The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 382 Oh ho, Li Qiushui's photo album?!
In the dimly lit stone chamber, six huge crystal windows let in the hazy moonlight reflected in the lake outside.

The stone chamber thus became much brighter.

Xu Xingchen, holding the torch that was about to burn out, returned with Duan Yu to the jade statue standing with a sword at the door, and bent down to examine the shoes on the jade statue's feet.

Duan Yu leaned very close, and seemed to catch a faint fragrance emanating from the jade carving. A look of intoxication flashed across his face.

Xu Xingchen frowned slightly, glanced at the jade carving's face again, and thought to himself, "Although Li Canghai is as beautiful as a fairy, she shouldn't be able to bewitch Duan Yu like this; I think this kid is almost bewitched."

By the light of the torch, Duan Yu could see the words on the jade-carved shoes and read them aloud softly.

"Kowtowing a thousand times, to serve me!"

"I will obey your command, even unto death!"

The fragrance that Duan Yu caught grew stronger, his pupils dilated, and he slowly raised his head, gazing intently at the jade sculpture before him. He murmured to himself, "To meet the fairy sister here is the greatest blessing of my life."

"Kowtowing a thousand times is only natural, and obeying the commands of the fairy sister is something I could never ask for."

"If the Fairy Sister could come back to life, whatever she commands Duan Yu to do, Duan Yu, Duan Yu is willing to obey her orders, even if it means going through fire and water, he would never regret it."

As he spoke, Duan Yu's expression grew even more infatuated, and he actually knelt properly on the prayer mat and began to kowtow to the jade carving.

While kowtowing, he counted aloud: "One, two, three, four, five."

Xu Xingchen's expression gradually became solemn as he looked at Duan Yu, who was respectfully kowtowing.

puff!
The torch in his hand finally burned out, and the stone chamber suddenly became dark.

Xu Xingchen discarded the last crumbs, stood up, and did not stop Duan Yu, who was still respectfully kowtowing. Using the few drops of moonlight shining through the crystal window, she once again focused her attention on the jade carving in front of her.

The jade carving is dressed in flowing white robes, with her hair tied up in a bun and a red hairpin tucked into her temples. Her skin is as white as snow, and her eyes are as clear as water.

It seemed to be enveloped in a strange magic, making it even more lifelike.

Xu Xingchen's gaze swept back and forth between the jade carving and the kowtowing Duan Yu. Although he himself didn't feel anything, seeing Duan Yu's seemingly bewitched behavior, he felt that this jade carving must be extraordinary.

"Could it be that the Free and Unfettered Sect of this world can use miraculous techniques like the Soul Transfer Technique on jade carvings to deceive others?!"

Xu Xingchen's mind raced, and she circled the jade carving several times, but still couldn't find anything. She then assumed that Duan Yu and the jade carving had an inexplicable and tragic relationship, and stopped paying attention to it.

He began to wander around the stone chamber.

On the eastern stone wall, I saw some elegant and graceful characters, which contained some sentences from Zhuangzi, and at the end were the names of Xiaoyaozi and Li Qiushui.

Apart from these inscriptions, the stone chamber contained only some old tables, chairs, and benches, and nothing else.

Xu Xingchen glanced back at Duan Yu, who was still kowtowing earnestly, then passed through the west door and entered another stone chamber.

The stone chamber contains a stone bed, stone benches, and stone chairs. Next to the stone bed is an old cradle covered in dust.

Xu Xingchen stepped forward and looked around, smiled slightly, and thought to himself, "This should be the cradle where Li Qiushui's daughter, Wang Yuyan's mother, was when she was a child."

They then entered a stone chamber next to it.

The contents of this stone chamber were equally simple.

A guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) hangs on the wall, its surface dusty and its strings broken.

Beside the crystal window, there was a low wooden table with a Go board on it. The black and white stones were arranged densely, interlocking like dog teeth, seemingly engaged in a fierce battle.
Xu Xingchen stood to the side, watched for a long time, and couldn't help but shake her head.

This exquisite chess set possesses the same invisible magic as the jade sculpture, as if it can capture a person's mind and spirit.

But that little bit of magic was too little to have any effect on Xu Xingchen.

As for the famous Zhenlong Chess Game?

Xu Xingchen said she couldn't understand it at all.
Although he experienced four worlds, except for the first one where he devoted himself to scientific research in the laboratory, he focused his mind on martial arts research in the next three worlds.

He was practically clueless about music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Therefore, expecting him to solve this intricate chess puzzle is asking too much of him.

However, his mind wasn't on that.

Only after breaking through this intricate chess puzzle on Chessboard Mountain can one obtain the martial arts of the Xiaoyao Sect inherited from Xiaoyaozi. The puzzle is located in the stone chamber outside, so why should he bother to solve it?
—Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?!
Turning away from the chessboard, his gaze fell upon the words "Langhuan Paradise" written on another stone door. Although he knew it was empty, he couldn't help but walk over.

The stone chamber in Langhuan Paradise is quite spacious, with rows of wooden bookshelves placed against the mountain wall.

The bookshelf has rows of labels written on its horizontal and vertical stripes.

Xu Xingchen walked closer, looked at each of the slips of paper, and softly read the contents aloud.

Shaolin Temple

"Kunlun School"

"Qingcheng School of Sichuan"

"Shandong Penglai School"

"..." "Hmm! The Beggars' Sect is missing the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms."

