Chapter Twenty-Five: The World of the Heavenly Dragon

Before stepping through the portal, Meng Fan had to make certain preparations.

First of all, silver coins were unnecessary. Given Meng Fan’s age, acquiring silver would be difficult, and even if Old Meng helped, it would be hard to explain. More importantly, why not just take silver from others when the time came?

As the saying goes, if the neighbors stockpile grain, I stockpile weapons; the neighbors themselves become my granary!

What Meng Fan truly needed to prepare were various emergency medicines, food, and fresh water—these were the essentials for survival. If he were transported to a desolate place, the first priority was to stay alive.

Most crucially, he had to bring along the three exotic beasts: Fortune, Treasure, and Blessing.

Once everything was ready, Meng Fan touched his consciousness to the third star within the Star Sea Domain marked on his arm.

In an instant, a series of scenes flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

A family of three was besieged by dozens of martial artists; the wife was killed, the husband leapt off a cliff, and the son was taken in by others.

A noble scion wandered freely, surrounded by countless lovers, leaving behind numerous romantic debts.

A seemingly eight or nine-year-old girl possessed unparalleled martial skills, intimidating all heroes…

Suddenly, a radiant light enveloped Meng Fan. Through the time-space portal, he arrived in the world of “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.”

After gathering some information in a nearby town, Meng Fan wasted no time taming several horses from bandits. Spurring them onward, he headed south toward the Kingdom of Dali.

Of course, during the journey, mountain bandits and thieves often tried to take advantage of Meng Fan’s youth and small stature. Beggars attempted to harm him, but all met a grim fate at the jaws of Treasure, the white-haired little dog.

Although Qiao Feng was a heroic figure, the forest was vast and full of all kinds of creatures; inevitably, a few rotten apples appeared. Meng Fan showed no mercy in dealing with these villains.

However, the Beggars’ Sect had disciples throughout the Song Dynasty. Killing one only stirred up more trouble. Because Meng Fan used his beasts to kill, he was labeled an “evil child” by them.

Before entering the “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” world, to avoid disappearing too long from the “Under One Person” world, Meng Fan spent time-space energy to adjust the time flow ratio between the two worlds to one to ten.

This was the limit he could currently manage, meaning that for every minute spent in the “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” world, he had to expend one minute’s worth of extra time-space energy.

Of course, a one-to-one time flow would require no such energy.

If not for his urgency to finish his tasks and return quickly, Meng Fan would have taken the time to reason thoroughly with those blind and clumsy Beggars’ Sect disciples.

Three days later, at dusk, beyond the Wuliang Mountain in Dali.

After some searching, Meng Fan found the forbidden area of the Wuliang Sword Sect. Exploring around, he easily discovered a jade wall hidden in a valley.

Then, with the help of Blessing, the modified crow, who grasped Meng Fan’s still youthful form and flew him effortlessly to the valley floor.

After further searching, Meng Fan arrived at a stone gate leading to a cavern extending underground.

Inside, lacking much light, Meng Fan lit a torch with his lighter and proceeded inward. Soon, he saw a stone table upon which lay a bronze mirror and other grooming tools typical of a woman’s boudoir.

Walking further inside, he soon came upon a jade statue carved from white jade.

The statue was life-sized and exquisitely detailed, so vivid that one could almost feel the enchanting charm emanating from its delicate features.

Bathed in torchlight, the white jade statue shimmered with a radiant glow, evoking a sense of ethereal beauty.

At this moment, Meng Fan couldn’t help but admire, “The craftsmanship here truly is divine. No wonder that fellow Duan Yu became so infatuated.”

Looking around, Meng Fan noticed some inscriptions on the eastern stone wall—quotes from the writings of Zhuangzi.

The final line read: “Written by Wuyazi for Qiu Shui Mei. In this cave, there is no sun or moon—here lies the utmost joy of the mortal world.”

At this point, Meng Fan sighed inwardly. Such a mysterious, secluded sect had only a few disciples, but their relationships were incredibly tangled.

He loves him, she loves him, you think he loves her, but in truth, he loves another she.

The relationships were far too complicated!

More convoluted than the most melodramatic modern soap operas!

Meng Fan shook his head, uninterested in these love triangles. He looked down at the feet of the white jade statue.

On the right shoe was inscribed: “Bow a thousand times, serve as my drive.”

On the left shoe: “Follow my command, die a hundred deaths with no regrets.”

In front of the statue lay two meditation cushions, one large and one small. Meng Fan lifted them, revealing a silk-wrapped bundle beneath.

On the silk surface, small characters read: “Since you have bowed a thousand times, you shall serve my will… This scroll contains the martial essence of the Xiaoyao Sect. You must practice diligently… and in the future, kill all Xiaoyao Sect disciples…”

Meng Fan chuckled, ignoring these words, and unwrapped the silk to reveal a scroll.

Upon unfolding it, the title “Beiming Divine Skill” was boldly inscribed.

“Zhuangzi’s ‘Free and Easy Wandering’ says: ‘Beyond the northern reaches lies the dark sea, the Heavenly Pool. There are fish of immense size, stretching thousands of miles, their full extent unknown.’”

“It also says: ‘If water is shallow, it cannot bear a large boat. Pour a cup of water into a sunken hall, and a mustard seed floats like a boat; place a cup on it and it sticks. Shallow water cannot support a large boat.’”

“Therefore, the core of our sect’s martial arts lies in accumulating deep internal strength. When internal strength is abundant, no martial art under heaven cannot be mastered by me—like the northern sea, able to carry large and small boats alike, and accommodate both big and small fish. Thus, internal strength is fundamental; techniques are secondary. The following illustrations must be studied with care.”

At the end, it stated: “Beiming Divine Skill draws upon the internal strength of the world for my use, like all rivers flowing into the sea… But if an opponent’s internal strength surpasses mine, the seawater floods back into the rivers, bringing great peril. Be cautious, be cautious…”

After reading these cautions, Meng Fan gained a preliminary understanding of the skill’s drawbacks. Turning further, he found a painting of a scantily clad woman.

The image was enchanting and slyly smiling, deeply beguiling, a masterpiece of artistry spanning several stories in height.

With a critical eye, Meng Fan carefully studied the meridian flow diagrams depicted, memorizing their paths, then tested the movement of energy within himself before continuing.

The back of the scroll unfolded to reveal thirty-six images of the same woman, either sitting or reclining, showing front or back, expressions ranging from tender to slight anger. Each image was accompanied by diagrams of energy flow and textual explanations.

Beyond that came the content on the Lingbo Weibu, the “Floating Wave Step.”

Here, thousands of footprints were depicted, linked together with arrows indicating direction and annotations naming positions such as Wuwang, Zhongfu, Mingyi—all references to locations in the I Ching.

Meng Fan studied the steps several times, compared them with the diagrams, then began to practice the movements within the cavern itself.