White Eyebrow Needle

Zhou Wuji had only entertained the thought. Men and women were different; he could not do that.

Never mind this ancient world-even in his previous life, putting his hand into a girl's mouth would have been a very intimate gesture.

Wuming quickly came to her senses. Her face full of admiration, she said, "Senior brother, you truly are a heaven-sent genius. After just one afternoon, you've already honed the Heavenly Pivot Hand to perfection!"

She sincerely admired her senior brother's talent. Although she had not devoted much effort to the Heavenly Pivot Hand, she had still practiced it for over ten years.

Yet after just one afternoon of practice, Zhou Wuji had surpassed her by an immeasurable margin.

"I wouldn't call it perfection. This is merely a method of using Heavenly Pivot True Qi. It isn't difficult to begin with."

Zhou Wuji was very modest. The main reason was that the Heavenly Pivot Hand complemented the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture. Having reached major accomplishment in the Tianshu Scripture, practicing this method became very easy.

His swordsmanship had also reached major accomplishment, allowing him to control all the muscles and bones in his body at will.

The Heavenly Pivot Hand was, in fact, a set of techniques for applying finger strength and palm strength.

With those two foundations, coupled with the Origin Profound Spirit's focused cultivation, he had easily reached major accomplishment.

With his Heavenly Pivot Hand at major accomplishment, his hands became exceptionally nimble, and his hidden-weapon throwing techniques improved enormously.

His nimble hands even brought a certain improvement to his swordsmanship.

Zhou Wuji was very satisfied with this. It required little investment, produced quick results, and was extremely practical.

Wuming, however, seemed even happier than Zhou Wuji. She excitedly returned to her room and fetched a box of White Plum Needles.

Zhou Wuji casually picked one up and weighed it in his hand. The needle was no more than two inches long and as fine as an ox hair, yet a single needle weighed two mace-roughly twenty times the weight of a sewing needle of the same dimensions.

Clearly, the material used to make the White Eyebrow Needles was extremely dense. That was why Wuming could drive one into a wooden door with a casual flick.

"These needles are made from frost-patterned silver. They're much heavier than ordinary sewing needles, making it easier to apply force and giving them greater power."

Wuming placed the box of White Eyebrow Needles in Zhou Wuji's hand. "There are a hundred here. Keep them for now, senior brother. Tell me when you've used them up."

Frost-patterned silver was very valuable, and grinding it into needles took even more time and effort. She actually only had two boxes of White Eyebrow Needles.

Zhou Wuji did not stand on ceremony. "Thank you, junior sister."

This many White Eyebrow Needles would last him a while. As for their precise power, he would have to test them to find out.

Still, with his technique and True Qi, killing martial artists below the seventh rank should not be difficult.

As for seventh-rank martial artists, if one of his White Eyebrow Needles actually struck their eyes, they would certainly suffer grievous injuries.

No matter how powerful a martial artist's Transforming Force was, their eyes remained fragile. It was even less possible for them to make their brain tissue exert force like their muscles.

Part of the reason that seventh-rank mutineer officer had resisted Yin Thunder was the dense Sha Qi on him.

This Sha Qi had merged with their own Essence Blood and spirit, making it different from the Sha Qi of those incorporeal Sha Ghosts and demonic spirits.

Since ancient times, organized armies had been able to easily suppress all manner of spells and Divine Abilities for precisely this reason.

The imperial court dared to give the Buddhist and Daoist orders free rein because it had great armies at its command and could easily suppress both orders.

Zhou Wuji had chosen to practice the Heavenly Pivot Hand precisely because it was a martial art, fundamentally different from spells and Divine Abilities.

Launching hidden weapons through the Heavenly Pivot Hand would greatly expand his options for mid-range attacks and allow him to kill enemies more conveniently and quickly.

Fighting with a sword was actually very dangerous. A single mistake could let the enemy turn the tables and kill him.

Hidden weapons could attack at medium and long range, sparing him from fighting enemies at close quarters with his life on the line.

Like using a bow and arrows, it was fundamentally a matter of using reach to overcome a shorter range-the best way to fight.

Wuming had not thought about so much. She simply admired Zhou Wuji's talent and ability.

She felt deeply honored to be with such a peerless genius.

Zhou Wuji was also dashing, charming, humorous, and interesting. The more Wuming learned about him, the more she liked him.

Faced with Wuming's bright, limpid eyes, Zhou Wuji felt he was about to lose control and make a mistake.

Just then, someone knocked outside. "Senior brother Wuji, may I ask if junior sister Wuming is here?"

It was Wuye, who had come to the door.

It was too late, and men and women were different. Seeing that Wuming still had not returned, Wuye could only come looking for her.

