In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 130 It's just a matter of one more sword strike.
The flickering firelight cast the clear outline of the skeleton onto the cold stone wall.

Not to mention Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan, even Gu Shaoan couldn't help but glance at the stone wall a few more times.

The world is full of wonders, and the Dragon-Slaying Stone is one of them.

This type of stone is particularly tough; a typical fist-sized stone usually weighs three or four kilograms.

However, a fist-sized stone that can break a dragon can weigh twenty or thirty kilograms.

It is also extremely hard, almost as hard as refined iron.

When the stone wall fell earlier, although the group only caught a glimpse of it, they could still roughly sense that the stone wall was three inches thick.

A single stone wall must weigh at least a thousand pounds.

It would probably take craftsmen more than half a year to carve it out.

Upon learning that the stone walls were made of Dragon-Slaying Stone, Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan's expressions changed drastically.

If one had a divine weapon like the Heaven-Slaying Sword, even the Dragon-Slaying Stone would not be a problem.

Without the Heaven-Slaying Sword, with their current strength and skill, it would be impossible for them to break through the stone wall made of the Dragon-Slaying Stone.

For a moment, both of them focused their attention on Gu Shaoan.

Without wasting words, Gu Shaoan pondered for a moment before walking over to Yang Yan's side.

Without Gu Shaoan speaking, Yang Yan took a dozen steps back and stood with Zhou Zhiruo, looking at the tall and handsome figure in front of the door, who resembled a black bamboo.

With his gaze fixed on the stone wall forged from the broken dragon stone in front of him, Gu Shaoan slowed his breathing considerably.

However, just as his internal energy was rapidly circulating, he exhaled turbid air, and held his breath, Gu Shaoan's slender fingers suddenly landed on the hilt of the Chengxin Sword.

"Chong"

A melodious sword cry suddenly echoed, and the snow-white blade shimmered with a cold, moon-like glow in the firelight.

The moment the sword is drawn and its blade is exposed to the air, a powerful and domineering true energy rises from the dantian, transforming into a surging torrent that rushes along specific meridians in the arm and flows into the sword.

As Gu Shaoan lightly raised his longsword, true essence and energy surged from the hilt into the spine of the sword, then burst forth from the tip, condensing into a sword aura about three feet long and as sturdy as a bolt of lightning, heading towards the stone wall forged from the Dragon-Slaying Stone in front of him.

"Chi~"

As the sword energy touched the Dragon-Slaying Stone, it was as if a red-hot iron had been suddenly plunged into a block of ice, being cut into it at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Then, on the stone wall forged from the broken dragon stone, a sword mark about two inches deep was left from the top down.

"interesting!"

Although Gu Shaoan did not use his full strength in the sword strike he just used, he was certain that even Abbess Miejue would have had difficulty blocking it with the Heaven-Slaying Sword.

But this sword strike failed to cleave the stone wall.

It truly lives up to its name as the Dragon-Slaying Stone.

However, for Gu Shaoan, the fact that he couldn't cleave the Dragon-Slaying Stone with a single sword strike was simply a matter of needing to strike it one more time.

The longsword was swung again, and the sword energy swept across the sky. When the sword energy struck the stone wall again, the stone wall, which had already been split two inches apart, was instantly split in two and crashed to the ground on both sides, raising a cloud of dust.

"okay!"

Sheathing his sword, Gu Shaoan turned to the two of them and spoke casually.

Seeing the Dragon-Slaying Stone split open, Yang Yan looked at Gu Shaoan with envy and said, "Senior Brother, your Sunset Sword Technique must have reached the level of 'momentum' by now!"

Yang Yan had clearly seen that Gu Shaoan's two sword strikes, though seemingly casual, clearly carried the flavor of the fourth move, "Crimson Blade," from the Sunset Sword Technique.

The fact that Gu Shaoan could incorporate the techniques of the "Sunset Swordplay" into his casual sword moves is enough to show that his "Sunset Swordplay" has improved again.

Gu Shaoan nodded and said, "You've touched the threshold! You should be able to reach the 'momentum' level in a few months to half a year."

Hearing Gu Shaoan's response, Yang Yan seemed deflated and became listless.

"My physical constitution is stronger than my senior brother's through the 'Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian', but your comprehension is simply unreasonable. Whether it's your skill level or your martial arts skills, you're miles ahead of me."

Gu Shaoan smiled at Yang Yan, who seemed somewhat withdrawn, and then looked at her without saying a word.

Yang Yan was taken aback when she noticed Gu Shaoan's malicious smile.

Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly turned her head to the side.

But Zhou Zhiruo was looking at her with a faint, somewhat indifferent smile on her face.

"Is my junior sister targeting me?"

Yang Yan opened her mouth, then immediately grabbed Zhou Zhiruo's arm.

"How can you look at me like that, Senior Sister? Is that the kind of person I am? Besides, Senior Sister's progress in the 'Willow Floss Sword Technique' is extremely rapid. Senior Brother said that Senior Sister's 'Willow Floss Sword Technique' might reach the 'momentum' level within five years."

Yang Yan's words were not a compliment.

Zhou Zhiruo was already quite talented, and with the help of the "Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian" (a martial arts manual), her physical constitution reached an "excellent" level.

Although her skill cultivation cannot compare to Yang Yan's, Zhou Zhiruo's progress is definitely in the top tier.

And all martial arts in the world emphasize adaptability.

Some people are naturally drawn to certain martial arts, and they learn and master them much faster than others.

Although the "Willow Floss Sword Technique" is not a particularly profound martial art, perhaps Zhou Zhiruo's personality and actions are like this "Willow Floss Sword Technique"—soft yet sharp.

Ironically, this martial art was perfectly suited to Zhou Zhiruo.

With Gu Shaoan's meticulous guidance, Zhou Zhiruo successfully cultivated the "Willow Catkin Sword Technique" to the "perfect and smooth" level two years ago.

If one can grasp the concept of "momentum" and spend a few more years applying it to other martial arts, Zhou Zhiruo's strength will also increase significantly.

Zhou Zhiruo remained silent, only continuing to gaze at Yang Yan with a melancholy expression.

This reaction prompted Yang Yan to sigh.

"Alright! I'll do my senior's laundry for a month."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo's smile immediately became more genuine.

"Oh! Junior sister, you're overthinking it. How could I get angry over a few words from you?"

The joke ended, and Gu Shaoan easily resolved the concerns about the Dragon-Slaying Stone. The three of them then focused their attention back on the stone chamber.

Upon reaching the center of the stone chamber, the three of them focused their attention on the bone fragments on the stone slab.

The clothes on the skeleton were tattered, but still relatively intact.

The skeleton itself is relatively well preserved, with the head slightly lowered, the jawbone facing the chest, and the arms hanging naturally over the knees, the five fingers clenched tightly and resting on the leg bones.

The entire posture was as if the owner of this skeleton was in a state of cultivation before his death.

In front of the stone slab, there was a prayer mat, and in front of the prayer mat was a parchment scroll.

Taking a few steps forward, Yang Yan looked at the parchment scroll and saw a few lines of writing on it.

Judging from its shape and marks, it was probably written with a finger instead of a pen, and with blood mixed with ink.

Yang Yan read aloud the words written on it: "I, Yang Dingtian, the thirty-third leader of the Ming Cult, have entered the forbidden area of ​​my Ming Cult. If I am a disciple of my Ming Cult, I shall perform the three kneelings and nine kowtows on the prayer mat to show my respect."

"Hmm? He's Yang Dingtian?"

Hearing Yang Yan's words, Zhou Zhiruo also looked at the bone on the stone plate in surprise.

"Everyone said that Yang Dingtian had been missing for ten years, but I never expected that he would die in the forbidden area of ​​the Ming Cult."

After speaking, Zhou Zhiruo glanced at Yang Dingtian, but did not see any breakage.

"His bones were intact, meaning he hadn't suffered any external injuries before his death. Why would Yang Dingtian die for no apparent reason? Could this posture indicate that he suffered a qi deviation during cultivation?"

When asked by Zhou Zhiruo, Gu Shaoan casually replied, "Perhaps!"

Gu Shaoan responded casually, but in reality, he knew why Yang Dingtian had died.

The Iron-hearted Divine Marquis.

Zhu ignored it.

Using the "Absorption Technique," he forcefully absorbed Yang Dingtian's decades of internal energy, and also learned the Ming Cult's "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" through the "Absorption Technique."

At this moment, Gu Shaoan thought of Cheng Kun.

"That fool probably still thinks Yang Dingtian died because of him!"

With his thoughts settled, Gu Shaoan glanced at the parchment scroll on the ground. Then, his fingertips moved swiftly, and as he circulated his true energy, the force landed an inch in front of the central prayer mat.

"Crack!"

As the nine bursts of energy landed, everyone heard a strange sound.

The next second, the stone slab in front of the futon slowly dented.

