Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3845: A Technique Older Than Xukong

Another technique Lin Mu found allowed the practitioner to suddenly relax every muscle in their body, making them fall faster than an opponent expected.

There was even a strange technique that taught a body cultivator how to intentionally dislocate their shoulder to escape grappling holds.

"That sounds painful," Lin Mu muttered.

"Pain is rarely a concern for body cultivators," Xukong replied.

"That’s true." Lin Mu placed the manual back and continued.

Then the support skills began getting strange.

Lin Mu picked up a thin book.

"Boiling Water Through Vitality?" He opened it.

The skill taught the practitioner how to repeatedly vibrate their fingertips while transferring vitality into a container of water. The vibrations gradually increased the temperature of the water until it began boiling.

Lin Mu stared at the manual. "Why is this here?"

He put it back and picked up another.

"Cloth Washing Art." Lin Mu read the first page.

The technique taught body cultivators how to wash clothes without accidentally tearing the fabric.

Lin Mu slowly lowered the book.

"..."

He looked at the shelf and found that there were dozens more.

Brick Placement Control.

Gentle Door Opening Technique.

Eggshell Grip Method.

Delicate Cup Holding Art.

Lin Mu picked up another manual.

"Fruit Peeling Finger Control."

He stared at the title for several seconds.

"These aren’t support skills at all," Lin Mu finally said. "Did someone put day to day skills into the support section?"

Xukong chuckled. "Considering the members of the Wild Peak, these probably count as support skills."

Lin Mu raised his brows. "Support for what?"

"Day to day support."

Lin Mu opened his mouth to reply. Then he remembered High Elder Shatter Peak. The man had apparently sneezed once and sent fifteen disciples flying. He had swatted a bug and collapsed a wall.

Lin Mu looked back at the Gentle Door Opening Technique.

"I suppose they need this; Really need this."

He picked up the Cloth Washing Art again.

A body cultivator with poor strength control could probably tear through several robes while trying to clean them. Lin Mu had personally destroyed thousands of sets of clothing during the early stages of his cultivation, though most of that damage had happened during battles or cultivation.

The Wild Peak disciples could apparently destroy their clothes while washing them. Lin Mu suddenly understood why the wardrobe contained nearly a million spare robes.

"It all makes sense now."

"The library appears to have been built through experience," Xukong commented.

"Painful experience."

"Most useful knowledge is."

Lin Mu continued browsing with considerably more amusement.

He found a technique that taught cultivators how to sit on ordinary chairs without breaking them. Another manual explained how to sleep on beds without crushing the frames. There was even an entire collection of notes concerning chopstick control.

The collection contained seven volumes.

Lin Mu opened the first.

The introductory passage explained that more than three thousand pairs of chopsticks had been destroyed during the creation of the technique.

Lin Mu immediately closed it. "I don’t want to know."

He moved further into the section.

The ridiculous life skills gradually became less common, and Lin Mu started finding proper support techniques again. Several involved sensory enhancement. Others focused upon vitality concealment or regulating body temperature.

Then Lin Mu saw a title that caught his attention.

"Frequency Transmission Technique?" He stopped.

The manual was unusually old.

Unlike most of the books around it, this one had been carved into a thin stone plate. The characters were ancient and several of them belonged to writing systems that were no longer commonly used.

Before Lin Mu could examine it properly, Xukong suddenly spoke.

"Oh? They have this too?"

Lin Mu paused.

"I thought this went out of style long ago," Xukong continued.

Lin Mu immediately became more interested. "You know about it, Senior?"

Xukong chuckled. "Boy, what you’re looking at right now is the very first method of voiceless communication."

Lin Mu raised his brows. "The first?"

"The primitive method used before jade slips and Qi Sense existed."

"What?" Lin Mu looked at the stone plate again. "This thing, is that old?"

"Old?" Xukong repeated. "It is ancient. The technique might be twice as old as me. Perhaps older."

Lin Mu did not know what to say.

Xukong was already an existence whose age Lin Mu could barely comprehend. There were ancient ruins younger than him. Entire worlds had risen and fallen during the time Xukong had lived.

Yet the technique in Lin Mu’s hands might have existed long before Xukong himself.

"How did something this ancient end up here?" Lin Mu wondered.

"Read it," Xukong said. "You’ll understand."

Lin Mu lowered his gaze.

The characters were archaic, though the library had attached several translated annotations to the original text. Lin Mu began reading. His confusion gradually disappeared. The Frequency Transmission Technique was primitive.

Painfully primitive.

Yet the principle behind it was surprisingly ingenious. The technique required no Qi. It could use Qi if the practitioner possessed it, though Qi was completely unnecessary as Vitality alone was sufficient.

The practitioner needed to control their vocal cords with extreme precision and produce sound at a specific frequency. The resulting frequency would be inaudible to most people.

That alone was easy as many beasts could naturally create sounds beyond the hearing range of humans.

The true difficulty came from directing the sound.

The practitioner needed to adjust the frequency, intensity, and angle of the vibrations so that the sound traveled toward a particular target. When the vibrations reached the intended person, the frequency would interact with their ears and surrounding air in a manner that made the voice perceptible.

Lin Mu frowned. "So it’s still sound."

"Of course," Xukong replied.

"But everyone else can’t hear it?"

"Usually."

Lin Mu continued reading and the word usually quickly became important. The technique was extremely difficult to use properly. The practitioner needed to know the exact distance between themselves and the recipient.

Ten meters required one adjustment. Twenty meters required another. At fifty meters, the frequency needed to change again.

The surrounding environment also mattered. Wind affected the transmission. Temperature affected it. Humidity could alter the calculations. Walls were a problem. Trees were a problem.

People standing between the sender and recipient were also a problem.

Lin Mu’s expression became increasingly strange. "This is incredibly inconvenient."

"Now you understand why it disappeared."