Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus spent an entire day practicing three-in-one Qigong. Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun were responsible for guarding outside. Shangguan Fei was invited to observe.
Shangguan Fei still held grudges for being forced to practice the manual before, but he was too scared to show that now. When he saw that the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were practicing the same way as he had, he felt much better. From time to time, he even made a few comments as a senior practitioner. However, there was one thing that he did not know —the Dragon King and Maid Lotus had made a lot of reparations to three-in-one Qigong, so it was now quite different from what he had practiced. These reparations had mainly involved the techniques of moving the Internal Strength, so there was no noticeable difference to the observer.
Gu Shenwei took the lead, with the assistance of Maid Lotus. Both were very careful. With the skills of New Moon Hall, Maid Lotus used her genuine Qi to guide Gu Shenwei. She poked her fingers here and there around Gu Shenwei’s body, or patted softly around his Dantian, using her Wayless Qigong to help him generate Sumeru Mustard Qi.
During the whole process, Gu Shenwei kept the basic rule of “Yin and Yang Strength” in his mind, practicing slowly but steadily. He kept his original Wayless Qigong under control, while focusing on producing Sumeru Mustard Qi.
This was an unusual way of practicing. Wayless Qigong and Sumeru Mustard were from different sects and had conflicting characteristics. The former was based on Taoism and emphasized a purely Yin approach. The latter originated from Buddhism and advocated Yang Qi. To integrate the two was like to force water to live with fire.
The manual of “Yin and Yang Strength” was like a bridge to link the two of them together.
The Internal Strength of the Gu family was also based on Taoism. It contained two different strengths of Yin and Yang, but they were practiced with different approaches from other manuals. Gu Shenwei removed the skill itself and only retained the coexistence of Yin and Yang. Under the guidance of Old Man Mu, he had also created a method to retain the two different Qi in his Dantian.
He hoped that one day he could completely integrate the two Qi using the sped-up technique of “Yin and Yang Strength”. If everything went well, he would be able to completely remove the hidden dangers of Qigong Deviation. But if anything went wrong, it would be suicide.
After an hour, the first Qi of Sumeru Mustard was successfully generated faster than Gu Shenwei had imagined. At the same time, the conflict between Sumeru Mustard and Wayless Qigong was also unexpectedly strong. He immediately stopped practicing. In the meantime, Maid Lotus sped up the input of her genuine Qi into Gu Shenwei’s body, not to generate his power, but to suppress the Wayless Qigong inside him. The purpose of this was so that it would not defeat the last little bit of genuine Qi that had just been generated.
This was the most important reason that three-in-one Qigong must be practiced with a partner. The confrontation of two different Qi in the Dantian was an inevitable instinctive opposing reaction, which was beyong the practitioner’s control and could only be mediated by an outside force.
It was a very uncomfortable experience, as if the whole body had been torn to pieces and then pieced back together, over and over again. Shangguan Fei had had a painful experience of this. He looked at the Dragon King with sympathy, feeling that his Qi was also reacting in his Dantian. He prayed in his heart, wishing the Dragon King would succeed so that he would also be saved.
It took an hour to produce the first genuine Qi, and nearly another two hours to retain it. At the end, both of them were sweating profusely.
Gu Shenwei made even faster progress than Shangguan Fei did. Both he and Maid Lotus were worried about this.
Shangguan Fei felt that it was suitable for him to talk now that the Dragon King stopped practicing. “Wow, you’ve made so much progress in such a short time. The Dragon King is indeed impressive. Well, have you found a way to stop Qigong Deviation?” he asked.
“Well,” began Gu Shenwei.
Shangguan Fei was exultant, but became disappointed when he heard what the Dragon King said next: “Endure, and then it will pass.”
The feeling of being hot and cold at the same time was hard to endure. Shangguan Fei would rather die than suffer from that inhumane pain again. He said with a sulking face, “The Dragon King can bear the pain, but I can’t. That’s… that’s like an endless cycle of being beaten half dead and then coming back to life.”
“Come and help,” Maid Lotus ordered, as if she had not heard the complaint from Shangguan Fei.
“Help?” Shangguan Fei asked. He had an ominous feeling.
“What do you think you’re here for?” she asked.
“I thought…” Shangguan Fei began, but did not know what to say. He was still hoping that he would only need to provide verbal help.
But he was so scared of Maid Lotus that he did not dare to stay still, so he slowly walked to the Dragon King.
“Come to me,” Maid Lotus said harshly. Shangguan Fei had to force himself to move towards her with heavy steps, as if his feet were attached to heavy stones and every step needed a great effort.
“Dragon King, I have been hiding it from my sister. I never told her that you forced me to practice the kung fu. You… you have to remember that,” Shangguan Fei said, still not knowing that his sister had disappeared. In the past few days, he had been only thinking about himself.
Maid Lotus did not care what he had to say. She poked on Shangguan Fei’s lower belly with one finger, and input a strong Qi.
Shangguan Fei had been too slack in practicing the kung fu. With the same Wayless Qigong, plus an extra few months of Sumeru Mustard, he was still far worse than Maid Lotus in terms of skills. He did not even dare to implement his fierce fist position. Even if he had dared, he would not have had enough time to use it.
He felt like the temperature plummeted — as if it had changed from a hot summer to a cold winter. Shangguan Fei had barely cried out before he fell into unconsciousness. That was not bad for him, since there was be no pain in being unconscious.
Maid Lotus was still very weak. She wobbled after the poking. “It’s different,” she said.
