Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
Mo Da sneezed twice in a row and muttered, "Strange, I'm not sick. Why are my sneezes so loud? Could it be someone is thinking about this old geezer?"
Thinking about this, Mo Da couldn't help but shiver.
He was an old geezer, if someone was thinking about him, that person must be a super pervert!
So he definitely had to be more vigilant!
“I haven't seen any sign of spies lately. Looks like too many of them died and retreated. If so, I should leave too. I'll return to Hengshan for a while. That scoundrel Zuo Leng Chan suffered losses at the hands of Huashan and Hengshan, he'll definitely turn his attention to Hengshan and Taishan. I don't care about Taishan, but Hengshan is the foundation of our ancestor, I won't let the Songshan Sect succeed!”
Mo Da thought to himself, starting to play a sad and mournful tune on his erhu, slowly walking towards Hengshan.
Time flies like an arrow.
Three months passed quickly. The martial arts world was relatively peaceful. There were only occasional minor conflicts but no major incidents. It seemed like the five sects of Mount Heng, Shaolin, Wudang, and the Demon Cult, were all quietly recuperating.
Lian Cheng was naturally unaware of this. He was completely absorbed in comprehending the Tai Xuan Jing.
(Let’s get a full version first, no water numbers.)
The Knight Errant (by Li Bai)
A knight from Zhao, with a flowing silken sash, His Wu hook, bright with frost and snow.
Silver saddle gleaming on a white steed, He charges forth, swift as a meteor.
Ten steps, one man falls, A thousand miles, he leaves no trace.
His deed done, he brushes off his robes, Deeply hiding his form and name.
He once idled at Xinsheng's house, drinking, And drew his sword before his knees.
He fed roasted meat to Zhu Hai, And offered a goblet to Hou Ying.
Three cups, his promise spills, Five mountains, he considers light.
After his eyes grow dizzy, his ears grow hot, His spirit soars, like a rainbow.
He rescued Zhao, wielding a golden hammer, Handan trembled before him.
Two heroes through the ages, Their fame shone brightly in Liangcheng.
Though they die, their righteous bones will scent, Worthy of the world’s heroes.
Who can write upon the shelf, The profound secrets of Tai Xuan Jing?
Lian Cheng seemed to have completely forgotten how to read. He only stared at the tadpole-like characters of each verse, each character transformed into a picture. He imitated the movements of the pictures, his acupoints vibrated, and his internal energy began to circulate along with them.
Then he discovered that sentences like "A knight from Zhao, with a flowing silken sash", "His Wu hook, bright with frost and snow", "Ten steps, one man falls", "And drew his sword before his knees", "He rescued Zhao, wielding a golden hammer" were each a form of swordsmanship.
And the sentences like "He once idled at Xinsheng's house, drinking", "Five mountains, he considers light", "Though they die, their righteous bones will scent" were fist techniques.
There were also sentences like "Silver saddle gleaming on a white steed", "He charges forth, swift as a meteor", "A thousand miles, he leaves no trace", "His deed done, he brushes off his robes", "Deeply hiding his form and name" which were forms of light footwork.
Of course, there were also palm techniques, leg techniques, finger techniques, and so on.
What made Lian Cheng the happiest was the inner strength cultivation method!
Sentences like "Three cups, his promise spills", "His spirit soars, like a rainbow", "Their fame shone brightly in Liangcheng", when practiced according to the movements of the characters, made his acupoints vibrate wildly, and his internal energy circulated wildly along his meridians.
Without Lian Cheng having to think about it, his internal energy automatically started to assault the eight extraordinary meridians.
In just a moment, Yin Qiao Mai, Yang Qiao Mai, Chong Mai, and Dai Mai were directly opened, making his internal energy even more abundant. It continued to circulate automatically, charging towards the most crucial Ren Du Er Mai.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Lian Cheng felt as if there were bombs exploding inside his body. All twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians had been opened. He had successfully entered the ranks of first-rate masters!
He couldn't help but let out a long roar, his internal energy carrying his voice reverberating across the entire Mount Huashan.
