A man stands before the heavens, his sword emerges from the Emei Mountains.

With a splash, the black figure disappeared into the white foam of the pool. The cascading torrent pushed Chen Yu against the bottom of the water. He felt as if the water pressure was an immense force pressing down from all directions, tearing and stabbing his body.

Chen Yu exhaled a breath of stale air, and as he touched the bottom, he stepped on the river stones with both feet, lifted his arms and elbows to paddle.

With a splash, the water parted, and Chen Yu scrambled ashore on all fours. He staggered a few steps and lay down on a flat rock, feeling short of breath, every muscle twitching, and aching and numb.

This sensation was mainly due to the astonishing power of the Bitter Monk's fist. Chen Yu used the ingenious move "Plucking Stars and Changing Constellations" from the "Snowflakes Piercing Clouds Palm" to deflect the force, but ultimately the difference in strength was obvious, and he suffered internal injuries.

Not daring to linger in such a dangerous place, Chen Yu took a few breaths to exhale and inhale, then got up, took the Yitian Sword from his waistband, and walked along the cliff into the depths of the forest.

……

The atmosphere in Shangqing Palace was like boiling water. Sayuna, holding a meteor hammer, led her men to search for the black-clad assassin. The Taoist priests in the temple were either wailing or looking grief-stricken because the master had left.

The boy's gaze fell on the withered flowers in the courtyard, recalling his father's words.

The man looked at the several corpses on the ground with a somber expression. Sayuna and the others had captured a few survivors, but they had all committed suicide by feeding themselves poison, thus cutting off the trail.

"Who is it?"

"Hehe..."

"It is Master Ku."

After the warning signal was given from the outside, the brown-haired monk leaped over the courtyard wall and appeared in the courtyard.

"Master." The boy was slightly disappointed to see that the monk was unarmed.

The monk gestured and mumbled a few words to express his apology, and then told the boy that Chen Yu had fallen off the cliff with his sword.

"Master, there's no need to blame yourself. I'll arrange for people to search." The young man immediately summoned his men to search according to the approximate location indicated by the ascetic.

After the group left, the young man asked, "Master, could you discern their sect?"

The ascetic shook his head.

"What about this move?" The boy was intelligent and used his near-photographic memory to execute the Hung Kuen move "Double Dragons Emerging from the Sea" that Chen Yu had used to strike his opponent.

The monk looked surprised, thinking to himself that he was quite knowledgeable and knew about various styles of boxing. As the saying goes, "one should not use two fists at once." When masters fight, they must be prepared for both offense and defense. But this move was about putting oneself in a life-or-death situation. How come he had never heard of such a technique before?

The ascetic pondered deeply, but ultimately shook his head.

"How strange, what kind of technique is this?" the boy muttered to himself.

"Minmin." The man walked over and greeted her.

"Father, the Heaven-Slaying Sword may be lost." Perhaps due to being punched by Chen Yuhong, the boy was seriously injured. He no longer deliberately suppressed his aura, and his voice changed to a clear and melodious tone.

Upon hearing this, the man said, "There's no need to worry. People in the martial world regard the Heaven-Slaying Sword as a treasure and flock to it like moths to a flame. In my father's eyes, it's just a weapon. Compared to Minmin's safety, he would discard it like trash."

"Father, may you be mighty!"

"Minmin was frightened. After Father has paid his respects to the Immortal, we will return to Dadu."

"Hmm." Minmin changed the subject abruptly, "Father is going to fight the Demonic Sect?"

Prince Ruyang nodded, "The immortal is facing the withered flowers, which is a metaphor for an uprising. The Demonic Sect is causing chaos everywhere. If it is not extinguished in time, it may become a prairie fire."

"Minmin will help her father when she grows up."

"Good daughter." Prince Ruyang looked pleased and said, "Minmin, you no longer need to dress as a man. You are already a woman who is just as capable as any man."

"I'll listen to Father." The boy smiled, lively and mischievous, a far cry from the mature and composed young man he had been moments before.

……

"Junior Brother Chen, what's wrong...?"

The wind rushed in through the window, pressing down on the candlelight and reducing it to a dim, flickering flame.

Ji Xiaofu was about to say that Chen Yu was taking such a risk, but when she thought about putting herself or her junior sister in his shoes, she realized that they would have risked their lives to avoid taking the Heaven-Slaying Sword just like her junior brother had. So she couldn't say anything more, and her expression turned into deep worry.

After the fighting at Shangqing Palace subsided, Ji Xiaofu and Su Mengqing came to check on Chen Yu and Yang An to see if they had been affected. They learned from Yang An, who had returned from his sneak trip, about the two's plan: Chen Yu would seize the Yitian Sword, escape by water escape, and the entire scheme of how they would meet.

