Chapter 14
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Imperial Scroll
(Thanks to Grand Alliance Leader Tsutsui Ayame!)
“Immortal Crane Hand?!”
The big men of the Taiping Dao were dumbfounded; they had never heard of such a martial art in their Daochang. However, seeing Senior Brother’s fierce method of slaying the scar-faced rogue, this skill was truly worthy of its name!
Zhang Cheng’s thick eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot in thought. He gestured twice with his hand, then shook his head. He was in charge of guarding the training room; how could he not know there was a Crane Palm Art manual on the martial arts shelf? He had even practiced this martial art for several days. Senior Brother’s moves when killing that evil rogue Kuang Hui bore some resemblance to the Crane Palm Art.
But… that crane shadow he seemed to glimpse for an instant under the fragmented lamplight, that blade-snatching technique as light as smoothing wrinkles from silk, and that sudden, fatal strike! This absolutely could not be the Crane Palm Art. Rather than believing in turning decay into magic, he found it easier to accept that the Daochang possessed another true lineage.
“Senior Brother.”
Zhou Yi immediately snapped out of his daze upon hearing Yan Qiu’s call, temporarily suppressing his mixed feelings of surprise and joy. He looked back; all the invaders of the Daochang were lying on the ground.
“Are there any survivors?”
“Couldn’t keep any,” Dou Kui’s rough voice reported. “These rogues were exceptionally fierce, slashing at vital points with their weapons. We were worried about casualties and dared not hold back.”
“That scar-faced man’s blade technique was treacherous. If Senior Brother hadn’t intervened, he might really have escaped.”
Another person gathered around and added: “It’s truly uncanny, where did such a fearless bunch come from? Were they really sent by King Liang?”
“He claimed to be a disciple of Xu Xuanche, and this Xu Xuanche is the Luoshuai of Yuezhou, so he indeed came from the Baling area.” Feng Si said to Zhou Yi: “Senior Brother, could it be a case of diverting disaster eastward?”
“If King Liang’s people truly had ambitions to recruit our Taiping Dao, at the very least, they would start with courtesy before resorting to force. There’s no reason to immediately resort to killing.”
Zhou Yi nodded slightly. He had thought the same from the start, but what the opponent revealed before dying didn’t seem false.
They searched all the corpses, only finding some silver coins. There were no special markings on the weapons either. However, Yan Qiu found a letter on the scar-faced man. This letter had nothing to do with Kuang Hui’s night raid on Fuzi Mountain, but it confirmed his identity!
This letter was written by Lei Shimeng, and it was he who sent Kuang Hui to the Cao residence in Yongqiu to do some medicinal herb business with Cao Ruinian, while also conveying King Liang’s goodwill. Although not explicitly mentioned in the letter, it could be guessed that it was related to matters of rebellion.
Zhou Yi held the letter, recalling this person. After Xiao Xian, King Liang, proclaimed himself emperor, he enfeoffed Lei Shimeng as King of Qin. This fellow was highly regarded by Xiao Xian, his status in Baling second only to Dong Jingzhen. Of course, although both were called King of Qin, Lei Shimeng was not in the same league as the King of Qin from the north.
After reading this letter, the Taiping Dao group was filled with doubts. Kuang Hui was indeed Xiao Xian’s man! They had heard that this King Liang had some of the old Emperor Wu of Liang’s style, but looking at this, it didn’t seem so. Four hundred eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many towers in the misty rain. Emperor Wu of Liang was a Bodhisattva Emperor. You, Xiao Xian, have gone wild with your path.
A commotion arose in front of the wooden building, with various opinions being voiced. Zhou Yi remembered Kuang Hui’s self-introduction, “Xu Xuanche’s disciple.” He mumbled to himself, still unable to figure it out. He temporarily put it aside, instructing his disciples to collect the corpses.
Zhang Cheng took people to search outside the mountain gate and found Jiao Ting and Wang Shi in the pine forest. Their throat bones were broken, and they had no breath left. Although they were all martial artists, accustomed to the chaos of these times and having seen skeletal remains covering the fields, seeing the corpses of their two fellow disciples and remembering practicing together just yesterday, the group of big men felt a pang of sorrow.
They raised a small mound and buried them on the back mountain. Fortunately, the Daochang had all the necessary items. Yan Qiu shook the bell, and Xia Shu burned the city god’s official documents to clear their passage to the underworld. Then, she recited a guiding incantation to send them to the immortal realm. The few who were closest to them poured a bowl of wine. They died suddenly, but at least with dignity.
