bowed courteously to them.

Palace guardian Zhu Dan Chen, the man wielding the pair of judge pens clasped his fist respectfully in the direction of Zuo Zi Mu. The other three military officers, however, ignored him.

Chu Wan Li, the palace guardian who arrived first among the four, brandished the metal handle in his hand, causing the sword trapped in mid-air by his rope to vibrate vigorously. The reflection caused by the sun rays made the sword sparkle beautifully like stars in the night, as he sneered, “No Measure Sword is quite a powerful sect in Dali, but nobody expected the leader of the sect to be such a despicable creature. Where is Young Master Duan?”

Initially, all that Mu Wan Qing could think of was suicide and more suicide. Now that a potential saviour has arrived, these thoughts were replaced immediately by relief and joy. Hearing this palace guardian enquiring about Duan Yu, she suddenly felt as if this stranger were a close relative of hers.

Zuo Zi Mu murmured, “Young… Young Master Duan? Ah yes, I saw him a few days ago, but I have no clue to where he is now.”

“Young Master Duan has been tortured to death by this evil lady’s brother,” Mu Wan Qing pointed an accusing finger at Second Madam Ye, before adding, “That man was named something like ‘To The Core Evil’ Yun Zhong He; he looks so skinny and tall I could compare him to a bamboo.”

“What? That man killed Young Master?” Chu Wan Li gasped.

Grief and fury overwhelmed Fu Si Gui, the palace guardian weilding the copper staff. “Young Master Duan,” he bellowed, the copper staff in his hands lunging towards the top of Second Madam Ye’s head. It looked almost ready to slam down onto her head. “I will avenge your death!”

With a flash Second Madam Ye evaded Fu Si Gui’s moves as her body streaked about, while she shrieked, “Aiyo! My little babies, you, Dali’s four palace guardians surnamed Chu, Gu, Fu and Zhu. How could you kiddies die so young? How can mummy not feel miserable? You little unfortunate babies, wait for mummy while in hell!”

Chu, Gu, Fu and Zhu palace guardians were only slightly younger than her, yet Second Madam Ye kept calling out “my little children” and “unfortunate babies”, claiming to be their mother.

Fu Si Gui looked murderous; he swung his copper staff viciously about, creating fierce swishing noises in the air. In an instant, his copper staff dissolved into a yellow mist which enclosed Second Madam Ye in between.

Holding onto Zuo Zi Mu’s son, Second Madam Ye’s weaving body penetrated every opening in the flurry of her opponent’s stances, evading every single stroke of the copper staff. As she dodged about, the child in her arms started crying.

Zuo Zi Mu anxiously cried for everybody to stop fighting, now that he feared that his child might get hurt. “Both of you stop fighting! Both of you stop fighting!”

Another palace guardian withdrew his axe and bellowed, “‘No Evil left Undone’ Second Madam Ye certainly lives up to her name. Allow me Gu Du Cheng to challenge your amazing skills.”

As soon as his voice can be heard, Gu Du Cheng went rolling on the floor. His hand shot out suddenly, as he hacked at her legs with the strongest move of his “Viciously Intersecting Eighteen Axes”. Axes seemed to appear from both sides of her body; they closed in towards her and began striking brutally from all directions.

Second Madam Ye laughed, “This child is such an obstruction. You kill him first.”

With that, she shifted Shan Shan towards the blade of the axe. Gu Du Cheng gasped and withdrew his axe immediately. Without missing a beat, Second Madam Ye seized this chance to launch a flying kick at his shoulder. Fortunately, this kick only caused him to stagger without suffering from any injury, for Gu Du Cheng had quite a muscular build. Recovering from the pain, he immediately jumped up and attack.

However, Second Madam Ye had the child as a form of shield; as such, Gu Du Cheng and Fu Si Gui’s attacks met with restrictions everywhere: neither of them had the intention of harming the little infant.

Zuo Zi Mu shouted again, “Careful, my child is in her hands! Careful! Careful! Brother Fu, your staff is a little bit too high. Brother Gu, your axe mustn’t… mustn’t get too close to my child.”

Amidst all the mess, the melodious sound of a flute resounded in the air from the mountain ridge. It sounded clear, loud and intense. Shortly after, the music seemed to be coming from nearby. From behind the mountain, a middle-aged man sauntered into view, wearing large robes and sleeves. He had three tufts of beard and had a lofty appearance. He walked gracefully towards them, playing the metal flute in his hands as he did so.

