The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 373 Seeing Through the Truth and Deception
After the old monster entered, she didn't say anything. She just stood at the doorway, her eyes coldly scrutinizing Wu Chengyu from head to toe.

At this moment, Wu Chengyu was dressed in night clothes and her face was covered with a black veil. She did not recognize that this was the person who had followed Princess Yuzhu into the palace and was used as a demonstration prop to plant twelve life-and-death talismans.

Of course, at that time, Wu Chengyu was not taken seriously at all. She did not speak to Wu Chengyu from beginning to end. Apart from showing her disdain for Lei Datou's face at first glance, she never looked at him properly again.

Wu Chengyu was aware of the old monster's arrival, but he remained unmoved. He closed his eyes and reviewed all the martial arts techniques he had just memorized in his mind, making sure he hadn't missed anything.

The appearance of the old monster was normal. Just now, Wu Chengyu concealed his whereabouts and aura, and the old monster's body was about to collapse. He also suffered internal injuries and urgently needed to heal. Therefore, he could not detect Wu Chengyu's infiltration into the Remnant Dream Palace for the time being.

However, her internal injuries have been temporarily suppressed thanks to the palace maid's internal energy, and she has regained the perception that a master of the Innate Realm should have.

Wu Chengyu, meanwhile, was engrossed in the martial arts manuals on the walls of the side hall, no longer concealing his aura, and remained there for nearly two hours.

The Remnant Dream Palace wasn't large; apart from a few remaining palace maids, there were no other living people. If the old monster still couldn't discover Wu Chengyu's existence by now, then she really should die; living another moment would be a waste of air.

After a few breaths, Wu Chengyu let out a long breath, making sure he had memorized all the martial arts techniques, then opened his eyes, turned to look at the old monster, and gave him a sincere and genuine smile.

The martial arts manuals were all left behind by Li Qiushui, who was also the old monster's grandmother. Therefore, from a legal and moral standpoint, these martial arts manuals were indeed the old monster's private property. If you take someone else's things, you should at least be grateful.

"Thank you for your gift, senior. The martial arts of the Xiaoyao Sect are truly eye-opening and I have benefited greatly from them."

"Don't overthink it, junior. What good will it do you to see it? You'll die here soon anyway, and these martial arts skills will never be yours."

Wu Chengyu slowly removed the veil from his face. At that moment, his facial features changed instantly, revealing his true appearance, no longer resembling Jiayin Ge.

He still has those deep, exquisitely sculpted features, with delicate, fair skin, eyes like stars, and high, arched eyebrows. Paired with slightly upturned corners of his mouth, he is absolutely the top template for a pretty boy in this world, without a single flaw.

Sure enough, handsome men always have an advantage. The old monster's originally sharp and cold eyes softened considerably. It seems that this hundred-year-old monster is also a looks-obsessed person. I wonder how she could tolerate that ugly little monk Xuzhu back then.

"Now that I think about it, you should have arrived when I was absorbing that maid's internal energy. Instead of running away immediately, you were so audacious as to try to steal martial arts skills."

You are so young, yet you didn't faint after reading these secret manuals on the wall. This shows that your internal strength foundation is already extraordinary, far beyond that of an ordinary master. You are a rare martial arts genius. In addition, with your pitiful appearance, if it were a few years earlier, I might have taken you as my disciple.

However, your timing is off. Right now, I'm more interested in your inner strength. Your time has come.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old monster unleashed the Carefree Plum Blossom Hand, instantly appearing before Wu Chengyu. His palm stretched out, seemingly slow but actually fast, his fingers trembling slightly as he enveloped several major acupoints on Wu Chengyu's upper body, the powerful energy emanating from his fingers extending more than a foot.

Wu Chengyu retreated three steps to avoid the old monster's palm strike. The old monster then used the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to pursue Wu Chengyu at high speed. He unleashed several moves with the Xiaoyao Zhemei Shou (a martial arts technique), each move exquisite and graceful, like a dance, relentlessly chasing after Wu Chengyu.

The side hall was not large, so she could not fully utilize her Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique), while Wu Chengyu was able to fully utilize her lightness skill for the first time after entering Xixia.

His lightness skill was unparalleled in changing his body shape in a small range and accelerating at close range. Although he did not use the Shadow Clone Technique this time, he still made the old monster a step slower and unable to launch an effective attack.

After several moves, Wu Chengyu felt he had seen through some of the illusions and realities. He began to counterattack. He raised his hand and used the Murong family's Canhe Finger. The two finger forces condensed as if they were substantial, yet they were formless and shapeless. They pointed at the old monster's palm, and no matter how the old monster changed his palms, they hit the target exactly.

Caught off guard, the old monster was struck by two finger strikes and felt a tingling numbness in both palms. The mysterious and profound Free and Easy Plum Blossom Hand technique had actually been seen through by Wu Chengyu.

These moves were also used by Wu Qianyu when she fought Wu Chengyu, so as soon as the old monster used them, Wu Chengyu knew how to deal with them.

However, in terms of mastery of techniques and timing, the old monster was not much better than Wu Qianyu, except that his internal strength was far superior.

The Free and Easy Plum Blossom Hand, a palm technique that ranks at least among the top three in terms of exquisite moves in the world of Jin Yong's martial arts, was wasted in the hands of the old monster and could not unleash its full power.

If he were to deal with an ordinary expert, he would naturally have the upper hand. However, if he were to deal with a top expert or a master of the same level, such a person would be a veteran of countless battles. Even if the old monster possessed divine skills, he would not be able to gain the upper hand in terms of moves.

