Wuxia 9

After Liu Zhong recovered a bit, he began searching the stone chamber.

He was looking for manuals on internal energy cultivation.

Once his internal energy improved, he would be able to practice the martial arts carved into the stone walls.

Fortunately, he discovered another mechanism in the stone chamber; after activating it, he found a box made of stone.

Opening the box, four martial arts manuals appeared before Liu Zhong's eyes.

Liu Zhong's breathing involuntarily grew heavy.

The Beiming Divine Art, Xiao Wuxiang Art, Lingbo Weibu, and the Eternal Spring Skill that Liu Zhong wanted most were all inside.

Song Qinghua's eyes lit up as well.

Although he did not know what these internal arts were, the martial arts on the stone walls alone were astonishingly powerful, so the internal manuals hidden with such care must be even more formidable.

"Brother, which internal art are you going to practice?"

It was, of course, the Eternal Spring Skill.

The Beiming Divine Art was the first to be ruled out.

The nature of this technique destined it to be regarded as an evil art.

Song Qinghua first chose to study the Eternal Spring Skill alongside Liu Zhong.

However, his physique was not like Liu Zhong's, which had been nourished by spiritual energy.

Cultivating the Eternal Spring Skill required a specific type of person.

Why did Wu Yazi and Li Qiushui not practice the Eternal Spring Skill?

It was clear that both of them could have practiced the Beiming Divine Art and the Xiao Wuxiang Art together.

It was precisely because the Eternal Spring Skill was so selective.

Aside from Xiaoyaozi, only Wu Xingyun could barely manage to practice the Eternal Spring Skill.

Even then, Wu Xingyun had to disperse her energy once every thirty years.

Song Qinghua's aptitude for martial arts was excellent, even better than his own father's, but he did not meet the requirements to practice the Eternal Spring Skill.

He practiced the Eternal Spring Skill for a long time without ever being able to enter the threshold.

In the end, Song Qinghua had to give up on the Eternal Spring Skill and switch to the Xiao Wuxiang Art.

The Xiao Wuxiang Art was a Taoist technique, and since Song Qinghua had grown up at Wudang Mountain, he had passively and actively learned many Taoist principles, so practicing the Xiao Wuxiang Art yielded twice the result with half the effort.

His confidence, which had been shattered by the Eternal Spring Skill, finally returned.

The two decided to practice their martial arts at Lingjiu Palace.

This was not only because the martial arts on the stone walls could not be taken away, but also because there was a cold spring next to Lingjiu Palace that contained a type of small silver fish; eating them could strengthen one's physique, making cultivation go more smoothly.

There was also a piece of mysterious ice in the stone chamber; sitting on it to practice internal energy allowed for twice the result with half the effort.

The two first went down the mountain once to have the Tianshan Snow Lotus they had picked sent back to Wudang Mountain by a security firm, which naturally earned them another round of "good boy" exclamations from the people at Wudang Mountain.

They made a massive purchase at the foot of the mountain and returned to Piaomiao Peak carrying rice, flour, pots, and bowls.

The location of Lingjiu Palace was different from the rest of Tianshan; there was no accumulated snow here, and the temperature was not as low. There were also reclaimed farmlands nearby, and although they had been abandoned, they could still be used to grow things if tidied up.

Liu Zhong bought two households of servants, putting them in charge of farming and cooking, and responsible for taking care of Song Qinghua, so that he and Song Qinghua could devote more time to their cultivation.

These two families, each with five or six people, were refugees persecuted by the government who could no longer survive; they sold themselves and were bought by Liu Zhong.

They were very loyal to Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua, and were very satisfied with their current residence.

Although it was far from the foot of the mountain, they could be self-sufficient within these mountains, and without the persecution of officials or remnants of soldiers, it was as if they were living in a Peach Blossom Spring.

At Jietian Bridge, Liu Zhong laid wooden planks over the two iron chains and tied two ropes above them as handrails, creating a simple suspension bridge that even ordinary people could cross.

These people went down the mountain to purchase supplies once every six months, and the rest of the time they spent farming and raising chickens at Lingjiu Palace, living lives a thousand times better than before.

Therefore, they served Liu Zhong and Song Qingshu very diligently.

Liu Zhong and Song Qingshu did not have to worry about anything, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into their training, and before they knew it, several years had passed.

Both of their internal arts had reached a great level of success, though they were still a long way from perfection.

Even so, their internal energy was already quite considerable.

Practicing internal energy on the mysterious ice was equivalent to ten years of effort in a single year.

The amount of internal energy within their bodies now was equivalent to sixty years of cultivation for others.

Their strength was equivalent to the level of Zhang Wuji after he had mastered the Nine Yang Divine Art.

And since the two of them had also practiced advanced techniques and movement arts like the Tianshan Six Yang Palm, the Tianshan Zhemei Hand, and Lingbo Weibu, their strength would only be greater than Zhang Wuji's.

"It's time to go down the mountain," Song Qinghua said to Liu Zhong.

He had a feeling that some major event was about to happen, and if he didn't go down the mountain quickly, he would regret it.

Liu Zhong nodded in agreement.

Calculating the date, the siege of Bright Peak by the six sects was likely about to happen.

The two of them sealed the stone chamber, entrusted the management of Lingjiu Palace to two households of servants, and departed from Tianshan Mountain.

They headed toward Kunlun Mountain, encountering many people from small sects along the way who had heard about the six major sects besieging Bright Peak and were rushing over to scavenge for scraps.

From these people, the two learned quite a bit of recent news from the pugilistic world.

Four heroes of the Wudang Sect were participating in the operation: Yu Lianzhou, Yu Daiyan, Zhang Songxi, and Mo Shenggu.

Song Yuanqiao was the leader of Wudang and had remained on Wudang Mountain to manage affairs, so he did not participate in this operation.

As for Yin Liting, he did not participate because his wife was about to give birth, and he needed to stay behind to accompany her.

Yin Liting's wife actually had a connection to Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua.

It was while Yin Liting was traveling down the mountain to search for Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua that he had encountered his wife.

At that time, the young lady had been abducted by bandits who intended to make her their chieftain's wife.

Yin Liting killed the bandits and escorted the young lady back to her home.

The young lady was the daughter of a scholarly family; having been abducted by bandits and then returned by a strange man, her reputation was tarnished, and her family had intended to send her to a temple to become a nun.

Yin Liting could not bear to see such a young woman spend her life with only green lamps and ancient Buddhas, and furthermore, the two had developed mutual affection while spending their days and nights together on the road.

Yin Liting then proposed to marry the young lady.

The family immediately agreed and settled a marriage contract with Yin Liting.

After returning to the mountain, Yin Liting told Zhang Sanfeng and his senior brothers about the matter.

Zhang Sanfeng had people prepare betrothal gifts to be sent to the young lady's home, and not long after, the people of Wudang went to welcome the bride and brought her back to Wudang Mountain.

After the wedding, the young lady and Yin Liting lived in perfect harmony, and their relationship was excellent.

A year later, the two had a son, whom they named Yin Feihan.

Several years had passed, and this Sixth Aunt was pregnant once again, with the birth imminent.

Yin Liting was anxious about his wife, so he did not participate in the operation to crusade against the Ming Cult, choosing instead to remain on Wudang Mountain to care for her.

The people from the other five major sects were not much different from what Liu Zhong had seen in novels and television.

The two brothers picked up their pace, and half a month later, they arrived at Bright Peak.