Starting from Tianlong, Wudu Tianxia

Gao Yuan wanted to continue gossiping, but Shen Yanei was already impatient. In his eyes, all those "brothers" and "young heroes" were just江湖草莽 (jianghu grass-dwellers) who were not worthy of respect.

Having been entertained by Li Chenghuan and incurred his displeasure, and given Gao Yuan's limelight, he stood up and flicked his sleeves:

"Brother Wang, Brother Huang, Brother Xu, it's getting late. My mother is very strict, and I'm afraid I'll get into trouble if I go back late. Let's call it a day and say goodbye. See you another day."

He glanced at Gao Yuan and strode outwards.

Everyone knew he was furious, and no one tried to stop him.

As for Li Chenghuan, he was the one who organized the banquet, so he didn't dare to run away first.

Shen Yanqing left first, Li Chenghuan remained silent, Xu Xiang felt bored after the excitement was over, and Gao Yuan, seeing that it was getting dark, went home with Shi Tou after a few pleasantries.

After everyone dispersed, Gu Feng, sitting in the carriage, looked puzzled: "Young Master, you are of noble status, why did you come to Xuzhou in person? Jin Hong is merely the leader of the Fire Worshiping Sect, he doesn't deserve such a grand visit."

Gu Feng's expression was unusually respectful at this moment, completely different from when he was at the Immortal Gathering.

Inside the carriage, Xu Xiang-sheng sat quietly, his tone indifferent: "Jin Hong has a voice in the Six Wheels and Twelve Altars of the Zoroastrian Church; he is Yan Bei-feng's right-hand man..."

"The Fire Charioteer controls half of the Zoroastrians' secret agents, and holds the registers and ledgers of the incense offerings, supplies, and officials of all ranks in Hebei Province who are colluding with them."

He looked up at the fleeting street scenes outside the car window, his tone turning somber:

"You only think of him as an ordinary leader of the Zoroastrian Church, but you don't know that Yan Beifeng has been holding ropes that can strangle people all the way down from him."

Gu Feng's expression changed slightly: "I am foolish and failed to see through the situation."

Xu Xiang-sheng withdrew his gaze: "The prefect of Xuzhou is unwilling to collude with them. If they don't remove him, Zoroastrianism can forget about taking root in western Beijing."

"Young master, do you truly hold Murong Fu in the highest regard?"

"Murong Fu? My father did praise him for his intelligence and talent, but you must listen carefully to his words and not believe them entirely."

He changed the subject, his tone teasing: "You really didn't hold back in your match just now?"

Gu Feng dared not hide anything and immediately explained the situation to Xu Xiangsheng in detail.

"Hmm? According to you, you didn't even manage to defeat him by luck. If you used all your strength, how long would it take you to take him down?"

Gu Feng pondered for a moment: "He may have learned some tricks to deflect force, but I didn't unleash my full internal energy just now. If my internal energy were to surge, he wouldn't be able to deflect it. I'm confident I can take him down in a few breaths."

Xu Xiang Sheng looked relieved. Gu Feng had always maintained a basic level of martial arts foundation when he presented himself to the outside world, but in reality, he had been hiding a lot.

In his eyes, Gao Yuan's victory was only due to Gu Feng not using his internal strength and underestimating his opponent.

Comparing him to Murong Fu is an overstatement.

After all, although he didn't practice martial arts, he wasn't a complete novice in the martial arts world.

The most important thing in learning martial arts is talent. Gao Yuan may have good talent, but looking around the martial arts world, there are countless young people like him.

He has value in winning him over, but he is not the only one. At such a young age, if he wants to defeat Gu Feng at full strength, perhaps only the young man from the Murong family can do so.

Hmm... I heard from my mother that the Beggars' Sect has also produced a young talent whose martial arts skills are already extraordinary.

I just don't know how he compares to the young man from the Murong family.

……

The evening breeze was cool, and fireflies flitted among the flowerbeds like twinkling stars.

Inside the west courtyard of the Fan residence, Gao Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, forming a mudra in front of his abdomen, meditating and circulating his qi.

A wisp of energy began to travel backwards from his Tanzhong acupoint. Within moments, the energy wisp had turned pale blue and returned to his Qihai acupoint.

At this moment, he was using the unique absorption power of Beiming to refine the mixed internal energy from Gu Feng.

After the refining was complete, he exhaled a breath of stale air, and his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

During the day, he sparred with Gu Feng and absorbed a portion of his internal energy into his body. Although he could use it freely without refining it, it was ultimately impure and could not be dispersed into his limbs and bones.

If it is not refined for a long time, there may be hidden dangers.

"Fortunately, it was only a small amount of internal energy. If Gu Feng had used his full strength, I would have been cultivating for a short time and my internal energy was far inferior to his. If I had forcibly absorbed it, it would have been just like what was described in the Beiming General Scroll: seawater rushing into the river. It would have been extremely dangerous and my meridians would have been shattered."

Gao Yuan relaxed and secretly rejoiced.

"The Northern Darkness Divine Skill truly lives up to its T0-level status in Jin Yong's martial arts novels. The mere refinement of Gu Feng's internal energy is no less than ten days of arduous training, making it a cheat-like existence. Just as Li Qiushui left a message for Duan Yu on the silk scroll in the original work, saying, 'If you encounter a strong enemy, prioritize self-preservation, accumulate internal strength, and then take the enemy's life.'"

