Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

The outskirts of Blackwind Valley.

The cliffs rise high into the clouds, and there are few trees on the surrounding area.

The valley floor is perpetually shrouded in darkness, with gusts of eerie wind blowing outwards.

The Golden Wheel Dharma King, draped in a bright red kasaya, sat cross-legged on a large rock.

He closed his eyes and slowly fiddled with a long string of thick Buddhist prayer beads in his hand.

Huo Du, fanning himself with a folding fan, ran along the mountain path.

He walked up to the Golden Wheel Dharma King, bent down, and handed him a sheepskin map.

"Master, all the work below has been completed."

The Golden Wheel Monk opened his eyes, stared at the blueprints, and asked, "Will Guo Jing definitely fall into this trap?"

Huo Du laughed out loud, closed his folding fan, and tapped his palm:

Guo Jing valued Xiangyang City more than his own life.

"If we make a big commotion here, he will definitely not stand idly by."

"My disciple buried a full three hundred catties of gunpowder in the narrowest part of the valley, and the fuses were all connected to the cliff on our side."

The Golden Wheel Dharma King stood up, took two steps forward, and looked down at the gray valley below.

"Gunpowder is very powerful."

"No matter how powerful Guo Jing's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms are, they can't stop gunpowder from exploding in the chamber."

"That old poisoner Shen Buyan hasn't shown up yet. Have you figured out how to set up those poisonous miasma arrays he left behind?"

Huo Du nodded in response:

"They're all laid out at the valley entrance."

"As soon as Guo Jing led his men into the valley, the poisonous miasma was enough to knock out most of them."

"Once the rest of them reach the bottom of the valley, we'll set off the gunpowder and pulverize them to pieces, leaving not even a complete corpse."

The Golden Wheel Monk continued, "Have you taken care of that garrison commander surnamed Lü in Xiangyang? Don't let a large number of reinforcements come and ruin things."

Huo Du looked smug:

"Ten boxes of pure gold were sent."

"That greedy Lu Wende immediately patted his chest and promised that he would defend the city gates to the death on the fifth day of next month and would not send a single soldier out of the city to rescue us."

"Guo Jing is now completely helpless."

The Golden Wheel Dharma King burst into laughter, his voice echoing through the mountains and forests.

"Well done!"

"After eliminating Guo Jing, I, the Imperial Preceptor, will personally go and meet that brat surnamed Yang."

"He crippled your senior brother Zhao Zhijing's arm; this debt needs to be settled properly."

"The Quanzhen School should also be under the jurisdiction of our Mongols."

……

In the early morning, the Sword Tomb Valley was shrouded in a thick, white fog that hung low in the air.

A cold wind swept down the mountain path into the valley, making people feel chilly.

The muffled sound of water hitting the rocks by the pool was so loud it hurt your ears.

A thick layer of water vapor floated on the water's surface.

Yang Guo was shirtless, with his feet in water up to his thighs.

He gripped the massive black iron sword weighing seventy or eighty pounds in his hand, the purple-tinged primordial energy bead in his dantian was spinning vigorously, and he possessed inexhaustible brute strength throughout his body.

"Open it for me!"

Yang Guo roared at the top of his lungs.

He swung the large, dark iron plate with one hand and unleashed seven consecutive sword strikes at the massive column of water crashing down from above.

Water splashed everywhere, stinging my face.

His arm strength is now incredibly strong; with each strike of his sword, he can forcefully push the thick column of water more than ten feet away.

But just as he finished using his strength, before he could even retract the greatsword, the water flowing down from above immediately closed in.

The floodwaters, carrying an even greater force, pressed solidly against the sword.

Yang Guo refused to believe in superstition and changed directions three more times.

Chop horizontally on the left, flick diagonally on the right, and swish upwards from below.

It was all for nothing.

As soon as the greatsword entered the water, the current gripped the blade tightly.

The force of the water rushing down the sword hilt sent a shock through his wrist, making it ache and his hand between his thumb and forefinger.

"Damn, this is really weird."

Yang Guo cursed and swore, gripping the sword hilt with both hands and forcefully plunging the Xuan Tie Greatsword into the mud and sand at the bottom of the water.

He stood in the water, panting heavily, looking down at his large hands, which had turned white from being soaked in water.

His skill level has indeed improved, and his strength has also increased significantly.

However, in actual combat, simply relying on brute force to smash with this heavy sword is not enough.

If you were to encounter a ruthless character like the Golden Wheel Monk who had practiced the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, his strength would be no less than his.

If this broken sword is so slow, it won't even touch the hem of someone's clothes, then what's the point of fighting?

If we really want to fight to the death in Xiangyang, we can't win by brute force alone.

