One-Yang Finger

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Wu Lie's body jolted violently, and several wounds instantly appeared across his chest and abdomen. The most fatal shard pierced straight through his throat.

His forward charge came to an abrupt halt. His eyes filled with shock and unwillingness as his throat gurgled, yet he could no longer make a sound. He fell backward, dead on the spot, his blood quickly staining the ground beneath him red.

Zhu Changling was, after all, an experienced veteran. Seeing that things had gone wrong, he hastily whirled his pair of judge's brushes into an impenetrable blur while retreating at top speed.

Unfortunately, the flying shards were far faster than he could react.

Not only were they immensely powerful, but they could also change direction.

"Pfft!"

Four shards that had flown past him spun back through the air and severed Zhu Changling's tendons in both hands and feet.

"Aaargh!"

Zhu Changling screamed and collapsed helplessly to the ground, his face as white as paper. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead, and his gaze upon Zu Hao was now filled with indescribable terror and horror.

He had dominated the Kunlun Mountains for half his life and prided himself on his martial arts. How could he have imagined that, even when he joined forces with Wu Lie, one exchange would leave one of them dead and the other crippled?

This young man's martial arts were simply unfathomable!

Zu Hao raised a hand and made a grasping motion through the air. The throwing knife embedded in the tree, along with the other two that had killed Wei Bi and Zhu Jiuzhen, seemed to be drawn by an invisible force. They flew from their places as three streaks of silver light, returned to Zu Hao's hand, and were stored away in his portable space.

This seemingly miraculous sight chilled Zhu Changling to the bone.

"Wuji, wait here with the others. I have something to ask him."

Zu Hao gave the distant Zhang Wuji and the others an instruction, then walked toward the badly injured Zhu Changling. He struck several acupoints to stop the bleeding, lest Zhu Changling die too quickly.

Then, using telekinesis, he lifted Zhu Changling's bloated body and carried him into the woods some distance away for questioning.

After tossing Zhu Changling onto the ground, Zu Hao had not even spoken before Zhu Changling began pleading in a trembling voice. "Spare me, Hero! What do you wish to know? Zhu will tell you everything he knows! I only beg you to spare my life!"

"I... I have gold, silver, jewels, antiques, and jade hidden in my manor. They are all fine treasures brought out of the Dali Kingdom imperial palace, worth a fortune. If you let me go, I am willing to offer them all to you!"

Zu Hao smiled. "Don't be stupid. If I kill you, your things will still be mine."

With that, Zu Hao stopped wasting words. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, where strange light seemed to swirl like a vortex in a deep pool, shining directly into Zhu Changling's eyes.

It was the mind-controlling art recorded in the Nine Yin Manual—the Soul-Shifting Method.

This technique specifically targeted the mind. It was especially effective against those with weak willpower or agitated spirits.

Zhu Changling was already greedy for life and afraid of death. Now that he had been severely wounded and captured, all fighting spirit had left him, and his mental defenses were frail beyond measure. How could he possibly resist such a profound mental art?

After merely meeting Zu Hao's eyes for a moment, his gaze rapidly turned vacant and dull, losing all life like a puppet on strings.

"Zhu Changling."

Zu Hao's voice seemed to carry a strange magic as it directly invaded his scattered mind. "Recite the formulas and mental cultivation method of the One-Yang Finger exactly as they are."

Zhu Changling stared blankly ahead, his lips moving as though in a dream. He slowly recited without reservation the formulas, mental methods, crucial points, and essentials of the One-Yang Finger, from its foundational entry stage to the methods of channeling and unleashing force.

Zu Hao listened intently and silently committed everything to memory.

At the end, Zhu Changling mechanically revealed the precise location where the One-Yang Finger manual was hidden: inside a secret chamber behind his study.

Having obtained everything he wanted, a cold gleam flashed through Zu Hao's eyes. He held two fingers together like a sword and lightly slashed across Zhu Changling's throat.

Zhu Changling's body trembled. A trace of clarity flashed in his eyes before endless darkness swallowed it whole. He went limp and fell to the ground, following his sworn brother and daughter into death.

