Internal Martial Techniques

After giving Qiulan her instructions, Chen Mo returned to the East Courtyard alone.

The deaths of Lei Peng and Lei Ming left Chen Mo feeling uneasy.

Based on what he knew, Chen Mo pieced together the scene in his mind: Lei Peng had been gravely wounded by the swordsman and returned to visit his son, only to find him raving mad and gnawing at himself. In the end, unable to protect his son or find a way to obtain medicine, Lei Peng had stabbed him to death through his tears.

In the end, father and son had both perished.

It was heartbreaking.

After gathering his thoughts, Chen Mo took a dose of Wei Qi Skin Paste. Once its side effects had worn off, he let out a relieved breath.

Before long, Qiulan brought Liu Cui, now dressed neatly, to the East Courtyard.

Compared with her disheveled state earlier, Liu Cui had changed into a fresh outfit and pinned up her hair with a wooden hairpin. She looked much more presentable and composed, though her face was still pale and her gaze distant. Her expression betrayed her unease.

Chen Mo asked Qiulan to pour Liu Cui a cup of hot tea, then began, "I visited the Lei Family Martial Arts School this morning. Master Lei and your son have both passed away. Please accept my condolences."

Liu Cui's body trembled. She said nothing, but tears streamed endlessly down her face.

Chen Mo gave Qiulan a look, and she handed Liu Cui a handkerchief. After Liu Cui wiped away her tears and calmed down a little, Chen Mo asked, "Madam, what happened at the Lei household last night?"

Sobbing, Liu Cui began, "Last night, bandits broke into our home..."

After hearing Liu Cui's account, Chen Mo finally understood what had happened.

It turned out that a band of bandits had stormed the Lei Family Martial Arts School the previous night. Their leader was a swordsman wielding a flexible sword, and he had gravely wounded Lei Peng as soon as he arrived.

With nowhere left to turn, Lei Peng had told Liu Cui to flee, then desperately held off the swordsman to buy her time.

At first, Liu Cui had refused to run. She had only wanted to die alongside her husband and son. But after ten years without conceiving, she had finally become pregnant a short while ago. Thinking of the child in her womb, she had fled alone.

Terrified of running into the swordsman again, Liu Cui had not dared leave the city. She had waited for Chen Mo instead...

Chen Mo sighed with emotion.

From Liu Cui's account, it was clear that Lei Peng's strength had not been much lower than the swordsman's. Even if he could not win, he should have been able to escape safely. But for the sake of his wife and son, he had chosen to sacrifice himself.

Lei Peng had truly been a good father.

Too bad his fate had been so cruel.

"Young Master Mo, I went so many years without conceiving, and at long last I became pregnant. I beg you to look after and protect my child and me." Liu Cui knelt on the ground, pleading through her tears.

Instead of answering, Chen Mo asked, "Do you know what the swordsman looked like? Any distinguishing features?"

"I saw him from a distance," Liu Cui said. "He had a conspicuous scar over his left eye, was very tall, and had a face covered in pockmarks. I only heard my husband call him Liu Mazi..."

Liu Mazi...

Lu Wei's elder brother?

Lu Wei was currently locked up in the rear building of the East Courtyard.

Chen Mo could not help rubbing his forehead. He felt sorry for Lei Peng, but also found the situation utterly exasperating. He had repeatedly warned Lei Peng to go after isolated criminals and not to go looking for trouble. Yet Lei Peng had still acted too hastily, grabbing someone without finding out the reason first. Perhaps he had been so desperate to save his son that he had rushed recklessly to get a Detox Pill from Chen Mo.

Now Lei Peng had lost his life because of that impulsive mistake, and he might even have brought trouble to Chen Mo.

But Lei Peng was already dead. There was no point in blaming him now.

Chen Mo wondered whether Lei Peng had told Liu Mazi before dying that Lu Wei was at the Chen Mansion...

Liu Cui did not know what had caused her husband's death. She could only kneel there, begging and weeping.

"Stop crying and let me think in peace," Chen Mo said. He then began turning things over in his mind.

He genuinely sympathized with Liu Cui.

