Chapter 24

When Qingxuan read Jin Yong's martial arts novels in his past life, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* was one of the martial arts he most admired. In *Demigods and Half-Devils*, the *Xiaoyao Sect* was undoubtedly the most mystified and splendid martial arts school, with almost all of its techniques being true masterpieces.

The martial arts of the *Xiaoyao Sect* were passed down from Taoism, with the first patriarch being *Xiaoyaozi*. Whether it was the *Beiming Shen Gong*, *Bahuang Liuhexin Gong*, *Lingbo Weibu*, *Tianshan Zhe Meishou*, or *Tianshan Liuyangzhang*, each of these exquisite martial arts was enough to stand out in the martial world and look down upon all rivals...

Among them, the one Qingxuan most admired was the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*, known as the "most exquisite internal cultivation technique."

In *Demigods and Half-Devils*, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* can be considered the most exquisite and unparalleled internal cultivation technique, as evidenced by its ranking as "Red Grade Upper" in the "Lanhuang Piaomiao Pavilion" in terms of martial arts levels.

In Ye Qingxuan's mind, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* was a world-class martial art that was far underestimated in Jin Yong's martial arts works.

The reason for its lack of fame was mainly because the characters who used this technique in *Demigods and Half-Devils* lacked charisma. One was Li Qiushui, a minor character, and the other was the major antagonist, Duanmuzhi, which led to the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* being overshadowed and not gaining the same reputation as the *Beiming Shen Gong*.

However, Qingxuan did not look down on this martial art because of this. In his eyes, in terms of the speed and intricacy of internal energy circulation, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* was undoubtedly the best in the world.

In the original work, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* had distinct characteristics: it was formless and left no trace. Anyone who possessed this technique and knew the moves of other martial arts could rely on its immense power to imitate others' ultimate techniques, making them almost indistinguishable from the originals. Even the great monks of Shaolin could not see through it, only the super experts like Xuzhu and the Sweeping Monk, who were well-versed in the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*, could detect a hint of it. This alone was enough to prove the depth of this martial art.

After Duanmuzhi, a Tibetan lama, mastered the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*, he dared to claim that he was proficient in the seventy-two ultimate techniques of Shaolin. He even challenged Shaolin, using techniques like the *Boruo Palm*, *Moha Finger*, *Dajin Gangquan*, *Jiasha Fumo Gong*, *Huoyan Dao*, *Daluoye Finger*, *Ranmu Dao Fa*, and *Wuxiang Jiezhi* with such exquisite skill and power that none of the first-rate martial artists of Shaolin could recognize them. They were all stunned and sighed in amazement. If it weren't for Xuzhu, who was familiar with the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*, Shaolin, the first major sect in the martial world, would have been utterly humiliated.

From this description in the book, it is not hard to see the two major characteristics of the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*: one is its immense internal energy and astonishing power; the other is its exquisite method of energy circulation, being formless and leaving no trace, which aligns with the Taoist principle of "roaming in the void, serene and inactive."

Such a supreme technique, even in the book, is considered on par with Qiao Feng's *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms* or Duan Yu's *Six Pulse Divine Sword*, making it difficult to distinguish which is superior. Even though the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* is slightly inferior to the *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms* in terms of destructive power, it is only because the *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms* has an extremely high instantaneous internal energy output, not because the internal cultivation technique is not powerful enough. In terms of the intricacy of internal energy circulation, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* is definitely superior to the *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms*.

However, even if the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* is exquisite, it is a Taoist martial art. Using Taoist internal energy to drive Taoist martial techniques can be even more powerful and effortless. But Duanmuzhi, unfortunately, insisted on using Taoist internal cultivation techniques to drive Buddhist martial arts, which inevitably led to a mismatch, achieving the form but losing the essence, and failing to reach its full potential. Especially with Buddhist martial arts, which are fierce and powerful, they require corresponding Buddhist scriptures to balance them. Duanmuzhi, a master of the Esoteric School, was well-versed in Esoteric texts but looked down on Shaolin Zen texts, which ultimately led to his mental breakdown, and his profound internal energy was wasted on the bookworm Duan Yu.

