A New Technique

Wang Yu, of course, had not silenced the monks of Baolun Monastery. After obtaining the pills, Wang Yu left Baolun Monastery with Wang Bin. "Did Your Highness already know that I wouldn't be able to get the Snow Lotus Jade Marrow Pill?" Wang Bin asked. "I didn't know," Wang Yu shook his head. "All I knew was that Baolun Monastery regarded the Snow Lotus Jade Marrow Pill as extremely precious, so they wouldn't give it to you easily." Wang Bin fell silent for a moment. "Then our agreement..." Wang Yu said casually, "I have no grudge against Song Jingzhou. Why would I kill his children and make an enemy of you?" Hearing this, Wang Bin could not help clasping his fists. "Thank you, Your Highness. If Your Highness has any commands in the future, simply send a letter to Ding'an Prefecture, and I will not fail your trust." ... Sitting in the swaying carriage, Wang Yu could hardly hold back his laughter whenever he recalled Hongzhao's constipated expression. "Hongzhao said you're welcome to visit—do you actually dare go?" Li Yunxiu teased. "I'm not stupid!" Wang Yu laughed. "Mobilizing an army costs a fortune, and the Great Vajra Monastery isn't going to reimburse me!" Qianqian giggled. "I thought you were going to order the three hundred Iron Eagle Cavalry to wipe out Baolun Monastery and those two monks from the Great Vajra Monastery. I was already prepared to watch rivers of blood flow." Li Yunxiu rolled her eyes at Qianqian. "Always wishing the whole world into chaos." Ever since leaving the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, the two women had followed Wang Yu's lead. Whether it was bringing Ma Bojun along to deal with the Mount Qi bandits or taking a detour to Baolun Monastery after meeting Wang Bin, neither had offered any objection. They had not spoken a word even when Wang Yu pressured Zonghu into handing over the Snow Lotus Jade Marrow Pill. Li Yunxiu was quite pleased that Wang Yu had simply turned and left after getting the pill, without truly making things difficult for the monks of Baolun Monastery. "Baolun Monastery has an excellent reputation in the northwest, and the Great Vajra Monastery is a renowned orthodox sect. Scheming against them is fine, but it's best not to resort to bloodshed," Li Yunxiu reminded Wang Yu once more. Qianqian hummed. "Walking the Jianghu always comes down to the strength of your fists. The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor and the Great Vajra Monastery are neighbors; a battle between them is bound to happen eventually." Li Yunxiu countered, "The Great Vajra Monastery and the Taihua Sect are also neighbors. Why haven't we seen them fight?" Qianqian giggled. "How do you know they haven't traded blows in private?" Wang Yu asked, "They have? Who won?" Qianqian curled her lip. "One is the leader of the Buddhist sects, and the other is an eminent sword sect. Both reek of the hypocrisy typical of great righteous sects. Nobody knows the outcome except themselves." Wang Yu pondered for a moment. "Fang Shaobai seemed pretty free and easy to me." "Fang Shaobai?" Qianqian thought about it and conceded, "The Seven Great Sword Sects have suffered from a lack of successor talent. Luckily, a Fang Shaobai emerged—he's also the most likely to catch up to Sword Saint Liu Suifeng. The Great Vajra Monastery has no one who can rival him." Seeing Wang Yu stare blankly, Qianqian asked incredulously, "Don't tell me you don't even know of Sword Saint Liu Suifeng?" Wang Yu sighed. "The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor rarely gathered intelligence on the martial world." Speechless, Qianqian said, "If you don't know Sword Saint Liu Suifeng, then naturally you wouldn't know the five famous swords of the martial world either." Wang Yu shook his head. "No idea." Helpless, Qianqian asked, "You at least know the Seven Great Sword Sects, right?" Wang Yu nodded repeatedly. "That I know! The Taihua Sect and the Qingyang Sect are both among the Seven Great Sword Sects." "That's right," Qianqian said. "As the saying goes, 'Sword heroes hail from the land of Shu.' Four of the Seven Great Sword Sects are located in Shu within Chuanxi Circuit. Sword Saint Liu Suifeng comes from the Bashan Sect in Shu. He is famous for his Forty-Nine Hands of the Wind-Swirling Dancing Willow Sword. Though he isn't the sect leader of Bashan, he is publicly recognized as the foremost among the Seven Great Sword Sects." Wang Yu was dumbfounded. "Wind-Swirling Dancing Willow Sword?" Qianqian nodded. "The Taihua Sect has four styles of sword techniques, and the Qingyang Sect divides its swordsmanship into the five elements. The Bashan Sect possesses only two sword manuals: one is the Wind-Swirling Dancing Willow, and the other is Trimming Candles