Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 235 The Three Great Divine Skills of Freedom
Jiang Mingzhe recalled the original novel's plot: the three great martial arts of the Free and Unfettered Sect were each practiced by one of the three elders of the sect.
Tianshan Tonglao is the eldest sister, whose main practice is the Longevity and Immortality Technique.

Wu Yazi's second senior brother, who mainly cultivates the Northern Darkness Divine Art.

Li Qiushui is the third oldest, and she mainly practices the Lesser Formless Skill.

These three skills appear to be vastly different—

The Everlasting Spring Skill allows one to rejuvenate every thirty years; the Northern Darkness Divine Skill can absorb other people's abilities and convert them into one's own; the Lesser Formless Skill is peaceful in nature and can be used to activate any ultimate technique at will.

However, Jiang Mingzhe had read the original work and personally practiced the Beiming Divine Skill, so he knew that these three internal skills had many similarities.

For example, the characteristics of the Lesser Formless Skill are highly similar to the Northern Darkness True Qi that is absorbed and transformed by the Northern Darkness Divine Skill.

The original text also mentions that Tianshan Tonglao passed on a portion of Changchun Gong to Wuyazi, and the internal energy that Wuyazi passed on to Xuzhu also contained traces of Xiaowuxiang Gong.

It is evident that the internal energy cultivated through these three martial arts is highly compatible, and may even be the same type of internal energy.

In the original novel, during the final battle between Tong Lao and Li Qiushui, the two used Xu Zhu's body to compete in internal energy. In the end, their internal energy merged with Xu Zhu's own and all of it belonged to Xu Zhu, making this point very clear.

"The three of them have the same source of internal energy, and their nature is the same, making them very easy to merge."

Having figured this out, Jiang Mingzhe roughly guessed the secrets of these martial arts techniques!
According to the original text, the Longevity and Everlasting Spring Skill was not created by the founder Xiaoyaozi, but was obtained from the Valley of Longevity and Everlasting Spring.

In the Valley of Immortality, there is not only this miraculous book that "teachs people how to live forever," but also a spring that, when drunk, can preserve youth forever.

After losing the miraculous book, the inhabitants of the valley could still remain young by relying on the spring water, but as soon as they left the valley, their black hair turned white, their backs became hunched, and they died of old age quickly within a few days.

This is mostly because the effects of this spring water are only noticeable when consumed regularly; if you don't drink it for a few days, you will age rapidly.

So, what if there are no books but a spring, it's hard to leave the valley? And what if there are no springs but books?
Jiang Mingzhe guessed that the techniques recorded in the book probably also required that magical spring water as a guide to be effective.

In other words, those who have drunk from the spring water can avoid the drawbacks of the spring water becoming ineffective if they cultivate according to the method.

Tong Lao was the oldest of the three elders of Xiaoyao. She started practicing the Longevity and Immortality Skill at the age of six. It is very possible that she drank the spring water brought out by Xiaoyaozi, or even entered the Valley of Longevity with Xiaoyaozi.

This spring water must contain some kind of extremely strong life energy.

Just like how the Child Granny, every thirty years, would dissipate her powers and rebuild her cultivation, she would drink the blood of animals with strong spirituality, such as deer, cranes, or humans.

Ding Chunqiu, who had acquired part of the martial arts technique, relied on large amounts of toxins to sustain his energy expenditure over a long period.

But blood and toxins are different from spring water.

Therefore, without the assistance of spring water or its guiding properties, the Longevity Technique is unlikely to achieve true mastery.

Perhaps for this reason, Xiaoyaozi referenced the Changchun Gong and created the Beiming Divine Skill, which absorbs the internal energy of others to nourish himself.

Furthermore, based on the Northern Darkness Divine Art, he created the Lesser Formless Art, which is self-sufficient and allows for rapid cultivation.

However, neither of these two techniques can replace the role of spring water.

Therefore, Xiaoyaozi continued to refine his new skill, which was the Kun transforming into Peng skill mentioned by Tonglao. The Kun is so large that no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans, and the Peng's back is also so large that no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans.

Therefore, the transformation of Kun into Peng is not a quantitative change, but a qualitative change at the level of life.

The old Taoist priest who passed on this skill to Xiao Yuanshan was most likely Xiaoyaozi himself.

