Chapter - 10 Sword Qi And Lines of Jade Smoke (2/2)

Abbot Benying thought to himself, ”Does he think that we monastic folks might be moved by precious treasures and gifts? Besides, after administering Dali for over a hundred and fifty years, how could the Duan family lack for gold or silver ornaments?” He watched as Jiumozhi opened the lid of the golden box and withdrew the contents. It was actually a trio of old, worn books. As Jiumozhi casually turned the books over, Benyin shot them a look. The books had both pictures and words, written in cinnabar ink. Jiumozhi stared at the books for a long time. Suddenly, tears began to fall from his eyes, splattering on his clothes. He had a look of uncontrollable grief on his face. Benyin and the rest were all totally astonished.

Elder Kurong said, ”Enlightened Lord, you miss your old friend and are unable to sever your attachments. Aren't you ashamed to be called an 'eminent monk'?” Hanging his head, Jiumozhi said, ”Master, you possess great wisdom and remarkable ability. I cannot measure up to you. These three books are filled with top-level martial arts techniques, and were written down by Mr. Murong himself. They explain the essence and training methodology behind Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques, as well as the way by which one might defeat them.”

Everyone who was listening was shocked. They thought to themselves, ”The fame of Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques shakes the world. Supposedly, aside from an extremely wise monk who managed to learn twenty three of these techniques at the beginning of the Song dynasty, no one has ever learned more than twenty. For Mr. Murong to be able to understand the essence of Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques is very difficult to believe. The claim that he actually managed to figure out the weaknesses of each technique is even less believable.”

Jiumozhi continued, ”Mr. Murong gifted these three scrolls to me. I studied them intently, and reaped great benefits from them. My desire is that I might exchange these three precious scrolls for your venerable monastery's scroll of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. If all of the eminent monks here would be willing to permit me to fulfill my promise, my gratitude would be boundless.”

Abbot Benyin was silent. He thought to himself, ”If the skills written on these three scrolls really are that of the 72 Ultimate Techniques of Shaolin, then after acquiring them, we would not merely be on par with Shaolin in terms of martial arts knowledge, but surpass them. The Heavenly Dragon Monastery would have a thorough understanding of Shaolin's best techniques, but Shaolin would have no knowledge of ours.”

Jiumozhi continued, ”After your respected monastery gifts me with the original scroll of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', please feel free to keep a copy of it for yourself. This means that despite allowing me to pay my respects to Mr. Murong, you yourselves would not suffer any loss at all. Secondly, immediately after you give me the scroll, I will seal it. I will not sneak a single glance at it, and personally take it to the grave of Mr. Murong where I will burn it. Thus, you have no need to worry about your elite arts being leaked out. Third, although the martial arts understanding of you, respected reverends, is deep and requires nothing from outside, as the saying goes, a stone from another mountain can be used to polish one's own precious jade. Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques have many hidden secrets, and in particular, their ”Flower Plucking Finger” [Nianhua Zhi], ”Pattra Leaf Finger” [Duoluoye Zhi], and the ”Formless Raiding Finger” [Wuxiang Jie Zhi] have many similarities to your own 'Solitary Yang Finger'.

When Abbot Benyin and the others had first read the golden letter which he had sent them, they believed that he intended to forcibly demand they hand over their precious treasure to them. Such would be an unreasonable, tyrannical act. But now, hearing him speak tirelessly, they began to feel as though his words were very reasonable. It seemed to them that agreeing to his request would bring great benefit to the Heavenly Dragon Temple, without them incurring any losses. It now seemed that he was actually bringing them a great gift instead. Benxiang was a person who liked to get along with others; in his heart, he had already acquiesced. But because Benyin was the abbot, and because Kurong was of an elder generation, it was not for him to speak.

Jiumozhi said, ”I am young and my learning is shallow; my words alone might not be enough to win the trust of all of the senior monks here. Please permit me to show some meager skill that I possess with the three finger techniques of Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques.” As he spoke, he rose to his feet. ”In the past, I only casually skimmed through the manual and learned the techniques to a superficial degree. My technique is very sloppy; I hope that all of you will give me some pointers. This technique is the ”Flower Plucking Finger.” He gently touched his right hand's thumb with his index finger, as though he had just plucked a fresh, lovely flower. A small smile was on his face, as he gently flicked all five digits of his left hand towards the right.

Aside from Duan Yu, everyone present was a martial arts expert who had specialized in and analyzed finger techniques for all their life. They saw that the movements of Jiumozhi's fingers were incomparably gentle. Each time he flicked out the fingers of his left hand, it was as though he were flicking away dewdrops from the flower that he was holding with his right hand, but was afraid that he might cause the flower petals to fall. The entire time, an amiable, kind, gentle expression was on his face, giving him an appearance of great wisdom.

According to the legends of Zen Buddhism, Sakyamuni expounded on the Buddhist doctrine at an assembly at Mt. Ling. His fingers plucked a golden Sal flower and showed them to everyone present. Everyone was silent, not understanding; only the Arhat Mahākā?yapa showed a faint smile on his face. Sakyamuni thus knew that Mahākā?yapa had truly understood his mind, and said, ”I possess the true Dharma eye, the path to Nirvana, the form of the formless, and the subtle dharma way, which can be neither written down nor taught. I entrust them to Mahākā?yapa.” The most important precept in Zen Buddhism was that of achieving enlightenment via inner understanding. Shaolin belonged to the Zen school of Buddhism, and so they naturally spared no efforts in studying and refining this ”Flower Plucking Finger”.

But there seemed to be nothing remarkable whatsoever in Jiumozhi's flicking movements. After flicking for a few dozen times in succession, he lifted up the right sleeve of his robe and puffed at it. In the blink of an eye, a cascade of chess-piece sized pieces of round cloth descended, revealing dozens of holes within his sleeves. Apparently, the dozens of finger flicks he had demonstrated earlier had all been through-the-air strikes against his own sleeves. The soft energy released had damaged the cloth, but at first, it had seemed totally unharmed. Only after he gently breathed on it was the effect revealed. Benyin, Benguan, Benxiang, Bencan, and Emperor Baoding all glanced at each other a few times. All of them were secretly astonished. ”Based on our level of skill, using the 'Single Solitary Finger' to strike through the air and puncture holes in clothing is not difficult at all. But to execute such a divine technique with such gentle, soft movements, while holding such a placid, smiling expression on our faces is impossible for us. The 'Flower Plucking Finger' is totally different from our 'Single Solitary Finger'; it emphasizes the use of soft 'Yin' energy. There is definitely a great deal we could learn from it, as it is like unto a mirror of our own skills.”

Jiumozhi said, with a small smile, ”I've embarrassed myself. My skill in the 'Flower Plucking Finger' is far inferior to that of master Xuandu of Shaolin. My skill in the 'Pattra Leaf Finger' is even more laughable.” He immediately turned his body around and began to circle around the wooden box on the floor. He struck out in repeated succession with all ten of his digits. The onlookers watched as scraps of wood on the chest began to fly off the chest and dance around. In the blink of an eye, the wooden chest had been reduced to a pile of wooden scraps.

