Starting from Tianlong, Wudu Tianxia

He held his breath and picked up the jade pendant.

As the jade tablet moved and the angle changed, Gao Yuan discovered that the human body movements and meridian points on it were different from what he had seen before.

"Could it be that the diagram above changes depending on the angle?"

Gao Yuansheng made bold associations.

He tilted his palm slightly to the right, and the human figure diagram on the jade tablet indeed changed again.

If it weren't for the flowing silver threads, the patterns inside would be impossible to see. Fortunately, Gao Yuan has good eyesight and can make out the general outline.

Internal energy circulation diagram?

Gao Yuan leaned closer to examine it repeatedly. From the back, it was densely covered with tiny characters.

Squinting for a while, he finally recognized a few strong, small characters at the beginning: "Northern...Nether...Divine...Technique..."

His hair stood on end, and he felt a burning sensation all over his body.

"No, the Northern Darkness Divine Art is the essence of the Free and Unfettered Sect's martial arts, and only Wu Yazi knows it. How could it be engraved on this jade?"

Filled with doubt, Gao Yuan quickly gripped the jade pendant, rushed into the house, and began to examine it closely.

The jade plaque features sixteen human body diagrams from different angles, corresponding to the eight extraordinary meridians and the twelve regular meridians.

Only one picture, with its high-pitched blood seeping in, was highlighted to reveal the key acupoints.

He chose another picture and squeezed out a little blood to drip onto the jade.

Sure enough, the crimson blood gathered again, stimulating new acupoints.

Turning the page, the text shifts with the viewing angle; he calmed himself and began to read silently:

Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering" states: "North of the desolate land lies the Dark Sea, also known as the Heavenly Pool. There dwells a fish there, its breadth spanning thousands of miles, whose size is known only to itself..."

The first general outline, Gao Yuan compared it to his memory and found it to be almost identical. He continued reading silently, and the following text was never seen in the original work:

"The Northern Darkness is vast, absorbing all things. Concentrate your mind and focus your energy on your dantian, breathing in and out, your sea of ​​qi is boundless..."

Gao Yuan read the entire text from several angles, and left a note at the end:

Once you learn my divine skill and enter the realm of carefree ease, all those who have practiced internal energy cultivation must completely forget what they have learned and concentrate on cultivating the Northern Darkness. If there is even the slightest confusion or disorder, the two skills will clash, causing immediate madness, vomiting blood, and the destruction of all meridians.

Below the note are two lines of text, which appear to be a message left by the engraver as a token of their entrustment.

Gao Yuan's eyes were a little sore. He wondered who was so amazing as to carve the words so small, which must have been a hardship for the person reading them.

He rubbed his eyes and placed the jade tablet about an inch away from the white candle to examine it closely.

Two lines of text slowly came into focus:

I yearn for immortality, and have traversed the nine provinces, seeking eternal youth and longevity, yet I find no solace. Now, with my temples streaked with white, past the age of one hundred and fifty, I fear the approach of death. Life and death are predetermined; I have done my utmost to glimpse the gate of life, but in my twilight years, all is in vain, and ultimately, fate is beyond my control…

According to the message, the person who left the message said that he had pursued immortality his whole life.

During this time, he explored the world but still could not find the secret to immortality. When he was over 150 years old and his life was about to end, he finally found a glimmer of hope for immortality, but due to the depletion of his inner energy, he was ultimately unable to resist fate and died.

Seeking immortality, cultivating the method of eternal youth, and mastering the Northern Darkness Divine Art, it's not difficult to analyze that this person is none other than Wu Yazi's vanished master, Xiaoyaozi.

Did he really find the secret to immortality?

However, the text does not elaborate on what exactly the "gate of life" he glimpsed was.

Fortunately, Gao Yuan was a man who knew when to stop. He was already fortunate to have obtained the legacy of Xiaoyao. Forcing the so-called unseen method of "immortality" was unrealistic.

Originally, he planned to use Fan Bailing as a bridge to eventually find the wise old man and then connect with Wuyazi.

But now it has come to me effortlessly, much like how my thoughts have been fulfilled as if they were stars in my heart.

It seems he has a special connection with the Xiaoyao Sect, having inexplicably become Wuyazi's junior brother.

No longer dwelling on the methods of immortality mentioned in the text, his lofty thoughts flowed freely as he gazed at the cultivation diagrams on the jade tablet, his heart surging with excitement.