According to Xiao Yuanshan, Xiaoyaozi originally intended to take this skill to his grave.

Xiao Yuanshan did not know the internal energy of the Xiaoyao Sect, so even if he learned this skill, it would only give him an extra trump card, allowing him to unleash several times his combat power in a short period of time.

However, this technique has two main drawbacks: it requires extremely high levels of internal strength and it lacks endurance.

Therefore, Xiaoyaozi didn't even mention the name of his kung fu.

Perhaps in Xiaoyaozi's view, without the assistance of the Beiming Divine Skill, this skill is not worthy of being called "Kun transforming into Peng".

To become a roc soaring ninety thousand miles high, one must first be a giant Kun!
By transforming the Kun into the Peng Divine Skill, the essence, qi, blood and strength are integrated into one. In this state, when using the Beiming, not only can one absorb power, but one can also absorb life. Power can replenish power, and life can nourish life. This is the complete solution in Xiaoyaozi's mind that can truly replace the Fountain of Youth!

The exclamation that Tianshan Tonglao uttered instantly made Jiang Mingzhe understand everything.

He glanced down at the dried corpse in his hand. Although he still felt disgusted, he had a vague understanding of what was going on.

Unable to contain himself, he whispered, “The way of Heaven is to take from those who have more and give to those who have less. The way of man is to take from those who have less and give to those who have more… Outwardly, we follow the way of man, where the strong prey on the weak to strengthen ourselves; inwardly, we follow the way of Heaven, where we balance our essence, energy, blood, and strength to achieve equilibrium, and then through that equilibrium, we attain constancy…”

Previously, when he practiced this technique, he had merely followed Xiao Yuanshan's instructions, forcibly using internal energy—a force somewhere between the real and the illusory—to connect his blood, internal organs, muscles, bones, and skin. Now, with this sudden realization, the mantra Xiao Yuanshan had made him memorize flowed through his mind, line by line—

Thunder is Yang, lightning is Yin; Yin and Yang combine to form thunder and lightning! The divine relies on the Sun Palace, ruled by the Sun; its might relies on the Moon Palace, ruled by the Moon. The innate essence is stored in one Qi; the acquired power circulates through the twelve meridians… It possesses the divine attraction to penetrate walls and carve through tunnels; it nourishes the spirit to cross mountains and seas; thunder roars and illuminates the universe; its awe-inspiring and invincible might arises spontaneously.

"Ha ha ha ha"

Jiang Mingzhe laughed loudly, thinking to himself, "I believed Lao Xiao's nonsense. He even said that thunder, lightning, divine power, and might are the essence of this kung fu. The real essence is clearly to combine, conceal, guide, and nourish!"

In an instant, his mind became clear and bright, and amidst his laughter, the energy that had been forcibly connected across multiple dimensions began to gather a little from one dimension and nourish a little from another. In an instant, his energy and spirit were in harmony, and he felt an indescribable sense of peace and joy throughout his body.

He knew that he was still far from achieving true balance, but this rough balance was already a significant improvement over before. He smiled and looked at the old woman, saying, "So this is how the Kun transforms into the Peng! Thank you for your guidance, Uncle-Master. Let's fight again!"

Seeing his growing aura, Tianshan Tonglao was both surprised and angry. Suddenly, she laughed and said, "Very well, take a good look at this!"

She leaped backward and landed beside the sedan chair she had come from.

Jiang Mingzhe thought she was going to take a weapon, but she slapped the sedan chair away, and the sedan chair was scattered. In the place where the seat should have been, there was only a plump woman kneeling, like a human chair.

Startled by the noise, the woman turned to look outside and saw a beautiful face filled with tears of humiliation, staring directly into Jiang Mingzhe's eyes. She immediately cried out, "Little brother, save me!"

Jiang Mingzhe was also startled and exclaimed, "Sister Qingluo!"

The woman serving as a human chair is none other than Li Qiushui's daughter, Wang Yuyan's biological mother, Madam Wang, Li Qingluo!
Jiang Mingzhe moved to snatch her away, but Tong Lao was much closer. She shifted her position and sat on Li Qingluo's back, pressing her right hand against the back of Li Qingluo's head. She laughed loudly, "Come on, come on, let's see if your Lingbo Weibu is faster or my palm strike is faster!"

(End of this chapter)