"The Duan family of Dali is missing the One-Finger Divine Skill and the Six-Meridian Divine Sword."

"Shaolin Temple is missing the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic)."

The sects listed on the bookshelf labels are diverse and all-encompassing, even including the names of some martial arts families.

Xu Xingchen had never heard of most of the sects and families mentioned.

After quickly glancing at the labels, Xu Xingchen took a few steps back, looking at the rather large bookshelf in front of him, imagining what it used to look like when this bookshelf was filled with martial arts manuals from all over the world.
He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh; he was still too late!
But then he chuckled and said softly, "The martial arts manuals here were simply moved by Wang Yuyan's mother to the Wang family's small island in Taihu Lake near Suzhou. It's not like we won't have the opportunity to go and look at them in the future."

Thinking of this, he completely lost interest in the bookshelf in front of him. He wandered around the stone chambers, but couldn't find a way out, so he returned to where the jade carving was.

Duan Yu was still respectfully kowtowing there, his mouth already counting to over two hundred, still quite a while away from the number one thousand.

Xu Xingchen ignored him and soon found the stone steps leading in another direction outside the stone gate pointed to by the jade-carved longsword.

"These stone steps should be the way out."

Just as Xu Xingchen was about to step onto the stone steps to see the exit at the end, she suddenly heard a soft "click" sound.

He immediately turned around and saw Duan Yu still kowtowing there, unmoved.

A rectangular hole had appeared on the ground beside Duan Yu, and it seemed that a long, narrow object was inside.

Xu Xingchen came to Duan Yu's side and took out a long strip of objects from the pit in the ground. He saw that it was a roll wrapped in silk cloth and his heart couldn't help but stir.

She glanced again at Duan Yu, who was so engrossed in kowtowing, then walked to the crystal window. She saw that the light coming in from outside had changed from a dim silver to a hazy red, and knew that it was the early morning when the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Xu Xingchen looked down at the silk cloth in her hand and saw a few lines of neat characters written on it.

"Since you have kowtowed a thousand times, you shall serve me at my beck and call for the rest of your life without regret."

"This scroll contains the essence of the martial arts of my Free and Unfettered Sect. It must be practiced diligently every day at dawn, noon, and dusk. The slightest slackening will surely cause you distress and regret."

"Having mastered the divine skill, you may travel to the Langhuan Blessed Land to learn the martial arts of various schools and sects."

"Once I've completed my training and descended the mountain, I will slaughter every disciple of the Free and Unfettered Sect in the world."

After reading the words on the silk cloth, Xu Xingchen looked at Duan Yu, who was kowtowing, and shook her head, thinking to herself, "This world has indeed changed somewhat from the plot of the book that I know."

"If I tear open that small prayer mat directly, I will definitely not obtain the essence of the Free and Unfettered Sect's martial arts."

"And if the visitor does not sincerely kneel before the jade carving and kowtow more than two hundred times, the mechanism will not be activated."

"Luckily, I didn't act impulsively."

Xu Xingchen turned back and continued to focus her gaze on the scroll in her hand.

Unwrap the outer silk cloth to reveal the silk scroll inside. Gently pull it open, and you'll see four large characters written on the first line.

"Northern Darkness Divine Art"

The Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering" states: "North of the desolate land lies the Dark Sea, also known as the Heavenly Pool; there dwells a fish there, its breadth spanning thousands of miles, its length unknown."

"It is also said: If the water is not deep enough, it cannot support a large boat; but if you pour a cup of water onto a low-lying area, a mustard seed can float on it."

"Therefore, the primary principle of our school's martial arts is to accumulate internal energy; once internal energy is abundant, all martial arts in the world can be used to our advantage."

"Internal strength is fundamental; techniques are secondary."

Upon seeing this, Xu Xingchen suddenly had a thought: "If my master, Yue Buqun, saw these words about the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, he would probably agree wholeheartedly; it's just a pity that in the world of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, the laws of heaven and earth are loose, so the importance of internal energy is greatly reduced, and it has only been reduced to competing with sword techniques and martial arts."

Thinking of this, a hint of sadness flashed in Xu Xingchen's eyes. She quickly composed herself and turned her attention back to the scroll.

Pull it out a little further, and you'll see images of naked beauties on the scroll, their features exactly the same as the jade carvings in front of the stone gate.

However, compared to the solemnity of jade carvings, the beauty patterns on the scrolls reveal a charming and alluring demeanor.

Some have charming eyes, some have sorrowful eyes, some have a graceful smile, and some are captivatingly beautiful.
They come in all shapes and sizes, and are extremely tempting!

Although Xu Xingchen is a research scholar, in her youth in her first life, she and her roommates traveled extensively and broadened their horizons.

Therefore, the portraits of Li Qiushui on the scroll could not stir his heart or make him fantasize.

He calmly observed the movement paths on each body shape pattern, comparing the Northern Darkness Divine Art with the Star Absorbing Technique.

The more Xu Xingchen looked, the more he felt that the Northern Darkness Divine Art was far superior to the Star Absorbing Great Art in terms of its lofty conception and profound techniques.

The main reason is the different rules governing the universe in the two worlds.
The Northern Darkness Divine Art has thirty-six diagrams, representing how practitioners can absorb the internal energy of others through thirty-six acupoints throughout the body, which is extremely ingenious.

Xu Xingchen not only observed the path of the practice, but also pondered its meaning.

The rules of this world gradually unveiled themselves before Xu Xingchen's eyes!

(End of this chapter)