s four oceans: namely the ‘Ocean of the Water and Rice’ in the stomach, the ‘Ocean of the Twelve Channels’ in the Chong Meridians, the ‘Ocean of Energies’ in the Shan Zhong pressure point, and finally, the ‘Ocean of the Marrow’ in the Brain. The practice of storing food and water in the stomach is known throughout every human being the moment they were born; hence no special training is needed. However, the marvellous ability to absorb others’ internal energy and store it in our own body can only be achieved by our Carefree Sect’s Divine Skill of Northern Darkness.

Within a day, food and water collected in the stomach is absorbed and assimilated, however, the internal energy which a human absorbs accumulates after each absorption, becoming thicker and more abundant, resembling that of the enormous Ethereal Lake in the Dark North that could even float a gargantuan sea-monster whose size spans a thousand li.**

Duan Yu rolled the scroll and thought deeply: This kung fu is purely beneficial to oneself at the expense of others. By absorbing the internal energy that others had practised industriously for years and using it as my own, wouldn’t it be as cruel as consuming the flesh and blood of a fellow human being? Wouldn’t it be as if I was to purloin the wealth of others and take them as my own, wouldn’t I be cheating or doing something illegal then? But I have promised Dear Goddess to practise this martial arts, I can’t break my promise…. Never mind, I will not absorb anybody’s internal energy in my entire life.

Another occurred to him: Uncle had constantly reminded me that when humans were first born into this world, they had neither food nor any clothes, and had nothing to use for survival. Even a bowl of porridge, rice or even a thread of clothing all had to be obtained by something else. The act of obtaining things from somebody else cannot be helped, but the real question is how are we able to repay those who had given us. What we obtained must be minimal, and we must always give out much, much more than what we take in. If one was to take in something from the wealthy and the evil, and give that stuff obtained to the poor and the needy, there would be nothing to feel guilty over; on the other hand, it is more of a charitable act done by a kind soul. This golden rule is the same in Buddhism and Confucianism. There is nothing wrong in offering ointment from the affluent to those who badly needs it, so long as my intention was purely for doing something for the needy. Doing as much charity as I can do to every soul under the skies would be like having Buddha in every household. The question is not about obtaining or not obtaining, but rather, to do charity or to do evil.

The moment Duan Yu understood this point, he no longer had any qualms on practising the Divine Skill of Northern Darkness anymore.

While Duan Yu had no misgivings in his heart about that matter, he thought again, “In short, I should just do more good deeds in my life and never do bad things. Elephants can carry heavy loads of tons, crickets and ants can only drag little things; if you have a strong ability, you can do great good deeds, but you would also be able to do horribly bad things. With Divine Croc’s abilities, if you only do good deeds, wouldn’t it be greatly beneficial to everyone?” the moment he thought of this point, he felt that even if Divine Croc was his master, but he only twisted bad people’s necks, it will seem as though “This sentence seems to be logical.”

The scroll also had ways to cultivate the many other channels and meridians; all of them were for absorbing the internal energy of others. Although Duan Yu had no more qualms about that, he still felt that practicing it went against his personal character, just being greedy of much and determined to meet one’s desires alone was already not a good thing and thus, he decided to ignore it.

At the end of the scroll, he saw again “Graceful Steps upon the Waves” these words and immediately thought of the sentences in…

(Part 4, translated by Pacifian)

Duan Yu further unrolled the scroll till its very end, and on it he saw the five words “Graceful Steps upon the Waves”. These words reminded him of a poem he read in the past: The Goddess Luo.

Graceful Steps upon the Waves,

Dust settles on her gauze stockings….

Passionate fluttering eyelids and vivacious glances;

Euphoria moisturizing her jade-like countenance.

She has yet to say the delicate speech,

Her breath possesses the fragrance of the Tranquil Orchid.

An air of Grandeur and Elegance;

I lost my soul in the presence of such beauty!

Those unforgettable words of aesthetic elegance created by Cao Zhi flowed gently, unhurriedly across his mind:

Voluptuousness, Slenderness – flawlessly combined, she is;

Complementing elements of loftiness and daintiness,

Sculpted shoulders,

Waist of delicate silk,

Ravishingly long neck with a lovely chin,

Her unblemished substance now revealed,

Her fragrance needed no further enhancing,

Cosmetics, totally redundant!

Her hair flailed loftily like the clouds,

Her slender brows arched slightly, gracefully.