This is the complete and flawless Northern Darkness Divine Art, not the incomplete version that Duan Yu and Xu Zhu practiced.

One was a half-baked learner who had only studied one diagram, while the other was a lucky one who received initiation from Wu Yazi, possessing the true energy of the Northern Darkness but lacking the ability to circulate it.

It should be noted that once the true Beiming Divine Skill is mastered, all acupoints throughout the body can absorb the internal energy of others and transform it into Beiming True Qi, which combines Yin and Yang.

The masculine energy of Beiming is like a furnace, while its feminine energy is several times colder than ice. It can protect the body and is compatible with all martial arts techniques in the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that in Jin Yong's entire martial arts world, the Beiming Divine Skill is one of the most supreme martial arts.

"Since I have no internal energy, there is no situation of discarding the old and repairing the new, and there is no risk of the two energies clashing and causing madness and vomiting blood."

Upon realizing this, Gao Yuan could no longer restrain himself. He first studied the first seated image diagram in order, then closed his eyes and memorized the sequence of operations by referring to the "Hundred Acupoints Diagram". He then recited the formula.

After memorizing it and confirming that he had not missed anything, he immediately sat cross-legged and simulated the exercise posture of the first diagram.

He sat on the couch, his weight shifted to his right, his right leg bent and placed inside his left knee, his left palm raised above his head, palm facing upwards, his right palm spread out, the five fingers slightly drawn towards the palm, and then extended outwards.

Initially, a stream of air, smaller than a hair, originates from the "Yunmen" acupoint, flows horizontally to the neck, diagonally to the right breast, passes through the armpit and right arm, and ends at the "Shaoshang" acupoint on the thumb.

The energy flows through the meridians and acupoints, like being electrocuted. The body feels like it's sleeping on a balloon, with a tingling sensation all over. After one cycle, the heat suddenly dissipates like lightning.

How could I not be able to keep it?

Gao Yuan tried to continue practicing his internal energy cultivation, and when the fifth small cycle ended, Gao Yuan was overjoyed!

Haha, I've got it!

The airflow transforms into a stream of heat at the thumb acupoint, then reverses direction starting from "Shaoshang" and flows through the body, reaching Tiantu and then turning to Tanzhong, where it accumulates into a wondrous vortex of true energy.

This must be the "Northern Sea" mentioned on the jade tablet.

It draws the other person's internal energy to the Tanzhong acupoint through the heat of the thumb, and the true energy in the Tanzhong acupoint continues to grow stronger before being dispersed into the major acupoints of the whole body for storage.

"It seems that by comparing what I have practiced, without absorbing the internal energy of others, I can also gradually cultivate and strengthen the Northern Darkness True Qi."

Gao Yuan pondered in his heart, "It took five cycles of the Small Zhou Qi to produce a trace of Northern Darkness True Qi. It must be because the timing of the cultivation was wrong. The best results are achieved by cultivating three times during the hours of Mao, Wu, and You."

Having just acquired a martial arts manual, Gao Yuan felt no fatigue and practiced until the end of the Yin hour (3-5 AM).

As soon as the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) arrived, which coincided with the cultivation time recorded on the jade tablet, I felt that the circulation was even more effective and smoother.

As dawn broke, Gao Yuan had already completed the second map.

He hadn't slept all night, yet he didn't feel tired at all. Instead, he felt a sense of clarity and well-being, as if he had been reborn—it was truly wonderful.

"Knock knock knock..." At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

Gao Yuan responded and returned to his position.

A moment later, Uncle Fu led in a boy of about eleven or twelve years old carrying a food box.

"Yuan-ge'er, it's time for breakfast."

"How could Uncle Fu personally serve us food? I am terrified."

"Since Master has instructed that Yuan-ge'er be well taken care of, how dare this old servant neglect his duties?" Uncle Fu smiled and gestured for the boy to place the food box on the table.

"Eat it while it's hot. Master will be discussing chess in the East Courtyard Chess Pavilion in a little while. He said that since you're new here, you don't need to participate. He told you to wait for him in the side courtyard at 9:00 AM."

"You understand, young man."

Gao Yuan bowed in thanks. Although Uncle Fu was a servant of the Fan family, his status was awkward. Fan Bailing didn't care, but he couldn't be rude.

"Last night, I heard from Shi Tou that the candle in Yuan Ge'er's room stayed lit all night. Is something bothering him?"