It was dusk, and the valley was draped in a golden silence. The distant mountains wore the colored garments of the evening glow, and the milk-white clouds at the horizon turned as fiery red as silk ribbons.
The soft sunlight streamed through the open window onto the desk in the room.
A middle-aged man sat on the chair in front of the desk, looking intently at the book in his hands.
There were a few other books on the desk before him.
Standing behind him was a young and beautiful woman dressed in white robes, a trace of impatience between her brows.
"Master, can this secret manual be shown to your disciple?"
The one speaking was none other than Li Mochou. Ever since she went to trouble Lu Zhanyuan and was driven back by a Tianlong Temple monk using the Six Meridian Divine Sword, and even forced to swear a poisonous oath, her obsession with martial arts had been ignited. (In the Louis Koo version, the monks of Tianlong Temple do know the Six Meridian Divine Sword, though it should be the kind Emperor Baoding and the others use!)
She looked at this newly acknowledged master of hers, feeling extremely interested in the secret manuals he was reading, which he had plundered from Jueqing Valley.
"Mochou! These secret manuals are not suited for you; there is no need for you to study them," the middle-aged man said indifferently.
This middle-aged man was Wang Ming.
Once he had resolved the remaining resistance forces in the valley in a single stroke, he handed those women and children over to Li Mochou to arrange and manage.
After all, taking a disciple was meant to help oneself solve troubles, not to bring in a little ancestor.
He had wandered the valley alone,
and relying on the knowledge of mechanisms and architecture he had stealthily learned from Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi's study, he found the hidden mechanisms and secret compartments in Jueqing Valley.
The secret manuals on the desk were his harvest this time.
The secret manuals on the desk were respectively the Yin Yang Chaotic Blade, the Acupoint Sealing Skill, the Heart Sutra of Ruthlessness, and the Fishing Net Formation.
"Since you're interested, take them and read them yourself!"
"Thank you, Master!" Li Mochou said happily upon hearing this.
Wang Ming leaned backward, resting against the backrest of the chair, and adjusted to a relatively comfortable posture.
"Of these basic manuals, study the Fishing Net Formation well. Pass it on to the disciples recruited in the future to let them guard the house and protect the courtyard—that would be not bad. It was just bad luck for this formation that it ran into me; otherwise, even if the Five Greats came, they could still be made to stumble."
Wang Ming glanced at Li Mochou, who was intently studying the Acupoint Sealing Skill in her hands, and knew she had treated his words as wind past her ear. He didn't mind this situation; he knew well the attraction of secret manuals to martial world people.
"The Acupoint Sealing Skill, its advantage is that once mastered, it can seal all the acupoints of the entire body, and when fighting others, people cannot control you. But its fatal flaw is that it cannot touch even the slightest bit of meat or grease. Hard to learn and easily broken, better off not practicing. Too much of a tasteless burden."
Hearing this, Li Mochou froze, then reluctantly put down this martial art.
She picked up the Heart Sutra of Ruthlessness and began to read it.
"This Heart Sutra of Ruthlessness is also not worth looking at; it is several grades lower than the internal cultivation method you practice," Wang Ming continued to explain.
Gongsun Zhi's ancestral martial arts in the original work were no good. It was only later, after marrying Qiu Qianci and obtaining the martial arts manual of his brother-in-law, Iron Palm Gang leader Qiu Qianren, that he practiced it to the level seen in the original plot.
Li Mochou quickly flipped through it a few times, and just as Wang Ming had said, she disappointmented put it down.
This time she did not reach for the remaining secret manual, but looked instead at Wang Ming.
Yin Yang Chaotic Blade. This manual is the only martial art in Jueqing Valley that catches my eye, but it must be used in conjunction with the two weapons behind you.
Wang Ming still patiently untangled the puzzle for Li Mochou, signaling with his eyes toward the golden saber and the black sword on the weapon rack behind her. There was also a Gentleman Sword up there; the Lady Sword had already been given to Li Mochou.
"What a pity, this martial art does not suit you. This martial art has rather high demands on physical fitness; for a woman to practice it reluctantly is also to labor to no avail."
At this moment, Li Mochou was completely disappointed and had no interest in continuing to stay here. She was not close to this master; she had originally been taken as a disciple by force, and continuing to stay felt a bit awkward. Therefore, she simply took her leave of Wang Ming.
"Hold on, come along."
Wang Ming stood up from the armchair, then led Li Mochou out to the courtyard outside the study.
