Chapter 127: The Way of the Grandmaster, the Li Clan's "Divine Beast"
Jiangdu.
In the backyard of the restaurant, on the bank of the canal.
Ni Kun held a fishing rod, sat under the weeping willows, and fished leisurely.
"Mr. Ni, you are here."
Kou Zhong was dressed in military uniform and walked with big strides. His movements were full of vigor and vitality, and he had a bit of the air of a dragon and a tiger.
Ni Kun threw him a fishing rod and said with a smile:
"Look at you, Young Master Zhong. It seems like you are having a very pleasant time in the army?"
Kou Zhong laughed, took the fishing rod, sat on the ground, threw the hook into the water, and said with a beaming face:
"I have dreamed of becoming a general since I was a child, and I never expected that this mutiny would make my dream come true.
"Of course, for now, I am only a fifth-rank Yingyang Langjiang..."
"Promoted?" Ni Kun raised his eyebrows. "I heard a few days ago that you and Ziling were awarded the fifth-rank post of Yingyang Deputy Langjiang. How come you were promoted from deputy to full-time in just a few days?"
Kou Zhong touched the back of his head and laughed:
"Yesterday, Xiaoling and I led the army to break through Sima Dekan's camp, and then joined forces to kill Sima Dekan. Xiaoling gave all the credit to me, and I was promoted to a half-rank for my merit.
"Hehe, maybe I was born to be in the army. These days, I feel like a fish in water in the army. It's much more comfortable than rolling around in the rivers and lakes."
Ni Kun nodded with a smile:
"Then congratulations, Young Master Zhong, your dream has come true and you are on the rise."
"Hehe, thanks to Master Ni for the good words..."
As he was speaking, he saw Ni Kun pull out a helmet from somewhere and put it on his head. Kou Zhong was startled. He looked at Ni Kun's gorgeous clothes, and then at the military helmet that didn't match his clothes at all. He said blankly:
"Mr. Ni, why are you wearing a helmet?"
Ni Kun said seriously:
"Two people fishing together must wear helmets. Isn't this common sense?"
"Ah?" Kou Zhong was stunned: "Is there such common sense?"
"certainly."
Ni Kun looked so confident that Kou Zhong was half-believing and half-doubting. He began to wonder if the martial arts knowledge he had learned while traveling with Xu Ziling was too low-level and not yet high enough to become a high-level martial artist.
Ni Kun remained calm, laughing inwardly, and took out the Longevity Secret again, throwing it to Kou Zhong: "Return it to its original owner."
Kou Zhong took the Changsheng Jue and asked, "Master Ni, did you gain anything?"
Ni Kun nodded, then shook his head: "I understand, but it's a pity that I couldn't cultivate the innate true qi."
In the past few days, he has asked Zhu Yuyan and others to copy the entire book of Changsheng Jue, from the pictures to the texts, and to the annotations deciphered by the predecessors .
He also practiced the first five pictures one by one, and tried to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body in the order of water, wood, fire, earth, and gold.
Among them, the three elements of spiritual energy, water, wood and fire, are of great benefit to his three kinds of spiritual bloodlines and can help the growth of spiritual bloodlines.
The earth-element spiritual energy settled in the blood, without any changes for the time being. However, it also verified Ni Kun's idea, and he was sure that he could indeed use the Longevity Technique to activate a chance to be reborn and obtain earth-element blood.
Of course, it takes a long time to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and accumulate it slowly.
The gold-type spiritual energy was devoured by the Blood Evil Sword, which had a strengthening effect on the Blood Evil Sword.
The five elements of spiritual energy were successfully introduced into the body, but not a single trace of the innate true energy could be cultivated.
But Ni Kun has no regrets.
It was already a pleasant surprise that the Secret of Immortality could realize his idea of the five elements bloodline.
Kou Zhong casually flipped through the Changsheng Jue twice, remembering that after obtaining the Changsheng Jue, he met Fu Jun'er again. Thanks to Fu Jun'er's sacrifice, he and Xu Ziling had the opportunity to escape from Yu Wenzhi's men and accidentally cultivated the Changsheng Jue. He couldn't help feeling a little sad:
"Whether this longevity secret can make people live forever is still unknown, but countless people have died because of it... Xiao Ling and I..."
The corners of his mouth twitched twice, he swallowed his words, punched the muddy ground beside him, and said angrily:
"Unfortunately, the traitor Yu Wenzhi was so cunning that he had deliberately set up a false formation and escaped overnight on the night of the mutiny. He also tricked Sima Dekan and others to stay behind to attract the attention of the court.
"By the time we wiped out Sima Dezhen and other rebel generals , we had no idea where he had escaped to!"
