51: Chapter 51: Clues to the Nine Yin Manual

Guo Jing's pageboy brought over three books.

They were thread-bound, the pages yellowed, and there were no titles on the covers.

"Hero Guo asked me to give these to Young Hero Yang. He said if you leaf through them, you might be able to find some clues."

Yang Yuan took the books and thanked him. The pageboy cupped his hands in a salute, turned, and left.

He returned to the study and placed the three books on the table. The cover of the first book read "Nine Yin Manual · General Principles Interpretation." The characters were handwritten, with neat strokes.

He opened to the first page.

After reading a few lines, he saw it was the opening of the General Principles—discussing the principles of Yin and Yang harmony. It was somewhat similar to what Guo Jing had said about the Reverse Nine Yin, but not entirely the same. He flipped forward a few pages.

A yellowed piece of paper fell out from between the pages.

The paper was folded.

Yang Yuan bent down to pick it up and unfolded it. It was a hand-drawn map—drawn in ink lines, faded in some places, but the outlines were still clear.

It depicted a mountain.

The mountain was steep, with crisscrossing ravines. On the mountainside, there were densely marked entrances to several caves. A small stream flowed down from the summit, wound around a cliff, and emptied into a pool.

In the bottom right corner of the map, a cave was marked with a red circle.

Next to it, two characters were written: Forbidden Ground.

Yang Yuan stared at those two characters for a good while.

He knew where this was—the back of Zhongnan Mountain.

He took out the dark iron fragment and placed it on the map.

As soon as he placed it down, the fragment warmed slightly. This feeling of warmth was exactly the same as the aura he felt pressing over from the direction of Zhongnan Mountain each time.

The dark iron fragment was related to that Forbidden Ground.

A line of text popped up in his mind.

[dark iron fragment resonance with target location detected. It is recommended that the host obtain more information within 7 days.]

Yang Yuan closed the book.

7 days. That was quite tight. He stood up, folded the map and tucked it into his robe, then took the dark iron fragment and walked out into the courtyard.

Lu Wushuang was practicing her blade techniques in the courtyard.

The gauze on her arm hadn't been removed yet, but she was already swinging her blade. Every strike carried a fierce intensity, the blade wind whipping up the fallen leaves on the ground before they settled back down. She bit her lip, her forehead covered in sweat.

Yang Yuan stood at the doorway and watched for a while.

He knew what she was thinking. She wanted to seek revenge on Li Mochou.

"Stop practicing," he said. "Your arm hasn't fully healed yet."

Lu Wushuang sheathed her blade and caught her breath: "It's almost healed."

"Almost is not enough." Yang Yuan walked over and glanced at the gauze on her arm. "If it tears open again, you'll need another half a month to recover."

Lu Wushuang didn't speak. She slid her blade back into its scabbard, sat on a stone stool, and lowered her head.

After a moment of silence, she spoke: "Li Mochou is still out there."

"I know."

"She will come knocking on our door someday."

"Then let her come," Yang Yuan said. "Once she arrives, she won't be leaving."

Lu Wushuang looked up at him, but didn't say anything more.

A loud cry from Yang Po came from inside the room.

Yang Yuan walked into the room and saw Yang Po lying in the cradle, his small hands clenched into fists, kicking his legs hard.

The wooden board of the cradle had been kicked into a crack again.

Cheng Ying was sitting by the bed and looked at Yang Yuan helplessly: "This child, his strength is getting bigger and bigger."

Yang Yuan walked over and reached out to hold Yang Po's small fist.

The little guy stared at him with wide eyes, then squeezed hard—a force came through Yang Yuan's palm; it wasn't huge, but for an infant only ten days old, this strength was already quite alarming.

He picked up little Xue Jian and let her look at her younger brother.

Little Xue Jian reached out and touched Yang Po's face. Yang Po grinned, drool running all over his face.

Cheng Ying leaned against the head of the bed, watching the two children: "In a few months, Xue Jian should start learning basic skills."

Yang Yuan nodded: "I will teach her."

"She cannot learn your Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms," Cheng Ying said. "It is too rigid and fierce."

Yang Yuan rubbed his nose: "Then what should I teach her?"

"Teach the basics first," Cheng Ying said. "Once the Foundation is stable, she will learn everything quickly in the future."

Yang Yuan nodded and said nothing more. He was calculating in his mind—Xue Jian's talent was All Meridians Unblocked, with five times the Cultivation speed. If the Foundation was laid well, she would learn any Cultivation Technique faster than others. The key was to first find the path suitable for her.

He returned to the study and flipped through the three books again.

"Nine Yin Manual · General Principles Interpretation" spoke only of grand principles—Yin and Yang harmony, the balance of hardness and softness—and did not mention specific Moves.

The second book was "Nine Yin Manual · Internal Skill Chapter," which discussed methods for running Meridians, and in some places, the approach was different from the Nine Yang Manual.

The third book was the thinnest, with only a dozen pages. There was no title on the cover, and opening it, he saw it was handwritten notes—looking at the handwriting, it didn't look like Guo Jing's.

The notes were all about "Reverse Meridian Circulation."

Yang Yuan's eyes lit up.

He remembered Guo Jing saying—Sikong Xuan Cultivated the Reverse Nine Yin Manual. The path was evil, going against the orthodox Nine Yin. And these notes explained the principles of Meridian reversal and the methods to counter it.

Although incomplete, at least it let him know where the Foundation of the Reverse Nine Yin lay.

He closed the notes and tucked them into his robe.

The sky outside the window had already darkened. Yang Yuan stood up and walked into the courtyard.

In the northwestern sky, that purple light could not be seen. But he could feel it—in that direction, something was waiting for him.

Yang Yuan stood in the courtyard and went over all the information he had received today in his mind.

Map. Forbidden Ground. dark iron fragment. Notes on Reverse Meridian Circulation.

These clues strung together pointed to one place—the back of Zhongnan Mountain, that cave marked with a red circle.

He touched the dark iron fragment.

This thing might just be the key to opening that Forbidden Ground.

He looked up and glanced at the northwestern sky.

Sikong Xuan.

What exactly are you trying to do?

(Chapter 51 End)