Tool

Ever since Wang Ming took charge of Jueqing Valley, he was not in seclusion the entire time.

In between, he also took the time to successively teach Li Mochou Quanzhen Swordplay and the Twin-Handed Combat Technique.

Wang Ming also wanted to see if he could cultivate a figure whose future achievements would be no less than the Five Greats.

At the time when he told Li Mochou to learn Quanzhen Swordplay, she was quite reluctant. She looked down on the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect immensely, feeling that learning this trashy swordplay was a waste of time.

Her having such a mindset was understandable, because the Jade Maiden Swordplay countered the Quanzhen Swordplay in every single stance, and the Daoists of the Quanzhen Sect had never had any dignity in front of her. This naturally created a misguidance of information, making her feel that Quanzhen Sect martial arts were mediocre and merely relied on outnumbering people.

Only after Wang Ming recounted the past events of Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang, and personally stepped down to give a live demonstration using Quanzhen Swordplay against her Jade Maiden Swordplay, did he make her believe that these two sets of swordplay combined were no less than the Nine Yin Manual.

At the same time, it also caused a wave of mixed emotions in her heart, not expecting that a person of Ancestral Master's talent would actually be trapped by romance, and remain unforgetting of Wang Chongyang, who had failed her.

However...

As for Lu Lang, did she truly not love him anymore?

She was not affected by this sudden wave of sentimentality for long before she joined the practice.

She learned Quanzhen Swordplay before long, but she could not learn the Twin-Handed Combat Technique no matter what.

Perhaps this martial art was simply not suited for people with overactive minds!

With no other choice in the end, Wang Ming asked Li Mochou for the Jade Maiden Swordplay and forcibly fused the two martial arts into a single dual-wielding sword technique.

This was not difficult for Wang Ming; it was merely a slight change in stances. Coupled with the fact that he himself could already execute single-person dual-sword integration, reverse-engineering it based on the result was not hard.

Besides, Wang Ming had not spent his time in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer World in vain. The distorted development of martial arts in that world had pushed martial arts stances to the pinnacle of perfection, and all these insights were the reasons he was able to improve them.

This sword technique was exceptionally formidable, and could be said to be an unrivaled offensive and killing art.

When the Golden Wheel Monk made his appearance, he possessed strength close to the level of the Five Greats. Little Dragon Girl mastered the dual-wielded swords and was immediately able to defeat the Golden Wheel Monk of that time, which made the terrifying nature of this sword technique self-evident.

Ptoo! Ptoo! She spat out the sand blown into her mouth.

She looked toward the boundless yellow sandy desert and the cloudless blue sky.

Under the scorching heat of the sun, Li Mochou not only felt like there was a fire inside her body, but her heart was even more furious.

This damned old man kicked me to this yellow sandy desert while he enjoys being served by servants leisurely back in Jueqing Valley, Li Mochou ranted crazily.

A month ago, she witnessed the power of using the Jade Maiden Swordplay and Quanzhen Swordplay simultaneously. It was a pity that she could not learn the Twin-Handed Combat Technique, which left her extremely annoyed.

Fortunately, this cheap master was willing to modify the sword technique into a single sword style for her. Once she obtained this sword technique, Li Mochou was confident she could defeat the Tianlong Temple monk who had forced her to take a vow.

Yet before she could even be happy for long, Wang Ming handed her a task and told her to go out and work.

The actual reason Wang Ming took Li Mochou as a disciple, aside from not wanting to watch her harm others and herself outside, was to find a tool person to do things for him.

For instance, driving the generations of people who lived in Jueqing Valley out of the valley, slaughtering all the resistance elements, and going outside the valley to recruit new servants...

Wang Ming was neither a pure good person nor a pure bad person; he was simply an egoist. He was willing to help others when he had the spare capacity, but he was never an utterly selfless saint.

It was impossible for him to take in a future female fiend as a disciple for no reason, imparting techniques and experiences to her one after the other.

The core reason was just one: Wang Ming had taken a fancy to her.

Ahem!

Do not misunderstand,

it was that Li Mochou was very well-suited to be a tool person.

Li Mochou was born in the Ancient Tomb Sect. People of the Ancient Tomb had no concept of good and evil; they never taught such things, and had not even taught worldly rituals and propriety. This was also why Little Dragon Girl could openly and explicitly state her feelings for Yang Guo in front of crowds back then.

After being abandoned by Lu Zhanyuan, her actions were likewise decisive and ruthless.

Against enemies who opposed him, Wang Ming could kill them without the slightest hesitation. Because the moment one picked up a blade, it was almost destined that it was either kill or be killed; if he fell, it was simply because he was stronger, entirely unrelated to justice or pity.