But the Lei family had crossed Liu Mazi. If Liu Mazi came openly to the Chen Mansion, that would be no problem; the estate had plenty of guards.

What Chen Mo feared was a sneak attack.

In this chaotic world overrun by demons, even protecting himself was difficult. He did not want to play the bleeding-heart hero.

While Chen Mo was lost in thought, Liu Cui took a yellowed old book from inside her clothes and offered it to him with trembling hands. "Before I fled, my husband gave me this. He told me to give it to Young Master Mo, hoping you would take me in."

Chen Mo did not reach for it. "What is this?"

Liu Cui replied shakily, "It's the complete original text of Blazing Palm. My husband was originally from elsewhere. He came to Honghe County years ago and studied martial arts at Black Mountain Stronghold outside the city. Later, he got into trouble and was expelled from the stronghold. He eventually came to the county seat and opened a martial arts school. Because he taught Blazing Palm to Ming... he ended up bringing disaster upon our family..."

Through Liu Cui's account, Chen Mo finally learned the whole story.

It turned out that Black Mountain Stronghold was a secret branch under the Red Lantern Society, governed by Goddess Hong Deng. Powerful Red Lantern Attendants were stationed there.

Blazing Palm was Black Mountain Stronghold's famous martial art, and it could counter Evil Spirits. The stronghold strictly forbade anyone from passing it on.

Even disciples expelled from Black Mountain Stronghold were forbidden from teaching Blazing Palm to outsiders. Otherwise, their entire family would be wiped out.

But Lei Peng doted on his son. Unable to withstand his repeated pleas, he eventually taught Blazing Palm to Lei Ming in secret. While teaching him, Lei Peng warned his son never to display it in front of outsiders.

At first, Lei Ming kept to that rule, and all was well.

Later, Lei Ming went to Spring Breeze Tower, where he encountered a patient in the throes of Mad Demon Disease who lunged at him, gnashing its teeth. In his desperation, Lei Ming lost control and killed it with Blazing Palm. Even so, he somehow contracted Mad Demon Disease himself.

What was more, Lei Ming had used Blazing Palm in public and given himself away. People from Black Mountain Stronghold found out.

After that, the thirty-odd people at the Lei Family Martial Arts School were wiped out by Black Mountain Stronghold.

When the people from Black Mountain Stronghold saw that Lei Ming had contracted Mad Demon Disease, they decided not to pursue the matter and kept it quiet.

Chen Mo understood.

Qiulan had told him about the Lei Family Martial Arts School long ago. Lei Ming and his elder brother had often gone to Spring Breeze Tower together. After his elder brother met with disaster, Lei Ming had run into trouble at Spring Breeze Tower just two days later. Two days after that, over thirty people from the Lei family had died overnight, and their once-thriving martial arts school had quickly fallen into decline.

So Black Mountain Stronghold had come after them because they had passed on Blazing Palm...

Black Mountain Stronghold!

That was where Daoist Priest Li Yuanlong lived. His father had said he would visit Daoist Priest Li on his birthday and ask whether Chen Mo could study martial arts at Black Mountain Stronghold.

What a coincidence...

And now that he knew Blazing Palm was a martial art from Black Mountain Stronghold, its value as a cultivation technique made perfect sense.

What excited Chen Mo even more was that Black Mountain Stronghold was a secret branch under the Red Lantern Society.

With that in mind, Chen Mo no longer hesitated. He took the old book and examined it. Its cover was made of hide, but age had worn it down, leaving numerous cracks. The book was clearly several decades old.

A line of bold characters stood out on the cover:

Bright Jade Skill—Blazing Palm Section.

Hmm?

Could this be the original Blazing Palm manual that Lei Peng had studied at Black Mountain Stronghold?

And it was called Bright Jade Skill?

So Blazing Palm was only a fragment of Bright Jade Skill?

Rustle!

Chen Mo immediately turned to the first page.

Blazing Palm, First Form: Inch Force.

The mental cultivation formula recorded on the page was no different from the copy Lei Peng had given Chen Mo earlier.

Several pages later came the Second Form, Subduing Pressure. Beyond that were Palm Heart Fire and Blazing Sun Toxin. Their contents were identical to those in the copy. But there was more after Blazing Sun Toxin.

