a past age, the great forefather of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, passed away from the world between the twin Sal trees of the city of Kusinara. He was surrounded in every direction by twin Sal trees. Each twin tree had one side which was blooming, and another side which was withered. They became known as the “Four Withered, Four Blooming.” According to Buddhist scriptures, the twin trees to the east had the meaning of, “Eternal and ephemeral.” Those to the south had the meaning of “Joyful and joyless.” The twin trees to the west signified “Myself and not myself,” and the twin trees to the north signified “Peaceful and restless.” The flourishing and blooming trees symbolized the truth and reality of nirvana: “Eternal, joyful, myself, peaceful.” The withered trees symbolized the real world: “Ephemeral, joyless, not myself, and restless.” The Tathagata Buddha passed away between these eight states of existence; the hidden meaning of this was, ‘neither withered nor blooming, neither false nor empty.’

Elder Kurong had been quietly practicing the art of ‘Withered Meditation’ for decades now, but had only managed to reach the level of being ‘half withered, half blooming’. He was unable to progress to the next level of being ‘neither withered nor blooming, but also withered and also blooming.’ Upon hearing the words of the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel, he immediately became stern and said, “Enlightened Lord, you have come from afar but I did not come out to greet you. Forgive my discourtesy.”

Jiumozhi, the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel, replied, “This junior monk has long heard of and admired the glorious fame of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. For me to be able to see its stately and grand structures is a source of great joy to me.”

Abbot Benyin said, “Enlightened Lord, please be seated.” Jiumozhi thanked him and sat down.

Duan Yu thought to himself, “I wonder what this ‘Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel’ looks like?” He quietly turned his head and snuck a look past elder Kurong’s side. He saw a monk wearing a white cassock seated on a hassock in the western corner. He was not yet fifty years of age. His face was inclined upwards and seemed to have a precious light emanating from it, similar to that of brilliant pearls or precious jade, a natural sheen. After taking but a few glances at him, Duan Yu felt a sense of veneration and kinship towards him. Taking a glance outside the door, he saw eight or nine brutes with savage and fearful appearances. Clearly, they were not from the Central Plains; thus, they must be attendants or servants which the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel brought from Tibet.

Jiumozhi folded his hands together and said, “Thus spoketh the Buddha: ‘Without birth, there is no death; without filth, there is no purity.’ My mind is slow and dull; I am unable to see past love and hate, life and death. In all my life, I have had an extremely close bosom friend; he is a man of the Great Song’s Gusu’s province, surnamed Murong, with his personal name being Bo. In the distant past, I met with him by chance and discussed martial arts and swordplay with him. Mr. Murong had a deep knowledge regarding every single martial arts form in the entire world. He gave me pointers and tips for many days. I have always remembered this. I will never dare to forget the great benevolence and deep kindness which Mr. Murong showed me in transmitting to me so many high-level skills and techniques. Unexpectedly, heaven did not extend a gift of long life to the great hero, and Mr. Murong has departed to the Western Heaven to enjoy bliss. I have a presumptuous request which I hope all of you elders can grant.”

Abbot Benyin said, “Enlightened Lord, your close relationship with Mr. Murong was no doubt predestined. Now that the karmic ties which bound you have come to an end, why try to force it? Mr. Murong is now joying the delights of the Western Heaven, greeting Buddha before his lotus pool. How could he possibly still care about the martial arts learning of the mortal world? Enlightened Lord, isn’t it a bit pointless for you to act in such a way?”

Jiumozhi replied, “Abbot, your advice is very cogent. But from birth my disposition has been silly and wild. Despite secluding myself in solitary meditation for over forty days, I nonetheless found it impossible to forget my former friendship with him. In the past, when Mr. Murong was discussing the sword techniques of the world with me, he was resolute in his opinion that the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ was the best in the world. The fact that he never had a chance to see it with his own eyes was his greatest regret in all his life.”

Abbot Benyin said, “Our monastery is secluded here in the distant south. For us to be esteemed so highly by Mr. Murong is a great honor for us. But why is it that in the past, Mr. Murong himself did not come personally to ask for a chance to see the manuscript of this skill?”

