Death Scripture

Tu Pianpian admitted defeat. She had seen the Dragon King's kung fu before so she wasn't determined to defeat him. But she was still greatly surprised by the fact that the Dragon King had such a powerful internal energy at an age this young.

"What an aggressive internal energy. I honestly admit defeat." Watching the Dragon King whose face was abnormally pale, Tu Pianpian added, "I don't mean to be presumptuous, but the Dragon King's internal energy is a little unstable, though very powerful. You should be careful."

Tu Pianpian had put it in a euphemistic way. The Dragon King's internal energy was not just unstable. It was actually roiling and fluctuating inside his body like furious waves. If it weren't for the fact that she had felt it herself, Tu Pianpian wouldn't have even believed this kind of internal energy could belong to a single person.

"I'll be cautious," Gu Shenwei said as he steadied himself. Under the gaze of everyone around him, the color of his face returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

Everybody was amazed. Clearly, the Dragon King had been about to lose. Why did Tu Pianpian admit defeat at this moment? It was also surprising that the Dragon King had recovered so quickly. What kind of weird internal energy was this?

Only Old Man Mu could vaguely guess at what had happened. With a smile, he said, "Old Dog, there's an internal energy that even the Valley God Palm Technique of the Kongtong Sect can't hold. Are you convinced?"

"Even my Senior Sister admitted defeat. Why would I be unconvinced?"

Dog Butcher was not a competitive man, which deprived Old Man Mu of a lot of fun.

Tu Pianpian turned around and said to Luo Qikang loudly, "The Kongtong Sect has admitted defeat. Now it's the Luo Village's turn. There are over a hundred people of us here. Whether we kneel or not is up to you."

Luo Qikang didn't say anything. He unfastened the sword from his belt and thrust it into the frozen ground. The sheath sank about seven to eight inches deep, sticking there solidly. Upon seeing this, a lot of people cheered. Those who were powerful enough should offer help, and those who weren't should offer verbal support. This was a Jianghu rule that transcended geographical boundaries. Since Luo Qikang was a member of the Luo Village, then these onlookers were even more generous with their compliments.

Even King An nodded in a dignified manner so as to express his appreciation. He finally realized that he was just a prop in this show, so he was no longer afraid. If the Dragon King won, then all he had to do was kowtow. If the Dragon King lost, then someone else was to blame and it didn't concern him. With this thought, King An became much more composed, which imparted him a faint air of kingliness.

Luo Qikang walked up to the Dragon King. "I've always wanted to have a kung fu competition with the Dragon King."

"Likewise." All Gu Shenwei was thinking about was improving his internal energy. He wanted his internal energy to be at least as powerful as that of the Unique King. In the Western Regions, there were not many kung fu experts who were good at internal energy, so fighting with opponents from the Central Plains was the best option.

"My younger brother died to the Dragon King's saber-" Luo Qikang had just started talking when Tu Pianpian interrupted. "Luo Qikang, we have a deal. This is an internal energy competition. No hatred between countries or private grudges should be involved."

Luo Qikang ignored her and continued talking. "That was because his kung fu was not good enough, not because the Luo family's kung fu is poor. Today, I'm going to retrieve the Luo family's honor."

Old Man Mu knew very well that his internal energy was not nearly as good as Luo Qikang's, but he still refused to let go of this opportunity to mock him. "There's no need for that. Everybody knows about the honor of the Luo family. Both white camels and black camels can carry goods three times the weight of a horse can carry. How could your internal energy be poor?"

A couple of unintelligent people laughed, but they were soon hushed by their companions. They had only managed to let out half a laugh.

In the Central Plains, Luo Qikang had always been an unforgiving man. After he arrived in Jade City, he had become even more so, and he sought revenge for the smallest grievance. No Central Plainsmen dared to offend him in public.

Ignoring Old Man Mu's sarcastic words, Luo Qikang took a deep breath and then slightly bent his knees, performing a substandard horse stance. "Ready yourself for my move, Dragon King." Upon finishing the last word, he threw a palm strike.

Gu Shenwei fought back. The moment his palm met his opponent's, he felt a surge of powerful Qi sweep over him like a mountain, far more potent than that of Tu Pianpian's. It seemed to be as powerful as the Unique King.

