Chapter 3 (2/2)
In Yan Wushi+’s opinion, Kunye’s skills were good and his talents were outstanding as well, yet he was still nowhere near the Hulugu in those years Even when compared with the others on the current list of the top ten, he could not be considered as distinguishable The fact that someone like him could severely injure the sect leader of Mount Xuandu was itself soe
But this was not the key point of his concerns What exactly was behind Shen Qiao's injury or whether it had anything to do with Kunye–Yan Wushi+ had no interest to find out The only reason that he et was to spread the news of his re-eence in the martial world Since Kunye had just defeated the sect leader of Mount Xuandu recently and became the focus of everyone, he was the optimum choice
More iain of Yan Wushi+'s journey this time was neither to make a name of himself nor to defeat Kunye, but to find out the whereabouts of one of the re
Legend has it that fifty years ago, the grand, encountered an immortal on Mount Mao and was handed-down a book named The Key to Ascend the Truth The book consisted of a total of four parts Tao Hongjing reorganized three of them into another book and named it The Secret Key to Ascend the Truth
For the small part that was left out, because the content was obscure, with most of it related to cultivation between Man and the Heavens, Tao Hongjing organized it into a separate book, s of his lifetiy of the Ver
Tao Hongjing delved deeply and studied the relationshi+p between Man and the Heavens Although a Daoist priest himself, he was a true expert in all of the Three Schools, and was also blessed with all of the learnings of the I, Sun Youyue Thus, as a man whose martial skills had attained the acly acknowledge defeat against him, he was indeed the number one martial artist beyond dispute
Since it had such an origin, The Strategy of the Ver naturally became a treasured script that people fell over each other in their eagerness to read It was said that if one could fully comprehend all of its five books, they would be able to see through the ultimate of martial artists since ti to heavens [1] would no longer be impossible
Unfortunately, after Tao Hongjing ascended to the land of the I Sect of Mount Mao suffered enormously due to its involvement in politics With each of its disciples in their own differing standpoint, together with the civil disorder that would later seize the Liang Dynasty, the five books of The Strategy of the Ver were scattered everywhere and were unable to be retrieved
It was not until ten years later, when Qi Fengge adacy of Mount Xuandu, also included the help fro, that the whereabouts of the scripts were finally discovered one after another Rumors said that one book was the treasure of the country of Zhou, one book ned by Tiantai Sect in Zhejiang, one book was kept in Mount Xuandu, while the locations of the other two remained a mystery over several decades and were still nowhere to be found till today
Yan Wushi+ had the chance to come in contact with the one treasured in the Imperial Palace of Zhou in his early years The substantial increase in his cultivation after the Meditation should be partially credited to that one book of The Strategy of the Ver
Only by experiencing it they of the Ver really was Froy of the Ver efforts of Tao Hongjing's entire lifetiether the martial arts andand integrating them with each other, therefore was truly coh the renty of thethe ways of heavens and reaching the state of unity between Man and the Heavens would not be impossible anymore
The purpose of Yan Wushi+'s trip this ti use of the opportunity that it was in a state of tury of the Verht with Kunye, he happened to realize that although Kunye's ions, his inner arts and qi appeared there yet not there It see Yan Wushi+ to suspect that it was highly probable that the reason Hulugu was able to barely e in power and only lost by half a y of the Ver
As one of the new generation experts of Tujue, given enough tith with Hulugu Since the coions [3] and The Strategy of the Veru, it could definitely bring up a second
This aroused a great a days, he followed Kunye everywhere and would challenge hiht whenever he felt like it Unable to win over hi no chance to escape, Kunye alht as well return to Tujue in the end
Yan Wushi+ had no plans to chase him all the way to Tujue at the moment, so he leisurely returned to the spare mansion
Right after he returned, he heard froet out of bed and walk around
When Shen Qiao appeared, he had a bamboo cane in his hand Step by step, he walked slowly, but steadily
A servant girl was supporting hi to him the different paths inside the mansion
”My respects to Master” After the girl showed him the direction, Shen Qiao bowed tohere Yan Wushi+ was sitting
”Sit” Yan Wushi+ put down the Weiqi [4] piece that was in his hand Yu Shengyan, as sitting across hiht of his expression But at the saranted aame
Shen Qiao sat doith the servant girl's assistance
After he woke up, the ue He could not even remember his own name and where he had coyan, he had no impression of them at all
”How do you feel?” asked Yan Wushi+
”Thanking Master for your care, I can get out of bed and walk around already Just that s still feel weak, and my martial arts…seems like it hasn't recovered yet”
”Hand”
Shen Qiao gave hiers iate of vitality [5]' point
He inspected the pulse for a moment, and a trace of surprise appeared on his formerly inattentive face
He glanced at Shen Qiao h the latter, due to his inability to see, had a vacant and innocent look
Yan Wushi+ asked, ”Do you feel any discomfort?”