The sound of footsteps crunching on pebbles could be heard from the shore.

Lu Wushuang supported Cheng Ying's arms with both hands and walked step by step to the edge of the pool.

Cheng Ying changed into a clean, light gray Taoist robe. Her face was pale, and her body felt weak and limp.

Last night, she helped Yang Guo carry the fire poison, which completely depleted her reserves, making it difficult for her to even stand up straight.

Yang Guo wiped the water off his face and waded across the water to the shore.

His cloth underpants were already soaked through, clinging tightly to his thighs.

The muscles in his legs were taut and extremely firm.

The silhouette was so striking that it even flattened the folds in the fabric.

Water droplets clung to his broad back and his neatly sculpted abs, swaying with his every step and exuding a wild, masculine aura.

Cheng Yinggang turned his head and his eyes immediately fell on that disgusting place, and his ears instantly burned red.

She quickly turned her face to the side, a blush spreading across her fair neck.

Yang Guo grinned and walked over casually, then plopped down on the large blue stone next to Cheng Ying.

He didn't care at all that he was soaking wet, and raised his thick arm, placing it directly on Cheng Ying's slender shoulder.

The hot flesh pressed against her thin clothes, startling Cheng Ying so much that she shuddered.

"Butler Cheng, don't pretend you're blind."

Yang Guo turned his head to the side, his mouth almost touching her earlobe, his hot breath pouring in.

"Your brain works better than mine, so hurry up and figure this out for me, what's the trick to this damn water column?"

"I swung my sword more than ten times, but the water pushed it all back."

Cheng Ying felt flustered by his heat. She gritted her teeth, strained her shoulders, and managed to push Yang Guo's arm away by half an inch.

"You...don't you know any manners?!"

Cheng Ying's voice trembled, "Put your clothes on before you talk."

Despite her cursing, the Qiankun Technique imprint within her body was stirred by Yang Guo's aura, causing a surge of heat to rise in her lower abdomen.

She dared not argue back, and could only force herself to stay upright, turning her gaze to the roaring waterfall and beginning to ponder the force of the water.

Cheng Ying stared at it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, without even blinking.

She turned and beckoned to Lu Wushuang: "Wushuang, go break off a branch over there."

Lu Wushuang was very obedient and ran to break off a dry branch and handed it over.

Cheng Ying squatted down and started drawing on the damp mud with a twig.

A few winding lines and a few circles create a diagram of the water flow.

"Yang Guo, come and see."

Cheng Ying pointed to the map on the ground, her tone becoming serious.

"This waterfall looks like it's just crashing down all at once, but there's more to it than meets the eye."

"Peach Blossom Island has a system for observing water flow, which is divided into 'three false and seven real'."

Yang Guo leaned closer, but his eyes began to wander.

As Cheng Ying squatted down, her neckline opened slightly, revealing the edge of the plain white bodice underneath, as well as the cleavage of her two soft, white breasts.

Yang Guo stared at the ditch for several moments, swallowed hard, and then turned his gaze to the map on the ground.

"What does 'three parts false and seven parts real' mean?" Yang Guo asked.

"Look."

Cheng Ying used a twig to dot the large circle she had drawn.

"Seventy percent of the water is concentrated in the middle left, where the water is the most turbulent and heaviest; this is called 'solid'."

"The remaining 30% of the water is scattered on both sides, and the water flow is weak. This is called 'emptiness'."

"You were just chopping at the heaviest 'solid' part. The water force was greater than your arm strength, so it was all pushed back."

Yang Guo stroked his chin and stared at the flowing water for a while.

"Then can I just go and chop off those 'empty' places on both sides?"

"That won't work either."

Cheng Ying shook her head.

"The water is too dispersed in the 'empty' area. When you slash down with your sword, the water just slides away along the blade. You can't get any leverage, and the power of this great iron sword still can't be unleashed."

She took a branch and forcefully drew an extremely thin slit at the boundary between "illusion" and "reality".

"This is what you're looking for."

Cheng Ying raised her head, her eyes shining brightly.

"When imaginary water and real water collide, a very narrow gap will be squeezed out in the middle. My master calls this the 'air gap zone'."

"When the two streams of water are pressed against each other in this crevice, there will be a very short gap."

"What you have to do is, in the blink of an eye when that opening appears, cut in diagonally with your sword, and use the force of the two streams of water to add your own brute strength."

"Borrowing water to draw water doubles the force."

Yang Guo felt a "click" in his mind.

So this is what they call "great skill without artifice".

It's not about brute force, but about finding the openings in the opponent's moves and using their force against them.

Yang Guo suddenly stood up, his mind filled with the slit drawn by Cheng Ying.

He waded back into the cold water, which went up to his thighs.

