Chapter 4

After a dizzy, head-heavy feeling, Li Wucheng’s feet touched solid ground. He adapted to the slightly dark environment and looked around, discovering that he was in a cave.

In most martial arts novels, the protagonist always has some kind of extraordinary encounter. In "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," the greatest encounter is undoubtedly Duan Yu obtaining the Northern Mystic Art in the cave of Wuliang Mountain.

Among Jin Yong’s fifteen novels, Li Wucheng believed that the Northern Mystic Art was the most powerful martial art, of course, partly due to the idea of gaining something without effort.

For an ordinary person to survive in a world of martial arts experts, one must have some means of self-protection. Therefore, Li Wucheng had his eyes on the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep.

"Indeed, I have come to this cave. I must quickly find the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep."

Li Wucheng’s spirit was invigorated, and he excitedly murmured.

He remembered this part of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" quite clearly, so he didn’t need to search hard. He saw a stone statue in the cave.

Approaching it, he found that the statue was indeed of a beautiful woman, with graceful demeanor and incomparable beauty, bright eyes, and radiant charm.

If one were to choose the most beautiful woman in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," most people would probably agree on Wang Yuyan, though some might favor others.

Although Li Wucheng preferred Mu Wanqing as the female lead in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," he had to admit that in terms of pure, elegant beauty, Wang Yuyan was superior.

The stone statue in the cave was carved in the likeness of Li Qiushui, but at that time, Wu Yazi was thinking of Li Canghai.

The statue combined the best features of Li Qiushui and Li Canghai, naturally making it heart-stirringly beautiful. No wonder Duan Yu, the infatuated man, was entranced upon seeing it.

Li Wucheng was not Duan Yu, and he was still reeling from a recent breakup, so the impact of the statue was not as strong on him.

Moreover, in modern society, such beautiful women, though rare, were not unheard of. Finding a few would not be a problem.

After a brief glance at the statue, Li Wucheng ignored it and stepped up to the statue, bending down to lift the mat on the ground. Sure enough, there were two scrolls underneath.

One scroll was the Northern Mystic Art, and the other was the Lingbo Microstep. Li Wucheng opened them and found that they were indeed illustrated, with each illustration depicting a nude beauty whose appearance matched the statue.

After a cursory look through the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep, Li Wucheng realized he couldn’t understand much. Phrases like "In the northernmost part of the world, there is a sea called the Northern Mystic Sea, a fish there spans several thousand miles, and no one knows its length" and "Swift as a flying duck, swift and divine, moving without a fixed pattern, seemingly dangerous yet safe, advancing and stopping unpredictably, coming and going as if returning" were beyond his comprehension.

Li Wucheng was not overly modest about his Chinese language skills, but he had little expertise in classical Chinese.

Reading through the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep, he found that he could hardly understand them, making it impossible to practice.

Even someone like Duan Yu, who was well-versed in literature but not martial arts, could not grasp the profound essence of the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep at first. He only gradually understood them through repeated use.

Thinking about this, Li Wucheng almost despaired when faced with the two scrolls. Did he have to relearn classical Chinese to study the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep?

Feeling depressed, Li Wucheng closed the scrolls. As for the last line in the Northern Mystic Art, where Li Qiushui wrote that those who joined her sect must kill all the disciples of the Xianyao Sect, he dismissed it as nonsense.

In "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," Shaolin Temple is the greatest sect, and the Beggar Clan is the greatest gang, but Li Wucheng secretly believed that the Xianyao Sect was the greatest sect.

The Xianyao Sect may not have many members, but it has many experts. Wu Yazi, Li Qiushui, and Tian Shan Tonglao were all formidable figures.

Especially Tian Shan Tonglao’s Eight Extremes of the World, which required her to revert to her youth every thirty years, was both mysterious and powerful.

When Li Wucheng closed the scrolls, two large buttons appeared before his eyes: one to not learn and one to learn.

"Hmm, Little God did a good job. This makes things much easier."

Li Wucheng’s eyes lit up, and he said happily.

Entering the world of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," Li Wucheng was momentarily stunned, and his mind worked slowly, almost forgetting that he was not in a穿越 (穿越 means "穿越" in Chinese, which translates to "穿越" in English, but in this context, it means "time travel" or "transmigration") but in a single-player infinite game where skills could be learned directly.

He clicked the "learn" button, and the two scrolls transformed into two small light balls, merging into his forehead.

Immediately, his mind felt as if something exploded, and the incantations of the Northern Mystic Art and the Lingbo Microstep appeared in his mind. Naturally, Li Wucheng began to move.

The Northern Mystic Art is a method of circulating and absorbing true qi. In Li Wucheng’s mind, it was faster to absorb others’ internal energy than to cultivate it bit by bit.

As for the Lingbo Microstep, he needed to familiarize himself with it. It is based on the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching, and to use it freely, one must be familiar with the I Ching.

Unfortunately, Li Wucheng knew nothing about the I Ching. To master the Lingbo Microstep, he could only rely on practice and hard work.

Initially, Li Wucheng was extremely interested and enthusiastic about martial arts. He moved around the cave, losing track of time. Only when he felt a bit hungry did he realize how much time had passed.

"I can’t stay here. I’ll starve to death if I do."

Rubbing his stomach, Li Wucheng thought.

He had to leave, but before that, he needed to see the TONGLONG chess puzzle, which Wu Yazi spent his entire life setting up. It would be a shame not to see it.

The cave was not large, and he quickly found a chessboard, which he assumed was the TONGLONG chess puzzle, placed on a stone table with black and white pieces mixed together.

Li Wucheng had long heard of the TONGLONG chess puzzle’s fame. He nodded and smiled as he watched, but in reality, he understood nothing.

His understanding of Go was limited to one side surrounding and capturing the other. At this moment, he was just curious.

Actually, Li Wucheng had considered trying to solve the deaf and mute old man Su Xinghe’s TONGLONG chess puzzle. If successful, he could gain Wu Yazi’s seventy years of internal energy.

However, knowing nothing about Go, even if he knew that self-sacrifice was the key, it would be useless. Xu Zhu accidentally solved the TONGLONG chess puzzle, but without Duan Yanqing’s help, it would have been impossible.

Given this, he decided not to think about Wu Yazi’s seventy years of internal energy.