However, when it came to dealing with issues such as the relatives of enemies, Wang Ming found it somewhat unbearable. After all, he was a person born in a peaceful world. Let alone women and children, even a stray cat would inevitably evoke a heart of pity.

If he needed to be ruthless, Wang Ming could do it as well, but why bother?

Finding a tool person to handle these messy troubles—wasn't that wonderful? Why bother stepping down to do it himself?

Although Li Mochou was a female fiend feared by Jianghu folks, she was actually a person who knew when to yield to circumstances. Her lifelong ultimate technique had never been the self-created Three Noes and Three Unhands, but rather greasing the soles of her feet.

When the enemy was strong and she was weak, or when strength levels were unclear, she would resort to verbal sparring first if she could, use routines if she could maneuver, concede immediately when acknowledging counsel was warranted, and grease her soles when she had to. When the enemy was weak and she was strong, she checked backgrounds. Those with backgrounds were granted leniency; those with nothing much for a background were tormented, chased, and killed.

For instance:

Li Mochou vs. the eminent monks of Tianlong Temple: facing past events from ten years ago and unable to win, she conceded;

Li Mochou vs. Huang Yaoshi: she ambushed the weak first, then slipped away cleanly, combining routines with greasing her soles;

Li Mochou vs. Guo Jing and Huang Rong: hearing the cry of the giant eagle, she immediately conceded and greased her soles, saving herself even the trouble of a meeting...

There were simply too many such deeds to list them one by one.

Such a person who understood advancement and retreat was very easy to control; with a carrot and a big stick, she could be brought into absolute obedience.

Wasn't it just teaching some martial arts?

He lacked all sorts of things, but currently he did not lack martial arts manuals.

Besides, everything taught was out of necessity. As for martial arts that genuinely threatened him, what was there to fear?

You might say, You even taught the Nine Yin Manual. If even that could not threaten you, why didn't you ascend to the heavens?

Heh, Wang Ming only taught the internal cultivation of the Nine Yin Manual. The Nine Yin inner force was a Daoist martial art—upright, peaceful, and decent in cultivation speed—but it was definitely not the Sunflower Manual. If you wanted to overtake others by taking a shortcut on a curve, you must be dreaming!

He still required training step-by-step. Even Guo Jing only caught up to Ouyang Feng's pace during the Condor period, and that was because Ouyang Feng's martial arts had reached a bottleneck and stopped progressing.

Ahem!!

Returning to the present matter, the reason Li Mochou was in the desert was because when Wang Ming was in the desert, he had received a great deal of care from Guo Jing's mother. Calculating the time, it was not far from her suicide, so he dispatched Li Mochou to save her.

Wang Ming held deep respect for Li Ping. She was an exceptionally resilient woman. Back during the Niujia Village tragedy, facing the death of her husband, being captured, and while still pregnant with Guo Jing, she fled all the way to Mongolia, smoothly gave birth to Guo Jing, and raised Guo Jing all by herself.

If one watched the television series and felt that they lived very freely and comfortably in Mongolia, that was mistaken.

That was the improved living environment Guo Jing obtained after saving Jebe, swearing brotherhood with Tolui, and taking the Seven Freaks as his masters.

Bao Xiruoxiruo and she were clear contrasts; aside from overflowing with white-lotus-like sympathy, Bao Xiruo was nothing.

Actually, there was another person who was also very suitable as a tool person, and that was Yang Kang.

Yet Yang Kang was bound by a multitude of karmic consequences and was thoroughly troublesome.

Most importantly, he had not run into him, and was too lazy to go out of his way to search for him.

Besides, wasn't a pretty and gentle (after beating her up a bit) female disciple much more appealing than a hypocritical male disciple?

Her looks were top-tier,

her martial arts were also outstanding among the younger generation, and her intelligence was not low.

She was extremely sensible and understood advancement and retreat.

With such a tool person, what was there not to like?

This was not Li Mochou's first time leaving the valley to execute tasks assigned by Wang Ming. The previous time was going to Peach Blossom Island to save the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

At the time, she was merely told that Yang Kang and Ouyang Feng were laying an ambush for the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan on Peach Blossom Island, and was instructed to go save them.

Alas!

Li Mochou went at the time, found the Seven Freaks, and wanted to warn them not to go to Peach Blossom Island, but the result...

The moment she opened her mouth, she was recognized, and her moniker of the Crimson Serpent Fairy was blurted out.

And then!

With Ke Zhen'e shouting that demons and heretics ought to be executed by everyone, Li Mochou was chased for two streets.