Emperor Baoding and the others thought that there was nothing special about him destroying a wooden chest with his fingers. But the chest's hinges, copper strips, iron locks, padlocks, and other metal components also completely disinitegrated under the pressure of the force of Jiumozhi's fingers. This caused them to be involuntarily shocked yet again.

Smiling, Jiumozhi said, ”In exercising this 'Pattra Leaf Finger' technique, I had a tyrannical air. My cultivation in it is shallow indeed!” As he spoke, he folded his hands within the folds of his clothes. Suddenly, that pile of wood and metal scraps began to jump about and dance. It was as though some person wielding a thin, invisible stick was beating them and stirring them up. When they looked at Jiumozhi, they saw that a calm, smiling expression remained on his face. None of his clothes, from his sleeves to lower him of his gown, were moving or fluttering in the slightest. Evidently, he was secretly projecting his finger energy from within his clothes, and yet didn't reveal a trace of it at all. Benxiang couldn't control himself and praised, ”The 'Formless Raiding Finger' lives up to its name! Admirable, admirable indeed!” Jiumozhi bowed and said, ”Master, you praise me too highly. The jumping of the wooden chips is still visible. For the technique to truly match up to its name, it must be both formless and invisible. Even if one spent all of his life assiduously practicing this technique, he might not be able to achieve such a level.” Master Benxiang said, ”Amongst the scrolls left behind by Mr. Murong, did he include a method by which one can defeat this 'Formless Raiding Finger'?” Jiumozhi replied, ”He did. The method by which one can defeat this technique arises from your own honorable religious name.” Benxiang mumbled to himself for some time, then said, ”Right, one must use the 'True Form' [Benxiang] to overcome the 'Formless' [Wuxiang]. Brilliant, this extremely brilliant.”

Benyin said, ”Martial-uncle, the Enlightened Lord has come to us from afar, and his request appears to be genuine and sincere. How should we handle this situation? We respectfully await your instructions.”

Elder Kurong said, ”Benyin, what is the purpose of our study of martial arts?”

Abbot Benyin never would have imagined that elder Kurong would have replied to him with such a question. After being stunned a brief moment, he replied, ”To improve our dharma and to protect our nation.” Elder Kurong asked, ”When an evil opponent appears, whom we are unable to dissuade using Buddhism due to our shallow understanding of dharma, and forces us to use force to subdue him, what type of martial arts would we use?” Benyin replied, ”If we have no choice but to use force, we would naturally use the 'Single Solitary Finger'.” Elder Kurong asked, ”What level of proficiency have you attained in your mastery of the 'Single Solitary Finger?'” Sweat began to appear on Abbot Benyin's forehead. ”Your disciple is slow and stupid by nature, and due to my position am unable to settle down to properly advance. I have only reached the forth level.”

Elder Kurong continued, ”In your opinion, how does our 'Single Solitary Finger' compare with Shaolin's 'Flower Plucking Finger', 'Pattra Leaf Finger', and 'Formless Raiding Finger?' Which is stronger, and which is weaker?” Benyin replied, ”There is no such thing as 'strength' or 'weakness' in techniques, only in each individual's learning and power.” Elder Kurong replied, ”Precisely so. And what if our 'Single Solitary Finger' is practiced to the highest level?” Benyin replied, ”The depth of the skill is so profound that I dare not wildly speculate.” Elder Kurong said, ”If you managed to live for another hundred years, what level could you attain?” The sweat on Benyin's forehead dripped down in a steady stream. In a trembling voice, he said, ”Your disciple does not know.” Elder Kurong asked, ”Can you master the highest level?” Benyin replied, ”I definitely cannot.” Elder Kurong fell silent at this point and spoke no more.

Benyin said, ”Martial-uncle, your words are wise. We are not yet even able to fully master the highest levels of our own martial arts skills. What uses have we for books containing the skills and techniques of others? Enlightened Lord, you have made an arduous journey to come here. Let us welcome you properly with a vegetarian meal.” In speaking these words, he was tacitly refusing the request of the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel.

Jiumozhi let out a long sigh. ”It's all my fault; I shouldn't have opened my mouth and made such a foolish promise. Otherwise, with Mr. Murong dead, what does it matter whether or not I am able to obtain the scroll of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'? Today, this young monk is going to be wildly bold and say a few audacious words that may display an exaggerated opinion of my own abilities. If the technique of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' really is as amazing and profound as Mr. Murong believed, I fear that even if your venerable monastery has the scroll, it does not have anyone capable of learning it. If someone here is capable of learning it, then in all likelihood it is not nearly as amazing as Mr. Murong believed it to be.”

Elder Kurong said, ”This old monk is confused about something. I hope that the Enlightened Lord may instruct me.” Jiumozhi said, ”I wouldn't dare!” Elder Kurong said, ”The fact that the 'Divine Scroll of the Six Meridians' is hidden within our humble temple is concealed even from the secular members of the Duan family. Might I ask, how is it that Mr. Murong learned of this?” Jiumozhi replied, ”Mr. Murong's understanding of the martial arts of the world was extremely deep and broad. He even had at his fingertips many skills belonging to various sects which had long been forgotten by even the leaders of the sects themselves. The characters used to describe Mr. Murong, 'Using the opponent's skills, exercising them upon the opponent', comes from this. But all his life, Mr. Murong was never able to learn any of the secrets of the 'Single Solitary Finger' or the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. This troubled him all his life, and he took this regret with him to his grave.”

Elder Kurong grunted, then fell silent. Emperor Baoding and the others thought to themselves, ”If he really learns the secrets of the 'Single Solitary Finger' and the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', then I fear that he might really be able to use our own techniques against us in the future.

Abbot Benyin said, ”It has been well over a decade since my martial-uncle has received any guests. Enlightened Lord, as you are an eminent monk of this era, my martial-uncle made an exception and has accompanied you for a long time. Enlightened Lord, please.” As he spoke, he rose to his feet, signifying the meeting was at an end.

But Jiumozhi did not rise with him. He unhurriedly said, ”The scroll of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' is only a tool with an undeserved reputation, and has no practical use. Why must your precious temple hold it in such importance, to the point where you would be willing to harm the friendship between the Heavenly Dragon Temple and the Great Wheel Temple, as well as the diplomatic relations of Dali and Tibet?”

Benyin's face changed slightly. He said in an awe-inspiring way, ”Enlightened Lord, are you saying that if the Heavenly Dragon Temple does not hand the manuscript over, that Dali and Tibet will face each other with weapons and armies?” Emperor Baoding had always kept a strong garrison of forces to the northwestern boundaries of the country, so as to keep Tibet from invading. Upon hearing Jiumozhi's words, he became totally engrossed in the conversation.

Jiumozhi replied, ”The master of my country has long yearned for Dali's local environment and people. He has long desired to meet with your honored country's master and compete with him. However, I felt that doing so would cause great loss of innocent life, which is greatly in contradiction with the heart of Buddha's teachings. For many years, I have spared no effort in dissuading him from such a course.”

