un San and old Huang clearly are the same person, perhaps that sister Ah Zhu she was speaking about.”

Jiumozhi heaved a sigh. “In this world, there are more deceitful people than there are honest people. It is not unreasonable for Mr. Murong to refuse to meet with most folk.” Sun San said, “Right. Our deceased master’s last words were, ‘If anyone wishes to conduct memorial ceremonies at my tomb or sweep my grave, politely turn them away. Hmph, those evil baldies probably just want to dig into my tomb.’ Ack, great master, please don’t think too much. The ‘thieving baldies’ our deceased master spoke of probably was not you.”

Duan Yu was secretly amused. “The phrase, ‘Cursing about ‘evil baldies’ in front of a monk’ applies to this situation perfectly.” Then he thought, “This evil baldy has totally maintained his composure and not batted an eyelid. The more evil and loathsome a person is, the better his temper is. This evil baldy really is a remarkable person.”

Jiumozhi said, “These last words of your deceased master are understandable. His might shook the world, and he left behind many enemies. It’s reasonable for him to guard against enemies who did not dare attempt revenge on him when he was living, but who would try to disturb his bones after his death.”

Sun San said, “If someone wishes to disturb the bones of our deceased master, haha, that would really be like ‘an elderly cat smelling salted fish.’” Jiumozhi was startled. “What do you mean, ‘an elderly cat smelling salted fish’?” Sun San replied, “This is called, ‘smelling dried fish, smelling dried fish’. Meaning, ‘don’t even think about it, don’t even think about it.’” [Obviously, this is a linguistic wordplay; the phrases ‘smelling dried fish’ and ‘don’t even think about it’ sound exactly the same in Mandarin Chinese.] Jiumozhi replied, “Ah, so that’s how it is. I was very good bosom friends with Mr. Murong. My only desire is to pay my respects before his tomb. Steward, no need to be too skeptical.”

Sun San said, “The honest truth is, I don’t have the authority to grant you your wish. If I were to go against my deceased master’s last command, when the young master returns and finds out, he’ll break my old legs. How about this, I’ll go invite the old mistress and ask her to come up with a plan. What do you think?” Jiumozhi replied, “The old mistress? Who are you referring to?” Sun San said, “Old Mistress Murong. She was our deceased master’s aunt. Every time an old friend of the old master came, they would kowtow to her and pay their respects. With the young master not at home, everything needs to go through the old mistress.” Jiumozhi replied, “That’s very good to know. Please inform the old mistress that Jiumozhi of Tibet has come to pay his respects to her.” Sun San said, “Great master, you are too polite. You flatter us too much.” As he spoke, he entered the main pavilion.

Duan Yu thought to himself, “This girl is both intelligent and strange. I wonder why she is playing all these pranks on this evil baldy?” After a long period of time, a clattering of rings and ornaments could be heard as an old lady tottered out of the inner pavilion. Before she herself arrived, that light fragrance arrived first. Duan Yu couldn’t help but smile. He thought to himself, “This time, she’s dressed up as an old lady.” The old lady wore an ancient, copper-colored satin skirt and coat, wearing jade bracelets around her wrists, and pearls and jade ornaments in her hair. Her appearance was graceful and luxurious, but had many wrinkles on her face. Her eyes seemed confused and misty, as though they could no longer see. Duan Yu secretly cheered, “This young lass is incredible. Whatever she dresses up as, she looks like. What’s even more amazing is that she was able to change in such a short period of time. Her movements are so swift. It really must be acclaimed as the height of perfection in the art.”

The old lady supported herself on her walking stick, entering the pavilion with faltering steps. She said, “Ah Bi, have friends of your old master arrived? Why haven’t they kowtowed to me?” Her head turned left and right, as though she had very poor eyesight and couldn’t tell who was present. Ah Bi gestured towards Jiumozhi and said in a low voice, “Quick, kowtow. As soon as you kowtow, the old mistress will be happy and will agree to anything.” The old lady turned her head around, cupping her hands around her ears so as to hear more clearly. She loudly said, “Girl, what did you just say? Did they kowtow yet?”

Jiumozhi said, “Old mistress, how are you? This humble monk has come to pay his respects to you.” He bowed deeply, his hands folded together. His twin hands exerted power, and a deep booming sound came from the bricks on the floor, as though someone had kowtowed.”

Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi looked at each other. Both of them were equally struck dumb with amazement. “This monk’s internal energy is so profound! I fear that we won’t be able to take even a single stance from him.”

