owlsbooks Chapter 343 The Three Peaks Beyond the Heavens Cannot Be Cut
Chapter 343 The Three Peaks Beyond the Heavens Cannot Be Cut
Yu Zhenzi narrowed his eyes, his expression immediately revealing a lewd look. "I thought he was some kind of shrewd and extravagant person, but it turns out Yuan Chengzhi has just sent a few beautiful women to disturb my Dao heart."
Yu Zhenzi held herself in high regard. Seeing that they were dressed in identical plain gauze robes, wore the same crown tassels, and even the shape of the longswords they held was exactly the same, and that the six of them, standing still, subtly formed a formation, their auras connected, perfectly unified—
Even now, he still believes that he can easily deal with these six women who are pretending to be supernatural.
But when they actually started playing against each other, they discovered that the six of them worked together in such a coordinated way that it was simply unbelievable.
Before he could continue his taunts, one of the Six Goddesses launched another attack. She took the lead with a slanted sword strike, the tip of which flashed with three sword flowers, aiming straight for Yu Zhenzi's face. The other two attacked from the left and right, their swords flashing and piercing Yu Zhenzi's sides. The remaining three moved horizontally with their swords, guarding all possible escape routes for Yu Zhenzi. The six longswords were swung out in succession, all at tricky angles, each move aimed at a vital point.
"Hmph, you actually have some skill, and your dance is quite beautiful."
Forced to retreat by the sword light, Yu Zhenzi snorted coldly, picked up a long sword from the messy hall outside, and began to unleash a set of Iron Sword Sect sword techniques.
Jiang Wen observed closely from the side and suddenly realized that the sword techniques used by the Iron Sword Sect were simple and unadorned, yet contained unexpected variations. They seemed straightforward, but they preferred to defeat their enemies through sudden changes in moves or attack rhythm.
Although this sword technique has been completely altered, the essence contained in its moves seems to be quite similar to the Taishan School sword technique among the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Schools.
For example, right now, when Yu Zhenzi's sword moves are first unleashed, the three moves are linked together. Even if Liu Ding Shen Nu really has three heads and six arms, she must deal with the three fierce follow-up moves. These three moves are more ruthless than the last, and they are linked together, making them really difficult to withstand.
Furthermore, the Taishan Sect also uses the sect leader's iron sword as a token of the sect leader's identity. Whoever obtains the iron sword becomes the sect leader, and there is a dying saying: "Seeing this iron sword is like seeing Dongling." This seems to be exactly the same as the Iron Sword Sect.
Just as Jiang Wen was lost in thought, Yu Zhenzi's "Divine Speed and Ever-Changing" lightness skill had reached a level of unparalleled mastery. His figure moved elusively through the sword light of the Six Ding Goddesses, as elusive as a ghost. A series of clanging sounds of metal clashing rang out, and he single-handedly deflected all six longswords in front of him, without even managing to touch the hem of his clothes.
"Is that all you've got? You dare to meddle in my business?"
Yu Zhenzi's lips curled into a mocking smile, and his sword strike suddenly quickened. "Yuan Chengzhi, no one can save you today!"
Yuan Chengzhi was quite shocked as he watched the fierce fight unfold.
Yuan Chengzhi was no stranger to martial arts formations. When he first entered the martial arts world, he visited the Wen family of the Shiliang Sect in Quzhou and witnessed the power of the Five Elements Formation.
The formation was perfectly integrated, embodying the ever-changing principles of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth). When one person faced an enemy, and the opponent attacked, revealing a weakness, the other four would immediately swarm in, attacking that weakness until the enemy was either killed or captured; otherwise, the attack would continue indefinitely. The five individuals protected each other, yet they functioned as one, forming a seamless, ever-changing, and endlessly adaptable formation.
The most amazing thing is that the Five Elements Formation can enable five people with mediocre martial arts skills to form a formation and fight against the best masters in the martial arts world. This is a typical top-level killing formation that uses the weak to defeat the strong and the formation to defeat the martial arts.
Even so, he was still amazed by the peculiar formation.
Because while the individual martial arts skills of these six women weren't top-notch, they constantly exuded an extremely dangerous killing style. His martial arts intuition reminded him from afar that every flaw in his body could become a fatal weakness. The only way to succeed was to move around constantly like Yu Zhenzi, attacking back at him.
Jiang Wen stood to the side with his hands behind his back, watching Yu Zhenzi move like a snake within the formation, a faint smile on his face.
The Six Ding Goddesses originally cultivated the Jade Maiden Counter-Sealing Formation, the most effective defensive formation in the Red Sun Sect. Normally, their formation could threaten the lives of top experts with the lives of six individuals, but it was less effective offensively. If the opponent wasn't bound by the Heavenly Silkworm Silk, an encirclement and kill would only be achieved through constant attrition.