Benyin and the others were all aware that a veiled threat was hidden within Jiumozhi's words. He was the national protector and dharma king of Tibet. Everyone in Tibet from the king to the commoners was Buddhist, much like the country of Dali. Jiumozhi always had the trust of the Tibetan king. Whether there would be peace or war with a nation could hinge on a single word from him. It really would not be worth it for the people of their two countries to be forced to endure suffering over a simple manuscript. Tibet was powerful whereas Dali was weak; if war really did break out, the overall situation would be very dangerous. But how could the Heavenly Dragon Temple freely give up their most precious treasure to him, by virtue of him trying to intimidate them?

Elder Kurong said, ”Since you, Enlightened Lord, desire this manuscript so much, far be it for this old monk to deny you. But we dare not agree to exchange it for Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques. Enlightened Lord, as you have mastered all of Shaolin's 72 Ultimate Techniques in addition to the martial arts of the Great Snowy Mountain's Great Wheel Monastery, you are no doubt peerless and without equal in the world.”

Jiumozhi clapped his hands together. ”Master, do you mean for me to put my incompetence on display?” Elder Kurong said, ”Enlightened Lord, you said that our monastery's manuscript of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' is a useless tool, undeserving of its fame, which cannot be used. We will use the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' to experience your elite skills. If it really is as you said, Enlightened Lord, and the technique is unusable and undeserving of its fame, why should we value it? In such a case, Enlightened Lord, feel free to take it!”

Jiumozhi was secretly startled. In the past, when he discussed the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' with Mr. Murong, he learned enough to know that it totally depended on converting internal energy into invisible sword qi. They both felt that no matter how astonishing the techniques were, for a single person to have enough internal energy to use all six of his meridians to create sword qi was most likely impossible. Now, judging from elder Kurong's words, not only was he capable of using the technique, but all of the other monks around him were as well. The Heavenly Dragon Temple's centuries-long fame clearly was no little thing indeed. His expression had been very polite and respectful all along; now, he became even more polite. Bowing forwards slightly, he said, ”It is this humble monk's greatest fortune for you, honored reverends, to be willing to display such a consummate skill in front of me.”

Abbot Benyin said, ”Enlightened Lord, what weapons do you wish to use? Please feel free to take them out now.”

Jiumozhi clapped his hands together. From outside entered a very tall and large man. Jiumozhi spoke a few words of Tibetan to him, and the man nodded while responding. He withdrew a stick of fragrant Tibetan incense from an outside box, handing it to Jiumozhi before retreating from the room.

Everyone present was baffled. The stick of incense would snap at a blow; how could it possibly be used as a weapon? Only to see Jiumozhi hold the stick of incense with his left hand while reaching down to pick up some of the wooden scraps with his right. He gently fixed the stick of incense within the pile of scraps. He repeated this five more times, until he had created a row of six sticks of incense. There was roughly one foot of distance between each stick. Jiumozhi knelt down five feet behind the line of incense. Suddenly, he rubbed his palms together a few times, then thrust them outwards. All six pieces of incense suddenly lit with fire in unison. Everyone present was shocked, thinking to themselves that this person's internal energy strength had reached an inconceivably high level. But then, they smelled a scent of sulfur from the incense and guessed that the incense had been tipped with gunpowder. Jiumozhi hadn't actually set them alight with his internal energy; rather, he has used his internal energy to generate friction-based heat to agitate the gunpowder. Although this was still no easy task, it was something which Emperor Baoding and the others could do as well, if they exerted their internal strength.

The smoke from the Tibetan incense was dark green in color. Six lines of the dark green smoke lazily curled upwards towards the ceiling. Jiumozhi cupped his hands together as though he were holding a sphere. He generated his internal energy, and the six lines of smoke slowly began to curve outwards. Each line headed towards one of the six monks; one to Kurong, one to Benguan, one to Benyin, one to Benxiang, one to Bencan, and one to Empeor Baoding. This type of palm energy which he was releasing was called the ”Blazing Flame Sabre”. Although it had no form and no substance and was invisible, it could still take a person's life. It was an incomparably powerful technique indeed. At this moment in time, he only wanted to gain the manuscript, not to take someone's life. Thus, he lit these six sticks of incense, so as to reveal the direction and heading of his palm energy. In this way, not only could he display his power and confidence, he could also demonstrate his merciful and benevolent heart. They would only be competing in terms of comparing their relative martial arts proficiencies, rather than trying to kill or injure each other.

Once the six lines of smoke arrived within a meter of Benyin and the others, they came to a halt and became unmoving. Benyin and the others were astonished yet again; it was not too difficult for a person to cause smoke to move using his internal energy, but to cause the drifting, aimless smoke to come to a sudden halt and freeze in the middle of the air was ten times more difficult. Bencan extended the pinky of his left hand, and a stream of energy erupted from his 'Shaochong' acupoint, rushing towards the line of jade smoke in front of him. As soon as that line of smoke came into contact with this stream of energy, it rushed back towards Jiumozhi with incomparable speed. When it reached within two feet of Jiumozhi's body, he increased the energy of his ”Blazing Flame Sabre”, and it could advance no further. Jiumozhi nodded. ”Impressive and worthy of the praise which is heaped on it. The 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' really does have a technique known as the 'Shaoze Sword'.” The internal energy of the two clashed repeatedly for many moves. Master Bencan knew that if he remained seated without moving, it would be very difficult to give free rein to the full power of the technique. He immediately rose to his feet and took three diagonal steps towards the left, with the internal energy from his pinky now attacking diagonally as well. Jiumozhi thrust out his own left hand and immediately blocked the attack.

Benguan's middle finger suddenly straightened, and the power of his 'Zhongchong Sword' rushed forth. Jiumozhi exclaimed, ”Excellent! This is the 'Zhongchong Sword' technique!” With a wave of his palm, he blocked the attack. Despite fighting against the two of them simultaneously, he did not seem the slightest bit nervous.

Seated in front of Elder Kurong, Duan Yu continually snuck side glances towards this battle, the likes of which wulin might see only once every thousand years. Although he did not understand martial arts, he could still tell that these eminent monks were using their internal energy to compete in a sword competition with each other. The situation was even more dangerous than if they were wielding actual, physical swords against each other. Fortunately for him, Jiumozhi had prepared those six sticks of incense, and so he was able to see some of their sword and sabre techniques of the three via the movement of the smoke. After watching for over ten stances, he suddenly realized, ”I know! That's master Benguan's 'Zhongchong Sword' technique! It is totally identical to the technique which was drawn on his manuscript.” He gently unscrolled the manuscript teaching the 'Zhongchong Sword' technique, comparing the movements of the smoke to the sword techniques contained in the manuscript. With it serving as reference, he now understood everything he saw, including Bencan's 'Shaoze Sword' techniques. The techniques of the 'Zhongchong Sword' were majestic and imposing, with large, grand motions; in contrast, the 'Shaoze Sword' flickered here and there, its changes and movements small and refined.