Zhu Dan Chen darted towards his side and whispered something into his ear. The stranger continued playing the flute; the tune was melodious and relaxing; this stranger calmly walked towards the site where they were battling earlier.

Suddenly, the flute rang loudly, causing the people around him to clutch their ears for dear life as if their eardrums were about to explode. He then covered all the holes in the flute with all ten fingers, as he gathered energy and blew into it with force. A ferocious gust of wind burst out from the other end of the flute, searing towards Second Madam Ye’s face.

Shocked, Second Madam Ye turned around and evaded the blow; as she did so, she felt one end of the flute pressing at her throat.

Both movements were frighteningly quick; even for a person with such speedy reflexes like Second Madam Ye, she was rendered quite helpless when faced with such a situation. Raising her waist slightly, she forced herself to retreat many feet backwards. As she did so, she suddenly hurled Shan Shan’s body downwards while extending her arms, trying to grab the metal flute.

Before the infant touched the floor, the stranger wearing huge robes threw out his sleeve; they curled around the infant and lifted it, harmlessly.

The very moment when Second Madam Ye’s hand grabbed the metal flute, she felt as though she were holding a burning piece of coal! She gasped in shock and leapt backwards, releasing the flute immediately as she did so; she wondered whether the flute was coated with poison.

The stranger flung his sleeves; Shan Shan’s body flew steadily towards Zuo Zi Mu.

Second Madam Ye glanced sideways and noticed the stranger’s palms was as scarlet as blood.

Her eyes widened in surprise. The flute was actually not coated with poison at all; instead, it was his internal energy all along which made the metal flute burn as though it had just came out of a furnace.

Retreating a few steps in fear, she laughed, “This mister’s kung fu is indeed almighty, it is unimaginable that such a small country like Dali have such a powerful figure. May I ask for your honorable name?”

The stranger returned a faint smile. “It is such an honour to have Second Madam Ye’s arrival here at our tiny boundary. It is fortunate, indeed fortunate of us, and hence we, the citizens of Dali, should welcome you gracefully as your host.”

Surprise and happiness welled inside Zuo Zi Mu’s heart as he hugged his son tightly, blurting out, “Your excellency must be Lord… Lord Gao?”

The stranger did not reply, instead he returned another faint smile, before facing Second Madam Ye and inquired her politely, “Where is Mister Duan? Please do tell.”

“I do not know his whereabouts, and even if I do, why should I tell you?” sneered Second Madam Ye.

With that, she sprang into the air; her soaring body was about to land onto the peak of a mountain nearby.

“Halt!” The wide-robed stranger cried, his body soaring after her.

Suddenly, several gleaming lights dazzled before his eyes. Upon closer look, they were in actual fact seven to eight hidden projectiles speeding towards him in mid-air – each of them aiming for them various acupoints on his head.

Waving his metal flute swiftly, the stranger made every single projectile drop simultaneously onto the floor below. It was, however, too late to apprehend Second Madam Ye as she took this opportunity to escape. Her shadow weaved and flashed about, and it was impossible to catch her anymore owing to the now huge distance between her and himself. He turned to look at the “hidden projectiles” on the ground; they were in fact a variety of mere accessories that a child has on him or her. There was a longevity tablet, mini-lock, gold and silver items, etc.

“These are objects of the many children she has killed. If this menace isn’t removed, heaps of infants will fall prey in the country of Dali.” He mused.

Chu Wan Li waved the metal handle in his hands. The soft rope uncurled itself, sending the sword flying towards Zuo Zi Mu, hilt facing him. Embarrassed, Zuo Zi Mu extended his arm and caught onto his sword. Under such embarrassing circumstances, he couldn’t say a word.

Chu Wan Li then turned around to ask Mu Wan Qing, “What has truly happened to Mister Duan? Had he really been killed by Yun Zhong He?”

These people seem to be Brother Duan’s friends, I’ll better tell them the truth, and we shall go search for him at the other side of the cliff. Mu Wan Qing thought. As she opened her mouth to speak, she heard somebody crying out anxiously from the waist of the mountain, sounding half-dead, “Miss Mu… Miss Mu… Are you still there? Divine Croc, here I come, I beseech you not to hurt Miss Mu! Regarding the matter of acknowledging you as master, we shall discuss that in the future… Miss Mu, Miss Mu, are you alright?”

The wide-robed stranger and the military officers cried in joy. “Young Master is here!”

During the long suffering wait for Duan Yu for seven long days, the emotional agony in her heart was able to rival her physical pain; until now was she finally able to hear his voice again; as surprise and relief overwhelmed her, she lost consciousness.