Gu Shenwei had prepared himself in advance, but his body still uncontrollably shook. When he tried to withdraw his palm to regather his internal energy and make the next move, he found that not only was the opponent's Qi aggressive, but also sticky, which prevented him from withdrawing his hand.

Luo Qikang refused to let this opportunity slip away. He wanted to kill the Dragon King in an aboveboard competition so as to avenge his younger brother's murder, even if this ignited a war.

Gu Shenwei knew that he had to resort to a more radical method.

After Wild Horse had fallen to the Death Sutra's backlash, Gu Shenwei had been trying to figure out a way to capitalize on Wild Horse's cultivation method. He had learned a lot of moves, which was an advantage over the other cultivators, but the gap between his internal energy and that of the Unique King and Lotus was only growing wider and wider. This was one of his weaknesses which had to be fixed.

The Death Sutra couldn't increase one's internal energy permanently, but it could temporarily multiply someone's internal energy when the energy was mobilized. It was just that there was no way back. If someone doubled his or her internal energy, then the next time he or she performed this kung fu, he or she must triple or quadruple the internal energy. The user wasn't able to retreat to a safer level or stay at the same level. He or she could only activate more and more powerful internal energy until he or she received a backlash that lead to death.

Wild Horse had imposed a limit on this method. He had died when he managed to increase his internal energy by tenfold. Gu Shenwei must not cross this line. He shouldn't even approach it.

During his competition with Tu Pianpian, they had exchanged thirty-five palm strikes in total. Neither of them had fought with full strength from the beginning, so Gu Shenwei had a chance to gradually increase his internal energy by a hundred percent. Tu Pianpian was still able to handle it, but she found that the Dragon King's internal energy was still growing more and more powerful, and that the growth seemed limitless. So, she had nodded and admitted her defeat.

Gu Shenwei had reached the level of substituting a saber for a sword, and the next level was turning his palm into a sword. Though they were still competing on internal energy and they were using palms as weapons, he was actually performing his swordsmanship. After making a move, he withdrew his Qi immediately, and then made the next move, which gave Tu Pianpian a feeling that the Dragon King's internal energy was wildly fluctuating and unstable, but it was actually getting stronger with each move.

Tu Pianpian had accidentally done the Dragon King a big favor, enabling Gu Shenwei to double his internal energy at the beginning of his fight with Luo Qikang, but he could still barely defend himself against his opponent's fierce attack.

The biggest flaw in the application of the Death Sutra to internal energy was its low sustainability. He had to withdraw all of his internal energy to make it stronger during the next move.

Luo Qikang mobilized all of his strength in the first move, but Gu Shenwei couldn't afford to confront him for a long time. He had to first withdraw his internal energy so that the opponent's Qi would instantly flood into Gu Shenwei's meridians. It entered his body through the Shangyang Acupoint, rampantly rushed past those acupoints along the Hand Yangming Dachang Meridian, and then entered the Governing vessel through the Dazhui Acupoint. It would only take this Qi half a cycle's time to destroy his Dantian.

Though the processes of all internal energy competitions seemed very similar, the moves that people used were actually very diverse. During the competition between Tu Pianpian and the Dragon King, both sides had used loose internal energy, which meant that their internal energy hadn't enter the opponents' meridians and had instead merely attacking their organs. If the weaker side refused to admit defeat, then their organs would end up being injured, but their meridians would be mostly fine and would be able to recover after a few days. But what Luo Qikang performed was a lethal blow. He had compressed his Qi into a potent stream which directly rushed towards his opponent's Dantian. If it hit the target, then the opponent would lose all of his internal energy for good.

Gu Shenwei's Qi retreated three times and fought back three times. After each engagement, Luo Qikang's Qi advanced several acupoints along Gu Shenwei's meridians. Finally, Gu Shenwei managed to intercept the opposing Qi at his Baihui Acupoint at the top of his head and stopped it from entering his Ren Vessel. But it was now impossible for him to withdraw his palm.

Their palms were stuck against each other. Luo Qikang was standing steadily, the look on his face unchanging. Only his eyes were gradually narrowing into slits. The Dragon King was in a different condition. His body were shaking constantly, and his face was gradually turning redder instead of paler. Before long, wisps of steam began to appear from the top of his head.