This was also evident when dealing with Zhou Long. Therefore, the Six Ding Goddesses could often only serve as assistants to the Red Lotus Holy Mother. However, Jiang Wen was most skilled at miraculous healing. With just a slight modification, he could give the enemy a great surprise.
Sure enough, just when Yu Zhenzi thought he had figured out the opponent's tactics and was preparing to launch a full-scale counterattack, an unexpected change occurred.
The six goddesses simultaneously sheathed their swords and retreated. Their figures swayed slightly, and in the next moment, each of them found their position, touched the ground with their toes, and suddenly rose into the air like six pure white butterflies dancing in the air.
“This is…” Yu Zhenzi’s pupils shrank suddenly, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart.
The sword flashed like lightning, tearing through the air as it struck.
Yu Zhenzi swung his longsword horizontally, precisely parrying the swords thrusting from three different directions. Then, he swayed and slid away like a fish, avoiding a cold glint that silently attacked from behind. But his face was no longer as frivolous as before; instead, it was solemn and surprised.
He had never seen such bizarre lightness skill before.
The six women moved incredibly lightly in the air, as if completely unaffected by gravity. They darted back and forth among the branches and rocks, leaving behind afterimages with their speed. Their longswords flashed brilliantly, their sword light like a cascading silver river, and the beauties were like celestial beings descending from the heavens. They attacked Yu Zhenzi from all directions, giving him no chance to catch his breath.
Yu Zhenzi's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly activated his "Divine Speed Transformation" technique, turning rapidly to try and avoid the overwhelming attack.
In fact, countless fine, almost transparent silkworm threads had already silently emerged from their sleeves, and now they were interwoven into an invisible net in all six directions. With the silkworm threads in place, the Red Sun Sect, which had always liked to use silkworm threads for mystical and magical purposes, no longer relied on them as traps to ensnare the enemy, but instead used them as springboards to launch a proactive attack with fierce sword techniques!
Yu Zhenzi felt that every attack was extremely tricky. No matter where he hid, a sword would always appear at just the right moment in his path. These white-clad fairies were like vengeful ghosts, whistling sharply in his ears and beside him!
"laugh!"
With a soft sound, a long sword tore through Yu Zhenzi's Taoist robe, leaving a wound on his left arm from which blood gushed out instantly.
Damn it!
Yu Zhenzi was both shocked and furious. He never expected that his proud "Divine Speed and Ever-Changing Skill" would be so easily suppressed by the opponent's lightness skill.
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword to parry, but the wounds on his body only multiplied. In just a short while, Yu Zhenzi had seven or eight wounds, covered in blood and looking utterly wretched. He dared not be careless any longer, channeling all his inner strength to its limit, leaning against the stone lions outside the Tongtian Hall, desperately guarding his vital points.
Seeing this, Jiang Wen finally nodded in satisfaction and said smugly to Yuan Chengzhi beside him, "Brother Yuan, do you think my formation is magnificent?"
Yuan Chengzhi nodded and exclaimed sincerely, "Sect Leader Jiang is brilliant! This formation is truly exquisite. I have never heard of or seen anything like it before."
Jiang Wen smiled slightly, thinking to himself that he had gone to great lengths to modify the Six Ding Formation. He had searched through all the top formations in Jin Yong's martial arts novels, comparing their advantages and disadvantages before finally choosing this solution.
The Vajra Subduing Demon Formation is indeed powerful. With the three masters who have cultivated for thirty years and are of one mind, their internal energy is endless. Even if all thirty-two top masters with the power of a sect leader exert their strength together, it would be difficult to break through this formation.
However, this formation has a fatal flaw: it places extremely high demands on the cultivators. It took three generations of solitary meditation to achieve "mutual understanding," and Jiang Wen found it hard to believe that spending thirty years gossiping and meditating on the Dao could be the same thing, or even achieve the same level of mutual understanding. Let alone dedicating thirty years to cultivation; the thought of six middle-aged women serving him would be unbearable, a torment only the Empty Void Prince could truly comprehend.
The Quanzhen Sect's Big Dipper Formation is a seven-person formation, and the Seven Masters of Quanzhen are said to be able to fight against two of the Five Greats with this formation. However, this formation is too dependent on the formation's core; once the core is broken, the entire formation will collapse. At the same time, the Big Dipper Formation's power enhancement is limited, and it is still more offensive than defensive, making it less useful than the Jade Maiden Counter-Seclusion Technique.
After much deliberation, Jiang Wen concluded that the True Martial Seven-Section Formation created by Zhang Sanfeng was the most suitable.
The most ingenious aspect of this formation lies in its flexibility. It can be used by two people, three people, and the more people use it, the greater its power becomes, increasing exponentially. Two people using it together double its power; three people using it together double its power again; four people using it together are equivalent to eight top-tier masters; and six people can achieve the terrifying combined power of thirty-two masters!
