This mission concealed a hidden mystery.
Ji Dian's route had taken him out of Ming State and into Song State, all the way to Mount Mantuo Villa in Gusu, where he found these eight account books and copied them one by one.
The mystery lay within these eight account books.
Song State had a great reclusive sect, the Carefree Sect. Its founder, Carefree Master, had accepted only four disciples—one man and three women—showing just how sparse its ranks were.
Carefree Master divided his martial arts into three portions.
The first, the "Eight Desolations and Six Directions, I Alone Am Supreme Art," was passed down to his eldest disciple, Wu Xingyun.
The second, the "Northern Darkness Divine Art," was passed down to his second disciple, Wu Yazi.
The third, the "Lesser Formless Art," was passed down to his third disciple, Li Qiushui.
As for the fourth disciple, Li Canghai, Li Qiushui's younger sister, she had been too young at the time and received no inheritance.
All three were internal cultivation methods.
Other practical moves, lightness skills, and the like were counted separately.
Though the Carefree Sect had few members, it had no shortage of trouble. Its only male disciple, Wu Yazi, the second-ranked disciple, was loved and competed over by the other two female disciples.
But the one he truly loved was neither of them, but his fourth junior sister, Li Canghai.
The emotional entanglements among these four were extraordinarily complicated and gave rise to countless incidents.
In short, excluding their master, the Carefree Sect had only four people in total, yet it ultimately fell apart, with all four scattered to the ends of the world.
Wu Yazi once lived in the Blessed Land of Langhuan in Dali Kingdom, where he left behind part of the Carefree Sect's martial arts.
Li Qiushui had also left her ultimate art, the "Lesser Formless Art," to her daughter, Madam Wang of Mount Mantuo Villa in Gusu.
And these eight account books recorded the Lesser Formless Art.
On the surface, the words in the account books recorded silver received and spent. In truth, they described methods of cultivation.
For example, "On the first day of the first month, received nine thousand eight fen of silver, paid eight qian and seven fen of silver" referred to exhaling eight times and holding one's breath seven times.
Likewise, "On the second day of the first month, received eight qian and nine fen of silver, one pig lung, one pig intestine, one pig heart" meant that after inhaling and holding one's breath on the second day, one should circulate inner breath through the lung meridian once, the intestinal meridian twice, and the heart meridian once.
All such entries were coded language.
But it was far from that simple.
The Carefree Sect had originally been a Daoist sect, and Zhou Ming had cultivated in the Daoist Quanzhen Sect for a full ten years. Since he knew the key, deciphering the hidden code and restoring the original art was not difficult.
And if that failed, he still had Perfect Qi as a safeguard.
With that cheat, even deviation into madness would not matter.
The Lesser Formless Art possessed an almost heaven-defying effect: with this art, one could imitate every move and ultimate technique under heaven!
One had to know that martial arts varied greatly. Fists had fist techniques, palms had palm forms, sabers had saber-focused internal arts, and swords had sword techniques.
There might be extraordinary geniuses in the world who could cultivate five or eight ultimate arts at once.
But no one could master dozens, let alone hundreds, of ultimate arts.
Yet in this vast Comprehensive Martial Arts Jianghu, there were far more than several hundred ultimate arts under heaven.
Having come to this jianghu, would it not be a wasted trip if he did not learn some of those ultimate techniques?
But among the countless hundreds and thousands of supreme arts in this jianghu, no one could possibly learn them all.
Zhou Ming had never intended to learn them all, but given his ambition, he had to learn at least several dozen, did he not?
Thus, an internal art like the Lesser Formless Art, which could imitate all martial arts and ultimate techniques under heaven, became his first choice!
Since he had learned this secret and taken the martial art Li Qiushui had left behind, Zhou Ming naturally would not let off the martial arts Wu Yazi had left behind either.
Judging by the time, it should be arriving soon.
Zhou Ming thought.
Dali Kingdom and Song State bordered each other.
Now that Ji Dian had returned, Jianyu, who had taken the other mission, should be returning soon as well.
But before that, Zhou Ming received Pei Ju's summons first.
"Foster Father, you sent for me?"
"Mm."
