Nine Yin and Dragon-Subduing

The silk manuscript felt icy to the touch, clearly no ordinary item.

Zu Hao put away the silk manuscript and turned to Zhang Wuji and the others, who had been keeping watch from afar and did not dare approach. He said gently, "I'll study these first. Don't go too far, in case outsiders attack."

He sat before the stone table in the courtyard and carefully read through the two secret manuals.

The Nine Yin Manual was broad and profound. It contained not only its core internal cultivation principles, but also all manner of supreme arts involving fists, palms, fingers, claws, lightness techniques, movement techniques, tendon cleansing, bone forging, and more. It could truly be called the general outline of all martial arts under heaven.

The Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, meanwhile, was unmatched in its fierceness. Every move contained the power of ultimate Yang and ultimate hardness; it was indeed the pinnacle of external martial arts.

With his formidable spiritual power, Zu Hao memorized both supreme arts in less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea.

Not only had he swiftly grasped their essence.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. The true qi within his body circulated through the heavenly cycle according to the Nine Yin Manual method he had deduced. A soft, Yin internal force rose from his dantian and flowed through his extraordinary meridians and eight channels. Before he knew it, his internal energy had grown several degrees purer and deeper.

The reason martial artists pursued divine techniques and secret manuals was that such martial arts could greatly increase cultivation speed and strengthen one's power.

One day of cultivating the Nine Yin Manual was more effective than two or three days of cultivating the Wudang Nine Yang Skill.

Since he had a better cultivation method, Zu Hao naturally had no objection to switching over.

"Zhiruo, Wuji, Ah Li, Buhui, come here."

Zu Hao beckoned the four over.

He spread the two silk manuscripts across the stone table and said, "Those who see them get a share. One of these techniques is a supreme Daoist canon, while the other is the fiercest palm technique under heaven."

"Each of you make a copy. If you master them, you'll be able to roam the martial world freely."

Zhang Wuji was both startled and delighted. He quickly bowed. "Thank you, Brother Zu! I will certainly practice such divine arts diligently and not disappoint your high expectations, Brother Zu."

Having learned the essentials of martial arts from Xie Xun and Zhang Cuishan since childhood, and having received Zhang Sanfeng's guidance, he understood well how precious these two martial arts were.

Zhou Zhiruo gave a graceful bow, her eyes shimmering. "Thank you, Brother Zu."

Though she had been a fisher girl, she was intelligent and gifted, beautiful in appearance and wise within. At that moment, her heart was filled with gratitude.

Yang Buhui looked utterly bewildered. She still did not understand the significance of these two martial arts and merely stood obediently at the side.

Yin Li, however, stood rooted to the spot, scarcely daring to believe her ears.

She had traveled the martial world with Golden Flower Granny for many years. How could she not have heard of these two supreme arts?

They were both the highest martial arts that people of the martial world dreamed of obtaining, yet Zu Hao was allowing her to cultivate them so easily?

"Young Master... I-I can learn them too?"

Yin Li's voice trembled slightly, her eyes filled with both yearning and apprehension.

Her fate had been filled with hardship since childhood. Never had anyone treated her with such generosity.

Zu Hao smiled faintly. "Martial arts are meant to be practiced. Once you've copied them, come ask me anytime if there's anything you don't understand during cultivation."

"But remember, do not practice blindly on your own. These two techniques are one internal and one external, one hard and one soft, with entirely different approaches. If you use them improperly, it will be easy for something to go wrong."

His gaze swept across the four of them as he continued, "Women's constitutions lean toward Yin, making the Nine Yin Manual more suitable for them. The Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, on the other hand, are fierce and domineering, better suited for men."

"Still, all of you may copy them down and keep them. Perhaps someday you'll have the opportunity to pass them on to others."

Zu Hao's tone turned serious. "But remember this: supreme arts may be good, but they can also bring calamity."

"If you teach them to the wrong person, you may not only endanger the martial world, but also bring about your own death."

"You must be extremely cautious in making that choice."

Having finished his instructions, Zu Hao went beneath a nearby tree to sit quietly and devote himself to cultivating the two newly acquired supreme arts.

The Nine Yin Manual truly deserved its reputation as a treasure of martial arts.