Everyone worked until late into the night before resting. As for the rogues’ corpses, they were all thrown down the back mountain cliff, just like the Hunyuan Sect disciple who poisoned them the other day, to be fed to the wild beasts of the forest.
Zhou Yi returned to his room, unable to sleep. He lit the candle and pulled out all the Daoist scriptures left by Master Jue Wuzi. He wanted to find an explanation related to his unusual condition. Without confirmation, he always felt uneasy. There were quite a lot of scriptures and classics. For example, the Great Cavern True Scripture, transmitted from Lady Wei of the Eastern Jin to Yang Xi. This was a secret scroll regarded as a classic by the Shangqing School; he wondered where his master had gotten it. There were also the Western Han Completeness of Nature Lanming chapters that Daoist Mu practiced, and Wenzi’s Nine Defenses and Talisman Sayings from the Warring States period. Some scrolls were quite old and covered in dust. Zhou Yi, for a moment, maliciously speculated that perhaps his master had once been a Tomb-Raiding Colonel. However, remembering his master’s abilities, he could only conclude it was a case of “a poor student having many stationery items.”
Nearing Shen time (3-5 PM), Zhou Yi finally made a breakthrough. He held the Taiping Imperial Scroll Part Thirteen. This wasn’t the original text of the Taiping Dao, but rather came from Bao Jing of the Jin Dynasty, who was Ge Hong’s father-in-law. This person studied under Zuo Ci, and legend says he taught Daoism on Mount Song, hiding scriptures in a stone cave on Shengguan Peak. Unexpectedly, it was found here.
Zhou Yi no longer cared about its origin; he only sought confirmation. This Taiping Imperial Scroll inherited Zuo Ci’s alchemy, thus it cited the primordial essence of man. The scripture was vague and obscure, but Zhou Yi roughly deciphered it to mean that “primordial essence is the key to returning to simplicity.”
There was another passage: “Primordial essence is stored in the kidneys, relying on post-natal nourishment to gradually become full and form the root of primordial qi. This is what is meant by essence transforming into qi.” The martial arts of various sects in the martial arts world might differ, but at their root, they all revolved around essence, qi, and spirit, the three treasures of man.
Zhou Yi observed it repeatedly and carefully, a realization dawning upon him. He held the scripture and paced around the room, circulating his internal method. His movement speed suddenly increased! This kind of speed was absolutely extraordinary. Normally, true qi circulating within the meridians could gradually grow stronger. The peculiar thing was that the meridian qi in Zhou Yi’s Kidney Meridian of Foot Shaoyin could also circulate, thereby moving the true qi and causing the true qi to circulate several times faster.
Thus, he could draw true qi from the Yongquan acupoint, explode it through the Ran Gu acupoint, and impact various major meridians, displaying several times the normal potential! In this way, the martial power he unleashed was far from ordinary. However, after such a sudden burst, his body would feel weak. He was initially anxious, but now, with the scripture as confirmation, he felt much more at ease. Upon careful thought, becoming weak after being drained was indeed normal.
Primordial essence could rely on post-natal nourishment, meaning it could continuously refine essence into qi. This itself was a form of cyclical circulation. This also meant that the combined burst of two qi would not damage his foundation. It felt a bit mystical, yet he seemed to understand it completely.
The next day, he rose late. When Zhou Yi pushed open the door, the sun was already high. The spring breeze brushed his face as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. He felt the sky was clear and bright, and the wind was gentle and pleasant. He performed a set of Immortal Crane Palm exercises in the courtyard to stretch his muscles and bones. The fatigue from yesterday’s struggle with the scar-faced man had already faded.
With this method of “dual-tasking” (using both true qi and meridian qi), he felt much more secure. Kuang Hui had no connection to any famous figures, yet he fought with extraordinary ferocity. When it came to martial arts combat with such vicious individuals who had long struggled in the martial arts world, Zhou Yi was still a rookie.
However, from that battle, Zhou Yi had also made progress. He took out the letter he had found on Kuang Hui again, recalling his threats.
‘In a few more days, all of you will die on this mountain.’
He frowned deeply. “This statement is either Kuang Hui talking nonsense, or there’s something else going on.”
“Xiao Xian is secretly proclaiming himself king right now. Even if he were seriously ill and allowed Kuang Hui to ‘recruit’ the Taiping Dao in this manner, he would absolutely not lead people to attack Fuzi Mountain.”
Zhou Yi’s expression turned cautious. He put away the letter and quickly left his room…
– Mochinuna.
