Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 57 The key to its application lies in one's mind.

Duan Yu secretly felt smug when he saw Jiang Mingzhe staring blankly at the West Peak.

He thought to himself: "My elder brother is a martial artist, so he must love precious swords. I lied to him and broke the rules to learn the Xiaoyao Sect's kung fu for the sake of the fairy sister. That was already incredibly disloyal. I should at least get this divine sword to make him happy, otherwise I wouldn't deserve to be his brother."

He then shared his guess: "Brother, that sword was most likely placed there by Fairy Sister's parents. But even if they are highly skilled in martial arts, it wouldn't be easy for them to hang the sword in the cliff cave. There must be a deeper meaning behind such a painstaking arrangement. I think there might be some kind of martial arts manual hidden in the cave."

(Note: Duan Yu's conjecture is indeed his own thought, as can be seen in the original work.)
Jiang Mingzhe nodded slowly, thinking that the martial arts in the futon were hidden by Li Qiushui. Wu Yazi certainly did not know that the martial arts in Langhuan Paradise had been moved to Mantuo Villa by Ding Chunqiu. Wu Yazi's own unique skills might really be hidden in the Hanging Sword Cave.

But after looking carefully for a long time, I still couldn't see any cave on the West Peak.

Duan Yu laughed and said, "Brother, there's no need to rush. We'll see it when the moon sets behind the western peak tonight. It's still early, so why don't we become sworn brothers first, and then you can practice the divine skills of the Free and Unfettered Sect to pass the time?"

Jiang Mingzhe found it amusing. Practicing divine skills to pass the time—only someone with Duan Yu's temperament could say something like that, which had the flavor of "setting a small goal first."

He nodded and said, "Brother, you're right. The world is vast, but nothing is greater than righteousness; the mountains and rivers are deep, but nothing is deeper than affection. What is a precious sword? Our brotherhood is the real deal."

These words struck a chord with Duan Yu, who nodded with delight. He then pulled Jiang Mingzhe to kneel down in front of the small stone wall, where they recounted their ages. Jiang Mingzhe, at twenty-five, became the elder brother, and Duan Yu, at nineteen, became the younger brother. They then used soil as incense, bowed eight times, and swore brotherhood.

After bowing, Duan Yu stood up with a beaming smile and said, "Brother, now that you've kowtowed, you can start learning the divine skill."

After saying that, he took out the scroll from the silk bag and was about to unroll it to show Jiang Mingzhe when he suddenly remembered something. He froze on the spot like a puppet, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

Jiang Mingzhe asked curiously, "Brother, are you feeling unwell?"

Duan Yu shook his head, his face contorted with worry, and said, "Brother, I almost made a terrible mistake. The images in this scroll all depict fairy maidens... she... she... she..."

Jiang Mingzhe immediately understood: "Ah, if it's an internal energy cultivation manual, it must have drawn the locations of meridians and acupoints, which would make it difficult to put on clothes!"

Duan Yu nodded pitifully, "That's right! Brother, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just..."

Jiang Mingzhe interrupted him, saying, "What does this have to do with being stingy or generous? Your elder brother is a dignified man; how could he possibly peek into his younger brother's and sister-in-law's bodies? Well, it's better if he doesn't learn this skill."

After saying that, fearing that Duan Yu might take it seriously, he quickly sighed and said, "Alas, it's a pity that you don't know martial arts, brother. Otherwise, it would be wonderful if you could learn them and teach them to me."

Duan Yu's eyes lit up: "Yes! This method is feasible. Although I don't know martial arts, I can read and understand pictures. I will teach you, elder brother!"

He ran a few steps, opened the scroll, and after reading it thoroughly, his face flushed and his breath coming in ragged gasps, he memorized it all before returning and saying, "Brother, let me first explain the principles of this technique to you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. This technique is called the 'Northern Darkness Divine Art.' The so-called Northern Darkness is mentioned in Zhuangzi's 'Free and Easy Wandering'..."

He shook his head and explained in detail, finally saying, "Therefore, the first principle of this skill is to accumulate internal energy, with the Qi Sea as the Northern Darkness, capable of carrying both large and small boats, and accommodating both large and small fish. Next, I'll tell you about the first picture..."

He reached out and gestured to Jiang Mingzhe's body, starting from his left shoulder, horizontally down to his neck, diagonally across his right breast, down to his armpit, down to his right arm, and then down to his thumb, saying, "Big brother, remember this line well, and I'll draw it again."

Jiang Mingzhe was almost aroused by his actions, but quickly waved his hand to stop him, saying, "There's no need to draw anymore. I already know; this is the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin."

Duan Yu said happily, "So you've practiced internal energy cultivation, brother. That makes things simple. Hmm, the scroll says that all kinds of internal energy cultivation in the world start from Yunmen to Shaoshang, but our Xiaoyao Sect goes against the grain, starting from Shaoshang to Yunmen."

As he spoke, he pointed out acupoints on the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin. Jiang Mingzhe, who practiced the Tribulation Crossing Scripture, focused on the most important acupoints, so he naturally understood.

Then Duan Yu said, "When this skill is activated, the Shaoshang acupoint on your thumb connects with the opponent's internal energy, which then enters your body and is stored in the Yunmen acupoints. However, one thing to be careful about is that if the enemy's internal energy is far superior to yours, absorbing their internal energy is like seawater overflowing a river, extremely dangerous..." Jiang Mingzhe frowned slightly upon hearing this, thinking, "So the Beiming Divine Art also needs to store the absorbed internal energy in various acupoints? The Dujie Scripture stores poisonous energy in various acupoints; can one warehouse hold two warehouses of goods? Can acupoints that have stored poisonous energy also store internal energy?"

