Lesser Formless Art, Northern Darkness Divine Art

This mission is fraught with hidden complexities.

Following the trail of Ji Dian, he left the Ming State, traveled to the Song State, reached Mount Mantuo Villa in Gusu, and found these eight account books, which he meticulously copied.

The so-called hidden complexities lie within these eight account books.

In the Song State, there is a great reclusive sect known as the 'Carefree Sect'. Its founder, Carefree Master, only took four disciples—one male and three females—which speaks to its sparse lineage.

Carefree Master divided his martial arts into three parts.

One part, the 'Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies, I Alone Am Honored Art', was passed down to his eldest disciple, Wu Xingyun.

Another part, the 'Northern Darkness Divine Art', was given to his second disciple, Wu Yazi.

The third part, the 'Lesser Formless Art', was passed to his third disciple, Li Qiushui.

As for the fourth disciple, Li Canghai, Li Qiushui's younger sister, she received no inheritance as she was still very young at the time.

The three mentioned above are all internal cultivation techniques.

Practical moves, lightness skills, and so forth, were calculated separately.

Despite its small number of members, the Carefree Sect was rife with complications. Wu Yazi, the sect's only male disciple and the second eldest, was admired and competed for by the other two female disciples.

However, the one he truly loved was neither of these two, but their fourth junior sister, Li Canghai.

The emotional entanglements among these four were intricate and complex, leading to numerous incidents.

In summary, the result was that the Carefree Sect, which comprised only four disciples excluding the master, eventually fell apart, with the four scattering to different corners of the world.

Wu Yazi once resided in the Blessed Land of Langhuan in the Dali Kingdom, where he left behind some of the Carefree Sect's martial arts.

Li Qiushui also passed down her ultimate skill, the 'Lesser Formless Art', to her daughter, Madam Wang of Mount Mantuo Villa in Gusu.

And the record of the 'Lesser Formless Art' is contained within these eight account books.

The writing in the account books appears to be about income and expenses on the surface, but in reality, it details the methods of practicing the art.

For example, 'First month, first day, received nine thousand eight fen, paid out eight fen seven li' refers to exhaling eight times and holding the breath seven times.

For example, 'First month, second day, received eight fen nine li, one set of pig lungs, one set of pig intestines, one set of pig hearts' signifies that after inhaling and holding the breath on the second day, the internal energy circulates once through the lung meridians, twice through the intestine meridians, and once through the heart meridian.

All of these are coded messages.

However, it is far from that simple.

Still, the Carefree Sect was originally a Daoist sect, and Zhou Ming had also cultivated in the Daoist sect of the Quanzhen Sect for ten years. Knowing this secret, deciphering the coded messages and restoring the original cultivation method was not difficult.

If all else failed, he still had Perfect Qi as a fallback.

With this cheat, even qi deviation wouldn't be an issue.

The Lesser Formless Art possesses a heaven-defying effect: it allows the user to simulate all moves and ultimate skills in the world!

One must understand that martial arts are all different; fists have their own attack patterns, palms have their own routines, sabers have their own internal energy cultivation, and swords have their own mental techniques.

There might be exceptionally talented individuals in the world who can cultivate five or eight ultimate skills simultaneously.

But there is no one who can master dozens or even hundreds of ultimate skills.

And in this vast Comprehensive Martial Arts Jianghu, are there not hundreds of ultimate skills?

Coming to this Jianghu without learning some of these ultimate skills would be a wasted trip, wouldn't it?

But with hundreds upon thousands of countless ultimate skills in this Jianghu, no one could possibly learn them all.

Zhou Ming didn't intend to learn them all, but with his ambition, he certainly wanted to learn a few dozen, right?

Thus, the Lesser Formless Art, an internal cultivation technique that can simulate all martial arts and ultimate skills in the world, became his top choice!

Since he had learned of this secret and obtained the martial arts left by Li Qiushui, Zhou Ming naturally wouldn't let go of the martial arts left by Wu Yazi.

"Calculating the time, it should be almost here."

Zhou Ming thought.

The Dali Kingdom and the Song State are adjacent.

Now that Ji Dian has returned, Jian Yu, who was assigned another mission, will likely be returning as well.

However, before that, Zhou Ming received a summons from Pei Ju.

"Foster Father, you were looking for me?"

"Mm."

