Devour: Can you also draw entries from clone projection worlds?

After a few days of brief relaxation, you begin your journey through the martial world once again.

You no longer frantically absorb internal energy, but have learned to "go with the flow." You absorb it from evil people when you encounter them, and you don't force it when you don't.

In your spare time, you begin to pay attention to the plot development of this world again, and watch those famous scenes from the original work.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong defeated Yang Kang at the Beggars' Sect assembly and reclaimed the Dog-Beating Staff; Huang Yaoshi was besieged by the Seven Masters of Quanzhen in Niujia Village, and you stood by and watched without intervening; Ouyang Feng proposed to Huang Yaoshi on Peach Blossom Island, but was rejected and left in a huff...

You are like an observer, watching these stories unfold and seeing the fates of these characters intertwine.

Sometimes you might think, if you hadn't traveled through time, in the other world you might have been like Guo Jing, foolishly practicing martial arts, foolishly loving someone, and foolishly protecting what you should protect.

But... fate ultimately pushed you onto another path, a path that seemed more difficult, more lonely, but also more glorious.

That year, seemingly intentionally, yet unintentionally, you received news that Huang Shang was still in Tianmu Mountain.

When you arrived, he was sitting cross-legged on that rock, holding the Taoist canon in his hand, his white hair fluttering slightly in the wind.

"Senior." You walk over, face him, and bow. "I...have found my heart."

Huang Shang put down the Daoist canon and looked at you: "Then tell me, what is your heart?"

You thought for a moment, then said firmly, "It's about living."

"Alive?" Huang Shang was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He had thought of many answers, but... this was the only one he had not thought of.

"Hmm." You thought for a moment, then slowly said, "I used to think that learning martial arts was to become stronger, and becoming stronger was to protect the people I wanted to protect. But I later realized that these weren't the fundamental things. The fundamental thing is to live. Only by living can you do what you want to do, love the people you want to love, and protect the things you want to protect. Only by living can you have everything."

Huang Shang remained silent for a long time, then smiled.

That was the second time you saw him smile. The smile was a little deeper than the first, carrying a hint of approval, a touch of affirmation, and a hint of sudden realization.

"Very good, you're very good, very good." Huang Shang seemed a little excited as well, nodding heavily, and then continued, "In that case, I'll teach you one last thing."

"What is it?" Now you're genuinely curious. Besides the Nine Yin Manual and his understanding of the cultivation path, does Huang Chang have other unique skills and opportunities?!

Huang Shang didn't reply, but instead extended his finger and gently tapped your forehead. Your instinct was to dodge, but you sensed no hostility or danger, so you suppressed the urge to pull away.

A massive influx of information floods your mind—not words, not pictures, but something indescribable, like a "rule," a "principle," or an "essence."

Or rather, this is the core of the Nine Yin Manual that Huang Chang cultivated, comprehended, and studied his entire life—the "Dao".

Now, for some reason, Huang Shang has directly instilled this "Dao" into your mind, and you understand it instantly.

It turns out that the real Nine Yin Manual was never a martial art, but rather an instruction manual for the "Tao".

Those techniques, mental methods, and internal skills are merely manifestations of the "Tao." If we set aside the fundamentals, they are no more than on the same level as skills like the Nine Yang Divine Skill.

And you... now you don't need to learn those specific things anymore. As long as you understand the "Tao," you can create martial arts that are even stronger than the Nine Yin Manual.

This was also Huang Shang's true purpose in writing the Nine Yin Manual: not to let people learn his martial arts, but to let people understand the "Tao" through his martial arts.

Unfortunately, others didn't have his extensive knowledge of the three thousand Daoist scriptures, so they couldn't do it. Perhaps... Wang Chongyang could have done it, but... his untimely death extinguished the last glimmer of possibility for him.

You open your eyes, and the heat on your forehead has dissipated. Huang Shang is gone, and only a scroll of Daoist scriptures remains on that stone.

You pick up the Taoist canon and open it; the writing inside is blurry and unclear, as if it has been soaked in water.

But you no longer need to look at these words; the "Tao" is already deeply engraved in your mind.

You placed the Taoist canon back on the stone, bowed once more to the empty valley, then stood up and turned to leave.

Then, you stopped the "hunting" and began a long period of seclusion.

You found a hidden cave deep in the Tianmu Mountains, sealed the entrance with stones, and began your first year-long period of ascetic practice.

You gradually digest and absorb the "Dao" that Huang Shang poured into your mind, transforming it into your own.

Previously, your understanding of martial arts was "techniques"—how to exert force, how to move, how to counter moves, and even your so-called comprehension was based on this.

Now your understanding of martial arts is "Tao"—why exert force in this way, why move in this way, why break moves in this way, and how this understanding is formed.

After understanding the "Tao," you'll find that things that seemed difficult before suddenly become simple.

Actually... it's not that martial arts have really become simpler, but rather that your level has increased, just like in your past life, a high school student going back to do middle school problems, or even elementary school problems...

……

After you finished your seclusion and came out, you went to find Zhou Botong first.

He was still on that small island, practicing ambidextrous fighting by himself, using his left hand to fight his right, until he was covered in sweat.

Seeing you arrive, he clapped his hands excitedly, "You're here! You're here! Come play with me!"

You played with her for three days and three nights, well, actually you fought more than three hundred moves. After you stopped, just to test your own progress, you... used less than 10% of your strength and you were evenly matched with her.

Zhou Botong got tired of fighting, lay down on the ground, and said, "You're much better than last time."

You smiled and said, "You're much better than last time."

Zhou Botong laughed heartily, then suddenly said, "Did you hold back?"

You didn't speak, nor did you tell Huang Yaoshi about their affairs, nor did you tell him that the Quanzhen Sect had fallen. Telling him those things would only hurt him.

Perhaps it's better to let him stay on this island and happily play his ambidextrous fighting game.

Next, you went to White Camel Mountain in the Western Regions. Ouyang Feng was still alive, but he had gone mad from practicing his Toad Stance and was delirious. He couldn't even remember his own name.

Upon seeing you, he shouted, "I am Ouyang Feng!" and struck you with his palm.

You dodged to the side, and Ouyang Feng's palm strike missed, crashing into the mountain wall, his head bleeding profusely.

He stood up, shouted "I am Ouyang Feng" again, and clapped his hands.

This time you didn't dodge, but instead met it with a palm strike. Of course, you controlled it slightly and held back a lot of your strength. Even so, the Guiyuan Gong was in operation, endless and fierce.

Ouyang Feng's body jolted violently, and he flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a stone wall ten feet away.

You walk over and squat down. Ouyang Feng is spitting blood, his eyes are unfocused, and he is still muttering "I am Ouyang Feng".

You didn't kill him, but you also absorbed a tiny bit of his internal energy. Well, it really was just a tiny bit, compared to the vast amount of internal energy within you.

Then you stood up, turned and left White Camel Mountain. You still didn't kill him. You really didn't have any intention of killing Ouyang Feng, after all... strictly speaking, you were always the one who started the trouble.