Tomb Raiding

Wang Ming returned to the mountains to continue his sword practice journey after leaving Guo Jing and Huang Rong's group.

Wang Ming had no interest in following Guo Jing and acting as a babysitter all the way.

Besides, if he really followed them, the two young lovers were currently glued to each other like lacquer and glue; sandwiched in the middle, who knew how they would curse Wang Ming as a third wheel in their hearts.

The most important thing was that Wang Ming had no interest in eating dog food. Although he was not interested in Huang Rong, being force-fed dog food live was still too much to bear.

Wang Ming practiced his sword in these deep mountains, and he basically figured out the heavy swordplay by himself. The essence of this heavy swordplay was Dugu Qiubai's epitaph: "The heavy sword has no edge, and great skill is clumsy."

The swordplay was not difficult to restore; the key was how to increase strength and internal energy, which was the threshold for practicing this style of swordplay.

Without the snake gall of the Pusi Snake, Yang Guo would not have made any progress even if he practiced himself to death.

The "Indestructible Vajra Body" was truly formidable. Zhu Wushi had sucked dry the masters of the eight major sects and concurrently held countless martial arts classics from the imperial secret library for his study, yet he could still only fight Gu Santong to a draw. Gu Santong at that time could not yet transform and could only use body-protection techniques.

The True Qi of this "Indestructible Vajra Body" was extremely pure, something that the "Purple Mist True Qi" could not compare to. Moreover, it had the effect of strengthening Qi, blood, and physical constitution, which was why Wang Ming could practice it without needing to find the snake gall of the Pusi Snake.

Swordplay in the sharp sword realm mainly focused on agility, mostly utilizing force from the wrists and arms. Wang Ming initially thought that heavy swordplay relied on force from the elbows and arms, but through his practice during this period, Wang Ming realized he was wrong.

Heavy swordplay required not only the strength of the arms, but also the force of the entire body. No wonder in "The Legend of Qin", Sheng Qi—who used the Great Que—and Wei Zhuang—who used the Demon Sword Shark Tooth—always performed all sorts of fancy spins and mid-air rolls with their bodies when wielding their swords. This was mainly to maximize the preservation of the sword's momentum and maximize its lethal power.

Despite not looking very bulky in size, the Shark Tooth was actually not light at all. One had to know that it was made of bronze plus precious metals, and meticulously crafted by a master swordsman.

Weapons from the pre-Qin period were extremely heavy, completely unlike the swords used by martial world people today. Modern swords were very soft, light, and thin; one could say that everyone in the pre-Qin period used the kind of Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword that Yang Guo wielded.

Wang Ming had read an article before, though he could not be sure if it was true.

The skeletons of ancients prior to the Han dynasty excavated from tombs were clearly very tall and large, incomparable to modern people, and could be compared to the physical constitution of Africans.

However, people born after the Han dynasty gradually became shorter.

The reason seemed to be the frequent wars during the Five Barbarians Stirring China period, where robust young men were drafted into the army to fight. Once they went to the battlefield, how many could return? The Five Barbarians Stirring China period spanned too long, harvesting robust young men for military service crop after crop. What remained afterward were people with frail, short, and sickly physiques. The allusion of the old man losing his horse illustrated that the robust men were all drafted away.

Consuming the superior genes in wars caused later generations to doubt the height and martial prowess of the ancients.

A person's physical fitness was related to diet, but the most important factor should be genetics. Just like those African brothers—what good things did they eat, yet they still grew up big and strong.

Ah! I'm thinking too far ahead, Wang Ming snapped back to reality.

In the end, from Wang Ming's perspective, the heavy swordplay was similar to the swordplay of Wei Zhuang and the others. Of course, what was similar was merely their basic attacks, not things like the Hundred Steps Flying Sword or Crossing Eight Directions. Even with Wang Ming's insight and foundation, those were not things he could self-restore at this stage.

Dugu Qiubai's several realms:

The sharp sword realm: The "Nine Swords of Dugu" was the core of his swordplay.

The soft sword realm: No legacy was left behind, and Wang Ming did not know how to practice it. This realm should be the peak of sword-handling techniques, as the soft sword was the hardest to practice; one slip and you would injure yourself.

The heavy sword realm: Why was this realm strong?

Because of strength!

The martial power value of an expert included strength and internal energy.

These two types of power acted simultaneously.

For example, before practicing the heavy sword, Yang Guo used thirty percent physical strength and seventy percent internal force when fighting.

However, after practicing the heavy sword, it became one hundred percent physical strength and seventy percent internal force, plus weapon bonuses.

This was the principle of one plus one equals two.

Yet internal force was easy to improve, while strength was difficult; the upper limit was basically determined at birth.

