DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS BOOK 4 OF 5 (SONG OF THE CAVE IMMORTAL) by Jin Yong

Take A Step Back And Ponder, When Would The Delusion End? - Part 1

Jiumozhi knew that fighting against this little monk will just be a one-sided battle, it would be laughable if he did not win, however since the circumstances is such he cannot avoid the fight, at once he wave his palms and launch his attack, his palm wind contains light fluttering sound, his posture and technique is precisely the first-class martial arts of [Prajna Palm].

[Skanda Palm] is the basic foundation martial arts of Shaolin, when a Shaolin disciple formally become an apprentice to a master, they will first learn [Luohan Fists] followed by [Skanda Palm]. Nevertheless [Prajna Palm] is one of the most obscure martial arts, practitioners have to abide the sequence strictly and progress from [Skanda Palm] to [Prajna Palm], this would normally require 30 to 40 years of effort. [Prajna Palm] is one of the 72 supreme consummate skill of Shaolin, practitioners can train this skill perpetually and their palm strength would be increasingly stronger as they train, their palm moves becoming more pure, it can be said there is no end to learning, eventually they would reach the last palm move "The Bottom Of Emptiness", ever since the creation of [Prajna Palm], of all the senior monks in Shaolin who train in this skill very few manage to master the last move. Throughout Shaolin's history, there has never been a case of using [Skanda Palm] to exchange blows with [Prajna Palm]. Both skills are at the extreme of martial arts, one is deep and mythical, the other shallow and crude, senior monks who mastered [Prajna Palm] will never fight with junior monks who only know [Skanda Palm], even for sparing among master and disciple, if the master use [Prajna Palm], then the disciple would have to use [Dharma Palm], [Snow Mountain Palm] or [Thousand Hands Of Rulai] to trade moves.

Xu Zhu saw the incoming palm move, he slanted his body to avoid and push out with both palms, it is a move from [Skanda Palm] known as "The Way To Protect Monastery Gate", the move is mediocre, however the power behind it is vigorous and forceful.

Jiumozhi spin his body, his sleeves revolves and he execute [Mendicant Palm]. Xu Zhu slanted his body to avoid, Jiumozhi had anticipated Xu Zhu's dodging position, he already launch his [Vajra Fists], with a 'Peng' sound he hit Xu Zhu's shoulder. Xu Zhu staggered and retreat 2 steps. Jiumozhi laugh and said: "Little monk are you convinced?" he presumed he had shattered Xu Zhu's shoulder bone with that fist. Unexpectedly Xu Zhu was protected by [Pure Energy of Northern Darkness], however he still felt his shoulder aching, he straighten his body, his palm moving from left to right and execute the move "Ganges River Flowing To Sea", both palms carried torrents of energy, it is akin to widespread flood.

Jiumozhi saw his fist had no effect on Xu Zhu, moreover when Xu Zhu's palm move arrive its power is profound and heavy, he cannot help but be startled, he raised his palm to block, his body also followed, both his legs kick out repeated, in a split second he had kicked 6 times, every move landed on Xu Zhu's solar plexus, its precisely one of the 72 supreme consummate skill of Shaolin, [Shadowing Kick], as one leg kicks out, the second leg will arrive with the shadow, the second kick will take shape from the shadow, the third kick will follow the shadow again and arrive as well, only until the 6th kick did Xu Zhu have time to shift his body to avoid.

Jiumozhi did not allow him to rest, he launch two fingers in succession, there is 'Chi Chi' sound, its [Tara Finger]. Xu Zhu initiate a bow-drawing stance and countered with his fists, it is a move from [Luohan Fists] known as 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart'. This fist technique is extremely shallow and superficial, however when powered by [Minor Formless Skill], unexpectedly it neutralize [Tara Finger]'s rock shattering finger force and stop it midway.

Jiumozhi had the intention to show off, after launching [Tara Finger] he immediately switch move and made a cutting move with his arm, although he is empty-handed but the technique is [Wood Burning Sabre Skill]. To master this set of sabre skill the practitioner have to chop 81 times at a dry piece of wood swiftly, the sabre edge should not damage the wood at all, however the heat emitted by the sabre must ignite the wood and set it on fire, Xiao Feng's teacher Master XuanKu is an expert in this skill, after XuanKu pass away, no one in the temple is capable of such skill. [Wood Burning Sabre Skill] is meant to be use with a single sabre, it is completely different from the void palm force of Jiumozhi's [Blazing Sabre Skill] which he employed in TianLong Monastery. Currently Jiumozhi is using his palm like the sabre edge, he chop and hack fiercely, the technique and move is entirely Shaolin's martial art. As his sabre chop landed, there is a 'Bo' sound, Xu Zhu's right arm was hit. Xu Zhu shout out: "Very fast!" he send out his right fist, as his fist arrive midway his right arm was hit by another sabre move. Jiumozhi poured his internal energy into the palm, the palm chop is no different from steel blade, it can slice or break an arm, unexpectedly Xu Zhu was completely unharmed even after sustaining two sabre chop, on the contrary Jiumozhi felt pain from his palm.

