Peak of Swordplay

After Yue Buqun tested Wang Ming that night, the next day Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze went down the mountain to hunt down Tian Boguang. Before leaving, Yue Buqun specifically instructed Wang Ming to practice diligently.

Wang Ming was cultivating on a stone platform along the mountain path to Siguo Cliff.

The opening of the Purple Haze Divine Skill states, "Among all martial arts in the world, qi cultivation is the righteous path... When one achieves minor success..."

This indicated it was a genuine cultivation technique that particularly tested one's state of mind. It also explained why Linghu Chong hadn't been taught it sooner; his overly restless nature would have been detrimental to him.

Wang Ming had changed greatly over the years. His personality had become very steady, preferring quiet over activity, which perfectly matched the mental requirements for this martial art.

Initially, Wang Ming thought this skill would be very difficult to practice.

This was because Old Yue only managed to master it in his forties or fifties. Thinking about it, it seemed like a skill that required slow, meticulous effort over time.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Wang Ming began practicing, he mastered it in three days.

Wang Ming found this very strange at the time. After carefully studying it for a period, he finally understood.

Yue Buqun had taken over as the Mount Hua sect leader at a very young age. At that time, his Primal Chaos Technique might have only been at the third or fourth level. To improve his strength, he had set aside the Primal Chaos Technique to practice the Purple Haze Manual. Although Purple Haze True Qi was more powerful than Primal Chaos True Qi, its cultivation speed was like a crawling turtle.

Wang Ming, however, was different. He had already cultivated the Primal Chaos Technique to a state of great mastery before switching to the Purple Haze Divine Skill. Many of the meridians and acupoints that the Purple Haze Divine Skill needed to unblock overlapped with those of the Primal Chaos Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Body. He only needed to unblock two additional meridians.

Wang Ming converted all his Primal Chaos Technique internal energy, cultivated over more than a decade, into Purple Haze True Qi. The conversion rate was three parts of Primal Chaos True Qi to one part of Purple Haze True Qi.

When Yue Buqun went down the mountain, he gave Wang Ming the key to the Mount Hua medicinal storeroom. This time, he had permission to use medicinal ingredients freely.

With ample resources over the past few days, Wang Ming, relying on the converted Purple Haze True Qi and the assistance of the Indestructible Vajra Body, had forcefully unblocked the remaining meridians. Therefore, Wang Ming had now successfully cultivated the Purple Haze Divine Skill.

Some might ask, does this make Wang Ming invincible?

No, cultivating the Purple Haze Divine Skill only meant Wang Ming had gained the benefits that came with the divine skill; his true qi had not increased.

True qi needed to be accumulated day by day, which was why there was talk of decades of internal energy.

So, Wang Ming was now furiously circulating the Purple Haze Divine Skill to accumulate true qi. Fortunately, resources were abundant; otherwise, it would have been troublesome.

Upon mastering the Purple Haze Divine Skill, Wang Ming gained five benefits:

One, his internal energy attributes were strengthened. At the initial release of the skill, it was imperceptible, soft like clouds and mist, yet possessed immense latent power, eventually becoming overwhelming and unstoppable.

Two, a 3D surround sound effect. Speaking in his usual tone, he could transmit his voice up to 300 meters, and it could be heard clearly.

Three, enhanced hearing. By circulating internal energy within a few dozen meters, he could even hear people whispering.

Four, the ability to fuse and neutralize foreign true qi.

Five, the mutual conversion between the Indestructible Vajra Body and the Purple Haze Divine Skill.

The sun was high in the sky, and Wang Ming could hardly bear it. He decided to go back and eat first.

Fortunately, at this moment, Tian Boguang finally arrived.

Tian Boguang was seen carrying two jars of wine, rapidly traversing the Mount Hua mountain path.

"Wow, that Qinggong is amazing! No wonder he survived even with the reputation of a pervert."

Wang Ming also got up and decided to head up the mountain. Of course, Wang Ming intended to trail behind. He didn't want to confront Tian Boguang too early and scare him away.

After walking for a while, he saw Tian Boguang gradually getting further away.

"Such excellent Qinggong, it's meant to be mine. Haha..."

He had been slightly unhappy at first, but upon further thought, it was a great thing.

Wang Ming followed him up to Siguo Cliff but stayed hidden. He concealed himself behind nearby rocks, watching Linghu Chong messing around with Tian Boguang.

He then watched Tian Boguang and Linghu Chong spar. After observing, he realized their moves were of similar caliber, but the gap in their internal energy was vast.