Abbot Benyin saw that his two martial-brothers could not gain the slightest advantage, despite having joined forces. He thought to himself, ”We have not yet thoroughly finished our studies of this technique, and can easily run out of attacking strokes. The earlier all six of us join in, the better. The Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel is intelligent to the extreme; right now, it seems as though he is simply observing Bencan and Benguan's techniques. He isn't using all of his abilities.” He immediately said, ”Brothers Benxiang and Benshen, let us join in as well.” He stretched out his index finger, attacking with the 'Shangyang Sword' technique. Following him was Benxiang's 'Shaochong Sword' technique and Emperor Baoding's 'Guanchong Sword' technique. In unison, the three streams of sword qi attacked the the three lines of jade smoke in front of them.

Duan Yu's eyes wandered left and right; he would check out the 'Shaochong Sword' technique, then the 'Guanchong Sword' technique, and then the 'Shangyang Sword' technique. After he compared them to the illustrated manual, he could understand what was going on in general, but by and large everything seemed confused and jumbled to him. Just as he was raptly studying the instructions for the 'Shaochong Sword' technique, he saw Elder Kurong stretch his finger onto the drawings and write, ”Only study one at a time. Move on to the next one only after you are done with the previous.” Duan Yu's heart jumped; he realized that Elder Kurong was giving him pointers. Turning around, he smiled slightly towards Elder Kurong, so as to express his appreciation.

But as soon as he turned around, the smile on his face immediately froze and became stiff. The face he saw was extremely bizarre. The left side of Elder Kurong's face was healthy and rosy; the skin was smooth and the flesh was abundant, like the face of a young baby. But the right side of his face was like a withered bone; aside from a layer of sallow skin, there wasn't so much as a single scrap of flesh. With the bones on prominent display, it seemed very much like half of a skeleton's skull. In his startlement, he immediately turned back, his heart pounding madly in his chest. He knew that this was the result of Elder Kurong practicing the 'Withered Glory Meditation' art, but this half-withered, half-healthy face was simply too terrifying. For the moment, he felt as though he couldn't calm down no matter what, only to see Elder Kurong's index finger once more tracing words on the scroll. ”Do not waste such a good opportunity. Focus all your attention on studying the sword techniques. Watch by yourself and learn by yourself. That does not count as violating our ancestral commandments.”

Duan Yu realized, ”Grand martial-uncle Kurong said to my uncle that the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' cannot be taught to secular disciples. Only after he shaved his head and became a monk could he be taught the technique. But for him to now write, 'Watch by yourself and learn by yourself, that does not count as violating our ancestral commandments' implies that the commandments of the ancestors of the Duan family do not specifically forbid secular members of the family from studying the techniques independently. He ordered me to 'Not waste such a good opportunity' and to 'focus all my attention on studying the techniques'. Naturally, he wants me to study and learn by myself right now.” He immediately nodded, then began to carefully study his uncle's execution of the 'Guanchong Sword' technique. After more or less understanding it, he moved on to the 'Shaochong Sword' technique and the 'Shangyang Sword' technique.

For ordinary people, the ring finger is the least dexterous, whereas the index finger is the most nimble. Thus, the 'Guanchong Sword' technique strove to achieve victory in a sluggish, simple, and unsophisticated way, whereas the techniques of the 'Shangyang Sword' were ingenious, lively, and difficult to ascertain. The 'Shaochong Sword' was similar to the 'Shaoze Sword' technique in that it used the pinky; however, one was on the left hand, whereas one was on the right hand. Thus, in terms of technique, the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' had techniques that were 'skilled' as well as 'clumsy', 'nimble' as well as 'sluggish'. And yet, the 'clumsy' techniques were not any less wonderful, nor the 'sluggish' techniques contain any less might. They were just displayed in different ways.

At first, Duan Yu had just been curious. He was simply comparing the movements of the jade smoke to the techniques written down on the scrolls; it was something akin to guessing riddles. Only now, after receiving directions from Elder Kurong, did he settle down and seriously watch the battle. By the time he more or less understood the techniques of the 'Shangyang Sword', 'Shaochong Sword', and 'Guanchong Sword', Benguan and Bencan were beginning to repeat their respective sets of movements and attacks. Duan Yu no longer needed to refer to the manuscript each time. The movements of the jade smoke were identical to the sword techniques which he had memorized. He felt as though the lines and techniques drawn on the paper were rigid and inflexible, whereas the movement of the jade smoke underwent boundless changes and transformations. The techniques were much richer and more diverse by far than the ones actually written on the scroll.

After watching for a while longer, he saw that Benyin, Benxiang, and Emperor Baoding's techniques had been exhausted as well. Benxiang flicked out his pinky, striking with the 'Parting Flowers, Flicking Willows' technique. It was the second time he had used this technique. Jiumozhi nodded slightly. Following this, Benyin and Emperor Baoding could not help but repeat previously used techniques as well. Suddenly, a 'chi-chi' sound could be heard from in front of Jiumozhi, and the power of his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' increased dramatically, forcing back the internal energy of the five.

As it were, Jiumozhi initially remained on the defensive, desiring to see the techniques of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' in its entirety before counterattacking. Now that he had changed from defense to offense, the five lines of smoke whirled about in the air with incomparable nimbleness. But that sixth line of smoke remained calmly unmoving in front of Elder Kurong, still three feet away from him and not moving in the slightest. Elder Kurong desired to know the exact extent of his abilities and see how long he could hold out, fighting with five lines of smoke but holding the sixth stock still. This was why that entire time he hadn't extended his own hand to attack. And, sure enough, Jiumozhi really did expend a rather considerable amount of energy keeping that sixth stream of smoke still. But now, that line of jade smoke finally began to inch its way towards the back of Elder Kurong's skull.

Alarmed, Duan Yu said, ”Grand martial-uncle, the jade smoke is attacking!” Elder Kurong nodded, then unrolled the 'Shaoshang Sword' manuscript and placed it in front of Duan Yu. Duan Yu saw that the illustrations of the 'Shaoshang Sword' manuscript were made in the splash-ink style, similar to the style used for scenic paintings. The horizontal and vertical lines were tilted and few in number, but the sword technique was strong and vigorous, with the capability of shattering the earth and battering the heavens, containing within it the power of the wind and the rain. Duan Yu studied the sword manuscript, but could not forget about the stream of jade smoke that was floating towards the back of Elder Kurong's skull. Turning around, he saw that the jade smoke was now only three or four inches away. He cried out in alarm, ”Careful!”

Elder Kurong flipped his hands over, then extended the thumbs of both hands. With two 'chi-chi' sounds, they launched separate surprise attacks on Jiumozhi's right shoulder and the right side of his chest. He did not ward off his enemy's assault; rather, he sent two brilliant attacks of his own to counter-attack his opponent. His judgement was that Jiumozhi's 'Blazing Flame Sabre' internal energy was still not fully released. As it was advancing towards him only slowly, for it to actually harm him would still take it a short while. If, despite moving after Jiumozhi did, his attack arrived first, he would be able to catch Jiumozhi offguard.

