Jiangnan and his group carefully searched the house last night and indeed found the location of the secret room. Relying on his maxed-out mechanical skills and combining the original novel and TV series, Jiangnan looked at the brick cabinet built under the stove. It was simple and ancient in style, with some bowls, cups and jars inside. An iron bowl was nailed to the wall of the cabinet, its mouth facing the sky, but its bottom firmly nailed to the wall.

Jiangnan reached out to spin the iron bowl. He spun it to the left, but it didn't move. When he spun it to the right, he felt it loose. He then increased the pressure on his hand, and the bowl spun with him. Suddenly, he heard a cracking sound, and the cabinet wall split open to reveal a dark hole. Looking inside, he saw a pitch-black space.

Upon seeing the secret room, Huang Rong excitedly lit the candles. At her age, her curiosity was at its peak, and the somewhat adventurous secret room captivated her.

Huang Rong first threw a piece of pine firewood into the cave. With a thud, it hit the opposite wall and fell to the ground, indicating that the cave was not very deep. Looking inside by the light of the pine firewood, she saw that there was no one in sight and no sound.

Huang Rong, holding a candle, was the first to enter the secret room. Jiang Nan didn't rush to be first either; he had already carefully scanned the room: no traps, no one else, no danger!

The secret room, dimly lit by candlelight, appeared to be small, barely large enough to fit a bed and a few large wooden chests. Suddenly, Huang Rong cried out, "Ah!" On the floor lay a neatly arranged skeleton, lying supine, its clothes rotten. In the eastern corner of the room was another skeleton, this time slumped over a large iron chest, a long, sharp knife piercing through its ribs and lodged in the chest's lid.

Huang Rong was startled when she suddenly saw the skeleton. She took a deep breath to calm her heartbeat.

Jiang Nan led Xiao Longnv into the secret chamber with Huang Rong. Xiao Longnv, after all, had not grown up in the Ancient Tomb, and was still a little scared as she entered the relatively dark chamber. She followed closely behind Jiang Nan, holding his fingers.

Jiang Nan stepped forward and observed carefully before saying, "This man (Shi Yanming) seems to have been about to open the iron box when someone attacked him from behind and stabbed him to death. The man on the ground (Qu Lingfeng) has two rows of broken ribs in his chest; it seems he was killed by a palm strike."

Jiangnan was familiar with the plot and now had advanced medical skills. After a few glances, he concluded the cause of their deaths and could even reconstruct their fight before they died.

Upon closer inspection, Jiangnan discovered Shi Yanming's waist tag: something gleamed at the foot of the iron box. Upon picking it up, he found it to be a gold tag with a thumb-sized agate in the center. Turning the tag over, he saw an inscription: "Imperial bestowed military merit, Zhongzhou defense commissioner, Shi Yanming, with imperial weapons."

Jiangnan handed the plaque to Huang Rong, treating it as evidence collected during the escape room game. Huang Rong, ever clever, took the plaque, examined it, and deduced, "This is the official, and the one on the ground is the thief! The official and the thief were in the same room and died together; it's either because of an unequal division of the loot, or because the official was insatiably greedy."

Huang Rong then examined the skeleton lying on the ground and noticed a bulge in its back and ribs. She poked at it a few times with the end of a pine branch, and the dust dispersed, revealing an iron disc. This was the Iron Bagua used by the disciples of Peach Blossom Island to practice their Splitting Palm technique.

Huang Rong exclaimed in surprise. Jiang Nan looked in the direction of the sound. Huang Rong said, "This person is a disciple of my Peach Blossom Island. I just don't know which of my senior brothers who were expelled from Peach Blossom Island is him?"

Huang Rong recounted the history of her Peach Blossom Island lineage to Jiang Nan and Xiaolongnu: Years ago, her mother, Feng Heng, died shortly after giving birth to her. Her father, Huang Yaoshi, was preoccupied with caring for her and, in a moment of carelessness, two of his disciples… Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng stole the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual and fled Peach Blossom Island. Because Huang Yaoshi was too young to pursue them beyond the island, he allowed the two disciples to escape. This enraged Huang Yaoshi, leading him to vent his anger on his other disciples, believing they had conspired to commit this act of betrayal. Fortunately, despite his fury, Huang Yaoshi remained rational. Lacking evidence of their involvement, he simply broke the leg bones of her four senior brothers and banished them from the island…

Jiangnan already knew the general outline of the matter from TV dramas, and after hearing Huang Rong's account, she gained a more detailed understanding. Xiaolongnu, on the other hand, simply listened to it as a story.

Huang Rong got up, went over and pulled out the sharp knife from the iron box. When she brought it close to the firelight, she saw the character "Qu" engraved on the blade, thus confirming that the skeleton underground was Qu Lingfeng.

Among the disciples expelled from Peach Blossom Island by Huang Yaoshi, Qu Lingfeng was the oldest, had the highest skill level, and the most comprehensive knowledge. No wonder he was able to perish together with the imperial guards when his leg was injured.