Ni Kun comforted:
"Yu Wenzhi has committed many evil deeds, and he will be finished sooner or later. Xiaozhong, you don't need to worry, you will hear the news of Yu Wenzhi's death sooner or later."
Kou Zhong's tone was full of self-blame:
“But I’d rather kill him myself!
"Unfortunately, Xiao Ling and I are not strong enough in martial arts, otherwise we would not have allowed him to retreat so easily on the night of the mutiny!"
Ni Kun smiled and said nothing more.
Yu Wenzhi is the second best master of the Yuwen clan. Apart from the clan leader Yuwen Shang, he is the only master who has mastered the "Ice Mysterious Force". He also has extremely rich practical experience and a very strong killing ability.
Considering Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's age and the time they have spent training in martial arts, how could it be easy for them to kill Yu Wenzhi with their own hands?
After a moment of silence, Ni Kun changed the subject:
"Mr. Zhong, what are your plans for the future? Will you continue to serve as a general in the Xiaoguo Army and support the Sui Dynasty?"
Kou Zhong's eyes flashed with confusion:
"Xiao Ling and I accepted Yu Shiji's recruitment just to protect Yangzhou from the war, and also hoped to take advantage of the situation to kill Yu Wenzhi and avenge himself.
"Now that Yangzhou has been stabilized, Yu Wenzhi has fled without a trace...
"Xiao Ling has decided to leave, and I don't know what to do next..."
After just a few days of military life, he has fallen in love with the military atmosphere and feels that he was born to be a soldier, so he naturally hopes to stay in the army.
However, he was somewhat reluctant to support the Sui Dynasty.
Now Xu Ziling has decided to leave again...
After thinking for a while, he sighed:
"Let's take it one step at a time. If Xiaoling really doesn't want to stay in the army, I will have no choice but to resign and leave."
Ni Kun raised his hand, patted him lightly on the shoulder, and took out two booklets and threw them to him:
“Although the Art of Immortality did not allow me to cultivate innate true qi, the benefits it brought to me were truly beyond my imagination.
"In that previous transaction, I took advantage of you.
"Here is a set of sword techniques and a set of boxing techniques. They are my compensation to you. You and Ziling can use them to comprehend them."
His evaluation of the secret of immortality was not exaggerated at all.
The secret of longevity was very important to his realization of the concept of "five elements bloodline".
Not only can it help him obtain the earth and metal bloodlines, it can also help him actively draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and promote the growth of the five elements bloodline.
Before this, his fire spirit, wood spirit and water spirit bloodlines could only be passively improved by practicing the human immortal body refining technique when his physique and blood were strengthened, and the growth efficiency was very slow.
It can directly draw the corresponding spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body. After being refined by the spiritual blood, the growth rate of the three elements of fire, wood and water is very amazing. Every time you practice, there will be a visible improvement.
Therefore, if Ni Kun succeeds in the Five Elements in the future, the Art of Immortality will definitely make a significant contribution.
It is totally worth it for Ni Kun to give some benefits to Kou Xu.
Kou Zhong was generous by nature, so he did not refuse. He casually glanced at the two booklets and saw that one cover had "Wuer Sword Technique" written on it, and the other cover had "Shan Hai Boxing Classic" written on it, both were handwritten in beautiful handwriting.
He did not even look at the contents, not knowing how amazing these two martial arts were. He stuffed them into his arms carelessly and bowed to Ni Kun:
"Thank you, Master Ni. If Xiao Ling and I become successful in martial arts in the future, we will definitely repay you."
Ni Kun smiled and thought to himself, as long as you guys don’t cheat me in the future, I’ll be thankful!
After returning the secret of immortality, Ni Kun did not continue fishing. He put away his fishing rod and stool, said goodbye to Kou Zhong and left.
After Ni Kun left, Kou Zhong sat in silence for a while before he took out the Wuer Sword Technique and looked through it.
At first he just flipped through it quickly and casually, but soon, Kou Zhong's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his eyes became serious. He quickly turned back to the first page and read the sword manual word by word.
After reading a few pages carefully, he let out a long breath, his eyes full of shock:
"There is such a sword technique in the world?"
Although he and Xu Ziling had mastered the Art of Immortality, and started with innate true Qi, they also unexpectedly discovered that their skills could complement each other and their skills improved by leaps and bounds. However, the Art of Immortality did not contain any external martial arts to kill the enemy.
He and Xu Ziling have been hanging out in the martial arts world until now, and he only learned the Ten Bloody Fighting Styles from Li Jing. Later, in Wagangzhai, he learned some acupoint-pressing and pulse-cutting grappling skills from Zhai Rang's steward.
However, these two skills cannot be considered as advanced martial arts.
They had no chance to come into contact with serious and advanced martial arts, and their martial arts skills were all acquired through self-learning in actual combat.