Pei Ju held an ancient scroll and asked, "Where did you learn of the locations of the Northern Darkness Divine Art and Lingbo Weibu?"
"By chance."
Pei Ju nodded and did not press further, clearly uninterested in that matter.
But he placed great importance on another question.
"Then do you know the effects of the Northern Darkness Divine Art?"
"Of course. This art can absorb the internal energy of others and strengthen oneself. However, it can only absorb those weaker than oneself. Otherwise, serious problems will arise, and one may even suffer cultivation deviation."
Zhou Ming answered truthfully.
At this moment, how could he fail to understand? The ancient scroll in Pei Ju's hands clearly recorded the two Carefree Sect ultimate arts, the Northern Darkness Divine Art and Lingbo Weibu.
Clearly, after completing the mission, Jianyu had not handed the scroll to Zhou Ming, but directly to Pei Ju instead.
Pei Ju asked, "Do you know that the Grandmaster realm is divided into three levels? What are they?"
Zhou Ming said, "To reach the Grandmaster realm, one must temper one's internal energy, body, and spirit to their peaks and sublimate them. In Daoist terminology, they are called the Three Flowers at the Top."
"Correct. Then do you know how to break through the Grandmaster realm and enter the Great Grandmaster realm?"
"One must naturally achieve Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and give rise to martial intent!"
"It is good that you understand."
Pei Ju said, "Yet these mere eight words have caused countless martial artists to exhaust their entire lives without ever achieving them. Many have reached Three Flowers Gathering at the Top but can never take the next step. Do you know why?
It is because their internal energy is impure, their resolve is unsteady, and they took shortcuts. Yet at the same time, they built for themselves a mountain they could never overcome!
The Northern Darkness Divine Art's ability to absorb internal energy can allow you to rapidly accumulate power, reach the peak of the Innate Realm, and perhaps even break through to Grandmaster in one stroke... But if you wish to become a Great Grandmaster, do not cultivate this art!"
Zhou Ming clasped his fists. "I understand Foster Father's intentions! This child naturally takes Great Grandmaster as his goal. Even if the path through the Innate Realm is slower, I would rather not block my own future at the peak of Grandmaster!"
"Good, good, good!"
Pei Ju nodded, his face full of smiles.
Zhou Ming said, "Then, Foster Father, what should we do about this matter?"
"The Northern Darkness Divine Art will remain with me."
Pei Ju drew a hand across the scroll, cutting it in two. He handed the latter half to Zhou Ming and said, "However, the other ultimate art recorded on it, Lingbo Weibu, is quite exquisite. It is not much inferior to the Illusory Demon Movement Technique I taught you. You may cultivate it and use it for reference."
Yet Zhou Ming did not take it.
"Foster Father misunderstands. I meant... how should the Jianyu squad be dealt with?"
Pei Ju paused mid-motion and could not help looking up at Zhou Ming. He gave him a long, careful look from head to toe.
After a long while, he burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! It seems you truly have grown up... Since those people have already been placed under your command, how to deal with them should naturally be your decision."
"Yes!"
Zhou Ming said, "This child understands."
Before Qianjin Pavilion.
Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning gathered once more.
And this time, it was not just the four of them. Everyone in their respective squads had been summoned as well.
Zhou Ming smiled. "All four of your squads have completed the tasks I assigned quite well. Come, tell me what I asked you to do. Report back in the order you returned. Daofeng, you first."
"Yes! The mission this subordinate received was to find three puppies. Those three puppies had to be..."
"Jing Lei!"
"The mission this subordinate received was only to gather intelligence on one person. That person was..."
"Ji Dian!"
"The mission this subordinate received was to travel to Song State..."
Zhou Ming called on them one by one and listened to each report. At last, he said, "These missions were near or far, major or minor, secretive or casual, but all of you completed them well. Come, Jianyu. You were the last to report back. Tell me about your mission."
At this moment, a trace of panic had already appeared on Jianyu's face.
"This subordinate... this subordinate's mission was to go to Wuliang Mountain in Dali Kingdom, enter a cave containing a gigantic jade statue, retrieve a scroll recording supreme martial arts from before the statue, and submit it... submit it to the Young Master..."
"Oh, so that was the mission."
Zhou Ming said.
Before you continue