So this kind of fortuitous opportunity was not worth thinking about.

He could fight anyone with internal energy of the same tier without flinching at all, and even attempt cross-realm fights.

However, he must absolutely never fight someone with greater strength than himself.

Just like Pei Yuanqing encountering Li Yuanba, he didn't even need to struggle. Technicians and speed-type fighters like Luo Cheng could still exchange a few feigned moves with Li Yuanba.

For slow, hard-hitting types like Pei Yuanqing, taking even a single move meant internal injuries.

The swordless realm: Wang Ming was still far from this, so he wouldn't bother speculating. Empty speculation was useless.

Wang Ming practiced his sword in the mountains for half a month before stopping. He traveled around to Zhongnan Mountain, used the "Grass on Flying" lightness skill to thoroughly scout the back mountain, and finally allowed Wang Ming to find that pool.

Then Wang Ming did not dally, immediately entering the water to dive and proceed all the way. It was pitch black under the water and nothing could be seen, but fortunately Wang Ming had made preparations beforehand. Along the way, he had robbed the rich to help the poor at a wealthy merchant's household and obtained a Night Pearl, which allowed him to see underwater.

Before long, Wang Ming reached the end of the waterway, and Wang Ming swam upward.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo..."

Wang Ming broke the surface of the water, taking deep breaths. If this waterway had been any longer, it would have suffocated him to death.

That was reckless, almost kicking the bucket. I need to pay attention in the future, Wang Ming self-cautioned.

Emerging from the pool, he walked onto the stone chamber, having no time to air-dry his wet clothes. Raising the illuminating Night Pearl, he began to observe the "Nine Yin Manual" carved on the stone walls.

Half an hour later,

The "Nine Yin Manual" on the Chongyang Legacy Carving was incomplete; it lacked the general outline, and much of it overlapped with the lower volume in Wang Ming's possession.

Wang Ming was disappointed. This trip could be considered a wasted journey.

The most important part of the "Nine Yin Manual" was the general outline, followed by the internal kung fu of the upper volume, and only lastly the external kung fu moves of the lower volume.

Forcefully practicing the martial arts of the lower volume—Chen Fengxuan and Mei Chaofeng were classic examples.

Back then, Mei Chaofeng was also peerlessly graceful, and Huang Yaoshi almost couldn't help losing his heart. It showed that Mei Chaofeng's appearance was definitely quite good, but after practicing the lower volume of the "Nine Yin Manual", she became neither human nor ghost, earning the nickname "Iron Corpse".

Bah! This is normal too. After all, old Wang carved this Chongyang Legacy Carving not to pass down martial arts, but because all his martial arts were cracked by Lin Chaoying, and out of anger and shame he brought out Huang Shang's "Nine Yin Manual" to save face. No wonder Yang Guo and the others didn't make the "Nine Yin Manual" their main cultivation.

Just as Wang Ming was about to leave, he turned around again to look toward the direction of the dark depths. That direction was the passage leading into the Ancient Tomb, and he was quite curious about Little Dragon Girl and the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb.

After thinking about it, he dismissed this thought after all; curiosity killed the cat.

In this era, the number one under heaven should be Lin Chaoying's maidservant, and none of the current Four Peaks were her match.

Wang Chongyang and Lin Chaoying should be in the Innate Realm, but for unknown reasons, they kicked the bucket not long after breaking through.

Lin Chaoying's "Jade Maiden Heart Sutra" was generated by dual-cultivating with her maidservant. This maidservant probably lacked foundation and talent, failing to break through to the Innate, but she should still have possessed the strength of a Peak Acquired Master.

Hong Qigong's strength was merely at the Late Acquired Stage, and the other three peaks were about the same as him.

Do not think that Lin Chaoying's maidservant was weak just because she was killed by Ouyang Feng.

Ouyang Feng at that time had cultivated the "Inverted Nine Yin Manual" and was truly the number one under heaven of the second Mount Hua Sword Debate.

Yet the moment he arrived at the Ancient Tomb, he was subdued by Lin Chaoying's maidservant, who sealed his acupoints. It was just that this maidservant did not know Ouyang Feng had inversely practiced the "Nine Yin Manual", causing all the acupoints in his whole body to be reversed, so he was not sealed at all. Caught off guard, she was ambushed.

Even if Lin Chaoying's maidservant did not make a move, if she released the Jade Bee Swarm, Wang Ming would be in a tight spot.

Thus Wang Ming no longer indulged in further thoughts, jumped back into the pool behind him, executed the Breath-Holding Technique from the Chongyang Legacy Carving, and dove out of the Ancient Tomb along the water current.