Chapter 503: Left Sword Right Blade, Taiji Yin and Yang

Chapter 503 Sword in Left Hand, Saber in Right, Taiji and Yin-Yang

When the two returned to the Holy Mountain's Beast Taming Bureau, they met Yue Hongling coming out, her expression looking quite disappointed.

Seeing Zhao Changhe approach, Yue Hongling said directly, "There are indeed some exotic beasts here that cannot be seen in the outside world, but as Sisi said, they are very weak... Weakness itself isn't a problem, and they do possess some special abilities, like a strange bat that can turn invisible at night, and things of that nature. But if you talk about gaining some martial enlightenment from them, it would be better to say extracting their traits for alchemy."

Seeing Yue Hongling's regretful look, Zhao Changhe couldn't help but laugh. "If we study them further, maybe we really can extract some components or analyze the principles to create an invisibility cloak."

"Perhaps, but that's not something we can do. Maybe your Four Symbols Cult has someone specializing in this?"

"...How did it become my Four Symbols Cult?"

Yue Hongling didn't bother to argue, continuing, "As for wolves dashing and rats scurrying, eagles soaring, and the majesty of lions and tigers, understanding them in the outside world is no different from here... Besides, we have passed that stage; it feels like it doesn't mean much. What did you find on your side?"

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment. "Maybe there is still some meaning..."

He turned to ask Sisi, "Can your methods of communicating with beasts play any role in this?"

Sisi had been standing by his side obediently, and upon hearing his question, she answered honestly, "Our beast taming methods can only achieve communication and control, and everyone's affinity for different species varies; no one can control all beasts. As for acquiring their abilities, we cannot do that."

Yue Hongling wondered, "Why? Your gu artistry, the kind applied to yourselves, isn't that equivalent to obtaining various special abilities from exotic beasts? Isn't it the same nature?"

"Gu is just a category of rare items. Although they have many uses and some special ones are even insoluble, their limitations are very large."

"For example?"

"Because it is small, its upper limit is not high. For example, the Giant Strength Gu, its magnitude of power increase is far worse than the Blood Asura Body. According to ancient records, gu is only a supplementary aid for our clan. Our true divine ability is the Method of Beast-Spirit Fusion. Gu artistry is rather its simplified derivative, allowing people with ordinary cultivation to use it."

Zhao Changhe recalled that the Grand Elder who had been burned to death had hoped the envoy of the forbidden land would bestow this leader's fusion method upon him. Of course, the Grand Elder didn't know that Venerable Duoluo probably didn't know this technique, and the person who truly knew it was...

Sisi was saying, "The so-called Beast-Spirit Fusion means gaining the power reinforcement of an exotic beast of the level of the Blood Ao onto oneself, acquiring all its characteristics, and perhaps even achieving an effect where one plus one is greater than two. Unfortunately, under the ancient system, this strongest divine ability was only held by a few top leaders and was not recorded in texts to be passed down. With the disappearance of the Beast-Spirit Saint back then, this divine ability was lost."

Zhao Changhe's expression was a bit awkward. Yes, the person who truly knew it was the corpse demon Xue Wu—this fellow was their Beast-Spirit Saint.

So he possessed the secret method to fuse with the Blood Ao. Venerable Duoluo had schemed for so many years to fuse with it beforehand, but it was useless; he was driven away just like that, which was a complete counter.

In his prime, perhaps this fellow's own cultivation wasn't that formidable, but once this divine ability was used, who knew what divine beast's power he could borrow? In actual combat, he might really be quite strong, not just a simple minor demon... Of course, even the Blood Ao was slain by Lie; even if he combined the Blood Ao's power, there was still a gap between him and Lie's level. But it truly counted as a divine ability. The power of even a young Blood Ao was not something Zhao Changhe could contend with, let alone an adult one.

Moreover, there might be even more terrifying exotic beasts. What would happen if they were combined?

Unfortunately, at this moment, Xue Wu's soul had turned into thin air, and no one else knew it... Wait... that's not right.

The Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise had searched Xue Wu's soul... This obviously powerful method, which was also related to divine beasts, could not possibly be missed by them; they would certainly record it down.

