Chapter 1538 - All Merchants are Shrewd
With the jade slip secured, Chen Fan delved into it by infusing his immortal will, eager to study the Seven Stars Fist Art. After a brief moment, he withdrew his focus, a peculiar smile curling at his lips.
The Seven Stars Fist Art was created by observing the movement patterns of the Big Dipper, each named after the seven stars. However, the two most important moves, Dubhe and Merak, were missing.
These techniques acted as the very anchors, channeling the essence of the Fist Art and enabling its limitless transformations: with their loss, the technique was like a staff sawed through twice—left in three disjointed segments.
While the remaining five moves could still be mastered, lacking the central links meant they no longer connected smoothly; what had once formed a seamless whole now lay fragmented into three parts. Not only was its might greatly diminished, but cultivating it would introduce vulnerabilities that could be easily exploited by others.
“Indeed, all merchants are shrewd!”
Chen Fan smiled helplessly.
Initially, he’d assumed the ‘incomplete’ aspect mentioned by Fairy Yao concerned only the latter sections; had that been the case, one could at least practice the earlier moves without any glaring flaws, just missing total mastery.
Unexpectedly, the middle section was missing, like a yawning gap in the heart of the technique. No wonder the starting bid was only 50 thousand immortal stones. If the last part were missing, the price wouldn’t have been so low.
Anybody who’d spent such a fortune on the Seven Stars Fist Art, only to discover this, would surely cough up blood in frustration.
Catching a glimpse of Chen Fan’s expression, Gongsun Jing asked, “What’s wrong? Is a lot of the Seven Stars Fist Art missing?”
Chen Fan nodded and said, “Pretty much. It was crafted following the pattern of the Big Dipper. Its seven techniques are meant to link together, unleashing immense power. I thought the incomplete part might be at the start or the end. The two middle moves are gone.”
Gongsun Jing and the others immediately realized why he had made such an expression.