“Jia Yi Divine Skill, Martial Dao Zen Sect… Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards)… ”
“Your Excellency… are you the Jinyi (Embroidered Clothing) who defeated Zuo Lishan?”
“He was not wronged to lose to this peerless divine skill, which has been lost for decades,” Gao Ling murmured.
Li Miao recognized Gao Ling.
The Mount Tai Sect dominates Qi-Lu, and it has many experts, but only three or four are of first-rate caliber. Since he came to deal with the Five Mountains Sword Sect, he naturally made preparations by understanding the important figures of the Mount Tai Sect.
If someone from the Mount Tai Sect discovered Zuo Lishan's abnormality, internal strife led to their escape, and they became a pawn in Li Miao's hand—this was one of his anticipated scenarios. In that case, Gao Ling was the most suitable person.
She possessed high martial arts, long experience, and a reputation in the pugilistic world for hating evil, so she would not turn a blind eye to Zuo Lishan's wicked deeds. She usually focused only on martial arts within the sect and had no entanglements with other forces.
The Mount Hua Sect was pried open with Mei Qinghe, and the Mount Tai Sect was pried open with Gao Ling. The Five Mountains Sword Sect had already been breached in two places by Li Miao.
Li Miao said, “Tell me, Elder Gao. Zuo Lishan caused your injury, didn't he?”
“He probably doesn't even look human now, does he?”
Gao Ling sighed deeply.
She knew that Li Miao saving her certainly meant he had designs on the Mount Tai Sect. But even if the Imperial Court and the pugilistic world were at odds, the Imperial Court was still the righteous path.
Zuo Lishan's deranged appearance, where he didn't even recognize his own kin, suggested that the Mount Tai Sect might turn into an evil sect under his leadership.
Zuo Lishan, Li Miao.
A demonized madman, a Jinyi (Embroidered Clothing).
Sect, Imperial Court.
If she truly had to choose a side, Gao Ling couldn't make a decision. Fortunately, she had no choice.
The Mount Tai Sect faced destruction under Zuo Lishan, and it also faced destruction under the Jinyi (Embroidered Clothing). At this moment, she was restrained by Li Miao and unable to resist. Comparing the two, cooperating with this Jinyi (Embroidered Clothing) to first eliminate Zuo Lishan would at least leave her some room to maneuver for the Mount Tai Sect later.
Thinking of this, Gao Ling began to meticulously recount her observations within the Mount Tai Sect to Li Miao.
After listening, Li Miao twirled his fingers and chuckled, “That fast?”
“I thought Master Zuo would hesitate for a few days; I didn't expect him to start using that thing as soon as he returned.”
“Did I beat him so hard that day that he 'blackened'?”
Gao Ling didn't understand what Li Miao meant by “blackened,” but she heard that Li Miao seemed to know the inside story and asked in confusion, “Does Your Excellency know the reason why Zuo Lishan became like that?”
“Please enlighten me.”
Li Miao saw Gao Ling's cooperative demeanor and thought that older people were better; they understood the stakes and were sensible. She wasn't like Mei Qinghe, who immediately started acting as if she wanted to live or die.
Zuo Lishan had already stepped into the trap, giving him a reason to act. If he wanted to be quick, he could go to the Mount Tai Sect now, drag Zuo Lishan's corpse through the streets, and display it to the public.
However, to complete the task more thoroughly and ensure no heads were missed, he needed to do a few more things and wait for Wang Hai and Xiao Si to bring their men.
At present, he had no patience to slowly wait for Gao Ling to come around.
Li Miao reached out and unsealed Gao Ling's acupoints. Only after Gao Ling flipped off the bed and stood up did he speak, “Actually, it's not surprising; he just cultivated a rather special martial art.”
“Impossible.”
Gao Ling said, “His appearance was simply inhuman. No matter how evil a martial art is, at most it would make a person's temperament extreme, their face gloomy, or their limbs deformed. How could holes appear on his face?”
“That's just you being inexperienced, Elder Gao,” Li Miao chuckled.
“Qilu is still too far from the borderlands, so it's understandable that you don't know much about those evil martial arts from the Western Regions.”