Jiumozhi let out a long sigh. A grieved expression was on his face, and he did not speak for a long time. Finally, he said, “Mr. Murong knew that this manuscript was the most precious treasure of this venerable monastery, transmitted down generation to generation. Naturally, he would not be permitted to view it. He knew that the Duan family, despite being the rulers of Dali, had never forgotten the code of righteousness and their former ties with the jianghu. He knew that the Duan family loved the common man and was filled with benevolence. He could not bring himself to steal or forcibly take the manuscript.” Benyin thanked him, saying, “Mr. Murong praised us too highly. Since Mr. Murong esteemed Dali’s Duan family so highly, you yourself as his close friend, Enlightened Lord, should take his wishes into consideration.”

Jiumozhi replied, “But that day, I made a regrettable boast; I said to him, ‘I am the national instructor of Tibet, without any relations with Dali as well, and Tibet itself has no diplomatic relations with Dali. Mr. Murong, if it’s inconvenient for you to retrieve it, allow me to do so for you!’ After a man has made a promise, he cannot go back on it no matter what! I made this promise to Mr. Murong, and no matter what, I cannot renege on it!” And as he spoke, he lightly clapped three times. From outside, two of his men brought a wooden chest into the room, setting it down on the floor. Jiumozhi simply flicked his sleeve, and the chest calmly opened by itself, exposing a brilliant, gleaming, small golden box. Jiumozhi withdrew the golden box and held it within his hand.

Abbot Benying thought to himself, “Does he think that we monastic folks might be moved by precious treasures and gifts? Besides, after administering Dali for over a hundred and fifty years, how could the Duan family lack for gold or silver ornaments?” He watched as Jiumozhi opened the lid of the golden box and withdrew the contents. It was actually a trio of old, worn books. As Jiumozhi casually turned the books over, Benyin shot them a look. The books had both pictures and words, written in cinnabar ink. Jiumozhi stared at the books for a long time. Suddenly, tears began to fall from his eyes, splattering on his clothes. He had a look of uncontrollable grief on his face. Benyin and the rest were all totally astonished.

Elder Kurong said, “Enlightened Lord, you miss your old friend and are unable to sever your attachments. Aren’t you ashamed to be called an ‘eminent monk’?” Hanging his head, Jiumozhi said, “Master, you possess great wisdom and remarkable ability. I cannot measure up to you. These three books are filled with top-level martial arts techniques, and were written down by Mr. Murong himself. They explain the essence and training methodology behind Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques, as well as the way by which one might defeat them.”

Everyone who was listening was shocked. They thought to themselves, “The fame of Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques shakes the world. Supposedly, aside from an extremely wise monk who managed to learn twenty three of these techniques at the beginning of the Song dynasty, no one has ever learned more than twenty. For Mr. Murong to be able to understand the essence of Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques is very difficult to believe. The claim that he actually managed to figure out the weaknesses of each technique is even less believable.”

Jiumozhi continued, “Mr. Murong gifted these three scrolls to me. I studied them intently, and reaped great benefits from them. My desire is that I might exchange these three precious scrolls for your venerable monastery’s scroll of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. If all of the eminent monks here would be willing to permit me to fulfill my promise, my gratitude would be boundless.”

Abbot Benyin was silent. He thought to himself, “If the skills written on these three scrolls really are that of the 72 Ultimate Techniques of Shaolin, then after acquiring them, we would not merely be on par with Shaolin in terms of martial arts knowledge, but surpass them. The Heavenly Dragon Monastery would have a thorough understanding of Shaolin’s best techniques, but Shaolin would have no knowledge of ours.”

Jiumozhi continued, “After your respected monastery gifts me with the original scroll of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, please feel free to keep a copy of it for yourself. This means that despite allowing me to pay my respects to Mr. Murong, you yourselves would not suffer any loss at all. Secondly, immediately after you give me the scroll, I will seal it. I will not sneak a single glance at it, and personally take it to the grave of Mr. Murong where I will burn it. Thus, you have no need to worry about your elite arts being leaked out. Third, although the martial arts understanding of you, respected reverends, is deep and requires nothing from outside, as the saying goes, a stone from another mountain can be used to polish one’s own precious jade. Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques have many hidden secrets, and in particular, their “Flower Plucking Finger” [Nianhua Zhi], “Pattra Leaf Finger” [Duoluoye Zhi], and the “Formless Raiding Finger” [Wuxiang Jie Zhi] have many similarities to your own ‘Solitary Yang Finger’.