The old madame nodded. “Excellent, excellent. In this world, there are more deceitful people than there are honest people. Even for something like kowtowing, some evil scoundrels want to be deceitful. Even when they clearly have not kowtowed, they make booming sounds on the floor as though they have, so as to deceive this old lady’s bad eyes. But you, kid, you are great, you are very obedient. You kowtowed very loudly.” Duan Yu couldn’t resist a snort of amusement. The old lady slowly turned around and said, “Ah Bi, did someone just fart?” She reached out her hand and pinched her nose. Ah Bi, holding in laughter, said, “Old mistress, that isn’t the case. Young master Duan let out a laugh.” The old lady said, “Broken? What’s broken? [Duan Yu’s surname, ‘Duan’, sounds the same as the Chinese character for ‘broken’ or ‘snapped’]” Ah Bi replied, “Nothing’s broken. His surname is ‘Duan’. He’s the young master of the Duan family.” The old lady nodded. “Right, young master this and young master that. Day in and day out, you are always thinking about your young master.” Ah Bi’s face reddened. “The old mistress’s ears aren’t good. She needs to be more careful when gossiping.”

The old lady turned towards Duan Yu. “Kid, why haven’t you kowtowed yet?” Duan Yu said, “Old mistress, there’s something I want to tell you.” The old lady said, “What is it?”

Duan Yu replied, “I have a niece who is very intelligent and clever, but who is also extremely mischievious. She loves dressing up as a little monkey to mess around. One day she’ll dress up as a male monkey, the next day a female monkey. She knows how to do acrobatics too. Old mistress, you’d love to meet her. It’s too bad that I didn’t bring her along to have her kowtow to you.”

The old lady really was the other servant girl of the Murong family, Ah Zhu, dressed up in disguise. Her abilities in the arts of disguise and makeup were godlike. Not only could she make herself look different, her words and her mannerisms were impeccable as well, not revealing a single flaw. Thus, even extremely intelligent people such as Jiumozhi or experienced jianghu veterans such as Cui Baiquan didn’t suspect her in the slightest. Unexpected, Duan Yu was able to ferret out the truth, using the faint aroma which her body gave off and which she had no way of hiding.

Hearing him speak thusly, Ah Zhu was startled, but didn’t change her demeanor in the slightest, continuing to appear like a senile, doddering old lady with bad vision and half-deaf ears. She said, “Good kid, good kid, you are really smart. I’ve never met such a smart child as you before. Good kid, don’t talk too much. This old lady will definitely take care of you.”

Duan Yu thought to himself, “What she means is that she wants me to not reveal her secret. She’s trying to fend off this evil baldy, Jiumozhi. That makes her a friend, not an enemy.” He said, “Old mistress, please put your heart at ease. Now that I am at your manor, naturally I am at your disposal and will obey your commands.”

Ah Zhu replied, “You are an obedient kid to listen to my words. Great, first kowtow three times to this old lady. I definitely will give you great benefits if you do so.”

Duan Yu was startled. “I am the regal son of the Imperial Crown Brother of Dali. How can I kowtow to a little girl like you?”

Ah Zhu, seeing the awkward look on his face, sneered. “Good kid, let me tell you right now, the best choice for you is to obediently kowtow a few times to your granny.”

Duan Yu turned his head, and saw Ah Bi, lips pursed in a smile, casting side-glances at him. Her skin was as white as freshly peeled water chestnuts, and a small, fine black mole was at the corner of her lips, making her look all the more charming and lovely. His heart was suddenly stirred. “Sister Ah Bi, I heard that there is a sister Ah Zhu in your respect manor. Is she…is she was beautiful as you are?” Ah Bi smiled. “Aha! How could an ugly freak like me be worthy of such praise? If sister Ah Zhu heardja askin’ questions like that, she’d definitely be real unhappy-like, yeah? How can I compare to her? Sister Ah Zhu is ten times more beautiful than I am.” Duan Yu asked, “Truly?” Ah Bi grinned, “Why would I lie to ya?” Duan Yu said, “For a person to be ten times more beautiful than you is totally impossible, unless…unless it’s the goddess of the jade cavern. For a person to even be on your level would make them a rare beauty.” Ah Bi’s cheeks flushed red. She bashfully said, “The old mistress asked you to kowtow. Who asked you to praise me so highly?”