Radiant, sparkling lips of vermillion,

coupled with spotless teeth brimming with freshness.

With captivating, crystal-clear glances,

Those two alluring dimples on her cheeks,

A posture of magnificence and carefreeness,

A demeanour of tranquility and elegance.

With tender passions and graceful manner,

Words just cannot depict her charm….

The moment he thought of Dear Goddess’ elegant posture, he recalled again a few verses:

Pure as the twilight – the morning sun;

Dazzling as the lotus sprouting from nature’s waves!

To him, following Dear Goddess’ instructions is the happiest and most blissful thing to do on Earth. Even if he was to die a hundred times, suffer ten thousand trials and tribulations, he would not regret the tiniest bit. I shall practice this “Graceful Steps upon the Waves” first, Duan Yu mused, since this is a skill to flee and not to harm others, learning it would only bring good and no harm.

All steps were clearly illustrated in the scroll; given its wealth of details, not even a single positioning of the sixty-four trigrams of the Scripture of Changes has been missed out. Ever since Duan Yu was young, he had already familiarized himself with the Scripture of Changes, therefore felt no difficulty in learning these steps.

However, the footwork on the scroll is inconceivably weird. After moving a step, it was impossible to progress onto the next one. It was only until when Duan Yu thought of somersaulting into the air, could he finally be able to form a miraculous, yet strangely natural connection between the two steps. There were even weirder cases: such as leaping forwards and backwards, or fleeing to the left and dodging towards the right, only so could he be able to follow the instructions written in the scroll.

The moment the enormous potential behind his bookworm-ish nature is unleashed, he found immeasurable joy in analyzing, and eventually solving, any problems with an insurmountable level of difficulty. Such is the joy that he was unable to express his feelings at that moment, he thought unconsciously: Never did I once expect to find such pleasure with no limits in martial arts; this is definitely not beneath studying books and memorizing scriptures.

In this way, a day has passed. He has grasped roughly twenty to thirty per cent of the intricacies of the footwork illustrated in the scroll. After dinner, he learnt more ten-odd steps before retiring to bed. In his semi-consciousness, the myriad of thoughts floating in his mind comprises the terms of the various acupoints such as: ‘Less Merchant’, ‘Shan Zhong’, ‘Closed Energies’ and ‘Centre Extremity’, along with other Scripture of Changes’ trigrams like ‘Concording People’, ‘Great Possessing’, ‘Converting The Maiden’, ‘Not-yet Fording’ and so on.

During midnight, Duan Yu was awoken by a sudden series of thunderous croaks, each sounding like a ‘Jiang-ang’ noise. Not long after, another series of similar croaks ensued. The sound was similar to the mooing of a cow, but there were elements of melancholy and absolute misery to it. Duan Yu wondered what kinds of animal can produce such noises, but then again, he remembered that strange beasts and venomous insects are aplenty on Mt. No Measure. As soon as he heard the croaking noises died down, he could not care any less about the matter and slept soundly as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Somebody spoke nearby. “The ‘Venomous Crimson Bullfrog’ hasn’t appeared for quite some time, but now, it suddenly croaked again tonight. I wonder whether this means good or bad for us.”

Another voice replied. “Our East Faction has been reduced to such a miserable state; things can’t be anymore good for us. We owe our lives to heaven if this bad news isn’t so extreme.”

Duan Yu knew those two disciples that spoke were Yu Guang Biao and Wu Guang Sheng. They must be sent to sleep in the room near mine so as to prevent me from escaping, he thought.

Wu Guang Sheng’s voice can be heard once more. “We, the No Measure Sword, have already belonged to Nimble Vulture Palace; even though this spells the lack of freedom for us, as we are now being controlled by those of higher authority, we could at least have a powerful backing. So, all in all, we have half of each: good and bad. However, what I truly cannot stand is this: The West Faction has always inferior to us, why did that Sacred Herald pass the position of No Measure Cave to Senior Martial Uncle Xin, leaving us at their beck and call?”

“What else could we do? Everybody — Heavenly Mountain Kid Nanny included — in Nimble Vulture Palace is female, and they say we guys aren’t in the least bit trustworthy. Sacred herald Fu is considered kind enough: by placing Martial Uncle Xin as our leader, Nimble Vulture Palace will view us in a new light. Watch how cruelly Sacred Herald Fu has dealt with the Leader of Divine Farming Clan, as compared to her treatment of Martial Uncle Xin, they are miles apart!”