In an instant, everyone on Mount Huashan, including Ning Zhong Ze, Linghu Chong, and even Yue Buqun who was in seclusion, all looked up at the Cliff of Reflection.
Even Feng Qingyang, who had been observing in secret and was already numb, couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he watched Lian Cheng leap into the air.
He saw Lian Cheng’s hands madly clapping, performing a set of free-flowing palm techniques.
With every palm strike, his surging internal energy seemed capable of dispersing the clouds.
Then his hands clenched into fists, and he began to perform a set of free-flowing fist techniques. First, it was the Long Fist, then, with a backhand, the Snake Eagle Life and Death Struggle. All sorts of fist techniques were performed effortlessly, without being restricted to any specific form. It seemed chaotic but was sophisticated and powerful.
After that, there were leg techniques, finger techniques, all marvelous in their own way.
Finally, Lian Cheng raised his hand, and the Cold Light Sword flew out of its sheath and into his hand. He immediately started dancing the sword.
At that moment, the Five Mountains Swordsmanship, the Nurturing My Swordsmanship, the Xi Yi Swordsmanship, the Lian Cheng Swordsmanship, all seemed to have merged into the Tai Xuan Swordsmanship. Every swing of the sword seemed to contain the essence of all these different sword techniques.
Sword energy was flying everywhere, the sword moves were free-flowing, you could even say they were without any form at all!
Hiss!!!
Feng Qingyang pulled out another small handful of beard, his eyes glazed over, and said, "This is true formlessness! Even the Dugu Nine Swords requires nine forms to break moves. What are those nine forms if not forms themselves? But this kid's swordsmanship has already transcended forms. Each strike is completely free-flowing, it can't be called a form at all, so there's no way to break it! The only way for the Dugu Nine Swords to win is to be faster!"
By now, Lian Cheng had landed from the air.
But he still hadn't stopped dancing the sword.
He swept his Cold Light Sword, all the paper on the cliff wall was swept to the side. The paper was not damaged in the slightest.
The sword light flickered, sword energy began to strike the cliff wall, and one by one, tadpole-like characters were carved out. It was clearly Li Bai’s poem The Knight Errant!
Feng Qingyang was mesmerized. He could vaguely feel the essence of the sword techniques from the characters.
For a moment, his eyes were filled with brilliance.
What a prodigy! This kid is truly a once-in-a-millennium genius!
But Feng Qingyang couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. Such a prodigy probably wouldn't be interested in the Dugu Nine Swords. It seemed like he had to hurry up and pass the Dugu Nine Swords on to Linghu Chong, so he could stay on the Cliff of Reflection and focus on studying the martial arts in this poem, The Knight Errant.
In the future, he wouldn't be bored.
Just as Feng Qingyang was engrossed in watching, he saw that Lian Cheng stopped writing when he reached "Who can write upon the shelf".
He didn’t write the last line!
For a moment, Feng Qingyang felt incredibly uncomfortable: "Why isn't this kid writing anymore? If you're going to write a poem, then write the whole thing! You've already written this poem thousands of times, don't tell me you've forgotten the last line! Even if you really did forget, that pile of paper is still there, just pick it up and take a look!"
Unlike Feng Qingyang's anxiety, Lian Cheng was quite satisfied.
The last line was naturally impossible to write, because he hadn't comprehended the last line. He had to wait until the tadpole-like acupoint chart of the Tai Xuan Jing was written before he could finally comprehend it.
This was Lian Cheng's regret. He hadn't had time to prepare the acupoint chart, so it was impossible for him to comprehend it.
He was already incredibly fortunate to have learned 23 lines of martial arts and successfully entered the first-rate realm. He shouldn't be too demanding for now.
Furthermore, the last acupoint chart wouldn't be easy to comprehend either. It probably had internal energy requirements. If his internal energy wasn't enough, he might not be able to open up all his acupoints, and he wouldn’t be able to enter the top-tier realm or the supreme realm.
That would be truly unfortunate!