Jiumozhi was a careful and contemplative person. Long ago, he had prepared a stream of palm energy which protected his chest. But he had only anticipated a single, ferocious attack from the 'Shaoshang Sword', and did not foresee Elder Kurong would launch twin surprise attacks at the same time and threaten two different areas. Jiumozhi raised his palm and used it to block the attack on the right side of his chest. Following that, he kicked upwards with his right foot, hurriedly propelling himself backwards. But no matter how quickly he retreated, he could not move faster than the sword qi, which arrived with the speed of the thunder and the lightning. With a soft sound, the top of the robe on his shoulder split open, and fresh blood spilled forth. Elder Kurong reversed his thumbs, retracting his internal energy and pulling back towards him. All six sticks of incense snapped simultaneously. Benyin, Emperor Baoding, and the rest also withdrew their fingers and dissipated their sword energy. Each of them had fought for a long time without achieving success and had been secretly anxious for a long time now. Only now did they feel relieved.

Jiumozhi walked back inside the room. A small smile on his lips, he said, ”Elder Kurong, your Meditation Arts are extraordinary indeed. This humble monk admires you greatly. But as for that 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', well, it seems it really is nothing more than a tool with an undeserved reputation.” Abbot Benyin said, ”How is it nothing more than a useless tool? I must ask that you enlighten us.” Jiumozhi said, ”What the venerable Mr. Murong admired was the sword techniques of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', not the sword formation. This sword formation of the Heavenly Dragon Temple really is very powerful, but if we were to compare it with Shaolin's 'Arhat Sword Formation' or Kunlun sect's 'Chaos Sword Formation', it can only be said to be on the same level, and cannot be said to be the most unparalleled sword technique in the world.” By describing it as a 'Sword Formation' instead of as a 'Sword Technique', he was pointing out the fact that all six of them fought in unison with a pre-planned formation, rather than one of them using the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' by himself, as he, Jiumozhi, had done with his 'Blazing Flame Sabre'.

Abbot Benyin felt that his words were indeed reasonable, and was at a loss for a response. But Bencan only coldly sneered, ”Regardless of whether it was a 'Sword Technique' or a 'Sword Formation', were you, Enlightened Lord, the victor in that competition? Or was the Heavenly Dragon Temple the victor in that competition.”

Jiumozhi did not reply. Closing his eyes, he silently meditated for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Opening his eyes, he said, ”In the first round, your respected monastery took the upper hand. But in the second round, I believe I am guaranteed victory.” Benyin was startled. He asked, ”Enlightened Lord, you want to compete in another round?” Jiumozhi replied, ”A man must live up to his words. Since I have already given my word to Mr. Murong, how can I back off at the first sight of difficulty?” Benyin asked, ”And why is it that you are guaranteed of victory, Enlightened Lord?”

Jiumozhi smiled slightly. ”Everyone here has a profound and deep understanding of martial arts. Can it be that you cannot guess? Please prepare to receive my stances!” As he spoke, his two palms slowly pushed outwards. Elder Kurong, Benyin, Emperor Baoding, and the other three simultaneously felt as though two streams of internal energy were suddenly attacking from different directions. Benyin and the others all felt that they could not use the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' to block this energy attack. Each of them faced two streams of energy, and pushed out with palms to block the attack. Only Elder Kurong continued to thrust out the thumbs of both of his hands, using the 'Shaoyang Sword' technique to receive the opponent's energy.

After pushing out this twin burst of palm energy, Jiumozhi immediately halted his attack. ”Excuse me for offending you!”

Benyin, Benguan, and the others all traded glances. All of them understood, ”With a single palm, he was able to send out so many streams of internal energy. If Elder Kurong were to launch another concerted double-attack on him, he would be able to withstand it. But we, on the other hand, would have to give up the sword techniques and use palm techniques. It seems our 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' inferior to his 'Blazing Flame Sabre.'”

Just at this very moment, smoke could be seen rising up from in front of Elder Kurong. Four distinct lines of black smoke drifted upwards, then moved towards Jiumozhi. Jiumozhi held a deep, secret dread of this old monk who sat facing the wall and never turned around a single time. Now, seeing the smoke head towards him and not knowing what the old monk's intention was, Jiumozhi once again executed his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' technique to ward off all four lines of smoke. He did not immediately launch a counterattack, both so that he would not be caught off-guard by a simultaneous attack from Benyin and the others, as well as to enable himself to calmly see if Elder Kurong had any other fearsome techniques.

The black smoke grew thicker and thicker, showing that the attack was extremely aggressive. Jiumozhi was secretly surprised. ”To launch an all-out attack like this is like the saying that a windstorm cannot last all morning, and a rainstorm cannot last all evening. How can this possibly be sustained? Elder Kurong is an eminent monk of this age. How could he use such a rash, aggressive method to fight his opponent?” He felt that Elder Kurong couldn't possibly be that inexperienced; thus, he must have some other trick up his sleeve. He immediately tightened his defenses and raised his guard mentally, preparing himself to immediately act as according to the situation. After a short period of time, the four lines of smoke suddenly began to split. One became two, two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen, rushing towards Jiumozhi from all directions. Jiumozhi thought to himself, ”An arrow at the end of its flight is a spent force. Nothing worth even talking about.” He executed his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' technique and blocked every single line. As soon as his internal energy touched the lines of smoke, they split and fell apart, filling the entire room with smoke in the blink of an eye. Jiumozhi was not worried in the slightest, generating his internal energy to protect his entire body.

As the smoke and the mist thinned by degrees, he could hazily see that Benyin and the other five monks were on their knees, a solemn expression on their faces. A look of great grief and indignation could be seen on the faces of Bencan and Benguan in particular. In a moment of clarity, Jiumozhi suddenly realized the truth. He secretly cried out, ”Oh no! This old monk, Kurong, knows that they aren't a match for me, so he actually burned the manuscript of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians!'”

His guess was correct. Elder Kurong had used the force of his 'Solitary Yang Finger' to set the six manuscripts ablaze. Afraid that Jiumozhi would prevent him from doing so and snatch the manuscripts by force, he used his internal energy to push the smoke towards Jiumozhi, forcing Jiumozhi to stay on the defense and exert his efforts towards protecting himself. By the time the smoke dissipated, the drawings had been long since reduced to ashes. Benyin and the others were experts of the 'Solitary Yang Finger' who had spent many years mastering it. As soon as they saw the black smoke, they knew what caused it. They thought to themselves that their martial-uncle would rather die with glory than live with dishonor [lit., 'would rather be a broken jade vessel than an unbroken clay pot'] and was willing to destroy this most precious treasure of their monastery rather than let it fall into enemy hands. Fortunately, the six of them had each memorized a portion of the technique. Once their powerful enemy departed, they would simply recreate it from memory. Only, a priceless artifact which had been handed down to them by their ancestors had been totally destroyed.

