Chapter 596: Dogfight
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The two who involved in the internal energy compet.i.tion were astonished for the same reason.
In the Western Regions, there were not many advanced internal energy training manuals. The Daoless Divine Power of Golden Roc Castle and several internal energy manuals of the Four n.o.ble Truths Temple were only highly admired and recommended by their own disciples. If they talked about it in front of the disciples of the famous sects in the Central Plains, what they got would definitely be a sneer of disdain. Therefore, the internal energy was far less attractive than the external martial arts skills like the Death Sutra Swordsmans.h.i.+p to the kung fu experts from the Central Plains.
Shangguan Fei had never been to the Central Plains. In the castle, everyone told him that the internal energy training method pa.s.sed down in the family was invincible. And he believed it. Later, when he made remarkable progress in the practice of the Three-in-One Power, he attributed it to the effect of the Daoless Divine Power and became more confident about it. In a word, the internal energy was the only thing he was proud of.
As a result, he didn’t expect that the internal energy of a small, thin, and unknown Taoist priest from the Jade Pure Sect of the Central Plains could be so profound and powerful that the first wave of internal Qi poured in with the force of a landslide and the power of a tidal wave, and had almost invaded and crushed his Dantian.
The Taoist priest was more surprised. In his view, the external martial arts skills of the Western Regions were somehow unique and worth learning from. As for the internal energy training method, they were just following suit from the Central Plains and not worth mentioning. He had recognized that Shangguan Fei was the young man who came to cure his Qi deviation last time so his internal energy couldn’t be very powerful.
But it was this nervous young man, who not only blocked a series of offensives he had exerted with all his might but also seemed to be able to fight back. And he had two different kinds of internal Qi, one yin and one yang, which was completely against the principle that a pract.i.tioner could only cultivate one type of internal energy.
The Taoist priest had heard of what the Dragon King was doing but had no idea of how the Three-in-One Power worked. It was not until he experienced it himself that he was bewilderedly amazed and muttered ‘impossible’ in his heart.
In the eyes of the outsiders, internal energy compet.i.tion was a very boring scene. Shangguan Fei occasionally moved a bit but the Taoist priest stood still like a sculpture. One could only see the touch of four palms and was totally unaware of the fierceness of the fight.
Shangguan Fei’s fatal drawback was his timidity. Once he found himself unable to defeat the enemy in an overwhelming manner, the idea of retreat would occupy his mind. But unlike ordinary kung fu compet.i.tion, one couldn’t use the unique skill like lightness skill to run away during the internal energy compet.i.tion. The only thing he could do was to try his best to protect himself.
Shangguan Fei felt that he was walking on the edge of a cliff and the only thing he wanted to say was ‘give up’, but the thought of the Dragon King behind him made him dare not to speak it out.
The Dragon King was like a combination of a stern father and a ruthless Master, Shangguan Fei felt fear as much as respect towards him. He was really afraid that the Dragon King would abandon him and he would not live another day by wandering alone in the crisis-ridden Jianghu.
‘A bit longer, hold on a bit longer, then admit defeat. Let the Dragon King try himself, then he will understand my difficulty.’
After setting a standard for giving up, Shangguan Fei became less nervous. Now he just wanted to take the defensive position in a down-to-earth manner instead of wanting to s.n.a.t.c.h a victory out of defeat.
All of a sudden, he found himself able to practice the Dragon King’s healing method.
The Taoist priest had kept his composure. Although the young man’s internal energy was unexpectedly powerful, it was still inferior to the internal energy he had diligently trained for decades. The young man’s internal energy was full of vigor only at the very beginning but soon ceased to be inactive which was obviously unsustainable.
The Taoist priest suddenly found something strange. Shangguan Fei had two strands of internal Qi which originally worked together to barely defend themselves against the enemy, but now the yin energy ‘defected’ and guided the Taoist priest’s internal Qi to attack the yang energy.
