" The Da Ming Dynasty's imperial family's foundation is indeed extraordinary!"
Wang Hao stood up and glanced at the dozen or so bookshelves in the secret room, still unable to help but exclaim in amazement.
This is the underground level of the secret vault, which houses a large collection of martial arts manuals, all of which are at least at the level of Grandmaster of the Acquired, with nearly a hundred at the level of an Innate Ultimate Technique.
Among them are not only martial arts from the Central Plains, but also many martial arts traditions from the grasslands and the Western Regions. These martial arts must have been obtained by Zhu Yuanzhang from the Yuan Dynasty.
In addition, there are a large number of martial arts from the Legend of the Condor Heroes the Return of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes era, such as Zhou Botong's Dual-Hand Combat, Vacant Fist, and even many Quanzhen Sect techniques. Among them, there are also many of the Five Greats' martial arts from that era, such as the Southern Emperor's One Yang Finger Divine Skill and the Western Poison's Toad Art Spirit Snake Staff Technique, and even Qiu Qianren's Iron Sand Divine Palm from the Iron Palm Gang.
He got all of this for free!
"Ruoxue, we should leave!"
Standing up, Wang Hao called out to Zhu Ruoxue, who was practicing swordsmanship beside him, and then strode outside.
Upon hearing the sound, Zhu Ruoxue sheathed her sword and stood still, then followed her out.
For the past three days, Zhu Ruoxue has stayed by Wang Hao's side. While Wang Hao reads and copies martial arts manuals, she practices swordsmanship on the side. However, the swordsmanship she practices has changed from the original basic swordsmanship to the Foundation Establishment Sword Art created by Wang Hao.
This girl is truly a Sword Dao prodigy. She mastered the Foundation Establishment Sword Art in just three days; the rest is simply due to her own accumulated knowledge.
The medicinal bath has been temporarily removed!
After leaving the secret vault, Wang Hao gave an instruction to the young eunuch who had been guarding outside, and continued walking forward.
These past few days, he has had two kinds of medicinal soup brewed, one for internal use and the other dissolved in the bath to help Zhu Ruoxue restore her damaged foundation.
In just three days, the girl's pale cheeks regained some color, and her breathing became much more stable.
After traveling for a while, Wang Hao soon arrived at the Imperial Study. He informed an old eunuch guarding the door, and was quickly summoned inside by Emperor Mingde.
"Uncle, your nephew has come to bid you farewell!"
Upon entering, Wang Hao went straight to the point and stated his purpose.
"But is it because of that Black Mountain Old Devil?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Mingde, who was reviewing memorials, frowned slightly and quickly deduced Wang Hao's purpose.
They had long been gathering intelligence about their adopted nephew, Zhu Yanzu, including information about the operation in the Jiangnan martial arts world, and were aware of his duel with the Black Mountain Old Devil.
Moreover, there are only thirteen days left until the agreed date of August 15th, so leaving during this period is naturally for this matter.
"Your Highness, there's no need to concern yourself with such a trivial matter. If you truly wish to eliminate that Black Mountain Old Devil, I will simply send some men over."
Putting down his vermilion brush, Emperor Mingde spoke with great arrogance, as if he were dealing not with a Half-step Innate expert, but with a novice in the martial arts world.
However, Emperor Mingde does indeed have the confidence to do so now. Ever since he and Wheel-Turning King opened up to each other, he has learned about the Old Zhu Household's resources. And now, all those Half-step Innate experts have been raised to the Innate Realm by their ancestor using secret methods.
Although it is only the Early-stage Innate Realm, it is still far superior to the level of the Half-step Innate.
The Black Mountain Old Devil's cultivation method has already eliminated the possibility of him advancing to the Innate, so any Early Innate expert can easily solve the problem.
Moreover, in his view, Wang Hao's most important task now is to strive to improve his own cultivation and to select a group of talented young people for the Old Zhu Household to focus on cultivating.
The rest are all trivial matters and don't need to be bothered with.
"I appreciate your kind intentions, Uncle, but my purpose in coming here is not merely to eliminate the Black Mountain Old Devil, but to reel in a much bigger fish!"