Now, the Heavenly Dragon Temple and the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel had formed between them a long, deep, and bitter enmity. It would be difficult for there to be any sort of peace between them.

Jiumozhi was both startled and angry. He usually had a very high opinion of his own intelligence and stratagems, but today he had been defeated by Elder Kurong twice in a row and witnessed the destruction of the manual of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', earning himself a bitter enemy without any reward at all. He stood up and folded his palms together. ”Elder Kurong, why did you need to be rigid and inflexible to such an extent? That you would rather shatter the manuscript than allow it to fall in the hands of others shows your lofty style and temperament. That your venerable monastery's most precious treasure was destroyed in part due to the actions of this humble monk is a source of great regret for me. Fortunately, it was impossible for any one person to fully learn the martial arts on this manuscript. Thus, it does not really matter whether or not it was destroyed. I take my leave now.”

He turned around slightly. Not waiting for Elder Kurong or Abbot Benyin to reply, he suddenly struck out and seized Emperor Baoding's wrist, grabbing his wrist acupoints and saying, ”My humble country's ruler has long wished to meet with Emperor Baoding. Your majesty, I'll have to invite you to make a journey to Tibet with me.”

Everyone was greatly startled by this totally unexpected turn of events. This sneak attack was executed so unexpectedly that despite Emperor Baoding's own formidable level of martial arts, Emperor Baoding fell to it. Jiumozhi had seized the ”Lieque” and ”Pianli” acupoints on his wrist. Emperor Baoding hurriedly exerted his internal energy to protect himself. In the blink of an eye, he had made seven attempts to break lose, but was unable to each time. Abbot Benyin and everyone else present felt that this ambush was too despicable and contemptible, totally not in keeping with his station as an elite martial artist. However, they managed to control their anger, and yet remained unable to think of a plan for rescue. With Emperor Baoding's acupoints under the control of the opponent, his life could be taken at any point in time.

Elder Kurong laughed. ”He once was Emperor Baoding, but has since abdicated and become a monk. His religious name is Benchen. Benchen, since the ruler of Tibet wishes to meet you, you might as well go.” Helpless, Emperor Baoding could only say, ”Yes!” He knew what Elder Kurong was trying to do. Jiumozhi considered him the ruler of a country, and thus a priceless hostage. But with Elder Kurong describing him as having already abdicated his throne, he was no longer a priceless royal hostage, but only a monk of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, making him a useless personage of little importance. Perhaps, in that case, Jiumozhi would release him.

Ever since Jiumozhi had entered the Muni Pavilion, Emperor Baoding had not said a single word or revealed a single hint of his real origins. But, in order to execute even a single sword of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', one must be a first class master martial artist, with an extraordinarily deep and profound internal energy cultivation. The people within the wulin who could be considered first class masters were well aware of who the others were. Jiumozhi had not come to Dali unprepared. Before arriving, he had carefully made inquiries regarding the appearance and ages of each and every member of Dali's Duan family, as well as the disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. He had an eighty or ninety percent understanding of each person's temperament, habits, and achievements in martial arts. He knew that aside from Elder Kurong, the Heavenly Dragon Monastery had four more martial arts masters. Now, a 'Benchen' had appeared out of nowhere, a person he had never heard of before, and with an extremely powerful internal energy that was not one whit inferior to the four other 'Ben' generation monks. Seeing his majestic poise and judging from his features that he came from a luxurious background, Jiumozhi guessed that he was Emperor Baoding.

Hearing Elder Kurong say that Emperor Baoding had already abdicated the throne and become a monk, Jiumozhi's heart was swayed. ”I've long heard that in each succeeding dynasty, the Duan's of Dali would often abdicate and join the monastery. It is not altogether unbelievable that Emperor Baoding might do the same and join the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. But if an Emperor were to abdicate and become a monastery, there would be grand ceremonies held throughout the country, with gifts of food being given to monks and rituals made before the Buddha. Pagodas would be renovated and new temples would be built. It would be a huge public affair, not something kept so low-key and under wraps. Even my Tibet would, upon hearing the news, send an envoy to congratulate the new monarch. There's some trickery involved here.”

He replied, ”Regardless of whether or not Emperor Baoding has abdicated, he still needs to make a trip with me and pay a visit to my humble country's ruler.” As he spoke, he tugged on Emperor Baoding's hand, intending to immediately exit.

Benyin loudly shouted, ”Wait a moment!” His form flickered, and he, along with Bencan and the other monks, simultaneously moved in front of the door. Jiumozhi said, ”I have no intentions of harming Emperor Baoding, but if all of you force me to, then there's no other options I can take.” His right hand feinted towards the back of Emperor Baoding's heart. The power of his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' was all-conquering and unstoppable. With Emperor Baoding's meridians already under Jiumozhi's control, Emperor Baoding was helpless to resist and had no way to defend himself. If all of the monks of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery were to attack at once, not only would they fear 'breaking the dishes in order to pelt the rat', they still could not be certain of victory. And yet, Abbot Benyin and the others were still hesitant. Emperor Baoding was the ruler of Dali. How could they allow an enemy to kidnap him and march him away under duress?

Jiumozhi loudly shouted, ”I've long heard of the fame of the eminent monks of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. I never would have imagined that they would be so irresolute over such a small matter, like little boys or girls. Please make way for me!”

After seeing his uncle being captured, Duan Yu was extremely anxious. At first, he thought to himself that with his uncle's level of martial arts, there was no need to fear. He thought that his uncle was just being patient for now, and when the right moment came, he would free himself. But the more he watched, the more Duan Yu felt that something wasn't right. There was a look of great arrogance on Jiumozhi's face and his words were proud and overbearing, whereas Benyin, Benguan, and the others looked anxious, angry, and helpless. As he watched Jiumozhi head towards the exit with Emperor Baoding in tow, Duan Yu was filled with fear and worry. Without pausing to think, he shouted, ”Hey you! Let go of my uncle!” Following this, he came out from behind Elder Kurong.

Jiumozhi had long ago seen a young man hiding behind Elder Kurong, but was unable to guess who that person might be, much less the reason why he was sitting in front of Elder Kurong. Now, seeing him come out, his curiosity compelled him to turn his head and ask, ”Might I ask who you are, sir?”

Duan Yu replied, ”Don't ask me who I am! Let go of my uncle first!” Stretching out his right hand, he seized Emperor Baoding's left hand.

Emperor Baoding said, ”Yu'er, don't mind me! Leave quickly and go to your father, and tell him to immediately ascend the throne and take on this heavy responsibility! I am an old monk who is like a lazy cloud or an untamed crane; what is there to be concerned about?”

Duan Yu exerted all his strength to pull at Emperor Baoding's wrist while shouting, ”Quickly let go of my uncle!” The 'Shaoshang' acupoint of his thumb was touching the acupoints on Emperor Baoding's wrist. With him now exerting his strength, Emperor Baoding's entire body trembled, and he immediately felt his internal energy flowing outwards.

