Li Muzhan remained motionless, observing solely with his Void Eye. Every movement and posture of the two combatants was clearly imprinted in his mind, ready for him to ponder and dissect later; witnessing such a high-level confrontation was immensely beneficial.
The pair battled from one end of the valley to the other. Wherever they passed, not a single blade of grass survived, as if giant beasts were demolishing everything in their path, sending stones flying and churning up earth and sand.
While observing, Li Muzhan simulated their exchanges in his mind. Confronting their techniques, he found their strikes and kicks exquisitely refined; he needed time to decipher each move.
Their techniques seemed endless, hundreds of exchanges passing without a single repetition, showcasing the profound depth and complexity of their martial arts.
Li Muzhan had to exert mental energy to deconstruct every move, but fortunately, the faster he proceeded, the quicker his analysis became; he was beginning to grasp the essential thread running through their martial lineage.
An hour later, Li Muzhan’s brow relaxed, a smile touching his lips. He could now instantly dismantle their sequences. Although their martial arts were intricate, he had found their spine, grasping the very essence.
The smile spread across Li Muzhan’s face. This observation had benefited him enormously, even more than sparring with a top master.
With a dull, thunderous thud, Li Muzhan’s eyebrows twitched; the two separated, glaring coldly at each other.
“Zhao San, hand over the manual!” the lean middle-aged man demanded coldly. “Or don’t blame me for showing no mercy!”
“He Lao Qi, you think you can snatch my manual with your skill? A joke!” the stout middle-aged man chuckled, shaking his head. “Go practice for another two years!”
The lean middle-aged man sneered, “If you don’t hand over the manual, I’ll risk my life to keep you here today!”
The stout middle-aged man smiled and shook his head again. “Why bother! ... He Lao Qi, you’re acting on behalf of your sect too. Why fight so hard? Just pretend you never saw me!”
“No way!” the lean man said coldly. “If you master the Soul-Melting Palm, our Huaqing Sect is doomed!”
“The Soul-Melting Palm is too obscure and difficult; I could never learn it,” the stout man dismissed with a wave of his hand.
“Hmph, I know the nature of your Mingjing Sect well enough?!” the lean man said coldly, stepping forward. “Are you giving it up or not?!”
“Sigh… He Lao Qi, I truly do not wish to kill you!” the stout man’s smile vanished as he sighed regretfully.
The lean middle-aged man scoffed, “With just you? You talk too big!”
Saying this, he thrust a punch. With a whistling whoosh, the fist print morphed into a small wolf, seeming utterly real as it lunged straight at the stout man.
With a bang, the stout man slapped the fist print apart, gracefully drifting away as he shot toward the valley exit.
The lean man sneered, transforming into a streak of shadow, chasing swiftly. He caught up to the stout man at the valley mouth, and they instantly became entangled in combat again, whirling into two tornadoes of fighting, exiting the valley together. They entered the forest, moving directly toward Li Muzhan’s position.
Li Muzhan frowned, instantly reappearing in the valley. He multitasked: the Void Eye continued to track the fighters, while his other senses scanned the valley floor.
He focused all his remaining awareness on his intuition, pushing its power to the maximum, sensing the surroundings through the unseen forces around him.
He finally stopped before the southern stone wall, extending both hands to feel over the moss-covered surface. Slick and velvety, his touch was keen, yet his expression remained unchanged as he meticulously explored every inch.
After about fifteen minutes, his hands paused, and a look of delight crossed his face. He gently pressed his right palm against the wall. With a crisp snap, a stone dropped, caught instantly by his left hand.
A small opening appeared in the rock face. Li Muzhan lightly shook his right hand, and the moss vanished, revealing the smooth stone once more. He reached into the small hole and retrieved a slim booklet.
The booklet was pale yellow, seemingly made of fine silk, yet Li Muzhan knew it was no ordinary cloth. It felt soft yet incredibly tough to the touch—likely impervious to blades or water or fire. If it could be fashioned into armor to protect the heart, it would be priceless.