He glanced at the empty courtyard paved with smooth pebbles, with many bamboo branches thrusting in over the courtyard wall, making this courtyard look exceptionally secluded.
"Drill through the martial arts you learned previously once!" Wang Ming walked over, sat down on a stone stool in the courtyard, and said to Li Mochou behind him.
Li Mochou was startled upon hearing this, but then quickly collected herself and began to drill in a proper manner. She knew the gap between herself and this casual master, and she was not afraid of leaking her martial arts. Besides, she had already been expelled from the Ancient Tomb Sect, so she had no psychological burden.
The time it takes to brew three cups of tea passed.
Li Mochou finished drilling through her martial arts, exhausted and drenched in fragrant sweat. The strands of hair at her temples were also dampened by sweat, sticking to her tender white cheeks.
"You don't need to practice those poisonous martial arts anymore; they damage the physical foundation and are not the proper path. Concealed weapons can be kept, and other martial arts won't be mentioned. This swordplay is very brilliant, but you lack matching internal cultivation methods, and to the end of your life you will not reach the level of the Five Greats," Wang Ming began to critique.
Li Mochou's heart sank upon hearing this. Wang Ming was right; her Jade Maiden Swordplay lacked internal cultivation, and the power of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was greatly discounted.
"Having taken you as a disciple, I cannot fail to teach you martial arts. Today, Master will transmit the Nine Yin Manual to you. Take it and study it well yourself; if you don't understand, don't practice wildly, come and ask me." Wang Ming took a book from his bosom and tossed it to Li Mochou.
Li Mochou was also stunned by Wang Ming's action. From the very beginning, she had never thought Wang Ming would really give her benefits.
Taking her as a disciple was merely to secure a maid to serve tea and pour water.
Happiness came too suddenly, her little head buzzing with shock, and it took her a long time to react.
Li Mochou had also heard of the reputation of the Nine Yin Manual; that was an peerless martial art for which the Five Greats of the world all scrambled eagerly. How could she remain calm?
Upon hearing that he was going to impart the Nine Yin Manual to her, her initial reaction was simply disbelief.
Catching the tossed book and opening it, she saw that the ink was still very fresh, seemingly written not long ago. She did not mind these details and read the contents of the book earnestly:
"The Way of Heaven: reduce what is in excess and supplement what is deficient. Therefore, the void overcomes the substantial, and the deficient overcomes the excess. Its meaning is expansive, its principles profound, its flavor deep. The images of heaven and earth separate, the seasons of yin and yang flare, the origin of changes is manifested, and the omens of life and death are made distinct..."
She was also someone who knew goods when she saw them, knowing that this shouldn't be fake. Her heart stirred instantly. In this world, the people she cared about most totaled only four: her master, Granny Sun who looked after her, that junior sister, and finally...
Yet these were now things she could not have for all her seeking. Her junior sister and the others had been expelled from the sect because she insisted on leaving, and she could never go back.
Although she knew she would never again see the master and Granny Sun who had raised her since childhood, nor her lovable junior sister, she still resolutely chose to leave the Ancient Tomb for the sake of her Lang.
She had an appointment with her Lang that when he returned from Dali, and she took her leave from the Ancient Tomb, he would welcome her and take her as his bride.
Waiting and waiting without seeing her lover arrive, she followed the hometown he had mentioned back when they were together, searching along the way.
Twisting and turning, she arrived at Lu Family Manor in Jiaxing,
only to discover that her lover had gotten married,
yet the bride was not her...
This master of hers had been accepted rather casually, yet unexpectedly, he was even more generous than that master she had spent over a dozen years with.
"Alright, withdraw! Do not practice blindly. You know of the Black Wind Twin Fiends of the pugilistic world, right? That's what came of practicing this Nine Yin Manual haphazardly."
This was what Wang Ming had specially transcribed for her when Li Mochou was arranging the women and children in the valley. Of course, this was not the complete text; what he gave her was only the internal cultivation portion and the Tendon-Changing and Marrow-Cleansing Chapter.
As for those lethal martial arts, Wang Ming did not give them to her. Many immensely powerful martial arts were actually not created by Huang Shang; they were the martial arts of his enemies, imbued with all sorts of evil qi.
Originally, this lass was not quite normal; if she were also allowed to practice the martial arts above, I'm afraid it would give rise to a blackened Zhou Zhiruo.
Before you continue