Pei Ju held a simple, ancient scroll and asked, "Where did you learn about the whereabouts of the Northern Darkness Divine Art and Lingbo Weibu?"

"A fortunate coincidence."

Pei Ju nodded, not pressing further, clearly uninterested in that aspect.

However, he was very keen on the other aspect of the question.

"Do you know the effects of the Northern Darkness Divine Art?"

"Of course, I know. This cultivation technique can absorb a person's internal energy to strengthen oneself. However, it can only absorb from those with weaker cultivation than oneself; otherwise, serious problems, even qi deviation, could occur."

Zhou Ming stated truthfully.

He finally understood that the ancient scroll in Pei Ju's hand clearly contained the two ultimate techniques of the Carefree Sect: the Northern Darkness Divine Art and the Lingbo Weibu (Microstep).

It seemed that Jian Yu, after completing the mission, had not handed over the scroll to Zhou Ming but had given it directly to Pei Ju.

Pei Ju asked, "Do you know the three layers of the Grandmaster realm?"

Zhou Ming replied, "The Grandmaster realm requires one's cultivation, body, and spirit to be honed to their peak and sublimated. In Daoist terminology, this can be called the 'Three Flowers Gathering at the Top'."

"Correct. Then do you know how to break through the Grandmaster realm and enter the Great Grandmaster realm?"

"Naturally, by achieving the 'Three Flowers Gathering at the Top' and cultivating martial intent!"

"It's good that you understand."

Pei Ju continued, "But these simple eight words have caused countless martial artists to exhaust their entire lives without necessarily achieving them. Many have reached the 'Three Flowers Gathering at the Top' but could never take the next step. Do you know why?"

"It's because their cultivation is impure, their minds are not firm, and they took shortcuts. But at the same time, they've built an insurmountable mountain for themselves! The absorption ability of the Northern Darkness Divine Art can allow you to accumulate power at an extremely fast rate, reach the peak of Xiantian, and even break through to Grandmaster in one go... However, if you aspire to become a Great Grandmaster, do not cultivate this art!"

Zhou Ming cupped his fists. "Father's intentions, your son understands! Your son's goal is to become a Great Grandmaster. Even if the path to Xiantian is slower, I would rather not have my future blocked at the peak of Grandmaster!"

"Good, good, good!"

Pei Ju nodded, his face full of smiles.

Zhou Ming then asked, "Then Father, what do you think... how should this matter be handled?"

"I'll keep this Northern Darkness Divine Art," Pei Ju said.

Pei Ju reached out and tore the scroll, handing the latter half to Zhou Ming. "However, the other ultimate technique recorded on it, 'Lingbo Weibu (Microstep),' is quite exquisite. Compared to the Illusory Demon Movement Technique I taught you, it's not much inferior. You can cultivate it and learn from it."

Zhou Ming did not reach out to take it.

"Father misunderstood. I meant... how should the Jian Yu squad be dealt with?"

Pei Ju paused and couldn't help but look up at Zhou Ming, examining him thoroughly from head to toe.

After a long while, he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, it seems you've truly grown up... Since those people have been handed over to you, how they are dealt with is naturally your decision."

"Yes!"

Zhou Ming replied, "Your son understands."

In front of Qianjin Pavilion.

The four, Feng, Yu, Lei, and Dian, were reunited once more.

This time, it wasn't just them; everyone in their squad had been summoned.

Zhou Ming smiled. "You four squads have completed the tasks I assigned very well. Come, tell me what I asked you to do. Let's go in the order of your reports to me. Dao Feng, you first."

"Yes! Your subordinate was ordered to find three puppies. These three puppies must be..."

"Jing Lei!"

"Your subordinate was ordered to gather intelligence on one person. This person is..."

"Ji Dian!"

"Your subordinate was ordered to travel to the Song State..."

Zhou Ming called out each name and listened to their reports. Finally, he said, "These tasks, whether far or near, big or small, secret or casual, you have all done well. Come, Jian Yu, you are the last to report. Tell me about your mission."

Jian Yu's expression was already showing a hint of panic.

"Your subordinate... Your subordinate was ordered to travel to the Dali Kingdom, to Wuliang Mountain, into a cave with a giant jade sculpture. In front of the statue, retrieve a scroll containing martial arts techniques and submit it... submit it to the Young Master..."

"Oh, so that was the mission."

Zhou Ming said.