Starting With The Martial Arts Holy Fire Order

Chapter 022: Acquiring the Military Strategy and Secret Manual

Peach Blossom Island’s location was rather hidden, but fortunately, Ling Yihan had a map of the surrounding islands.

Originally, to preserve the secrecy of Peach Blossom Island, he planned to pierce the sailors’ eardrums, cut out their tongues, and, upon return, blindfold them.

Daiqisi didn’t mind this approach, but Hu Qingyang, being softer-hearted, persuaded him not to take such extreme measures.

Ling Yihan reluctantly agreed to her idea and used poison to temporarily control them.

When they neared Peach Blossom Island, he struck their pressure points and left them on the main ship.

Then, he, Daiqisi, and Hu Qingyang took a small boat and rowed slowly toward Peach Blossom Island.

As they entered the island, they found it densely covered with peach blossom trees arranged in a peculiar pattern.

The winding paths were confusing, making it easy to lose one’s way.

Ling Yihan realized that these trees and buildings were arranged according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams by Huang Yaoshi years ago.

Thanks to the trap map on the black iron piece, navigating wasn’t difficult, and soon, they found two ancient manuals buried in a cave.

One was The Wumu Legacy, written by Yue Fei, containing battle strategies against the Yuan forces.

Since Guo Jing had been the Golden Blade Consort in Mongolia and had participated in the Western expeditions, he had gained extensive knowledge of their combat tactics.

The other was a martial arts manual. Aside from The Nine Yin Manual, it contained skills from the North Beggar Hong Qigong, including The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and Dog-Beating Staff Technique, along with techniques from the East Heretic Huang Yaoshi like Divine Finger Snap, Bi Hai Chao Sheng Melody

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Ling Yihan stored these two books in his spatial ring, then returned to the main ship with Daiqisi and Hu Qingyang.

He opened both books and used the Memory Pearl within his body to memorize all their contents.

Then, he transcribed some softer martial arts techniques for Daiqisi and Hu Qingyang to practice and gifted Hu Qingyang the recipe for Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills.

Knowing that Daiqisi had some knowledge of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams—since in the original story, Xiao Zhao used it to find the secret path to Bright Summit—he transcribed the sections on occult techniques and gave them to her.

Ling Yihan, who practiced masculine internal arts like Wedding Garment Divine Art and Nine Yang Divine Skill, avoided learning the Yin techniques in The Nine Yin Manual to prevent internal energy conflict.

Instead, he focused on the powerful Great Demon-Subduing Fist (a technique Zhou Botong once used against Yang Guo’s Sad Palm) and the devastating Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, as well as the precise Dog-Beating Staff Technique and Divine Finger Snap.

Since Hu Qingyang had no martial foundation, Ling Yihan taught her some basics and gradually guided her in Orchid Touch Technique and Blue Wave Palm.

After the Heavenly Sword incident, Hu Qingyang realized that powerful martial skills were necessary to help Ling Yihan, so she devoted herself to training aboard the ship.

Although her progress was slow, continued practice would soon allow her to reach the level of a third-rate expert.

Daiqisi, however, was already quite skilled. Under Ling Yihan’s guidance, she practiced both Peach Blossom Island’s techniques and advanced skills from The Nine Yin Manual, including Nine Yin White Bone Claw and White Python Whip Technique.

To prevent her from rushing and risking harm as Zhou Zhiruo had in the original story, Ling Yihan emphasized building a strong internal foundation.

Daiqisi, deeply respectful of Ling Yihan’s knowledge, followed his advice diligently, progressing steadily without impatience.

Although Ling Yihan couldn’t practice Nine Yin White Bone Claw and White Python Whip Technique due to his internal arts, he used his martial skills to create a new technique based on the Nine Yin White Bone Claw and Nine Yang Divine Skill: Nine Yang Red Refining Claw.

When using this technique, he channeled his intense Yang energy into his arms, making them glow red-hot.

With one strike on a tree, five charred claw marks appeared on the trunk, surpassing the destructive power of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw. If combined with the Wedding Garment Divine Art, it would be even more terrifying.

On their return voyage, they spotted a luxurious government ship bearing the Mongol Empire’s flag not far ahead in the East Sea.

Out of curiosity, Ling Yihan left Hu Qingyang on their ship and, under the cover of night, he and Daiqisi rowed a small boat to the government ship.

Ling Yihan noticed that, aside from Mongolian, some people on board were speaking a familiar language that he couldn’t quite understand.

After listening carefully, he realized it sounded like Korean, reminding him of a past conversation between Cheng Kun and Gang Xiang about Grand Tutor Boyan planning to present the Dragon-Slaying Saber as a bride price for Emperor Yuan Shun’s marriage to a Korean noblewoman.

Ling Yihan eavesdropped on the Mongols’ conversation and confirmed that they were from the Grand Tutor’s estate.

It turned out that Boyan had ordered his nephew Tuo Tuo (Toghtogha Temur) to take the Dragon-Slaying Saber and sail to Korea to escort the noblewoman back to the Yuan capital.

What a stroke of luck! Ling Yihan thought with delight.

He shared this news with Daiqisi, who was equally surprised and thrilled.

Together, they eliminated all the officials on board, leaving only Tuo Tuo and the Chinese sailors alive, seizing control of the ship with ease.

“Who are you? Don’t you know that kidnapping imperial officials is punishable by death for your entire clan?”

Despite being captured, Tuo Tuo remained calm and demanded answers.

Ling Yihan glanced at him and sneered.

“I’m well aware of who you are. That’s the only reason I’ve spared your life. Otherwise, you’d have been executed like those other mongrels.”

Tuo Tuo frowned.

“What do you want? It can’t be just the Dragon-Slaying Saber, can it?”

Ling Yihan replied indifferently, “There’s no need for you to know that right now. I merely want you to come along as my guest.”

After taking the Dragon-Slaying Saber, Ling Yihan struck Tuo Tuo’s pressure points and chained him to prevent escape.

Initially, he planned to return to Mount Pudu by sea and then head to the Bright Summit by land.

However, due to the inconvenience of transporting Tuo Tuo, Ling Yihan decided to travel by sea from the East Sea to the South Sea and then proceed to the Western Regions by land from the southern borders.

Since he possessed Tuo Tuo’s official seal and imperial orders, they passed through customs without issue.

They soon docked in the southern border and continued their journey toward Bright Summit by carriage.