The blind girl is called a saint with a sword!

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "Martial Arts."

An Qingwan said, "You want to discuss the Dao with me?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "That's right. In the past few days, I have carefully investigated you and discovered something very interesting."

An Qingwan: "?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, “Although you are young, your martial arts skills are very diverse, far beyond swordsmanship. You have dabbled in fist, palm, finger, leg, knife, sword, staff... even Qi Gate illusion techniques. No, not only do you dabble, you can even be said to be proficient in them. At your age, it would be impossible for you to do this normally.”

An Qingwan said, "Logically speaking, that's correct."

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "Everyone has their own secrets. I have no intention of exploring your secrets, but your abilities are just what I need."

An Qingwan asked, "Do you perhaps also know a lot of martial arts?"

The Holy Palace Master said, "Whenever there is war in the Central Plains, many people from the martial arts world come to Nine Nether Island to take refuge. Year after year, the Holy Palace has collected tens of thousands of martial arts techniques. Some martial arts techniques that have long been lost in the Central Plains can also be found in the Holy Palace's library. The Holy Palace collects these martial arts techniques not to use them as decorations. Every Holy Palace Master is proficient in at least dozens of exquisite martial arts techniques."

An Qingwan asked, "How many techniques have you mastered?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "I have a little more than the previous Palace Masters of the Holy Palace."

An Qingwan asked, "How much more?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "I have mastered one hundred and thirty-seven martial arts techniques." An Qingwan was taken aback.

She was able to master so many martial arts techniques because she opened them. Just how terrifying must the Palace Master of this Holy Palace be? And also...

"How old are you this year?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace laughed and said, "Don't you think it's very impolite to ask about someone's age?"

An Qingwan smiled and said, "Alright, then I won't ask. If you want to discuss martial arts with me, don't..."

"Isn't it about proving one's own path and seeking a breakthrough?"

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, “I have been meditating on Nine Nether Island for a long time and can no longer make progress. I took the opportunity of secretly leaving the island in Yun Guixu to come to the Central Plains to take a look. It is fortunate that I did not meet the number one Dao Master in the world that Master Cangming mentioned, but I did meet you.”

An Qingwan said, "Since you want to discuss the Dao, I will not refuse, but you have to agree to one condition."

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace asked, "What are the conditions?"

An Qingwan said, "You just said that there are many martial arts techniques on Jiuyou Island that have long been lost in the Central Plains. I need you to help me see the methods of Mr. Han Jing of the Qing Shuang Sect."

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "If you ask him about his methods of controlling puppets, it is a puppetry secret technique from the 'Thousand Autumns and Ten Thousand Years of Gu Poison Book'. His master, Bai Wuchen, also used this martial art to create puppets, but there are differences. Bai Wuchen turned himself into a puppet, so he integrated with those Gu worms the best. Even after becoming a puppet, he still retained some consciousness."

An Qingwan was taken aback.

Turning yourself into a puppet?

Is this some kind of evil practice, or is there some other motive?

She quickly asked, "I have more to ask than just these."

An Qingwan informed the Palace Master of the Holy Palace about some of the methods that Mr. Han Jing had used.

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "There are many types of mind-controlling techniques. Before seeing the person who was affected, I couldn't say for sure which mind-controlling technique he used. The martial art that killed Xie Ji, which is similar to the 'All Beings for Me' technique, should be the 'Ten Thousand Waters Return to Flow' technique of the Water Moon Sect. The Holy Master Cangming improved his 'All Beings for Me' technique based on this martial art. As for why Han Jing wanted to take the corpse and the Ascension Elixir, I think he might have wanted the martial arts experience of others. The Yuan Yi Heart Method of the long-extinct Butian Sect can absorb martial arts experience from the corpse of a recently deceased person. It is a first-class and mysterious demonic art in the world."

As she spoke, she suddenly laughed.

"He uses the Blood-Transforming Divine Gu and the Return of Ten Thousand Waters to steal others' internal energy, and the Primordial Unity Heart Method to steal others' martial arts experience. He is also proficient in Gu poison and puppetry. If I'm not mistaken, Han Jing intends to combine these methods to help himself merge with the Dao and forcibly step into the Dao of Heaven and Earth!"

An Qingwan was taken aback.

Although all of this was just the Palace Master's speculation, after hearing these words, she immediately felt that the speculation was probably the truth.

If it weren't for the pursuit of enlightenment, why would Han Jing be so insane, placing himself in opposition to top-tier grandmasters like the Celestial Venerable, the Sword God, the Garuda King, and the Cangming Saint Master?