He pondered the matter in his heart but did not speak of it aloud, remaining focused on listening to Duan Yu's explanation.

After Duan Yu finished explaining the method of the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, he ran off to continue looking at the scroll. He would look for a while and then talk for a while. Three or four hours passed, and he had told Jiang Mingzhe all the meridians, acupoints, and methods of the thirty-six images.

The techniques depicted in these thirty-six images vary in their application: some involve absorbing external energy, some purifying energy, some cultivating energy, and some outputting energy. In short, each has its own purpose, making them incredibly profound and complex.

After listening to the whole story, Jiang Mingzhe finally understood that what he had previously said about the Yunmen acupoints storing absorbed internal energy was only temporary. The reason behind this was that the meridians were viewed as river channels. When the enemy's internal energy entered, it was like a raging flood. The acupoints along the way could be regarded as flood storage areas. By constantly diverting the internal energy, the burden on one's own meridians was reduced.

In this way, the enemy's internal energy is temporarily retained in the body and then divided into many parts. You can then use your internal energy to transform and adjust the nature of the internal energy, and finally turn it into pure Beiming True Qi, which is stored in the Tanzhong acupoint. This is considered to have truly become your own power.

This Northern Darkness True Qi possesses both Yin and Yang properties. Depending on the different paths of its cultivation, it can transform into pure Yang, pure Yin, intense heat, or extreme cold, generating endless variations. Its application is truly wondrous and depends entirely on one's own mind.

In Jiang Mingzhe's view, this process is like an enemy wielding knives, spears, swords, and halberds, and we disarm them with our bare hands, then remelt them to remove impurities, forging them into pieces of refined steel for storage. When needed, we can immediately forge them into handy weapons, making them knives or swords as we wish.

Disarming someone bare-handed involves absorbing their internal energy, refining it, and transforming it into Northern Darkness True Qi to forge various weapons; this is the application of Northern Darkness True Qi.

After listening to Duan Yu's explanation, Jiang Mingzhe sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and carefully savored and memorized the information. He would ask Duan Yu about anything he couldn't remember until it was all etched into his mind.

Duan Yu, through repeated demonstrations and explanations, unknowingly memorized this skill.

Jiang Mingzhe had thoroughly figured out the method of the Northern Darkness Divine Art and thought to himself: The key difficulty in practicing this skill is to first transform the existing internal energy into Northern Darkness True Qi. With this True Qi as the foundation, it is like adding a little water when using an old-fashioned pressure well, so that you can absorb the internal energy of others.

Moreover, to convert the internal energy absorbed from others, one must also use one's own Northern Darkness True Qi as a guide. It's like wanting to blacken a cup of water; one must have some ink oneself. If one wants to blacken a basin of water, then one must have a cup of ink...

Thinking about this, I suddenly understood why the cultivation technique specifically pointed out that if the opponent's internal energy far surpasses one's own, one must never absorb it; it was because there was too much water and not enough ink, and one would be overwhelmed and explode before being able to convert it...

Jiang Mingzhe frowned deeply. According to this technique, if he had no internal energy and cultivated a wisp of Northern Darkness True Qi as a foundation, it would be difficult but safe. However, if he already had internal energy and forcibly converted it into Northern Darkness True Qi, it would be extremely dangerous.

He thought carefully about the several people in the book who cultivated the Northern Darkness Divine Art—

Duan Yu had no internal energy, but when someone punched his Tanzhong acupoint, it was as if a stream of internal energy was forcibly transferred into him.

Moreover, the person who hit him was a third-rate disciple of the Wuliang Sword Sect, whose internal energy was shallow. The internal energy contained in his punch was very little. Although Duan Yu had no foundation, he was able to barely convert it. Then, he used this as a foundation to absorb the internal energy of several disciples. It was an extremely coincidental and extremely lucky coincidence.

Later, Duan Yu absorbed too much internal energy, almost bursting out of his body. Fortunately, he obtained the Six Meridians Divine Sword Manual in time and refined the sword energy, thus turning the tide. The opportunity he encountered was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Another example is Xu Zhu, whose internal energy was originally shallow. Wu Ya Zi directly neutralized it, probably by using the characteristics of Bei Ming True Qi to offset each other with a portion of his power, and then directly infusing his own seventy years of pure Bei Ming True Qi into Xu Zhu's body, thus saving him the great difficulty of changing the nature of his internal energy on his own.

Later, there's Linghu Chong, who practices the Star Absorbing Skill. The chaotic internal energy within him wasn't originally his own; once he obtains the technique, he can disperse it at will, which is also effortless...

After thinking it over, Jiang Mingzhe was horrified to discover that there wasn't a single person who had successfully switched from cultivating other internal arts to the Northern Darkness Divine Art on their own!
Swallowing hard, I thought to myself that I might not have the good luck of Duan Yu, Xu Zhu, and Linghu Chong. These people stumbled into all sorts of dangerous situations and somehow managed to survive. I might not have that kind of luck. If I were to learn from them, I would only be asking for trouble. I should not rush to practice. I should think about it slowly and maybe I can come up with a proper way.

With a sigh of regret, he stood up and suddenly noticed that Duan Yu was holding a twig, looking focused and muttering incantations as he drew smooth, strange arcs on the muddy ground.

(End of this chapter)