Chapter 2806: The Nine Swords of Dugu and the Nine Heavens Palm

Alarmed, Zu An rushed forward to support her. Her hands were icy cold.

He immediately realized this was the backlash from cultivating the Ancient Tomb Sect’s Jade Maiden Heart Sutra. The Ancient Tomb Sect had a unique cultivation skill, but it came with a huge downside—the practitioner couldn’t feel extreme bouts of emotions. Otherwise, they risked cultivation deviation.

Zu An quickly supported Tingxue back to her room and channeled his inner energy to heal her.

Moments later, Tingxue regained consciousness. “Thank you.”

“There’s no need for thanks between us.”

Tingxue flashed him a faint smile before her eyelids drooped. “They might not be my real parents, but I couldn’t hold back my sorrow after witnessing their death.”

“Unlike plants, we’re born with hearts,” Zu An said wistfully. “Anyone would be shaken when witnessing a love that transcends even death.”

Tingxue looked dazed. “I may have been alone all this time, but I have never felt lonely. But now that they are dead, I don’t have anyone else in this world.”

“What do you mean by that? You still have friends like me, Firework, and Isabella,” Zu An hurriedly interjected.

Tingxue sighed. “I’d already be thankful if Firework didn’t provoke me.”

Zu An suddenly felt uncomfortable as he remembered what Firework had told him before they left Xianyang. He quickly changed the topic and said, “This will be tricky. Their deaths prove that our previous guesses are off.”

Most of their plans had been banking on Yang Guo. His death meant that there was no way for them to accomplish those plans anymore.

“That’s not necessarily so.” Tingxue picked up Yang Guo’s will. “Look at this...”

Zu An was so shaken up by Yang Guo’s death that he hadn’t read the latter half of the letter, which contained the martial arts Yang Guo left for his daughter. Other than the Ancient Tomb Sect’s martial arts, there were also the Nine Yin Manual, the Toad Skill, and most important of all, the Melancholic Palm.

Yang Guo was well aware that his Melancholic Palm was a unique martial art built on his yearning for his wife, so there was no way for him to impart it to others. Thus, he sought to create a new set of martial arts.

He was a unique individual who had inherited the skills of the Five Greats and grasped Dugu Qiubai and the Ancient Tomb Sect’s essences. His understanding of martial arts far surpassed that of any of the other Five Greats.

He'd thus put together the strengths of different experts to create a sword skill and a palm skill. He then named the sword skill the ‘Nine Swords of Dugu’ because the greatest influence behind the sword skill was Dugu Qiubai, and he didn’t want his invincible predecessor buried deep in the mountains to remain unknown. As for the palm strike, he'd named it the ‘Nine Heavens Palm’.

Unfortunately, due to Xiaolongnu’s abrupt death, he hadn’t completed the sword skill and the palm skill. However, he had completed a finger skill.

The finger skill had been inspired by Reverend Yideng’s Yiyang Finger, but Yang Guo had tapped into the unique traits of the Nine Yin Manual and the Ancient Tomb Sect’s soft inner energy to create the ‘Yiyin Finger’. It was nowhere as profound as the Nine Swords of Dugu and Nine Heavens Palm, but it would be enough for his daughter to protect herself.

Zu An was shocked beyond words. He absolutely hadn’t expected Yang Guo to be the creator of these martial arts. He'd thought it was a coincidence at first, but everything made sense. There had been much discussion about the origins of these martial arts, but indeed, Yang Guo was the most likely person to have created them.

That explained how Yang Dingtian had become unrivaled in the martial world, pummeling the Three Elders of Shaolin Temple until they didn’t dare to leave, even though his inner energy was only strong enough to grasp the fourth layer of the Great Cosmic Shift.

It was because the Nine Heavens Palm had the same origin as the Nine Swords of Dugu. It wasn’t reliant on one’s inner energy.

Tingxue spoke up. “There’s still a problem. These martial arts should have appeared in the future, but Yang Guo passed away before he could complete them. We’ll have to find a way around that.”

Zu An burst into laughter. “That isn’t a problem. Yes, Yang Guo might be the only one in this world who could have created these martial arts, but neither you nor I are from this world. How can we be stumped by something like this?”

Tingxue thought that made sense. With their vast knowledge, they could fill up the missing bits in the martial arts, and the final products would be more potent than what Yang Guo could have ever created.

“We can also easily circumvent Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu’s deaths—we just have to create another Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu.” Zu An’s eyes gleamed brightly as he thought of another plan.

“How do we do that?” Tingxue was confused.

“The Condor Hero was traveling around the world with a mask on, so most people don’t know what he looks like. All I have to do is to put on the same mask. You greatly resemble Xiaolongnu, so it shouldn’t be tough for you to impersonate her,” Zu An said as he dug out Yang Guo’s mask.

Tingxue blinked.

He wants to be my father, and I have to play my mother?

“This feels weird. Do we have to do this?”

“We have to. We transmigrated into this world assuming the identities of people who exist here. But there was next to no information about Guo Polu even in the original plotline. He vanished after Xianyang collapsed, with rumors that he had died in battle. It’d break the plotline if I continued my activities as Guo Polu, and that could lead to us failing the trial.

“It’s the same for you, too. We’re the only ones who know about Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu’s deaths. This is the perfect situation for us to assume their identities,” Zu An replied.

“All right.” Tingxue didn’t oppose this course of action.

The two of them began studying the incomplete Nine Swords of Dugu and Nine Heavens Palm. They had to concede that Yang Guo was extraordinarily talented to have created such profound martial arts in this world. These two martial arts had already surpassed this world’s ceiling.

It was fortunate that Zu An and Tingxue were experts from the Myriad Worlds, and they were both adept in swordsmanship. After days of studying, they eventually completed the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Tingxue remarked, “If someone intelligent learns this swordsmanship, they can exert formidable prowess even if they lack inner energy.”

Zu An was also satisfied with their work. However, he said, “The Nine Heavens Palm is slightly lacking. We specialize in swordsmanship, after all. If Firework were here, she could have done more with it.”

“You miss her?”

Zu An was startled by that question. He couldn’t believe such words could have come from that icy beauty.

Tingxue’s face reddened. She quickly changed the subject. “Don’t worry, the Nine Heavens Palm is only slightly inferior to the Nine Swords of Dugu. It’s more than enough for one to reign supreme in the martial world.”

Zu An agreed with her judgment. Unlike the more influential Nine Swords of Dugu, the only person known to wield the Nine Heavens Palm was Yang Dingtian. There was no need for them to fuss too much over it.

Zu An’s ears suddenly twitched. “Hm? I hear fighting sounds coming from the Quanzhen Sect. That’s weird.”

“Let’s take a look.”

The two of them snuck out of the ancient tomb and soon discovered members of the Quanzhen Sect pursuing fifteen daoists who were dressed in Quanzhen uniforms.

Is it infighting?

The ones being chased were at a huge numerical disadvantage. They would have been dead by now if not for a youth, who looked to be in his twenties, protecting them with his outstanding martial arts.

“Zhang Baojun, this is our Quanzhen Sect’s internal affair. Are you sure you want to get involved?” one of the pursuers roared in anger.

The youth calmly replied, “I’m only here to aid a friend. Not all Quanzhen disciples wish to pledge allegiance to the Mongols. You don’t need to go this far.”

Zu An was surprised.

This youth is a future legend of the martial world—Zhang Sanfeng

[1]

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1. In real life, Zhang Sanfeng is known as a legendary daoist credited with creating Tai Chi. In Jin Yong’s wuxiaverse, he appears in Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber as a head of the Wudang Sect. ☜