Even the spectators who knew little about internal energy could tell that the two participants of this kung fu competition had started a life-or-death fight from the very beginning, and that it was extremely dangerous, so nobody talked. Everyone was holding their breath. Only the sound of the wind and the snowflakes falling to the ground could be heard.

King An knew nothing about kung fu, but judging from the look on those people's faces, he could guess at the severity of the situation. He had no idea who was in a worse spot, so he involuntarily felt nervous but soon realized that the result of this competition actually didn't concern him. So he felt that he was being ridiculous. He had only sighed halfway when his "subordinate" besides him shot an angry glance at him. He then choked back the latter half of his sigh.

Old Man Mu was the most attentive spectator. Not in the mood to sneer at anybody anymore, he said to Dog Butcher in a low voice, "This is bad. The Qi of the Dragon King's opponent has reached the top of the Dragon King's head. It looks like the Qi is accumulating in his Baihui Acupoint. If this Qi runs downwards along the Ren Vessel, then it will approach the Dantian. What kind of kung fu is this 'black camel' using?"

Dog Butcher could also tell that the Dragon King was at a disadvantage, but he didn't know much about the kung fu skills of the Luo Village, so he replied, "I don't know. The Luo family has many unique skills. The black ca… Luo Qikang is a kung fu expert of the Luo family, so he definitely learned a lot of them."

Upon hearing her younger brother's words, Tu Pianpian, who was standing on the opposite side, said loudly and somewhat angrily, "I can't believe that you don't even know this. And you call yourself as an elder of the Kongtong Sect? No matter how many unique skills the Luo family has, the Blue Wave Palm Technique and Absolute Blockade Palm Technique are the only ones that he can use. Luo Qikang is standing still, making no moves, so you should've answered that he is performing either of the two. The only difference is the exertion of internal energy."

Light dawned on Dog Butcher. "I remember now. Master Shifu once said that the Blue Wave Palm Technique's power was like ripples. It pushes forward layer by layer and without pause, while the Absolute Blockade Palm Technique is like a spear. It is aggressive and never moves backwards."

"Did your Master Shifu tell you any ways to fight back against them?" asked Old Man Mu, hoping to help the Dragon King.

Dog Butcher looked at his sister and then shook his head in disappointment. "Since these are unique skills, they're naturally not easily cracked. Besides, this is not a palm technique competition. They're competing on internal energy, so the one whose Qi is more powerful will win-"

"Stop, stop. Keep quiet if you don't have a solution," Old Man Mu interrupted angrily.

Gu Shenwei heard the words of the three people, but they were not helpful to him at all. He had nearly tripled his internal energy, but he could still barely hold the opponent's Qi back. If he continue to increase his internal energy, then he would also be multiplying the risk of suffering a backlash.

Old Man Mu was thinking just as fast as the Dragon King. In the underground maze of the Bodhi Garden, he had learned a lot about the Death Sutra. Abruptly, a tactic occurred to him. He turned his head aside and asked Dog Butcher, "Old Dog, what about Shangguan Hong's life-saving move?"

Dog Butcher was stunned. "I don't know, and neither have I ever seen it. What kind of move is that?"

Old Man Mu didn't answer him. He had actually said this to the Dragon King.

In the underground maze, Shangguan Hong had learned a move from the Dragon King during a fight. When facing the attack of a formidable enemy, he didn't try to parry but instead slashed backwards to defend his vital parts, which had dissolved most of the enemy's momentum. Though he had still been hurt, it had allowed him to survive.

What Shangguan Hong adopted was the "Fighting for Survival" cultivation method. Gu Shenwei knew the moves but couldn't perform them. Old Man Mu had indeed reminded him something. Since those patterns in those stone chambers in Golden Roc Castle could expand swordsmanship, then maybe they could also be applied to internal energy.

Five bizarre sword moves flashed across Gu Shenwei's mind, all of which seemed to have nothing to do with internal energy.

Right on cue, Luo Qikang's Qi increased by thirty percent. The instant the Dragon King withdrew his internal energy, Luo Qikang's Qi advanced several acupoints from the Baihui Acupoint to the Shanzhong Acupoint. Gu Shenwei had to either figure out an immediate solution or drastically increase his internal energy, multiplying the risks of suffering a backlash.