Chapter 715: Reform
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Old Man Mu, who was still imrsed in humiliating Dog Butcher, was pacing back and forth obsessively in the tent. He muttered ‘revenge’ a couple of tis, looked up at Shangguan Ru, and then went back to pacing back and forth again, hardly listening to the conversation going on between the Dragon King and Doctor Sun.
Doctor Sun held his head high, though he was constantly touching the small bun of hair on top of his head every now and then, as if he were afraid that it would disappear for no reason. It was all to give off a superior and confident air, and even a slightly impatient one. Throughout his many years of experience as a doctor, he had learned that he needed this bluster when diagnosing an illness in front of a patient.
“Shangguan Fei practices the sa kind of kung fu as the Dragon King, but only at an entry level which makes the circulation of his internal Qi clearer and easier to diagnose. As for the Dragon King, it’s a total ss. You have had Qi deviation before and now practices several more types of internal energy, and even randomly change them from ti to ti…”
Shangguan Fei had waited for a long ti for Doctor Sun to talk about his disease, but he had to caution the doctor and say, “The Three-in-One Power is a marvelous kung fu skill invented by the Dragon King. It has great power and is quick to active, and is also easy to practice…”
“Bah.” Once he returned to his original identity, Doctor Sun’s hot temper had also ca back, and no rules could restrain him. “He’s the Dragon King, but so what? He’s also a human being and in his twenties. How many internal energy manuals has he learned? How dare he create his own? It’s already a complint just saying that it’s a total ss.”
Shangguan Fei stuck out his tongue and did not dare speak again.
Doctor Sun coughed a bit to calm down a bit and continued, to explain, though he apologized briefly. “Dragon King, please forgive for being too outspoken.”
“No, you’ve got a point.”
“Hmm. Why does the Three-in-One Power take effect so quickly? The reason is actually very simple; it is because Shangguan Fei has practiced the Daoless Divine Power for several years and has established a stable foundation. It’s like there was a big tree with luxuriant foliage and lush branches, and the Suru Mustard Divine Power rely made use of it and picked the already ripened fruit. The Suru Mustard Divine Power is also one of the internal energy thods of the Four Noble Truths Temple and I happen to know sothing about it. Isn’t there a saying that ‘In the Heavens above and on the Earth below, I alone am the honored in the World?'”
“Yes.” Gu Shenwei had been particularly worried about these words for so ti but was relieved after realizing that they had conflicted with his current internal energy in a violent or strong manner.
“It sounds quite overbearing, doesn’t it? But the ‘overbearingness’ of Buddhism is different from the ‘domineeringness’ of the ordinary sects. It does not repel, but absorbs instead. No matter what kind of thods you used to practice the Suru Mustard Divine Power, it will always be the only internal energy left in the end. There’s no harm in that. If you ask , I’d say that it’s better than the Daoless Divine Power in this respect. At the very least, it’s harmless to your body and there’s no danger of it dispersing your internal energy either.”
Shangguan Fei, who was listening more attentively than the Dragon King, asked, “I only have one worry. What should I do if I suffer from Qi deviation before the Daoless Divine Power has been fully converted into the Suru Mustard Divine Power?”
“Then you simply have bad luck.”
“Oh, no! The divine doctor must have another way.”
“The divine doctor has no other way, but the monks do. Devils are born from the heart, and it’s said that ditation is the best way to subdue one’s inner demons. If you are really afraid of death, then you can simply beco a monk, and the hidden danger will be naturally be resolved through ditation.”
“I don’t rember the divine doctor ntioning anything of that sort before.” This was the first ti that Gu Shenwei had heard that Buddhist ditation could help subdue one’s inner demon.
Doctor Sun shook his head and replied, “The martial arts the Dragon King practiced before were not all from Buddhism. Your killing aura was too heavy to practice ditation, but I see that your temperant has changed a lot after you started practicing the Suru Mustard Divine Power. You have beco more lenient and even learned to win people over by virtue, which reminded of this thod. It’s actually very good because killing aura is a murderous spirit that goes against the nature of the world. Even just occasionally using it will cause great harm to one’s body and mind, let alone years of continuous usage. So it’s best to get rid of it, but I don’t think that the Dragon King has removed it completely yet…”
Doctor Sun glanced at the Dragon King and imdiately stopped speaking. The Dragon King was suddenly filled with killing aura, and it showed no sign of diminishing at all. Doctor Sun’s face changed and he hurriedly said, “I was just making a point; I didn’t an to interfere with the Dragon King’s cultivation at all.”