Relying on the exquisite *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* to forcefully use Buddhist martial techniques, Duanmuzhi was bound to suffer a great humiliation. But if he had used the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* with *Xiaoyao Sect* techniques or other Taoist martial arts, he would not have suffered such a crushing defeat.

Therefore, in Qingxuan's mind, the one who was useless was Duanmuzhi, not the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*.

Ye Qingxuan felt extremely fortunate to have obtained such a divine technique. At the same time, a question arose in his mind. The *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* was already a top-tier martial art in Jin Yong's works, but in this world, it was only ranked as "Red Grade Upper." What about techniques like the *Dugu Jiujian* (the ultimate sword technique), the *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms* (the most powerful palm technique), or the *Beiming Shen Gong* (with its mysterious and profound internal energy)? If these techniques were ranked higher than the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*, they would at most be "Red Grade Upper" or even "Purple Grade" martial arts... But this world also had "Gold Grade" martial arts. Could it be that the world-class techniques in Jin Yong's martial arts world could not reach the pinnacle in this world? What would the "Gold Grade" martial arts, symbolizing the highest level of martial arts in this world, be like?

In this world, the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* and himself both came from another world. The strong sense of injustice over the "Red Grade Upper" ranking of the long-admired "world-class technique" made Ye Qingxuan feel a righteous indignation.

Qingxuan made up his mind. Even if the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* was not rated as the ultimate technique here, it was still a treasure to him. Now that he had obtained this treasure, he would make the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* shine brightly in this world and prevent it from suffering the same humiliation as in *Demigods and Half-Devils*. He would also let the martial world know what true martial arts and world-class techniques were.

With this determination, Qingxuan, with a nervous heart, gently tapped the "Lanhuang Lingmiao Pavilion" martial arts transmission system and found the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong*.

*Xiao Wuxiang Gong*

*Red Grade Upper* Martial Art

From *Demigods and Half-Devils*, *Xiaoyao Sect*, Taoist technique.

Learning Conditions: High insight, must have a deep foundation in Taoist internal energy (reaching "Qi Gathering Realm"), otherwise it will be harmful.

Seeing this, Qingxuan was stunned again. In the original *Demigods and Half-Devils*, it was mentioned that the *Xiao Wuxiang Gong* required a deep foundation in internal energy.

But currently, how could he suddenly obtain such a deep foundation in internal energy? He was not as lucky as Xuzhu, who met the world-class expert Wuyazi, who could reverse the *Beiming Shen Gong* and transfer internal energy. This could only be achieved through diligent practice.

As for high insight, how could it be judged?

In the past, the disciples Wuyazi chose, whether it was Su Xinghe or Duan Chunqiu, were all handsome and quick-witted, which was enough to show the depth and breadth of *Xiaoyao Sect* martial arts, which could not be practiced by those without high insight. Even Xuzhu was a smart and intelligent person. In the original work, the reason Wuyazi was dissatisfied with Xuzhu was only because of his appearance, not his intelligence.

From the description in the book, Xuzhu was a martial arts genius with great wisdom, extremely high martial arts insight, and was a genius in all aspects except for being somewhat naive. When Tianshan Tonglao and Xuzhu were pursued by Li Qiushui, in a moment of crisis, Tianshan Tonglao taught Xuzhu the *Tianshan Zhe Meishou*, a high-level technique of the *Xiaoyao Sect*. Xuzhu, the little monk, memorized the difficult and awkward first section of the mnemonic after hearing it three times.

The mnemonic of the *Tianshan Zhe Meishou* was extremely difficult to read. The first section had seven characters per line, twelve lines in total, eighty-four characters, with seven level tones followed by seven oblique tones, making it even harder to read than a tongue twister...

Even so, Xuzhu was not stumped. He memorized the six sections of the mnemonic in a few days and later learned the *Tianshan Liuyangzhang* and the techniques for creating and neutralizing the *Shengsifu* in a few days in the ice cellar. If we consider the revised version of *Demigods and Half-Devils*, Xuzhu even worked with Xiao Feng to simplify and refine the *Twenty-Eight Dragon Subduing Palms* into the *Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms*, making the palm technique even more powerful. His martial arts talent was truly that of a generation of grandmasters... All these examples show how high Xuzhu's martial arts insight was.