Just then, a terrifying answer suddenly popped into An Qingwan's mind.

"For so many years, he had been steadily and cautiously advancing. He even waited five years to plot against Garuda King. But recently, he has been launching attacks on all sides. Could it be that he has reached a critical moment? Could it be that he has already attained enlightenment?"

Discussing the Dao on Lake 164, all swords return to their origin! [5.5k]

The desolate wilderness.

Inside a cave that looks unremarkable from the outside.

Han Jing, whom An Qingwan and the others were tracking, was currently in this cave.

His attire remained the same as always, resembling a refined scholar, but his face now lacked some of its usual composure.

Three generations, nearly seventy years—all those puppets they had painstakingly built up were reduced to just two by An Qingwan in a mere six months. Even her master…

Looking at the painting hanging on the smooth stone wall, as if carved from jade, and the last two puppets standing beside it, Han Jing's face was full of helplessness.

The unorthodox method of combining the power of the Gu Poison Book of the Gu God Sect, the Wanshui Guiliu of the Shuiyue Sect, the Yuanyi Heart Method of the Butian Sect, and the Shouzhen Chapter of the Qingshuang Sect to question the way of heaven and earth was originally conceived by Yuan He, the previous leader of the Qingshuang Sect.

At that time, Yuan He had been trapped in the Grandmaster's Palace for fifty years. Seeing that he was getting old and halfway to the grave, he was very unwilling.

In his quest to break through to the next level, he sought out martial arts masters everywhere and even tried to retire into seclusion, becoming an ordinary person to gain insight into the world, but to no avail.

After a month of deep contemplation in this cave, he finally came up with this alternative way to achieve enlightenment through plunder.

However, he was too old at that time, and even if he came up with a solution, he did not have enough time to wait for the day of success.

What should we do?

Yuan He is a person who does not easily admit defeat.

Even if he himself cannot achieve enlightenment, he will ensure that his most valued disciple attains it. In this way, at least he will be proven right; he was merely lacking in luck. Thousands of years later, he will still be remembered by countless people.

Therefore, in the last few years of his life, he tried every means to perfect the theoretical foundation of the alternative path to enlightenment and conducted a great deal of verification.

After Yuan He's death, his most valued disciple, Bai Wuchen, the leader of the Qing Shuang Sect, inherited his will and continued to research this method.

Bai Wuchen once tried to give up.

However, he still achieved a lot. Although he failed to gain insight into the natural order of the world, he successfully resolved the problem of potentially going insane or going astray by absorbing too much internal energy and martial arts experience from others.

This is a very crucial step.

Bai Wuchen also spent decades creating many exceptionally powerful puppets.

At that time, many masters in the martial arts world went missing. Everyone thought that those masters were killed by the Demonic Sect. They never imagined that they were actually captured by Bai Wuchen.

Bai Wuchen did a lot of things, but the only problem was that his personal talent was still lacking.

He stumbled and struggled his way into the Grandmaster realm, and despite gaining a great deal of martial arts experience, he struggled to fully master it.

How can one break through barriers if they cannot integrate these experiences?

Left with no other choice, he could only place his hopes on his disciples.

That is the Cold Mirror.

Twenty years ago, Bai Wuchen felt hopeless about breaking through to a higher realm, so he simply turned himself into a puppet.

He did this for a reason.

By becoming a puppet, he can live longer.

In this way, he could both secretly help Han Jing and witness Han Jing's attainment of enlightenment.

If Han Jing truly attains enlightenment, perhaps he can restore him in the future, bringing him back to life and transforming him from a living corpse into a human?

The plan is brilliant.

However, Bai Wuchen fell before Han Jing achieved enlightenment and was burned to ashes by An Qingwan.

Han Jing certainly did not intend to use An Qingwan to get rid of Bai Wuchen.

He sent Bai Wuchen to Shaoyang Prefecture that day because Bai Wuchen was the strongest among all the puppets, a true grandmaster, and also a member of the Qing Shuang Sect. As long as the disguise was done properly, he could definitely deceive others and make them mistakenly believe that Bai Wuchen was him.

This way, he could operate covertly and seek personal gain. But who could have imagined that An Qingwan was so formidable?

Facing two opponents alone, if he hadn't made some prior arrangements, Xu Zhong and the Holy Master Cangming would have been killed by An Qingwan.

"It's fortunate that I've always been cautious and didn't show myself, otherwise I would have been a corpse long ago."

“An Qingwan must have mastered a special method of detection. That method can not only see the surroundings, but also sense the aura. If I had known she had this ability earlier, I wouldn’t have lost so many puppets.”

