Jinshui didn't talk much about his wuqing xue training progress to Xu Qiao when he met her and gave her medicine. Xu Qiao's condition was not good, even giving her some internal energy was now useless. She could only be given some painkillers.
"Jinshui Gege, you don't need to take care of me," Xu Qiao said, "these few days I was at laofuren's place, she was very kind to me."
"What are you saying?" asked Jinshui. "You don't like to see me here?"
"Jinshui Gege has just started his duties as Yumen leader, taking care of this sick me is a bit demeaning to you," Xu Qiao said, "Qiao-er really feels bad."
"That's right, I no longer need to take care of my legs, I can completely start my duties as Yumen leader, these few days there are also so many things to take care of, actually there is no energy left to look after you," Jinshui said. "However, I have worked hard to keep you here, I don't want to waste it, nor do I want to return you to daniang."
"I asked laofuren about your father and mother," Xu Qiao said, "laofuren said, because she and your father had been married for a long time and yet had no children, while the position of Yumen leader must eventually be passed down to a son, then just like my mother, laofuren also asked your father to take a second wife. But since your father didn't want to be called disloyal to his wife he only accepted one of laofuren's servants and didn't give her any status."
Jinshui just listened quietly, he put away the medicine bowl and used a handkerchief to wipe Xu Qiao's lips.
"Laofuren said, your father already knew it when your mother was pregnant, only because at that time there was a threat from outside and your father was worried for your safety, he arranged for your mother to live elsewhere," Xu Qiao continued. "Your father later gave orders to Guardian Moying to find you and teach you wuqing xue, and only then will he bring you back to Baiyu Shan. Before he died, your father also handed over the xuanlong sword to be delivered to you."
"It will make no difference now," Jinshui said, "it was you who convinced me to take over as the primary descendant of Yumen. I also respect Huang Yu and the others, and will not abandon them anyway."
He helped Xu Qiao lie down on the bed and held her hand, not wanting to leave her yet.
"Liuxin Junzhu came earlier and told me that her father Xianjing Wang sent his man all the way here to pick her up," Xu Qiao said, "is she going back to being a princess and not with you here?"
"She asked that man to go back to the capital, only gave him a letter," Jinshui replied, "I also don't know what Liuxin Meimei said to her father."
"Liuxin Junzhu said her father asked her to return to the capital because the Huan Family of Nanyang had proposed marriage and she would be betrothed to Young Master Huan," Xu Qiao said, "That Young Master Huan is Huan Chaoyu, the son of Huan Menzhu from Yongjun Hui, right?"
"You have also heard about when Huan Jiaozheng was about to make a marriage arrangement for his son with Liuxin Meimei," Jinshui said. "I really didn't expect Xiangjing Wang to accept his proposal."
"Thirteen years ago Yumen headquarters was destroyed by the three alliances of Yongjun Hui, Haitang Jian Pai, and Wuyuan Dian," Xu Qiao reminded, "Haitang Jian Pai had lost its leader, and now there are no great figures in Wuyuan Dian either. However, Yongjun Hui is still there, so Xianjing Wang may accept Huan Menzhu's proposal in order to continue to have a good relationship with him so that in time Yongjun Hui can work with Wuyuan Dian again."
"Xianjing Wang wants to prepare in case Yumen should become a demonic sect just like in the past and threaten imperial security," Jinshui said. "Qiao-er, to think that even though you are in this condition, you can still think about political affairs."
"I'm just talking nonsense, actually I don't really understand the thoughts of Xianjing Wang or Huan Jiaozheng," Xu Qiao said. "Oh yeah, Liuxin Junzhu also told me, these few days Lin Guniang has started to react."
"What do you mean start to react?" Jinshui asked. He knew that Lin Xiaoyan was in a doll-like state, with no memory, and was carrying out the marriage ceremony with Huang Yu subconsciously. There was a wound on the girl's head, and no one could tell what will happen if the wound got better and she started to recognize other people.