in the Night Rain. Both are peerless sword techniques." Wang Yu asked, "How do they compare to my Seven Forms of the Setting Sun?" Qianqian smiled without answering. "I shouldn't have asked!" Wang Yu rubbed his hands together. Although he said that, he wasn't convinced deep down. His lack of conviction was not because of himself, but because of the tortoise shell. As his martial arts improved, his eye had grown sharper. Although Meng Zixiao's White Dragon Sword Technique had not captured the core spirit of the style, it still held a degree of artistic depth. And he had witnessed Fang Shaobai's Azure Lotus Sword Song with his own eyes. Under the enhancement of the tortoise shell, his Seven Forms of the Setting Sun had progressed beyond the original work. Every form possessed fresh artistic conception and variations. Even if it had not yet surpassed the sword techniques of the Seven Great Sword Sects, it was definitely not inferior to them. Take Swallow Carrying Spring, for instance. The original technique could change direction in midair only once, whereas the revised version could shift three times midair. That was no longer just an improvement; it was practically a qualitative transformation. Thinking of this, Wang Yu took out the Snow Lotus Jade Marrow Pill he had just acquired. Seeing it, Qianqian could not help asking, "Don't tell me you're going to eat it right now?" Li Yunxiu was also taken aback. Though she hadn't seen him eat this pill last time, she had seen him popping the Great Vajra Monastery's Tendon-Changing Bone-Forging Pills like candy back in Puning County. "Although these medicinal pills aid in circulating inner strength, every medicine carries three parts poison," Li Yunxiu advised. "Your martial talent is extraordinary. If you rely too heavily on pills, it will inevitably lead to future troubles. Once you reach a certain realm, advancing will become difficult, and you might even have no hope of reaching the Xiantian realm." Qianqian nodded as well. "You've also eaten plenty of aged ginseng and lingzhi recently. Haven't you felt any sluggishness when circulating your qi?" Then they watched as Wang Yu tossed the Snow Lotus Jade Marrow Pill into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it. Both women were struck speechless. "Everything I have today in martial arts is thanks to these pills," Wang Yu said frankly. "Without them, I wouldn't have reached my current realm at all. I would have died at Wei Honggang's hands months ago. Why would I even be worrying about Xiantian?" As Wang Yu spoke, he felt the tortoise shell in his sea of consciousness absorb all the pill's medicinal potency and transform it into streams of energy, expanding his meridians, bones, and blood. The previously unconverted Xiantian comprehension section of Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain transformed into the fifth layer of the new technique, turning Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain into a true Xiantian cultivation technique. Flowing Fire Reflection was also deduced further, developing the fifth and sixth layers of the new version and stepping into the Xiantian realm. At the same time, Wang Yu felt a tremor in his internal qi. As his inner strength circulated, Flowing Fire Reflection reached the fifth layer, and Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain reached the fourth layer, bringing him entirely into the final stage before Xiantian. Moreover, refined by the tortoise shell, the ice and fire merged. At this moment, the quality of Wang Yu's inner strength was already on par with that of a Xiantian expert; the only difference lay in the depth of his internal energy and his comprehension of artistic realms. The next moment, the two currents of inner strength—Flowing Fire Reflection and Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain—surged at high speed within him and gradually fused into one. An entirely new cultivation technique actually materialized in Wang Yu's mind! The new technique merged and pruned portions of the two methods while incorporating new elements. It harmonized ice and fire, blending them into mutual complement—fire within ice, ice concealed within fire. In terms of the sheer depth and versatility of internal energy alone, it surpassed both original techniques. "Holy crap?" Wang Yu could not help blurting out. He truly hadn't expected that the tortoise shell could not only modify cultivation techniques, but could even deduce a new technique based on what he had learned! "Two R cards can combine into an R?" Wang Yu was dumbstruck. Then he saw Li Yunxiu and Qianqian staring at him with bright, inquisitive eyes. "What's wrong?" Li Yunxiu asked with a frown. "Is there something wrong with the pill?" Qianqian's eyes