“Once these puppets are lost, it will take at least ten or twenty years to replace them.”

Han Jing shook his head.

That’s all.

Such things don't matter anymore.

These puppets were used to help him do some shady things. Now that he no longer needs them, let them be destroyed. It's just a pity for his master.

“Although An Qingwan’s martial arts skills far exceeded my expectations, she must not have achieved enlightenment yet. Otherwise, she would have killed Xu Zhong and Cangming Saint Master more easily. I probably wouldn’t have been able to escape her detection back then. That’s good, that’s good.”

Han Jing laughed.

With a flick of his long right sleeve, he used his profound inner strength to summon a pile of metal fragments and several books scattered on a nearby box.

These metal fragments are from the six swords forged by Xu Chong, while the books are the secret manuals and training notes that he stole from Xu Chong afterward.

These things were all of great benefit to his enlightenment. It's just a pity...

If An Qingwan hadn't suddenly interfered, he would have been able to snatch the Dao Lord's corpse.

With the Dao Lord's corpse, why would he risk exposure to kill Xie Ji?

He could easily find a place to live a leisurely and secluded life.

As for Garuda King, although he ultimately failed to obtain the Blood Transformation God Gu King, it didn't have a significant impact.

During the five years he spent by Garuda King's side, he had already stolen all of Garuda King's martial arts experience. Garuda King was on guard for a long time, but in reality, he hadn't guarded against anything.

"These accumulations may not be enough for me to truly attain the Dao, but as long as the method is feasible, it will be enough for me to reach or even surpass the level before the Dao Lord died."

This is enough.

With this strength, he can then capture and absorb An Qingwan, the Sword God, the Palace Master of the Holy Palace, and others to form the foundation for his path to enlightenment. Only then should he be able to truly achieve enlightenment.

Thinking of this, Han Jing suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

The long-cherished wish of three generations of the Qing Shuang Sect for decades is finally about to be fulfilled by him!

Come on, everyone come on!

With a few soft chants, Han Jing summoned the two remaining puppets and the three top-tier masters who had been bewitched and were willing to become his lackeys.

He began to absorb the internal energy from these people using the "All Waters Flow Back to the Source" technique.

In fact, most of the internal energy in these people was originally bestowed upon them by their master, Bai Wuchen.

To attain enlightenment, one needs both profound insight and deep inner strength.

Over the years, Bai Wuchen and he had absorbed a lot of internal energy, but unlike An Qingwan, they could not control any amount of internal energy. They did not want to waste the excess internal energy, so they simply passed it on to others through the evil methods of the Gu God Sect, making these people do things for them.

Now that things have come to this, Han Jing no longer needs these people. He is attempting to break through his cultivation realm and is no longer afraid that absorbing their internal energy will cause him to suffer a qi deviation.

As his inner energy surged in, Han Jing endured the burning pain in his meridians and reached out to grab the fragments of the demonic sword on the ground, as well as the book he had obtained from Xu Zhong.

He slowly comprehended its true meaning, integrating it into his own being, especially the murderous aura on the demonic blade that condensed Xu Chong's lifelong understanding of the way of the sword.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Jing slowly put down the book in his hand, and a brighter smile than ever before appeared on his face.

"It's almost there, but only a little. Killing a few top experts will be enough. Perfect, I was planning to kill a few people anyway and frame the Nine Nether Holy Palace."

Han Jing stood up and casually glanced at the corpse lying on the ground, as well as the large number of withered Gu worms.

Then he got up and walked out of the cave.

He no longer needed to cherish the cave that held the long-cherished wish of three generations of the Qing Shuang School.

As he walked out of the cave, he looked up and saw the first rays of dawn breaking in the eastern sky. A half-full red sun floated above the horizon, casting its faint morning light onto the muddy ground beneath his feet.

An Qingwan's debate with the Palace Master of the Holy Palace lasted all night.

It lasted for more than five hours, from the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) on the previous day until the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) on the second day.

An Qingwan originally thought it was just a discussion of principles, not a life-or-death struggle, so wouldn't it be easy?

But once the discussion truly began, she realized that the Palace Master of the Holy Palace was no easy opponent; he was undoubtedly the most formidable adversary she had ever encountered.

The process of their discussion went like this.

The two sat on separate boats, with the Palace Master of the Holy Palace acting as the attacker, making the first move with words, and An Qingwan acting as the defender, making the second move in response.

This is a verbal dispute.

But this is not just an ordinary verbal dispute.

Because as their lips opened and closed, An Qingwan and the Palace Master of the Holy Palace had already merged into one, engaging in a unique martial arts contest that transcended mere verbal sparring.