Wuxia 8

Liu Zhong vaguely remembered that Piaomiao Peak seemed to be on the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, so he led Song Qinghua toward the south.

The mountains were exceptionally cold, and the ice and snow lashed against their faces, nearly freezing their skin stiff.

The two of them kept circulating their internal energy to maintain their body temperature, which was the only reason they hadn't been frozen into ice sculptures.

However, internal energy could not be circulated for twelve hours a day; there were times when it would be exhausted.

Liu Zhong had thought of this problem and prepared thick fur clothing.

He remembered that the Tianshan Mountains actually had oil; the Tarim Oilfield was located near the Tianshan range.

Liu Zhong brought Song Qinghua to find some oil, and when they rested at night, they would burn it to keep warm.

In truth, Liu Zhong himself did not feel very cold.

His body was in superb condition, and when the ice and snow fell on him, he only felt a cool sensation, lacking that bone-chilling cold that penetrated to the marrow.

He did not know that this was the credit of the spiritual energy that had transformed his body.

The two walked in the Tianshan Mountains for several days, and on this day, they arrived beneath an ice peak. This peak was not very tall, but the slope was steep and quite treacherous.

Looking up, one could see a cluster of flowers swaying at the summit.

Song Qinghua exclaimed, "Is that a Tianshan Snow Lotus?"

Liu Zhong laughed, "The only thing that could grow and bloom in the Tianshan Mountains would be the Tianshan Snow Lotus, right?"

Song Qinghua was overjoyed, "The Tianshan Snow Lotus is a treasure. Brother, let's go up and pick it."

Liu Zhong agreed, and the two used their light-body techniques to reach the summit.

They saw that in the cluster of flowers at the peak, there were three flowers the size of bowls, while the rest were flower buds that had not yet opened.

One of them was a white flower, shaped like a lotus.

The other two were as red as fire, looking more like peonies.

Song Qinghua was surprised, "Can peonies also bloom in the Tianshan Mountains?"

Liu Zhong examined the red flowers carefully for a few moments, and his heart stirred as he recalled a legendary item from a certain novel.

However, could the worlds of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng actually intersect?

Liu Zhong said, "This should be the Udambara Immortal Flower."

Song Qinghua asked, "Udambara Immortal Flower? What kind of flower is that?"

Liu Zhong explained, "The Udambara Immortal Flower is a legendary bloom that flowers once every sixty years. It has the miraculous effect of turning white hair black and restoring youth. You brat are lucky to have encountered it just when it is blooming."

As he spoke, he plucked the two Udambara Immortal Flowers and handed them to Song Qinghua.

"Keep them safe. When you have a sweetheart in the future, you can use these Udambara Immortal Flowers to win over the young lady."

Song Qinghua's face turned beet red instantly, but his body was very honest as he took the Udambara Immortal Flowers and placed them into the jade box he had prepared.

--Before entering the Tianshan Mountains, the two had thought that if they encountered Tianshan Snow Lotus, they must pick it, so they had used the gold and silver they had swiped from the Diamond Sect to trade for several boxes for storing medicinal herbs.

Song Qinghua put away the Udambara Immortal Flowers, while Liu Zhong plucked the Tianshan Snow Lotus and stored it away.

Liu Zhong said, "When the time comes, we'll find a security firm to send it back to Wudang Mountain for Zhang Wuji to use as medicine."

Hearing the name Zhang Wuji, Song Qinghua's face fell.

Liu Zhong said, "That child is suffering from cold poison at such a young age, and his parents are both dead; he is quite pitiful. Just treat it as pitying him."

Song Qinghua moved his lips but said nothing, only nodding his head.

The two wandered around the Tianshan Mountains for over a month before finally finding Piaomiao Peak.

Piaomiao Peak was very distinctive and quite different from the other peaks in the Tianshan range, making it recognizable at a glance.

Piaomiao Peak was not very high and lacked ice and snow; instead, it was shrouded in fog. The mist was ethereal, making it impossible to see the true face of the mountain.

No wonder it was called Piaomiao Peak.

From the base of the mountain to the summit, there were traces of human activity, like traps that had been set, but they had all been destroyed and were no longer functional.

The mountain path was treacherous, and for ordinary people, climbing the peak would be extremely dangerous, but for the two who knew light-body techniques, it was not difficult.

There was a place called Jietian Bridge; though called a bridge, it was merely two chains connecting the two banks, with a bottomless abyss below.

The two utilized the Wudang Sect's unique internal energy technique, Ti Yun Zong, and successfully crossed the bridge to arrive in front of a group of buildings.

Those buildings were already dilapidated, with only a few rooms barely able to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Song Qinghua searched inside and out, his excitement turning into frustration.

"We found the residence of the former recluse, but it's so ruined that nothing was left behind, let alone any martial arts manuals."

Liu Zhong smiled, "That might not be the case."

Song Qinghua asked, "Brother, did you discover something?"

Liu Zhong: It wasn't that he discovered it himself, but rather memories from reading novels in his past life.

Liu Zhong said, "Follow me."

He led Song Qinghua to the garden, where there was a rockery that had collapsed halfway.

Liu Zhong circulated his internal energy and struck a palm at the remaining rockery.

The rockery actually shifted by two meters.

It was not because Liu Zhong's internal energy was particularly profound, but because there was a mechanism beneath the rockery to begin with.

As the rockery moved aside, it revealed the entrance to a tunnel.

After lifting the entrance cover, the two waited for the musty air inside to dissipate completely before each holding a torch and entering.

The tunnel twisted and turned, spiraling downward, until it suddenly opened up into a massive grotto, a naturally formed cave within the belly of the mountain.

Song Qinghua looked around the grotto, but aside from the stone walls, there was nothing there, leaving him very disappointed.

Liu Zhong said, "Don't be so quick to despair; there should be a mechanism here, hurry and look for it."

Song Qinghua perked up again and immediately began feeling around the stone walls, searching for the mechanism.

He actually found it, and a stone chamber appeared.

Song Qinghua walked inside immediately, with Liu Zhong following close behind.

The stone chamber was not large, and in the glow of the torches, one could see that "the four walls were polished until they were extremely smooth, and the stone walls were carved with countless circles about a foot in diameter. Inside each circle were various figures; some were human portraits, some were animal shapes, and some were incomplete characters."

When Liu Zhong saw those characters, some read "Tianshan Six Yang Palm," while others read "Tianshan Zhemei Hand."

Song Qinghua shouted excitedly, "Brother, it's a martial arts manual! We really found a martial arts manual!"

Liu Zhong did not feel excited; he only felt his head spinning, as if a heavy hammer were pounding against his skull.

Liu Zhong was startled, recalling that in the original work, the four sword servants Mei Lan Zhu Ju had the same reaction when they entered the stone chamber.

That was because their internal energy was low, and upon seeing these figures, they were backlashed by the martial intent contained within them.

Right now, he had only just perfected his Wudang Basic Internal Skill, and with his low level of power, he was also unable to look at those figures.

Liu Zhong immediately warned, "Stop looking at those figures."

Song Qinghua: "Huh?"

The next moment, he also felt a headache, his legs gave way, and he collapsed directly to the ground.

It took a long while for Song Qinghua to recover.

"Brother, what exactly is going on?"

Liu Zhong: "Our internal energy is too weak. The techniques on the stone walls are extremely profound martial arts; with our current strength, we cannot learn them, and even looking at them for a while will affect us."

"Ah? Then what should we do?"