Chapter 11

Hengshan Sect, originating from the Southern Song Dynasty, was swept by Qiu Qianren in the "Legend of the Condor Heroes," which established his reputation.

On Hengshan Mountain, Bai Xiaosheng was officially accepted into the Hengshan Sect under the witness of his uncles and fellow disciples, becoming Mo Da's disciple.

In "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," there is not much introduction to the Hengshan Sect, and among Mo Da's generation, only Mo Da, Liu Zhengfeng, and Lu Lianrong appear. Liu Zhengfeng even died upon his first appearance.

At first glance, the Hengshan Sect seems to be inferior even to the declining Huashan Sect and the nun sect. However, this is not the case. In the Hengshan Sect, besides Mo Da, Liu Zhengfeng, and Lu Lianrong, there are two elders named Cheng Bo and Huang Ai. These two are much younger than Mo Da and not much older than Liu Zhengfeng, both around forty years old, in the prime of their lives. When Mo Da introduced them to Bai Xiaosheng, he clearly noticed that Mo Da treated them differently from Lu Lianrong, indicating that they were close to Mo Da.

Bai Xiaosheng, now a disciple of the Hengshan Sect, had a systematic place to learn martial arts. Although he had been trained by his parents since childhood and had a good understanding of martial arts, the Yun Family Manor was a minor place. While the basics might be decent, it was far inferior to the long-standing martial arts sects like Hengshan. Advanced knowledge was something Bai Xiaosheng could never learn in the manor. Now, with some experience, he was ready to systematically relearn martial arts and practice more advanced techniques. Therefore, joining the Hengshan Sect was a rare and good opportunity for Bai Xiaosheng.

On the second day after Bai Xiaosheng joined the Hengshan Sect, he left Hengshan with Mo Da to wander the martial world. Mo Da, as the sect leader, was truly unqualified, wandering the streets and playing the erhu, looking like a street performer. This might make people look down on him. However, his martial arts cultivation was undoubtedly excellent. After all, none of the Five Great Sword Sect leaders could be weak.

Outside a town, Bai Xiaosheng held a three-foot-long green sword, the sword light flickering and the sword shadows overlapping. The sword in his hand seemed to come alive, incredibly agile and swift, with unpredictable changes that were hard to guard against.

At this moment, Bai Xiaosheng was practicing the Hengshan Sect's ultimate sword technique, the "Thirteen Cloudy and Mysterious Variations." Not far away, Mo Da watched him practice and nodded in satisfaction. When Bai Xiaosheng took a break and came to Mo Da, Mo Da said, "Xiaosheng, in just half a year, you have learned all the martial arts of the Hengshan Sect. Although you are not yet proficient, you are already quite skilled. You truly have extraordinary talent."

Hearing this, Bai Xiaosheng chuckled and said, "That's all thanks to my master's excellent teaching. Otherwise, no matter how smart I am, I couldn't have mastered so many Hengshan Sect techniques so quickly."

"You don't need to be modest! I know you are not a person who likes to stay in one place. Well, well, your sword skills have already satisfied me. You can leave me and venture into the martial world." Mo Da shook his head and said what Bai Xiaosheng had been waiting for. It wasn't that Bai Xiaosheng wanted to leave Mo Da, but this was "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," and time was limited. He naturally couldn't miss the exciting scenes, so he had always shown a desire to leave. For this, he had also worked hard to cultivate. Now that Mo Da allowed him to leave, he was naturally delighted, his smile evident on his face.

"Yes, I thank my master for your kindness!"

In half a year, Bai Xiaosheng practiced all the existing martial arts of the Hengshan Sect, which seemed incredible. Indeed, it was. The Hengshan Sect had a lot of martial arts, totaling twenty techniques, and these were just the named ones. There were even more unnamed techniques. Learning all these martial arts one by one was something Bai Xiaosheng would not do, and even if he did, it would be extremely difficult, even in ten years.

Among the many Hengshan Sect martial arts, Bai Xiaosheng chose the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown Palm, the Green Lotus Palm, the Hengshan Fist, the Wild Goose Formation, the Cloud Piercing Leap, the Hengshan Sword Technique, the Southern Peak Sword Technique, the Wind Returning Goose Sword, and the Thirteen Cloudy and Mysterious Variations.

Nine sets of martial arts, Bai Xiaosheng spent half a year mastering them, which seemed quite incredible. However, upon closer inspection, it seemed normal.

Bai Xiaosheng was not a novice in martial arts but a martial artist who had practiced for over ten years. The Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill he practiced was not a supreme technique but a comprehensive martial arts manual, containing seven parts. The first part was the basic internal energy circulation technique, which required no further explanation. The second part was the Golden Silkworm Rain. However, this was not the supreme technique from Hong Kong TV dramas but a summary of several techniques, including the Stone-Crushing Hand, the Grappling Hand, the Swallowing Skill, the Silk-Wrapping Hand, and the Flower Rain.

