The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 18

Jiang Ning felt a chill even before entering the tomb chamber.

The chill was emanating from the coffin.

Jiang Ning approached the coffin and reached out to touch it, feeling a bone-chilling coldness return to him.

It turns out this is a coffin made of ice.

This icy coffin is made of some kind of ice, yet it hasn't melted after all these years; it's clearly a treasure.

"excuse me."

After saying a few words, Jiang Ning went to the edge of the coffin and began to push it.

Jiang Ning pushed open the ice panel that had been closed and never opened before.

A body lay quietly in an ice coffin.

By the faint light of the tinderbox, Jiang Ning discovered that it was a female corpse.

The female corpse was stunningly beautiful, dressed in bright red. Her hands were folded over her abdomen as she lay quietly in the ice coffin, seemingly asleep. However, her skin was pale, and there were even ice beads on her eyelashes, all indicating that she was dead.

The female corpse had a sorrowful expression on her face. Even though her eyes were closed and she was no longer breathing, she still seemed to be grieving. It is unknown what she had experienced in her life that made her so sorrowful before her death.

Jiang Ning looked around the space inside the ice coffin and noticed that the female corpse was holding a scroll in her hand and had an oval-shaped object about the size of a palm next to her feet. He didn't know what it was.

When Jiang Ning brought the tinderbox closer, he realized it was a tortoise shell.

Jiang Ning frowned and took the scroll that the female corpse was clutching and the tortoise shell in the corner of the ice coffin out of the coffin.

The first thing he examined was the painting.

The female corpse was buried in the Ancient Tomb Sect's territory, so she must have been a member of the Ancient Tomb Sect. She kept this scroll in her hands even in death, so it must have been something very important, perhaps a martial arts manual.

However, when Jiang Ning unfurled the scroll, he discovered that it was not a martial arts manual, but a portrait of a man.

The man in the portrait is handsome and refined. Even though it is just a portrait, you can feel his otherworldly demeanor, which shows that the painter has a high level of skill.

The words "Wang Chongyang" are written in the corner of this portrait.

Upon seeing these three words, Jiang Ning couldn't help but turn around and glance at the female corpse in the ice coffin.

Lin Chaoying...

It turns out she was the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning shook his head, closed the scroll in his hand, and then looked at the tortoise shell in his hand.

The tortoise shell wasn't large and didn't look particularly special, but when Jiang Ning touched it, he could feel the dense markings on it.

Jiang Ning held the tortoise shell up to his eyes and examined it closely. He found that it was covered with small characters, but because the light was too dim, he could not see what the characters were. He could only see three slightly larger characters on the edge of the tortoise shell.

"Innate Skill".

Chapter 31: Success

When Jiang Ning saw these three words, his heart skipped a beat. Fearing he had misread them, he looked at them several times and confirmed that they were exactly as he remembered them.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Jiang Ning was overjoyed, and an indescribable excitement spread through his heart.

Perhaps it was the spirits of the ancestors of the Huashan Sect in heaven, or perhaps it was the spirit of Wang Chongyang in heaven, but although Jiang Ning's search was not very difficult, he still found it as he wished.

This joy made him want to burst into laughter.

But Jiang Ning managed to restrain himself at this moment.

Suppressing his inner joy, Jiang Ning looked at Lin Chaoying in the ice coffin.

This is also a poor man.

After thinking about the love and hatred between Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang, Jiang Ning closed the scroll in his hand again, then put it back in the corpse's hand, and then closed the ice coffin.

Looking at the ice coffin, Jiang Ning paused for a moment, then knelt and kowtowed three times before it without saying a word, before getting up and leaving the tomb.

Having achieved his purpose, he planned to leave.

However, since he was already there, he still searched the other tomb chambers to see if he could find any of the Ancient Tomb Sect's martial arts techniques.

With this in mind, Jiang Ning went to the three tomb doors without passages again to examine them carefully, but found that they still couldn't be opened. Even when he slashed at them with his sword, they didn't budge or leave any marks. Jiang Ning had no choice but to give up.

He then went to the other three tomb chambers to take another look and searched them carefully. In any case, apart from a bell tied with gold silk in the drawer of the wooden dressing table, there was nothing else.

After confirming that nothing was missing, Jiang Ning went back the way he came, and by then his tinderbox was almost used up.

Returning to the hole he had jumped into, Jiang Ning took a deep breath, then pulled the ring on the stone wall. A tremor came from above, and the entrance reopened. Taking advantage of the moment when the rushing water was not too fast, Jiang Ning darted upwards and returned to the bottom of the pool.