Everything is in a state of blur. Mu Wan Qing heard someone calling softly, anxiously into her ear.

“Miss Mu, Miss Mu, please… please wake up!” All feelings and memories flooded back into her mind. She began to gain consciousness, and soon found herself in the arms of somebody. Somebody was hugging her tightly, she instinctively tried to jump away from this person’s arms, but then a thought entered her mind: This must be Brother Duan. Her heart was full of sweetness, yet at the same time she tasted bitterness, and as she slowly opened her eyes, she saw a pair of clear eyes, like that of a river during autumn.

Who else could it be besides Duan Yu?

His voice was full of relief. “Ah, you have finally awakened!”

Tears rolled down Mu Wan Qing’s cheeks as she raised her hand and gave him a painful slap. However, she continued to lean on his body, as her now depleted body made leaping out of his arms impossible.

Carressing his own face, Duan Yu laughed, “You fierce lady! How dare you hit me for no reason?” Later, he added, “Where is Divine Croc? Wasn’t he waiting for me earlier?”

“He has been waiting for you for seven days and seven nights, wasn’t that enough? He left.”

Upon hearing these words, Duan Yu looked as though he was revitalized; he cheered gleefully. “Excellent! Excellent! I was in such a loss earlier, if he was to force me to become his disciple, I… I don’t know what I am supposed to do.”

“Since you are unwilling to become his disciple, why bother coming here?”

Duan Yu replied in surprise. “Eh? You were held hostage by him, right? If I am not to come, won’t he be going to harm you then? How could I let this happen?”

Sweetness filled Mu Wan Qing’s heart, her following words in stark contrast to her feelings. “Hmph! You, totally evil and heartless creep, why haven’t you search for me during these seven days?”

Duan Yu sighed, “I was held captive and couldn’t escape. However, I thought of you whole day and night everyday, the anxiety in my heart was tormenting me so badly. The moment I could escape, I went searching for you immediately.”

That very day when the Divine Croc abducted Mu Wan Qing, leaving a flustered, agonised Duan Yu alone at the mountain peak.

I’d better beg that villain to keep me under his tutelage; in this case Miss Mu’s life wouldn’t be in such danger, Duan Yu thought. But if I were to become a disciple of that villain, and learn that noisy-cracking neck-breaking skill, things will become terrible. After teaching me these skills, he would get me to perform this horrid skill on innocent people, and I will be breaking the necks of one after another, that is totally horrible! Fortunately, this villain is quite reasonable, albeit cruel and vicious, if I were to debate with him once more, there is a possibility of getting him to release Miss Mu and not keeping me under his tutelage.

As he paced back and forth, his mind was filled with a never-ending stream of thoughts; suddenly, he felt a pain in his abdomen. A thought struck him. Aiyoh! This is not good! How could I have forgotten? I have already acknowledged Dear Goddess as my master, so I’m a disciple of Xiao Yao Sect. As a disciple of Xiao Yao Sect, how can I change sects? Right, I am going to reason with that villain, and I must hear him say once again ‘This makes sense’.

What if, he suddenly thought, that villain wanted me to display the kung fu of Xiao Yao Sect, I couldn’t do anything at all; the Divine Croc surely wouldn’t be convinced of my being a disciple of Xiao Yao Sect.

Dear Goddess had instructed me to practice the divine martial arts in that scroll thrice everyday–morning, afternoon and night. However, having experienced the most dangerous and busiest times of his life, he barely even touched it. I deserved death, he mused.

Guilt-stricken, he reached into his robes to pull out the scroll. Suddenly he heard footsteps from behind; as he turned to look, he gasped in shock. In front of him were a huge crowd of very familiar people, all of whom were walking along the side of the cliff.

The first person was the leader of Divine Farmer Clan, Si Kong Xuan. Behind him stood Zuo Zi Mu, the leader of the East Faction and Xin Shuang Qing, leader of West Faction of No Measure Sword. The rest were disciples of the three Sects. The sight of everybody crowding together puzzled Duan Yu. Weren’t these people fighting their all with each other earlier? Not bad, he thought, these guys were finally able to convert their enmity towards one another into one of friendshipfriendship.

The huge crowd of people made two rows at each side of the cliff, as they bowed courteously, as though awaiting the arrival of someone of high power and authority.

Shades of green flashed; eight ladies appeared, all of them leaping up the side of the cliff. They all wore a emerald cape that had a large vulture embroidered onto it.

