Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 274 Autumn Waters and the End of the Sky

Seeing the dragons soaring, Kumārajīva was secretly delighted, thinking: Such a magnificent momentum must be because Xiao Feng passed on the Dragon Subduing Palm Technique to him. This is also the first-class skill in the Central Plains martial arts world. Now that I have the opportunity to see it, how can I miss it?
He strained his eyes to see, afraid of missing even the slightest detail, and was just beginning to understand when Li Qiushui suddenly stretched gracefully and said with a coquettish laugh, "You foreign monk, you helped Ding Chunqiu deal with me. Now that Ding Chunqiu has turned to ashes and his evil deeds have spread far away, you still don't know what death is and linger here, trying to take advantage of my grandson-in-law?"

With that, a white rainbow palm strike shot out, curving around and aiming for the back of Kumārajīva's head. Kumārajīva dodged to the side, both surprised and furious: "Li Qiushui, the fight is over, why did you provoke me? Shouldn't we all seize this unparalleled opportunity?"

Li Qiushui said arrogantly, "Our sect's martial arts are profound and extensive. I haven't reached the pinnacle yet, so why should I be interested in watching a beggar's kung fu? Enough nonsense, I'm not watching, and you're not allowed to watch either!"

She had been through a series of fierce battles and was seriously injured. In terms of sheer power, she might not be as good as Ah Zi, but after more than eighty years of hard training, she should not be underestimated.
How ruthless were the Netherworld Claws? How unpredictable were the White Rainbow Palms? How swift were the Lingbo Steps? How unpredictable were the Soul-Searching Transmission Techniques? How exquisite were the Cold Sleeves Acupoint Touches? Now that they were unleashed, Kumārajīva had no choice but to deal with them with all his might, and had no time to look at Jiang Mingzhe's side.

Jiang Mingzhe naturally wouldn't wait for him. After the dragon dance ended, the illusions unfolded, with towering waters and whirlpools as deep as abysses. The strange phenomena were so spectacular that they left people breathless.

At this moment, everyone groaned in unison, feeling dizzy, irritable, and nauseous, and dared not raise their heads again.

Only Azi and the Four Friends of Hangu could still look straight ahead. After a while, Gou Du, Xue Muhua, and Shi Qinglu all lowered their heads and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The eldest brother, Kang Guangling, asked anxiously, "What's wrong with you?"

Gou Du closed his eyes tightly and said urgently, "Brother, don't worry about us. If you gain any insight, it will benefit you for the rest of your life. This is the bottomless valley, the image of all waters returning to the void. This is the place that Liezi called the Return to the Void and Zhuangzi called the Dark Sea!"

Kang Guangling exclaimed in surprise, "What Liezi and Zhuangzi? Why are you spouting off at a time like this? I just feel so dizzy from all this spinning around. Oh no, I'm going to throw up..."

He looked down and vomited all over himself, but he never dared to look up again.

Gou Du wanted to help his senior brother understand the imagery, but A Zi, who was listening nearby, suddenly realized something. She thought to herself, "So that's how Da Sheng Jiang and Duan Xiao Yu can absorb other people's internal energy for their own use. If I circulate my internal energy like this vortex, can I absorb other people's internal energy into my body?"

She stared intently at the scene in the sky and slowly nodded: "Hmm, the boundless water is trapped in it. What is this 'center'? Isn't it the dantian of us martial artists? Hmm, the void can contain the boundless water, and the dantian can gather infinite power. So it must be empty. But what about the internal energy within the dantian itself?"

She was originally an extremely intelligent person, but she was young and had limited experience. Now that she had obtained the Ice Toad Poison Technique, her experience with the circulation of internal energy had increased a lot. She had also just comprehended the Five Elements Battle Immortal Technique. Her inspiration was at its most acute. Seeing the imagery performed by Jiang Mingzhe, she created something out of nothing and comprehended the word "emptiness".

He secretly pondered: That's right, that's right. Only an empty box can store things, and only a deep valley can hold water. Our Tribulation Crossing Scripture has a method to store internal energy through various acupoints. As long as we find a way to disperse the internal energy in the dantian to various acupoints, the dantian will be empty, like an empty box or a deep valley. Wouldn't that allow us to absorb other people's internal energy?
Her eyes darted around, and the more she thought about it, the more ingenious it seemed. Suddenly, she covered her mouth and laughed, thinking, "Why don't I, Azi, create a unique skill? I'll base it on the theory I just conceived, and give it a powerful and impressive name, like 'Empty Void Divine Skill'... No, that name sounds like a monk's martial art. I'm the leader of the Starry Constellation Sect, so I might as well call it 'Star Absorbing Technique'!"
Hehe, I'll also write it into a manual and try to put it in the library of Langhuan Jade Cave or Huanshi Water Pavilion. If some unlucky guy happens to get it in the future and cultivates according to the method, wouldn't that be extremely interesting?

In Azi's opinion, absorbing other people's internal energy into one's body and dispersing the dantian's power into various meridians and acupoints are all within a certain framework. However, the internal energy absorbed is varied and diverse. It may have some power at the beginning, but if you absorb too much, the harm will slowly emerge. It is an extremely useless skill. Therefore, she had no intention of practicing it. She only wanted to make a secret manual to fool future generations.