This certainly allowed them to initially form their own path, but it also required them to put in more effort to gain a little reward, and progress in martial arts was extremely difficult.
In fact, in the original world line, Kou Xu truly became a martial arts grandmaster because they each received guidance from many masters and acquired many advanced martial arts skills. After integrating them, they reached the pinnacle of martial arts.
Before that, although the two of them were good at fighting, most of the time, they fought very badly and were often chased and forced to flee everywhere.
Often one has to exchange injuries for injuries, and only by relying on the fast recovery and quick recovery characteristics of the Changsheng Jue can one fight to survive and persevere.
Now, in order to repay Kou Xu for lending him the Changsheng Jue, Ni Kun directly taught the two the unique sword skills and Shanhai Boxing Sutra, which would undoubtedly make their martial arts journey smoother.
As for whether these two martial arts were too advanced and would restrict the two people's paths and make them lose their own characteristics...
Ni Kun thought that shouldn't be the case.
Because both Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, from the very beginning, ignorantly embarked on the path of "putting themselves first".
No matter what kind of profound skills they have, when they come across them, they are the ones who will take the lead and control it, and even actively eliminate the dross and retain the essence, absorbing only what is suitable for them and integrating it into their own path.
Such a strong talent in martial arts is the real capital for them to embark on the path of becoming a grandmaster or even being broken.
In fact, Ni Kun also embarked on this path intentionally or unintentionally.
His concept of the Five Elements bloodline was certainly based on his own spiritual bloodline and the knowledge he gained in his previous life, but when he really embarked on this path, no one could guide him, and he had to rely on himself to explore it slowly.
Even the five diagrams of the Secret of Immortality were merely nutrients for his growth. He did not follow the diagrams to cultivate his innate true Qi.
If Ni Kun can really achieve something in the way of the Five Elements in the future, he can proudly say that he has walked this path on his own.
My great Ni Kun is also a master who can establish his own school.
Not to mention how shocked and grateful Kou Zhong was, Ni Kun returned all the way to the Yingui Sect's base, intending to rest for a night. The next morning, he set out on a journey to collect old weapons and explore the ancient battlefield.
Of course, the Xiaoguo Army has recently rebelled and counter-rebelled and fought several bloody battles of varying sizes. Some of the blood-stained weapons are worth collecting.
So when Ni Kun and his party left Jiangdu, the Xiaoguo Army lost tens of thousands of weapons overnight, causing the court and the army to become suspicious and believe that they had been possessed by evil spirits.
The next to suffer were Li Zitong's troops entrenched in Hailing County, Jiangdu County.
…
Taiyuan.
Li Shimin had just returned from leading his troops to battle, and without even taking off his armor, he hurried to find Li Yuan.
When they found Li Yuan, they saw him talking to a middle-aged man with an immortal look on the parade ground of the Liushou Prefecture.
Not far in front of the two men, there was a man in ragged clothes sitting, with his head lowered and motionless, his long hair like weeds covering his face, so it was unknown what he looked like. Thumb-thick iron chains were tied around his neck, wrists, and ankles, and there was a team of fully armed soldiers, holding strong bows and crossbows, large shields and spears, nervously surrounding the man.
"Who is that? He's chained up, but he's still acting like a formidable enemy?"
Li Shimin was confused, but did not think much about it. He hurried towards Li Yuan to report an urgent military situation to him.
When Li Yuan saw him coming, he smiled and said without waiting for him to speak:
"Shimin, come here and meet Mr. Xu."
"Mr. Xu? Who is he? My father seems to think highly of him."
Li Shimin looked doubtfully at the middle-aged man beside Li Yuan, who looked like a fairy and gave people a feeling of spring breeze, and stepped forward to greet him as he was told: "Shimin greets Mr. Xu."
After Mr. Xu returned the greeting, Li Shimin was about to speak to Li Yuan, but Li Yuan laughed and said:
"Shimin has come at the right time. It's a good opportunity for him to see Mr. Xu's achievements. Whether he can defeat the demon who pretends to be the First Emperor in the future depends on Mr. Xu's achievements this time."
Li Shimin was completely confused when he heard this. Just when he was about to understand what was going on, he saw Li Yuan nodding and smiling at Mr. Xu:
"Mr. Xu, let me and my son see the 'divine beast' you have refined!"
Mr. Xu smiled slightly, took out a bone flute, put it to his lips and blew it gently.
A wonderful rhythm sounded, and the man sitting on the ground with hair like dead grass suddenly raised his head. His eyes hidden by his messy hair glowed red, and a loud crackling sound burst out from his body. His body suddenly swelled, and his muscles bulged, stretching his tattered clothes tightly.
