Chapter Ninety-Three: Dragons Soar, Serpents Dance

The feeling of resonance was profoundly mysterious, and utterly intoxicating.

Gao Wu suddenly recalled something Song Mingyue had once said: that human beings were encoded by six billion genomes, and that every person spent his entire life searching for the person or thing that matched the code within him.

Whether that notion was true or false did not matter for the moment. As individuals, no matter how close they became to others, no one could truly resolve the loneliness buried deep in the soul.

At this very instant, Gao Wu and Song Mingyue established resonance. They transcended all limits of language, writing, and every other means of communication, and met one another on the level of the heart.

The heart felt fulfilled, enriched, yet not feverish; rather, it sank into a steady, enduring peace and ease.

No one knew how much time passed before Gao Wu withdrew from the resonant state. He glanced at his smart watch; in truth, only a few minutes had gone by.

In that state, his sense of time had grown dull and sluggish. In his own feeling, it was as though he and Song Mingyue had spent a whole lifetime together.

Through that resonance, he had become the Azure Dragon and danced with the White Snake, comprehending the rapture of a dragon soaring through the nine heavens, mighty and unrivaled.

This insight would be of great benefit to his cultivation of the Nine Forms of the Dragon and the Wandering Dragon Sword.

Once the resonance of heart and mind broke apart, Gao Wu could still sense Song Mingyue through spiritual power, and even perceive her mental condition.

From their second meeting onward, he had discovered that he possessed a special sensitivity to Song Mingyue, one that let him recognize her at a glance and find her even in the depths of a dark lake.

By now, through the Azure Dragon Divine Breath Spell, the two of them had truly formed a stable spiritual link.

As for how that connection had been established, that no longer mattered much.

It might have been due to Song Mingyue’s special condition, or to the explosive increase in his spiritual power, or perhaps because the phantom wings left by the Angel of Death had made their already subtle bond even more stable.

He had a feeling that even if he and Song Mingyue were separated by a thousand miles, he would still be able to sense her.

In this resonant state, he, as the spellcaster, held the initiative.

What use it had would need more time to determine. For now, one could only say that this hidden spiritual link enabled extremely efficient communication.

In certain special circumstances, such as combat, such an efficient method of communication would be an immense advantage.

For the present, the greatest benefit was that both of them could temper their spiritual power through resonance.

Song Mingyue opened her eyes. Even her originally dim gaze had gained a touch of brilliance. With a somewhat complicated expression, she said, “This is miraculous.”

Because her spiritual telekinetic power was so strong, she had somehow formed resonance with an eldritch being, and that had triggered all kinds of problems.

But today she had established spiritual resonance with Gao Wu. Unlike the cold, destructive aura of the eldritch being, Gao Wu’s presence was long and enduring, full of vitality. Under its influence, her heavily damaged spiritual telekinesis rapidly stirred and flourished again.

“I originally thought it would take me a year or two to recover. With your help, a month is enough,” Song Mingyue said.

Gao Wu bared his teeth in a grin. “That’s wonderful.”

Then he could not help lowering his voice to ask, “How do you compare as a mind master and as a martial master?”

“Spiritual power is on par with a martial master, or perhaps even stronger. As for fighting, that’s harder to say.”

Song Mingyue knew Gao Wu too well. She asked, “You want to deal with Wan Cangsong?”

“Hey, hey...” Gao Wu smiled in his honest, boyish way. “Good friend, you know me best!”

“Difficult.”

Song Mingyue shook her head slightly. She had witnessed Wan Cangsong unleashing his spiritual field. Though his spiritual power could not match hers, it was not far off.

The key was that Wan Cangsong possessed formidable martial cultivation, while she was much weaker in the martial aspect.

Compared with that, her slight advantage in spiritual power was almost insignificant.

“My second aunt has already reported it to the general association. They’re investigating Wan Canglong,” Song Mingyue said. “Within half a year, Wan Canglong should be dealt with.”

Gao Wu was a little surprised. He felt that Shen Ning was icy and very pragmatic, and should not concern herself with such troublesome business.

After all, Wan Canglong was a powerful martial master. If he were truly provoked, trouble would follow very easily.

Even if an ordinary warrior in Haihuang deliberately stirred things up, no one could stop him.

Let alone a powerful martial master like Wan Canglong. If he ever truly set his heart on doing evil, the destruction he could cause would be enormous, and terrifying beyond measure.

“The Hunter Association has its discipline too. Making money in the gray areas is still acceptable. But Wan Canglong crossed the line. That is absolutely forbidden.”

Song Mingyue said seriously, “The people in Cloud Ridge probably believe in some demon god, which is why they can all be so complicit with one another, forming such a vast and tightly knit alliance of interests.”

“To deal with such an alliance, one must be cautious.”

“Understood, understood.” Gao Wu could quite understand this. Demon god believers formed a hidden, massive web of connections, tangled and deeply rooted. It was bound to be troublesome.

