388: medal

Xiao Zhanmo looked at Zhou Xinyang with a complex expression.

To be honest, this Martial Arts had already been completed by him.

Others couldn't fuse ten Martial Arts into one.

He could.

For him, it was so easy that with just a thought, the Martial Arts would automatically fuse!

However, he couldn't tell the other party, because it was too incredible and would definitely risk exposure.

But now, with the war between the Human Race and Alien Land imminent, if this Martial Arts truly came into existence, the improvement for the entire Human Race would be unimaginable.

Everyone wouldn't need to use those crude methods, refining Mental Energy between life and death; they would only need to circulate the Martial Arts' Heavenly Cycle to begin Cultivating Mental Energy.

Furthermore, digesting Source Fluid could also be done through this method.

This “Twelve Palace Divine Scripture” and “Beyond” could complement each other.

This was too perfect.

But it was also overly perfect; Xiao Fan could do such a thing, but Xiao Zhanmo couldn't.

At least not so easily.

He looked up at Zhou Xinyang and smiled, saying, “I'll do my best.”

“I feel like I can fuse these eleven Martial Arts into one.”

“But it will take time.”

Hearing this, Zhou Xinyang's face was filled with shock.

“Really?”

“Are you perhaps joking with me?”

Xiao Zhanmo shook his head and said, “I have dedicated my life to Martial Arts.”

“Now, I have one foot in the grave, and for all these years, I have been preparing a universal 'built-in' Martial Arts.”

“I want to do more for the Federation before I leave.”

“Now it seems, there might be more I can do.”

At this point, he chuckled as he picked up the yellow parchment of the Twelve Palace Divine Scripture, saying, “In my era, this is how it was said.”

“Only success is allowed; failure is not.”

“The Human Race of that time couldn't afford to fail.”

“Now, war is coming again…”

“And we will still succeed!”

The moment his voice fell, Xiao Zhanmo turned sideways, his gaze passing through the moonlight-filled glass window and falling upon the Alien Land.

In an instant, a surging power rippled around him, making Zhou Xinyang feel as if he saw centuries of war and famine.

In that world of blood and fire, there were countless martyrs who sacrificed their lives, admonishing themselves in repeated desperate situations… Only success is allowed; failure is not!

The long-dormant passion within him gradually ignited at this moment.

He couldn't help but murmur, “Only success is allowed; failure is not.”

Suddenly, his tone involuntarily deepened, and he declared emphatically, “Only success is allowed; failure is not!”

Ultimately, Zhou Xinyang decided to live directly in this building and began to research the “Twelve Palace Divine Scripture” day and night with Elder Xiao.

As well as the Martial Arts that Elder Xiao originally intended to create for the Federation.

“All Skills.”

When he saw the first draft of All Skills, Zhou Xinyang was once again shocked.

It was a massive book, thousands of pages thick, stacked almost a meter high.

He had never seen such a thick book in his life; it was like a small mountain!

This book encompassed dozens of major categories of Martial Arts, such as Saber Arts, Spear Arts, Fist Arts, Staff Arts, and so on…

And within the major categories, for example, Saber Arts, it was further divided into twenty-six types of sabers, including Tachi, Tang Dao, Dadao, Kuodao, and Twin Sabers.

And this was just one of dozens of major Martial Arts categories.

Xiao Zhanmo's centuries of Martial Dao accumulation were all here.

And what he had to do now was condense this massive book into a thin, Saint-Grade Martial Arts.

He wanted others to learn hundreds of Martial Dao techniques by spending only the time it takes to learn one Martial Arts!

This was a project worthy of being recorded in history.

Because if this “All Skills” truly succeeded, the overall average strength of the entire Human Race would experience a leap-forward increase!

Because this meant that everyone in the Human Race could freely switch weapons in combat, completely unafraid of being countered, and could even be said to always be able to counter the opponent with their weapon!

Want to assassinate? Pull out a dagger.

Want to break through a formation? Pull out a long spear.

Short-ranged against long-ranged? Use Staff Arts.

No need to worry about whether you can use it, because once you learn this Martial Arts, you will know them all!

In every future battle between the Human Race and Alien Land, the opening move would be weapon suppression.

No need to worry about anything; anyway, before the battle, they would already have a three-point advantage due to weapon counter.

How absurd was that?

Zhou Xinyang repeatedly flipped through this massive book, and no matter how much he turned, he clearly only saw eight characters.

“Dedicate oneself wholeheartedly until death!”

An old man with one foot already in the grave, researching this Martial Arts worthy of being recorded in history every day in this dark room.

No one knew about it except himself.

He had originally thought that his secret research on the Twelve Palace Divine Scripture was already something to be very proud of.

But now he understood.

In the Human Race, there were actually quite a few heroes like him who silently contributed, remained silent, only gave results, and didn't talk about the process.

Hero… This was a title that could be considered second only to one person, above ten thousand.

Above Hero was Great Hero.

But from ancient times to the present, those who could bear the title of Great Hero were few and far between.

Over a thousand years, the Human Race had only awarded fewer than 20 Great Hero medals in total, with more than half of them being awarded during the first three hundred years of the initial Source Qi revival, an era known as the Dark Ages.

Because those years were too tragic.

The Human Race couldn't afford resources, so they could only use the Great Hero medal, a spiritual symbol greater than its practical meaning, to honor those heroes who dedicated themselves until death.

The Hero medal was a tier lower, but there were only about a hundred of them. The recent death of Xiao Fan earned him a Hero medal, and his portrait has already been created and placed in the Hall of Heroic Souls in the Imperial Capital.

Xiao Fan receiving the Hero medal was actually quite controversial.

Because in previous years, recipients of the Hero medal usually had at least a few lives of Imperial Clan Alien Land on their hands, and even killing an Emperor-Grade Alien Land might not guarantee a Hero medal.

Even Demon War God had never received a Hero medal.

In the past few decades, only Chen Changsheng received one.

But the official statement said that Xiao Fan's short life was dedicated to indomitable spirit and tenacity.

The spiritual significance was sufficient.

And he ultimately achieved the unprecedented record of killing 21 Demon King Group members in a single battle.

Although he didn't kill Emperor-Grade ones, how many of those 21 Demon King Group members could reach Emperor-Grade in the end? Perhaps more than a handful, so this achievement was also quite significant.

The key was that he also sacrificed himself.

The words “sacrificed himself” infinitely magnify a person's glory.

Therefore, after the official explanation, those voices of dissatisfaction gradually subsided.

Below the Hero medal were Special Merit, First-Class Merit, Second-Class Merit, and Third-Class Merit.

The Human Race had only these six levels of merits, very concise, without any messy honors.

Just these six; earning any one of them and hanging it on the wall at home would be enough to bring tears to one's eyes.

Furthermore, whether it was a Great Hero medal or a Third-Class Merit medal, each one was custom-made and unique.

Now, in Zhou Xinyang's eyes, Xiao Zhanmo's All Skills was a Hero medal!

Thinking of this, Zhou Xinyang bent his back and said with utmost sincerity, “Elder Xiao, I have offended you greatly in the past. Zhou Xinyang… is deeply ashamed.”

But Xiao Fan shook his head and sighed, “The Human Race is truly remarkable because of you… because of all of you.”

In Zhou Xinyang's eyes, this All Skills represented Xiao Zhanmo's centuries of lifelong learning, but that was not actually the case.

However, in Xiao Fan's eyes, he clearly knew that this “Twelve Palace Divine Scripture,” the Human Race's first Martial Arts for Cultivating Mental Energy, was Zhou Xinyang's life's work, and for this, he even bore the derogatory title of “dead eunuch.”