Wouldn’t that make him lose quicker? Puzzled, the Taoist priest could only think of one explanation that Shangguan Fei’s Qi deviation broke out. But soon he found he was wrong, his opponent, who had changed the strategy, not only didn’t break down, but also his yang energy became more refined instead of being dispersed, though it was gradually weakened under the internal and external attack. Its resistance increased as it retreated every inch in the meridians.
“Strange!” The Taoist priest couldn’t help crying out. He felt that he might have been tricked so he immediately adjusted his internal Qi to attack the yin energy that was ‘helping’ him.
Shangguan Fei strictly adhered to the method the Dragon King had taught him and adapted himself to the opponent’s change by turning his yin energy into a defensive position while using his yang energy to ‘help’ the external force.
This was the healing method Gu Shenwei thought of. He had been inspired by the Balanced Power handed down in the family.
Dual cultivation of the yin and yang energy was, after all, dangerous, so the Balanced Power focused more on safety rather than speed. The family inherited manual recorded lots of tricks about how to suppress the increase of power, which once puzzled Gu Shenwei a lot but now became a lifesaving trick to him.
With the Taoist priest’s internal energy, Shangguan Fei was slowly refining the two different internal Qi, making them purer and easier to fuse.
It was hard for Shangguan Fei to understand the truth, but he knew that the Dragon King’s method seemed to be effective. He could barely resist when he used the two strands of internal Qi, now he felt it much easier by ‘turning one of the Qi into a traitor’. The only price was that his internal Qi kept contracting in the meridians and if the enemy seized the moment to invade his Dantian, he would be maimed if not be killed.
Shangguan Fei was worried and indecisive, so was the Taoist priest. He had determined that his internal energy was being used by the enemy and therefore, wanted to take the chance to push forward to destroy Shangguan Fei’s Dantian. But he also wanted to break free from this eerie internal energy compet.i.tion while everything was still under control.
“Really strange.” The Taoist priest shouted again with a louder voice. Just while he was thinking, his internal energy had entangled with the enemy’s internal energy and it became more and more difficult to attack. That ‘defected’ Qi had revealed its true colors as a ‘spy’, which insidiously weakened its ‘allies’ while leading the way.
It was impossible to retreat now. No matter how he dealt with it, there would be a strand of internal Qi, either yin or yang, following to enter his body when he withdrew his own internal Qi, which would bring him great harm.
“How strange!” The Taoist priest’s cry became louder and louder, and instead of expressing his bewilderment at heart, he was actually asking his fellow disciples for help in a subtle way.
Shangguan Fei didn’t understand why the Taoist priest was screaming. The one who couldn’t bear it any longer was obviously he himself, why the Taoist priest cried out first before he did?
“I … I…” Shangguan Fei felt that he had persisted long enough, but wasn’t able to speak out the words ‘give up’. It was not that he felt ashamed but because the way the Dragon King taught him was too energy consuming and he couldn’t take a breath to speak it out.
Four Taoist priests walked out from different tents. Shangguan Fei had met one of them before so he became more anxious and timid. It wasn’t important about whether to admit defeat or not, he only hoped the Dragon King could save himself.
“What happened?” asked one of the Taoist priests who came out later.
“This kid … This kid … Just get me out of here.” The small Taoist priest complained inwardly that his fellow disciples were really inconsiderate. The four of them actually had time to ask questions when he was so anxious.
The four of them finally realized the problem. A tall Taoist priest acted first. With no intentions to hurt anyone, he stuck out his palms and pressed on the two, trying to peacefully separate them.
“Ehh, strange.” The tall Taoist priest also cried out.
He not only wasn’t able to separate the two who were competing internal energy but also got his own palms stuck to them.
The friendly-looking Taoist priest came forward. It was him who had negotiated with the Dragon King on behalf of the Jade Pure Sect and proposed a ten days deadline. “Shangguan Fei, what’re your motives for breaking into our camp at night? Where’s the Dragon King? Did he come with you?”
If he could speak, Shangguan Fei really wanted to beg for mercy while swearing. It was more and more difficult for him to direct those two strands of internal Qi coming from the Taoist priests. How could he have any ‘motives’?
