Chapter 330: Heaven-Round Dragon and Tiger, Thunder Dragon's Hundred Forms

Wooo~

Li Yuan heard a wail, coming from the controlled Rift Sea Mystic Whale Hammer.

Going from frugal to extravagant is easy, going from extravagant to frugal is hard; ever since he tried the once-in-a-millennium talent, when he practiced the hammer, if he didn't control the Rift Sea Mystic Whale Hammer, he always found it unbearable.

"Hoo!"

A long breath adjusted itself automatically.

Today's Li Yuan is proficient in many different breathing arts; he needn't deliberately switch them, they cycle on their own with the changes of his fists and palms, to coordinate with his stance Wu Gong.

The Dragon-Tiger Heaven-Round Hammer has He You Qi Zhong; after the killing moves of the hammer art reach perfection, comes the harmony of moves and qi channels, and the seventh-realm great perfection still requires, on top of that foundation, coordinating with shape-change combinations.

Thus, when the hammer moves, dragon and tiger accompany it, its momentum heavy and its force deep.

"Dragon. Tiger."

Xu Tui stance Wu Gong, Li Yuan half-closes his eyes and visualizes dragon and tiger.

In the place of spiritual light, the visualization splits spiritual-self in two; one qi rises as a dragon, one qi descends as a tiger; the dragon winds, the tiger swims; the tiger winds, the dragon moves; round and round again.

The visualization manifests outwardly on the body; Li Yuan only feels his body and mind completely transparent, the friction of every joint, the stretching of sinew and bone, the rushing of blood all welling up in his heart, as plain as the lines on his palm.

The Heaven-Round stance is the foundation of Long Xiang Heliu, but it is not purely yang-firm like Long Xiang Heliu; within it is contained the principle of yin-yang transformation.

The stance Wu Gong Xu Tui, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes fierce, sometimes yielding.

Li Yuan's movements are not slow, but make no sound at all; a few years ago, he had already, through the augmentation of the Weapon-Roster, penetrated the martial principle of making heavy seem light and making light seem heavy.

Now he long ago shifts between light and heavy at will; every move, whether yin or yielding, pushing the Heaven-Round stance, also carries within it the shadow of Qi Ta Wu Gong.

In the small room, a human shadow moves within a square inch, already possessing several parts of the grandmaster's bearing of a deep pool and a towering mountain.

Li Yuan enters the realm of forgetting self and object; as if intentional, as if unintentional, in his mind the shadows of dragon and tiger grow ever clearer, gradually, until he has entirely lost all sense of himself.

When dragon and tiger circle in the heart, the body spontaneously drives the stance Wu Gong.

Hold dragon and tiger in the heart, reflect them onto the body.

This is an extremely profound martial realm, and also the sign of the Dragon-Tiger Heaven-Round Hammer's great perfection.

Hum—

In a flash, Li Yuan only felt his whole body grow cold, then hot; the true qi circulating within naturally overflowed out through the pores of his body.

The dim little room suddenly became Liangtang, a blue-black color, like streaks of electric arcs.

At first only wisps, gradually thickening; in Li Yuan's unconscious state, it filled the entire room, yet did not damage any furnishings within.

Wooo—

Li Yuan kept his eyes closed, yet seemed to see the room outside.

In his perception, it was as if he had suddenly gained two extra pairs of eyes, one in front and one behind, "observing" the surroundings, and after a moment, they "walked" out from his body.

"Whoosh!"

Li Yuan opened his eyes.

In the small room, a stretch of blue-black; amid the swirling true qi, a pure-white little dragon like rosy clouds coiled itself around him, and at his feet, a pure-black fierce tiger lay across.

This dragon and tiger's colors differed from his true qi, seeming illusory and unreal, as if they were precisely the dragon and tiger he had visualized in the place of spiritual light!

"Hoo~"

Li Yuan slowly gathered his stance, but the thunder-dragon true qi in the room did not disperse, and that dragon and tiger still remained.

He reached out wanting to touch, but passed straight through the dragon and tiger's bodies; he closed his eyes, yet from the dragon and tiger's perspective saw the room and himself.

This was not true qi taking form, but rather…

"Soul leaving the body!"

Visualizing the spiritual-self is one aspect of the soul; the visualized thing walking out from within the body is precisely the beginning of the soul leaving the body; in other words, the first of the four steps of the grandmaster, he had already grasped it!

"Daoist is on the right path!"

In the room, Li Yuan's eyes were frighteningly bright; after several breaths, he reached out and grabbed; the true qi of the entire room, together with that visualized spiritual-self, all sank into his body like smoke.

Crack crack crack…

The spiritual-self returned to its place, becoming dragon and tiger in the place of spiritual light; at the same time, Li Yuan felt a surge of tingling numbness well up from between his bones, making his whole body tremble.

"Dragon-Tiger Heaven-Round great perfection!"

Any absolute-rank Wu Gong contains at least thirteen shapes, it's just that some are common shapes, some are dragon shapes.

The Dragon-Tiger Heaven-Round Hammer's one dragon and one tiger, the former nine, the latter six; one great perfection can shift fifteen shapes, and all are spirit shapes!

