The House of Qingcheng was wiped out, and the Five Great Mountains formed an alliance!
Shen Xu discovered a set of sword techniques left behind by Zhang Wuji on a stone wall not far from the pool.
"The Thirteen Swords of the Divine Gate?"
Shen Xu recalled the plot from the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber world. "This must have been created by Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang. I remember the original text records that when Zhang Zhenren was sixty years old, this set of sword techniques made the entire pugilistic world tremble with fear, and it was used to establish the Wudang Sect in one fell swoop."
Shen Xu observed the thirteen sword postures one by one, closed his eyes to digest them in his mind, then drew his sword and slowly began to practice them.
In an instant, he entered a state of self-forgetfulness; his movements grew faster and faster, and his stances became increasingly fierce.
It wasn't until he had finished practicing the entire set of sword techniques that Shen Xu slowly opened his eyes. When his Divine Soul transmigrated, tempered by the river of time, it was far stronger than an ordinary person's, so achieving a photographic memory was hardly unusual.
After searching the place thoroughly, he found no sign of the white ape; perhaps it had already died of old age.
He pulled out the four scrolls of the Nine Yang Divine Skill and sat cross-legged. Before beginning his cultivation, there was still one thing he had to do: return Chu Liuxiang's soul.
Borrowing someone else's martial arts meant he naturally had to abide by their principles, which was why Shen Xu had not killed a single person since transmigrating.
Yue Lingshan's death had made him realize the cruelty of the martial arts world; without formidable strength, one could not even protect the person they loved.
As his hands formed a strange set of hand seals, a wisp of blue smoke rose from the top of Shen Xu's head and dissipated into the void.
Shen Xu's complexion immediately turned pale as he began gathering his Qi according to the circulation route of the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
For several hours in a row, Shen Xu sat by the edge of the pool practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill. The very first strand of true Qi generated began to course through his meridians.
He suddenly realized something was amiss: his meridians seemed different from what was recorded in the manual, devoid of the slightest sense of blockage.
After a faint strand of true Qi circulated through his entire body once, it grew significantly larger. If the true Qi had previously been the size of a hair, it was now as thick as a chopstick!
Shen Xu took out Hua Tuo's medical classic and, after leafing through it, found the answer inside.
The book recorded that there were people born with all a hundred meridians completely unobstructed. Such people faced no bottlenecks whatsoever in their cultivation, and their cultivation speed was many times faster than ordinary people's.
Such individuals seemed born to be martial arts geniuses, but they were one in ten thousand; even across thousands of years of history, there were only a handful of them.
Shen Xu was ecstatic, thinking to himself, "Could I be a martial arts genius with all a hundred meridians unobstructed?"
"Wait for me, Lingshan; I will surely find you through the cycle of reincarnation..."
Though Shen Xu did not know the origin of the Taoist Arts in his mind, he knew that relying on these mysterious Taoist Arts, the Smiling Proud Wanderer world was merely a starting point; his true goal was to attain the Dao and achieve immortality...
He wanted to gather every item carrying Karmic Luck in this world and brand them with Yue Lingshan's Divine Soul so that he could find her on his journey ahead.
Several fruit trees grew nearby; whenever he was hungry, he would pluck some peaches to satisfy his hunger, occasionally catching a fish to roast. Thus, Shen Xu spent his mornings practicing the Thirteen Swords of the Divine Gate and his afternoons cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Skill...
Time in the mountains has no years; a year passed in the blink of an eye...
After receiving Shen Xu's warning, Lin Pingzhi had already grown wary of Yue Buqun, yet he still underestimated Yue Buqun's sinister nature.
On the way back to Mount Hua, he was called aside alone by Yue Buqun, never expecting that this hypocrite would drop all pretenses of ambition, directly snatching the Evil-Warding Sword Manual and striking him down a cliff with a single palm strike.
Truly, Heaven leaves no dead ends. Not only did he survive the fall, but within a year he had cultivated the Evil-Warding Sword Manual to mastery.
Just three days ago, he had slaughtered all four hundred and some members of the Qingcheng Sect, and even subjected that scoundrel Yu Canghai to death by a thousand cuts, hanging his corpse at the entrance of the Qingcheng Sect.
Clad in crimson robes, Lin Pingzhi moved like a ghost, severing the tendon meridians in Mu Gaofeng's limbs before throwing his head back and letting out a crazed, sky-ward roar.
