197: Chapter 77 Just in case

He had certainly heard of the Shaolin Monastery, but he didn't know there were so many powerful Martial Arts there.

This was because, for some reason, the Shaolin Monastery kept an extremely low profile during the period of legend of the condor heroes and even the period of Return of the Condor Heroes, having almost no presence, only becoming active again toward the end of Return of the Condor Heroes and during the period of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

The reason Meng Li knew so many Shaolin secret techniques was that he had encountered quite a few abandoned Shaolin disciples in his previous life.

He didn't explain much about this, but instead turned to look at Guo Jing: "How much did you learn?"

Guo Jing scratched his head and replied truthfully: "I remember some of it, but I didn't remember all of it."

When Meng Li and Old Imp were imparting Martial Arts to each other, they did not exclude him and Mu Nianci, but they also didn't offer targeted guidance; the two were purely in an auditing state.

Guo Jing understood this was an Opportunity, so he listened, watched, and recorded everything very seriously.

It was just that, unlike Huang Rong, he couldn't recall everything instantly, so his retention was unsatisfactory.

For some relatively simple techniques, he remembered most of it, but for the complex ones, he only remembered a little.

Hearing this, Meng Li was not surprised.

Guo Jing's Martial Arts Aptitude was of a specialized type; he could only pursue a path of specialization and could not be versatile and proficient in everything like Medicine Master Huang.

As for Mu Nianci, the fact that she could learn Hong Qi's Carefree Stroll Fist in three days showed her Aptitude was not bad. However, the Martial Arts Meng Li used for exchange just now all followed a purely Yang and fierce path, which was unsuitable for women, and the Nine Yin Manual - Upper Volume was too miscellaneous.

He let her listen selectively and not force herself to memorize everything.

Meng Li pondered for a moment and said to Guo Jing: "You can temporarily ignore the rest. For the content I'm about to share, focus on remembering it and commit it to memory."

"Okay," Guo Jing readily agreed.

Old Imp and Mu Nianci were a bit confused.

Since Meng Li had already traded the contents of the Nine Yin Manual - Upper Volume, there was no need to exchange it with Old Imp again.

Meng Li didn't explain and directly began reciting the content: "The Dao of Heaven diminishes what is excessive and supplements what is deficient. Thus, emptiness overcomes substance, and deficiency overcomes excess."

"The Dao of Heaven diminishes what is excessive and supplements what is deficient. Thus, emptiness overcomes substance, and deficiency overcomes excess," Guo Jing repeated after him.

Old Imp savored the sentence carefully and felt it was somewhat profound and familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen it before, so he patiently continued listening.

Meng Li continued reciting: "Its meaning is broad, its principle is abstruse, and its charm is deep."

Guo Jing followed: "Its meaning is broad, its principle is abstruse, and its charm is deep."

"The phenomena of Heaven and Earth are separated, the phases of Yin and Yang are arrayed, the causes of transformation are displayed, and the signs of life and death are manifest."

"The phenomena of Heaven and Earth are separated, the phases of Yin and Yang are arrayed, the causes of transformation are displayed, and the signs of life and death are manifest."

The more Old Imp listened, the more familiar it sounded.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he slapped his thigh: "This is the content of The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual!"

He had once possessed The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual. Although he hadn't studied it due to Wang Chongyang's will, he had accidentally glimpsed some of the content.

Immediately after, Old Imp stared at Meng Li and said: "You have seen The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual?!"

Meng Li calmly replied: "I 'borrowed' it from Mei Chaofeng's hands. This was also one of the reasons I wanted to obtain the Nine Yin Manual - Upper Volume. Having only the lower volume is incomplete; practicing the Martial Arts from it would bring more harm than good."

Old Imp's eyes widened: "In that case, you have mastered the Complete Manual of the Nine Yin Manual?!"

Meng Li nodded: "You could say that."

"How does that feel? Have you become much more powerful?" Old Imp asked curiously.