She meant the two genuine Qi inside Gu Shenwei was different from those inside Shangguan Fei. After thinking about it for a while, she explained, “The two different Qi are entangled in him, while yours are distinct from each other.”
“It’s because my genuine Qi is too weak,” said Gu Shenwei.
“That might be the reason, but I think the repairs we made are effective. Shangguan Fei’s genuine Qi was not pure enough from the beginning, and there were signs of entanglement with Wayless Qigong at an early stage with him,” said Maid Lotus.
Gu Shenwei’s next task was to strictly control the Sumeru Mustard Qi, making it more pure, and preventing it from growing too fast.
“It’s your turn to practice,” Gu Shenwei said, keeping his promise and offering to help Maid Lotus practice.
“No hurry. You need to rest,” she replied.
Gu Shenwei shook his head. He did not need a break. He needed more time.
They each sat for a moment, exerting their Internal Strength to heal and restore their strength.
Gu Shenwei’s kung fu was relatively pure. He had never learned to input genuine Qi into the other person by poking. So he sat on the chair, putting his hands on Maid Lotus’s belly to input his genuine Qi into her.
It was the first time they had been so close to each other since their reunion.
For a moment, Gu Shenwei was embarrassed. He could feel her warm and smooth skin under her clothes. He lowered his eyes to avoid eye contact with her.
Maid Lotus had undergone two completely different trainings from Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall. In Golden Roc Fort, she had to regard herself as a man, senseless to any touch of the body, which she only made use of when necessary. At New Moon Hall, she had to learn how to increase the sensitivity of her body.
The purpose of both kinds of training was to regard her body as a foreign object. She had to learn to tame it and use it until it became a weapon as sharp as a sword.
Maid Lotus had long been able to handle it with ease.
Gu Shenwei quickly managed to control his mind, too, focusing on inputting his genuine Qi.
Surprisingly, Maid Lotus could not produce Sumeru Mustard Qi. An hour passed, and she had made no progress, with only Wayless Qigong in her Dantian.
Not only that, but the original Qi inside her body was also constrained and she could not control it as much as before.
Gu Shenwei could feel her skin under his palms becoming hotter and hotter. Her breathing became more and more rapid, as if something in her body was going to leap out.
He retracted his genuine Qi and removed his hands from her belly. “Let’s call it a day and try again tomorrow,” he said.
Maid Lotus did not speak. Gu Shenwei raised his head to check on her. Her cheeks were as red as the freshest roses, and there were confusion, pain and madness in her eyes.
He had seen her charms before, but never like this. A simple glimpse made his heart beat like a little beast. The beast had been leashed firmly all this time, but now was struggling to break free.
Eye to eye, they wished they could forget everything and stay in this moment.
However, they were both true killers — calm and ruthless killers. The eye contact lasted only a moment before both of them turned their heads at the same time to look at Shangguan Fei, who had come back to his senses.
The rosiness on Maid Lotus’s cheeks quickly disappeared.
“I just woke up,” Shangguan Fei said, emphasizing the word “just” with a scared face. He even forgot the residual pain of the Qigong Deviation.
He did not want to see or know any secrets. Secrets were curses, and he wanted to stay away from them.
The look on the Dragon King and Maid Lotus’s faces were both scary. One was gloomy, the other was cold, but both were ruthless. He knew they could both take a life as easily as taking a breath.
Shangguan Fei barely squeezed out a smile and said,”Do you still need me? Please help yourself.”
“You can leave,” said Maid Lotus.
Shangguan Fei was so glad to hear those three words that he almost cried. He immediately stood up and said, “Call me when you need me.” Before the last word came out of his mouth, he was already outside the tent.
There was still a bit embarrassment between the two. Maid Lotus took a step back. Gu Shenwei stood up and walked to the table as if he was going to organize the objects on it. Suddenly he figured it out. “I’ve got it,” he said.
“What?” Maid Lotus asked, for she could not fathom the Dragon King’s thoughts at that time.
“I had my meridians opened up in the Joy Pavilion. That’s why I could produce genuine Qi in such a short time,” he explained.
The method of increasing the internal strength in the Joy Pavilion was extremely peculiar. Dozens of people sat in the teahouse and drank a bitter, nourishing tea while listening to percussion sounds made by Immortal Peng upstairs with his crutch. In the process, the meridians were opened up so that genuine Qi could flow through more rapidly, and one’s power could be increased at a faster rate.
“If that’s the reason, then I don’t have to worry,” Maid Lotus said, as she knew about the experience of Gu Shenwei in the Joy Pavilion and understood what he meant.
The two were silent for a while, and then a voice came from outside and said, “Dragon King, can I come in?”
Maid Lotus walked to the corner, almost becoming invisible. Fang Wenshi came in and did not even notice her. “Dragon King, are you by yourself? I have important news,” he said.
Fang Wenshi looked very excited. He had collected a lot of information that day. He was sure the Dragon King would be pleased.
“Speak,” said Gu Shenwei.
The Dragon King was as expressionless as usual, but Fang Wenshi was used to it. “Kuo Zhen confessed. I don’t know what Senior Shou did, but Kuo Zhen told everything. Although he doesn’t know much, we can guess King Kuari’s plans through speculation,” he said.
Fang Wenshi paused, waiting for the Dragon King to ask questions. But the Dragon King just listened, so he continued, “Norland troops are not being mobilized the same way as the Central Plain and the Western Region’s troops. The Norland soldiers only listen to the Army Commander or his kin, and they have to give the orders to the troops in person. A seal or decree won’t work.”
Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King firmly, eyes shining. “King Kuari is going to mobilize the troops for a rebellion,” he said.