After a while, the imagery changed again. A giant fish emerged from the dark sea, its back like a mountain ridge and its eyes like lakes. After swimming and lurking for a long time, it suddenly burst out of the water and transformed into a giant bird, with the blue sky above its head and clouds hanging down its wings, and countless stars around it in a cycle...

But by this point, even Ah Zi couldn't bear to look anymore, and Duan Yu, the only one who had a chance to watch, refused to watch. This extremely rare opportunity ultimately slipped away without anyone seizing it, gradually dissipating into the world.

Poor Kumārajīva was extremely anxious. While fighting fiercely with Li Qiushui, he would occasionally turn his head to glance at her. But Li Qiushui was not someone to be trifled with. She seized the opportunity to strike him repeatedly, causing Kumārajīva to spit out blood. He gritted his teeth and said, "You won't look yourself, and you won't let me see either. Aren't you just harming yourself and others?"

Li Qiushui said smugly, "Don't you know that a woman like me loves to do things that harm both herself and others?"

His face immediately turned cold, and he said in a chilling tone, "Hmph, you, a foreign monk, dare to meddle in the unique skills of my Xiaoyao Sect? Jiang Mingzhe is my granddaughter's husband. Everyone here is either his woman, his close friend, or a disciple of our sect. You are the only outsider. If we don't make things difficult for you, who else should we make things difficult for?"

Enraged, Kumārajīva saw the strange phenomenon dissipate and knew that Jiang Mingzhe could wake up at any moment. He gritted his teeth, turned around, and ran away.

Li Qiushui, also at her last gasp, watched him leave with a cold smile before suddenly collapsing to the ground, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Li Qingluo and Wang Yuyan snapped out of their daze, one calling out, "Mother!" and the other, "Grandma!" They rushed to help her up, but Li Qiushui struck with lightning speed, slapping the mother and daughter twice across the face, causing them to fall to the ground, their faces filled with horror and grievance.

Li Qiushui sneered, "Li Qingluo, Ding Chunqiu, that bastard, has never been worthy of anyone in his life, except for you, his daughter. He died in front of you, and you didn't shed a single tear. Is your heart only filled with pretty boys?"

Li Qingluo shuddered in fright, and Wang Yuyan quickly spoke up for her mother: "Grandma, my mother..."

Li Qiushui shouted, "Shut up! You're just as cold-blooded and ruthless as your mother, only having eyes for men. Can you even beg for your grandfather's mercy?"

Li Qingluo said aggrievedly, "Mother, aren't you also my father's enemy?"

Li Qiushui said righteously, "I'm dealing with him because he killed your father, but you and your father had no affection for each other, so how can you compare to me?"

Having said that, he ignored the mother and daughter who were looking at each other in bewilderment, turned around and shouted, "Azi, come here!"

Azi looked wary and shook her head, saying, "I'm not coming over. You even hit your own daughter and granddaughter. Would it be fun for me to go over and let you hit them?"

Li Qiushui said helplessly, "I won't hit you."

Azi shook her head even faster: "I don't believe it! Ding Chunqiu is my master. Da Shengjiang and I betrayed our master and ancestors, and I still call him Little Ding. Now you've avenged your old lover and want to vent your anger for him. I won't fall for your tricks. And don't come any closer. You see, I'm not even afraid of Kumārajīva. You might not be able to beat me!"

Li Qiushui sighed and said, "I'm not lying to you! I fought several battles with Xiao Ding and Kumārajīva along the way, and I was seriously injured. Now I'm exhausted and about to lose my strength and die. Before I die, I have some important things to tell you."

Azi looked doubtful and pouted, "But I still don't trust you. You can write a will. Once you're completely dead, I'll pick it up and understand."

Her behavior left everyone stunned.

Li Qiushui laughed angrily, shaking her head and saying, "Fine, fine, then you stand there and listen carefully to what I have to say. After I die, bury me next to my senior brother Wuyazi. Then go and search Xiao Ding's body. Everything else is fine, but the Seven Treasures Ring and the Divine Wood Cauldron are absolutely essential. Give the Seven Treasures Ring to Jiang Mingzhe and make him the sect leader. Tell him that our sect has countless secret techniques, all hidden on the stone walls of the secret chamber in the Lingjiu Palace of Tianshan Tonglao, and the Divine Wood Cauldron, and even more, a great secret..."

At this point, Li Qiushui suddenly couldn't catch her breath, leaned back, trembled violently, and blood flowed from all seven orifices.

Li Qingluo and Wang Yuyan screamed in unison. When Azi heard the words "Divine Wood Cauldron," her heart skipped a beat. Seeing that she hadn't finished speaking, she became anxious and leaped over, crouching down and saying, "Don't die! What secret did you reveal first...?"

Before the words were even finished, Li Qiushui sat up with lightning speed, slapped Azi across the face, and somersaulted, saying smugly, "You little slut, what kind of world have you ever seen? You dare to act so high and mighty in front of me? Hahahaha!"

With a hearty laugh, Li Qiushui fell backward again.

Azi leaped up, her face full of rage. She reached out and pulled Li Qiushui, only to find her body limp and curled up in a ball. She was immediately taken aback, thinking that this person's breath had dissipated her power, her bones were broken and her tendons were snapped. She was indeed dead. But I had taken a slap from her for nothing. Should I just give up?
Wang Yuyan cried out, "Grandma..."

She was about to help Li Qiushui up when she suddenly saw Azi looking at her with ill intent. Startled, she hiccuped and exclaimed, "What are you going to do?"

(End of this chapter)