Meng Li answered: "There was some improvement, but I'm not entirely clear on the specific extent of the increase."

Old Imp frowned: "How can you not be clear? You know the Complete Manual of the Nine Yin Manual!"

Meng Li replied: "Because in this life, from the moment I started practicing Martial Arts until now, I haven't encountered anyone who could force me to use my full strength."

Old Imp: "..."

He suspected Meng Li was bragging, but he had no proof.

Because judging from the performance when Meng Li exchanged Martial Arts with him, the depth of the other party's foundation was indeed terrifying. The Seven Wounds Fist and more than ten Shaolin secret techniques were all top-tier choices, and individually, they might not be inferior to the Martial Arts in the Nine Yin Manual.

Meng Li not only wielded these Martial Arts with ease but could also teach them easily, indicating his mastery was clearly profound.

Wang Chongyang didn't possess such a foundation and skill level.

Thinking of this, Old Imp couldn't help but sigh: "If you had been born twenty years earlier, my Senior Brother might not necessarily have become the leader of the Five Masters."

Meng Li smiled without speaking.

Guo Jing was surprised: "Senior Old Imp, do you mean Elder Brother Meng could defeat The Real Person of Chongyang?"

Old Imp said: "Whether he could win is hard to say, because we'd have to fight to know."

"But his foundation in Martial Arts is stronger than my Senior Brother's."

Guo Jing was startled and looked at Meng Li with even greater admiration.

Mu Nianci's eyes also shone with brilliance.

Immediately after, Old Imp said to Meng Li: "I never expected that during the dozen or so years I was trapped on Peach Blossom Island, someone like you would emerge in the Jianghu."

"Will you participate in next year's Hua Shan Sword Conference?"

Meng Li nodded: "If there's a chance, I'll go take a look."

Old Imp immediately clapped his hands: "Then there will definitely be excitement to watch then!"

Meng Li didn't reply, turning to look at Guo Jing: "I'll continue teaching you the incantations; you should memorize and recite them as quickly as possible."

Old Imp was immediately puzzled: "Why are you teaching him the incantations for The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual?"

Guo Jing and Mu Nianci shared the same question.

Meng Li vaguely replied: "Just in case."

"Just in case? What 'in case'?" Old Imp became even more curious.

"Heaven's secrets must not be revealed," Meng Li blocked him, then continued imparting the incantations to Guo Jing.

Although Guo Jing was doubtful, he knew Meng Li would not harm him, so he obediently followed, reciting sentence by sentence, striving to memorize and recite them thoroughly.

Just as Guo Jing finished reciting all the incantations, footsteps were heard coming from the cave entrance.

Soon after, a man dressed as a servant walked in carrying a food container.

Guo Jing was somewhat disappointed.

He thought the person arriving was Huang Rong.

The servant bowed slightly to the group, then placed the food container on the table, tugged at Guo Jing, and took out a piece of paper from his robe to hand over.

"For me?" Guo Jing was somewhat surprised.

The servant made two grunt-like sounds, nodded, and turned to leave.

Guo Jing said a word of thanks and looked down at the content on the paper.

Seeing this, Old Imp asked with a smile: "Is that little girl's love letter to you?"

Guo Jing finished reading the content and replied: "No, it's from Island Master Huang."

Old Imp immediately snatched the paper curiously, then muttered: "He's summoning you? Those who come uninvited are rarely good. This Old Evil Huang must have something tricky up his sleeve. Little brother, you had better not go."

Guo Jing, however, said: "Senior Old Imp, I want to be with Rong'er, so sooner or later I have to face Island Master Huang."

"Since he summoned me over, I'll take the Opportunity to make things clear with him and get his agreement for me to be with Rong'er."

Old Imp, having interacted with them during this period, understood the feelings between Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Seeing Guo Jing say this, he did not object further.

At this moment, Meng Li said: "Nianci and I will go too. We have been here for some time and haven't visited the hosts; it would be improper not to."