"Scripture of Great Peace"

"Master, Fourth Junior Brother has such fine aptitude. He's bound to have a chance. The future of our Green Ox Gate will depend on him," Qinghe said.

"Because of the Black-and-White Refining Snake and the Blazing Sun Fruit, Qingxiao's meridians are tougher and broader than an ordinary person's. His cultivation can yield twice the results with half the effort, but reaching the First-Class Expert realm still depends on a person's comprehension. That is extremely difficult." Xuanzhenzi was not as optimistic as Qinghe. After all, although second-rate experts were not particularly numerous in Jianghu, there were still a fair number of them. First-Class Experts, however, were few and far between.

"All right, let's leave that aside for now. Compared with some other cultivation arts, the Everlasting Spring Art does have certain remarkable effects." Xuanzhenzi smiled faintly at Huang Xiao.

"Remarkable effects?" Huang Xiao asked.

"Master, stop keeping us in suspense," Qingfeng said with a smile. Although he, too, knew the Everlasting Spring Art's special effects, their master was explaining them now, so they certainly would not dare interrupt.

"Put it this way: this internal power can prolong your life. From another angle, that means it also has certain remarkable effects when it comes to healing injuries," Xuanzhenzi said.

"Prolong life? Heal injuries?" Huang Xiao had little conception of either. After all, he knew nothing about internal cultivation methods.

"Junior Brother, don't underestimate those things. If you're injured, this internal power can help you regain your strength as quickly as possible. That alone could practically save your life. And how many people dream of prolonging their lives? We can't call it eternal youth and immortality, but living to a hundred or so is possible. Isn't that right, Master?" Qinghe said.

"I wouldn't dare guarantee a hundred, but barring any mishaps, I think ninety should be possible," Xuanzhenzi said with a smile.

"Ninety?" Huang Xiao frowned. He knew that the Green Ox Gate had been founded a hundred years ago by its founding patriarch, Green Ox Daoist. If this art really could let someone live past ninety, then even if the founding patriarch was no longer alive, Xuanzhenzi's master-Huang Xiao's own grandmaster-surely ought to be. Yet that was not the case.

So Huang Xiao voiced his doubts.

Xuanzhenzi merely smiled faintly and said, "Qingfeng, Qingyun, and Qinghe haven't noticed this even now, yet you realized it at once. Since you've asked, I won't keep it from you any longer. I know nothing about the founding patriarch. My master never mentioned him, and I never asked. But after more than a hundred years, I imagine he has returned to dust and earth. Your grandmaster, however, left forty years ago to roam the four seas. As for whether he is still alive, I don't know."

"Grandmaster must be somewhere out there," Huang Xiao said.

"Whether my master is still alive isn't important. In fact, I originally wanted to roam the world myself, but I still couldn't quite rest easy about you, so I stayed here a little longer."

"What? Master, you're leaving?" Now Qingfeng, Qingyun, and Qingfeng-and, of course, Huang Xiao as well-were utterly astonished.

"Don't be so surprised. This has always been our Green Ox Gate's tradition. Once I feel that one of my disciples can shoulder the Green Ox Gate, I, as your master, can leave to wander. It was just that the three of you hadn't yet met my standards, so I never told you," Xuanzhenzi said.

"Master, what are we supposed to do if you leave?" Qingyun asked.

"Don't worry. I'll stay at the temple for another three to five years," Xuanzhenzi said.

"Three to five years? That little?" Qinghe said.

"Can I look after you for your entire lives? I had intended to leave in a year or two, but now that Qingxiao has just joined us, I can hardly leave all of a sudden," Xuanzhenzi said.

"Master, I'm actually very curious about Jianghu. Could you tell me about it? For example, those extraordinary martial arts?" Huang Xiao asked.

"Jianghu isn't so vast, but neither is it small. It depends on how you understand it. Broadly speaking, though, it is divided into the righteous and the evil. Among the righteous, Shaolin is naturally Mount Tai and the Big Dipper. As for the Demonic Sects, there are many of them—the wicked path, the demonic path. These people kill without blinking, so you must be cautious when traveling Jianghu. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone in an orthodox sect behaves righteously. There are scoundrels among them as well, whose secret dealings may well outstrip those of the Demonic Sects. As the saying goes, you may know a person's face, but not their heart," Xuanzhenzi said. "As for the extraordinary arts you mentioned, there are far too many. Which Renowned Great Sect doesn't have its own Sect-Suppressing Peerless Art? Take Shaolin: its seventy-two supreme arts, Muscle Tendon Change, the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture—the list goes on and on. Recently, though, there seems to be a rumor circulating in Jianghu that a peerless secret manual is about to emerge."

"A peerless secret manual?" Qinghe's interest was stirred as well. "Master, what is it? We've never heard of it before."

"I only heard some people from Jianghu mention it when I passed through a market town on this trip to gather herbs," Xuanzhenzi said with a smile. "Apparently, quite a few martial sects are now searching for this manual. It's called the Scripture of Great Peace."

"The Scripture of Great Peace?" At Xuanzhenzi's words, Huang Xiao's voice suddenly rose.

"Hm? Fourth Junior Brother, what's wrong? Do you know about this?" Qinghe asked.

"Oh, no, no. I just thought it sounded more like a scripture than a martial arts manual," Huang Xiao explained, suppressing his surprise.

Huang Xiao had naturally heard of the Scripture of Great Peace—or rather, he had read about it in the Scripture of Southern Florescence. The Scripture of Great Peace was among the Four Supplements mentioned there. But Huang Xiao did not know whether that Scripture of Great Peace was the same one these people of Jianghu were talking about.

"Ha ha! That's right. It is a scripture, but of course, it is also a peerless secret manual." Xuanzhenzi smiled. "Do you know of Zhang Jue?"

"Zhang Jue? Master, do you mean Zhang Jue, the leader of the Yellow Turban Army and founder of the Way of Great Peace at the end of the Eastern Han?" Huang Xiao asked.

"That's right, him. What enabled Zhang Jue's Yellow Turban Army to sweep across the land, and enabled him to establish the Way of Great Peace? This very Scripture of Great Peace. It is said that after comprehending it, he could shake off sweat to make rain and scatter beans to create soldiers. I imagine that is an exaggeration, but it is enough to show how astonishing Zhang Jue's cultivation was. And all of it was because of the Scripture of Great Peace," Xuanzhenzi said.

"It's that powerful? Then what sort of cultivation art is the Scripture of Great Peace?" Huang Xiao asked curiously.

"Qingxiao, that is the wrong question. As I just said, the Scripture of Great Peace is a scripture. Although you can also call it a secret manual, that depends on the person. Everyone's understanding differs, so the cultivation arts they derive from it differ as well," Xuanzhenzi explained. "As for true martial learning, you must comprehend it yourself. Although our predecessors left behind many cultivation arts, including quite a few earth-shaking secret manuals, anyone who wishes to become a legendary expert must create their own cultivation art."