Immediately afterwards, a stone rose from the stone slab where Yang Dingtian was sitting. When the group looked, they saw that it contained a roll of sheepskin and a letter.

Seeing the mechanism suddenly activated, Yang Yan and Zhou Zhiruo were stunned for a moment, then looked at Gu Shaoan in astonishment.

Zhou Zhiruo asked, "Junior brother, how did you know there were traps in this place?"

Gu Shaoan said, "I don't know, I just find it a bit strange."

"Judging from the handwriting on this parchment, Yang Dingtian clearly knew he was going to die, so he left this message with his finger as a pen and his blood as ink before he died."

"But as the leader of the Ming Cult, he was about to die and didn't leave any important instructions. Instead, he left these few lines on a parchment before his death, asking that whoever in the Ming Cult discovers it in the future perform the three kneelings and nine kowtows for him. No matter how you look at it, this behavior is a bit strange."

After thinking for a moment, Yang Yan muttered, "That's true! This behavior is indeed a bit strange."

Immediately, Yang Yan took out a medicine bottle from her bosom, poured out some powder, sprinkled some powder on the parchment scroll, observed it for a few moments, and only after confirming that there was no poison on the parchment scroll did she use her sword sheath to pick it out.

The level of caution is drastically different compared to a few years ago.

However, upon opening the parchment, all that could be seen was a blank page, devoid of any words.

But the next second, Yang Yan's nose twitched slightly.

"Hey! This smell...something seems off. Senior sister, take a sniff."

Zhou Zhiruo took the parchment scroll, sniffed it, and then nodded, saying, "This scent seems to carry a hint of sage and white sandalwood."

Yang Yan stroked her chin and said, "My senior brother once taught me that sage and white sandalwood are used to make a kind of ink that can be hidden. These herbs are mixed with water and boiled into a liquid, then mixed with ink and used to write. After an hour, the ink will disappear, but if it comes into contact with blood, the writing will reappear and will not disappear again until after an hour."

After glancing at Yang Dingtian and then at the parchment scroll, Yang Yan slightly raised her thumb, drew the longsword in her left hand an inch from its sheath, and then gently ran her index finger across the blade to make a small cut.

The sudden stinging pain caused Yang Yan to furrow her brows slightly for a moment.

Understanding Yang Yan's meaning, Zhou Zhiruo immediately unfolded the sheepskin scroll and placed it in front of Yang Yan.

After Yang Yan moved her finger above the parchment scroll, a few drops of blood were forced out from her fingertip as she circulated her true energy.

As the blood dripped, miraculously, it spread out the moment it touched the parchment.

On the parchment scroll that was empty just a moment ago, lines of text and images suddenly appeared.

However, the two women stared at each other blankly as they looked at the words on the screen.

This is because these things are not written in the script of the Great Wei Kingdom.

Seeing the two women looking blank, Gu Shaoan smiled and said, "Don't bother looking, that's Persian."

Upon learning that the characters above were not Chinese, Yang Yan pursed her lips and looked away.

Zhou Zhiruo then folded the sheepskin roll and handed it to Gu Shaoan.

Yang Yan then turned around and used her sword to retrieve the letter from the mechanism.

After a quick glance, Yang Yan said with delight, "Yang Dingtian's instructions for his affairs after his death were to have the Ming Cult retrieve the Sacred Flame Token and pass the leadership to the Golden-haired Lion King as the new leader. The letter also mentioned that the scroll on the parchment contains the 'Great Shift of the Universe,' and that if one cultivates it to the first level, one can combine it with the Great Shift of the Universe to trigger the mechanism and leave the stone chamber."

As she spoke, Yang Yan handed the letter to Gu Shaoan.

While Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo both focused their attention on the letter, Yang Yan glanced at Yang Dingtian's remains on the stone slab.

"This guy is quite cunning. If the person who comes is from the Ming Cult and is willing to kneel and kowtow to him three times and nine times, it means that he is loyal to the Ming Cult and that the 'Great Shift of the Universe' can be passed down."

"If it weren't for the Ming Cult members, or those who weren't sincere and didn't perform the three kneelings and nine kowtows, the flames inside this room are so intense that they could suffocate and be trapped to death in this secret chamber within a few days."

In response to Yang Yan's words, Gu Shaoan said calmly, "After all, he is the leader of the Ming Cult, and his shrewdness and composure are naturally beyond those of ordinary people."

As he spoke, Gu Shaoan crumpled the letter in his hand into a ball and casually tossed it into the flames by the wall.

