Wang Sheng was an old hand at the academy, so he knew all about it.
He called that man "Grandmaster." He was nearly fifty, yet his Soul Power was only at rank twenty-nine. He probably wouldn't break through in his entire life.
Grandmaster was a sort of guest at the academy. Supposedly, he'd stayed because he was on good terms with the dean. He was nothing but a freeloader, yet Tang San had taken him as his teacher.
To Xiao Wu's surprise, after Wang Sheng explained the situation, Tang San flew into a rage and stormed out of the cafeteria, refusing Wang Sheng's invitation to eat.
Wang Sheng saw that he had no eye for people, so he was probably lashing out in embarrassment. Xiao Wu thought it over. When she continued reading, though, there wasn't much more to see, and the story ended there.
Looking at the words "To Be Continued," Xiao Wu felt that the human world wasn't dangerous at all. It was actually rather interesting.
She really is a Soul Beast in human form. Who knew she could understand things on this level? Xiao Wu's reaction to what Xiao Wuji had written surprised him. Naturally, he'd been following Confucius's example in editing the Spring and Autumn Annals, recounting rather than creating, and had left out some of Tang San's emotions. That had unexpectedly led Xiao Wu to come up with her own interpretation.
[Completed reading the first two chapters of <The Story of Soft Bone Rabbit Xiao Wu Cultivating in Human Form and Becoming a God>.] [Read-throughs: 10.] [Read-through goal reached. Reward unlocked: Nine Yang Manual.] [Read-throughs required for next reward: 30.]
Before Xiao Wuji had time to be surprised, a flood of information poured into his mind as the read-through requirement doubled.
The information came first as text, followed by incredibly lifelike images. The two complemented each other, so even though Xiao Wuji had never studied martial arts or practiced them before, he could start from scratch without any difficulty.
It was common knowledge that Jin Yong's wuxia novels had three versions: the serial version, the Sanlian version, and the revised edition.
The versions differed in content, and so did their explanations of the origins of the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
The serial version said Bodhidharma had created it. The Sanlian version didn't name its creator, but had Zhang Sanfeng say, "Patriarch Bodhidharma was from India. Even if he could write in Chinese, his writing would surely be crude. The language of this Nine Yang Manual is exquisite. A foreigner could never have written it; it must have been composed by someone from the Central Plains in a later age."
In the revised edition, the creator was ultimately confirmed to be the Wine-Drinking Divine Monk.
After digesting the information, Xiao Wuji realized that the manual he'd received was indeed the work of the Wine-Drinking Divine Monk. It spoke plainly of balancing yin and yang and combining hardness with softness. Unlike the Nine Yin Manual, it didn't require one to understand Sanskrit in order to translate the general outline.
Martial arts from the jianghu are different in different worlds, so naturally their effects vary. That's even more true when they're enhanced by Soul Rings from Soul Beasts that have cultivated for ten, a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand years. The Nine Yang Manual ranks among the best of the supreme internal arts. It should be more powerful than the Douluo Meditation Method and the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
Xiao Wuji had already written novels for five people and watched how they read them and how they reacted. Now he had become a reader himself, and thought to himself:
"Their strength only grazes my skin, while my intent has already sunk into their bones. Both hands support me, and my breath flows as one. If they press my left, my left becomes empty, and my right has already moved. If they press my right, my right becomes empty, and my left has already moved... My qi moves like a wheel; my whole body must follow it. If any part fails to follow, my body will fall into disorder. The fault lies in the waist and legs..."
The Nine Yang Manual was incredibly intricate; its teachings couldn't be summed up in a few words.
In brief, the first step was to practice the "great circuit of energy," guiding a stream of warm, true qi from the dantian through the acupoints along the Ren, Du, and Chong meridians.
After completing one circuit, the body felt as if it had been infused with sweet dew. The true qi in the dantian drifted freely like fragrant smoke. This was called "purple qi in the mist."
Following the information he'd received, Xiao Wuji studied and practiced on his own. It was his first time practicing martial arts, and no one was there to guide him. He had no idea what his natural aptitude was like, either.
After a while, he felt a thread of qi, as fine as a strand of hair, and a slight warmth in his dantian. When he urged it onward, the hair-thin current flowed out, while new qi formed in his dantian. It seemed to flow without end.
After one complete circuit, the stream of qi seemed to have been refined and purified. Its original gray-white color had turned a faint purple, a most unusual sight.
After practicing just once, Xiao Wuji felt warm all over and indescribably comfortable. The exhaustion from working through the night and into the present had almost entirely vanished.
His spirits lifted, but Xiao Wuji didn't practice a second time. He slowly opened his eyes and began looking for new readers.
The rewards for the first two read-through goals seemed to have been beginner's perks. Starting with this third reward, the read-through requirement was extremely high.
He'd better publish the new book he'd finished first and see how the readers responded. That would make it easier to decide how to update it afterward.
<Reforging the Angel's Glory, I, Qian Daoliu, Will Stop at Nothing>—published!
Night deepened. Dark clouds covered the moon, and the sky was pitch-black. Many people had already put out their lamps and gone to bed, but one palace in Spirit City remained brightly lit.
Before the towering, magnificent Angel God Statue, Qian Daoliu continued to pray devoutly.
He was tall and powerfully built, with long golden hair falling loosely over his shoulders. From his appearance alone, no one could tell that he was over a hundred years old.
Suddenly, golden light flickered in the Angel God Statue's palm, and a book appeared, slowly drifting down.
Sensing something amiss in the hall, Qian Daoliu opened his eyes. He saw the book floating down from the statue and hurriedly reached out with both hands to catch it.
"Reforging the Angel's Glory, I, Qian Daoliu, Will Stop at Nothing..." Qian Daoliu saw the bold, sweeping characters on the cover and felt something stir within him. He had been waiting for the Angel God's legacy for over a hundred years.
Does the Angel God have some guidance for me? Qian Daoliu glanced up at the towering Angel God Statue and opened the book.
[With the shattering of the Angel Godhood, the Angel God's legacy ended with Qian Renxue's generation.]
"What?" Qian Daoliu was one of the three Peerless Douluo. The combined weight of his strength and age meant that almost nothing could shake his emotions.
Yet those few words left his face pale and threw him into utter disarray.
The matter he had waited more than a hundred years for—the hope that had appeared only when Qian Renxue was born—had been shattered?
[After sacrificing herself, the Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu unexpectedly came back to life, returning to the distant past. [With the memories of her previous life and the advantage of foresight, he guided Qian Renxue to godhood once more, letting the Angel God's glory shine across the entire continent.]
Reading the next two lines, Qian Daoliu's spirits lifted, and color returned to his face. "I've been reborn?"
Watching his new reader, Qian Daoliu, Xiao Wuji clicked his tongue twice. If he could choose the reward, a sign-in system would clearly suit this Great Enshrined better than a rebirth story.
Unlike before, when he'd relied solely on his knowledge of the plot, this time he would factor in what he knew about himself and secure some benefits for himself.
Writing novels really was hard work. The system's rewards alone weren't enough.
[Chapter 1: The Angel Godhood Shatters, the Great Enshrined Is Reborn]
Looking at the blunt chapter title, Qian Daoliu felt weighed down with worry.
As far as he knew, no god had appeared in the Douluo Continent for countless years. Xiao Xue was destined to become a god, and was the one most likely to succeed. How could the Angel Godhood end up shattered? Could it be that...
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