Duan Yu said, “The old mistress must have originally been a nationally famous, heaven-like beauty as well. To tell you the truth, I don’t really care if I get any benefits, but am more than willing to kowtow a few times to a world class beauty.” As he spoke, he fell to his knees. He thought to himself, “Since I am going to kowtow, I might as well do so loudly. I already kowtowed a few thousand times to the jade statue. What’s the big deal if I kowtow to a beautiful lady of the jianghu a few times?” He immediately kowtowed loudly three times.

Ah Zhu was extremely delighted. She though to herself, “This young master clearly knows that I’m just a little servant girl, but is actually willing to kowtow to me. This is really rare.” She said, “Good kid, very good, very good. It’s too bad that I didn’t bring you a meeting-present.” Ah Bi interjected, “Old mistress, just don’t forget about it an’ jes’ give it to’m next time.”

Ah Zhu glanced at Ah Bi. She said towards Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi, “Why haven’t these two guests kowtowed to me?” Guo Yanzhi let out a ‘hmph’ sound. In a rough voice and with a rough attitude, he said, “Do you know martial arts or not?” Ah Zhu said, “What did you say?” Guo Yanzhi replied, “I asked if you know martial arts or not. If you possess a high level of martial arts, then I, Guo Yanzhi, am willing to die underneath your hand, Mistress Murong! But if you aren’t a member of the wulin, then there’s no need for me to bother wasting my breath with you.” Ah Zhu shook her head. “What’s this about a hundred-legged centipede? Naturally, we have centipedes here. When they bite people, it’s very painful!” [Centipede sounds similar to martial arts]. Turning towards Jiumozhi, she said, “Great monk, I hear you want to go check out my nephew’s tomb. What type of treasure do you intend to pilfer from the tomb?”

Although Jiumozhi still did not realize that she was actually a girl, he had long sinced figured out that she was just pretending to be deaf and dumb, and that she wasn’t as near-sighted or as muddle-headed as she pretended to be. He became more guarded, and thought to himself, “Mr. Murong was such an extraordinary figure. His family members must be exceptional as well.” He pretended to not have heard the words, “pilfer from the tomb”, and said, “This humble monk was a close bosom friend of Mr. Murong. After hearing the horrible news of his passing, I have rushed here from Tibet to pay my respects before his tomb. In the past, I made a promise to Mr. Murong to bring him the manuscript for the Duan family of Dali’s ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ and let him check it out. For me to still have not carried out my promise fills my heart with shame.”

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi exchanged glances. They both thought to themselves, “Finally, this monk has brought up the relevant issues.” Ah Zhu asked, “And what happens if you are able to bring the manuscript for the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’? What happens if you are not?” Jiumozhi replied, “In the past, Mr. Murong and I made an agreement; as long as I was able to retrieve the manual of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ for him to read for a few days, he would allow me to read for a few days in the ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’. Ah Zhu suddenly felt afraid. “For this monk to actually know the name, ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’…maybe he is telling the truth after all.” She immediately pretended to be confused and said, “What’s this about porridge and boiled dumplings? Do you want some porridge and chicken broth dumplings? That’s easily done. You are a monk. Can you eat meat or fish?”

Jiumozhi turned his head towards Ah Bi. “I don’t know if this old mistress is truly confused or just faking it. For her to be so unwelcoming cannot help but to give a feeling of coldness in one’s heart.”

Ah Zhu said, “Oh, so your heart is feeling cold? Ah Bi, quick, go and make a bowl of hot chicken and duck blood soup so as to warm this great master’s heart and lungs.” Ah Bi held in her laughter. “The master doesn’t eat meat.” Ah Zhu nodded. “Then don’t use real chickens and real ducks. Use vegetarian chicken and vegetarian duck meat [usually made from tofu and veggies].” Ah Bi said, “Old mistress, vegetarian chicken doesn’t have any blood.” Ah Zhu said, “Then what are we to do?”

The two of them exchanged one phrase after another, and all their words were full of nonsense. Most people of Suzhou had quick teeth and clever mouths. In later generations, the story-telling abilities of Suzhou people became famous throughout the world because of this. These two girls were used to messing around and teasing each other, and they now rendered Jiumozhi unable to do anything.