Its opening words, "The Way of Heaven diminishes the excessive and supplements the deficient," expressed the ultimate principles of martial arts in only a few brief lines.

The Tendon-Cleansing and Bone-Forging Chapter recorded within could strengthen one's foundation and nourish one's vitality. The Soul-Shifting Method could seize the heart and bewilder the soul. The agility of Snake-Crawling Raccoon-Flipping and the ferocity of the Nine Yin Divine Claw made it a compendium of countless techniques.

Even more precious was the fact that many of its techniques could be mastered quickly.

For example, Mei Chaofeng and Zhou Zhiruo had both risen into the ranks of first-rate experts in a short time through the Nine Yin White Bone Claw.

Though their foundations might have been lacking, it was still a shortcut to rapidly increasing one's strength.

However, cultivating the Nine Yin White Bone Claw required consuming deadly poisons such as arsenic to increase one's power. To avoid dying from the poison, one also had to thrust one's five fingers into human brains and expel the toxins that could not be neutralized. It was exceedingly sinister and vicious.

It was suitable for Zu Hao, though. With the Negative Reversal System, consuming deadly poison would not only fail to harm his body, but would instead strengthen it. Combined with the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, the two complemented each other perfectly.

It was no exaggeration to say that Zu Hao possessed the natural sacred physique of an evil cultivator. He liked exactly this sort of martial art that offered rapid progress and severe side effects.

Meanwhile, the four children had already gathered around the stone table, seriously copying the manuals.

Zhang Wuji's brush flew across the paper. His martial arts foundation was the strongest, and whenever he copied an exquisite passage, he could not help gesturing through the movements, his eyes flashing brightly.

"This move, Dragon Soars with Regret, emphasizes building momentum before release, with limitless follow-up force..."

He murmured to himself, already completely immersed in it.

Zhou Zhiruo's handwriting was delicate and neat, each line of elegant small script scattered across the page like flower petals.

She had never practiced martial arts before, but she was exceptionally gifted and quickly comprehended the internal cultivation principles of the Nine Yin Manual. A faint smile appeared at the corners of her lips.

Yin Li was the most careful, copying every word and sentence with great attention, afraid of making even the slightest mistake.

She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whenever she encountered something she did not understand, she pondered it over and over.

Yang Buhui was the youngest and knew few characters, so she struggled the most with copying.

Seeing her hesitate, Zhang Wuji gently helped her, occasionally guiding her in recognizing characters and writing them.

As the sun climbed higher, Butterfly Valley was peaceful and quiet. Only the soft rustle of brush tips moving across paper could be heard, occasionally mixed with a few hushed discussions.

A breeze drifted past, bringing waves of medicinal fragrance. This blood-soaked morning gradually returned to its usual tranquility.

By midafternoon, all four children had finished copying the manuals.

Zu Hao checked their copies one by one, pointed out several key principles, and specifically explained the precautions for beginners to each of them.

"Remember, the greatest taboo in cultivating internal energy is impatience. You must proceed step by step."

Zu Hao especially warned them, "Some of the rapid-progress techniques in the Nine Yin Manual may show results quickly, but if your foundation is unstable, you'll inevitably encounter bottlenecks later. Unless necessary, it is best to cultivate steadily and build your foundation firmly."

The four of them nodded in unison.

Zhang Wuji said, "Rest assured, Brother Zu. We will remember your teachings."

Afterward, Zhou Zhiruo went to wash vegetables and prepare food, while Zhang Wuji and Yin Li cleaned the courtyard and sorted the medicinal herbs.

Yang Buhui ran over to Zu Hao's side and asked with her little face tilted up, "Brother Zu, when will my mother come back? Does she not want Buhui anymore?"

Zu Hao patted her head and said warmly, "Don't worry. Your mother loves you so much. She definitely won't abandon you."

That was what he said, but whether Ji Xiaofu could return alive was another matter entirely.

There were good and bad people in the Emei Sect. Now that Miejue was dead, there was no telling whether they would take their anger out on Ji Xiaofu.

But that had nothing to do with Zu Hao.

Ji Xiaofu was merely someone Zu Hao used. Besides, he had already killed Miejue, which counted as giving Ji Xiaofu a chance to live. If she insisted on rushing into danger herself, then she deserved to die.