flickered, and she reached out to rest her fingers on Wang Yu's wrist, sending a strand of subtle inner strength into his body to investigate. "Did the monks of Baolun Monastery tamper with the pill?" The next instant, Qianqian's inner strength collided with Wang Yu's. One was gentle and profound, while the other combined ice and fire in perfect harmony; for a moment, neither held the upper hand. "Huh?" Qianqian's delicate brows arched, and a sharp gleam flashed across her eyes. With a twist and penetration of her inner strength, she actually separated Wang Yu's ice-fire inner strength, splitting it into two distinct currents of ice and fire, which dispersed to the side. Wang Yu was startled. He hadn't expected Qianqian's method of circulating inner strength to be so wondrous. Qianqian was equally astonished. She hadn't expected Wang Yu to have actually mastered Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain, let alone integrated it seamlessly with Flowing Fire Reflection to create such a singular, potent ice-fire inner strength. Had she not already attained the Xiantian realm and practiced the Mysterious Maiden Classic—one of the world's most intricate and delicate techniques—she might not have been able to suppress Wang Yu's inner strength so quickly. Keep in mind, she was already a Xiantian expert! Furthermore, because Wang Yu had been cultivating for only a short time, his circulation and utilization of this inner strength were clearly not yet proficient, which was why she had been able to exploit an opening and split the ice and fire. Had he cultivated for a while longer, the outcome might not have been so certain. "You mastered Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain?" Qianqian looked at Wang Yu, her eyes filled with shock. "And you can circulate it simultaneously with Flowing Fire Reflection without conflict?" Wang Yu nodded. "Yes." Saying he had mastered Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain and used it in coordination with Flowing Fire Reflection was easier for them to accept than telling them he had merged two techniques to create an entirely new one, wasn't it? Li Yunxiu and Qianqian both sucked in a cold breath. "I thought you were only practicing the musical score and sound attack techniques of Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain. You actually practiced its internal cultivation method too?" Qianqian said in disbelief. "You're truly ignorant and fearless." Li Yunxiu's heart thumped with lingering fear, her eyelashes trembling. "Flowing Fire Reflection is fierce, while Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain is frigid. Their inner energies clearly clash! How could you dare practice both together?" There were countless techniques in the martial world, and experts were certainly capable of acquiring multiple methods, but no one ever cultivated different techniques at the same time. Aside from advancing and replacing techniques within renowned sects, the only other paths were switching techniques or drawing inspiration by analogy. There was simply no other way! Even when switching techniques, it depended on whether the previous inner strength could be converted into the new technique's; some harsh conditions even required completely dissipating the previous inner strength first. Everyone approached changing inner strength with extreme caution. Who would cultivate two techniques simultaneously like Wang Yu? This was common knowledge in the Jianghu! Qianqian turned to Li Yunxiu, annoyance showing in her eyes for the first time as she hissed under her breath, "Didn't you tell him any of this?" Right now, the carriage was in the middle of the convoy. Zhao Shan and Zhao He were not far away, and Ma Bojun was a Xiantian expert, so they had to be careful with their words. Hearing this, Li Yunxiu could not help feeling embarrassed. After all, common sense was taken for granted; she had never imagined Wang Yu would be daring enough to cultivate like this. Besides, logically speaking, when he first began cultivating Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain, the conflicting energies between it and Flowing Fire Reflection should have prevented him from succeeding, perhaps even causing him to cough up blood and sustain injuries—which would have brought him to his senses. Who could have known he would actually master it! In the next moment, the two women saw Wang Yu say smugly, "I already told you, I'm a martial arts prodigy. In the future, never mind Xiantian experts and martial arts Grandmasters—even Great Grandmasters will be well within my grasp." Wang Yu added with a mischievous wink, "You two better act fast. Once this village passes, there won't be another shop like this!" Li Yunxiu: "..." Qianqian: "..."