The Vermilion Bird might be difficult to deal with, but asking San Niang should provide a chance to get it. But he couldn't boast about this for now; if he couldn't get it, it would be a huge embarrassment... He would ask San Niang when the time came.

Sisi was sighing, "After the Method of Beast-Spirit Fusion was lost, generations could only replace it with gu artistry, combined with various curse methods, making us not much different from other clans. Actually, seeing the ancient tombs just now, I had a very irreverent thought. Why not secretly dig into them? Maybe we could find the inheritance..."

Zhao Changhe pinched her nose. "You are simply a traitor to your race."

"Hmph." Sisi stole a glance at Yue Hongling, and seeing that she had no reaction, she exhaled and continued, "I'll think about it. Having just taken power, doing this is a bit..."

"There's no need to do that. Well, when the cart reaches the mountain, there will surely be a way." Zhao Changhe said, "Leaving aside whether your clansmen can accept it, you also have to consider whether a Sword Emperor might be lying inside."

Sisi was stunned, her expression changing slightly.

It wasn't a matter of digging up graves or not, but if such a powder keg was buried within the vicinity, anyone with foresight would feel somewhat uneasy. He didn't know how the Tang family could still live in Gusu; oh, right, before it was because the Maitreya besieged the city and they had no choice, but he didn't know if the Tang family had moved their entire clan by now...

The Tang family could move, but could she move...

Looking at it this way, Zhao Changhe's intention to build a hut and cultivate there was an even better thing. If she had to find one person in this world who could solve these problems, Sisi's first instinct wouldn't be anyone else but Zhao Changhe.

Even if the Heavenly Ranking and Earth Ranking stood before her, it would still only be Zhao Changhe.

...

Night fell. Sisi, who hadn't rested after being exhausted for days, instructed her clansmen to build a courtyard on the burial mountain platform. She looked at Yue Hongling beside Zhao Changhe, wanting to speak but stopping, and finally went to rest with her head drooping in fatigue.

The maidservant could not compete with the flavorful heroine queen.

In truth, when Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling were together, it was really very different from what others imagined.

In the guest courtyard within the bamboo forest under the moonlight, cold light gleamed, and sword shadows flickered.

The two were actually sparring, just like back then in the Beimang Stockade.

Yue Hongling, who was greatly disappointed by her observation of the exotic beasts, dragged Zhao Changhe to practice swordsmanship, as if to make up for the gap in her expectations, though who knew what kind of exotic beast she viewed Zhao Changhe as.

Zhao Changhe hadn't properly tested his strength after reshaping his meridians, so he gladly accompanied her.

He also used a sword. A sword itself was more suited for inner qi; using the Blood Fiend Technique to drive sword techniques was a job for heavy swords.

As a result, Yue Hongling discovered to her surprise that this human-shaped grizzly bear of an exotic beast was actually no longer like a bear.

The way his sword moved like a swimming dragon, disciplined, elegant, and unrestrained, would make anyone believe he was a noble young master who had practiced swordsmanship since childhood.

His sword moves mainly utilized the Sword Emperor's techniques and what she had imparted to him during their dual cultivation a few days ago, but his sword intent was more of the Spring Water Sword Intent; he seemed more accustomed to it... Yue Hongling always felt that the person Zhao Changhe should impersonate right now was not Wang Daozhong, but Tang Buqi.

A Tang Buqi reinforced countless times.

Of course, even without mentioning that she had broken through to the Second Secret Realm while Zhao Changhe was still stuck on this line, in terms of understanding the sword alone, it was indeed impossible for Zhao Changhe to surpass a genius swordsman like Yue Hongling, who had focused on the way of the sword her entire life.

The two exchanged dozens of bouts, and Zhao Changhe's moves finally began to grow disorganized. Retreating step by step, he fell into a disadvantage.

"Watch out!" Yue Hongling spotted a flaw and thrust forward with her sword, preparing to end the battle and casually point out Zhao Changhe's deficiencies in this fight.

A smile flashed in Zhao Changhe's eyes.