Li Muzhan replaced the stone, shook his left hand to smooth it over, and then rapidly flipped through the pages, his Void Eye still focused on the distant fight.
The two were locked in a chaotic struggle, moving north, then south, suddenly west, then east again, drawing closer to the valley.
As they neared, Li Muzhan’s expression remained placid while his hands turned the booklet. It contained only nine pages, a combination of illustrations and text.
Li Muzhan found it difficult to memorize; each image and accompanying text carried a strange power, leaving his mind blank the moment his eyes left them.
Fortunately, Li Muzhan was experienced. He immediately entered the Heaven-Gazing Human Manifestation Diagram, using it to contemplate the nine pictures and writings.
Fifteen minutes passed, and Li Muzhan suddenly opened his eyes, rubbing his palms together. A faint, misty vapor rose, his palm energy transforming into pure Yang, several times hotter than a branding iron. Yet, the booklet did not turn to ash; it merely changed color.
Li Muzhan paused, frowning as he looked, then flipped through once more. His expression shifted again; there were nine different illustrations, slightly different from the first set.
Li Muzhan vanished instantly. The two fighters had already clashed back into the valley.
Li Muzhan reappeared in the prior grove of trees. He paid no further mind to the fighting, instantly entering the Heaven-Gazing Human Manifestation Scripture to visualize these nine images.
These nine diagrams were even harder to imprint. About half an hour later, he slowly awoke, chuckled softly, and placed his palms around the booklet again. An intense coldness radiated from his hands, causing a layer of white frost to form on the booklet. Immediately following, a scorching heat billowed out, the booklet flashed with a faint light, and then, with a bang, it dissolved into powder, softly drifting down.
Li Muzhan watched the powder scatter, letting out a long breath of relief. He floated out of the grove, moving south, then curving east, circling back to Moonlit City.
As for the life and death of the two from the Mingjing Sect and Huaqing Sect, he no longer cared. Having obtained the Soul-Melting Palm, he understood why it had such renown.
The version of the Soul-Melting Palm he had witnessed earlier was already exquisite, consisting of only eight palms, each one concise. Their brilliance was hidden, embodying great skill through apparent clumsiness; the deeper one's martial understanding, the more one appreciated the perfection of these eight palms.
More critically, the profound secret lay in the accompanying mental technique. The same internal force, when channeled through the Soul-Melting Palm, could unleash several times its power. The first palm was purely defensive, but the second could double the force, and the eighth could manifest eight times the power.
Each successive palm grew harder to master. The forms were simple; the difficulty lay entirely in the mental discipline, which became increasingly complex, requiring the internal force to cycle with incredible speed and demanding intense focus and long periods of preparation.
Regarding the eight additional diagrams that appeared after his palm scorched the manual, these transcended ordinary martial scope, delving into the application of the spirit.
This was the true Soul-Melting Palm: the seamless integration of spirit and internal force. A single strike directly targeted the opponent’s spirit, killing without visible injury.
Li Muzhan admired this inwardly. He had conceived of such an idea before, but putting it into practice proved too difficult; he had been unable to take that crucial step. The Soul-Melting Palm was far ahead of his own understanding.
One must never underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. He had believed himself original, only to find they had traveled a great distance already.
Everything he had learned in his previous life was insufficient in this world. Only the Void-Piercing Sword Intent and the Heaven-Gazing Human Manifestation Scripture remained abilities that would allow him to stand above the masses anywhere.
The latter eight forms of the Soul-Melting Palm could amplify spiritual power, similar in scope to the first eight palms—one focused on internal force, the other on the spirit.
Li Muzhan sighed. It was no wonder the stout elder could use this palm to infiltrate the Mingjing Sect. The Soul-Melting Palm was truly a peerless art, and to cultivate it, one needed the manual present, as it could not be memorized. Each practice required consulting the text.
He had destroyed the manual; he wondered if the stout elder could recall it. While he possessed the Heaven-Gazing Human Manifestation Scripture, others might have their own secret techniques.
