In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 347 Petty Tricks
In an instant, the cold wind and chill faded away, and the warm afternoon sun shone on him again. The pond water rippled, the koi carp roamed leisurely, and Gongzi Yu was still leaning against the soft couch.

Gu Santong's face was pale, and cold sweat covered his forehead.

His face showed a lingering fear.

In the perception of Gongzi Yu and the others, the fluctuations emanating from Gu Santong's body at this moment were not Gang Yuan, but Zhen Yuan.

"Ang~"

Just then, a clear and majestic dragon roar burst forth from Gu Shaoan's body without warning, and then echoed in the open pavilion.

The sound was not loud or harsh, but it carried a majestic and dignified air, instantly overpowering the gurgling of the pond and the gentle rustling of the willow branches in the breeze.

Accompanied by this spiritual dragon's roar, a pure, blazing, and unstoppable surge of vital energy spread out from Gu Shaoan in an extremely brief and exquisitely controlled manner.

This fluctuation was not an attack, but rather like an invisible ripple of purification. Wherever it passed, the spiritual energy still lingering around the ancient three passages melted away as quickly as snow in spring meeting the scorching sun.

Inside the open pavilion, the pond water rippled on its surface without any wind, and several koi carp, startled, suddenly darted under the lotus leaves at the bottom of the pond.

The hunched old man standing behind Gongzi Yu suddenly opened his half-closed eyes a crack, a sharp glint in his eyes.

A look of seriousness flashed across Dongfang Bai's eyes.

Gu Shaoan remained seated in his chair, his expression calm. Even the fingers that held the teacup did not tremble in the slightest, as if the earth-shattering spiritual dragon roar from just now had nothing to do with him.

Only his deep eyes were clear and bright at this moment, with a faint golden light flowing through them. He looked directly at Gongzi Yu, his tone still calm.

"If it's a test, one time is enough."

It is unclear whether it was because they had already tested Gu Santong's internal strength level, or for some other reason.

Upon hearing Gu Shaoan's words, Gongzi Yu's purple pupils, hidden beneath his mask, flickered briefly before quickly fading back to their deep, unfathomable black.

With his gaze fixed on Gu Shaoan, Gongzi Yu said slowly, "As an external martial art, the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms has unexpectedly been able to produce such a powerful dragon roar sound wave that can affect spiritual energy in the hands of Young Master Gu."

"The application of martial arts varies from person to person. I happen to know a friend who is skilled in sound-based martial arts. Inspired by her martial arts, I have developed this little trick."

Gongzi Yu shook his head and said, "A paltry trick. You're being quite modest."

Without continuing on this topic, Gongzi Yu said calmly, "The medicine in the bottle on your table was made by a physician named Ping Yizhi from the Sun Moon Sect. After taking it, it allows a martial artist to circulate their own true essence or qi for three hours without being perceived by outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Gu Santong's gaze fell upon the white jade medicine bottle on the table.

Gu Shaoan glanced at the pill bottle and then asked, "When do we set off?"

Gongzi Yu replied, "Tomorrow at sunset."

Gu Shaoan nodded and said, "Okay!"

After saying that, Gu Shaoan stood up.

Gu Santong, who was standing nearby, also got up immediately.

Upon seeing this, Gongzi Yu chuckled softly and then turned his head away.

Dongfang Bai immediately stepped forward and leaped up to move in front of Gu Shaoan and Gu Santong.

"Please, both of you."

With that, Dongfang Bai turned around and led the way.

After watching Gu Shaoan and Gu Santong leave, the maid behind Gongzi Yu, whose face was veiled by a snow-white gauze, spoke up: "Does Your Majesty think there was something wrong with that person just now?"

Gongzi Yu said calmly, "A few years ago, except for the back mountain, ordinary disciples and elders of the Emei Sect were not allowed to enter the Great Emei Mountain. A few years ago, the East Bamboo Forest was also suddenly restricted to all elders and disciples of the Emei Sect."

“But every day a specific person would deliver food to the East Bamboo Forest, which clearly indicates that someone lives there.”

The maid, her face veiled by a snow-white gauze, immediately bowed and said, "This servant will have someone investigate this Liu Baichuan shortly."

"Now it seems that Liu Baichuan is very likely the person who has been living in the East Bamboo Forest for the past few years, so he just wanted to test the waters on a whim."