Huang Rong opened the iron box and saw that it was filled with dazzling treasures, including countless pearls, agates, jade artifacts, and bracelets, as well as a large number of precious antiques and paintings stolen from the palace. Among them were Emperor Huizong of Song's paintings of birds and flowers and his calligraphy in the "Slender Gold" style, as well as the painting that later led to the clue of "The Military Manual of Yue Fei".

Huang Rong, from a family with a long history of learning, carefully examined the items and said to Jiang Nan, "These are all things my father liked to collect. It seems that Brother Qu stole these gold and silver jewelry, antiques and paintings for my father's sake, hoping to use them to return to Peach Blossom Island."

"Unfortunately, as the saying goes, 'He who walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet.' He was set up by a master of the imperial guards, who followed him to a secret room, where they ultimately perished together."

Jiang Nan carefully examined the walls of the secret chamber. He walked to the southwest corner of the wall and lifted it, revealing a hole. He reached inside and pulled out a roll of paper. The paper was covered in dust, its edges yellowed and torn, and several lines of writing were scrawled on it:

"Respectfully informing Master Huang of Peach Blossom Island: Your disciple has obtained several paintings, calligraphy, and artifacts from the palace, which I wish to present to you for your appreciation. I respectfully address you as Master, and dare not presume to call you my revered teacher. However, even in my dreams, I call you my revered teacher. Unfortunately, I was attacked by palace guards, leaving behind a daughter..."

The handwriting stopped at the character "女" (woman), leaving only some speckled marks that vaguely indicated it was stained with blood.

It seems that Qu Lingfeng longed to return to Peach Blossom Island until his death.

Jiang Nan muttered to himself, "I wonder how Huang Yaoshi chooses his disciples?! Not only do his expelled disciples yearn to return, but even Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng, these two traitors, are longing to return to Peach Blossom Island. It's truly unbelievable."

Anyway, Jiangnan couldn't quite understand what these ancient people were thinking. However, the human heart is inherently complex, and it is the most difficult thing to test!

  

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After exploring the secret chamber, Jiangnan and his group stayed in Niujia Village.

On the one hand, Jiangnan wanted to rest. Niujia Village was in a good location, close to Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, but not inside the city. Even if something went wrong, they could simply leave.

On the other hand, no matter what, Sha Gu was the daughter of Huang Yaoshi's disciple, and in terms of seniority, she was Huang Rong's niece. Huang Rong didn't want to leave her alone in the wilderness, and Jiang Nan didn't want to put Huang Rong in a difficult position, so she stayed.

Moreover, in the original story, Guo Jing would make a special trip to Niujia Village to pay respects to his father, and staying in Niujia Village also fits Jiangnan's original plan.

Perfect, he can hone his martial arts skills here.

In conclusion, the group from Jiangnan settled down temporarily in Niujia Village.

In the days that followed, Jiangnan instructed Huang Rong and Xiaolongnu in martial arts while simultaneously cultivating his Iron Shirt skill to its maximum level.

After reaching the maximum level of Iron Shirt, Jiang Nan began to think about methods for cultivating the physical body.

"I remember that in my past life, besides the external martial arts techniques in the world of wuxia that could cultivate the physical body, there were also novels that specifically focused on physical cultivation, and the rest was traditional Chinese martial arts!"

External martial arts in the martial arts world include those that cultivate hard skills, such as Iron Shirt, Golden Bell Cover, Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill, Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Skill... There are also external martial arts that specifically cultivate external martial arts moves while incidentally strengthening certain parts of the body, such as Eagle Claw Skill, Dragon Claw Skill, One Finger Zen Skill, Iron Palm Skill, Poison Sand Palm...

This systematic physical cultivation method divides body refinement into skin, flesh, tendons, bones, blood, marrow, and viscera, tempering the physical body in stages. Skin is categorized into cowhide, stone skin, iron skin, copper skin, silver skin, jade skin, and golden skin… The highest level of flesh is golden muscle, the highest level of tendons is jade meridians, the highest level of bones is jade bones, the highest level of marrow is jade marrow, and the highest level of blood is mercury blood…

First, train specific areas, then integrate the whole body through Qi, linking different parts of the physical body.

Traditional Chinese martial arts primarily train the physical strength generated by the body, including various types such as whole-body strength, manifest strength, hidden strength, transformative strength, embracing the elixir, and unyielding strength. It emphasizes external training of muscles, bones, and skin, and internal training of vital energy (qi). This vital energy is a metaphor for strength; external training prepares the body to withstand this vital energy and utilize various forms of strength. Conversely, this strength can also temper the physical body, making it strong enough to withstand powerful forces.

After careful consideration, Jiang Nan felt that the system of traditional Chinese martial arts was clearer, while the systematic methods of cultivating the physical body were somewhat unclear. Moreover, partial physical training could easily lead to imbalance in the body, and without relevant manuals for reference, it could easily cause the body to collapse. It would be better to improve the overall strength of the body through traditional Chinese martial arts, gradually increasing physical strength without causing any particular part of the body to become too powerful.

