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

Chapter 72 Secret Manual Phobia

While A-Ku enjoyed his meal, Wu Chengyu opened the wooden box given to him by Old Deng and took out all the secret manuals inside.

The wooden box was quite large, and more than two hundred manuals were piled up in it, making it look like a wholesale market. It's a pity that back then, besides the Azure Wave Palm Technique and the Yanqing Fist, Wu Chengyu only had the Tide Heart Method, which he gradually integrated and improved from bamboo slips. No, it should be called the Azure Wave Heart Method.

Now, there are over two hundred manuals, each averaging several thousand words, totaling at least seven or eight hundred thousand words—almost the length of a short online novel. Even just reading them without thinking, commenting, or criticizing would take at least a few days.

Unless you're like Wang Yuyan who only reads but doesn't practice, you'll end up like Murong Fu, practicing everything but mastering nothing, and ultimately wasting your own unique skills.

The key point is that the secret manuals in front of us are the result of Murong Yuan destroying most of them. For example, the Shaolin secret techniques, the compilation of the seventy-two Shaolin skills that Murong Bo gave to Kumārajīva is not here.

Of course, the claim of 72 Shaolin arts is pure boasting; they were never actually collected. Several top-tier Shaolin skills, such as the Yi Jin Jing, are missing, but it's still exaggerated enough.

When Wu Chengyu heard that all the secret manuals with traceable origins had been destroyed, he was somewhat disappointed. But now, seeing these before him, he felt fortunate that there were fewer of them; just looking at them was enough to satisfy his curiosity.

However, martial arts are not all the same. The original Huanshi Water Pavilion no longer contains most of the top-level martial arts techniques from other sects. Now that most of them have been destroyed, apart from the Murong family's martial arts, it's uncertain how much skill the remaining ones possess.

Wu Chengyu first carefully placed the three top-tier martial arts manuals, namely, Dou Zhuan Xing Yi, Can He Zhi, and Long Cheng Jian Fa, together with the Murong family's exclusive internal energy cultivation method, Long Cheng Xin Fa, and the martial arts of the four great generals.

The rest is about opening blind boxes.

Wu Chengyu first categorized these manuals by type: internal energy cultivation methods, external energy cultivation methods, fist, palm, finger, claw, and leg techniques, weapon techniques, hidden weapon techniques, light footwork techniques, and special techniques.

There are very few internal energy cultivation methods among them, only a dozen or so.

It's a pity that the vast majority of martial arts practitioners only practice external skills, such as the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

Some highly skilled individuals, or those with top-tier external martial arts skills, can generate internal energy by transforming external techniques into internal ones, such as Hong Qigong.

The rest of the people at most only have the most basic breathing techniques, and they have never even seen the appearance of any secret manuals in their entire lives, such as the disciples of martial arts families.

Wu Chengyu had more than ten kinds of internal energy cultivation methods that could be put into Huanshi Water Pavilion. Each of them had its own unique features, but none of them were at the level of divine skills.

The techniques with elements related to the Five Elements include the Everlasting Spring Technique of Green Wood, the Great Power of Thick Earth Technique, the Blazing Great Art, the Sharp Metal Battle Qi, and the Vast Misty Waves Technique.

There are Tiger Demon Divine Skill, Pine and Crane Longevity Method, Turtle Breathing Skill, and Wild Ox Mighty Technique, all inspired by animals.

There are also the Purple Mansion Elixir Scripture and the Nine Profound Great Method, which are of unknown origin from Taoism; the Great Arhat True Scripture, which comes from Buddhism but is not a Shaolin secret art; the Zombie Skill, which sounds like a skill that should be practiced by someone with the surname Yan; and the Plain Girl Skill, which is specifically practiced by women, etc.

None of them are top-tier internal skills, but the names are really good. Compared to the Ox and Horse Stance and the Turtle Sun Technique, they are like low-to-mid-range configurations with top-tier packaging.

Only one internal skill caught Wu Chengyu's attention. This skill, if mastered, could be considered a top-tier internal skill, at least not much worse than the Murong family's Dragon City Heart Method. Its name also seemed familiar: Mind, Intent, Qi, and Hunyuan Skill.

There are many internal martial arts called Hunyuan Gong. For example, Hunyuan Gong is one of the nine martial arts of Huashan in the Smiling, Proud Wanderer period, and it is second only to Zixia Divine Skill in Huashan Sect. This Hunyuan Gong of Mind, Intent, and Qi seems to be the ultimate skill of Cheng Kun, the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Unexpectedly, this internal martial art already existed in the Legend of the Condor Heroes period and was even included in the Huanshi Water Pavilion by the Murong family.