That made her so furious on the spot that if it weren't for her master's parting words when she left, she would have turned around and let loose a few Ice Soul Silver Needles, guaranteeing they would be colder than cold.

Wang Ming's exact words at the time were: The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan are not bad people; they harbor no malicious intentions. However, that eldest one, Ke Zhen'e the blind Ke, has a problem in his head and a foul mouth. Just bear with it. When you return, I should be able to fuse those two sets of swordplay into one for you.

Whenever she was on the verge of losing her temper from Ke Zhen'e's curses, she would think of that peerless sword technique, and immediately feel that enduring it for a bit would get her through.

The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan lacked lightness skill as good as Li Mochou's and failed to catch up, so they ultimately continued on toward Peach Blossom Island.

Li Mochou, following closely behind, felt both anxious and exasperated at this sight.

If that stupid blind Ke dies, won't my cheap master refuse to teach me the sword technique?

At this time, Li Mochou's personality was neither the gentle and lovely one from her Ancient Tomb days, nor the cold and resolute Crimson Serpent Fairy of the Condor period.

Moreover, she was only in her early twenties, and her personality still carried a bit of skittishness and immaturity.

Knowing that Ouyang Feng was lying in ambush on the island, how could Li Mochou dare to go up? She was not stupid.

Her cheap master was no match for Ouyang Feng, yet could still keep her tightly under control; to provoke Ouyang Feng, she did not have such a death wish.

Li Mochou decided to abandon the mission. At worst, upon returning, she would pour tea, serve water, and cozy up properly to see if she could get him to teach her.

Yet the more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. Unreconciled, she stood at the seaside pier and let out a furious roar toward the ocean:

Stupid, idiot, brain-addled blind Ke, my sword technique ah!!!

After roaring wildly several times, her mood cleared up, and she decided to head back to Jueqing Valley.

Ke Zhen'e is indeed stupid, and that scolding was quite apt.

Instantly, Li Mochou's body trembled. Someone had sneaked right up beside her without her noticing, scaring her into a cold sweat.

Turning around to look, it was a middle-aged scholar with an extremely bizarre appearance, holding a jade flute, wearing a cyan unlined robe, and a square cap of the same color.

Yet why are you lingering near my Peach Blossom Island? The strange man, who had still carried a hint of a jocular tone just a moment ago, suddenly turned cold and murderous.

Li Mochou was very clever and instantly deduced the cyan-robed man's identity, immediately bowing respectfully.

Junior Li Mochou pays respects to Island Master Huang. My master is Wang Ming.

Hearing this, the killing intent in Huang Yaoshi's eyes receded. Huang Yaoshi was by no means a good person; anyone who wandered near Peach Blossom Island was usually turned into a deaf-mute by him to work as a servant on the island.

Oh! You are Brother Wang's disciple then! What are you doing here?

Reporting to Senior, my master received intelligence that Ouyang Feng has decided to murder the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan inside Island Master's wife's tomb, framing it to look as though the Island Master did it...

Before Li Mochou could even finish speaking, Huang Yaoshi rushed toward Peach Blossom Island in a fluster.

The only two people Huang Yaoshi cared about most in this lifetime were his daughter Huang Rong and his deceased wife.

Hearing this news, wasn't that equivalent to his house catching fire?

Left behind in place, Li Mochou stared blankly for a long while before coming back to her senses.

She also went up to Peach Blossom Island. Originally she certainly wouldn't have dared, but now she was no longer afraid.

When Li Mochou arrived, seeing the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan lying on the ground, she initially thought they were dead and that her sword technique had gone down the drain, causing a surge of annoyance in her heart.

Yet upon closer inspection shortly after, she found that they were not dead, though basically all of them carried injuries—and not light ones at that, which would take at least half a year to recover from.

The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan had delayed their arrival on the island due to chasing Li Mochou, and coupled with Huang Yaoshi rushing back at full speed upon receiving the news, they happened to run into Ouyang Feng making a move against the group.

After exchanging two moves, Ouyang Feng retreated.

Because fighting inside the tomb was pitch black and nothing could be seen, they mistakenly thought Huang Yaoshi was the one trying to kill them.

Thus they began fighting Huang Yaoshi, and afterwards Guo Jing arrived as well.

Huang Yaoshi had always been prideful and disdained explaining anything to others, so he simply owned up to it.

As a result?

It was a complete mess.

Li Mochou cared nothing for these matters; she stepped forward to confirm that the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan were not dead, and then simply administered some basic treatment for their wounds.

Some gossip ought not to be heard. Knowing when to quit, Li Mochou greased her soles and fled.

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