For the next few days, he remained in Moonlit City, seemingly doing nothing different: sipping wine casually at Dengyun Tower, observing the city’s scenery. In reality, his mind was working on multiple levels, dissecting and comprehending the Soul-Melting Palm.
The Soul-Melting Palm was exquisite, but for the current Li Muzhan, mastering intricate martial forms was no longer the main hurdle. The true challenge lay in the mental discipline, which demanded the finest, most minute control over internal force, coupled with formidable spiritual strength.
Li Muzhan shook his head. Despite its marvels, the Soul-Melting Palm had a weakness: it only enhanced the application of internal force; it did not cultivate or increase the internal force itself.
The so-called mental technique was merely a method to transform internal force into palm power; it contained no method for increasing the core cultivation.
Its way of boosting strength was converting one part of internal force into two to eight parts. In contrast, other mental techniques focused on elevating internal force and increasing cultivation base.
Each approach had its merits and flaws. The Soul-Melting Palm offered instant results but was brutally hard to learn, requiring immense spiritual power and precise, microscopic control over internal energy—otherwise, forget about it.
The higher the level, the stricter the demands on spiritual power. Li Muzhan simulated it in his mind; he could only master six palms, the remaining two being beyond his current reach.
He had previously neglected spirit cultivation. However, with the Heaven-Gazing Human Manifestation Scripture, his progress would be rapid. With ruthless determination and a year of secluded practice, he could likely master all eight palms.
Of the other eight palms of the Soul-Melting Palm, he mastered two. The remaining six were far harder, requiring a purity of spiritual power even greater than that needed for the internal force palms.
These eight spiritual palms differed from the internal force ones. They were exceptionally effective at tempering the spirit, offering a path to refine spiritual power even without applying them in combat.
———— Li Muzhan never returned to the valley, decisively cutting off his curiosity, pretending he had never been there and sinking himself entirely into deciphering the Soul-Melting Palm.
After comprehending the first six palms, he did not rush the latter two. He knew that as his spirit was tempered, the final two would gradually fall into place, achieved naturally; rushing now was useless.
What concerned him now was integrating the Soul-Melting Palm's mental technique into his swordplay and his finger strikes. He simulated constantly in his mind, and already, he saw some results, his power greatly increased.
One morning, while sitting idly at Dengyun Tower, his senses alerted him. He tossed down a silver ingot, slowly left the tavern, and returned to a small courtyard at the east end of the city, vanishing instantly.
He materialized in the main hall of Tianyuan Pavilion. Long Jingyue and Bai Mingqiu were present, both clad in pale moon-white robes, sitting quietly. The hall was suffused with a heavy atmosphere.
As Li Muzhan appeared, the two women looked up.
Li Muzhan sat cross-legged opposite them and smiled. “Master, what has happened?”
“Sigh…” Long Jingyue shook her head. “It has finally arrived!”
Li Muzhan asked, “The Qinghe Sword Sect?”
“Yes.” Long Jingyue nodded. “A disciple from the Mu family’s Qinghe Sword Sect came, was injured by Qiu’er, and was killed on the road.”
Li Muzhan asked, “Who was the killer?”
“The Divine Fist Sect!” Long Jingyue said slowly.
Li Muzhan frowned. “Such audacity!”
Bai Mingqiu added, “But they pinned it on us. Since the person is dead, there is no evidence to the contrary.”
Li Muzhan inquired, “How long ago did they die?”
“Five or six days ago,” Bai Mingqiu replied. “The Qinghe Sword Sect has already sent people to Dongyang City.”
Li Muzhan shook his head; rescue was impossible now. “What do they want?”
“They demand we hand over the murderer,” Bai Mingqiu stated.
Li Muzhan turned to Long Jingyue. “Master, what is your thought?”
“Should I hand Qiu’er over?!” Long Jingyue retorted irritably.
Li Muzhan said, “I will go talk to the people from the Qinghe Sword Sect!”
“What are you going to do?!” Long Jingyue frowned. He was too daring, acting without restraint; if he went, a fight would surely erupt immediately.