Jiumozhi was startled, thoughts ran through his mind: "Even if this little monk mastered [Golden Bell Shade] or [Iron Garment Skill], there is no way he can resist my heavy palm move, what is the reason? Ah, yes, he must be wearing some precious protective vest." as he thought of it, he immediately focus his attacks on Xu Zhu's face and head, [Unfix Great Wisdom Finger], [Ridding Worry Finger], [Nirvana Claw], [Indra Claw], he execute 6 to 7 Shaolin's divine skills in succession, all of them targeting Xu Zhu's eyes or throat.

Under the high-speed attacks from Jiumozhi, Xu Zhu is at a loss on how to resist, he can only move back and retreat, he can't even use his [Skanda Palm] anymore, he punch out repeatedly, all of them the same move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', every punch forced Jiumozhi to move back half chi, thus due to this half chi, all different kinds of marvellous techniques and moves executed by Jiumozhi are rendered useless as they cannot reach Xu Zhu's body.

In a short period of time Jiumozhi execute another 6 different Shaolin's supreme consummate skills, the crowd of Shaolin monks were dazzled by the display, they thought: "He claims to have mastered all 72 supreme consummate skills of Shaolin, he might not necessarily know all 72 skills, but it seems he know at least 30 to 40 of them." nevertheless Xu Zhu only countered with [Luohan Fists], under the lightning fast attacks of Jiumozhi he had no chance to switch moves, Xu Zhu execute the move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart' and another 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', again and again he only relied on the move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', the fist technique is awkward and clumsy, even common martial arts practitioner will inevitably laugh out loud. However the inner strength within 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart' kept increasing continuously, the distance between both of them gradually grew further, Jiumozhi's finger and claw moves are 1 chi away from Xu Zhu.

Suddenly Jiumozhi lowered his right palm, he flip his palm and slap Xu Zhu's wrist. Xu Zhu's right arm arrive horizontally, Jiumozhi's plam interlinked with Xu Zhu's wrist, unexpectedly Jiumozhi felt a severe shock in his arm, immediately after his arm ached and felt numb, he quickly channelled [Minor Formless Skill] to resist, unexpectedly it was neutralized by the opposing [Minor Formless Skill] contain within the [Arm Sealing Acupoints] technique. Jiumozhi shock is really no small matter, he burst out in cold sweats, he recalled the past events at Suzhou's Mantuo Manor: that day Jiumozhi captured DuanYu and arrive at Jiangnan, he wanted to learn [Six Meridians Divine Sword] of Dali's Duan family as well as pry into the martial arts collections within Murong family's 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment'. Ah Zhu and Ah Bi arranged a feast and entertained Jiumozhi, Duan Yu, Guo Yanzhi and Cui BaiQuan. Ah Bi played a zither in the Water Pavilion and the floor suddenly flip over, Duan Yu, Ah Zhu and Ah Bi drop onto a small boat underneath the Water Pavilion. Three of them row the boat and escape quickly, Jiumozhi did not know how to row a boat and was unable to catch up with them. In his rage he coerce a servant of Murong family to guide him to Canhe Manor, however the servant did not succumb and refuse to guide him. Jiumozhi knew Canhe Manor is constructed in the deepest part of Lake Tai's cloudy waters, lotus and water caltrops move irregularly, it is extremely difficult to locate. He hatched a plan and captured an official in Suzhou's capital town, he press a steel sabre at the official's neck and force him to lead the way. With a steel sabre at his neck, the official obediently guide Jiumozhi. Jiumozhi gave him 10 silvers and ordered him to leave, he disembark and hid within the underbrush, he wait until midnight before entering the manor.

Sure enough, the Manor's owner was not in, he went to the study room and began searching, however he only found <<The Thirteen Confucian Classics>>, <<Annals Of Palace Origins>>, <<Integrated Classics Of Sages>> and various scholar books, it was not what he wanted. In the afternoon of the 2nd day, he saw a big boat arriving, the owner of the boat is a good-looking upper-class lady, she led 10 sword bearing maids and charge aggressively into the Manor. When the Manor servants saw her they address her as "maternal uncle's wife", the boats men and male workers all address her as "Madam Wang". He heard Madam Wang asking: "Where is my young lady? Ask her to come out quickly!" "Where is Ah Zhu and Ah Bi, those two crafty servants, damn where did they go?" she instructed the maids under her: "Quickly go seize Ah Zhu and Ah Bi, chop off their right hand first before interrogating them." she ask again: "Has your young master return? Is he together with our young miss?" she did not wait for a reply and start slapping people heavily, no matter male servants or maids, she simply slap anyone she come across. Jiumozhi saw her martial art is not very good, but it is more than sufficient to deal with the bunch of servants.