At this exact same point in time, Jiumozhi also felt his internal energy being drawn away from him. His countenance immediately changed drastically. He thought to himself, ”How is it that the Duan dynasty of Dali learned the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation?'” He immediately gathered his internal energy to fight against this evil, heterodox martial arts.

Emperor Baoding immediately felt as though two fierce and powerful streams of energy were jerking at his body. He immediately used the technique of 'Borrowing a Sabre to Strike a Knife', forcing these two streams of internal energy to directly face each other. At this moment in time, these two streams of energy were principally facing off against each other ,with very little focused on his wrists. With a wave of his hand, he broke free from Jiumozhi's grip. Together with Duan Yu, he floated backwards and retreated. He cried out to himself, ”How shameful! That I was able to escape is all thanks to Yu'er.”

Jiumozhi was more than a little bit startled by this turn of events. He thought to himself, ”Another powerful martial artist suddenly appeared in the Central Plains. How could I have been totally unaware of this? This person is very young and is only around twenty years of age. How could he have reached such a level of martial arts? He addressed Emperor Baoding as uncle; he must be of a younger generation in Dali's Duan family.” He slowly nodded and said, ”I've always thought that the Duan family of Dali only specialized in their own ancestral martial arts. Only now do I know that a learned member of their latter generation made friends with the Old Man of Xingxiu and studied the strange martial arts technique known as the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation.' Strange, how very strange!”

Although his martial arts learning was profound and vast, even he mistook Duan Yu's 'Divine Art of the Northern Darkness' as the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation'. Only, wanting to conduct himself according to the dignity of his station, he changed 'Old Freak' into 'Old Man' in referring to Ding Chunqiu. Likewise, the people of Wulin all considered the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation' as a vile art and an evil skill; he chose to describe it as a 'strange martial arts technique'. Just now, in their brief exchange, he felt that Duan Yu's internal energy cultivation was definitely not inferior at all to that of Ding Chunqiu, the Old Freak of Xingxiu. He definitely was not Ding Chunqiu's disciple or student, and thus used the phrase ”made friends with”.

Emperor Baoding let out a cold laugh. ”I've long heard that the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel was wise and farsighted, flexible and accommodating, with extraordinary understanding and knowledge. I wouldn't have imagined he would say such absurd things. The Old Freak of Xingxiu is an expert at plotting and sneak-attacking, despicable and without shame. How can the the sons of the Duan family possibly have any relationship with him?” Jiumozhi's face reddened slightly, and his heart trembled. The eight words Emperor Baoding had used, 'Plotting and sneak-attacking, despicable and without shame', were clearly meant to refer to his own earlier actions.

Duan Yu said, ”As you, the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel, have come from afar and are a guest of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, we have received you with proprietry and respect. But you dare to offend my uncle? The only reason we had been showing forebearance and restraint at every turn is because everyone here is a disciple of Buddha, but you have only become more and more overbearing and arrogant. Who, amongst Buddhist disciples, is as flagrant in breaking monastic principles as you are?”

Everyone, hearing Duan Yu righteously castigate Jiumozhi, felt secretly grateful towards him. At the same time, they became even more on guard, fearing that Jiumozhi might suddenly fly into a rage and suddenly launch an attack against Duan Yu to harm him.

They did not expect that Jiumozhi would remain calm and composed. He said, ”Today, I have become acquainted with so many eminent personages. It has been my great fortune. I ask that you exchange a few stances with me as well, so as to allow this humble monk to gained great benefit from your tutelage.” Duan Yu said, ”I don't know martial arts and I've never learned it.” Jiumozhi laughed. ”Wise, wise. I take my leave!” Leaning slightly, with a sweep of his sleeves he struck out with both arms and simultaneously launched four attacks using his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' technique, chopping towards Duan Yu.

The enemy had just launched an attack on him using his most ferocious skill, but Duan Yu remained muddle headed and ignorant. Emperor Baoding and Benxiang struck out with their fingers simultaneously, receiving and blocking these four attacks from Jiumozhi's 'Blazing Flame Sabre'. Only, under the sudden assault of Jiumozhi's vigorous internal energy, both of their bodies swayed. Benxiang let out a 'wa' cry and vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Only after seeing Benxiang vomit blood did Duan Yu understand that Jiumozhi had just then launched yet another sneak attack. He was absolutely enraged. Pointing at Jiumozhi's nose, he cursed, ”You couth, unreasonable barbarian monk!” With his exertion of energy from his right index finger, his mind and his internal energy connected, and he naturally executed an attack from the 'Shangyang Sword' technique. His internal energy was extremely powerful. In this day and age, extremely few people had reached such a level. Just previously, he had studied the manuscripts of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' while hiding in front of Elder Kurong, and also watched the invisible sword fighting of the seven elder monks. Now, as he struck out with his finger, his mind unconsciously followed the instructions on the manual. With a 'chi' sound, a simple, vigorous, and incomparably powerful energy stabbed towards Jiumozhi.

Startled, Jiumozhi hurriedly used a palm strike from the 'Blazing Flame Blade' technique to receive the attack. Duan Yu's attack not only surprised Jiumozhi; it was also wildly out of the expectations of Elder Kurong, Abbot Benyin, and the others. The ones who were the most surprised of all were Emperor Baoding and Duan Yu himself. Duan Yu thought to himself, ”Huh. That was weird. I just pointed at him. Why did this monk act so hurriedly to 'block' my point? Oh, I get it, I get it. It must be that I accidentally pointed at him in accordance with the techniques of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', and he thought that I knew how to use it. Haha, since that's the case, I might as well scare him a bit!” He loudly said, ”What's so remarkable about this 'Shangyang Sword' technique! Take a look at the 'Zhongchong Sword' techniques!” As he spoke, he struck out with his middle finger. But this time, although his technique was correct, the internal energy did not rush out as it did before. He was just pointing aimlessly in the air, without any actual effect.

Jiumozhi, seeing him strike out with his middle finger, immediately gathered his internal energy to resist the attack. He didn't expect that the 'attack' didn't contain an ounce of internal energy. At first, he thought that his opponent was trying to confuse him, interchanging 'solid' with 'void'. He saw Duan Yu strike out a second time, but once again it was empty and without any power behind it at all. He couldn't help but feel delight in his heart. He thought to himself, ”I was just wondering how someone who could use the 'Shaoshang Sword' technique could also be able to use the 'Zhongchong Sword' technique. Looks like I was right. This kid is just bluffing. Scared me for a moment!”

During this trip to the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, he had fallen flat on his face, so to speak, several times in a row now. He thought to himself that if he didn't show off his power a bit, the fame and prestige of the 'Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel' would suffer more than a bit of harm. His left palm immediately chopped towards both the left and the right, sealing off any rescue paths which Emperor Baoding and the others might use to aid Duan Yu. Then, he chopped out with his right palm, striking at Duan Yu's right shoulder. This technique, 'White Rainbow Pierces the Sun', was a marvelous and brilliant technique from his 'Blazing Flame Sabre' skill. He was intending to cut off Duan Yu's right arm with a single chop. Emperor Baoding, Benyin, Bencan, and the others cried out in unison, ”Careful!” Each of them struck out with a finger towards Jiumozhi.