"It's already burned?"

Yang Yan looked on in astonishment as she stared at the letter that had been instantly burned through by the flames.

Gu Shaoan glanced at Yang Yan and said, "In a few months, the Ming Cult will be gone. What's the point of keeping this letter?"

"Right!"

Yang Yan muttered something and continued to scan the stone chamber. Seeing that she had not found anything else, she turned her gaze away.

Gu Shaoan said, "Alright, we've got the goods. Let's head back to Luyang Prefecture today and see if we can find any Persians to translate the Persian text on it."

"We'll see then, whether this 'Great Shift of Heaven and Earth' technique can be practiced by you, your master, and Aunt Juechen."

The shadow of a famous tree.

The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth is, after all, the signature skill of the Ming Cult.

Even Yang Yan and Zhou Zhiruo had heard the name of this martial art many times over the years.

Now that they have the chance to meet, the two women are naturally quite excited.

Luyang Prefecture has convenient transportation and many merchants, including caravans from Persia.

The three returned to Luyang Prefecture, spending five days and money to secretly hire Persians to scramble all the Persian text on the parchment scrolls before having them translate it.

To ensure the accuracy of the translation, the team worked on it for a whole month. Only after a new group of Persian merchants came and reconfirmed the translation of "The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" was it finally put on the table.

Inside the inn.

Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan sat on the edge of the bed, while Gu Shaoan sat cross-legged on the bed.

Gu Shaoan closed his eyes and breathed deeply and slowly, as if he had been isolated from the outside world.

The first layer of the profound meaning of the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth," which had been repeatedly verified and carefully translated, was already clearly imprinted deep in his mind.

As was his first time encountering martial arts, Gu Shaoan first mentally deduced and dissected each step of the mental cultivation method before attempting to drive his true energy according to the cultivation route described in the method.

Following the instructions of the mental cultivation method, Gu Shaoan attempted to mobilize a small amount of pure true energy. Instead of following the usual twelve regular meridians or eight extraordinary meridians, he carefully probed into several obscure and difficult-to-find, subtle hidden meridians that had never been actively developed.

As several subtle veins that were usually almost hidden deep within the flesh were suddenly touched by the true essence, they began to be connected by Gu Shaoan's powerful true essence.

At the very moment these hidden meridians were connected, and as Gu Shaoan's true essence circulated and encompassed these hidden meridians, Gu Shaoan immediately felt a strange sour, numb, and swollen sensation coming from deep within his body.

The feeling was as if Gu Shaoan's muscles and bones, which had been dormant for many years, were suddenly awakened.

This allowed Gu Shaoan to clearly feel that his strength had increased somewhat.

A moment later, a notification message quietly appeared in Gu Shaoan's mind.

[Beginner level of "The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" - Achievement Points +10]

After Zhang Wuji mastered the Nine Yang Divine Skill and his true qi transformed into true essence, it only took him a quarter of an hour to go from cultivating the first level of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to mastering it.

In terms of quantity, Gu Shaoan's internal energy has reached the level of a full sixty years; in terms of quality, Gu Shaoan's true essence has reached the level of true essence being as fine as mercury.

To master the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" to the beginner level would naturally be much faster than for Zhang Wuji.

In less than a hundred breaths, Gu Shaoan had successfully mastered the first level of the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth".

It was also when he reached the entry level of the first level of the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" that bursts of energy began to erupt from Gu Shaoan's body, causing his robes to flutter even without wind.

As the true essence circulated, strands of true essence began to overflow from Gu Shaoan's body and then slowly swirled around him.

Gradually, the initial soreness, numbness, and swelling began to fade, replaced by a wonderful feeling of "fullness" and "control".

Gu Shaoan could clearly feel that his dormant flesh and blood were being injected with new life force, which invigorated his spirit.

A few breaths later, as Gu Shaoan exhaled a long breath, the true energy surging around him receded like a receding tide.

As the eyes opened, they appeared exceptionally bright.

Noticing Gu Shaoan's condition, Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan immediately came over.

Meeting the two women's concerned gazes, Gu Shaoan chuckled and said, "I've entered the first level."

Yang Yan exclaimed in surprise, "So fast?"

The two women initially thought that Gu Shaoan's sudden stop after cultivating for a short while might be due to some problem he had encountered.

Unexpectedly, Gu Shaoan immediately announced that he had already successfully completed his cultivation.

　I'll feel better after the IV drip tomorrow, and I'll try my best to get the update schedule back on track as soon as possible! Sorry for the inconvenience!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)