Just like when Song Chunqiu acted, he had prepared for a full month, and even then Haihuang still got away.

Thinking of that, Gao Wu felt a little resentful. A grand master of martial arts should not be so unreliable in his work.

“Your condition isn’t good right now. Take leave and rest for a while,” Gao Wu suggested.

Song Mingyue’s condition meant that if she encountered a strong enemy, such as Wan Cangsong, she would have no power to fight back. He felt it would be best for her to recover at home.

“That works. I have a small villa by White Scale Lake. We can stay there for a while,” Song Mingyue said. She did not want to remain in the safe house; it was too stifling, and she could not train there properly.

Staying at home was not entirely safe either. Changing locations was the wisest choice.

“You really do have a lot of villas...” Gao Wu said with obvious envy.

“In truth, it’s Aunt Lan’s villa. But there’s no real difference,” Song Mingyue explained.

The next morning, Song Mingyue and Gao Wu moved into the small villa near the lakeshore.

This two-story villa was not large, only around two hundred square meters. Its house number was 38, and it stood beyond a hill from Villa Nine.

By distance alone, it was sufficiently far. If outsiders did not know the exact situation, they would never be able to find it.

Aunt Lan even went to the school and found the leadership there to request long leave for Gao Wu and Song Mingyue.

The greatest advantage of a villa was the courtyard, where they could train martial arts.

White Scale Lake had thawed. The breeze carried a faint fishy scent from the water, mingled with the fragrance of grasses and trees, while the afternoon sunlight blended in to form a pleasing natural aroma.

Gao Wu and Song Mingyue practiced swordplay in the courtyard. He did not use the Fate Sword. This sword was in tune with his will and could raise his swordsmanship realm.

It was excellent for fighting, but unsuitable for practice.

The two of them held wooden swords and slowly pushed and parried back and forth, mainly to feel the changes in force while wielding the sword.

Through spiritual resonance, Gao Wu could more deeply comprehend Song Mingyue’s sword techniques, even down to the level of spiritual visualization.

In this way, what Song Mingyue knew was roughly half his own as well.

Song Mingyue, too, nourished the seed of telekinetic power through this resonance. The two of them took what they needed and both gained something, completely fair.

After more than an hour of practice, Song Mingyue’s body began to give out. Her energy was clearly inferior to normal.

While Song Mingyue rested, Gao Wu took out his phone and glanced at it. Han Yang and Coach Song Yunhui had both sent him messages on the communication app, mainly to express concern and ask about his situation.

After all, a sudden long leave would always lead people to imagine the worst.

Gao Wu replied to them one by one, thanked them for their concern, briefly explained his situation, and said that he had important matters to handle now and would return to school once they were done.

When Aunt Lan returned, she brought news that Huang Long’s entire family had been killed. It was said that the scene was extremely bloody.

Because it involved demon god believers, the news was sealed off. In order to catch the fugitive Haihuang, every department had already been mobilized.

In the end, it was Aunt Lan who found Shen Ning, and Shen Ning personally stepped in to settle the matter.

Only someone with Shen Ning’s position could avoid being pressed for details by the Inspection Office or the Public Security Bureau, and avoid questions about Haihuang’s corpse...

Gao Wu was not worried about people investigating the body. There had been no surveillance, so he could say whatever he wanted. Still, the death of Huang Long’s family left him feeling somewhat complicated.

Haihuang had clearly taken very good care of his nephew, yet he had personally slaughtered Huang Long’s entire family. Utterly inhuman, utterly deranged.

No wonder the Alliance crushed demon god believers so decisively, with methods of extreme cruelty. Those who believed in demon gods would be twisted and transformed, no longer fit to be regarded as human...

For the next few days, Gao Wu stayed with Song Mingyue in the small villa. Each day they practiced boxing and swordsmanship, and whenever they were idle they cultivated their spiritual power together.

Unfortunately, Song Mingyue’s telekinetic power was so special that Gao Wu could never learn it, no matter what.

Fortunately, swordsmanship and boxing were much easier. After a few days, Gao Wu had made clear progress.

At night, when there was nothing else to do, Gao Wu would send his spirit out to roam and test the various states of his yin spirit.

The maximum distance the yin spirit could range was five hundred meters. If he carried the Fate Sword, however, he could only move within a hundred meters in order to truly unleash its power.

By his estimation, the normal state of the yin spirit wielding the Fate Sword was clearly far stronger than Aunt Lan, though still not as good as the Frost Moon Sword unleashed by Song Mingyue.

When the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Spell was placed upon the Fate Sword, the blade would carry searing heat and could destroy a source-force field of the same level.

If six layers of the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Spell were applied to the yin spirit at once, he could sustain that extreme state for at most three seconds.

As for the exact power, there were not enough testing targets to make an accurate estimate.

Without restrictions, the yin spirit could reach a speed of one hundred meters per second.

If the yin spirit wielded a weapon, its speed could reach fifty meters per second.