Techniques are static, but people are dynamic. No matter how skillful a technique is, one must consider the timing, distance, speed, angle, the amount of force applied, and even the range of body rotation before executing it. Only those who can do all these things are true masters.

But the old monster had clearly only practiced the moves to a very high level of proficiency and then mechanically executed them, relying entirely on the moves of the Free and Easy Plum Blossom Hand, without any of his own soul.

If she didn't use this special skill and only used the most common boxing techniques in the martial arts world, such as Taizu Changquan, she would probably be no better than an ordinary martial arts master.

Just like the flaws that appeared when the old monster fought the mummy, coupled with this firsthand experience, it's clear that the old monster's use of techniques is inversely proportional to her profound and immeasurable internal strength. Having confirmed this, Wu Chengyu launched a full-scale attack, giving the old monster a magnificent demonstration of how a true master should wield their power.

After being hit by the Canhe Finger, the old monster was startled and instinctively began to retreat, which was exactly the opportunity Wu Chengyu had been waiting for.

He first unleashed a powerful Demon-Subduing Fist, striking straight at the old monster's face. This punch was as straight and even as a spear thrust, powered by his legs, waist, and abdomen, as fast as thunder. The power was perfectly concentrated in his fist, delivering a thunderous strike.

With this punch, Wu Chengyu demonstrated how to seize the opportunity. The old monster was hit by the Canhe Finger, and his hands were numb and weak. He was about to retreat and dodge instinctively, but at this moment, his center of gravity shifted backward, and he was unable to launch an attack.

Wu Chengyu struck first when she was about to retreat, catching the old monster off guard. This demonstrates the importance of timing in a battle between masters.

He also demonstrated distance control during the battle. Wu Chengyu suddenly accelerated over a short distance and arrived in front of the old monster in an instant, but always maintained an arm's length distance, ensuring that his fist could just hit the old monster's face.

However, his arm span was much longer than the old monster's, and the old monster couldn't reach him at all when he reached out.

Of course, the old monster could use internal force to attack, but Wu Chengyu's timing was too good, and the old monster couldn't counterattack in time.

The old monster, severely lacking in combat awareness and experience, was somewhat bewildered and helpless as his body retreated.

However, just as his fist was about to strike the old monster, a resilient aura appeared around the old monster, making Wu Chengyu's fist feel as if it were hitting a swamp, unable to advance.

This is the protective aura possessed only by innate masters. Wu Chengyu may have the upper hand in terms of moves, but she cannot break through this protective aura. Even those two Canhe Finger strikes just now, which could have pierced through the old monster's palms, only caused her to suffer a slight loss.

This is the difference in realm between him and a master of innate level; it cannot be made up for by techniques.

This difference in their levels of understanding prevented Wu Chengyu from inflicting any real damage on the old monster, which was why he had always avoided direct confrontation with him – he knew he would ultimately lose.

However, Wu Chengyu reacted extremely quickly. His protective aura was an innate ability of the old monster, which automatically defended him when he was attacked.

Therefore, the stronger the internal force in his fist, the greater his resistance. In an instant, he withdrew all the internal force from his fist, and the strength of his protective aura immediately became weak.

At that moment, he changed his fist into a palm, without using any internal force, relying purely on the strength of his arm swing. He did not use his powerful physical strength, rendering the old monster's protective aura useless in an instant.

*Slap!* A loud slap resounded as Wu Chengyu delivered a solid blow to the old monster's face.

The slap left the old monster's face red and swollen, half of his face puffed up like a balloon, with Wu Chengyu's clear palm print on it.

The old monster was born a princess, later married Xu Zhu and became the mistress of Lingjiu Palace. In the past years, she has controlled the Western Xia royal family. When has she ever suffered such humiliation?

She was stunned at first, then became enraged and immediately chased after Wu Chengyu like a madwoman. At this time, she no longer used the Free and Easy Plum Blossom Hand, but instead used the fierce power of the Tianshan Six Yang Palms to attack Wu Chengyu, completely overwhelming him with brute force.

It has to be said that this is the best way for her to deal with Wu Chengyu: to use her profound internal strength to suppress Wu Chengyu and force him to use his lightness skill to dodge, making it impossible for him to gain an advantage in terms of moves. At the same time, Wu Chengyu's attacks will be blocked by the old monster's protective qi.

The two chased and fought, while the other ran around, darting about in the side hall. Soon, the martial arts manuals carved on the stone wall were smashed to pieces by the old monster's palm strikes, and it was impossible to make out what was originally carved on them.

The two exchanged blows for seven or eight rounds, neither able to gain the upper hand.

Just then, Wu Chengyu used his Shadow Clone Technique, and seven or eight shadows scattered in an instant. The old monster was startled and didn't know how to attack for a moment, so his moves gradually slowed down.

Wu Chengyu's figure finally appeared at the entrance of the side hall. Since continuing the fight would be pointless, he could escape at any time.

But at this moment, Wu Chengyu's expression was somewhat subtle. His technique of creating clones and shadows was easily seen through when he first encountered Hong Qigong. No matter how he changed, Hong Qigong could always lock onto his true form. This was the effect of the "Entering the Subtle Realm".

But the old monster was already at the Innate Realm, a level higher than Hong Qigong, yet he couldn't see through it?
"How did you manage to develop such skills? You haven't even reached the Subtle Realm, yet you've still managed to break through to the Innate Realm."

Furthermore, your grasp and application of techniques are far too crude; they are not at a level you should be at.

(End of this chapter)