A Trip to West Lake

Wang Ming hired a carriage after leaving the Lin family residence and headed toward West Lake.

After arriving at West Lake, his waist and back were sore for many days. This era lacked planes and cars, and traveling was a rather agonizing ordeal.

Staying at an inn, he asked many people for information and finally found Plum Manor.

The Four Friends of Plum Manor actually worked as jailers. They lived quite low-profile lives on weekdays and had almost lost their fame in the martial arts world, but unfortunately, their hobbies betrayed them; otherwise, it truly would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.

Tonight,

with no moon and a high wind, it was precisely...

Wang Ming scaled the wall of Plum Manor and entered the courtyard.

Looking at the massive courtyard with its numerous rooms, Wang Ming could not tell which was which and had no choice but to search them one by one.

Turning a corner, he came to a room that was obviously larger than the surrounding houses. He gently pushed open the door, entered, and seeing the person on the bed, struck his acupoints with a single finger to immobilize him. To prevent him from using any strange methods to break the acupoints, he used a bedsheet as a rope to tie him up.

Glancing back, the room was full of calligraphy, paintings, and the smell of wine, leading him to guess that this should be Dan Qingsheng.

Wang Ming had already taken down Huang Zhonggong and Tu Biyong through a flurry of activity, and now only Hei Baizi remained.

Wang Ming entered the room and was about to head toward the bed.

"Who is it?"

The person on the bed suddenly leaped up and struck out with a palm toward him.

This sudden shout actually startled Wang Ming. His concentration had been too focused, and he had never thought that the man would wake up.

Wang Ming also countered with a palm strike. Feeling the palm force transmitted from his opponent's hand to be quite ordinary, he increased the output of his internal qi.

Hei Baizi instantly could not withstand it, was sent flying back onto the bed, and vomited two mouthfuls of blood.

"I know you have the key to the dungeon. Take me there, and I'll spare your life."

"How can I believe you won't kill me after it's done?"

"You can only believe me. If you are unwilling to guide the way, at worst I'll just change to someone else. Not only you alone know the location of the dungeon and possess the key to open it here. It's just that when the time comes, the person who survives definitely won't be you."

"Alright, alright! I'll lead the way, don't kill me."

Hei Baizi immediately agreed. He knew he had no qualifications to negotiate terms, as there were others here who served the same purpose as him.

Wang Ming knew from the original text that this Hei Baizi was greedy for life, feared death, and had many petty schemes, so he chose him to lead the way from the very beginning. Sure enough, a simple scare made him submit.

Guided by Hei Baizi, they found the entrance to the dungeon. This entrance was made very covertly; without him leading the way, it would have been very difficult to find the place. Walking down a long stone staircase, they finally reached the dungeon.

Looking at the iron cage suspended in the air, there was an unkempt old man inside with a messy beard, wearing black, tattered clothes. He must have been Ren Woxing.

"Open the iron cage."

"That won't do. We'll all die after he comes out," Hei Baizi said with some resistance.

"If you don't open it, you die right now."

"Ha ha ha! Hei Baizi, listen to him and open it. This sect leader won't kill you. Kid, you've done well; this sect leader will reward you handsomely."

Ren Woxing was startled awake, and upon seeing that someone was going to open the iron cage, he was quite overjoyed! Although he did not know who this kid was, as long as the cage was opened, Ren Woxing was confident he could get out.

Under pressure, Hei Baizi inserted the four keys into the keyholes, and then the suspended iron cage was slowly lowered.

"Kid, were you sent by Left Envoy Xiang to rescue this sect leader? Come over here and open my shackles."

Ren Woxing emerged from the iron cage and told Hei Baizi to unlock the iron chains on his hands and feet.

Just as Hei Baizi was about to step forward, Wang Ming immobilized him with a finger flick and kicked him aside.

Ren Woxing also realized something was wrong, immediately straightened up, and looked warily at Wang Ming.

"You're wrong. I'm here to kill you."

"Kid, you're quite arrogant. It seems old man Wu has been away from the martial arts world for too long, and you've all forgotten old man Wu's methods."

"Roar!!!"

Ren Woxing acted as soon as he spoke, directly channeling his internal qi to full capacity, wanting to deal with Wang Ming using the same method he used to stun Linghu Chong. Unfortunately, Wang Ming's internal martial arts were profound, and trying to stun Wang Ming with a single roar was impossible.

If that actually succeeded, the Indestructible Vajra Body and Purple Haze Divine Skill would have been practiced in vain.

Just as Wang Ming was about to use the Illusion Sword to strike Ren Woxing with a single blow, Ren Woxing went all-in directly.

"Star Absorbing Great Art!"

A formidable suction force transmitted from Ren Woxing's hands, pulling Wang Ming, who was two zhang away, right in front of him. Ren Woxing tightly grabbed Wang Ming's hands and firmly controlled him.