Originally, he came to Gusu with the intention of discussing an important matter with young master Murong. Unexpectedly, the young master was not present, and everyone he met intertwined falsehoods with obfuscations, sometimes seeming to do so inadvertently, other times seeming to act in such a way on purpose, intermixing lies with truth. This rendered him unable to decide how to handle the situation. After a brief moment of pondering, he concluded that madame Murong, Sun San, old servant Huang, and Ah Bi were all trying to ward him off. Since they would not let him visit the mausoleum, they definitely would not be willing to allow him to enter the ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’ and read secret martial arts manuals. At this moment, he decided, what he should do would be to clearly explain the situation and ignore their play-acting and deception. That way, in the future, regardless of whether they treated him with respect or came to blows with him, he would have already claimed the moral high ground. He immediately said in a calm, even-tempered voice, “I have brought the manuscript for the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. Thus, I make the daring request that we act in accordance with the agreement and I be allowed to go read in the ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’.” Ah Bi said, “Old master Murong has already passed away. First, there’s no evidence of this agreement. Secondly, even if you brought the manual, there is nobody present who is capable of reading it. Any agreements made in the past are naturally no longer valid now.” Ah Zhu said, “What sword manual? Where is it? Let me check it out first.”

Pointing to Duan Yu, Jiumozhi said, “Within this young gentleman’s mind lies the fully memorized manuscript for the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. I have brought him here; this is the same as bringing an actual manuscript.” Ah Bi smiled. “I thought there really was a manual. So you were playing a joke on us, great master.” Jiumozhi said, “I wouldn’t dare. The original manual for the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ has been burnt to ash by elder Kurong at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Fortunately, this gentleman has fully memorized it all.” Ah Bi replied, “If young master Duan memorized it, then it’s his business. Even if we were to invite someone to the ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’ to read, it would be him. What does it have to do with you, great master?” Jiumozhi replied, “In order to fulfill my promise of latter days, I intend to immolate him in front of Mr. Murong’s mausoleum.”

Upon hearing these words, everyone was astonished. But seeing the calm, placid, serious expression on the face, he definitely did not appear to be making a joke. This astonished them all the more. Ah Bi said, “Great master, you must be jesting! How can he allow you to just casually cremate him like that?” Jiumozhi said dully, “If I want to immolate him, I don’t think he would be able to resist.” Ah Bi smiled. “Great master, you say that young gentleman Duan has memorized the manual for the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, but that clearly cannot be true. If young gentleman Duan really memorized such a fearful martial arts as the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, how could he be so easily controlled by you?” Jiumozhi nodded. “Miss, you know only half the story. I have sealed all of his major acupoints, and he is unable to exert any energy at all.”

Ah Zhu shook her head continuously. “I believe you even less now. Unseal his acupoints and let him show off the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ first. I think that ninety nine percent of your words are lies.” Jiumozhi nodded. “Good idea. We can demonstrate.”

Duan Yu praised Ah Bi as being beautiful, and was absolutely charmed by her vocal and instrumental musical skills. Ah Bi naturally liked him. In addition, not only did he not reveal Ah Zhu’s disguise, he also kowtowed to her three times; this made Ah Zhu happy with him as well. Thus, upon hearing that his acupoints had been sealed, both of the girls wanted to trick Jiumozhi into unsealing his acupoints. They didn’t expect that Jiumozhi would immediately agree. He stretched out his palm towards Duan Yu’s body and tapped his hand a few times towards Duan Yu’s back, chest, and legs. Duan Yu instantly felt as though his acupoints became unsealed, and the flow of his blood became unimpeded. As soon as he generated his internal energy, he could feel his qi beginning to circulate throughout his body. He experimentally generated his energy in accordance with the directions for the ‘Zhongchong Sword’ technique, inciting his internal energy to pass to the middle finger of his right hand. He felt a roasting hot sensation at the tip of his middle finger, and knew that all he needed to do would be to extend his finger and sword qi would immediately shoot out.

Jiumozhi said, “Young master Duan, mistress Murong does not believe that you have practiced the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. Please show off your ability. Do as I do, and chop off a branch from this osmanthus tree.” As he spoke, he sent out a slanting palm strike with his left palm. His palm released its stored up internal energy; it was a stroke from his ‘Blazing Sabre’ technique. With a light cracking sound, a single branch of the osmanthus tree broke in half and fell to the ground, as though someone had chopped it with a sabre or a sword.

Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi couldn’t help but let out an ‘Ah!’ cry of alarm. Although they knew that this barbarian monk possessed some extremely unusual skills, they thought that his skills were simply heterodox and evil. Only now, when they watched him chop off a tree branch, did they realize how profound his internal energy was. His internal energy was at a level that was rarely heard of and rarely seen.

