principles. Each of the twelve hand seals had a different essence—some like a sharp whip striking with fierce momentum, others like a massive hammer smashing with immense force, or like a mirror with two sides, yin and yang harmonizing...
It seemed that ancient martial arts, despite lacking ranks, were far from shallow. Over millions of years, humanity's struggle against nature had accumulated combat techniques that, in terms of skill in wielding power, were not inferior to gene-based martial arts, even surpassing them in some ways.
However, ancient martial arts couldn't harness the supernatural power of mythical genes, putting them at a natural disadvantage.
He watched so intently, one hand holding the Snake Man, the other unconsciously mimicking the movements, fingers flipping as he grasped the martial principles within the hand seals.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed before him, rushing over rapidly.
Feng Lin's instincts kicked in, and he instinctively executed the newly learned "Divine Whip Seal," swinging his arm like a fierce whip, striking the newcomer and sending him stumbling back over ten steps before stopping.
"What? You learned the Divine Whip Seal that quickly!" The robed man's hands trembled uncontrollably, feeling as if the bones in his arms were nearly shattered from the clash, his face full of disbelief.
"What do you want?" Feng Lin's eyes narrowed warily, his hand instinctively tightening, causing the Snake Man's breathing to become intermittent, on the verge of suffocation.
The robed man quickly stopped, signaling he meant no harm, pointing at the Snake Man in Feng Lin's hand and sighing, "If you don't let go soon, you'll crush the Snake Man to death! I only came to save him."
His eyes glared at Feng Lin, a mix of anger and helplessness, daring to be angry but not to speak.
Feng Lin was taken aback, looking up to find that he had been so absorbed in studying the Kunlun Great Hand Seal that he hadn't noticed the force in his hand. The Snake Man, held in his grip, was rolling his eyes back, nearly choked to death.
Awkward...
Feng Lin released his grip as if nothing had happened.
The Snake Man immediately collapsed to the ground like soft mud, all his earlier bravado gone, gasping for air, his throat rattling, his face a mask of terror mixed with relief at surviving, tears and snot streaming down.
"Snake Man!" The robed man rushed over, checking him thoroughly from head to toe, and only relaxed after confirming his teammate was unharmed.
Seeing the Snake Man's pitiful state, Feng Lin's expression stiffened slightly. He had almost accidentally choked the man to death.
He wasn't one to break his word. Since he had already obtained the technique, he wouldn't go back on his promise.
Having gained a martial art without suffering much loss, Feng Lin's anger subsided.
Though he could easily kill this apprentice, the robed man was an old-school interstellar cultivator, likely hiding tricks that could suppress him, but truly subduing him would be extremely difficult.
After all, he had only just become an interstellar cultivator.
A cornered rabbit will bite!
Let alone an interstellar cultivator.
Feng Lin was just one person; there was no need to become mortal enemies with Mars underground forces like Giant Pharmaceuticals and the Mars Revolutionary Army. It wasn't worth it.
But if the Mars Revolutionary Army didn't know when to quit and kept pursuing him, he wouldn't show mercy.
"The person is released. I'll let you off this time. Don't provoke me again, or you won't be so lucky!" Feng Lin warned coldly, turning to leave swiftly, not wanting any more ties with the Mars Revolutionary Army.
Such underground forces inherently meant massive trouble, and Feng Lin had no intention of associating with them.
He actually let them go just like that!
The robed man found it strange. Was this the cold-blooded killer from Giant Pharmaceuticals?
Watching Feng Lin's retreating figure, his eyes lit up, and with a sudden impulse, he flashed forward to block Feng Lin's path. "Wait!"
Feng Lin stopped, his face darkening. "What do you want? I spared your lives; you should be grateful. Do you want me to kill you instead?"
"Sir, you misunderstand!" The robed man became very polite. "I just wanted to discuss something with you!"
"What could I possibly have to discuss with you?" Feng Lin's tone was hostile.
Despite the clear rejection, the robed man didn't get angry, instead smiling. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Feng Lin, who just joined Giant Pharmaceuticals, right?"
"How do you know my name?" Feng Lin's eyes turned icy, ready to strike if the man didn't give a reasonable explanation.
Having his background exposed was far too dangerous.
The robed man regained his composure and confidence, feeling back in control, and smiled slightly. "I not only know your name but also your identity and origins. You come from a small family on Earth. Because of family exploitation, you refused to accept your fate and applied to come to Giant Pharmaceuticals..."
He calmly detailed Feng Lin's background.
Feng Lin's mind raced. "I've never interacted with anyone on Mars. How could anyone know my origins?"
He noticed the identity chip on the man's hand flashing, as if the robed man was reading some information.
Feng Lin suddenly understood. "You have a mole in Giant Pharmaceuticals?"
The man smiled, neither denying nor confirming, but the implication was clear.
Feng Lin thought to himself, on Mars, he was an outsider. The only entity he had interacted with was Giant Pharmaceuticals, which held his identity information.
For the Mars Revolutionary Army to know his details, they must have gotten the info from a mole inside Giant Pharmaceuticals.
Knowing the source of the leak, Feng Lin stopped worrying.
Admittedly, while families oppressed their members, they also protected them.
The solar system was a chaotic starfield, extremely dangerous. Ordinary people could only band together in families for safety.
His parents were under the protection of the Feng family, and no matter how far the Mars Revolutionary Army's reach extended, it couldn't touch Earth.
Feng Lin had no interest in the conflict between the Mars Revolutionary Army and Giant Pharmaceuticals. He came to Mars to learn advanced gene science, paving the way for his own cultivation, not to get involved in Mars's power struggles.
He was acutely aware that he was just an interstellar cultivator, a rookie just starting his journey, far from being powerful enough to sweep everything.
He didn't want to court death.
"I have no intention of getting involved in your dispute with Giant Pharmaceuticals. Don't come looking for me again, or I won't be polite!" Feng Lin shot the man a cold, warning glance, then turned and left again.
He moved swiftly, covering ten meters per step, and within moments was a hundred meters away, seemingly about to disappear entirely.
This time, the robed man didn't chase, a calm smile on his lips, but he called out a sentence from afar that made Feng Lin stop.
"Do you really think Giant Pharmaceuticals is just a gene potion manufacturing company? Are those human experiments really just testing new gene potions? If you keep staying there, your fate will be a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times worse than those test subjects..."