I am going to die, Duan Yu thought in fear. He could recognise the clothing the ladies were wearing, anytime.

Four ladies stood at each side. One more lady dressed in green walked up the peak of the mountain. She was only in her twenties, her facial features clear and beautiful. However, her eyebrows seemed to conceal a murderous air. She glared at Duan Yu and snapped, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Duan Yu felt immense relief upon hearing these words. This lady has yet to know it was me and Miss Mu who had killed her four friends and attempted to disguise ourselves as the sacred heralds of the Nimble Vulture Palace. Since that cape has been wrapped on the obese Granny Ping, and Miss Mu’s cape has disappeared into the Lan Chan River, these ladies have no evidence at all, so I can easily push away all charges made against me then.

“I am Duan Yu from the country of Dali, and had once become a guest in Mister Zuo’s No Measure palace with a friend of mine….”

“Buddy Duan,” Zuo Zi Mu interrupted hastily. “No Measure Sword has currently been submitted to the great subordinates of Nimble Vulture Palace. No Measure Palace has now been renamed No Measure Cave; hence the three words ‘No Measure Palace’ will now cease to exist.”

What a brilliant idea, Duan Yu thought amusedly to himself, now that you were defeated by others, you admitted defeat and surrendered!

“Congratulations! Congratulations!” Duan Yu smiled, “Mister Zuo has finally forsaken the dark side and has now seen the light! This is something worth celebrating…”

When have I been in the “dark side”, and what “light” have I seen? Zuo Zi Mu thought to himself; however, these words cannot be spoken aloud; all he could do was to return a forced smile.

Duan Yu continued, “I have earlier witnessed a misunderstanding that occured between this Leader Si Kong and Leader Zuo, and had attempted to clear the dispute. Unfortunately, things were messed up even further: I had to retrieve an antidote under the orders of Leader Si Kong. Little did I expect to meet the Divine Croc Yue Number Three, who said I am of high intelligence and forced me to become a disciple of his. I told him I know no kung fu, yet this villain was such an unreasonable creep; he abducted me and brought me here, and gave me no other choices besides acknowledging him as my master. I feel so helpless…”

Following that, he bowed courteously and said, “How am I to escape from this impossibly high precipice? Answering Missy’s question pertaining to what am I doing here, I just have to say I am awaiting death.”

Nothing Duan Yu has just said was false, the earlier part of what he had said was true, the later part was not false in every aspect; all he did was to omit a huge portion of what happened in the middle.

Confucius omitted the words “Spring Autumn” in his work, he narrates but doesn’t create it, Duan Yu mused. Omitting portions of text is not against the way of the sages, only when one lies then he wouldn’t be a true gentleman.

“En,” the lady replied softly, before continuing, “So the Four Villains have indeed arrived at Dali. What kind of ‘high intelligence’ do you possess which made Yue Number Three wants nothing better than to make you his disciple?”

Before the reply came, her gaze swept towards Sikong Xuan and Zuo Zi Mu and inquired, “his words aren’t false, are they?”

“Indeed, ” Zuo Zi Mu replied.

“Reporting Sacred Herald,” Si Kong Xuan spoke, “This lad knows no kung fu, all he knew was to create a mess out of everything.”

“According to the both of you, there were two creeps who had the audacity to disguise as my sisters and escaped to this peak. Where are they?” The lady spoke, once again turning towards Duan Yu. “Mister Duan, did you happen to see two ladies dressed in a green cape just like us?”

“Nope,” Duan Yu replied. “I have not seen anybody dressed up like you, sister.”

The two impostors disguising as you people weren’t “two ladies”, Duan Yu thought, searching for an excuse to justify his statement so as to not make it a lie and go against his principles: They were a man and a lady, and without a mirror, I can’t see how I look like, as for Miss Mu, she is only “one” lady, not “two ladies”.

Nodding her head, the lady turned towards Si Kong Xuan and said, “You must have been a subordinate of Nimble Vulture Palace for quite a long time?”

Si Kong Xuan replied tremulously, “Yes…. I have been a subordinate for — for eight years….”

The lady spoke again, “What a fool you have been, not even able to recognize us sisters. What help can you do for Kid Nanny? Regarding this year’s antidote for your Life-Death Talisman, you won’t have any hope.”

A despondent look fell over his ashen face; he knelt on the floor and began kowtowing to the lady as he begged, “Have mercy Sacred Herald! Have mercy Sacred Herald!”