Jiang Nan plans to combine the max-level Three-Body Stance, Five Animal Frolics, and Simplified Twenty-Four Forms of Tai Chi with his memories of Xingyi Five Elements Fist from his previous life. He will also research various imitative boxing styles in the imperial palace to deduce Xingyi Fist and then accelerate the improvement of his boxing techniques through the proficiency panel, thus creating his own national martial art system of Xingyi Fist.

That's right, Jiangnan has his eye on the library in the Southern Song Dynasty palace. He doesn't want any divine martial arts manuals, just the common martial arts manuals, so as not to attract the attention of the palace masters, since they are stored in different places.

Jiangnan has been to the library many times recently, each time taking a few books that interest him to copy, and then returning them without worrying about being discovered.

Now, the bookshelves he made in the house are filled with all kinds of books, including Taoist and Buddhist scriptures, Confucian classics, rare medical books, the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, geographical miscellanea, historical anecdotes, martial arts manuals... the list goes on and on. These will also be Little Dragon Girl's textbooks in the future.

In Zhongnan Mountain, Jiang Nan couldn't steal the Quanzhen Sect's martial arts because of the life-saving grace, and the Ancient Tomb Sect couldn't disturb them either. In any case, Lin Chaoying was the confidante of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, so Jiang Nan couldn't interfere with either sect.

Now, in Lin'an, they have unexpectedly discovered the Quanzhen Daoda Song, Quanzhen Swordplay, and Golden Goose Skill, which are considered basic Quanzhen martial arts in Jiangnan.

I don't know where the Southern Song Dynasty got these martial arts skills from, but they benefited them greatly!

Jiang Nan has never practiced any internal energy cultivation techniques. His internal strength comes from cultivating the Yi Jing Bone Forging Chapter of the Nine Yin Manual. This chapter is more for the purpose of Yi Jing Marrow Cleansing than for cultivating internal energy. Therefore, although he has a large amount of internal energy and high quality, it is because of his high level of martial arts, not because of any internal energy cultivation techniques.

Now that he has obtained the Quanzhen Sect's internal energy cultivation method, which is said to be able to be cultivated until death, regardless of how many levels it has, the internal energy cultivated from this method is of a neutral and peaceful nature. It will not be an obstacle to transforming it into other internal energy cultivation methods in the future, so it is worth cultivating in Jiangnan.

Moreover, Jiangnan cultivated the Quanzhen Dao Dao Ge to the maximum level through the principle of "Heaven rewards diligence," and his internal energy might even contain the Taoist concept of encompassing all things, allowing him to integrate other internal energy properties.

Even if it's just a conjecture, as long as it succeeds, Jiang Nan wouldn't mind spending time cultivating the Quanzhen Dao Dao Song to its maximum level.

Within a month, Jiang Nan had mastered the Quanzhen Daoda Song to its maximum level. It was unclear whether this was due to his mastering the Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian to the maximum level, which improved his physical attributes and increased the quality of his internal energy, thus providing an advantage in practicing such a basic martial art. However, these details were unimportant. What mattered was that the internal energy cultivated from the max-level Quanzhen Daoda Song indeed possessed a comprehensive range of properties, and its quality automatically improved with prolonged practice. Furthermore, Quanzhen internal energy could be cultivated while walking, sitting, or lying down. After reaching the maximum level, Jiang Nan's internal energy could slowly circulate on its own, automatically cultivating without requiring his active cultivation.

After reaching the maximum level of the Quanzhen Daodao Song, he began to teach Huang Rong and Xiaolongnu how to cultivate it. Xiaolongnu was the main practitioner of this skill, while Huang Rong was a secondary practitioner.

With her pure heart, Xiaolongnu cultivated Taoist techniques and progressed rapidly, a natural-born cultivator. Huang Rong, intelligent and with guidance from Jiangnan, avoided detours. Although she was lively and restless, after mastering the Quanzhen Daoda Song, her internal energy could be cultivated slowly and autonomously, which was much better than her sporadic cultivation. After learning the benefits, Huang Rong's interest in cultivating the Quanzhen Daoda Song was at its peak. Indeed, interest is the best teacher, and it wasn't long before Huang Rong mastered the Quanzhen Daoda Song.

As for the simple-minded girl, Jiangnan was afraid she wouldn't understand internal energy cultivation and that she wouldn't be able to sit still and might suffer a qi deviation. Therefore, he didn't teach her to practice internal energy cultivation through meditation. Instead, he broke down the dynamic exercises from the Yi Jing Bone Forging Chapter and taught them to her. This skill not only cleanses the marrow of the body but also cultivates internal strength from the outside in. Although it might be slower and more difficult to cultivate internal strength, the internal strength cultivated from the outside in is as easy to control as one's own limbs, so there's no need to worry about qi deviation.

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Jiangnan consulted numerous ancient texts, observed the postures of various animals, and explored the power of Tai Chi through the practice of various boxing styles. He then created Jiangnan's Xingyi Quan, gradually perfecting it and filling in its gaps through the proficiency panel.

Another month passed, and Jiang Nan had mastered Xingyi Quan to the maximum level, reaching the realm of divine invulnerability in traditional Chinese martial arts.

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