The Stone-Crushing Hand, the Grappling Hand, and the Silk-Wrapping Hand were hand techniques; the Swallowing Skill was a lightness technique, supposedly created based on the flight of swallows; the Flower Rain was a hidden weapon technique, but it also included detailed explanations by later generations, transforming it into a sword technique. This was the Heavenly Mountain Sword Technique that Bai Xiaosheng practiced, supposedly researched by the ancestor Yun Feiyang.

The third part of the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill returned to internal energy, but it involved more profound knowledge, a continuation of the first part.

The fourth part was called "Shifting Stars and Moving Constellations." At first, Bai Xiaosheng was stunned, thinking, "Isn't this the supreme technique of the Murong family?"

Of course, this "Shifting Stars and Moving Constellations" was not the Murong family's technique but just a name. Like the second part, it represented several martial arts, more focused on internal energy circulation. It included techniques like the Redirecting Flower and Jade, the Sparrow Catching Hand, the advanced lightness technique of the Swallow's Three Drops of Water, and the more powerful Stone-Crushing Hand.

The fifth part was about the cultivation of the Ren and Du meridians, the most important and unique meridians in the human body. Once connected, the internal energy flows continuously within the body. In the martial world, anyone who has connected the Ren and Du meridians is a top expert. At this level, the internal energy recovers very quickly, allowing one to fight for three days and three nights without rest, which is quite astonishing.

The sixth part was a martial arts technique called "Yin and Yang Movement," but it was more like a poem, written purely in text: "Yin and Yang, gathered in the Ren and Du meridians,汇聚全身精气，倒转乾坤。其下为阳，其上为阴，阳兮阴兮，圆赚如意。其上有阳，其下为阴，阴阳归宗，一之混元。"

These few short sentences describe the cultivation method, but the specifics were beyond Bai Xiaosheng's understanding, and not only his, but also beyond the understanding of everyone in the Yun Family Manor, as none of them had reached this level. However, Bai Xiaosheng had his own speculations. This part likely contained insights into internal energy, but the exact meaning was beyond his comprehension.

The last part was even stranger, a character painting. The figure was standing with their back to the viewer, with black hair and wearing a green robe. There was a white dot at the center of the figure's head, which looked quite peculiar.

This was the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill! Mentioning all this is not to say how powerful or strange the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill is, but to explain Bai Xiaosheng's foundation. He started training at five, learned martial arts at seven, and entered the gate at nine, practicing the Heavenly Silkworm Skill for nine years. Most of his training focused on palm techniques, so learning the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown Palm, the Green Lotus Palm, and the Hengshan Fist was not difficult at all.

Moreover, he had his own reasons for choosing these three sets of techniques.

He chose the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown Palm because the Quanzhen Sect had a similar palm technique, and he wondered if it was passed down from the Quanzhen Sect. He chose the Green Lotus Palm and the Hengshan Fist because these two techniques complemented each other, with many subtle nuances that intrigued him.

While learning these three palm techniques, Bai Xiaosheng also thought about his own Stone-Crushing Hand, Grappling Hand, and Silk-Wrapping Hand, finding many points of reference that helped him improve.

Mastering palm techniques quickly was not unexpected for Bai Xiaosheng, but when it came to sword techniques, he was still able to learn them quickly, which surprised him.

He had practiced sword techniques before, as who, being reborn, doesn't have a dream of being a great swordsman, wielding a long sword and a flask of wine? So, he had practiced the basics of sword techniques, but without a teacher, he soon gave up. Later, he learned the Heavenly Mountain Sword Technique and came to "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," where he picked up sword techniques again.

In this short time, his foundation in sword techniques was clearly visible. However, in Mo Da's eyes, Bai Xiaosheng's foundation was quite good. Thanks to his solid foundation, he could quickly master these sword techniques, just like Linghu Chong. When Linghu Chong saw the Five Great Sword Sect techniques and their countermeasures in the secret cave on Sighing Cliff, he could practice and use them proficiently. Why? Because of his solid foundation. Of course, Linghu Chong's talent for sword techniques also played a role, but without a solid foundation, talent is useless.

Bai Xiaosheng was the same. His talent was not weak; he was not a fool, and with so much knowledge in his head, his talent was naturally good. Now, with a solid foundation, mastering the Hengshan Sword Technique was inevitable.

The key was how Bai Xiaosheng acquired his foundation.

Others might not know, but Bai Xiaosheng knew very well. His foundation was built through the analysis system in the system space. Although the system could not give him divine weapons or make him a god, it could correct his mistakes and help him understand and practice martial arts correctly.

In the system, the martial arts Bai Xiaosheng practiced would be displayed on a large green stone. As long as he followed the instructions, he would perform the most standard and, in modern terms, the most scientific movements. The system's evaluation would also show him his mistakes.

Perhaps, in advanced martial arts, this might not be very useful, but in the basics, it was invaluable. Look at Bai Xiaosheng; in just a few months, he had such a solid foundation, thanks to the system. In a few months, his foundation was equivalent to what others would take two or three years to achieve.

In short, in a few months, he had surpassed the time others spent on basic training, and then, naturally, he made rapid progress.