Of course, while the principle of the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation is simple, it is still inseparable from the all-encompassing and mysterious martial arts created by Zhang Sanfeng. As a grandmaster of martial arts, Jiang Wen quickly found his own way to achieve this.
He broke down the "Thirty-Six Swords of Ailao Mountain," which was known for its offensive techniques, and taught each of the six goddesses a set of killing moves based on their individual characteristics.
These six sets of killing moves are not difficult to learn, and are unremarkable when used individually. However, when combined with the Heavenly Silkworm Silk prepared for them, they compensate for their lack of lightness skills and can bring the agility and changes of the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation to the extreme. With the six swords above, six swords below, six swords in front, six swords behind, six swords to the left, and six swords to the right, a total of thirty-six consecutive thrusts, they transform into this sword technique, which is "the most fierce in the world," enough to terrify any opponent!
After the thirty-six moves were completed, the six longswords returned to their sheaths at the same time. It seemed that even the clouds and mist at the edge of the cliff were shattered by the sword energy. The ground was covered with broken pine branches and pebbles, and only the clear sound of the longswords resounding like dragons echoed in the valley.
Yu Zhenzi was already covered in sword wounds and hurriedly rushed into the gate of Tongtian Hall to hide. Gui Xinshu saw this and hurriedly reminded Yuan Chengzhi to take his sword and go in to kill the villain, but Jiang Wen raised his hand to stop him.
"Second Master Gui, Master Yuan, please calm down. As is customary, once you go in, Yu Zhenzi will definitely have a backup plan to deal with you, and you will inevitably fail at the last minute. I am a person who prefers to play it safe, so I might as well wait here and finish him off after he has bled dry. I want to see how long he can endure it."
Jiang Wen's words were also a very simple truth. Although the Six Ding Goddess's Celestial Flying Immortal Formation was invincible, it was still a beginner's practice. Under the fierce attack, her true energy was consumed quite severely. At this time, it would not be appropriate to take any more risky moves.
"By the way, Master Yuan, I just heard from Second Master Gui that you once entered the secret cave of Mount Hua. What exactly does it look like?"
When Yuan Chengzhi heard Jiang Wen inquire about this matter, he knew that his senior brother had already revealed almost everything that should and shouldn't be revealed, so he simply stopped hiding it.
"What is called a cave is actually a natural passageway formed by a crack inside the mountain. It is located in the steep peaks of Mount Hua and is sealed by mud outside the cave, so few people can find it. There are still some traces of plank roads on the stone walls, so it must have been possible to climb the ladders a hundred years ago, but the wood has all rotted away."
Jiang Wen asked doubtfully, "Since there were traces of people there, and the cave entrance was sealed with mud, it shouldn't be unknown to anyone."
Yuan Chengzhi replied, "Master Mu only said that it was the place where the predecessors of the Huashan School subdued powerful enemies, and I don't know much about the rest."
Just as Jiang Wen was racking his brains, a clear, cold female voice suddenly rang out behind him: "I'm afraid I know a thing or two about this matter. It does involve a grudge between the predecessors of the Huashan Sect, and it's not just the Huashan Sect, but also my Mingzun Sect."
Jiang Wen, Gui Xinshu, and Yuan Chengzhi turned their heads at the same time and saw a woman in red, dressed in a half-sleeved fairy dress, standing in the shadows of the Tongtian Palace. Her figure was graceful, and her face was covered with a thin red veil, revealing only a pair of eyes as clear as autumn water.
"More than a hundred years ago, the elder of the Mingzun Sect fought a seven-day and seven-night battle with the masters of Mount Hua on the summit of Mount Hua. In the end, he was trapped in a secret cave in Mount Hua and died."
The Holy Mother of the Crimson Lotus slowly stepped out of the shadows, her gaze fixed on the depths of the dense forest, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "And those traces that deciphered the martial arts techniques of the world were probably left by the elders of the Mingzun Sect. The people of the Huashan Sect felt guilty, so they sealed them away."
Jiang Wen asked, "Holy Mother, this explanation doesn't seem quite right either. The Golden Snake Swordsman was only imprisoned decades ago. According to you, the Mingzun Sect elder has been dead for a hundred years, so he shouldn't have been sealed off later, right?"
The Holy Mother of the Crimson Lotus shook her head: "Most of our sect's scriptures have been lost, and the records about this matter are also vague. All we know is that the Northwest Branch, which was originally the most powerful branch of our Mingzun Sect, has been in decline ever since and has gradually disappeared. Only the main branches in Fuquan and two other prefectures are still struggling to survive."