Gongzi Yu shook his head and said, "If it were a martial artist who had reached the Qi Condensation stage, it would be worth paying attention to. But at this age, if one's internal energy level is only at the Qi Condensation stage, then one's potential has been exhausted, so there's no need to worry too much."

After a pause, Gongzi Yu's lips curled into a smile.

"In comparison, what really surprised me was that the dragon's roar sound wave emitted by the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms could shatter 30% of my spiritual energy."

"I just don't know who is stronger between him and me now."

After thinking for a moment, Gongzi Yu asked, "How strong was Pang Ban after he mastered the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the thin old man behind him said, "Reporting to my master, he is very strong. This old servant fought with him as instructed by my master. Within a hundred moves, this old servant was able to keep up with him with the 'Sunflower Manual,' but after a hundred moves, this old servant was no match for him."

"Even the eunuch Li, who is known as the 'Sunflower Ancestor,' could only withstand a hundred moves from Pang Ban. It seems that the 'Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique' is indeed unique."

A hundred moves? Then let's see tomorrow how many moves our young sect leader, Master Gu, will need to deal with Pang Ban.”

Led by Dongfang Bai, Gu Shaoan and Gu Santong arrived at a courtyard on the west side.

As they approached the courtyard gate, Dongfang Bai smiled and said, "Young Master Gu is a distinguished guest of our master. There will always be someone waiting ten feet away in the courtyard. Please feel free to ask if you need anything."

Seeing the more humble expression on Dongfang Bai's face, Gu Shaoan didn't say much. He simply nodded and said "Thank you for your trouble" before walking into the courtyard with Gu Santong.

Dongfang Bai glanced at Gu Shaoan, whose back was as straight as a pine tree, his eyes flickering slightly, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

After pausing for a few moments, Dongfang Bai finally turned and left.

After entering the main house in the courtyard, Gu Shaoan and Gu Santong looked around.

After confirming that no one else was around, Gu Shaoan placed the bundle containing only a set of clothes on his shoulder on the table, then looked at Gu Santong and used his internal energy to transmit his voice, saying, "Not bad acting."

The golden energy condensed by Gu Santong's "Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill" is special; besides enhancing the martial artist's own defense, it can also resist the influence of spiritual energy. Otherwise, how could it be "indestructible"?
At this time, Gu Santong's "Invincible Vajra Divine Skill" had reached the twelfth level. Not to mention Gongzi Yu, he could even deal with a first-class master like Pang Ban who mainly cultivated spiritual energy.

However, Gu Santong reacted even faster than Gu Shaoan had anticipated.

Faced with Gongzi Yu's methods, the first thing that came to mind was to act weak.

Gu Santong sat casually on the stool, responding with the same energy he channeled: "You didn't already know he would test me, which is why you gave me that pill that conceals my internal strength at the city gate, did you?"

Gu Shaoan replied, "The reason I asked you to hide your internal strength level was simply to prevent the Heavenly Realm martial artists of the imperial court from finding out. The test was something that was both unexpected and reasonable, and it was just a side effect."

Then, Gu Shaoan asked, "How did you feel just now?"

When this matter was mentioned, Gu Santong's face lost some of its frivolity, and he said in a deep voice, "Judging from his previous nonchalant reaction, he probably did not use his full strength, but the spiritual energy I felt was already extremely powerful. With such powerful spiritual energy, the number of martial artists absorbed by him with the 'Absorption Technique' must not be much less than Zhu Tiedan's."

"In other words, his internal energy is very likely no weaker than Zhu Wushi's?" Gu Shaoan asked.

Gu Santong nodded.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Santong suddenly sighed.

"Although I knew that the martial arts world was very complex, I never imagined it would be this complex. A single book, 'The Absorption Technique,' has actually drawn the imperial court into the martial arts world as well."

After a pause, Gu Santong said in a deep voice, "What I'm worried about now is that with the 'Absorption Technique,' the imperial court might have some inappropriate ideas."

As everyone knows, even martial artists at the Celestial Realm are not immortal; they simply have a longer lifespan.

If someone suffers a serious injury in their youth, they are unlikely to live to be three hundred.

Traditional methods of skill transmission would not allow a martial artist to condense the Three Flowers and enter the Celestial Realm.

But all of this changed with the emergence of the "Absorption Technique".