This goatie hasn’t died yet; Miss Mu must have given him some fake antidote, or did the people from the Nimble Vulture Palace give him some miraculous medicine? Duan Yu thought in puzzlement, and what on earth is the “antidote for Life-Death Talisman”?

Ignoring Sikong Xuan, the lady turned her attention towards Xin Shuang Qing. “Bring Mister Duan down with you. If the Four Villains dare to create any trouble, tell them to find me at Obscure Peak, Nimble Vulture Palace! I shall leave the matter of apprehending the two impostors to the people of No Measure Cave. Hehe…. What audacity! Those two traitors Gan Guang Hao and Ge Guang Pei must be brought back and slain. If any of you sees my four sisters, inform them to return to Nimble Vulture Palace, I shan’t wait for them any longer.”

Every sentence she spoke, Xin Shuang Qing replied another, making sure his eyes do not meet the lady’s ones. After she finished speaking, the lady walked down the peak herself without even giving a final look at the crowd. The eight women accompanying her followed closely and left.

Si Kong Xuan was kneeling on the floor all this while, the moment the nine women left the peak, he immediately leapt towards the side of the cliff, yelling “Sacred Herald Fu, please pass this message of mine to Kid Nanny, Si Kong Xuan has let her down.”

As he said so, he sprang to the other side of the cliff and dived towards River Lan Chan miles below. Everybody called aloud in shock. Divine Farmer Clan members rushed quickly towards the side of the cliff.

Turbid waves billowed and surged past fiercely; their Clan leader was nowhere to be seen. Many of the clan disciples began to weepy and started pounding their chests in agony.

Seeing the way their leader Si Kong Xuan had ended, the disciples of No Measure Sword stared at each other in dismay.

Leader Si Kong’s death is partly my fault, a remorseful Duan Yu thought sadly.

“Take care of Mister Duan as you bring him down,” ordered Xin Shuang Qing, as he pointed towards two male disciples of the East Faction of No Measure Sword. The two men, named Yu Guang Biao and Wu Guang Sheng, bowed and complied.

Duan Yu finally reached the foot of the hill after a very long walk as he was being hauled by the two men. He took a deep breath and cupped his hands courteously to Zuo Zi Mu and Xin Shuang Qing, saying “I thank the both of you sincerely for escorting me down the mountain, let’s part our ways here.”

His eyes darted around and he spotted the mountain the Divine Croc was pointing at earlier, as he thought in dismay, climbing up this mountain must be harder than descending that mountain by manifolds. I doubt the people of No Measure Sword will be that nice to carry me up that hill, I’ll just have to save Miss Mu with all I can, he mused.

To his shock, Xin Shuang Qing said, “Please do not hurry away and do accompany me back to No Measure Cave.”

“No,” Duan Yu said in alarm, “No, I have many things to do for the moment, I can’t comply today. Apologies. Apologies.”

“Hng!” Xin Shuang Qing humphed and made a hand signal. Both Yu and Wu immediately stretched their arms and locked his arms tightly with theirs and continued moving ahead.

“Hey! Hey! Leader Xin, Leader Zuo, I have never offended the both of you in any way. That Sacred Herald sister has commanded the both of you to escort me down the mountain, now we have descended the mountain and I have thanked you people. What more do you want from me?”

Neither Xin Shuang Qing nor Zuo Zi Mu bothered to listen. Seized tightly captive between Yu and Wu, Duan Yu had no choice save to follow them back to the No Measure Cave.

The two men brought Duan Yu past five houses and through a large garden before stopping in front of three small houses. Wu Guang Sheng opened the door, while Yu Guang Biao pushed him firmly forwards. As soon as Duan Yu stumbled into the house, the door closed behind him with a resounding clicking sound. The door had been locked, and he was now efficiently trapped within.

“How unreasonable can you No Measure Sword people get? How can you all treat me like a criminal? It’s not as if No Measure Sword is the authorities. How could you imprison people for absolutely no reason?” Duan Yu called out.

The noises outside ceased instantly. Despite all of his shouting and screaming, nobody seemed to notice him at all.

Duan Yu sighed, Since things happened this way, let it be. All I can do now is to await my fate. The descent from the mountain had exhausted him sorely, and, upon seeing a bed and a table in the room, he immediately reclined on the bed and fell asleep.

Before long, a person came to serve him food; surprisingly, it did not taste awful. Turning to the servant who brought the food, Duan Yu spoke, “Go and report to your two leaders. Tell them I have a word to…” Before he could finish saying what he wanted to say, he heard Yu Guang Biao roaring gruffly outside the door.