“This, I don’t understand,” Wu Guang Sheng said. “Senior Apprentice Brother Yu, why did Sacred Herald Fu treat that lad so courteously? She addressed him as ‘Mister Duan’, ‘Mister Duan’, doesn’t that sound a little too affectionate?”

Hearing his name being mentioned, Duan Yu erased all temptations of sleeping from his mind, and began to listen more attentively to the ongoing conversation.

He heard a laugh – Yu Guang Biao’s voice. “These words can only be said here in secret. A young maiden, politely calling a white-faced lad ‘Mister Duan’, ‘Mister Duan’….” The moment the three words “Mister Duan” were spoken aloud, he pressed his windpipe and the results were immediate: he spoke using a tone simlar to that of Sacred Herald Fu, with the addition of some tenderly whining created by none other than he himself.

“Guess what’s going on?”

Wu Guang Sheng spoke excitedly. “So … so Sacred Herald Fu is infatuated with that white-faced lad?”

“Keep your voice softer,” Yu Guang Biao cautioned. “Don’t wake that little white-faced kid.” Following that, he laughed. “I am not the ‘sacred’ parasite residing in Sacred Herald Fu’s stomach, how am I to understand her intentions? I guess Martial Uncle Xin must be thinking along these lines too, no wonder she made us keep a close watch on him, preventing his escape.”

“How long must we keep him here?” Wu Guang Sheng asked.

Yu Guang Biao responded, “Sacred Herald Fu said on the mountain peak, ‘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.’” These words were spoken once again using the tone of the lady dressed in green.

He continued further, “So what if we brought Mister Duan down the mountain? She wouldn’t explain further, nobody dare query her. Suppose if one day Sacred Herald Fu sent people over here to pass on a message: Xin Shuang Qin, bring that Mister Duan up Nimble Vulture Peak to meet me. And it all happens that that little white-faced lad was killed by us, or set free, wouldn’t things be disastrous for us?”

Wu Guang Sheng asked. “What if Sacred Herald Fu was to forget this entire matter, aren’t we supposed to keep that white-faced lad in here for ever, just to wait for Sacred Herald Fu’s instructions?”

Yu Guang Biao laughed. “That’s right.”

Duan Yu’s heart was filled with cries of ‘T’is bad’. This Sacred Herald sister by the surname of Fu addressed me as “Mister Duan” merely because she saw me as a scholarly man, hence was slightly more courteous in her speech, Duan Yu thought, flustered. Where have you guys been thinking all these rubbish? Even until my beard has grown white and I am still under prison, that Sacred Herald sister wouldn’t even think of seeing me, this white-faced oldie.

As Duan Yu was lost in his thoughts of worry, he heard Wu Guang Sheng speak again. “Then wouldn’t the both of us be —”

His words were cut off completely, by three thunderous ‘Ji-ang’ croaks. Clealy, that Venomous Crimson Bullfrog was croaking again. Wu Guang Sheng kept his mouth tightly shut. After a long while, when he was finally certain that the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog did not croak any further, he continued, “Every time the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog croaks, my heart would leap like mad and I would have goose bumps all over. I wonder how many lives the God of Plague would want to claim this time round.”

Yu Guang Biao said, “Everybody called the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog the creature of transport of the God of plague; that would be merely a saying. The Manjusri Bodhisattva rides a lion; the Samantabhadra rides on a white elephant; the Lord Supreme rides a green ox…. This Venomous Crimson Bullfrog is the king of all poisons, its powers are divine and all-reaching, and the formidableness of its toxicity is known throughout many generations. Calling it the creature of transport for the God of Plague simply wouldn’t be enough!”

“Senior Apprentice Brother Yu,” continued Wu Guang Sheng. “How do you think that Venomous Crimson Bullfrog looks like?”

Yu Guang Biao grinned. “Why, aren’t you interested in finding out?”

“That would be something you’ve got to tell me after you have seen it.” Wu Guang Sheng said, returning the grin.

“The moment I spot the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog, the toxic gases it emitted would instantly blind my eyes. Following that, it would creep into my brain. By then, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have much time left to describe the looks of the King of All Poisons for you to know. How about having the both of us take a look?”

With that said, footsteps were heard, followed by the sound of someone unlocking the door.

Wu Guang Sheng was immediately seized with fear. “Don’t… Don’t kid…” His trembling voice was easily noticeable. He rushed over to the door and locked the door again. Yu Guang Biao laughed at the sight.