Shen Qiao thought for a ht,sensations between cold and hot, accompanied by a pain in my chest, sometimes to the point that I can hardly walk”
Yu Shengyan added: ”I've already had the doctor look at it The doctor said that it was probably because junior martial brother has been seriously wounded that the process of recovery would take some time”
Yan Wushi+ sneered faintly at the ”junior martial brother” that seemed to slip out rather smoothly, then he said to Shen Qiao, ”Your martial arts is not completely ruined I sensed that there is still a faint trace of qi left inside your body that seeht not be impossible for yourMoon Sect does not support good-for-nothings I have an errand for your senior o with him to assist”
”Yes”
He did not ask what the errand was about Just like how he had treated Yu Shengyan, he agreed hatever others said For the rest of the time he just sat there serenely, without any excessive movements
But Yan Wushi+ was by no nity that Shen Qiao was experiencing after his fall The weakness that Shen Qiao revealed had only caused an even richerhim want to violate and tainted this snohite from head to toe more than ever
”You can go back and take a rest now,” he said plainly
Shen Qiao stood up and excused himself docilely, then slowly left with the assistance of the servant girl
Yan Wushi+ retrieved his line of sight froyan, ”Make a trip to Qi directly and eliminate the entire family of the Grand Master of Remonstrance [6] Yan Zhiwen”
”Yes” Yu Shengyan accepted the order without hesitation ”Has he displeased Master in any way?”
”He's a disciple of the Harmony Sect, and also one of the eyes that Harmony Sect has planted in Qi”
Yu Shengyan was also excited after hearing the words: ”Yes! The Har, and Yuan Xiuxiu, taking the advantage of your Meditation, has caused us much trouble If we don't teach her a lesson, won't our Cleansing Moon Sect seem way too useless? I'll take off within the next couple days!”
Pausing for a moment, he held back the smile on his face and asked perplexedly, ”Master wants ? He has lost all of his martial arts I'”
With the shadow of a smile, Yan Wushi+ said, ”Now that you have called him your 'junior martial brother', you should at least show him the world It's true that hisone or two people should not be a difficulty for him still”
Yu Shengyan finally understood; Master was treating Shen Qiao like a piece of white paper and wanted him dyed completely black Even if one day Shen Qiao caain his memories, since there was no way to undo what had been done, by that time it would be impossible for him to return to the orthodox side even if he wanted to
Hoas being like the bad? One would handle matters with no constraints or scruples, do whatever they pleased, and was free froyan firmly believed that the nature of man was evil and that a dark side existed deep within everyone It all came down to whether there was a chance to express it or not All those so-called Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian sects spoke profusely of virtue and morality and how one should always e up their own selfish desires with righteous causes Not to mention that when it came to the competition for the throne of the world, the winner took it all Under such circumstances, was there even a country's ruler whose hands were not covered in blood? And who could clai cleaner than the others?
”Yes I'll uide junior martial brother well”
Translator's Notes:
[1] Ascending to Heavens (飞升): The terh it is often used as a way to avoid saying so them to achieve immortality
[2] Meditation Ways (心法 xinfa):Literally means the art of hearts, or ways of mental cultivation It is the specific ways to cultivate one's inner h meditations, such as specific paths for circulation of qi, and etc
[3] Western Regions (西域 xiyu):A ter to the area west of the Yumen Pass, most of Central Asia nowadays
[4] Weiqi (围棋): A chess gao” nowadays (Yes! It's the game played by AlphaGo)
[5] Gate of Vitality (命门 ht hand in wuxia novels, as opposed to the actual acupoint in Chinese medicine which is located on the waist It is a critical position for martial artists since it can be used to seriously injure or even kill someone easily
[6] Grand Master of Reious officials called Re Officials whose principal function was to attend and advise the emperor, and especially to remonstrate with him about what they considered improper conduct or policy []