Then the man let out an inhuman roar, and with his hands he pushed up, the iron chain on his wrists cracked, and he stood up again, moving his legs and feet, and the iron chain on his ankles also broke. He raised his hands and pulled at his neck, and the iron chain on his neck was also broken like a rope.
After the man stood up, the soldiers surrounding him, at Li Yuan's signal, all pulled the trigger of the crossbows, and the crossbow arrows whistled and shot at the man. The man did not dodge or block, and let the crossbow arrows hit him.
The powerful crossbow shot at close range, and the man's clothes were instantly ripped into pieces, revealing the dark blue skin underneath.
But what shocked Li Shimin was that the sharp armor-piercing crossbows could only leave a few faint white marks on the dark blue skin, and then were bounced away. It looked like the skin was not even broken.
The crossbows were ineffective, and twelve spear-wielding soldiers roared, stepped forward in unison, and stabbed with spears from all sides.
Twelve sharp spears pierced the man at the same time, hitting his throat, heart, lower abdomen, soft ribs, waist, thighs, and knees, but again only made a series of popping sounds like hitting rotten leather. The sharp spear tips slid sideways from the man's dark skin, leaving only a series of faint white marks.
Then the man who was being shot by powerful crossbows and stabbed by spears suddenly swung his arm, and as his arm swept across, several spears broke at the same time.
He crouched down again, then leaped out like a cheetah, and with a low push of his shoulder, smashed a heavy wooden and iron tower shield into pieces. The strong man holding the shield groaned and fell away, leaving a deep dent on his heartguard.
The man rushed left and right, and in a blink of an eye, several tower shields were shattered one after another. All the shield-bearing soldiers were knocked away, and the spear-bearing soldiers were also broken by his sword and knocked away.
More soldiers drew out their ring-handled swords and slashed at him with their swords.
But the sword only made a series of popping sounds when it slashed at him, and it also failed to cause any harm to the man. Instead, the man grabbed the sword and twisted it casually, breaking the sword made of fine steel into two pieces...
Seeing the man showing off his power, Li Shimin couldn't help but exclaimed:
"Invulnerable to swords and spears, with immense strength, where did this master of horizontal training come from? With this level of cultivation, he must be close to becoming a Grandmaster, right?"
Li Yuan laughed:
"This is not some master of horizontal training. A few days ago, he was just an ordinary warrior who committed a capital crime. The reason why he became so fierce and powerful is all thanks to Mr. Xu's magic medicine 'Divine Beast Pill'!"
Mr. Xu also smiled reservedly, looked at Li Shimin, a great leader who would later become famous, and said slowly:
"My divine beast pill can turn ordinary people into 'divine beasts', making them extremely powerful, as fierce as tigers and leopards, invulnerable to swords and spears, and not afraid of pain, fatigue, or life and death.
"If you are a warrior, the beast you refine will be stronger. The higher your martial arts skills, the more powerful the beast you refine will be.
“As long as we can refine three thousand divine beasts, even if the demon who claims to be the First Emperor has the so-called immortal Qin Terracotta Warriors, they will be defeated in one fell swoop! Sweeping the world will be as easy as pie.”
Li Shimin was half-believing and half-doubting, but at the same time he felt something was wrong - the title of "divine beast" did not give him a good feeling. A human is a human, how can he be called a beast?
Besides, looking at the man, although he is invulnerable to swords and guns and has a sharp body, his eyes are glowing red, his face is ferocious, his canine teeth are protruding, and saliva is dripping from the corners of his mouth. He doesn't look rational at all.
Can such a "thing" really be controlled by the Li family?
If in the end only Mr. Xu, who refined the divine beast, can control this so-called "divine beast", then the consequences will be somewhat bad.
He was confused, but he couldn't ask directly in front of Mr. Xu, so he could only say to Li Yuan who was in high spirits:
"Congratulations, father, you have gained another trump card. I just happened to receive some urgent military intelligence, and this divine beast may be of use soon."
Li Yuan's eyebrows moved: "Oh? What's the emergency?"
Li Shimin looked solemn:
"I received news that the Turks suddenly assembled 100,000 cavalrymen the day before yesterday and broke through the pass from Mayi County. Liu Wuzhou, who had originally pledged his loyalty to the Turks, has been killed by the Turks.
"After occupying Mayi, the Turks are still occupying land and distributing houses. A large number of herdsmen, old and young, are driving cattle and sheep across the Great Wall... It seems that the Turks are going to stay in Mayi!"
Li Yuan was stunned: "What? The Turks are staying in Mayi and won't leave? Could it be that the Turks are going to march towards the Central Plains and try to conquer it?"
Li Shimin looked solemn and nodded slowly:
"Look at the Turkic soldiers and civilians coming together and moving their families. This is probably their intention!"