“Hahaha! Now, really, you didn’t for a moment think I would actually dare to take a look? Have a look at how laughably frightened you have became.”

Wu Guang Sheng was still recovering from the shock. “This joke had better not be played, or else certain things we wouldn’t want to happen really do. Let all be peaceful. Let’s go to sleep!”

Yu Guang Biao changed topic. “You guess whether that immoral couple – Gan Guang Hao and Ge Guang Pei – managed to escape?

“We haven’t heard the slightest thing about them for so long, most probably they did manage to escape after all.”

“I know everything about Gan Guang Hao’s capabilities. That person is greedy and lazy and flirtatious — he is totally uninterested in practicing swordplay; all that he is capable of would be to sweet-talk ladies. All of us combed the whole of North, South, East and West; even the Sacred Herald from Nimble Vulture Palace came here personally to search for them. Yet, in the end, that couple managed to escape. I just can’t believe this.”

“However much you disbelieve, you just got to.”

Yu Guang Sheng was deep in his thoughts. “I say, this couple must have been hiding deep inside the mountains, and met the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog.”

Wu Guang Sheng gasped loudly in surprise; even the most insensitive of people could sense the dread in his voice.

Yu Guang Biao continued. “Yes. They must be searching themselves silly for a deserted area to hide themselves in. Yet, the moment they ran into the the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog, their brains would be filled with those toxins and hence, got themselves dissolved into a bloody heap as a result. No wonder we couldn’t find them.”

Wu Guang Sheng said, nodding, “You’ve got a point there.”

“What do you mean I have got a point?” Yu Guang Sheng snapped. “If they hadn’t ran into the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog, then there wouldn’t be anymore points left, would there?”

“Perhaps they couldn’t tolerate it any more. Deep inside the deserted mountains or ridges, they started doing this thing and that thing. And in the midst of all darkness, they unleashed the move ‘Flipping the carp over’ and oh, how could it be? – they fell into somewhere miles deep into the valley!”

At this point, both men started cackling nastily.

Duan Yu sank deep into his thoughts: At that food stall Miss Mu shot both Gan and Ge to their deaths, how could it be that the No Measure Sword disciples weren’t able to find them? Hmm… Right. It must be that the stall owner was afraid of attracting trouble, so he quickly buried the corpses somewhere. So when the No Measure Sword disciples came to investigate, everybody naturally kept silent, seeing their fierce looks and their weapons and all.

Wu Guang Sheng spoke again, “The East and the West Factions of No Measure Sword merely lost two disciples. How big a matter could it be? The Emperor isn’t in the least worried yet the eunuchs are. Why would the Sacred Heralds of Nimble Vulture Palace be so anxious? Why must they be in such a hurry in apprehending those two people?”

“This, you need to use your brains more to find the answer.”

Silence ensued. “You know my mind isn’t in the slightest quick. After thinking this to that, here to there, I just couldn’t figure it out.”

“Let me pose you a question, then,” Yu Guang Biao said: “the Nimble Vulture Palace is so keen on taking over our No Measure Palace — why is this so?”

Wu Guang Sheng was lost in his thoughts. “Senior Apprentice Tang once said, the reasons most likely have something to do with the No Measure Jade Wall. The very moment Sacred Herald Fu arrives here, she would enquire non-stop about the divine silhouette, swordplay, and everything else up the No Measure Jade Wall.” After an afterthought, he added, “That’s right! All of us had to abide by the instructions Sacred Herald Fu set for us – the swearing of oath of never to divulge the slightest thing about the divine silhouette at the Jade Wall; yet both Gan Guang Hao and Ge Guang Pei had already escaped from No Measure Palace. Neither of them made the oath! There is no telling whether they wouldn’t mention it to the outside world!”

At this point, he slapped his thigh in revelation, exclaiming, “Right! Right! Nimble Vulture Palace went through all this effort just to silence those two rascals.”

“Hush! Don’t make so much noise; there is somebody next door, have you forgotten?” Yu Guang Biao whispered warningly.

An abashed-looking Wu Guang Sheng nodded. “Indeed, indeed.”