"Kid, this sect leader will let you taste the power of the Star Absorbing Great Art, ha ha ha ha!!!!"

Just as Ren Woxing was laughing wildly, he suddenly flew backward and slammed against the stone wall of the dungeon.

"Why... why... the Star Absorbing Great... had no effect."

Wang Ming did not have the habit of explaining his own martial arts. He walked over, picked up the sword that had just been dropped, and slit his throat with a single stroke.

Ren Woxing had sucked Wang Ming in, continuously drawing out the Purple Haze Divine Skill from Wang Ming's body, thinking the overall situation was settled. He just never expected Wang Ming to also possess the Indestructible Vajra Body. The Indestructible Vajra True Qi could not even be absorbed by Zhu Wushi's Great Art of Absorbing Power, let alone the incomplete Star Absorbing Great Art. While the man was laughing wildly, Wang Ming channeled his internal qi to the limit and kicked him flying with a single strike.

He arrived at the inner cage where Ren Woxing had been detained, found the Star Absorbing Great Art, quickly memorized the manual, and then used the long sword in his hand to destroy the text above. If this thing leaked out, the harm would be far too great.

He had no interest in practicing the Star Absorbing Great Art. What was the use of practicing such an incomplete martial art—to turn oneself into a balloon and disgust oneself?

He brought Hei Baizi back to Huang Zhonggong's room, rummaged through boxes and cabinets inside, and finally found a booklet.

This was what recorded Huang Zhonggong's self-created unique skill, the Seven String Formless Sword.

This martial art was the most underestimated one in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. It was the optimal configuration to pair with Ren Woxing, yet Huang Zhonggong did not know this, foolishly taking a thin sword to fight others head-on, or directly clashing palms with them, resorting solely to the Star Absorbing Great Art whenever he met someone slightly formidable.

Duan Yu had not completely practiced the North Darkness Divine Skill, and he would also experience extreme discomfort after absorbing others' internal qi. Why didn't he suffer as severely as Ren Woxing? Because Duan Yu only absorbed the internal qi of a dozen or so people in his entire life, whereas Ren Woxing absorbed opponents whenever he met them, accumulating over a thousand people in his lifetime, making his qi extremely chaotic.

Initially, Duan Yu also suffered terribly as different internal qi coursed through his body, wishing he were dead, and only recovered after learning the Six Meridian Divine Sword. The Six Meridian Divine Sword was very easy to master and also quite simple—the several eminent monks of Tianlong Temple all knew it, which proved the point. Knowing it did not equal being able to use it; this martial art consumed internal qi extremely, and that was the true threshold.

To others, this martial art was a tasteless chicken rib, but to Duan Yu, it was a divine skill. This martial art could be unleashed instantly to maintain a balance within the body.

In Ren Woxing's era, the heaven and earth spiritual energy was thin, and making internal qi leave the body was basically very difficult.

With no way to expel the internal qi from his body, taking in without outputting, one could say that if Ren Woxing used his sword techniques and palm techniques for a single day, his internal qi recovery would not even keep pace with the consumption. It would be a miracle if he wasn't bloated to death.

The Seven String Formless Sword happened to be a martial art that consumed internal qi extremely, matching the Star Absorbing Great Art perfectly. Of course, adding a copy of the Yi Jin Jing would be even better.

By infusing superior internal qi into the sound of the zither to disrupt the enemy's state of mind, the opponent's internal qi would resonate with the zither sound, and they would unwittingly become controlled by the zither music. When the zither music was slow, the opponent's attacks also became slow; when the zither music was rapid, the opponent's attacks also became rapid. Yet the moves on the zither were precisely the opposite of the zither music. His attacks were fast while the zither music was doubly leisurely, and the opponent was bound to be unable to block them.

Having taken everything he should, Wang Ming glanced at the four still-unconscious men and hesitated whether to kill them.

Dealing with the Four Friends of Plum Manor was not difficult. The reason Xiang Wentian was so cautious and catered to their preferences to deal with them was not because he feared their martial arts, but because once they were outmatched, they would detonate explosives to destroy the dungeon, and then Ren Woxing would be finished.

Wang Ming did not worry about these things. If Ren Woxing died, he died—it was no big deal. Dying was even better to avoid him coming out to stir up trouble.

After a moment of thought,

forget it. For the sake of this Seven String Formless Sword manual, he would spare their lives and let them fend for themselves!

With a single sword slash, he cut Huang Zhonggong's ropes, paying no mind to the several men who remained unconscious.

He left Plum Manor.

Coming to kill Ren Woxing this time was to maintain the balance of this world. Xiang Wentian had consistently been plotting to rescue Ren Woxing.

Unlike Dongfang Bubai, who was a homebody, Ren Woxing would frantically stir up trouble the moment he came out.

Wang Ming killed Ren Woxing merely to prevent him from wiping out Mount Hua after he left.