"It seems that when Huang Erge killed Xie Tianhu, she saw a lot of blood and it created a reaction in her brain," Xu Qiao said, "Yanzi once advised Huang Erge to disguise himself as Huang Zhe to trigger her memory, hoping to wake her from her long dream. But Huang Erge rejected that idea, apparently not expecting Lin Guniang to recover."
"I agree with Huang Yu that Lin Xiaoyan's current condition is better, at least she can eat and sleep normally and doesn't have to remember unpleasant incidents," Jinshui said, "if she wakes up, then Huang Yu may lose a wife, and might have to return her to Lin Tongtian."
"Huang Erge and Lin Guniang had undergone the wedding ceremony but they don't even live together, Lin Guniang spends more time with Liuxin Junzhu, Yanzi, shimei, and the others," said Xu Qiao, "they cannot talk about many things like us."
--
The next day Jinshui went to see Zhang Zheliang in the octagonal room. He observed the copy of the yin shou yang zhang manual carved on the wall of the room, trying to find how Zhang Zheliang's creation could be adverse to his ancestor's wuqing xue. Shuqin was with him, while Zhang Zheliang just stood pensively in front of the number circle.
They discussed a strategy to break the yin shou yang zhang trained by Huang Zhe possibly in heretic ways and the chance to master the eighth level of wuqing xue.
"Laoqianbei, you created yin shou yang zhang by taking the essence of leng qing yu hua manual, and the reason it can be used to fight our Yumen's wuqing xue is that the two share the same origin?" Jinshui asked Zhang Zheliang.
"I specially created yin shou yang zhang for a fight with your father and his wuqing xue," the old man replied. "But wuqing xue was created hundreds of years ago based on the ancient manuals of leng qing yu hua and yin feng nong yue and some others. Meanwhile, my yin shou yang zhang only gained some essence from leng qing yu hua manual to see the weakness and adapted some from taiyang gong and fayi chuan manuals to find a way to break wuqing xue."
"Laoqianbei, did you find the weakness of leng qing yu hua manual?" asked Shuqin.
"Leng qing yu hua is a complicated art, just studying it is very difficult, in this world who can find its weakness?" Zhang Zheliang asked back. "I read the first and second chapters of leng qing yu hua manual about inner energy training only and I can only understand the first part. Then I saw the third part which contains the jade flower moves, but I couldn't practice even a single move."
"Of course," said Shuqin, "because these are all moves that are more suitable for a woman to learn. If it's a man trying to learn it, of course, his movements will become strange and as a result, he definitely doesn't want to learn it further."
Zhang Zheliang laughed. It seemed that Shuqin figured out his thoughts. "That's true," he replied, "but in the past, I've heard that there was a man who could learn the first fifteen moves of leng qing yu hua, although he couldn't master all of the incredibly complicated changes."
"Laoqianbei, the moves in wuqing xue, were they adapted from fifteen first moves from leng qing yu hua manual?" asked Jinshui.
"Some are quite similar, but already changed into mixed moves like yi bu ba bian (one move eight changes), or tian ya liu shi (six moves of the end of heaven), I think the purpose was to change its feminine nature."
"Do you mean these moves?" Jinshui played two so-called moves. These two moves were very complicated moves, like unfinished moves that must be connected to the others, eight moves into one and six into one, moves that will make the opponent not expect that the movements change so quickly and it will be difficult to deal with them.
Zhang Zheliang blocked Jinshui's movement, causing his insanely fast break to not be completed. When Jinshui's hand swept to the left he had already blocked it by breaking it in the middle, when Jinshui's hand attacked forward he had already shifted to the side to dodge, when Jinshui was about to attack his shoulder, he had already attacked the opponent's waist.
"Xiaozi, do you get it?"
"Laoqianbei, how did you predict my next move?" asked Jinshui.