With Zhu Wushi and Gongzi Yu as examples, the court only needs to secretly cultivate some martial artists. After twenty or thirty years, these martial artists can be allowed to absorb the power of the royal family or royal confidants through the "Power Absorption Technique," allowing them to make breakthroughs in a very short time.

If one were to go even further, they could treat the entire martial arts world of the Great Wei Kingdom as a breeding ground for their own masters, capturing or arresting them as needed.

In just a few short years, one might transform from an ordinary person into a master who condenses Qi into Yuan or even Yuan into Gang.

Once these people have absorbed enough internal energy and their own essence, energy, and spirit have reached an extremely profound level, they can then absorb the internal energy of the Heavenly Realm experts within the imperial court, thus enabling them to step into the Heavenly Realm in one fell swoop.

In other words, with the "Absorption Technique," the number of Celestial Realm martial artists in the Great Wei Kingdom's court will only increase, not decrease.

That would be quite alarming.

Upon hearing this, Gu Shaoan chuckled and said, "The idea is good, but martial artists who enter the Celestial Realm using the Absorption Technique are inherently inferior in strength to those who enter the Celestial Realm using the Lesser Three Harmonies Technique."

"Not to mention that in the Lesser Three Harmonies Method, there are martial artists like Master Zhang who use the Greater Three Harmonies Method to bring the Three Flowers to the Top and enter the Celestial Realm."

"Let alone just a few, even ten martial artists who have entered the Celestial Realm with the 'Absorption Technique' would hardly cause any trouble in front of Master Zhang."

The difference in strength between martial artists of the same level can be as vast as the difference between clouds and mud.

Take Yuan Dongyuan and Gu Shaoan as examples.

Without using the "Emei Sword Manual," given Gu Shaoan's current strength, Yuan Dongyuan could only withstand three moves from him at most.

However, when Gu Shaoan used the Emei Sword Manual with the Yitian Sword, one strike was enough to defeat Yuan Dongyuan.

Gu Santong said irritably, "Do you think everyone is like you, little monster, and Master Zhang? In the Great Wei Kingdom, only the imperial court, Wudang, and Shaolin have martial artists at the Celestial Realm. For other forces, even these Celestial Realm experts who have taken shortcuts are already difficult to deal with."

After thinking for a moment, Gu Santong shook his head and said, "But what you said is also right. If this situation really occurs, all the martial artists and Jianghu forces in the world will have to unite. Even the Great Yuan Kingdom and the Great Sui Kingdom will not dare to remain indifferent."

Seeing Gu Santong muttering to himself, Gu Shaoan didn't continue speaking.

Judging by the timeline, Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty should have been killed around this year.

At that time, the Sui Dynasty will be in complete chaos.

After the Azure Dragon Society incident is over, the Yuan and Wei kingdoms will be locked in a full-blown conflict.

Several years after the Li family clan destroyed the Sui Dynasty and established the Tang Dynasty, the world will be in complete chaos.

As his thoughts deepened, Gu Shaoan looked out the window with a more profound gaze, making it impossible to discern his inner thoughts.

The following day, at 3:45 PM, as the sun began to set, several carriages drove out of Shuoyang Prefecture.

The carriage wasn't moving very fast, and it got completely dark some distance from Wudang.

The clouds were thick today, and only a few sparse starlight pierced through.

Strangely, even though there were no lanterns hanging around the carriage, it was able to move at a steady speed on the official road.

After the sound of wheels rolling over the gravel road stopped, the surroundings returned to the unique silence of the mountains and forests, with only the rustling of the wind through the trees remaining.

If someone were to hold up a lantern and observe the coachman driving the carriage up close, they would surely notice that the coachman's eyes were bright, as if his vision was not affected in the slightest by the darkness of the night.

It wasn't until late in the evening that several horse-drawn carriages arrived at a secluded side road at the foot of Wudang Mountain.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and as Gu Shaoan and the others stepped down from the carriage, someone immediately rushed out from the nearby woods and led the carriage away.

Gongzi Yu said calmly, "Let's go! Judging by the time, it's almost time. We should find a good spot to watch the show."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gongzi Yu lightly touched the ground with one hand behind his back, his body rising into the air with agile and elusive movements.

Seeing this, Gu Shaoan and the others followed closely behind.

Several figures mingled in the vast darkness and sped towards the summit of Wudang Mountain.

(End of this chapter)