Wang Hao's eyes were incredibly deep, and a faint smile played on his lips.
Confucian School?
Emperor Mingde seemed to be deep in thought, and his eyes also became profound.
Despite the ever-changing global situation, Confucian School remains the greatest enemy of the Da Ming Dynasty imperial family at this stage.
"Since this is to test the Confucian School, a powerful force like the fish, it is beyond the capabilities of Your Highness alone. In that case, I will lend you a hand. Your Highness, please return to the palace to prepare. I will go and consult with the Ancestor to invite ten retainers to accompany you south!"
After some deliberation, Emperor Mingde made a decisive decision to fully support his adopted nephew.
"Nephew thanks Your Majesty for your help!"
Wang Hao cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, his smile widening.
He came here to ask Emperor Mingde to allocate some manpower, since his royal status as Zhu Yanzu was highly disliked by Confucian School, and there was a real possibility that a Innate expert would attack and kill him.
His previous battle with Dugu Qiubai had made him deeply aware of the terrifying power of the Innate Realm expert. According to Dugu Qiubai, although his cultivation had greatly improved in recent years, he had only reached the Middle Innate, which was still far inferior to that old monster who had lived for more than two hundred years.
The most representative of these is Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
He had carefully sensed this person's strength beforehand, and it gave him an extremely deadly feeling. Even if he used all his trump cards, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat this kind of being in a single move.
After realizing this, he knew that he had previously underestimated the power of the Innate Realm, especially the veteran Peak Innate Realm experts.
That's real terror!
After bidding farewell to Emperor Mingde, Wang Hao took Zhu Ruoxue back to the previous palace and ordered his men to pack up all the medicinal herbs he needed.
He wasn't going to waste the time he spent traveling south by boat. It wasn't good to practice external martial arts on a ship, but the Nine Revolutions Qi Refining Instruction was unaffected by the environment.
I happened to have obtained three rare spiritual herbs from the secret vault. If I were to use them as the main ingredient to make Cheng Tang or dish, it would greatly benefit my cultivation.
Both Emperor Mingde and Zhu Yuanzhang were decisive and efficient. After confirming Wang Hao's plan, they promptly dispatched ten eunuchs who had just broken through to the Innate Realm.
"I'm entrusting this trip south to you all!"
Stepping out of the palace, Wang Hao nodded slightly to the ten old eunuchs who had arrived, showing great satisfaction with the personnel arranged by Emperor Mingde and Zhu Yuanzhang.
It should be noted that, apart from those who were eunuchs, the rest of the original Old Zhu Household family members who were Half-step Innate experts were all relatives of the emperor, and there were even quite a few princes like Wheel-Turning King, and they were all of considerable seniority.
If we send someone like that over, he might not be able to command them effectively.
These powerful figures who came from eunuch backgrounds were different; as servants of the Da Ming imperial family, they would naturally obey orders diligently.
"We will do our utmost, even at the cost of our old lives, to ensure His Highness's safety."
The elderly eunuch at the head of the group smiled slightly, then said gratefully, "Speaking of which, we must thank His Highness the Crown Prince. If it weren't for His Highness bringing such a wonderful method, how would we have had the opportunity to comprehend the wonders of the Innate!"
The other nine old eunuchs also gave him heartfelt looks of gratitude, after all, this was the legendary Innate!
Although their breakthroughs were achieved through shortcuts and had significant flaws compared to orthodox methods, they were still far better than being trapped at the Half-step Innate for their entire lives.
Most importantly, each of them gained at least twenty years of lifespan with each breakthrough, which was nothing short of a life-saving grace for them who were almost at the end of their lifespan!
With this debt of gratitude, coupled with the orders from the Emperor and the Ancestor, and their duty as born slaves, they would truly risk their lives to protect the prince before them.
"Very well, with your words, I am relieved!"
He smiled and nodded, then a glint flashed in his eyes as if he had discovered something. His gaze swept over the ten old eunuchs in front of him, and he asked curiously, "Judging from the connected auras of you all, could it be that you have cultivated the same technique?"