"I didn't," Zhang Zheliang smile casually. "Because the main strength of wuqing xue's moves lies in their sudden changes. Laofu takes the lead, whether or not it's precise doesn't depend on accuracy, just luck. If in the first few moves are guessed correctly, then the person using wuqing xue will be even more careful. The more careful you are, the more predictable the change in movement will be."
"Laoqianbei, it seems you can guess jiaozhu's movements because it has a pattern that resembles leng qing hu hua and yin feng nong yue," said Shuqin, "not just guessing."
Zhang Zheliang laughed again. "That's right, I already learned the pattern a long time ago. But leng qing yu hua is so complicated, of course, I can only understand this pattern a little."
"The person who created wuqing xue also didn't understand leng qing yu hua as a whole," Shuqin guessed again. "So, the combination of moves he made can still be broken."
"So that is the essence of yin shou yang zhang," said Jinshui. "Laoqianbei is about to say, there's no need to reach the eighth level of wuqing xue, actually the yin shou yang zhang is also useless as long as we don't fall for the opponent's trap which seems to be able to predict our movements correctly."
"You tell that to the other descendants," Zhang Zheliang patted Jinshui on the shoulder. "The yin shou yang zhang I created is not perfect. Laofu believes you won't make Yumen a demonic sect that wreaks havoc in the martial world, that's why I am telling you this secret."
Huang Zhe seemed to be not too much of a problem. As long as Jinshui could seize the xuanlong sword back, then Huang Zhe would not be able to disguise himself as a Yumen Mowang and turn the martial world against Yumen again. However, Jinshui's intention of perfecting wuqing xue wasn't just for the sake of defeating the enemy. Zhang Zheliang was also not ignorant of this matter.
"Xiaozi, you still have Moying's inner energy flowing within you," he reminded Jinshui. "Did you try to exert it and combined it with your seventh level xuqing xue to train the eighth level and save your future wife?"
"Laoqianbei, can I use that energy like that?" Jinshui asked in hope.
"How could Moying's energy be said to be pure energy?" Shuqin asked. "Moying is already advanced in age, and his whole life had not been spent staying in one place and meditating."
"You can try it," Zhang Zheliang said to Jinshui while secretly glancing at Shuqin.
"Laoqianbei...." Jinshui hesitated. But he thought, Zhang Zheliang had his reasons. He sat cross-legged on the floor and began to close his eyes and concentrate. It was not easy when he thought about his girl, but when he remembered that his last hope was only in himself, he began to exert the energy inside of him, trying to let the inner energy given by his mater Moying unite with his own seventh level of wuqing xue energy.
"Laoqianbei, if jiaozhu can unite the energy from Guardian Moying and his own, do you think...." Shuqin also felt very strange, but she didn't finish her question when she saw Zhang Zheliang's glare. "I know. I will help jiaozhu. Jiaozhu please give me your hand."
"I will help smooth out the blood flow so that the two types of energy can unite," Zhang Zheliang also said. He sat behind Jinshui and placed his palms against his back. Shuqin sat opposite Jinshui and placed her palms against Jinshui's palms.
Jinshui began to feel the power of the two kinds of internal energy spreading out in him, causing his face to change color and cold sweat to drip down. With the help of Zhang Zheliang and Shuqin, who calmed him down, these two types of energy did not clash and injure him.
The former Moying's energy was much stronger and sometimes difficult for Jinshui to control. When he succeeded in cultivating the sixth level of wuqing xue, he was only able to endure that power and he no longer used it. When he managed to master the seventh level, he even more never used it. Just now Zhang Zheliang asked him to combine two types of energy to master the eighth level of wuqing xue, he wasn't sure if he really could.
It seemed that Shuqin also knew that if Jinshui was able to use this energy to reach the eighth level it would already happen when he managed to master the seventh level a few days ago.
However, he had never used Moying's inner energy given to him since mastering the seventh level of wuqing xue. When he fought with Ma Yongtao and then Huang Yu, he didn't use any inner strength at all. Then several times he tried to help Xu Qiao with pure energy, he was using only his own energy with great care.
