Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 614 Reencounter with Chun Kong
This whisk, forged from innate spiritual bones using demonic techniques, undoubtedly meets the condition of "dual source complementing each other".

Therefore, after Huang Donglai realized this and stuffed the whisk into the "handle" at the door, the stone door split in two and slid open to both sides.

This opening method allowed the whisk to fall out of the separated tube without being damaged.

Then, Sun Huang took out the tinderbox he carried with him, lit two simple torches, and stepped into the cave in front of him.

The road behind the stone gate is slightly undulating, but after walking a little further, a gentle, downward staircase appears, which continues in a clockwise direction.

After descending in this spiral for a while, another opening appeared at the end of the steps.

The space behind this cave entrance is quite large, similar to a basketball court, but it is cylindrical in shape. In addition to a large platform in the middle, there are many towering stone platforms surrounding it... To put it another way, it is very similar to a place called "Fire Ritual Site" in a parallel universe. The biggest difference is that this cave has a light source, and you can see things clearly during the day.

Upon entering the cave, Sun Huang immediately saw... a person sitting on a stone platform in the distance.

Why is this person so conspicuous?

Firstly, the stone platform was much higher than the ground, and secondly, a ray of sunlight shone through a gap in the cave's dome and landed squarely on the man's bald head.

Sun Huang looked again and saw that the man was wearing a monk's robe, had a monastic scar on his head, had clear eyebrows and bright eyes, white teeth and red lips... wasn't he their old acquaintance from the Young Heroes Gathering, Master Chun Kong?
At the same time, Chun Kong, who was sitting there meditating, turned his head to look at the two people who came in from the cave entrance.

"Amitabha..." Chun Kong saw that it was the two of them and immediately began to chant the Buddha's name softly. He then said, "I never expected that the 'opportunity' that Master spoke of... would actually be the two of you."

Although Sun Huang found his words nonsensical, the readers should have some idea of ​​what they meant.

On that day, during the "snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain," Meng Qi unexpectedly discovered that both the monk and the Taoist priest had lost all their internal energy when he raided the meditation room where Master Jichen and Taoist priest Bai were staying. Taoist priest Bai also clearly stated that the two of them had transferred their internal energy to someone else, and that person had already left.

Many people probably guessed at the time that the person who obtained all the internal energy of the two masters was Chun Kong.

Of course, he received not only internal strength, but also the entrustment of his two masters.

Master Jichen goes without saying; although he and Chunkong are not related by blood, their bond is deeper than that of many real fathers and sons. As for Daoist Bai, he was upright and honest throughout his life, and his noble character was something Chunkong greatly admired.

Chun Kong naturally listened to what his two masters said, and naturally did what they asked him to do.

So even though Chun Kong didn't understand why his two masters were transferring all their internal energy to him, or why they wanted him to immediately set off for Wudang and sneak into a cave behind their mountain to "wait for an opportunity"... he still did as they said.

It wasn't until he was halfway there that he heard about the disaster at Shaolin Temple and the deaths of the two masters that he suddenly realized the truth and was filled with grief.

But after calming down, Chun Kong belatedly realized that with the cultivation levels of his two masters, they must have foreseen their impending death and many other far-reaching matters, which is why they made this arrangement.

Now that things have come to this, Chun Kong naturally chooses to trust his two masters and continue to carry out their last wishes.

After that, things were quite simple. With Chun Kong's current martial arts skills, it wouldn't be difficult for him to climb up the cliff behind the mountain without any tools. Moreover, since he possessed both Buddhist and Taoist internal energy and was literate, opening the stone door would be a piece of cake for him.

Here we'd also like to mention why Chun Kong, at such a young age (at the Young Heroes Gathering in the autumn of the eighteenth year of Yongtai, Chun Kong was only sixteen years old; now it's the spring of the twenty-second year of Yongtai, and his twentieth birthday hasn't arrived yet), could withstand so much internal energy from two masters of different natures.

This needs to be discussed from two perspectives...

Firstly, as we mentioned earlier, the practice of Zen martial arts is often linked to "Buddhist teachings." To use a game analogy, Zen disciples need to expand their martial arts skill bar and mana bar by diligently studying Buddhist teachings.

Chun Kong's talent in Buddhism is comparable to that of the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi. He wasn't particularly interested in martial arts to begin with, but he progressed too quickly in his study of Buddhism, raising his potential too high at a very young age. So his master told him to practice martial arts as well, otherwise it would be a waste.

In addition, he had been practicing the "Lankavatara Precious Heart Method," a superior Zen internal skill of the same level as "Reversing Heaven and Earth," since childhood, and had already laid a solid foundation. Therefore, he could completely accept Master Jichen's Zen internal strength.

Secondly, there's Master Bai's side...

Because Master Bai has been stubborn for 99% of his life, he has only studied one internal skill for decades – Wuqi Gong.

As we all know, Wuqigong is not a Taoist internal skill of a martial arts sect, but a "Taoist" internal skill of the Xuanqi Sect. Everyone knows the Xuanqi Sect. The entry-level skills of this sect emphasize "naturalness". As long as the nature of your other internal skills is not too evil, there will generally be no conflict.