For a moment, neither spoke. Finally, Wu Guang Sheng broke the silence. “That rat Gan Guang Hao sure has infinite blessings; having the fortune to cuddle Ge Guang Pei, such a white and fleshy little cute gunnysack in his arms; having the luck to skin her as if she were a sheep…. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Damn it. Even if he really did get dissolved into a bloody mass, he didn’t… didn’t really…. Hehe…”

From then on, the two men’s conversation has been reduced to a lowly mixture of vulgarities and obscenities. Duan Yu was unwilling to eavesdrop any further, but the lewd and dirty jokes and laughters continually coursed through the wall separating them – much to Duan Yu‘s dismay; so trying to shut the noises away was impossible. The only way out for him would be to concentrate on the various channels, meridians and acupoints. Indeed, all it took was a short while of deep concentration, and the vulgarities nearby vanished without a trace as if they had been switched off, no matter how loud they were.

The following day, Duan Yu continued his training on the ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’. He followed the footwork illustrated in the scroll very closely, and began trying them out step by step. This footwork was either inclined to the left or slanted to the right: none of the steps taught was to advance and retreat directly. Even though he was confined to a small area, all he need was to remove the table and chairs and he could perform the footwork without any obstructions; after a period of training, he had learned more ten-odd steps.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. Later, when somebody comes to give me lunch, all I need is to perform these weird, diagonal steps and it would take me no time at all to move round him and escape past the door. It is unlikely that he would be able to catch me. By then, I would be able to escape this place instantly and avoid the horrible fate that awaits me if I stayed – wait till the day I became an Oldie White-faced?

He was brimming with joy as he thought about this. I must train this set of footwork very diligently to the extent of total familiarization, he thought firmly, Should I take a wrong step by accident and fail to escape, they might shackle my legs together from that point onwards to prevent me from escaping. By then, even how delightfully incredible ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’ might be, every step I take would be restrained by the metal chains; I will really have to become Oldie White-faced no matter how much I dread it.

Lost in thoughts, Duan Yu involuntarily made dizzy circles with his head.

Without further ado, he speedily ran through the hundred-over steps he had learnt in his head. “I need to reach a stage whereby I need not even think about the steps in my mind; the mere lifting of my legs would result in a rapid succession of the following steps.”

Suddenly, he sighed. “I, Duan Yu, a stinky male, had to learn those graceful and delicate ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’ from the Tranquil Lady Goddess Luo. What qualities of ‘Dust settles on her gauze stockings’ do I possess? More likely mine’s a poor imitation in the form of ‘Dust settles on his naked bottom’, I guess.”

Chuckling merrily at himself, Duan Yu stepped on the position of ‘Central Confirmation’, followed shortly by an immediate turning towards the ‘Already Fording’ spot. What he didn’t expect was that the moment he changed positions from ‘Exultation’ to ‘Venom’, a sudden blast of blazing energy surged upwards – towards his dantian, paralysing him instantly. His body rocked forwards as he lay resting against the tabletop – lifting a finger suddenly became an impossible feat.

Feeling stupefied, Duan Yu attempted to grasp the table by its sides and lift himself; little did he know that not a single of his muscles or bones complied. Not even a tiny finger. His current situation was reminiscent of a horrible nightmare gone wrong: the more anxious he was, the more helpless he became.

He had absolutely no idea that ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’ is an extremely profound branch of martial arts. The reason for this skill being taught near the end of the scroll was for the practitioner to master ‘Divine Skill of the Northern Darkness’ and absorb fairly substantial amounts of internal energy before he or she could start training on the intricate footwork.

Every single step of the ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’ was designed as such that when a step was made, the momentum and movement of the practitioner’s entire body blended entirely and intimately with his or her internal energy; it amounts to much, much more than the mere lifting of limbs and moving about. Duan Yu had hardly any internal energy. Before then, he would always made a step before a momentary pause, with which he used to contemplate the next step. Then he would follow by retreating another step, which he then paused to think again. As such, he has had consistent intervals of rest in his blood flow, therefore no such obstructions occurred.

This time, however, he had memorized the steps and even attempted to try them all at once in one single breath; the blood flow in his channels and meridians went topsy-turvy, paralysing him in the process. In fact, he almost suffered from fire-deviation. Fortunately for him, he only moved a few steps, and was trying it out at a comfortable pace; therefore the extent of internal injury hadn’t reached the fatal stage of the utter destruction of his own channels due to the immense blood pressure.

Flustered, Duan Yu struggled even harder to move; but the more he did so, he felt the suffocating pressure at his chest and abdomen intensify. To add to all these, he began feeling somewhat nauseous, but he could hardly vomit. He let out a sad sigh, ceased struggling and allowed nature to take its course. As he did so, the frustratingly painful feeling inside him began to subside.