When Abbot Benyin and the others had first read the golden letter which he had sent them, they believed that he intended to forcibly demand they hand over their precious treasure to them. Such would be an unreasonable, tyrannical act. But now, hearing him speak tirelessly, they began to feel as though his words were very reasonable. It seemed to them that agreeing to his request would bring great benefit to the Heavenly Dragon Temple, without them incurring any losses. It now seemed that he was actually bringing them a great gift instead. Benxiang was a person who liked to get along with others; in his heart, he had already acquiesced. But because Benyin was the abbot, and because Kurong was of an elder generation, it was not for him to speak.

Jiumozhi said, “I am young and my learning is shallow; my words alone might not be enough to win the trust of all of the senior monks here. Please permit me to show some meager skill that I possess with the three finger techniques of Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques.” As he spoke, he rose to his feet. “In the past, I only casually skimmed through the manual and learned the techniques to a superficial degree. My technique is very sloppy; I hope that all of you will give me some pointers. This technique is the “Flower Plucking Finger.” He gently touched his right hand’s thumb with his index finger, as though he had just plucked a fresh, lovely flower. A small smile was on his face, as he gently flicked all five digits of his left hand towards the right.

Aside from Duan Yu, everyone present was a martial arts expert who had specialized in and analyzed finger techniques for all their life. They saw that the movements of Jiumozhi’s fingers were incomparably gentle. Each time he flicked out the fingers of his left hand, it was as though he were flicking away dewdrops from the flower that he was holding with his right hand, but was afraid that he might cause the flower petals to fall. The entire time, an amiable, kind, gentle expression was on his face, giving him an appearance of great wisdom.

According to the legends of Zen Buddhism, Sakyamuni expounded on the Buddhist doctrine at an assembly at Mt. Ling. His fingers plucked a golden Sal flower and showed them to everyone present. Everyone was silent, not understanding; only the Arhat Mahākāśyapa showed a faint smile on his face. Sakyamuni thus knew that Mahākāśyapa had truly understood his mind, and said, “I possess the true Dharma eye, the path to Nirvana, the form of the formless, and the subtle dharma way, which can be neither written down nor taught. I entrust them to Mahākāśyapa.” The most important precept in Zen Buddhism was that of achieving enlightenment via inner understanding. Shaolin belonged to the Zen school of Buddhism, and so they naturally spared no efforts in studying and refining this “Flower Plucking Finger”.

But there seemed to be nothing remarkable whatsoever in Jiumozhi’s flicking movements. After flicking for a few dozen times in succession, he lifted up the right sleeve of his robe and puffed at it. In the blink of an eye, a cascade of chess-piece sized pieces of round cloth descended, revealing dozens of holes within his sleeves. Apparently, the dozens of finger flicks he had demonstrated earlier had all been through-the-air strikes against his own sleeves. The soft energy released had damaged the cloth, but at first, it had seemed totally unharmed. Only after he gently breathed on it was the effect revealed. Benyin, Benguan, Benxiang, Bencan, and Emperor Baoding all glanced at each other a few times. All of them were secretly astonished. “Based on our level of skill, using the ‘Single Solitary Finger’ to strike through the air and puncture holes in clothing is not difficult at all. But to execute such a divine technique with such gentle, soft movements, while holding such a placid, smiling expression on our faces is impossible for us. The ‘Flower Plucking Finger’ is totally different from our ‘Single Solitary Finger’; it emphasizes the use of soft ‘Yin’ energy. There is definitely a great deal we could learn from it, as it is like unto a mirror of our own skills.”

Jiumozhi said, with a small smile, “I’ve embarrassed myself. My skill in the ‘Flower Plucking Finger’ is far inferior to that of master Xuandu of Shaolin. My skill in the ‘Pattra Leaf Finger’ is even more laughable.” He immediately turned his body around and began to circle around the wooden box on the floor. He struck out in repeated succession with all ten of his digits. The onlookers watched as scraps of wood on the chest began to fly off the chest and dance around. In the blink of an eye, the wooden chest had been reduced to a pile of wooden scraps.

