Early the next morning, as the sun was just beginning to rise, in the inn at the foot of Wudang Mountain.
Li Xiu hadn't slept all night, not because he had done something, but because he hadn't touched Xiao Zhao after throwing her onto the bed the previous night.
After all, he practiced the Nine Yang Divine Art, and if he broke through his original yang, his strength would at least be reduced by two or three points.
Compared to a moment of pleasure, Li Xiu, who had changed his mindset, valued his own strength more.
Keeping the original yang unbroken and having this buff cover his head would probably bring some benefits in the future no matter what he practiced.
Li Xiu had actually spent the whole night studying the Yitian sword he had just obtained.
He had noticed that something was wrong with the sword the previous night.
Under normal circumstances, Zhou Zhiruo's martial arts should have been on par or slightly superior to Song Qingshu's, but not by much.
However, when Zhou Zhiruo swung the Yitian sword the previous night, the sword qi she released was equivalent to a strike from Li Xiu's fifth level of the Nine Yang Divine Art!
In fact, unless the Ren Du Er Mai was opened, ordinary martial artists in the world would not release their internal energy to attack their enemies, even in a fight to the death.
Internal energy is weak at first and can only produce a gust of wind, which is not very useful. Even if the internal energy is strong, there are only a few attacks that can be made, which is quite useless.
If the attack with the "Life or Death Strike" hits and a tree is formed, it's fine, but if it misses, the battle that may have been evenly matched will suffer a great decrease in chances of victory due to the depletion of internal energy, and may even immediately be lost.
Highly skilled practitioners of the Dantian meridians must be careful when using palm winds or sword qi and only release the attack if they have at least a 50% chance of hitting the enemy.
Being able to casually release internal energy without any care is not normal. In the world today, aside from the old monster Zhang Sanfeng who has lived for over 100 years, only Li Xiu, who has reached the Great Accomplishment level in the Nine Yang Divine Art, may be able to do it.
Normally, even Zhuo Zhiruo's master, Miejue, is several decades away from being able to casually release sword qi at will with her level of internal energy.
But at that time, with the Yitian's Sword in her hand, Zhuo Zhiruo's casual release of sword qi did not seem like it could only be used a few times.
Something is not right!
At first, Li Xiu thought that there was something wrong with Zhuo Zhiruo's character and that she had somehow deviated from the plot and gained some kind of extraordinary adventure.
He even entertained the thought that Zhuo Zhiruo's soul had been possessed.
But when Li Xiu took the sword, the truth was revealed...
Zhuo Zhiruo was indeed weak, and it was the Yitian's Sword that had a problem. It inexplicably enhanced the sword qi produced by Zhuo Zhiruo with internal energy, and also saved Zhuo Zhiruo's internal energy in some unknown way.
After taking the Yitian's ( Heaven ) Sword, Li Xiu also tried swinging it and broke off one of the pillars in the True Martial Great Hall of the Wudang Sect. He immediately realized some of the wonders of the Heaven's Sword.
That is to say, if he had used one unit of internal energy at that time, but was able to release sword qi that should have required three units of internal energy and had an increased power of 60%, it would be alarming. Especially for someone like Li Xiu with his level of internal cultivation.
Li Xiu didn't care about the increase in internal energy, because his internal energy from the Nine Yang Divine Art was constantly circulating throughout his body.
But an increase in power by 60% was somewhat frightening.
If he didn't have the Yitian's Sword, Li Xiu would have to avoid the edge of Zhang Sanfeng's sword, but with the Yitian's Sword, he had the confidence to at least fight evenly with even the newly created Taiji Fist of Zhang Sanfeng.
This is also why Li Xiu later obtained the Yitian's Sword and didn't hold back in killing many Wudang disciples.
If Zhang Sanfeng came down the mountain in anger for his disciples and happened to catch up to Li Xiu on the way, with the Yitian's Sword in his hand, Li Xiu would not be afraid of any trouble, and it was even possible for him to kill Zhang Sanfeng.
After obtaining this treasure sword, Li Xiu was happy, but he was also full of questions.
It was one thing for the Yitian's Sword to behave differently from its portrayal in the original novel, but is it possible that this Yitian's Sword is not a creation of this world?
Could it be that there is more to this world than meets the eye, and it is not as simple as it seems on the surface?
Just as Li Xiu was thinking, a soft sound of "ouch" came from beside him and he realized that Xiao Zhao, who he had knocked unconscious, had awoken.
Rubbing her neck, Xiao Zhao saw that she was in a strange place and remembered the events of the previous night. She immediately sat up.
Then she saw the evil man who had held her hostage the previous night sitting at a table not far from her, holding the Yitian's Sword, which looked like a cold spring, and was frightened.
She then noticed that she was lying on a bed, and although she didn't yell out, she quickly checked her clothes to make sure everything was in order before sighing in relief.
Xiao Zhao stood up, limping and leaning on one side as she sat down at the table and poured herself a glass of water.
Li Xiu found this quite interesting and couldn't help but ask, "Why aren't you causing a fuss? Are you not afraid of me anymore?"
Xiao Zhao put down her glass heavily and gave him a glare, saying in a calm voice, "What's the point in hitting you? In the end, I'll be the one who gets hurt. I'm not angry right now."
"What's the point in being afraid of you? It looks like you didn't kill me and you didn't...do anything to me. I should be fine for now. Being afraid is just adding unnecessary fear and worry to myself."
After all, she was still a woman and when it came to that matter, Xiao Zhao hesitated and avoided his gaze.
"You really are quite open-minded..."
Li Xiu didn't say anything more, just chuckled in response.
Although Xiao Zhao said this, Li Xiu didn't take it to heart at all. He thought that it was probably just to lower his guard.
After that, the two of them chatted about various things for a while, with Xiao Zhao mostly leading the conversation and Li Xiu only half-listening.
"Hey, do you know...?"
"Hey, have you seen...?"
"Hey, what do you want me to help you with by holding me hostage?"
As she spoke, Xiao Zhao blinked and nonchalantly brought up the matter in a natural tone.
But to her surprise, Li Xiu wasn't fooled at all and still had the same indifferent tone, but he looked at her unintentionally.
"You'll find out later, it's best not to ask things you shouldn't."
Warned, Xiao Zhao pouted and fell silent, feeling vexed and not speaking anymore.
Li Xiu didn't hold Xiao Zhao hostage just because she was beautiful. After all, Zhou Zhiruo was even more beautiful than Xiao Zhao by a few points, but she was still almost killed by him with a single palm strike.
What Li Xiu valued was that Xiao Zhao knew a rare language - Persian.
Talents are valuable and scarce in any era.
According to what he knew, the Ming Cult's Heaven and Earth Great Shift was written in Persian. Li Xiu couldn't read it and it would take him a few more years before he could learn the language, so he just grabbed someone who could.
Although there are still some people who can speak Persian in Central Plains now, Li Xiu is not in a modern place with advanced internet and convenient transportation.
In ancient times, if he wanted to find someone who could speak Persian and understood martial arts terminology, he would first inquire about it, then travel to where the person was located, and then take them away.
This would take at least a year and a half. By the time he brought this person to the Bright Summit, the mustard greens would have already wilted.
Therefore, Li Xiu early on planned to hold onto Xiao Zhao, which was also his second purpose for going to Wudang.
Of course, to be honest, as long as Li Xiu is a normal-oriented man, he would always feel that it is much better to have a beautiful woman follow him on this journey than a weak old man who is not well-educated.
Moreover, Xiao Zhao knows martial arts and is recognized as a member of the Ming Cult, which knows the way to the Bright Summit. These things will save him a lot of trouble in his future plans.