Lying immobile against the table, Duan Yu saw the scroll in front of his eyes. Having nothing else to do, he studied those unfamiliar steps he had yet to try and thought them out in his mind, imagining himself trying them out step by step. About an hour later, he had learnt another twenty-odd steps, and to his surprise, the pain in his chest had almost fully dissipated.

It was almost noon. Duan Yu had finally understood all the steps that were illustrated in the scroll. In his mind, he decided to try them out by imagining himself starting on ‘Bright Concealment’, moving along several other positions like ‘Adornments’, ‘Already Fording’, ‘Dwelling People’; and eventually completed stepping – or rather, imagining himself stepping – on the positions of all sixty-four Trigrams and ended nicely on the position ‘Without Embroilments’ after moving in the direction of a huge circle.

The fact that he had finally completed learning the entire footwork was overwhelming; ecstasy welling inside him, Duan Yu leapt into the air clapping his hands, exclaiming in delight. “Amazing! Amazing!”

The moment these two words left his lips, Duan Yu realised he could finally move again. Unknown to him, his internal energy had unconsciously followed the thoughts in his head; as he completed one full cycle of ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’, his blood flow did the same, unclogging blocked meridians in the process.

He could barely contain his excitement and surprise that were threatening to burst from within. In his head, he tried to go through all the positions of the sixty-four Trigrams in his head a few more times. For fear that he might commit the same mistake as before; he moved each step very slowly — every step made had to be followed by a few deep breaths.

In this way, all sixty-four positions had been completed. Duan Yu saw that he had finished one huge circle; meanwhile, his body was bursting with renewed vitality and vigour. Unable to bear his excitement any longer, Duan Yu gave a cry in joy.

“Amazing! Amazing! Utterly amazing!”

From outside the door, came a roar of annoyance. It was Yu Guang Biao’s voice. “Why are you screaming your head off? Whatever your old man, I, have said, I don’t eat them back! You say a sentence, you eat a palm!”

Having said that, he unlocked the door and flounced inside. “Earlier, you made three sentences, so you shall eat three palms! However, on account that you are a first-time offender, I shall discount you two slaps; just one palm would suffice.”

He advanced threateningly towards Duan Yu, his right palm poised to strike Duan Yu’s cheek.

This palm didn’t contain any hidden stances beneath it; neither was it anything special. But Duan Yu, lacking martial arts, couldn’t block it with his arms. Slightly tilting his head to one side, Duan Yu instinctively moved his feet diagonally and landed on the position of ‘Swallow’ from his current position, ‘Well’. And voila! Duan Yu managed to evade the slap.

Yu Guang Biao was furious. He thrust out his fist forcefully and rapidly towards Duan Yu. Meanwhile, Duan Yu was still contemplating which step to move (he has hardly familiarised himself with the ‘Graceful Steps upon the Waves’ footwork) when the blow struck his chest with a loud peng. The fist has struck his ‘Shan Zhong’ acupoint.

The ‘Shan Zhong’ acupoint is vital to the human’s body. The moment Yu Guang Biao threw out his fist, he instantly regretted his actions and feared he might inflict too heavy a damage for Duan Yu to handle; if anything happens to Duan Yu, he might not be able to account for it.

What he did not expect, however, was that the moment the fist came in contact with Duan Yu’s chest, Yu Guang Biao felt his arm suddenly depleted of energy. What was even worse was that he felt some sort of emptiness in his heart! Yu Guang Biao could barely register this strange phenomenon when everything reverted back to normal. Seeing Duan Yu unhurt, Yu Guang Biao, relieved, said, “Although you have managed to dodge my slap, your chest received my knuckle sandwich; that still counts as one slap.”

With that he disappeared from view as he left the room shortly after. Clunk! The door was locked once again.

The strike might be loud, but strangely enough, Duan Yu felt absolutely no pain in that strike. Unknown to him, whatever energy that was present in Yu Guang Biao’s fist earlier has been transferred into his ‘Ocean of Energies’ in his ‘Shan Zhong’ acupoint, where it will be stored permanently.

It just happened so coincidentally. Had Yu Guang Biao’s fist struck anywhere except his chest, Duan Yu would have been considered extremely lucky to have avoided injury, yet no matter what, he would not be spared from the excruc