He found the circular mechanism at the bottom of the pool, closed the tombstone, and then swam towards the shore.

"call!"

Jiang Ning swam to the surface and took a long breath, clutching a turtle shell tightly in his hand. Looking at the turtle shell he had brought out from the ancient tomb, a strong sense of joy appeared on Jiang Ning's face.

Maodou was still waiting for him by the pond.

Jiang Ning swam towards the shore.

After getting ashore, Jiang Ning didn't even have time to change his clothes, which were already soaked. He just wiped the water off his face and looked at the turtle shell in his hand with a little excitement.

The small characters on the tortoise shell were not obvious inside the tomb, but Jiang Ning could see them clearly after they were brought into the sunlight.

"The Innate Skill is the supreme divine skill of our Taoist sect..."

Upon seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile, and the smile grew wider and wider until he burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Our Huashan Sect shall rise to prominence!"

Even with Jiang Ning's composure, he couldn't suppress the joy in his heart at this moment.

With the Innate Skill, the supreme Taoist martial art, the Huashan Sect truly had a chance to rise to prominence, a chance to rival Wudang and Shaolin, or even surpass them, to become the number one sect in the world.

Although Wudang's Tai Chi swordplay and Shaolin's Yi Jin Jing are top-tier martial arts that have been famous in the martial arts world for hundreds of years, and the Taoist Xiantian Gong only showed its power with Wang Chongyang before being lost, as a Taoist treasure, Xiantian Gong, even if it is not as good as Wudang's Tai Chi and Shaolin's Yi Jin Jing, is not much weaker.

Jiang Ning gripped the tortoise shell tightly in his hand, as if he were holding the future fate of the Huashan Sect in his grasp.

"hold head high?"

Maodou looked at its owner's expression and barked in confusion, wondering what its owner was so happy about.

After glancing at the edamame, Jiang Ning's joy subsided slightly, and he continued to look at the small characters on the tortoise shell.

"This technique is best practiced by those with a pure Yang body. Those without a pure Yang body will progress slowly and will need to use internal energy to assist in their cultivation..."

Upon seeing this sentence, Jiang Ning's joyful expression faded slightly.

The Innate Skill is a Taoist practice. According to Taoist teachings, a pure Yang body is equivalent to a virgin body, which Jiang Ning can satisfy.

He's a virgin!

What made him hesitate was that Yue Buqun was almost sixty years old and no longer a virgin.

Even if Yue Buqun were to practice the Innate Skill with the same determination he had shown for practicing the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual, his progress would be very slow at first, and he wouldn't be able to improve his strength in a short period of time.

However, after thinking about it, Jiang Ning felt that it wasn't a big problem. Although it was a bit slow, it was better than being a eunuch, wasn't it?

In any case, Yue Buqun has already obtained the lost sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, which has greatly improved his strength.

Jiang Ning looked at the words and saw that the next part was the cultivation method of the Innate Skill. He read it carefully and memorized the cultivation formula. Then he put the tortoise shell on the ground and changed his clothes, which were already soaked.

I wonder how long this tortoise shell has been passed down, and whether those words were carved by Wang Chongyang. When Jiang Ning held it just now, he found it to be very hard, like steel. I wonder what kind of tortoise it was when it was alive.

After taking out other clothes from the bag, Jiang Ning changed out of his own clothes, and then took out a bell wrapped in gold silk from his soaked clothes.

He found the bell in the dressing table, not knowing its purpose, but figuring it must be something from the Ancient Tomb Sect, so Jiang Ning took it with him.

The gold silk was of excellent quality; it hadn't become fibrous even after being in the ancient tomb for so many years. Jiang Ning pulled it hard and found that it was also quite resilient.

Jiang Ning patted Maodou's head and said with a smile, "Here's a gift for you."

"hold head high?"

Maodou stared at the bell in Jiang Ning's hand with wide, bright eyes, full of curiosity.

Jiang Ning tied a bell around its neck. As Maodou shook its head, the bell rang clearly, which made Maodou shake its head even faster, as if it were playing with a fun toy.

"Hahaha."

Seeing its comical appearance, Jiang Ning couldn't help but laugh.

He wasn't originally a cold person, but when he first opened his eyes upon arriving in this world, he saw the bandit's knife about to strike. If Yue Buqun hadn't saved him in time, he probably would have had to say goodbye to this world right after arriving.