Before Wuji could speak, Wuming hurriedly answered. A little reluctant to leave, she told Zhou Wuji, "Senior brother, I'll come see you again tomorrow."

Zhou Wuji saw Wuming out and breathed a sigh of relief himself. This was good, too. He could concentrate on studying the White Eyebrow Needles.

He found two lamellar armor plates in his bundle, both casually picked up from the mutineers.

The all-steel plates were rectangular like writing tablets and weighed less than five mace each. They should have come from the breastplate, making them the thickest and heaviest among the thousands of plates in a suit of lamellar armor.

With a plate placed on the table, Zhou Wuji flicked a needle from his bent finger. Propelled by both his finger strength and True Qi, the White Eyebrow Needle became a speck of cold light and nailed the armor plate to the thick wooden tabletop.

Zhou Wuji pulled the White Eyebrow Needle out. Its tip showed slight wear, but there was no serious damage.

He was pleasantly surprised. The White Eyebrow Needle ground from frost-patterned silver was actually this tough, far beyond his expectations.

Judging by this power, it would be enough to pierce bone within ten paces.

In actual combat, it would pose a considerable threat even to seventh-rank martial artists.

Discovering the White Eyebrow Needles' considerable potential, Zhou Wuji decided to increase his investment.

He invested two fate patterns weighing more than two taels each, converting them into Origin Profound Spirit and using it directly to improve the Heavenly Pivot Hand.

Purple light unfurled, and Zhou Wuji once again entered a state of cultivation free of all distractions.

Decades of bitter training, each day like the last, allowed him to master every variation of the Heavenly Pivot Hand and reach a flawless realm of perfection.

Zhou Wuji opened his eyes. Through his hearing, he sensed several mosquitoes buzzing erratically by the window.

He brushed his hand through the wooden box, his supremely nimble fingers already picking out five White Eyebrow Needles.

His hand barely moved. Relying entirely on his fingers to exert force, he fired five needles in succession, precisely pinning five mosquitoes dead without piercing the window paper.

Zhou Wuji walked over and swept his sleeve, collecting the five White Eyebrow Needles.

The perfected Heavenly Pivot Hand made him exceptionally dexterous, allowing him to exert force in all manner of ways, including using hidden weapons, forming seals, and more.

He could now easily perform every movement and variation involving his hands.

His hands could even perform any movement he could think of.

People always said their brains had learned it, but their hands had not. Now his hands worked better than his brain...

Zhou Wuji felt very good about this. Such nimble hands raised all his hand-related combat techniques by an entire level.

As for something like the eagle's hand, it was even more effortless.

However, many finger and palm martial arts required the corresponding True Qi, as well as special methods of tempering the palms. Dexterity alone was no use.

Zhou Wuji struck empty air with his palm. Surging True Qi blasted out through it, condensing into palm force of a thousand jun that penetrated eight feet before dispersing in all directions, sending a humming vibration through the room.

Only because his Heavenly Pivot Hand had reached perfection could he release True Qi quickly and efficiently through a palm technique.

Releasing True Qi through the Seven Star Sword ultimately meant being constrained by the weapon's form. It was sharp enough, but lacked the robust, direct force of a palm strike.

However, palm strikes released too much True Qi. He could only deliver three to five strikes like this in succession before he could go no further.

In terms of actual combat, it was far less practical and efficient than using a sword and hidden weapons.

Zhou Wuji did not know when the lower temple's experts could arrive. Given how slowly news traveled in this era, it would take five to seven days at the earliest. If they were slow, there was no telling...

Zhang Xinhu had been brimming with killing intent. Having failed to get him killed this time, he would surely make another move.

To be honest, Zhang Xinhu's audacity had exceeded his expectations!

He had been so eager to practice the Heavenly Pivot Hand because he had sensed Zhang Xinhu's madness, forcing him to quickly acquire more means of protecting himself.

These were still far from enough.

With the opening of his sixth acupoint, the Jade Balance Acupoint, Zhou Wuji's left nostril had gained the ability to distinguish Qi.

Distinguishing Qi did not mean distinguishing odors, but identifying presences, including the complex fluctuations of True Qi, Sha Qi, Spiritual Qi, Evil Qi, and so on.

When he had met Zhang Xinhu that afternoon, Zhou Wuji had smelled the violent yet formidable presence on him.

Through sensing his presence, Zhou Wuji felt that Zhang Xinhu was extremely powerful, far surpassing the seventh-rank martial artist he had killed last night! He also far surpassed Company Commander Wu Di.

An extremely terrifying fellow!

Zhou Wuji now only wanted to return to Hidden Dragon Temple as soon as possible. He would first venture deep into Mount Siming, kill all those demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters his master had left behind, and improve his cultivation as quickly as possible...