These people gave him a very familiar feeling, somewhat similar to that girl Dongfang Bai. Obviously, the cultivation techniques they practiced should be related to Dongfang Bai, and it is very likely that they are also the Sunflower Manual.
However, compared to Dongfang Bai's extremely masculine approach, these old eunuchs all followed a more feminine path, which seems to be another cultivation method of the Sunflower Manual.
In fact, this is the orthodox cultivation method of the Sunflower Manual. It involves a man castrating himself to cultivate, and then using the physical defect to transform his yang energy into yin energy. When the yin energy reaches its extreme, it can even reverse Yin and Yang, allowing the man to transform into a woman.
Take, for example, Li Jishi, who had cultivated the Sunflower Manual. His transformed, seductive appearance was so striking that even Wang Hao didn't immediately recognize him.
"Your Highness has discerning eyes. We were all children who entered the palace in the same year. We have lived and eaten together since childhood, and our hearts are already connected. We have all cultivated the secret martial art, the Sunflower Manual, and have even mastered a combined attack technique."
With his current cultivation at the Early Innate, he could contend with experts at the middle or late stages of the Innate, and even delay those at the Peak Innate for a breath or two.
The elderly eunuch in the lead smiled and nodded, revealing their trump card.
After all, I'll be working under this prince in the future, so I need to give him a heads-up beforehand so he can make the necessary arrangements and avoid any mishaps at the last minute.
" The Sunflower Manual!"
With his eyes slightly narrowed and after pondering for a while, Wang Hao smiled and said, "Esteemed seniors, I possess a secret technique that could allow you all to advance further. Would you be interested in discussing it with me on our journey?"
Ever since he learned that Dongfang Bai was cultivating the Sunflower Manual and had reached that extreme yang state, he began to think about a solution.
Otherwise, if he maintained that state of extreme yang, he would have no way to force himself on that girl!
The thought of how this girl melted the entire artificial mountain with her extremely Extreme Yang True Qi sent chills down his spine, and even his lower body nearly shrank back into his abdomen in fright.
Although he is physically strong, this only applies to physical attacks. He is much weaker in terms of resistance to energy attacks, let alone the kind of extreme Tyrannical Dao true energy.
Afterwards, he also consulted Dugu Qiubai about the Nine Yang Physique, and learned that the Nine Yang Physique could amplify the power of Yang attribute techniques ninefold.
Normally, the extreme yang energy cultivated from the Sunflower Manual can only burn people at most. As long as the extreme yang energy of the Sunflower Manual does not penetrate into the internal organs, it is generally not fatal.
But now, the supreme yang energy combined with Dongfang Bai's Nine Yang Physique, it was like dry wood meeting a raging fire, exploding to an extreme, and even beginning a transformation, causing Dongfang Bai Bai's Nine Yang Physique to transform into Extreme Yang Physique.
That level of transformation is nothing short of a near-death experience.
Wang Hao certainly didn't want his disobedient wife to kill herself through training, so he kept thinking of a solution. He even specially asked Dongfang Bai for a copy of the Sunflower Manual to study.
I've developed some ideas over this period of time, and all that's left is to verify them gradually.
However, verification requires test subjects, and it's impossible to have that girl Dongfang Bai come over as Xiao Bai. He was worried about this before, but he didn't expect to encounter cultivators of the Sunflower Manual this time, and ten of them came at once.
Although the cultivation path is very different from the mutated version like Dongfang Bai's, it is still very valuable for reference.
"Since Your Highness has invited us, we will certainly comply!"
The head eunuch's eyes lit up, and he appeared very excited. The nine eunuchs behind him were equally excited.
They also knew about this prince, that he had obtained an extraordinary inheritance, and that the secret method used by their ancestor to help them break through to the Innate Realm was given to them by this prince.
Therefore, he must have other wonderful methods. Originally, the ten of them came here with the idea of asking this prince for advice. They did not seek to go further, but only to make their foundation more solid and live a few more years.
Unexpectedly, before they could even speak, His Highness brought it up first.
How could they possibly refuse such a great opportunity?
Although they understood that the other party would definitely benefit more from this proposal, they didn't care. Even if the other party only got the meat, they would be satisfied with just the soup!