Zu Hao turned and sped toward Zhu Wu Linked Rings Manor.

Following Zhu Changling's account, Zu Hao easily found the study and opened the concealed entrance to the secret chamber. Sure enough, he found the One-Yang Finger manual.

Beside it lay heaps of gold and silver vessels, luminous pearls, and fine jade.

They truly appeared to be treasures of extraordinary value.

It seemed that when the Mongol Empire had attacked the Dali Kingdom years ago, the Zhu and Wu families had played the opportunists, looting the Dali Duan Clan's treasures amid the chaos before fleeing into the Kunlun Mountains.

Zu Hao showed no courtesy and swept everything into his possession.

As he flipped through the One-Yang Finger manual, Zu Hao nodded slightly.

This was indeed an exceptionally superior martial art. It could be used to fight and defeat enemies with unmatched ferocity, but it could also heal the wounded and save lives, with wondrous effects.

Its realms were divided into ranks. The lowest was the ninth rank, while the highest was the first rank. The higher the rank, the stronger the finger force and the more marvelous its applications.

However, cultivating this art required pure and profound internal energy as its foundation. Repeated use greatly depleted one's internal energy, and those without exceptional reserves could not unleash its true power.

Still, its exquisite techniques for channeling force, striking acupoints from afar, and concentrating power in a finger held immense value for Zu Hao as well. They were enough to be integrated into his own martial arts system, allowing him to draw inferences from one example to another.

With the acquisition of this supreme art, another objective of Zu Hao's journey to Kunlun had been successfully completed.

Next, he had to find the White Ape with the Nine Yang Manual hidden inside its body.

Based on the original plot, the valley where the White Ape dwelled should not have been far from Zhu Wu Linked Rings Manor. If it had been too far away, Zhang Wuji, who had been pursued by Zhu Changling at the time, could never have escaped there.

Zu Hao first dealt with Wu Lie and Zhu Changling's relatives, then drove away all the servants before settling Zhang Wuji, Zhou Zhiruo, and Yin Li inside Zhu Wu Linked Rings Manor.

Afterward, using Zhu Wu Linked Rings Manor as the center, he carefully searched the surrounding region for places where a hidden valley might lie.

At last, in a secluded mountain hollow several miles behind the manor, he discovered a steep cliff.

Below the cliff, clouds and mist coiled endlessly, and the depths could not be seen.

Zu Hao leaped down and surveyed the area around the cliff. Before long, he spotted a platform protruding from the middle of the cliff face.

This should be the place.

Zu Hao thought.

In the original plot, Zhang Wuji and Zhu Changling had fallen from the cliff and landed here, narrowly escaping death.

In such perilous terrain, only apes or people with peerless lightness skills could reach it.

But for Zu Hao, who could fly by controlling qi, it was no difficult task.

He gathered his qi and leaped. His body drifted down the cliff face as lightly as a startled swan, and he landed steadily on the small platform.

The inner side of the platform pressed against the mountain wall, where there was indeed a narrow cave entrance, barely large enough for a child or an extremely slender person to pass through.

Zu Hao had recently cultivated the Nine Yin Manual, which included the Bone-Shrinking Skill, but there was no need to make things so troublesome.

With a thought, he took the incomparably sharp Heavenly Sword from his storage space.

Gripping the hilt, he released a trace of internal energy, and a faint azure glow immediately spread across the blade.

Zu Hao swung the sword at the rocks around the entrance. The Heavenly Sword could slice gold and jade apart and cut iron like mud. Beneath its edge, these ordinary mountain rocks were like tofu, easily carved away.

As shattered stones flew everywhere, the entrance rapidly widened until an adult could easily pass through.

A fresh breath carrying the fragrance of earth and a strange fruity scent rushed out from within the cave.

Zu Hao sheathed the sword, straightened his clothes, and calmly stepped into this isolated secret valley. Under the scan of his psychic power, he discovered the old White Ape with the wounded abdomen in no more than a moment.