Emperor Baoding and the others thought that there was nothing special about him destroying a wooden chest with his fingers. But the chest’s hinges, copper strips, iron locks, padlocks, and other metal components also completely disinitegrated under the pressure of the force of Jiumozhi’s fingers. This caused them to be involuntarily shocked yet again.

Smiling, Jiumozhi said, “In exercising this ‘Pattra Leaf Finger’ technique, I had a tyrannical air. My cultivation in it is shallow indeed!” As he spoke, he folded his hands within the folds of his clothes. Suddenly, that pile of wood and metal scraps began to jump about and dance. It was as though some person wielding a thin, invisible stick was beating them and stirring them up. When they looked at Jiumozhi, they saw that a calm, smiling expression remained on his face. None of his clothes, from his sleeves to lower him of his gown, were moving or fluttering in the slightest. Evidently, he was secretly projecting his finger energy from within his clothes, and yet didn’t reveal a trace of it at all. Benxiang couldn’t control himself and praised, “The ‘Formless Raiding Finger’ lives up to its name! Admirable, admirable indeed!” Jiumozhi bowed and said, “Master, you praise me too highly. The jumping of the wooden chips is still visible. For the technique to truly match up to its name, it must be both formless and invisible. Even if one spent all of his life assiduously practicing this technique, he might not be able to achieve such a level.” Master Benxiang said, “Amongst the scrolls left behind by Mr. Murong, did he include a method by which one can defeat this ‘Formless Raiding Finger’?” Jiumozhi replied, “He did. The method by which one can defeat this technique arises from your own honorable religious name.” Benxiang mumbled to himself for some time, then said, “Right, one must use the ‘True Form’ [Benxiang] to overcome the ‘Formless’ [Wuxiang]. Brilliant, this extremely brilliant.”

Benyin said, “Martial-uncle, the Enlightened Lord has come to us from afar, and his request appears to be genuine and sincere. How should we handle this situation? We respectfully await your instructions.”

Elder Kurong said, “Benyin, what is the purpose of our study of martial arts?”

Abbot Benyin never would have imagined that elder Kurong would have replied to him with such a question. After being stunned a brief moment, he replied, “To improve our dharma and to protect our nation.” Elder Kurong asked, “When an evil opponent appears, whom we are unable to dissuade using Buddhism due to our shallow understanding of dharma, and forces us to use force to subdue him, what type of martial arts would we use?” Benyin replied, “If we have no choice but to use force, we would naturally use the ‘Single Solitary Finger’.” Elder Kurong asked, “What level of proficiency have you attained in your mastery of the ‘Single Solitary Finger?’” Sweat began to appear on Abbot Benyin’s forehead. “Your disciple is slow and stupid by nature, and due to my position am unable to settle down to properly advance. I have only reached the forth level.”

Elder Kurong continued, “In your opinion, how does our ‘Single Solitary Finger’ compare with Shaolin’s ‘Flower Plucking Finger’, ‘Pattra Leaf Finger’, and ‘Formless Raiding Finger?’ Which is stronger, and which is weaker?” Benyin replied, “There is no such thing as ‘strength’ or ‘weakness’ in techniques, only in each individual’s learning and power.” Elder Kurong replied, “Precisely so. And what if our ‘Single Solitary Finger’ is practiced to the highest level?” Benyin replied, “The depth of the skill is so profound that I dare not wildly speculate.” Elder Kurong said, “If you managed to live for another hundred years, what level could you attain?” The sweat on Benyin’s forehead dripped down in a steady stream. In a trembling voice, he said, “Your disciple does not know.” Elder Kurong asked, “Can you master the highest level?” Benyin replied, “I definitely cannot.” Elder Kurong fell silent at this point and spoke no more.

Benyin said, “Martial-uncle, your words are wise. We are not yet even able to fully master the highest levels of our own martial arts skills. What uses have we for books containing the skills and techniques of others? Enlightened Lord, you have made an arduous journey to come here. Let us welcome you properly with a vegetarian meal.” In speaking these words, he was tacitly refusing the request of the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel.