"Father! Mother! Do you see this? Your son has avenged you!"
Mu Gaofeng glared venomously at Lin Pingzhi, knowing full well he would die today, and calculated to drag Lin Pingzhi down with him to the grave.
As Lin Pingzhi thrust his sword toward him, Mu Gaofeng suddenly whirled around, presenting his hump directly to the incoming blade.
With a "shing" sound, toxic blood sprayed into Lin Pingzhi's eyes, and Mu Gaofeng burst into roaring laughter.
"How could Grandpa Hump be willing to leave his dear grandson behind? Come with me to the netherworld, hahaha..."
Lin Pingzhi clutched his eyes in agony, then unleashed several fierce slashes of sword Qi, hacking Mu Gaofeng to pieces...
A month later, the annihilation of the Qingcheng Sect caused a massive uproar in the pugilistic world, with some spreading rumors that Dongfang Bubai was fiercely ambitious and intended to unite the martial arts world under his rule.
The Qingcheng Sect had been slaughtered precisely because they refused to submit to the Demonic Cult, causing every sect in the martial arts world to feel a sense of imminent danger for a time.
Meanwhile, in order to save Linghu Chong, Ren Yingying willingly allowed herself to be imprisoned by the Shaolin Temple. Upon receiving the news, Linghu Chong led the Mount Heng Sect and a band of outcasts and fringe figures to storm Shaolin to rescue her.
The back peak of Black Wood Cliff.
Dongfang Bai stared blankly at the sachet in her hand. "That bastard Shen Xu actually didn't come to our rendezvous. Hmph, even to the ends of the earth, this seat will not let you go..."
Dongfang Bai had emerged from seclusion half a year ago, yet she still could not take that final step; it seemed as though a barrier existed in heaven and earth, perpetually blocking her from stepping into the Innate realm.
In her heart, she dimly sensed that this world simply did not permit the existence of Innate experts. Sighing helplessly, she walked into the main hall atop Black Wood Cliff.
"Reporting to the Cult Leader: rumors are spreading through the martial arts world that the annihilation of the Qingcheng Sect was the work of our Holy Cult, and Zuo Lengchan of Songshan has announced that the Five Great Mountains Alliance ceremony will be held at Songshan in a month's time."
Dongfang Bai drew the Zhenwu Sword from her desk to wipe it, saying with utter disdain, "A mere pack of clowns! What is that fellow at the bottom of West Lake doing?"
The subordinate lowered her head, terrified of provoking Dongfang Bai, and answered in a soft voice, "Ever since Ren Woxing was rescued by Xiang Wentian and Linghu Chong, he has been secretly contacting old subordinates within the cult!"
"I knew that old bastard wouldn't stay honest. This seat will wait for him right here on Black Wood Cliff to see what kind of waves he can possibly churn up..."
Though Dongfang Bai had not broken through to the Innate realm, she was only a hair's breadth away. She eagerly anticipated a battle with Ren Woxing, hoping to find the opportunity for a breakthrough amidst the clash.
Yet finding someone in this world capable of fighting her was difficult; Ren Woxing could only count as half a person. Liu Jin held a lofty position in the Great Ming court, and his fifty years of monastic kung fu was no less formidable than Ren Woxing's.
Furthermore, Dongfang Bai sensed an aura on Mount Hua no weaker than her own; though she did not know whose it was, she figured it must be some elderly recluse.
Dongfang Bai possessed brilliant talent and supreme confidence, believing herself invincible in the present age. She intended to use these three individuals as stepping stones to help herself achieve the Innate realm.
Yet before that, there was still one matter to attend to: finding that bastard Shen Xu, extracting the whereabouts of her younger sister from him, and then killing this ungrateful man.
Jade Maiden Peak of Mount Hua. Moonlight spilled over the mountain summit as Ning Zhongze stood in a daze beneath a pine tree. Having received no news of her daughter for over a year, she harbored a faint, ominous premonition.
Moreover, for nearly a year now, her senior brother had been acting strangely, always sneaking off to the back peak alone in the middle of the night.
He had also grown much colder toward her; when she finally set aside her pride to approach him of her own accord, he had inexplicably cursed her out in utter confusion.
Tonight, she could no longer endure the grievance and had run off to Jade Maiden Peak by herself. The mental torment had left her haggard and frail...
A hand could not help but...
Across the silent Jade Maiden Peak, a faint, barely audible sound echoed...