Duan Yu shook his head. “I don’t know any martial arts at all, much less any ‘Divine Sword of the Seven Meridians’ or ‘Heavenly Sabre of the Eight Channels’. Why did you have to go and ruin a perfectly fine osmanthus tree?” Jiumozhi replied, “Young master Duan, why so modest? Your level of martial arts is highest amounts the elite martial artists of Dali’s Duan family. In this day and age, aside from young master Murong and my humble self, I’m afraid no one is superior to you. Gusu’s Murong mansion is a repository of martial arts learning in the world. Why don’t you show a few stances and have the old mistress give you some advice? That would be a very good thing for you.” Duan Yu replied, “Big monk, this entire trip you have taken such wonderful care of me, tugging me here and pulling me there, dragging me all the way to Jiangnan. At first, I didn’t want to say another word to you at all. But now that I’m at Gusu and have met such beautiful, heavenly girls here, the anger in my heart has dissipated. From now on, let’s make a clean break. Neither of us needs to bother with the other.”

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi, hearing him speak in a pedantic, bookworm like manner, couldn’t help but secretly laugh. They couldn’t help but feel secretly happy as well upon hearing him praise them.

Jiumozhi said, “Young master, if you refuse to display your ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, won’t you be making me to look like a liar?”

Duan Yu said, “Well, you were full of nonsense to begin with. If you had an agreement with Mr. Murong, why didn’t you come to Dali earlier? Why would you wait until Mr. Murong passed away and became unable to refute your words before coming to the Murong manor and cause an endless ruckus? You know what I think? I think you covet the high-level martial arts skills of the Murong family of Gusu, and came up with a false story to trick the old mistress into allowing you into their library and secretly study their private martial arts, and figure out the secrets behind their ‘Using the opponent’s skills, exercising them upon the opponent’. How can you possibly not realize that these people, being of a long-standing, famous, aristocratic wulin family, would see right through this trick of yours? If you could really steal away their martial arts techniques based solely upon your lies and rubbish, wouldn’t anybody be able to? Who isn’t able to make up this sort of nonsense?”

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi agreed in one voice.

Jiumozhi shook his head. “Young master Duan, your conjectures are incorrect. Although it is true that I made my agreement with Mr. Murong a long time ago, for nine years I sequestered myself in solitary meditation while I mastered the ‘Blazing Sabre’ technique, and thus could not go to Dali. If I had not mastered the ‘Blazing Sabre’ technique, I would not have been able to leave the Heavenly Dragon Monastery alive.

Duan Yu said, “Great master, you possess great fame, great power, and such an incredible level of martial arts. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you just stayed peacefully in Tibet as its dharma king and national protector? Why come to Jiangnan to deceive people? I recommend you return as soon as possible.”

Jiumozhi said, “Young master, if you refuse to display the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, please do not blame me for being discourteous.” Duan Yu said, “You’ve been acting impolite all along. Can it be that you’ve found a way to be even more impolite still? At worst, you can kill me with a single chop of your sabre. What’s the big deal?” Jiumozhi replied, “Very good! Ware my sabre!” He raised his left palm and a powerful wind rushed towards Duan Yu’s face.

Duan Yu had long since hatched a plan. As his martial arts was far inferior to that of Jiumozhi, whether or not he fought back made no difference at all. If Jiumozhi wanted him to show that he knew the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, he would refuse to do so no matter what. Thus, upon seeing Jiumozhi convert his internal energy into a sabre blade and chop towards him, Duan Yu toughened his spine and neither blocked nor parried. Jiumozhi was startled. Duan Yu was his only source of the manual of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’; no matter what, he couldn’t kill him before he acquired it for himself. He hurriedly lifted his hands higher, and with a ‘shua’ sound, a cool wind passed over Duan Yu’s head, taking with it a large chunk of his hair.

Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi were simultaneously shocked. Ah Zhu and Ah Bi’s faces couldn’t help but turn pale as well. Jiumozhi said in an awe-inspiring voice, “Young master Duan, would you really rather die than fight back?”

Duan Yu had long since thrown his fear of death into the wind. He laughed loudly and said, “Greed, wrath, lust, desire, foolishness. Master monk, you possess all of these flaws, and yet you falsely claim to be an eminent Buddhist monk. You really are not deserving of the title!”