Jiumozhi let out a long sigh. “It’s all my fault; I shouldn’t have opened my mouth and made such a foolish promise. Otherwise, with Mr. Murong dead, what does it matter whether or not I am able to obtain the scroll of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’? Today, this young monk is going to be wildly bold and say a few audacious words that may display an exaggerated opinion of my own abilities. If the technique of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ really is as amazing and profound as Mr. Murong believed, I fear that even if your venerable monastery has the scroll, it does not have anyone capable of learning it. If someone here is capable of learning it, then in all likelihood it is not nearly as amazing as Mr. Murong believed it to be.”

Elder Kurong said, “This old monk is confused about something. I hope that the Enlightened Lord may instruct me.” Jiumozhi said, “I wouldn’t dare!” Elder Kurong said, “The fact that the ‘Divine Scroll of the Six Meridians’ is hidden within our humble temple is concealed even from the secular members of the Duan family. Might I ask, how is it that Mr. Murong learned of this?” Jiumozhi replied, “Mr. Murong’s understanding of the martial arts of the world was extremely deep and broad. He even had at his fingertips many skills belonging to various sects which had long been forgotten by even the leaders of the sects themselves. The characters used to describe Mr. Murong, ‘Using the opponent’s skills, exercising them upon the opponent’, comes from this. But all his life, Mr. Murong was never able to learn any of the secrets of the ‘Single Solitary Finger’ or the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. This troubled him all his life, and he took this regret with him to his grave.”

Elder Kurong grunted, then fell silent. Emperor Baoding and the others thought to themselves, “If he really learns the secrets of the ‘Single Solitary Finger’ and the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’, then I fear that he might really be able to use our own techniques against us in the future.

Abbot Benyin said, “It has been well over a decade since my martial-uncle has received any guests. Enlightened Lord, as you are an eminent monk of this era, my martial-uncle made an exception and has accompanied you for a long time. Enlightened Lord, please.” As he spoke, he rose to his feet, signifying the meeting was at an end.

But Jiumozhi did not rise with him. He unhurriedly said, “The scroll of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ is only a tool with an undeserved reputation, and has no practical use. Why must your precious temple hold it in such importance, to the point where you would be willing to harm the friendship between the Heavenly Dragon Temple and the Great Wheel Temple, as well as the diplomatic relations of Dali and Tibet?”

Benyin’s face changed slightly. He said in an awe-inspiring way, “Enlightened Lord, are you saying that if the Heavenly Dragon Temple does not hand the manuscript over, that Dali and Tibet will face each other with weapons and armies?” Emperor Baoding had always kept a strong garrison of forces to the northwestern boundaries of the country, so as to keep Tibet from invading. Upon hearing Jiumozhi’s words, he became totally engrossed in the conversation.

Jiumozhi replied, “The master of my country has long yearned for Dali’s local environment and people. He has long desired to meet with your honored country’s master and compete with him. However, I felt that doing so would cause great loss of innocent life, which is greatly in contradiction with the heart of Buddha’s teachings. For many years, I have spared no effort in dissuading him from such a course.”

Benyin and the others were all aware that a veiled threat was hidden within Jiumozhi’s words. He was the national protector and dharma king of Tibet. Everyone in Tibet from the king to the commoners was Buddhist, much like the country of Dali. Jiumozhi always had the trust of the Tibetan king. Whether there would be peace or war with a nation could hinge on a single word from him. It really would not be worth it for the people of their two countries to be forced to endure suffering over a simple manuscript. Tibet was powerful whereas Dali was weak; if war really did break out, the overall situation would be very dangerous. But how could the Heavenly Dragon Temple freely give up their most precious treasure to him, by virtue of him trying to intimidate them?

Elder Kurong said, “Since you, Enlightened Lord, desire this manuscript so much, far be it for this old monk to deny you. But we dare not agree to exchange it for Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques. Enlightened Lord, as you have mastered all of Shaolin’s 72 Ultimate Techniques in addition to the martial arts of the Great Snowy Mountain’s Great Wheel Monastery, you are no doubt peerless and without equal in the world.”

Jiumozhi clapped his hands together. “Master, do you mean for me to put my incompetence on display?” Elder Kurong said, “Enlightened Lord, you said that our monastery’s manuscript of the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ is a useless tool, undeserving of its fame, which cannot be used. We will use the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ to experience your elite skills. If it really is as you said, Enlightened Lord, and the technique is unusable and undeserving of its fame, why should we value it? In such a case, Enlightened Lord, feel free to take it!”