At that speed, the Fate Sword’s purely kinetic force was already twenty times that of a rifle bullet.

Gao Wu had asked Song Mingyue about it. In general, the burst speed of a martial master was around fifty meters per second.

That did not sound especially fast, but in truth only modern vehicles could reach such speeds. For the human body to burst forth with that velocity was terrifying.

By this calculation, the sword-wielding yin spirit was roughly equivalent to a beginner martial master.

In truth, when the yin spirit wielded the sword and struck, its speed was even greater, and the kinetic force unleashed was more fearsome still. Lacking the limits of flesh and blood, its ability to change direction and shift positions was faster and more varied.

If not for the fact that the yin spirit’s source-force level was still insufficient, its true combat power would in fact be higher than that of a beginner martial master.

The altered Fate Sword had also become markedly sharper. Even the small nicks left by earlier strikes had disappeared.

These changes gave Gao Wu a tremendous sense of security.

If he met someone like Haihuang again, there would be nothing to fear.

The only problem was that the one wielding source force was the yin spirit, not his own body. He himself was still merely a warrior.

This puzzled Gao Wu greatly. His spirit and physique had already reached fifteen points, surpassing Aunt Lan by who knew how much. By rights, in such a state he should already have been able to gather source force.

He could now sense source force with his spiritual power, yet he remained unable to gather it through his body. One foot had already stepped to the threshold of a martial adept, but he could not cross it no matter what.

Even with his temperament, he could not help feeling a bit restless.

Song Mingyue saw his agitation and said, “For a warrior to condense source force, one needs first a strong spirit and second a strong body. You possess both, yet still cannot gather source force. Then there is only one problem: your martial cultivation is not pure.

“Strong body and strong spirit, yet no unity of body and mind. As I see it, it is because your progress has been too fast, and you have relied on many external aids...

“You skipped the process of cultivation. An overly powerful body and spirit have instead become an obstacle.”

Gao Wu suddenly understood. Xiao Song had hit the nail on the head.

Since last November, in just over four months, earth-shaking changes had taken place in his body.

These changes had come either from potions or from the blessing of the Boundless Merit Book; almost all of them could be regarded as external force.

In terms of martial cultivation, he had actually gained very little.

“What should I do?” Gao Wu asked humbly.

“In my view, you still need to purify your martial path and unify inner and outer. The sword is after all an external object; stop practicing it for now.

“From now on, focus mainly on the Wandering Dragon Palm. Your spiritual power is nimble as a dragon. As long as you settle down and cultivate the Wandering Dragon Palm, letting spirit govern flesh, you will always break through the bottleneck.”

Song Mingyue knew Gao Wu too well. She proposed a practical plan tailored to his current state.

Gao Wu deeply agreed. The Fate Sword’s enhancement of swordsmanship was also a kind of external force, and not conducive to his martial cultivation.

In the days that followed, aside from dual cultivation of spirit with Song Mingyue, he practiced the Wandering Dragon Palm with her through push-hands.

At first he was still somewhat restless, but Xiao Song’s emotions were steady, and that gradually allowed his own heart to relax as well.

One day, two days, three days...

As time passed, the flavor of spring grew ever stronger, and Gao Wu’s heart became increasingly calm.

He gradually managed to sense more deeply the iron-like sinews, bones, and muscles within himself, and perceived that their operation was rough and direct, not at all in keeping with the many subtleties of the Wandering Dragon Palm.

At root, it was because his constitution was too strong. He had leapt over the steps of martial accumulation and forced his way to this point.

Day after day, through push-hands with Song Mingyue, Gao Wu gradually brought his unusually powerful sinews and muscles into order, making them coordinated, supple, and capable of unified force.

On the morning of April second, the sunlight was bright and the spring breeze perfect.

Gao Wu was slowly practicing push-hands with Song Mingyue by the shore of White Scale Lake. His intention flowed with the movement of push-hands through every muscle and bone in his body.

Unknowingly, his will had already integrated the internal and external force within his body, leaving no gaps.

Gao Wu’s movement suddenly paused. Then his arm gave a slight twitch, shaking Song Mingyue’s arm away. Sensing the change, Song Mingyue naturally withdrew her force and stepped back.

Her gaze flickered. On her bright, cool face, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly, and she rarely revealed an expression of relief and joy.

Gao Wu circled Song Mingyue in eight quick steps. His footwork was light and graceful, yet agile and swift, like a spirit snake gliding through grass, like a dragon soaring over rivers and seas. In only a few steps, he already displayed the bearing of serpentine dance and dragon flight...

In the Wandering Dragon Palm, the most important thing was actually the footwork. In the past, he had always fallen short in this area, but today, after long tempering, he had finally achieved the unity of fist and body.

On the final step, Gao Wu returned precisely to his starting position. He made a closing gesture and slowly exhaled a mouthful of murky breath.

Beaming with joy, he looked at Song Mingyue and sighed, “It was not easy, but at last the fist technique is complete!”