Gu Shenwei sat down, frustrated. He had changed a lot, which started long ago when he had decided to leave the Big Snow Mountain and join the fight for hegemony in the Western Regions. He had gradually abandoned his killer identity and moved towards the image of an ideal king in Fang Wenshi’s mind, so he was a bit confused whether the ‘rcy’ he had been showing recently was truly his own choice or the subtle influence of the Suru Mustard Divine Power.
This was very important. Gu Shenwei would never allow himself to be manipulated again, no matter if the manipulator was a person or a martial arts manual. The only manual he truly accepted was the Death Sutra.
Suddenly, he thought of Chu Nanping.
Not only had the teenager practiced the first four or five chapters of the Daoless Divine Power, but he also had not encountered any obstacles when he switched over and started practicing the Suru Mustard Divine Power. He didn’t even need the help of the Three-in-One Power, though he changed even more. Gu Shenwei used to think that it was a natural result of Chu Nanping reaching puberty, but now he suddenly realized that it was not that simple.
For Chu Nanping, not only had the Suru Mustard Divine Power absorbed the Daoless Divine Power, but it had also absorbed the ntal components of the Emotionless Swordsmanship.
‘In the Heavens above and on the Earth below, I alone am honored in the World.’ The old monk Fayan indeed had ulterior motives when he gave him the divine power manual for free.
Gu Shenwei drew his sword. The rest of the people in the tent all beca nervous. Even Old Man Mu stopped pacing and ranting and looked at the Dragon King in astonishnt.
Gu Shenwei did nothing more than stare at the blade and search his heart for the feeling of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.
After a while, he put the sword away and asked, “Is there any way to remove the Suru Mustard Divine Power?”
Doctor Sun thought for a mont and then shook his head uneasily. “I can’t help in this regard. I can’t even cure the Dragon King’s Qi deviation, let alone the Suru Mustard Divine Power. In fact, the hidden trouble inside the Dragon King’s body isn’t that…”
Old Man Mu, who had never known what the aning of fear was, imdiately replaced the divine doctor by giving unsolicited cultivation advice of the Dragon King, “You can disperse your internal energy. Oh, but that ans you’ll lose all your power. Ask Han Wuxian to give you so dicine and teach you sothing like the Seven Rotation Skills. Then no matter how domineering the Suru Mustard Divine Power is, it will definitely be purged for sure…”
Gu Shenwei actually had another reason for calling Old Man Mu in. “You said that you feared the Daoless Divine Power and therefore, were unwilling to enter the Western Regions. Is the internal energy manual of Golden Roc Castle that powerful? Tell the real reason.”
Embarrassed, Old Man Mu laughed a few tis before saying, “The Dragon King really has a good mory. When did I say that? And you still even rember it.”
“I rember it too,” interjected Shangguan Fei.
Old Man Mu made a posture as if he were about to poke Shangguan Fei and thusly scared him away. “The Dragon King must think that the Daoless Divine Power isn’t as powerful as the Suru Mustard Divine Power, right? But I heard sothing vastly different. My dead Master once told that the ‘Daoless’ Divine Power doesn’t an it has no ‘Dao,’ but rather that it’s about cultivating the Dao of ‘nothingness.’ Those who practice this internal energy will find themselves longing for fewer and fewer things in their hearts, and will gradually act more and more ruthlessly. I’ve been observing the Unique King’s behavior for quite so ti and found that he really has beco more and more ruthless. No matter how hard I worked, I wasn’t able to catch up with him. Alas, he’s even willing to kill his own sons and daughters to stay ahead. He must have reached a new level after dispersing his internal energy. By now, I’ve been left far behind.”
Old Man Mu sighed, but everyone else’s face changed after hearing his words. Shangguan Fei revealed a silly smile, saying, “I’ve practiced it for several years and I haven’t seem to beco heartless, and neither has my sister.”
“I was also wondering why that’s the case.” Old Man Mu scratched his head and continued, “I thought that maybe you had practiced it wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Strange, it’s really strange.”
Shangguan Ru softly said, “Perhaps the ‘Daoless’ does not an that one has to abandon everything or beco ruthless. Isn’t the so-called ‘severing obsession’ in Buddism another kind of ‘nothingness?'”