No matter how many moves they exchanged, it was useless. The level of the Five Peaks Swordplay and Tian Boguang's skill were not far apart, and there was no way to widen the gap in internal energy.

Apart from the Nine Swords of Dugu, a martial art at the pinnacle of technique, Linghu Chong's efforts to learn all the martial arts in the cave were futile.

Seeing Linghu Chong defeated again, Tian Boguang was surprised that Linghu Chong's martial arts improved with each visit to the cave. He wanted to enter the cave to see for himself. Linghu Chong then tricked him by saying someone was inside.

"Haha! Come down the mountain with me! Since Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze are not here, and the experts of your Mount Hua Qing generation all died overnight, there shouldn't be any masters left, right? Haha! No one can stop me now."

Tian Boguang said triumphantly. But before he could finish laughing, a figure floated past and repelled Tian Boguang.

A white-bearded old man in a green robe stood at the cave entrance, looking dejected, his face like gold paper. Wang Ming thought to himself, "This must be Feng Qingyang."

Feng Qingyang said angrily, "Who says the Qing generation is gone? I'll teach him a few moves, and I don't believe I can't deal with you, brat."

Seeing Feng Qingyang emerge, Tian Boguang asked Linghu Chong about him. Linghu Chong was even more confused, as Yue Buqun had never mentioned anyone from the previous generation. Eventually, Tian Boguang figured it out himself.

When Tian Boguang revealed his identity, Linghu Chong immediately bowed. Feng Qingyang stroked his beard and calmly accepted the bow.

Then, Feng Qingyang taught Linghu Chong a few applications of the Mount Hua Swordplay and told Linghu Chong to fight Tian Boguang.

Feng Qingyang was very confident. Unfortunately, no matter how good the moves were, the gap in internal energy remained vast. Linghu Chong went up to fight and still lost.

Wang Ming feared Feng Qingyang would discover him and remained hidden behind the rocks, not daring to move. His legs were almost numb.

The moon was high in the sky. Finally, Feng Qingyang began teaching his ultimate techniques, and the two entered the cave.

Wang Ming circulated the Purple Haze Divine Skill, and the sounds from within the cave reached his ears:

"Gui Mei trends towards Wu Wang, Wu Wang trends towards Tong Ren, Tong Ren trends towards Da You, Jia shifts to Bing, Bing shifts to Geng, Geng shifts to Gui, the juncture of Zi Chou, the juncture of Chen Si, the juncture of Wu Wei, Wind and Thunder is one change, Mountain and Marsh is one change, Water and Fire is one change, Qian and Kun interact, Zhen and Dui interact, Li and Xun interact, three increases form five, five increases form nine..."

Linghu Chong's voice said, "Yes." He closed his eyes and silently reviewed the main points he had learned that night. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said, "Grand Uncle-Master, your grand-disciple still has one thing he doesn't understand. Why are all these changes offensive moves, only attacking and not defending?"

Feng Qingyang said, "The Nine Swords of Dugu advance but never retreat! Every move is an attack, forcing the enemy to defend, so naturally, I don't need to defend.

Afterward, Feng Qingyang successively taught a few stances of the Nine Swords of Dugu, then told Linghu Chong to practice them himself while he lay down to rest.

Seeing this, Wang Ming stopped circulating the Purple Haze Divine Skill, began to recover his true qi, and closed his eyes to rest. He dared not truly fall asleep; being outdoors was first unsafe, and second, he was afraid of missing something.

The next morning, Tian Boguang challenged him outside the cave.

Wang Ming saw that Tian Boguang was defeated in just a few moves by Linghu Chong this time, and then Linghu Chong let Tian Boguang leave.

Watching Tian Boguang's retreating back, Wang Ming really wanted to follow and finish off the flower-picking thief. In Wang Ming's opinion, killing any number of martial artists could be forgiven, as everyone in the jianghu had blood on their hands at some point, and the moment they picked up a sword, they were mentally prepared to be killed.

This kind of bad person, an innocent pervert, was the most detestable, especially since Wang Ming also fancied his lightness skill.

Wang Ming hesitated for a moment but ultimately gave up on chasing Tian Boguang. There were still several sword techniques to be taught in the cave.

When Tian Boguang went down the mountain, Wang Ming didn't need to act; Monk Bujie would deal with him properly.

Wang Ming returned to his senses and refocused his attention on the cave. After all, this was the only chance to obtain the Nine Swords of Dugu! If he missed it, it would be gone.

He wouldn't dare to switch the manual like in the previous world. Linghu Chong was not an honest person, and his personality was unpredictable. Feng Qingyang wanted to find a successor before he died, so this scenario was more likely to be true.