“This martial art of his is called Heavenly Silkworm Skill.”
Gao Ling pondered for a long while, then hesitantly asked, “Could it be the martial art of the Tiancan Old Man from back then? No, that's not right…”
“That person died over thirty years ago. I also heard my elders in the sect talk about him, and they never mentioned his appearance being different from ordinary people.”
Li Miao said, “It's good that Elder Gao knows about it.”
“It is indeed Heavenly Silkworm Skill, but not the original version.”
“Heavenly Silkworm Skill is a martial art that uses poisonous insects for cultivation. Upon mastery, one can regenerate severed limbs, making it extremely powerful.”
“Unfortunately, after the Tiancan Old Man died, the martial art was lost, and only a half-page remnant circulated to Miao Xinjiang.”
“Zuo Lishan is cultivating this half-page Heavenly Silkworm Skill.”
Gao Ling asked in confusion, “Half a page? If only half of the martial art remains, how can it be cultivated?”
Li Miao chuckled, “Naturally, when the martial art ended up in Miao Xinjiang, someone saw that it used poisonous insects for cultivation and thought of combining it with Miao Xinjiang's Witchcraft. They then modified this half-page Heavenly Silkworm Skill.”
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“What you saw—Zuo Lishan not looking like a living person—is because he cultivated the modified Heavenly Silkworm Skill, which is combined with Gu worms.”
Gao Ling pondered for a moment, then shook her head: “I've never heard of any particularly famous experts from Miao Xinjiang. I saw Zuo Lishan just a few days ago, and his cultivation was vastly different from his current state.”
“If this martial art is so miraculous, why haven't any experts from Miao Xinjiang used it to gain fame?”
Li Miao said, “Naturally, there's a reason.”
“First, the Gu worms required for this martial art are extremely rare. Throughout history, Witchcraft has been forbidden, and after years of suppression, it's possible that only Zuo Lishan possesses one in this era.”
“Second, this martial art is incomplete. After cultivation, all the meridians in the body are replaced by Gu worms. Not only does it require constant consumption of blood and food containing true qi—otherwise the Gu worms inside the body will devour the host—but the physical body will also become abnormal, and life expectancy will be shortened.”
“Most people would die after cultivating for three or four years without achieving any results. Only a top expert like Zuo Lishan, who switches to this cultivation, can further advance through it.”
“Third, this martial art was not created by a Miao Xinjiang expert. Instead, it was created by another expert while traveling in Miao Xinjiang, and you must have heard of his name.”
“The person who created this martial art is none other than the former Ming Cult leader, Ji Tianrui, who died fifteen years ago.”
“I came to the Mount Tai Sect precisely because Zuo Lishan obtained Gu worms, obtained the Ming Cult's martial art, and also intended to integrate the Five Mountains Sword Sect.”
“If any of these three points were missing, I wouldn't have come.”
“The Imperial Court will not allow the Ming Cult to establish a deeply entrenched presence in the heartland of the Central Plains, especially one that practices Witchcraft.”
Only at this point did Li Miao finally reveal the reason why Zhu Zai sent him to “eradicate the Five Mountains Sword Sect.”
Secret agents discovered that in recent years, Ming Cult experts had secretly come to Qi-Lu, disappearing after entering Jinan Prefecture. Through investigation, they learned about Zuo Lishan's cultivation of Gu worms and his collusion with the Ming Cult, which led to the task Zhu Zai assigned to Li Miao.
Upon hearing this, Gao Ling's shoulders slumped as if all strength had left her body. Her face turned pale, and she murmured, “Collusion… Ming Cult, Demonic Cult…”
She thought to herself, 'It's over.'
The Ming Cult, referred to as the Demonic Cult by people in the pugilistic world, originated from Persia and was originally named Manichaeism.
It spread to the Central Plains a thousand years ago and has been passed down through generations, becoming deeply rooted with numerous experts. It is a giant comparable to Shaolin and Wudang. Legend has it that the founding emperor of Great Shuo received help from the Ming Cult when he launched his uprising.
Their main business was rebellion.