The copy did not have this part.

Blazing Palm, Fifth Form: Blood Fire Seal!

So it was true... Blazing Palm had another form.

Lei Peng had indeed been holding something back.

After reading about the Fifth Form, Chen Mo could not help feeling thrilled.

It was worthy of being a treasured trump card.

The Fourth Form of Blazing Palm, Blazing Sun Toxin, required a master at the Five Passes: Blood Infusion Realm to cultivate. The Fifth Form, Blood Fire Seal, was even more powerful, and the manual said it required Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation to master. In other words... Blood Fire Seal was an Internal Martial Technique.

How precious was an Internal Martial Technique!

Unfortunately, the manual did not record how to achieve Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation. Without that, he could not master it.

Even without the method for Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation, Blood Fire Seal was an extraordinary technique.

For a long time, Chen Mo had scoured every corner for martial arts and techniques. Even martial techniques at the Five Passes: Blood Infusion Realm were exceedingly rare, let alone Internal Martial Techniques that required Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation.

Moreover, after reading the manual, Chen Mo realized something else: Blazing Palm was probably an introductory branch of Bright Jade Skill.

If that was the case, Bright Jade Skill must be an extraordinarily profound Internal True Skill. It was likely from the Red Lantern Society, and it could greatly suppress Evil Spirits.

The Red Lantern Society, Black Mountain Stronghold, Bright Jade Skill... Internal True Skill!

A top-tier secret art that money could not buy.

In an instant, Chen Mo developed a keen interest in Black Mountain Stronghold.

Why had the Three Great Martial Arts Schools and the Martial Arts Hall of Honghe County stood for generations?

Because they had Internal Martial Masters and secret Internal True Skills that were never passed on to outsiders. They had mastered the method of Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation.

Anyone else hoping to reach the realm of an Internal Martial Master had no choice but to grovel at the Three Great Martial Arts Schools or the Martial Arts Hall, wagging their tails like dogs for a lifetime without any guarantee of ever obtaining the method of Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation.

I have an Internal Martial Technique now, but unfortunately, I'm missing the method for Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation. Blazing Sun Toxin can already counter ordinary ghosts to some extent. If I can find the method for Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation, I'll be able to master Blood Fire Seal. Then... what could mere ghosts do to me?

Smack.

Chen Mo closed the old book and looked at Liu Cui, still kneeling and pleading. He considered the matter carefully: with Lei Peng and Lei Ming dead, Liu Cui was the only one who knew he had cultivated Blazing Palm. Keeping her at the estate would also let him keep an eye on her. Besides, Lu Wei, Liu Mazi's younger brother, was right here at the estate, and Chen Mo could not explain himself out of that. He needed to improve his martial arts as quickly as possible.

He just did not know whether Lei Peng had told Liu Mazi that Lu Wei was at the Chen Mansion.

To do good, one still needed a firm hand.

With that in mind, Chen Mo helped Liu Cui to her feet and smiled. "Please get up, Madam. From now on, you can stay in the side room facing the street at the front of the East Courtyard. You're pregnant now, so take good care of yourself. I hope you give birth to a healthy child."

Liu Cui's tears of gratitude flowed freely. "Thank you, Young Master Mo. You're truly a kind man."

Chen Mo comforted her briefly, then instructed Qiulan, "Clear out one of the side rooms facing the street for Madam Liu. Make sure it has all the furniture and bedding she needs. Tell her to rest and take good care of the baby."

The East Courtyard was a three-courtyard compound.

The side rooms facing the street were on the outermost edge. One had to pass through the front courtyard, go around the spirit wall, and enter through the hanging-flower gate to reach the main courtyard where Chen Mo lived. He was not worried that Madam Liu would discover the woman and Lu Wei imprisoned in the rear building.

After dismissing the two women, Chen Mo shut the door and reopened the old book.

"An Internal Martial Technique... a treasure worth more than a thousand gold pieces, yet I got it thanks to Lei Peng. Now that I have the secret art, I only need to wait for my Golden Finger to identify something again. It might be able to reveal how to master Blood Fire Seal."