Wu Chengyu certainly wouldn't cultivate these internal skills, but they could be used as resources to integrate into his current cultivation method. Regardless of other factors, most of these internal skills have one or two hidden meridians. Some overlap, but they add up to quite a few.

There are over forty types of external martial arts body-strengthening techniques, with the skill levels dropping significantly. Iron Shirt, Golden Bell Cover, and Thirteen Bodyguards alone each have three or four versions. Other techniques include Rock-Solid Skill, Oil Hammer Top Infusion, Iron Arm Skill, Iron Head Skill, Iron Leg Skill, and Iron Crotch Skill.

For some reason, the Murong family also collected the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, but only the first five levels of the skill. The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was widely circulated in the Western Regions, and the manuals for the first five levels were easy to find, so it was not included in the list of items to be destroyed.

The most numerous techniques are fist, palm, finger, claw, and leg techniques, numbering in the hundreds. Wu Chengyu even saw the family's Yanqing Fist, which was even more complete than what he had learned, with an additional set of killing moves. He didn't know whether what the Wu family had learned had been lost or whether they had never learned it in the first place.

There were more than twenty kinds of hidden weapons, including various darts, death nails, and various techniques, which broadened Wu Chengyu's horizons.

There are more than fifty kinds of light footwork techniques, the most common of which are grass flying, wall running, eight-step cicada chasing, plum blossom stakes, backward stepping seven-star steps, and agile ape steps. The most superior one is called Crane Shadow Flowing Light, which is suspected to be the light footwork that Yun Zhonghe, one of the Four Evils, was good at.

There are more than thirty special types, not all of which are martial arts. They include Bone Shrinking Skill, Gecko Wall Climbing Skill, Breath Holding Skill, Disguise Technique, Sonic Skill, Yin-Yang Harmony Skill, and the Charming Maiden Yin Skill. There is also a very famous one, the Seven-String Invisible Sword.

After organizing all the martial arts techniques, Wu Chengyu finally breathed a sigh of relief; just organizing them once had already exhausted him.

For now, we will continue to cultivate our own internal skills. Only when we integrate the five hidden meridians of the Quanxing Cultivation Method into our internal skills will this method be considered complete.

The internal skills we have now can only serve as resources, and even those hidden meridians may not be able to be directly integrated into the mental cultivation method. There must be some choices to be made, and seeking perfection often means imperfection.

The only other martial arts technique that interests Wu Chengyu for the time being is the Crane Shadow Flowing Light technique, which he must master to the point of being able to escape at any time.

The first five levels of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill are definitely not as good as the Ox and Horse Stance, so I don't have the energy to practice them at the moment. I can only consider the other skills when I have more energy in the future.

Besides basic skills and internal energy cultivation, his primary focus right now is on practicing the Star Shift and the Finger of Union.

But leaving so many martial arts skills unused would be a waste. Wu Chengyu has a plan to improve the family's strength, but not now. Rashly revealing these skills would only attract the covetousness of others. Even if the atmosphere within the family is good, different people will have different tastes. You don't need many people to be envious; just one person can spoil the whole pot of soup.

Therefore, he dared not gamble on human nature anymore, nor could he afford to. Improving the family's strength was necessary, provided that his own martial arts skills could subdue the entire family and that he had absolute self-defense capabilities and a voice before he could begin to build the family's martial arts system.

The only thing I can give to the family right now is this complete version of Yan Qing Fist. It only has one more breathing technique than what the family practices, so it can't be considered an internal skill, and it also has that set of killing moves.

The family members all practice Yanqing Fist. Even if someone occasionally uses a few freehand killing moves, no outsiders will notice. Moreover, these moves are quite powerful and can enhance the family's combat strength to some extent.

Having thought this through, Wu Chengyu had already made up his mind. However, seeing so many martial arts techniques that he hadn't had time to practice, he felt a shameful sense of wasting resources. At this moment, he turned his gaze to A-Ku, who was still shaking his head.

This little chubby girl has gained weight again recently. How can this continue? As a responsible older brother, Wu Chengyu felt it was his duty to plan a path for A-Ku to become a martial arts heroine.

　My editor said yesterday that this book might be featured on Sanjiang Literature City, which is amazing. And it's supposed to be available next week, though the exact date is yet to be determined.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)