"Use your wuqing xue energy to take hers," Zhang Zheliang whispered to Jinshui, "just a bit, to be used as a means to unite those two kinds of energy inside of you.
"What?" Jinshui asked. "How?"
"You know how."
"How can I?" Jinshui protested. "If I do that, Shuqin Guniang's energy would blend with my seventh level of wuqing xue energy. Without proper ritual as determined by ancestors, no one could tell what will happen during the process...."
"You can do it," Zhang Zheliang encouraged him. "You have me here to help you. You would not suck out all her energy and injure her. I can also protect you during the process so that you would not be injured by that energy."
"All right, wanbei will try it. Laoqianbei, please be careful."
Jinshui started to let his own wuqing xue energy take over, sucking in the inner energy from Shuqin. After a few moments, he felt that Moying's energy within his body was mixed with his own. At the same time, two other energies entered his body, apparently belonging to Zhang Zheliang and Shuqin, but they were very few and didn't seem to have much effect. So he was encouraged to use his wuqing xue energy to suck up more energy to from Shuqin.
But what happened next was out of his control. Moying's energy that merged with wuqing xue energy was only partial because then it dispersed and disappeared somewhere. Jinshui was unbelievably surprised, it was no chance for him to pull his wuqing xue energy. Shuiqin's energy was ruthlessly sucked into him.
He shouted loudly, snatched his hand away from Shuqin, and slammed his two fists on the floor, causing the entire room to violently shake. His eyes were bloodshot, the veins seemed to be popping out. Shuqin saw this, desperately she quickly placed a palm on one of Jinshui's shoulders, pushing her inner energy there, the only way to keep Jinshui from getting a severe internal injury.
Zhang Zheliang knew what Shuqin was doing was very dangerous, a shengnu when channeling internal energy to the Yumen energy was not the same as how guardians channel energy to their descendants. The ritual that must be followed was by sacrificing purity, becoming one with the new leader, not just by sticking palms together.
What happened later surprised Jinshui even more. Zhang Zheliang pulled his palm from him and put it on Shuqin's back. His energy was sucked into Shuqin's body. Some flowed continuously to Jinshui, but some flowed to protect Shuqin's internal organs.
Apparently, Zhang Zheliang had already prepared for this single critical moment for a long time. He did wait for the exact time, he used his inner energy to protect the shengnu and at the same time replaced her yun xia shen gong energy with his own. Since Zhang Zheliang alone had no ability to transfer his inner energy to someone else entirely, he had to wait until Jinshui couldn't reject his action.
Yun xia shen gong energy was the only one that could unite with the seventh level of wuqing xue energy, creating a huge wave that will trigger the eighth level of energy. Once this process started, it couldn't be stopped until Shuqin's entire inner energy was gone.
Normally, at the end of this process, a shengnu will be deeply injured and die horribly. But since Shuqin's pure energy was replaced by Zhang Zheliang's energy, she was fine. Zhang Zheliang did the right action when he spread the energy to protect her internal organs first.
Jinshui tried to resist, but it was a failure. He felt a strong electric current throughout his body. Shuqin struggled to keep him in place, no matter how much energy he was sucked in. Apparently, she had known from the start that Zhang Zheliang was planning this kind of self-sacrifice.
Jinshui screamed, he forced himself to exert Moying's energy inside him to break the process just when yun xia shen gong energy was already blended in perfectly with his seventh level of wuqing xue energy. He pushed Shuqin once and threw himself to the floor.
Zhang Zheliang spit out fresh blood, his hand slipped from Shuqin's back. Jinshui had succeeded in mastering the highest level of wuqing xue, but at the same time received minor internal injuries. Shuqin lost a lot of energy but was not injured because Jinshui stopped it before Zhang Zheliang's energy inside Shuqin's body was also exhausted. Jinshui fell to her knees on the floor as Shuqin slumped and almost fainted.