Old Man Mu curled his lip and seed to want to argue with the good girl, but finally, he relented as much as he could and said, “Who knows. It’s more likely that you two are still at the entry level compared to the Unique King. It doesn’t matter if one’s heart changes or not. The monk’s internal energy isn’t bad, and I find that the Dragon King has beco more formidable after combining the saber and palm techniques.”
Gu Shenwei asked Shangguan Ru, “So you knew that already?”
“Fayan ntioned sothing like that to , and I told you before.”
Shangguan Ru had indeed ntioned it, but Gu Shenwei hadn’t cared at that ti. He didn’t expect that changing his internal energy could affect his temperant.
“So you suggested to Lianqing that he should teach the palm technique?” Gu Shenwei said with a little bitterness in his voice. If that were true, it would an that Shangguan Ru was trying to reform him secretly.
“I wasn’t thinking that deeply.” Shangguan Ru appeared a bit flustered. She hadn’t thought of it at that ti, but she did carry such a hope deep in her mind.
Gu Shenwei no longer asked any more questions. The Formless Prajna Palm and the saber technique of the Gu family had unawares made Gu Shenwei use the Death Sutra Sabersmanship less and less.
Doctor Sun sensed the tension in the air and felt that he needed to provide an explanation, so he said, “There’s no need to worry too much, Dragon King. Martial arts has always had an effect on its practitioner. When a man who lacks the strength to truss up a chicken changes into a powerful man who can defeat ten people, that man will change from inside to outside. As is the case with dical skills. I used to be a poor man that was always bowing and nodding, but once I beca a famous doctor, I was pumped full of confidence and even my temper beca hot.”
“Ehh, so we are the sa,” Old Man Mu excitedly said. “When I was young, I racked my brains for ways to ingratiate myself towards my Master, but I killed him as soon as I perfected my martial arts skills. Before he died, he blad himself for choosing the wrong disciple. Haha, it turns out that everyone is the sa… Shangguan Fei, are you going to kill after you master the Five Hole Punch?”
Doctor Sun did not find any similarities between his experience and that of Old Man Mu’s.
Shangguan Fei was so scared that his legs beca soft and flopped to the ground. Holding the corner of the table, he said with a grimace, “Do you think that I have the guts to do that?”
“It’s hard to tell. I thought that you didn’t, but after hearing what the divine doctor said, I finally understand that everyone will beco ruthless after practicing the Five Hole Punch because he will believe that he has advanced kung fu skills.”
“My sister is different,” Shangguan Fei countered as he pointed at his sister who was his life-saving straw. “The better her martial arts are, the softer her heart becos. We are twins, we look alike, and even our personalities… are similar.”
Old Man Mu looked at Shangguan Ru with bewildernt. “She’s different, but only after her martial arts skills improved did she dare wander in Jianghu and lead a country. Isn’t that also a change?”
Seeing that the topic was being carried further and further away, Gu Shenwei ended the talk then are there.
Shangguan Ru was very worried when she left. There had been a certain change in the Dragon King that made her feel strange, even stranger than when he was full of killing aura.
Doctor Sun comforted her in a low voice, whispering, “The Dragon King’s inner demon must be solved by himself. Alas, if only I had kept my mouth shut.”
“He’ll understand it sooner or later, and maybe it’s better for him to know it earlier.”
Everything was still unsettled, but Gu Shenwei still sat alone for nearly two hours before he walked out of the tent and went to visit the only monk in the camp.
Lianqing was packing. When he saw the Dragon King co in, he saluted him and said, “I was just about to say good-bye to the Dragon King. I’m going to leave for the Four Noble Truths Temple with my Master’s remains tomorrow morning.”
The monk seed to have completely forgotten about his vendetta against the Dragon King who had killed his brother even though he had never practiced the Suru Mustard Divine Power.
“The martial arts as well as the truth that Fayan taught you are transforming you into a different person, a person who’s different from your forr self.”
“I know.” Lianqing actually smiled. “I resisted, but have finally accepted voluntarily.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my nature.” Lianqing was like an enlightened monk whose eyes had suddenly beca surprisingly similar to Fayan’s, giving the feeling that they could see through everything and pity everything. “My Master didn’t reform . He just wiped away the dust and brightened my eyes so that I could see the real .”
Gu Shenwei’s face no longer held the sa disgust and anger it had a mont ago.
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