126: Chapter 126 Secret Techniques

The countless spectators below were stunned for a moment.

"Wait!"

"How did his speed increase again?"

"Hasn't the [Amplification Nullified] effect on the Third Floor already been discovered?"

Just a moment ago, all the amplification skills and items Feng Ling activated had failed; they had seen it with their own eyes.

"Didn't those amplification skills for his Wind King Step fail earlier?"

"Why is he still able to increase his speed now?"

Many people wore expressions of confusion.

Even many of the prodigies struggling on the Second Floor couldn't help but steal a glance upward.

Just as everyone was completely baffled.

In the crowd, one Contestant suddenly spoke slowly.

"If I'm not mistaken..."

"That isn't a skill."

Everyone looked over in unison, the man's gaze fixed intently on the constantly changing footwork beneath Feng Ling's feet.

"That should be... a Secret Technique."

"A Secret Technique?"

Many commoner Contestants were hearing this term for the first time.

The man nodded.

"Skills are powers mastered directly through skill books."

"You only need to use a skill book, and the system will directly imprint the skill into your body."

"But a Secret Technique is different; it has no skill book, nor does it have system assistance."

"You must rely on yourself to cultivate, practice, and comprehend it bit by bit to truly master it."

"To put it simply, it's more like a combat technique rather than a skill bestowed by the system."

"So..."

He slowly let out a breath.

"The Third Floor can seal skill amplifications, but it may not be able to restrict this power that stems from one's own cultivation."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally looked enlightened.

"So that's it!"

"No wonder Feng Ling can still continue to accelerate!"

"So that wasn't a skill!"

Many commoner Contestants' eyes revealed expressions of envy.

"Secret Techniques..."

"Ordinary people can't even get in touch with such things, right?"

Someone gave a bitter smile.

"Of course."

"It's said that only those great families and major factions possess true inheritances of Secret Techniques."

"Ordinary people haven't even heard of them."

...

On the other side.

Jiang Ruoxue watched the speeding cyan figure on the Third Floor, her expression not showing much surprise.

She said softly:

"It's the same as my [Eternal Frost Coffin]."

Lin Yan turned to look at her.

Jiang Ruoxue continued to explain:

"Strictly speaking, a Secret Technique is not a system skill, so under normal circumstances, it is not subject to the restrictions of the Dungeon rules."

"They mostly originate from the Dungeon world."

"When ancestors of some top-tier families were conquering high-level Dungeons, they communicated with and learned from the native inhabitants, or even observed them using their abilities, then perfected and improved them, eventually forming human Secret Techniques suitable for us to cultivate."

"Therefore, Secret Techniques have no skill books and cannot be learned instantly."

"You must rely on constant self-practice, tempering your body, energy circulation, and force-exertion techniques over and over again."

"Some people might not even truly master the basics after practicing for years."

She paused, then continued:

"And precisely because of this, every mature Secret Technique is regarded by major clans as a true foundation and is not easily passed on to outsiders."

"And the [Thousand Flows Wind Treading] that Feng Ling is using should be one of the core inheritances of the Feng family."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan nodded thoughtfully.

So that was it.

Skills are bestowed by the system.

Secret Techniques are powers that the human race has learned, created, and passed down itself.

Although both can increase combat power, they are not the same system at all.

Lin Yan's gaze returned to Feng Ling, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

"Interesting."

"It seems that in the future, besides skills, Secret Techniques... are also a path of cultivation worth paying attention to."

...

A cyan stream of light exploded across the sky.

The moment Feng Ling activated his family's Secret Technique, [Thousand Flows Wind Treading], the wind currents across the entire Third Floor platform became chaotic.

There was no glow of system skills, no anomalies of buff amplifications; merely the wild surge of wind-attribute energy, staggered footsteps, and shifting postures—power purely derived from countless times of practice—forcibly broke through the shackles of the Third Floor's rules.

His speed, within the absolute domain of [Amplification Nullified], surged against the trend!

Swish—

A pale cyan afterimage tore through a gap in the encirclement. Withstanding the pressure of the three Dragon-Pattern Marshals, Feng Ling suddenly rushed out of the lethal encirclement of interwoven spears and blades, dashing toward the edge of the Third Floor platform.

Countless Contestants' eyes burned with intensity, rekindling a strong sense of hope.

Previously, the three unsolvable rules of the Third Floor had chilled everyone to the bone; spells dealing only scratch damage, global healing prohibition, and all amplifications invalidated had almost completely sealed off any path for individual prodigies to break the deadlock.

But Feng Ling's breakthrough using a Secret Technique allowed everyone to see a glimmer of hope.

Many people were secretly encouraged:

"So what if system skills are sealed?"

"Secret Techniques inherited by the human race can still defy the heavens and turn the tables!"

"Perhaps Feng Ling can really rely on this unique footwork to firmly stand his ground on the Third Floor!"

High above, Feng Ling, having broken through, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

What he feared most was the absolute insolubility brought by the comprehensive sealing.

Now that his Secret Technique was usable and his movement technique remained at its peak level, as long as he kept kiting and evading, he might just be able to stabilize the situation.

But just at the moment he steadied his figure and prepared to continue circling and probing.

Shoo!

A very faint sound of a bowstring vibrating quietly rang out in the Third Floor airspace.

The Dragon-Pattern Marshal archer, who had been standing in the back and silently gathering power, slowly drew its longbow once again.

This time, there was no scattered aura enveloping him, no vague predictive targeting.

A golden origin mark, condensed to the extreme, silently left the bowstring, spanned dozens of meters of empty space, and branded itself firmly onto Feng Ling's body.

Many top-tier prodigies below with broad perspectives instantly tightened their expressions, seeing through this eerie mechanism.

"Aura Lock!"

"That is to say, no matter how fast the speed is, how extreme the evasion is, or how many afterimages there are, the mark will never disappear!"

But the next moment, everyone quickly realized.

Locking on never means a guaranteed hit.

If the speed is fast enough, one can still play the game!

Feng Ling's mind tightened abruptly; an extreme sense of danger enveloped his entire body. He dared not have even a fraction of slack and pushed his [Thousand Flows Wind Treading] Secret Technique to the limit.

His figure instantly split into several afterimages, jumping left and right, changing altitude in an instant, and reversing direction, performing the kiting and evasion of a speed-type to the peak!

The next instant, the golden arrow tore through the air.

Silent, shadowless, and without a trajectory, it carried only the domineering potential energy of absolute tracking, rushing straight toward the origin mark on Feng Ling!

Chh!

The arrow light grazed past Feng Ling's afterimage, rending the sky full of cyan shadows, missing its mark and striking the golden stone of the platform, blasting open a deep trench.

He dodged it!

With extreme speed, he had forcibly dodged the locked-on arrow!

The spectators below held their hearts high, their breathing halted because of this.

"He can dodge! He really can dodge!"

"Lock-on doesn't mean a guaranteed hit! There's still a chance!"

But only Feng Ling, who was in the thick of it, knew that true despair had only just begun.

Every one of his evasions required him to exhaust all his mental energy to predict the arrow's path.

And the two melee Dragon-Pattern Marshals would never give him a moment to breathe.

The storm-like melee offensive crushed him continuously; golden spear radiance pierced the sky, and heavy blade light covered the ground, sealing off most of his evasion space.

On one side was the endless, shadow-following tracking arrow attacks.

On the other side was the unsolvable encirclement and the step-by-step melee kill.

He could dodge once, he could dodge ten times, but he couldn't dodge the endless hunting of a hundred or a thousand times.

This was a slow, absolute, and grueling suppression that would grind a person to death.

Time ticked by second by second.