The three of them were naturally using the first-class martial arts principle of 'forcing an enemy into a position where he cannot help but withdraw to defend himself' in their attack. Jiumozhi had already used his internal energy to protect all the critical points on his body. He didn't draw back his attack on Duan Yu in the slightest, and chopped perfectly straight down. Hearing the alarmed cries from Emperor Baoding and the others, Duan Yu knew that he was in a bad situation. He pushed outwards vigorously with both hands. His mind in a state of panic, his internal energy natural flowed out. The 'Shaochong Sword' of his right hand and the 'Shaoze Sword' of his left hand simultaneously struck out, dissolving the power of the stroke of the 'Blazing Flame Sabre' aimed at him. There was still plenty of energy left over from his strike, and with a 'chi chi' sound, the the two attacks counter-assaulted Jiumozhi. Jiumozhi didn't have time to think, immediately sending internal energy to his left hand to ward off the attack.

After being provoked into striking out for the past few times, Duan Yu had the vague notion that it was necessary for one to first gather his internal energy, and then agitate it to strike out with a finger; only then could his internal strength and power be unleashed. But as to why this was the cause, he had no clue at all. He lightly struck out with his middle finger, once more shooting forth the 'Zhongchong Sword'. In a blink of an eye, all of the techniques he had learned from the six manuscripts rushed to the front of his mind. All ten of his fingers struck out continuously, attacking here and there in an inexhaustible onslaught.

Jiumozhi was astounded, and hurriedly generated his internal energy to resist the attacks. Sword qi criss crossed the small room, and sabre energy danced in the air. It was as though countless miniature thunderbolts or raging gales were repeatedly clashing against each other midair. After fighting for a while, Jiumozhi felt as though his opponent's internal energy was only growing stronger and stronger, and his sword techniques were boundless without fathom, as though creating new stances on the spot. It was totally different from his earlier fight with Benyin, Benxiang, and the others, where they were rigidly sticking to a pre-set formula; in contrast, the variations were much more difficult to predict and fathom. He was not aware that Duan Yu was not able to memorize all of the complicated changes and transformations within the sword techniques of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', and was simply randomly piercing and stabbing about in a critical situation, much less inventing new stances on the spot. In his heart, he was both shocked and regretful. ”The Heavenly Dragon Monastery actually has such a young and extraordinarily skilled master as this person. Today, I really did bring about my own humiliation!” Suddenly, he struck out three times, with three 'chi' sounds, before calling out, ”Hold your hand!”

Duan Yu's internal strength could not be generated or retracted at will. Upon hearing his opponent call for him to halt, he did not know how to cease, and so his only option was to raise his fingers and point them at the ceiling. He thought to himself, ”I should stop exerting my strength and hear what he has to say.”

Jiumozhi saw that a perplexed look was on Duan Yu's face as he stopped fighting. Earlier, when he was withdrawing his internal energy, Duan Yu acted as though he were baffled and did not know what the hell he was doing at all. Jiumozhi's heart was swayed, and he immediately leapt forwards, striking towards Duan Yu's face with his fist.

Only through great fortune and luck did Duan Yu manage to learn this highest of martial arts techniques, the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. He didn't know any of the most basic empty handed or weapon based martial arts at all. Within this punch of Jiumozhi's was hidden seven or eight separate techniques. This was already a very powerful fist skill to begin with; now, backed up by the might of the Blazing Flame Sabre's energy, it became an infathomably deep and powerful stroke, impossible for even he himself to measure its strength.

In the martial world, there was no martial artist at all who understood deep martial arts but not superficial ones, who could comprehend complex martial arts not but not simple ones. Duan Yu was the only exception. Seeing Jiumozhi punch towards his face, he awkwardly stretched out his arm to block. Jiumozhi's right palm flipped over, seizing the 'Shenfeng' acupoint on his chest. Duan Yu's entire body immediately felt limp and he could no longer move. The 'Shenfeng' acupoint belonged to the 'Zushaoyinshen' group of acupoints, which he had never practiced in his study of the Divine Art of the Northern Darkness.

Although Jiumozhi discovered huge, gaping flaws in Duan Yu's study of martial arts, he was unable to overcome Duan Yu's 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', and intended to use other high-level martial arts to defeat him. But he never would have expected to be able to so easily capture him in a single attack. He was actually afraid that Duan Yu was just play-acting and had some strange trick in mind. With his one hand on Duan Yu's 'Shenfeng' acupoint, he immediately struck out with his other hand and sealed his 'Jiquan', 'Dazhui,' and 'Jingmen' acupoints. This acupoints belonged to the 'Jingmai' group, which Duan Yu also had never learned.

Jiumozhi retreated three steps. He said, ”This young benefactor has memorized the method by which one might learn the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. The original manuscript has already been burned by Elder Kurong. That makes this young benefactor a living manuscript. Burning him alive as a sacrifice in front of Mr. Murong's tomb will be just as good.” Spreading out his left palm, he hurriedly made five chops in a row, then seized Duan Yu and dragged him out of the doorway and away from the Muni Pavilion.

Emperor Baoding, Benyin, Benguan and the others wanted to rush forward and reclaim him, but were all sealed out by this chain of five chops which Jiumozhi made. There was no way for them to rescue him.

With a toss, Jiumozhi handed Duan Yu off to the nine escorts which stood guard outside the pavilion. He called out, ”Let's go quickly!” Two of the escorts stretched their hands out simultaneously and caught Duan Yu. They did not leave the way they came in. Rather, apparently on their own intiative, they made their way out via the grove which surrounded the Muni Pavilion. Jiumozhi generated the power of his 'Blazing Flame Blade' and simply repeatedly hacked at the doorway of the Muni Pavilion.

Emperor Baoding and the others all urgently clashed the force of their Single Solitary Finger against Jiumozhi's power, but were temporarily unable to break his invisible net of sabre strikes. Jiumozhi heard the sound of hoofsteps and knew that his nine subordinates had already departed northwards with Duan Yu. He laughed long and loudly. ”Burning a living manual is superior to burning a lifeless manuscript! Now that Mr. Murong has someone to accompany him in the underworld, he won't feel lonely anymore!” He made diagonal cuts with his right hand. With a 'ka la la' sound, two of the pillars of the Muni Pavilion were chopped in half. His body swayed slightly, then, as though his body were nothing more than a breath of thin smoke, he flew towards the grove as well. In an instant, his location became indiscernable.

Emperor Baoding and Bencan rushed out at the same time, only to see that Jiumozhi was already long gone. Emperor Baoding said, ”Hurry! Chase him!” His gown fluttering in the wind, he had already moved many meters. Master Bencan and him were running shoulder to shoulder, picking up speed and pursuing northwards.