Jiumozhi suddenly hacked a palm towards Ah Bi while shouting, “Unspeakable! I’ll first kill this servant girl of the Murong manor to display my power.”

This stroke came very quickly. Ah Bi was shocked, and hurriedly slanted her body to avoid it. Crack! A chair behind her was split into two by this gush of internal energy. Jiumozhi followed that strike with another from his right palm. Ah Bi fell down on the floor and hurriedly rolled away. Although her movements were quick, she was already in a very precarious situation. Jiumozhi let out a fierce roar, and shot out his third sabre attack.

Ah Bi was so terrified that her face turned pale. She had no idea what to do against this invisible internal energy attack. Ah Zhu didn’t have any time to think. She shot out her palms and attacked Jiumozhi’s back. When she was earlier moving about and speaking, she had the mannerisms of a seventy or eighty year old lady. But now, when she attacked, she displayed strong, vigorous, and quick movements.

In a single glance, Jiumozhi understood everything. With a laugh, he said, “So there are sixteen or seventeen year old grannies in the world? How long, exactly, did you intend to deceive this monk?” He struck a palm backwards and with a cracking sound, shattered the wooden staff in her hands into three pieces. Following this, he once more chopped towards Ah Bi. In her terror, Ah Bi grabbed a table and used it as a shield. With two clattering sounds, the red sandalwood table instantly disintegrated, leaving only a pair of table legs in her hands.

Seeing Ah Bi forced to the wall, without any place to flee and Jiumozhi striking with yet another palm, Duan Yu no longer cared about whether or not he could defeat Jiumozhi; his only intention was to save her life. He struck out with his middle finger, and his internal energy surged forth from his ‘Zhongchong’ acupoint with a ‘chi-chi’ sneering sound. It was the ‘Zhongchong Sword’ technique. Jiumozhi didn’t really want to kill Ah Bi; he just wanted to force Duan Yu’s hand. Otherwise, how could Ah Bi manage to dodge the wondrous, brilliant stances of the ‘Blazing Sabre’ technique for so long? Seeing Duan Yu strike out at him, he immediately sent out a hacking palm towards Ah Zhu. A powerful gust of wind roared towards her, sending her staggering back. The shoulder of her dress was mangled by his internal energy. She let out an ‘Ah!’, crying in startlement. Duan Yu followed his first attack with a ‘Shaoze Sword’ attack from his left hand, blocking Jiumozhi’s attack on Ah Zhu with the ‘Blazing Sabre’ technique.

In the blink of an eye, Ah Bi and Ah Zhu both escaped a very dangerous situation, as Duan Yu used his ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ to totally block both of Jiumozhi’s sabre strikes. Jiumozhi, wanting both to show off his own ability as well as to prove that Duan Yu really knew the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, intentionally let Duan Yu’s internal energy block his own. Having drained the internal energy of so many elite martial artists, at this point in time, Duan Yu’s internal energy was actually more powerful than that of Jiumozhi. Unfortunately, he didn’t know any martial arts at all, and wasn’t able to execute any of the sword techniques which he had memorized at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Jiumozhi tricked his powerful internal energy into being dispersed east and west, to the point where the doors and the windows were filled with holes. All the while, Jiumozhi was saying, “The ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ really is very formidable! No wonder Mr. Murong admired it so much in the past.”

Cui Baiquan was extremely startled. “I always believed that prince Duan has no skill in martial arts. Who would have imagined that he possesses such a refined, exquisite technique? The Duan family of Dali really lives up to its fame. Fortunately, I did not do a single bad thing during my time at the South-Subduing Palace. Otherwise, how could this old life of mine remained for so long?” The more he thought, the more nervous he grew, until his forehead and his clothes were soaked with sweat.

Jiumozhi fought with Duan Yu for a while. With each stroke, he was capable of taking Duan Yu’s life. However, he wanted to play around with Duan Yu for a bit. But towards the end, he felt less and less contempt towards Duan Yu. He felt that Duan Yu’s internal energy was exceedingly strong and vigorous, and definitely not below his own at all. But for some reason, once the energy was actually used by Duan Yu, the end result was not that impressive at all. It was akin to a three year old kid from an exceedingly rich family who owned tens of thousands of strings of cash, but was unable to use it properly. After throwing out a few more strokes, Jiumozhi’s heart was suddenly shaken. “What if in the future, he grows intelligent, suddenly learning how to properly use his abilities as well as the fundamentals of mart