This time, he didn't rush to swing his sword. Instead, he spread his legs apart to stabilize his lower body.

Close your eyes.

The internal energy of the mid-stage of the Innate Realm circulates in the dantian.

He released all his Qi sensing energy.

The sounds around me have changed.

The previously chaotic sound of water became clear and distinct in his ears.

He could clearly hear the muffled sound of water hitting the rocks in the middle, and also the shaky sound of water sliding down the sides.

Even more deadly, he discovered that his sensory range was much larger than before, and he could extend it as far as fifty feet.

They could hear everything clearly, from the flapping of birds' wings on the distant cliff face to the heartbeat of Lu Wushuang and the tight breathing of Cheng Yingfa on the shore.

He refocused his attention and concentrated on "listening" to the large curtain of water in front of him.

I waited for three breaths.

"Found it."

Yang Guo opened his eyes and stared intently at the line where the water flowed together on the left side of the waterfall.

The gap was extremely narrow, and the water was squeezed back and forth there.

He gripped the rough hilt of the Xuan Tie Greatsword with both hands.

He twisted his waist and hips sharply to the left, and the muscles on his thighs tensed up like lumps of iron.

Instead of slashing straight forward, the greatsword followed the line, sideways across the thick blade, and slashed diagonally upwards.

As soon as the sword entered the "air gap," the recoil from the two streams of water struck the back of the sword directly.

The purple-tinged primordial energy bead in Yang Guo's dantian spun wildly, channeling all of his innate brute force into his arms.

The two forces combined.

Boom!

A deafening thud exploded in the center of the pool.

The heavy iron sword crushed along the air gap.

The water flow on both sides failed to push the sword back; instead, it was forcibly torn apart on both sides of the blade.

A huge gap, more than three zhang wide, burst open right in the middle of the waterfall.

The floodwaters were overturned by this violent force, turning into a vast expanse of mist that crashed down on the shore.

The stones on the shore were all washed by the water vapor and became slippery.

Cheng Ying couldn't dodge in time and was splashed all over her head and face. Her gray-blue Taoist robe clung to her body, making her shiver from the cold.

The fabric clung tightly to her skin, clearly outlining her slender waist and full breasts.

Lu Wushuang screamed in fright, her feet slipped, and she jumped back several steps.

The eagle perched on a withered tree branch in the distance was startled by the burst of steam, flapped its large wings, cried out twice, and retreated repeatedly.

Yang Guo stood in the middle of the pool, holding the large iron sword upside down in his hand.

The water flowed for quite a while before closing up again and crashing down on us.

He shook his arms, and there was no soreness or numbness left in the webs of his hands.

He looked down at the dark, blunt iron in his hand, then grinned and laughed out loud.

"Old man Dugu, I've figured out those eight words of yours."

A heavy sword has no edge, and a heavy sword has no skill.

The essence of this thing lies not in the sword itself, but in the person.

He blended his own strength into the surrounding天地水势 (heaven, earth, and water), using the opponent's strength to crush them.

What good is the strength of the Golden Wheel Monk?

No matter how unorthodox the Dragon Elephant Prajna Kung Fu is, there will always be gaps in the exchange of moves.

If you can use your sense of energy to find the "gap" in the old bald monk's moves during the fight, and then cut into it with your sword, using the old bald monk's own force to counterattack, the old bald monk will definitely suffer a great loss.

This trip to the Sword Tomb was worthwhile; it has added another layer to our portfolio.

Yang Guo turned his head and looked at Cheng Ying, who was shivering from the cold on the shore, while making plans in his mind.

This woman is really skilled in Qimen Dunjia; she's an expert at arranging troops and assessing terrain.

If we ever really have to fight against the Mongol army, having her by my side as a strategist will definitely save me a lot of trouble.

Yang Guo, carrying a large sword, strode ashore.

"Steward Cheng, you have a good eye. When we get back to the cave, I'll definitely reward you handsomely."

Yang Guo, with lewd remarks escaping his lips, was just about to go over and take advantage of the situation further.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other side of the pool.

Lu Wushuang ignored the splashes of water on her clothes.

She spread her legs apart, taking a very stable horse stance on the muddy ground.

Two long, shapely thighs were stretched straight, and the muscle lines under the trouser legs were hard and defined.

She clenched her fists at her waist, her chest rising and falling with her breath.

The small pebbles on the ground around her spun around as she emanated a burst of internal energy.

Lu Wushuang abruptly pulled her legs back and stood up straight.

She exhaled a long breath of white air, turned her head, and flashed a set of white teeth at Yang Guo, her smile extremely irritating.

"My dear husband, those squats under the waterfall weren't for nothing."

Lu Wushuang patted his muscular thighs. "I think... I've broken through too."