The friendly-looking Taoist priest was more cautious. Seeing his two fellow disciples got stuck, he naturally didn’t want to act recklessly. He circled once around the three.
The tall Taoist priest was impatient and hot-tempered, he actually called out what Shangguan Fei wanted to say, “Dao Sheng, quick, help now, or I’m gonna swear!”
“No hurry, no hurry.” Dao Sheng didn’t get annoyed. “And we’ve agreed to not call each other’s Taoist name in the Norland.”
“Fxx … Come and help! The kid’s internal energy is really strange. It’s completely a mess. How can he be able to cultivate two different internal Qi? And it’s really strange that those two internal Qi are fighting each other … Ehh, why am I fighting with senior brother Dao Huo’s internal Qi? Being nervous, the tall Taoist priest called out everyone’s true ident.i.ty.”
Unconsciously, Shangguan Fei became more and more skillful with the Dragon King’s method. He not only could guide the external force to refine one of his internal Qi but also incited one Taoist priest’s internal Qi to suppress another.
The fourth Taoist priest who had a long beard came over and proposed the easiest solution, “Hold on, junior brothers. Let me get rid of this kid and you’ll be free.”
Although the tall Taoist priest just got entangled in the fight, he was the most impatient and immediately nodded to agree. “Do it now.”
The Taoist priest with a beard produced a dagger from his sleeve. With just a simple throw, he could end the tangle.
Shocked, Shangguan Fei almost lost control of his internal Qi. ‘Dragon King, Dragon King,’ he muttered the name over and over in his heart, placing all his hope on the Dragon King.
The one who saved Shangguan Fei’s life was not the Dragon King but Dao Sheng, “Wait a moment.”
“Wait fart!” The tall Taoist priest finally couldn’t help it and cursed, but immediately blushed and lowered his head to reproach himself.
Dao Sheng didn’t mind. He pointed to Shangguan Fei while speaking to his fellow disciples, “This kid is a genius. It’s a waste to kill him. Although our sect is rich in internal energy manuals, none of the manuals tell how to practice two different internal Qi, if we can take him back …”
The Taoist priest with a long beard came to his senses, “Right, do not kill him.”
The tall Taoist priest’s suppressed anger rose again. “Let’s talk about that later, pull him away now.”
The fifth Taoist priest looked courtly like a scholar and the youngest but seemed to have the highest position. “I’ll block his acupoints, junior brothers may retreat in time.”
“Good idea, senior brother.” The tall and the small Taoist priests praised at the same time.
Even Shangguan Fei was relieved. He had wanted to end this compet.i.tion long ago but suffered from the lack of a way out. He could afford to be struck the acupoints, at least he wouldn’t have to die.
Just at the moment, the Dragon King jumped out to make trouble. He didn’t show up when Shangguan Fei urged repeatedly at heart but appeared when everything was about to end.
Gu Shenwei didn’t want to let this compet.i.tion of internal energy end too early. Although Shangguan Fei had proved the method of ‘borrowing the internal energy to practice his own’ was feasible, he had to try it himself.
Gu Shenwei struck out at the genteel Taoist priest with one hand and simultaneously attacked the small Taoist priest with another hand. Meanwhile, he kicked at the Taoist priest with a long beard.
The four of them instantly entangled in the fight. Before the Taoist priests could react, their palms had touched the Dragon King’s body.
Gu Shenwei had practiced the Balanced Power before, so he was much more skillful than Shangguan Fei. In the blink of an eye, he had firmly controlled the three strands of internal Qi of the Taoist priests.
“Strange!” The Taoist priests shouted in unison.
Then they helplessly watched a figure flash into the camp and headed straight for where they had hidden the people.
There were many people in the camp but only the five of them were kung fu experts, all the others were supply servants who had honestly kept their heads down to avoid the trouble since they heard the noise outside.
“We’re fooled.” The tall Taoist priest cried out again but none of them could get away.
A moment later, the female officer Red Bat reappeared with a thing in her hand. Full of surprise, she said, “The instructor is not here.”
But Gu Shenwei could see clearly that the thing the Red Bat carried was Old Man Mu who had curled into a ball.