At this point, some people might ask: If that's the case, didn't Huang Donglai also practice Huangmen's internal energy cultivation from a young age? Could he then use Huangmen's internal energy cultivation and the Wuqi skill he later practiced to achieve the condition of "mutual benefit of two sources"?
Unfortunately, no.

The reason can be summarized in one sentence—the internal skills of the Yellow Clan, taken individually, are rather weak.

Think about it, if it weren't for the fact that you're bad at it, why would you need to develop skills related to "lightness skills," "hidden weapons," or "poisoning"? Why not just go straight for the kill?

But let's get back to the story and return to the cave.

While I was telling everyone about Chun Kong's journey here, Chun Kong had already chatted with Sun and Huang for a while.

These three had a life-or-death bond, so Chun Kong would never doubt Shuang Xie because of those rumors in the martial arts world, and Shuang Xie would not be wary of Chun Kong. Therefore, both sides exchanged the information they had with great frankness.

Both sides also believed that the "opportunity" mentioned by Master Jichen and Master Bai was to have Chun Kong wait here and cooperate with Shuang Xie to deal with the group that attacked Shaolin.

But... there is still one problem.

"Huh? Then why do we have to make you wait here?" Huang Donglai asked suspiciously. "If they were so good at predicting things, they could have easily arranged for you to meet us elsewhere sooner."

“Hmm…” Chun Kong thought for a moment, then turned around and gestured with his eyes to a stone wall behind him, “It’s probably because of these scriptures.”

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Sun Yixie's eyes lit up again. He looked at the pile of unfamiliar characters on the stone wall and asked, "Could it be that some peerless martial arts are hidden in these scriptures?"

He can't change this stereotype; he just thinks that there's definitely at least one secret technique hidden in the "forbidden area" of other sects.

“This…” Chun Kong thought for a moment before replying, “These scriptures are all Taoist teachings, and they are profound and obscure. Fortunately, I have learned some basics from Master Bai, and I have been studying them here for many days. Only now have I realized that they do contain some martial arts principles. However… in my opinion, the martial arts contained in this scripture are not some peerless martial arts, but rather a unique breathing method.”

"Oh? How so?" Sun Yixie asked again.

Here, neither Sun nor Huang realized one thing—even though this is a Taoist scripture, not a Buddhist scripture, a genius like Chun Kong would definitely be able to understand it by analogy. However, he still said it was "profound and obscure" and that it would take "many days of study" to see anything... This means that if an ordinary person were to look at this, it might take a year and a half to see that "martial arts are hidden in the scripture".

In other words, even if this "breathing method" is not some kind of secret technique, it should be something quite important.

"Hmm... how should I put it..." Chun Kong scratched his head, "It's like teaching people how to gradually... dissolve some of the impurities in their bodies along with their internal energy."

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Sun Yixie immediately turned to look at Huang Donglai. "Using internal energy to cure constipation?"

"Why did you look at me when you said 'constipation'?" Huang Donglai reacted quickly and immediately retorted.

“Heh…” Sun Yixie laughed with a malicious grin. “No… I’m just asking you, I feel like you know something.”

"Mao! I don't know! And I'm not interested!" Huang Donglai said. "I might consider it if there's a cure for diarrhea."

Of course, the truth has nothing to do with the trivial digestive issues they were discussing.

The "breathing method" hidden in the scriptures here is actually the method that Master Yun came up with to "resolve the side effects of the Heavenly Silkworm Skill" before his death. However, his body had already begun to mutate at that time, and it was too late to use this method.

A person like Master Yun would never come up with an idea like Ah Xiao's, which involves "making others bear the consequences." He always thinks of the most "righteous" path.

In his vision, the person who would inherit the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill in the future would cultivate it in order to save the martial arts world from catastrophe. After that person resolved the crisis, the Wudang Sect Leader would approach that person and tell him about the side effects of the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Skill and the secret of the stone cave in the back mountain. Then that person would come here and study the scriptures on the wall day and night. In the process, he would be influenced by the scriptures and realize that only by letting go of attachments can one achieve liberation. Finally, he would voluntarily practice the breathing method in the scriptures and gradually dissolve the Heavenly Silkworm Skill in his body.

However, we also know that many of his ideas were never realized because he couldn't see his friends one last time before he died, finish explaining his message, or pass it on...

Furthermore, even if the message had been conveyed at the time, would people and events in later generations have truly followed his ideas?
Undeniably, Master Yun is a true hero of great righteousness, but he is also a tragic idealist, the opposite of Ah Xiao... Master Yun is just too willing to "trust people," so their lives are also opposite, one always sacrifices others, and the other always sacrifices himself.

Ah Xiao gained much, but not even a single true friend, while Yun Da Xia lost countless others, yet had friends willing to die for him, and even after his death, countless people would remember his loyalty and affection.

It's hard to say who was right and who was wrong, or whose life was more tragic and more joyful. People will have different opinions in different eras and environments.

Anyway, the things to pay attention to right now are: the Heavenly Silkworm Technique has now fallen into Murong Xiao's hands, and the method of "dissolving the Heavenly Silkworm Technique" has been learned by Chun Kong. These two points... will be very useful in the later chapters.