Hoo!

Li Yuan dropped to the ground, and in one handful swallowed the various pills he had prepared.

The instant each pill entered his belly it was already chewed apart by stomach and intestines; the medicinal power erupted like a volcano, rapidly spreading throughout his whole body.

Boom!

Li Yuan heard thunder, felt as if inside his body had become a battlefield; driven by the medicinal power, the thunder-dragon true qi raged through his thirty-six qi channels,

in an extremely fierce posture, battering the meridians, sinews, and bones of his whole body.

"It hurts!"

Li Yuan clenched his teeth so hard they went "crack crack," focusing his spirit, welcoming the most intense shape-change yet.

"Yi Bai Xing!"

……

……

After the heavy rain came clear skies; last night the wind was high and Lei Yu was fierce, tonight the moon hangs full at the center of the sky.

"Coming to storm the tower in the middle of the night, this surnamed Pei really knows how to make trouble!"

"Hmph, ever since Martial Uncle Li killed his way to the sixth floor, this Pei Jiu must be feeling plenty stifled inside!"

"Not necessarily because of Martial Uncle Li; I heard the senior brothers from Dragon Chant Hall say that quite a few of the other Dao Sect's experts are also nearly here, including the one who won the championship of the Various Dao Martial Arts last time—Brother Zhongli Wang Luan of Samadhi Cave."

"I heard Shi Shi Qingyi and Pei Pei Xingkong are also coming—they're both peerless geniuses who rival the Senior Brother."

Under the moonlight, the mountain ranges lay quiet and serene; yet beneath the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda, many people gathered—inner-disciples of the Dragon-Tiger Temple, patrolling soldiers, and outer-disciples alike.

The crowd buzzed with chatter: when the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda was first moved out, countless people attempted to climb it daily, but after learning how difficult it was, few dared to try again.

"Zhong Zhong Liuan? Twenty-eight years ago, on the Zuowang Peak of Yan Mountain Dao, he seized the top rank with his 'Great Sun Golden Form'—even the Senior Brother couldn't match him."

Someone whispered in awe.

"The Senior Brother was barely in his twenties back then—how can you compare them? Too bad that Zhong fellow is past the age limit; he has no chance to enter this time," muttered a Dragon-Tiger disciple, resentful.

"I heard he became a Master ten years ago?"

"No one knows."

Within a shimmering screen, the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda under the moonlight was displayed, and voices streamed out from within.

On the sixteenth level of the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda, Long Long Yingchan sat cross-legged before the Nourishing Furnace; streams of light surged from the furnace, weaving into a vast scroll.

"Zhong Zhong Liuan..."

Helian Feng stood beside him, frowning slightly upon hearing this:

"Senior Brother, I heard Zhong Zhong Liuan of the Three Samadhi Cave penetrated Yin-Yang and entered the Dao over a decade ago, and even cultivated the peerless spiritual form 'Great Sun Golden Form'?"

"It is said so."

Long Long Yingchan replied casually, his fingers lightly tapping the scroll before him—wherever he touched, the image magnified, revealing the base of the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda.

"The Great Sun Golden Form is no doubt impressive, but it hardly qualifies as a peerless spiritual form—only the Great Sun Golden Sun might come close. Too bad no one in the Three Samadhi Cave has achieved it in five hundred years; Zhong Zhong Liuan, however, has some hope..."

Gazing at the scene of the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda before him, Long Long Yingchan swept his hand, and the image reversed instantly—soon, a stern-faced young man bearing a sword appeared within.

He tapped lightly again, and the youth expanded dozens of times, filling a wall-sized portion of the scroll.

"Great Sun Golden Sun."

Helian Feng instinctively shook his head, his gaze fixed on Pei Jiu in the image—clearly visible were the intricate patterns on the sword at his back, even the strands of hair stirred by the wind.

"Born with a sword-form, and with a sword-mind that shines clear—his talent is only slightly inferior to Nie's younger brother. Too bad he's young; not worth worrying about."

Long Long Yingchan flicked his finger, and the image shifted, revealing scene after scene of Pei Jiu attempting the Pagoda.

Helian Feng's expression eased:

"At his age, he won't be eligible for the next All-Path Dueling Assembly. Little Li will have one less rival."

"Little Li..."

Long Long Yingchan frowned slightly: "That boy's talent is too great. Forget thirty years—even in another ten or twenty, he'll surely unravel the transformation of Yin and Yang. He won't be available for the next All-Path Dueling Assembly either."

"He's only just reached the Meridian Channeling stage? In ten years he'll unravel Yin-Yang transformation?"

Helian Feng was astonished: "Senior Brother values him so highly?"

"Mm."

As Long Long Yingchan's thoughts shifted slightly, the glowing screen changed—within moments, a small courtyard beside a stream and bamboo grove appeared.

"Such a strong stench of alcohol?"

Long Long Yingchan hadn't intended to spy; he was about to dismiss the screen when suddenly a brilliant flash of lightning erupted from within the courtyard.

"Huh?!"