Jiumozhi was secretly startled. In the past, when he discussed the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ with Mr. Murong, he learned enough to know that it totally depended on converting internal energy into invisible sword qi. They both felt that no matter how astonishing the techniques were, for a single person to have enough internal energy to use all six of his meridians to create sword qi was most likely impossible. Now, judging from elder Kurong’s words, not only was he capable of using the technique, but all of the other monks around him were as well. The Heavenly Dragon Temple’s centuries-long fame clearly was no little thing indeed. His expression had been very polite and respectful all along; now, he became even more polite. Bowing forwards slightly, he said, “It is this humble monk’s greatest fortune for you, honored reverends, to be willing to display such a consummate skill in front of me.”

Abbot Benyin said, “Enlightened Lord, what weapons do you wish to use? Please feel free to take them out now.”

Jiumozhi clapped his hands together. From outside entered a very tall and large man. Jiumozhi spoke a few words of Tibetan to him, and the man nodded while responding. He withdrew a stick of fragrant Tibetan incense from an outside box, handing it to Jiumozhi before retreating from the room.

Everyone present was baffled. The stick of incense would snap at a blow; how could it possibly be used as a weapon? Only to see Jiumozhi hold the stick of incense with his left hand while reaching down to pick up some of the wooden scraps with his right. He gently fixed the stick of incense within the pile of scraps. He repeated this five more times, until he had created a row of six sticks of incense. There was roughly one foot of distance between each stick. Jiumozhi knelt down five feet behind the line of incense. Suddenly, he rubbed his palms together a few times, then thrust them outwards. All six pieces of incense suddenly lit with fire in unison. Everyone present was shocked, thinking to themselves that this person’s internal energy strength had reached an inconceivably high level. But then, they smelled a scent of sulfur from the incense and guessed that the incense had been tipped with gunpowder. Jiumozhi hadn’t actually set them alight with his internal energy; rather, he has used his internal energy to generate friction-based heat to agitate the gunpowder. Although this was still no easy task, it was something which Emperor Baoding and the others could do as well, if they exerted their internal strength.

The smoke from the Tibetan incense was dark green in color. Six lines of the dark green smoke lazily curled upwards towards the ceiling. Jiumozhi cupped his hands together as though he were holding a sphere. He generated his internal energy, and the six lines of smoke slowly began to curve outwards. Each line headed towards one of the six monks; one to Kurong, one to Benguan, one to Benyin, one to Benxiang, one to Bencan, and one to Empeor Baoding. This type of palm energy which he was releasing was called the “Blazing Flame Sabre”. Although it had no form and no substance and was invisible, it could still take a person’s life. It was an incomparably powerful technique indeed. At this moment in time, he only wanted to gain the manuscript, not to take someone’s life. Thus, he lit these six sticks of incense, so as to reveal the direction and heading of his palm energy. In this way, not only could he display his power and confidence, he could also demonstrate his merciful and benevolent heart. They would only be competing in terms of comparing their relative martial arts proficiencies, rather than trying to kill or injure each other.

Once the six lines of smoke arrived within a meter of Benyin and the others, they came to a halt and became unmoving. Benyin and the others were astonished yet again; it was not too difficult for a person to cause smoke to move using his internal energy, but to cause the drifting, aimless smoke to come to a sudden halt and freeze in the middle of the air was ten times more difficult. Bencan extended the pinky of his left hand, and a stream of energy erupted from his ‘Shaochong’ acupoint, rushing towards the line of jade smoke in front of him. As soon as that line of smoke came into contact with this stream of energy, it rushed back towards Jiumozhi with incomparable speed. When it reached within two feet of Jiumozhi’s body, he increased the energy of his “Blazing Flame Sabre”, and it could advance no further. Jiumozhi nodded. “Impressive and worthy of the praise which is heaped on it. The ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ really does have a technique known as the ‘Shaoze Sword’.” The internal energy of the two clashed repeatedly for many moves. Master Bencan knew that if he remained seated without moving, it would be very difficult to give free rein to the full power of the technique. He immediately rose to his feet and took three diagonal steps towards the left, with the internal energy from his pinky now attacking diagonally as well. Jiumozhi thrust out his own left hand and immediately blocked the attack