Chapter 52

Regarding the grudges between Huang Yaoshi and Zhou Botong, and the matter of the Nine Yin Manual, Qu Lingfeng and the others wisely said nothing more.

This was Master's private affair; as disciples, they had no business interfering.

After Huang Yaoshi departed, the atmosphere in the training ground eased slightly.

Huang Rong excitedly tugged at Ning Chuan's scaled hide, chattering: "Brother Ning Chuan, this is amazing! Father actually let you watch our Taohuadao's Wu Gong!"

"Our Taohuadao's Wu Gong is incredibly powerful! Especially Finger Flicking Divine Art and the Azure Sea Tidal Melody—those are Father's exclusive masterpieces!"

She couldn't wait to take Ning Chuan to see the true depth of Taohuadao's martial arts.

Under Huang Rong's guidance, Ning Chuan arrived at a more secluded stone chamber.

Here was where Taohuadao stored its secret techniques.

Inside the chamber, shelves neatly held scrolls radiating an ancient aura.

Besides the lower volume of the Nine Yin Manual that Ning Chuan had already memorized.

There were also Finger Flicking Divine Art, Jade Flute Sword Technique, Falling Petals Divine Palm, Orchid Flicking Acupoint Hand, Whirlwind Sweeping Leaf Leg, and the famed sonic technique—Azure Sea Tidal Melody, among others.

Each one was a top-tier martial art capable of sparking bloodshed across the Jianghu!

Ning Chuan looked at these scrolls, his eyes flickering with heat.

The Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi truly deserved his title as a martial arts patriarch; every technique he created was exquisitely refined and profoundly profound.

And those esoteric arts of divination and strategy—these were priceless treasures unobtainable elsewhere.

Yet he had no need to rush now.

Since Huang Yaoshi had already granted him permission, he would have ample time in the future to study and contemplate these martial arts.

Moreover, these techniques were mostly methods to enhance combat skills and enemy confrontation.

The essence of martial arts still lay in one's own cultivation realm.

Only with sufficient internal energy and a powerful physique could one truly unleash the full power of these refined martial arts.

"Brother Ning Chuan, I truly owe you this time!" Huang Rong leaned against Ning Chuan's cold serpent body, still trembling with relief.

"If not for you, we might have fallen victim to Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Shijie's treachery."

She paused, her voice tinged with fear: "And given Father's temper, if he found out that Senior Brother and Sister Mei failed in their duty and allowed the Nine Yin Manual to be stolen… he might… he might do exactly as he did before—break their legs and expel them from the sect."

She lifted her small face, eyes full of admiration: "Only Brother Ning Chuan is truly formidable! You saved us and helped Father catch the traitor!"

Ning Chuan gently rubbed his serpent head against Huang Rong's cheek, signaling her not to worry.

After this incident, Huang Rong seemed to have matured considerably.

She now took her cultivation more seriously than before.

No longer treating martial training as mere amusement, as she once had.

While Ning Chuan studied the scrolls, she diligently cultivated her internal energy.

Seeing this, Ning Chuan nodded inwardly, occasionally offering subtle guidance based on his understanding of martial arts and insights gleaned from the Nine Yin Manual.

He even considered that, when he had free time, he might attempt to optimize and refine Taohuadao's core method according to Huang Rong's unique physique and talent.

In that case, her cultivation results would surely improve further.

…

After parting from Huang Rong, Ning Chuan returned to his seaside dwelling.

He took out the three Innate Realm Elixirs gifted by Huang Yaoshi.

The elixirs were entirely crimson, radiating rich medicinal fragrance and pure energy fluctuations; merely smelling them made one feel refreshed, with a faint increase in internal energy.

"Excellent!"

Ning Chuan's eyes flashed with sharp light.

Without hesitation, he opened his serpent mouth and swallowed all three Innate Realm Elixirs whole!

The elixirs dissolved instantly upon entry, transforming into a vast, pure warmth that surged through his limbs, bones, and dantian sea!

Ning Chuan did not delay; he coiled his massive serpent body and plunged deep into the ocean.

He intended to use the omnipresent crushing pressure of the deep sea to aid his assimilation of this immense medicinal power!

"Boom—!"

Almost the instant he activated the Water Mystic Snake Method, the innate true qi within him—previously stuck at a bottleneck—surged like a dam breaking, under the force of the massive elixir energy!

One by one, the once-impenetrable serpent acupoint barriers shattered like paper, crushed without resistance!

Thirty-one!

Thirty-five!

Forty!

…

Ning Chuan's serpent acupoints opened one after another!

Each acupoint opened, and his connection to heaven and earth grew tighter; his capacity to absorb and store innate true qi increased further!

His aura surged at a visibly rapid pace!

After an unknown length of time, when the medicinal power of the three Innate Realm Elixirs was fully absorbed and refined.

Ning Chuan slowly opened his eyes; two beams of solidified light flashed from his gaze, piercingly bright even in the dark ocean depths!

He turned his inner vision inward, his face breaking into uncontrollable elation!

At this moment, the total number of serpent acupoints he had opened had reached two hundred!

Exactly two hundred!

What did that mean?

Human cultivators of the Innate Realm divided into four stages, each stage corresponding to opening thirty-six primary acupoints.

Even at the peak of the fourth stage, one opened no more than one hundred forty-four primary acupoints!

And he, now merely at the third gate of the Innate stage, has already opened two hundred major snake orifices, not to mention hundreds of minute scale orifices!

This means that although in terms of realm he may still be equivalent to a human martial artist at the third gate of the Innate stage.

Yet, the thickness of his innate true qi within his body, and the ferocity of his physical form, are likely far beyond even a human martial artist at the peak of the fourth gate of the Innate stage!

This seclusion has seen his strength leap forward once again!