Knowing that Yue Buqun was the one who saved him, and knowing the future fate of the Huashan Sect and Yue Buqun, Jiang Ning felt a sense of urgency. This urgency compelled him to cultivate diligently, all so that he could contribute his own strength.

Yue Buqun saved him, raised him, and taught him martial arts without asking for anything in return. He treated Yue Buqun like his own son. Jiang Ning didn't know how to repay this kindness, so he could only give back to Yue Buqun with everything he had.

Chapter 32: The Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties

Having obtained the Innate Skill, Jiang Ning had already achieved his main purpose for descending the mountain, and there was no need for him to stay in Zhongnan Mountain any longer. Jiang Ning led Maodou down the mountain along the path they had come from.

However, after passing through a mountain road, Jiang Ning unexpectedly saw the man he had seen before again. This time, he was crying in front of a grave mound, his voice rising and falling in a rhythmic manner.

"My goodness! Brother Ziyan!"

Jiang Ning didn't look at it for long and continued down the mountain.

Having already obtained the Innate Skill, Jiang Ning wanted to return to Mount Hua to give it to Yue Buqun. However, he immediately remembered that nearly half a month had passed, and Yue Buqun and the other Mount Hua disciples were probably already on their way to Xiangyang. At this time, there would be no one on Mount Hua, so there would be no use for him to go back.

Since it's a rare opportunity to come down the mountain, why not travel around, gain experience, and see what the world is like?

Jiang Ning planned to go to Xi'an first, as this big city was the closest to him, only a few dozen miles away. It was only noon now, and he would arrive in Xi'an in the afternoon.

First, go to Xi'an, then go to Xiangyang to meet up with Master Yue Buqun and his wife Ning Zhongze. After passing on the Innate Skill to Yue Buqun, go on training, and then visit the Qingcheng Sect in Sichuan.

"Walk."

After descending the mountain, Jiang Ning sat on Maodou's back, patted its head, and said...

Maodou's eyes lit up immediately.

For the past few days, it had been watching Jiang Ning go in and out of the pool, wondering what he was doing. It was getting really bored. But when it heard Jiang Ning's words, it bared its big teeth and started running wildly, the bell around its neck ringing out clearly.

Sitting on Maodou's back, Jiang Ning's eyes shone even brighter than before.

Xi'an.

Originally named Chang'an, it served as the capital of six dynasties: Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han, Jin, Sui, and Tang. It boasts a long history. However, starting from the Yuan Dynasty, the capital was no longer located here, and Chang'an became an ordinary city. In the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Xi'an, and it remains so to this day.

Even so, this ancient city remains one of the four ancient capitals and is very famous. Even during the Ming Dynasty, it was very prosperous.

This is Jiang Ning's first time visiting Xi'an. The Xi'an city wall is very magnificent. Only after entering the city did he realize how prosperous this ancient city is.

The place was bustling with noise and traffic. A series of clamorous sounds filled the air. As far as the eye could see, one after another, antique-style buildings stretched out in an endless line. The streets were filled with a lively crowd of people, including martial arts practitioners, scholars, peddlers, and all sorts of people.

"Make way, you're blocking the way."

A slightly arrogant voice came from behind Jiang Ning. He turned around and saw a richly dressed young man speaking to him, followed by several male servants.

The men were originally going to push Jiang Ning away, but the young nobleman stopped them. He saw the sword hanging on Maodou's body and knew that Jiang Ning was a member of the martial arts world.

When he was out and about, his father had warned him not to be too arrogant if he encountered these江湖人 (jianghu people), as they were all desperate criminals. The young man had taken his advice to heart.

Jiang Ning glanced at him, then led Maodou aside. He planned to go to the clothing store to buy a piece of clothing first.

Although the cloth clothes he had bought before were well-made, two of them were torn while exploring the bottom of the pool.

"Ah."

Seeing Jiang Ning's actions, the young man chuckled and then swaggered past.

Jiang Ning looked at him, then at the people on the street. Some of them were dressed in rough cloth and had sallow complexions, which contrasted sharply with the luxurious silks on this man's clothes.

No wonder there are always people who want to rob the rich to help the poor. Jiang Ning wanted to teach this young man a lesson for his arrogance.

However, this person was just a bit rude, and he was indeed blocking the way, so Jiang Ning had no intention of teaching him a lesson.

Having acquired overwhelming military power that is difficult for the world to control, one's ego gradually swells. The slightest displeasure becomes unbearable, and one wants to do whatever one pleases. What one can control is good, and what one cannot control is evil.

Those who possess violence are strong; those who know how to control violence are powerful.