“That little lad whose surname is Duan, you had better keep your mouth shut. I could care less whether you want to sleep or lie down, but if I hear just one more sound coming from you, expect no more mercy from us. You speak one sentence, and I will return it with a slap. Two sentences, two slaps, another three will get you three from me. Surely you know how to count?”

Duan Yu instantly fell silent. These barbarians will truly not hesitate to do something they have threatened. When Miss Mu slapped me, my cheeks were certainly in pain, but there was sweetness in my heart. If these guys slapped me, things definitely would be far different.

He finished three large bowls of rice and rested on the bed again. I wonder if Miss Mu is alright now, he thought in worry. It would be best if she manages to shoot Divine Croc to death with her poisonous arrows, and then comes to rescue me. Ay, how could I actually hope for her to kill people?

Another string of thoughts swam around in his head before he finally gave a weary yawn and fell asleep.

This time, he slept until the following morning. Scanning the area around him, Duan Yu noticed that the furniture was crude and simple, as though they were placed here long ago. Metal chains lined the inside of the windows; it could not have been any more evident that this was the place in which the No Measure Sword held captives.

All the thoughts of his current dilemma—namely, locked in a room while pressed for time—vanished as he stared at the cavernous space before him. The first notion that came to his mind was to practice the Divine Skill of the Northern Darkness as Dear Goddess had instructed him.

He reached into his robes, removed the scroll, and placed it on the table. Remembering the nude pictures in the paintings, his heart began palpitating furiously. He straightened his robes and set himself in a meditating position—endeavoring with great difficulty to stop his face from reddening any further—as he thought silently, Dear Goddess, I am here to follow your instructions and to practice the divine art you have told me to. I’m not trying to steal a look at your ethereal figure. Forgive me for being disrespectful…

He slowly unrolled the scroll and began reading the words that appeared behind the first painting. To him, reading these words was as simple as eating rice at home; he skimmed through the words, and he instantly understood the meaning. After the second reading, he had them all memorized, and, by the third time, he had it all inside him. He dared not glance longer than necessary at the exposed paintings; rather he quickly studied the various meridians and acupoints on the picture before commencing his training.

The words on the scroll read: “Our sect’s internal energy is a total contrast to those of other sects, for internal energy cultivated using our methods flows in the opposite direction. As such, those who have already had practised internal energy training must forget those learnt in the past, and start training on the martial arts here diligently. If one has any stray thoughts left in one’s mind, this may lead to two opposite forces clashing with each other, which would immediately result in fire deviation. The victim will go mad and vomit blood, which he or she would then become fully paralyzed; nothing could possibly be more dangerous than this.”

The words repeatedly reiterated this point, emphasizing the severity of the situation. However, Duan Yu never began any internal energy training before; therefore, he could conveniently move on without having to bother with this dangerous stage at all.

Within one hour, Duan Yu had managed to follow the written instructions and memorized all the channels, meridians, and acupoints of the Lung Meridians* correctly. However, his body did not possess even the slightest trace of internal energy; as a result, he naturally would not be able to channel his non-existent internal energy to move through his meridians.

Following that, Duan Yu commenced his cultivation on his “Ren Meridians”. This particular meridian route begins at the ‘Yin Gathering’ pressure point located in the perineum. The route moves up various pressure points like the ‘Crooked Bone’, ‘Centre Extremity’, ‘Closed Energy’, ‘Rock Entrance’, going past the abdomen, chest, the throat and ends at the ‘Broken Foundation’ pressure point which resides at the space between his lower jaws.

Although there were numerous pressure points along the Ren Meridians, the path of the meridian was entirely straight, which made it easy for Duan Yu to practice. In an instant, Duan Yu memorized the positions and names for the various pressure points. He reached out his hands to touch those pressure points he had just learnt. As it was mentioned in the scroll earlier, he had to cultivate his internal energy through his meridians — in the reverse way. As such, he had to cultivate his internal energy from his ‘Broken Foundation’ pressure point, down the ‘Liquid Receiving’, ‘Incorrupt Fountain’, ‘Abrupt Heavens’ pressure points to his ‘Yin Gathering’ pressure point.

**The words in the painting read: The Ren Meridians and the Lungs Meridians are the cornerstones in the cultivation of our Divine Skill of the Northern Darkness. The ‘Less Merchant’ pressure point located at the thumb and the ‘Shan Zhong’ pressure point between the breasts are the most vital points of our skill, the former collecting internal energy whilst the latter accumulates and stores them.

The human body ha