Ji Xiaofu and Su Mengqing were both surprised and worried, their hearts filled with unease.

"Don't worry," Yang An said. "Junior Brother is an excellent swimmer and often practices his skills in the rapids of Mount Emei. He will surely be able to turn danger into safety and wait for us."

"I'm just afraid of what might happen," Ji Xiaofu said.

"Why don't we go find our junior brother?" Su Mengqing suggested.

"That's not a good idea. The Heaven-Slaying Sword is no ordinary weapon. The other side will definitely send people to search for it. If we run into them, it will ruin your plans, Junior Brother," Yang An comforted him, though he himself was also very uneasy.

"Then I'll listen to my junior brother. I hope he's alright." Su Mengqing clasped her hands together in prayer.

……

The wind rustled through the forest.

Chen Yu looked back and, by the moonlight, could vaguely see figures moving in the direction of the pool.

"They really did find us."

He chuckled softly and quickly disappeared into the forest.

They walked briskly for about two or three miles when the lush forest suddenly became sparse. After walking another hundred steps or so, the view suddenly opened up. Chen Yu stopped. Ahead was a cliff. Looking down, he saw that it was about seven or eight zhang high. Although the cliff was steep and as if cut by a knife, it was covered with green vines.

"It's not hard to get down, then I'll be completely safe." Chen Yu muttered to himself, carrying the Heaven-Slaying Sword on his back. He crouched down, grabbed the vines to feel the weight, and carefully climbed down. Using the vines to descend, he approached the bottom of the cliff. Suddenly, his right foot, which was about to fall onto the rock wall, lost its footing. He was startled. He loosened his grip on the vine with his right hand, used his left arm to swing his body several feet to steady himself, and looked to the side. Behind a few vines was a stone cave.

Chen Yu pondered for a moment, then drew his sword with a backhand motion.

The Heaven-Slaying Sword rang out with a crisp clang as it flew from its sheath, the long blade slashing down and tearing apart the tough vines.

"A divine weapon, its reputation is well-deserved." With his sword protecting him, Chen Yu swung and landed at the cave entrance.

When he peered inside, he saw that the cave was no more than two zhang deep, and the ground inside was littered with corpses.

Could he be a reclusive Taoist priest from Mount Sanqing? Chen Yu let out a soft breath, sheathed his sword, and walked forward.

As they got closer, they saw that the skeletons had many bite marks, and there were oil paper wrappings lying among the bare bones.

Chen Yu squatted down, picked up the package, brushed off the dust, and slowly opened it.

A yellowed ancient book came into view.

Chen Yu turned to the cave entrance, opened the book, and looked at it by the moonlight. The first thing he saw were three characters written in bold, elegant strokes.

"Wind and Thunder Hand".

"It's actually a cultivation technique manual!" Chen Yu had a sudden flash of inspiration and remembered a passage.

During the Heroes' Gathering in Xiangyang in The Return of the Condor Heroes, Yelü Qi fought against a man named Lan Tianhe. Lan Tianhe's palm strikes were as fierce as a raging storm that lasted from morning till night. The two fought to a standstill. According to historical records, Lan Tianhe was originally a Miao man from Guizhou. He went to Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan to collect herbs, but he fell off a cliff and met a strange man. He learned fierce and dangerous martial arts from him, and his palm strikes faintly sounded like thunder and lightning.

After thinking it over and considering it further, Chen Yu was certain that the skeleton in the cave belonged to Lan Tian and the strange man he had encountered.

"The dust of the world cannot bury the bones. This strange man sat in the stone cave, but in the end, his body was ruined by beasts like mountain demons." Chen Yu sighed, put the martial arts manual into his bosom, turned around and went into the cave. His sword flashed, cold light flickering, and the sword blade cut through the ground like butter. In just a moment, he dug a pit several feet deep.

Chen Yu picked up the bones, placed them in the cave, buried them, and bowed three times respectfully. He didn't leave immediately, but sat at the entrance of the cave, reading the cultivation manual by the moonlight.

"...Concise and powerful, alternating between fast and slow, fast like a fish's poke, slow with subtle moves, combining strength and gentleness, all interconnected..."

Chen Yu had a solid foundation built on his experience at Mount Emei. After reading it once, he understood its meaning. The highest level of the "Wind and Thunder Hand" technique combined both strength and gentleness. One could use masculine force to attack the enemy, or use feminine force to envelop the opponent's internal energy, preventing them from exerting their full power, just like dense clouds without rain.

It had a bit of the flavor of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. Chen Yu was overjoyed to have obtained a profound skill that was unique and unconventional.

An unexpected gain.