Basically, the gist of it is to warn Duan Yu that if someone who cultivates the Beiming technique encounters a powerful enemy and cannot defeat him, it is best to run away and slowly absorb the internal energy of others to strengthen himself before seeking revenge.

"Huh~!"

Gao Yuan was pondering the events of the day when he was suddenly struck by a sense of unease.

He felt a surge of heat, like a spring stream thawing, which traveled on its own from the Tanzhong acupoint to the Yunmen acupoint and then to the Shenfeng acupoint, clearing the meridian blockage between the Yunmen and Shenfeng acupoints without any hindrance.

Gao Yuan was overjoyed. The cultivation of the Northern Darkness Divine Art also required opening up the meridians. If he wanted all the acupoints in his body to generate suction to absorb the internal energy of others, he needed to continuously open up more related meridians.

The sixteen diagrams perfectly cover the eight extraordinary meridians. He practiced diligently for a season but only mastered the third diagram. He still couldn't connect the Shenfeng acupoint with the fourth diagram.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly felt a connection to the source of the energy. Could it be related to the first time he absorbed someone else's internal energy?

The first picture of Beiming is based on the Lung Meridian and Ren Meridian, and the third picture is based on Shenfeng. In the original work, Duan Yu only practiced the Lung Meridian and could only absorb energy through the Shaoshang acupoint on his thumb.

For example, when Kumārajīva seized Duan Yu's heart and sealed his acupoints, he was unable to move because he had not connected the meridian to that acupoint.

Now that he has broken through the divine seal, he is no longer afraid of being attacked in the chest, just like Duan Yu.

……

At this very moment, in Pingjiang Prefecture, far from Xuzhou, thirty miles west in the depths of Taihu Lake, lies Yanziwu.

A young boy, shirtless, knelt before a memorial tablet with incense and candles burning.

"Slap slap slap"

The sound of the ruler striking suddenly rang out, and the boy's brows furrowed and his jaw tightened, but he still endured the pain without uttering a word.

He dared not use his inner energy to protect himself, nor did he dare beg for forgiveness. He knew that the more he begged, the more fiercely his mother would whip him.

"You good-for-nothing, you've completely disgraced our family."

Behind the boy stood a woman with a noble face and an air of composure.

She stared at the bloodstains on the boy's back, her heart aching.

Mother and son are of one mind. When the child is injured, how can the mother not feel pain herself? She too is made of flesh and blood.

But no one knows a child better than their mother. Just as she was about to soften her heart, she thought of her husband's dying wish and her own child's disappointment, so she hardened her heart and swallowed the soft words that were about to come out.

Her eyes were filled with anger at his lack of self-control, and she almost gritted her teeth as she continued to berate him: "If Master Gongye hadn't come to inform you, how long were you going to keep your secret duels a secret from your mother?"

"Leaving aside the private duel, you actually managed to draw with a few beggars. Do you think they were genuinely sparring with you? They were just waiting to see your Murong family make a fool of themselves."

The boy lowered his eyes, and the veins on his forehead throbbed slightly.

They weren't just a few beggars; one of them was the leader! He held his own against four opponents, and though he wanted to defend himself, he dared not utter a sound.

The woman was still not satisfied and struck the boy's back hard with a foot, leaving dozens of new and old bloody welts crisscrossing his back, the blood staining his entire back.

The boy snorted coldly, cold sweat covering his entire forehead.

"When your father was your age, he already intimidated the heroes of Jiangnan with his 'Canhe Finger'! And you, after ten years of martial arts training, you still haven't broken through to the Qi Refining Realm, and you can't even protect your reputation for using their methods against them!"

She came to face the boy, pointed her finger at his chest, and then at the memorial tablet on the altar.

"Have you forgotten that you are a member of the Great Yan royal family? You bear the legacy of your ancestors, yet you continue to be so disgraceful. How will you face your father in the afterlife?"

The woman's words pierced the boy's heart like a sharp awl, as if trying to rip out his heart and lungs.

"Mother, please don't be angry. Your child... your child knows he was wrong. He will never dare to fight with others in private again."

"Since your father passed away, my son and I have depended on each other for survival. You are filial and obedient, always asking your mother's permission before doing anything. Who made you lose your temper this time?"

"It's because the child is competitive."

The woman ignored him and left with a cold remark: "Mother has invited Mr. Deng to the prefectural government."

"Mother...Mother, it's not...this matter has nothing to do with Brother Ren."

"Hmph, without his instigation, would you have gone to provoke the Beggars' Sect for no reason? What kind of sworn brotherhood is this? You stand up for others without even looking at who they are. They're nothing but weeds. I'll take care of them for you."

"Brother Ren never asked me to stand up for him, it was I who..."

"Shut up. This person is of no help to you and will only drag you down. You should befriend people who can help the Murong family's great cause, not gossips and sowing discord."

When the woman saw the boy pleading for her life, her resolve to kill him hardened even more.

"Keep kneeling until you understand the meaning of 'honor and disgrace,' then you can stand up."

After reprimanding the boy, she said no more, turned away with a flick of her sleeve.

After the woman left, the boy's tears finally spilled onto the ground.