"No wonder the leaders of Yumen always sacrificed their shengnu to reach the highest level of their wuqing xue," Zhang Zheliang said, " the last part was about to merge yun xia shen gong and wuqing xue energy, and it really is non-negotiable."
"It's not easy to find someone with a high inner energy level to help, and no one is willing to let themselves be seriously injured to perfect someone else's energy," Shuqin said weakly, "shengnu was created exclusively for this purpose. For fear that his ability is still not high enough when the new leader changes, then there must be some kind of special ritual, and it is not negotiable."
"Laoqianbei... you tricked me," Jinshui gasped. "You already planned to use your own energy to protect Shuqing Guniang, to be traded with her yun xia energy. This… was a bet, right? You didn't know what would actually happen during the process. It was possible that I would suck up your energy too and you would die there."
"I know you will stop it at the right time," said Zhang Zheliang. "But no, it wasn't a bet. I just tried to prove a theory. I once discussed this one single chance with your father but there was no shengnu back then."
Jinshui sat cross-legged again in the middle of the room and tried to control the energy flowing inside his body. He played the energy in his hand, felt the strength and magnificent combination between his wuqing xue and Shuqin's yun xia shen gong.
"My inner strength has started to disappear," Zhang Zheliang reminded him. "I told you that Yanzi has given me some kind of medicine that will disperse my inner energy. Instead of just disappearing, it's better to be given to someone else. Otherwise, it is a waste of my decades of practice."
"Jiaozhu, this is also as it should be," Shuqin said. "You don't want to use a shengnu, that is okay. But mastering the eighth level of wuqing xue is very important."
"You also know what will happen, just now deliberately helping Laoqiabei," Jinshui replied, "only the leader can master the eighth level of wuqing xue, but isn't there no rule that the leader must be able to master it? Even if it's for the sake of saving people's lives, there's no need to sacrifice others either."
Shuqin smiled. Yumen's rules hadn't changed much since its first generation, some of which did have weaknesses. Some were rigid rules, maybe they should be fixed. "Jiaozhu, just saving one person's life is really not worth it, but if in the future with this eighth level of wuqing xue, you can save many other lives, what is the meaning of sacrificing one shengnu?" she asked.
Jinshui tried to gather the energy again, wanting to restore Zhang Zheliang's. But at that moment he felt a tightness in his chest, and he was forced to calm down for a while.
"There's no use for you to give me back my energy," the old man replied. "Believe me, without that energy in my life, I will be more calm. Perhaps, still able to live to be a hundred years old. If you give me back my inner energy, I'm afraid I'll only have a hundred days left."
"Laoqianbei has deceived me once, Jinshui doesn't dare to believe it," Jinshui said carelessly. But at that moment he had to admit, he wouldn't be able to exert the slightest bit of energy out of him. The two types of energy within him were rotating, merging slowly, none of which cannot be separated from the other. He would need to meditate for a while before he could use that merging energy.
Shuqin stood up and opened the door through a four-circle combination. Huang Yu and Li Qian were already waiting in front of the octagonal room, and they brought the news about Huang Zhe sent by Lao Guishou and Lao Diaoyan using carrier pigeon.
"He's in the remnants of Hailang Biaoju's base in Luoyang, hiding there," Li Qian immediately came in and reported. "This letter has just arrived. By this time all of Yuzhi Shi Wu's members were also there and surrounded him, ensuring that he would not go any further."
"He is still training yin shou yang zhang energy, his condition is getting more and more dire every day," Huang Yu added. He also entered the room. "We must quickly go there, destroy him before it's too late."
Jinshui fell silent. So quickly they had found Huang Zhe, meaning he had to go and destroy him. In that case, he had no time to help Xu Qiao?
"Jinshui, you hurt?" Li Qian asked. He spotted Jinshui's pale face and a drop of blood at the corner of his mouth.
"It's just a minor injury, it won't be a problem," Jinshui said. "I've mastered wuqing xue to the highest level. This small injury is nothing, I'm still able to finish off Huang Zhe and take back xuanlong jian."