Jiang Wen suddenly looked at Yuan Chengzhi, but remained silent—if this was true, then Mu Renqing, who by chance inherited the mantle of Huashan and re-founded the sect, was the most suspicious person. Since he was nicknamed "Divine Sword Immortal Ape," there was no high mountain or dangerous place he couldn't go to. He must have known about this place in Huashan long ago...
At this moment, the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus took out a dusty wooden box and said to Jiang Wen, "I led people to search the garrisons of the Immortal Capital Sect and the Wudang Sect, and sure enough, we found what you are looking for."
Jiang Wen's eyes lit up, and he quickly took the wooden box and opened it.
Inside, there lay a rough stone carving, weathered and corroded by moss, with a Taoist statue of a beast-faced human body. But upon closer inspection, it looked as if the Taoists on the left and right sides had a double-hole bovine-nose Taoist hairstyle.
The stone carving had been smashed to pieces, and it was only through the skillful hands of the Red Lotus Mother that it was pieced back together. Upon closer inspection, Jiang Wen noticed that the lower part of the stone carving was somewhat incongruous. It seemed to be wearing a feathered Taoist robe, with its feet still stepping in the air, gracefully as if flying through the void.
"It turns out that the 'Qingniu Weng Taoist Statue' is not a stone statue, but a stone carving covered with gray sand and mud..."
Jiang Wen picked up the wooden box and examined it carefully. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes. "No wonder Mei Fu was able to hide it in the Laozi sacrificial pavilion for so many years without it being discovered. It is part of the wall itself. If you didn't know beforehand, no one would notice this inconspicuous stone slab."
Yuan Chengzhi leaned over for a look and said, "Sect Leader Jiang, this item looks very old."
Jiang Wen nodded, then studied it for a moment, and suddenly his expression became extremely solemn.
"No! It's not just ancient. In later archaeological reports, this thing was identified as a product from long before the Han Dynasty. It was only later that it was absorbed by Huang-Lao Taoism and became the bull-headed, human-bodied deity they worshipped. During the Later Han Dynasty, people carved a large number of these bull-headed, human-bodied images in the portrait stones and murals in tombs, mostly as attendants of the Queen Mother of the West and the King Father of the East, or as guardian deities to ward off evil spirits and protect the tomb."
Jiang Wen gently stroked the ox head's hair bun on the stone carving with his fingers and slowly said, "Look here, this ox nose hair bun was obviously carved, modified, and rearranged later. The original statue should not have had this hair bun. It was Huang Laodao who modified it in order to incorporate this ancient god into his own pantheon, making it look more like an immortal in our minds."
Jiang Wen reached out and casually fiddled with the stone carving fragments, starting to piece them back together. First, he changed the bull-nose hair bun from horizontal to vertical, then he moved the feathered robe aside and pieced it together with Ta Yun's feet. He moved the position little by little until the entire flat stone carving vaguely transformed into a somewhat strange and incomplete stone statue.
The statue was carved in an extremely ancient style, with bold and powerful lines, full of primitive wildness and mystery. The bull's head had four horns pointing to the sky, its eyes protruding in a ring shape, and its mouth seemed to reveal fangs. Its expression was majestic and terrifying. However, the human body was dressed in loose robes and knelt on the ground with its hands clasped together, as if it were performing some kind of ancient sacrificial ritual.
"I'm certain now..."
Jiang Wen now has reason to believe that this statue can be traced back to the Hongshan Culture more than 5,000 years ago, because a jade bull-headed figure from the Hongshan Culture was unearthed at the Niuheliang site in Liaoning Province, and its appearance is almost identical to that of the statue in front of him.
The Hongshan Culture (4700–2920 BC) was located at the confluence of the Xiliao River and the Daling and Xiaoling Rivers. It was an archaeological culture that had the earliest three-tiered sacrificial space of "altar-temple-mound". Sacrificial elements were also extremely prevalent in its sites.
In the 1980s, a large number of ox skulls and horns were found in the Hongshan settlement remains at the sixteenth site of Niuheliang. This indicates that such ox-head images were the legal medium for shamans to communicate with the heavens, and also echoes the "ox-headed, human-bodied" deity "Jumang" in the later "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
He placed the stone sculpture back into the wooden box, looked up at Yuan Chengzhi, and suddenly asked, "I've heard that ancient shamans could bring the dead back to life and communicate with the yin and yang realms. I didn't really believe it at first, but after seeing this bull-headed stone figure, I'm suddenly starting to believe it. After all, the Supreme Star Ascension Register and the Azure Bird Descent Technique seem to have originated from 'them'..."
Jiang Wen spoke quietly, his expression growing increasingly complex. He then fell silent for a long time before letting out a deep, resonant sigh, his voice carrying a weight of time, as if it had traveled through a thousand years.
"If I remember correctly, True Monarch Wang Bao of the Western City cultivated Taoism in the secret cave of Mount Hua for nine years..." (End of this chapter)