Yue Hongling's heart skipped a beat. She knew this fellow too well; he was definitely not the upright and honorable hero people imagined him to be. To win a battle, he was incomparably insidious. In his early, weak days, he had even thrown lime powder, and later on, he would secretly flick stones from his hand. As he grew stronger, these small tricks became less effective, so he basically stopped using them—but that was because they were useless, not because he didn't want to.

As the thought flashed by, the long sword in her hand had already deflected Zhao Changhe's sword, arriving directly beside his neck.

Sure enough, Zhao Changhe's left hand flipped, and a massive "hidden weapon" smashed down overhead.

Longque.

If it were a real enemy, he would still have time to evade her thrust, but the opponent would absolutely not have time to dodge this broad saber that suddenly appeared overhead.

Fortunately, Yue Hongling was prepared. Half-angry and half-amused, she withdrew and flew back. "Typical of you."

But her winning blow was indeed broken.

Zhao Changhe switched the saber and sword to his other hands. After all, Longque was his main weapon and should still be placed in his right hand. "Come, want to try your husband's Three Sabers, Three Swords, Three Divine Skills?"

"More like you only know those three basic moves, whether it's saber or sword." Yue Hongling spat, raised her sword, and charged again.

Having an extra weapon didn't mean doubling one's combat power; if poorly coordinated, it would heavily drag down one's fighting capacity instead. However, for the current Zhao Changhe who stood before the gates of the Second Secret Realm, his soul's strength was sufficient to support multitasking, so it wasn't a problem; he just needed to polish it.

Yue Hongling did not advise Zhao Changhe to specialize in one discipline. She knew the meaning behind why Zhao Changhe had always been pondering this matter; it wasn't to look cool, but because the tempering process of the Blood Asura Body most likely had requirements in this regard, needing to polish all kinds of attack modes. It wouldn't surprise her if one day he had to play around with blunt weapons... In short, what she needed to do was help him polish his skills.

As a result, she unexpectedly found that Zhao Changhe's left sword and right saber combination was actually quite fierce.

At the beginning, he was somewhat unaccustomed, his own saber and sword even clashing against each other, or he would blindly swing the saber and forget to use the sword. If it were a real enemy, he might have been laid low long ago.

But as the occasions where he needed the sword to save the situation grew more frequent, the coordination between his left and right hands also began to grow more and more harmonious.

Consequently, Yue Hongling gradually found herself trapped in a highly uncomfortable "formation." She was clearly facing a wild, fierce, and violent saber, yet from time to time, strange and sharp sword qi would harass her. To say it was as exaggerated as dealing with two people was a bit much, but these two completely different attributes seemed to naturally complement each other, covering up his original greatest shortcoming.

Previously, Zhao Changhe always gave people the impression that he would get injured in every battle. Aside from the times he brought it upon himself, it was mainly determined by his style of fighting with a broad saber; that kind of wide-opening, wide-closing, powerfully accumulating and fiercely releasing style had many flaws and made it very easy to get hurt. It was just that the opponent was usually hacked to pieces first by that incomparably frenzied offensiveness, so the general result was trading injuries for lives.

But now, there seemed to be a way to make up for it.

What was made up for at the same time was his endurance... Previously, Zhao Changhe was mocked for only having three basic moves. In truth, this didn't entirely mean he didn't know many ultimate techniques, since no one relied solely on ultimate techniques to fight endlessly anyway; it mainly meant that the characteristics of his Blood Fiend Technique made him prone to sluggishness after a burst of power. If the opponent could survive a few rounds of his outbursts, he would become very passive afterward.

But now, with the saber and sword rotating in turns, it seemed endless. The endurance provided by the Liuhe Divine Art was simply inexhaustible; the more he fought, the more spirited he became, and the more profound his presence grew.

It felt as though, whether in terms of cultivation or technique, a Taiji had been formed.

He clearly didn't cultivate Daoism, yet he had aligned with the Daoist intent?

Or perhaps this is not the Daoist meaning; these are the Two Principles. What do the Two Principles give birth to again?

Thus, this is just an anomalous beast. Is there a problem?