Jiumozhi expect she would use the boat to return after her search, thus he thought of hitching along and return back to dry land, he quietly stroll to the boat side, when no one was around he leap lightly and landed on the boat's rear, he hid himself in a corner. Sure enough, no more than two hours later, Madam Wang led her maids into the boat and sail to the middle of the lake. Madam Wang did not find her person, she slap the desk and knock the stools, swore and curse in anger, nobody dare to talk to her.

The big boat sailed for a couple of hours and anchored at a pier outside the Water Manor. Jiumozhi wait for the sky to turn dark before entering the Manor. It is difficult to search for things in the darkness, just before the lake he saw an exquisite small house, he listen attentively, there is no one in the house, he went up the 2nd floor, he push the window lightly and jump into the room. The interior was pitch-black, there was no light at all, he found an uninhabited room and slept on the floor.

While sleeping, he suddenly heard a rustling noise downstairs, someone step on some dry grass. Jiumozhi woke up and peered out through a small crack in the window frame, he heard light footsteps, someone is going upstairs. This person stepped on the stairs with gentle force, it is almost noiseless, it goes to show his brilliant inner power. Jiumozhi don't dare to make any noise, he saw a flame torch, the person's footstep is strangely quick, in an instant he entered the neighbouring room, the person use the torch to light a candle on the table. He heard a few "Ta Ta" sound, it seems to be some kind of mechanism turning, afterwards he heard a "Ya" sound, the sound of a door being pushed open. Jiumozhi look through a small crack in the wooden partition, he saw a small hole opening up in the wall of the adjacent room, there is a door on the hole, the door is painted like the walls, it is difficult to detect once it is closed. Jiumozhi look at the hole, it is a hidden room, rows of cabinet lined up the room, layers upon layers, words are carved into the doors of every cabinet and painted blue, all of them the same words: "Jade Cave of Langhuan". Jiumozhi knew "Langhuan" is a mythical place where celestial beings kept their books, he had a thought, could it be these cabinets stored precious martial art manuals?

Jiumozhi saw the person merely look at the bookcase with a candlestick in hand. This person is wearing cyan robe, his long hair draped over his shoulder, his hair grizzled, apparently he is quite old. Jiumozhi muttered inwardly: "This person is old, inner power excellent, i should be able to deduce his identity." he saw the person move to a cabinet, the word "Jade Cave of Langhuan" is written horizontally on the cabinet's door, on the bottom part of the door there is two rows of words, "Green ox heading west, purple cloud arriving from east", the words are painted green, Jiumozhi pondered: "Green ox and purple cloud, it seems to be related to Laozi's Taoist teachings, if the cabinet contain <<Book of Tao>>, <<Nanhua scripture>> ,<<Baopuzi>> or some other Taoist books, then i won't bother anymore."

The person open up the cabinet door and took out an entire stacks of account books and place them on the desk, there are around 7-8 books, the corner of the books are rolled up, it appears they are rather old. The person lean his body to the side, Jiumozhi could see his appearance clearly, he is around 60 to 70 years old, face flat and smooth, skin white and fair, at once a person came to his mind: "This person is so old, yet he is able to maintain the face of a child, could he be the one famed for [Great Energy Dissolving Skill], Ding ChunQiu?" Jiumozhi held his breath and concentrate, he don't dare to move the slightest bit.

The old man open up one of the books, he studied the contents diligently, he mumbled and calculate as he trace the contents with his finger, he inhaled and exhaled, it seems he is practicing some kind of internal energy. After a long time Jiumozhi heard a female voice downstairs: "Father, is that you?" The old man exhaled, his pair of hands clasping his belly, he finally replied: "Yes, you can come up!" there is the sound of footsteps, a person rush up the stairs, the person is Madam Wang. Jiumozhi was flabbergasted: "So this old man is senior Wang, he is not Ding ChunQiu."

Madam Wang walk towards the old man and said: "Father, you are practicing [Minor Formless Skill] again? Just take these books, they are brought here by you and mother anyway, without your guidance YuYan cannot understand them." when Jiumozhi heard the phrase [Minor Formless Skill], he knew it is an extremely powerful Taoist's internal energy method, at once he focus and paid attention.