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Ye Silang had escaped from the clutches of Immortal Peng, not because he possessed extraordinary willpower, but because he quitted before completing his training.

Both the Heartful and Emotionless Sword techniques comprised of seven stages, and both Ye Silang and Chu Yangjun had stopped learning after mastering the fourth stage. Therefore, even though their sword craft was very good, it was still far from the very best. They would not have fallen under the killer’s sword if they had mastered all seven stages of their training.

As with Gu Shenwei, Ye Silang had already been trained in other forms of kung fu before coming under Immortal Peng’s tutelage. Ye Silang had always been tied down by worldly concerns and had left the pavilion once he felt that his sword craft was good enough for him to survive in jianghu, on the pretext that he would return after his travels. Instead, he had returned to North City.

Immortal Peng did not agree that he had made any of his disciples stay behind against their own will. “What influenced them to stay was their love for kung fu and not me. The scope of Secrets of Love is so wide that anyone who starts learning it would become obsessed. Ye Silang’s lack of willpower ruined himself and Chu Yangjun as well. Without his practice partner, Chu Yangjun’s sword craft could not improve further. They could well have finished mastering the seventh stage before leaving the pavilion; if they did, no one would have been able to kill them.”

“Did anyone finish mastering the seventh stage?”

“Yes, there was more than one person who did, and all of them have left the Joy Pavilion.”

“So, I can leave any time I want to?”

“Of course, no one is stopping you.”

“I can do anything I want?”

“Yes, you’re free to do so.”

“I’m free to do so,” said Gu Shenwei to himself.

As Gu Shenwei felt more doubtful, he decided to test Immortal Peng’s credibility.

He drew his sword and came at the immortal with the Death Scripture technique.

Gu Shenwei was confident that his stroke embodied the highest standard of sword craft he could produce. He was truly emotionless and there was nothing holding him back – he only thought of killing his opponent. However, he would be surprised at what came next. There were many other types of kung fu which exceeded his imagination existed in the world, and he was too confident of his own abilities.

The thrust should have struck the immortal on his neck, but it was blocked by the huge metal dragon head on his crutch; Gu Shenwei was unable to move his sword forward by the least bit. He swore that he had not taken his eyes off the immortal, yet he could not catch the latter’s movements.

Death Scripture taught to strike only with one blow, and as it was Gu Shenwei’s second unsuccessful attempt to hit his opponent, the damage done to his body was much more serious. The Internal Breath which was channelled onto his sword flowed back into his body. He felt as if a huge tide had come gushing back into him.

It froze him to his spot for a moment, with his sword in hand. Then, he began staggering backwards, feeling nauseous with each step. Luckily, there was no vomitus coming out of his mouth. He could only stabilise himself upon leaning against the walls. His insides were churning and he could not straighten himself up for a long while.

“This is the seventh stage.”

As Gu Shenwei’s Internal Breath finally stabilised, Immortal Peng started to speak through him again.

Gu Shenwei was speechless. Previously, he had only learnt sword craft meant for killing, and this was the first time that he saw kung fu that granted the practitioner a wider range of skills – Immortal Peng seemed to be able to do whatever he wished.

He was still a little indignant, so he shut his eyes and made a second thrust at the immortal.

He could sense Immortal Peng’s living energy very clearly, it was like an unmoving mass in front of him. The flaws in his stance were also very obvious to Gu Shenwei, even more so than a normal opponent. He seemed to have given up resistance and was waiting for the fatal blow to be struck.

Still, Gu Shenwei missed.

It was unbelievable to him. The distance between him and the immortal remained at around 10 steps, no matter what he did. It was just the right distance for his blows to miss their target; it negated the many flaws in the immortal’s stance. The weird thing was that he did not feel that the immortal was dodging him, it seemed as if he himself was retreating.

Gu Shenwei gave up and drew down his sword. He opened his eyes and spoke hoarsely, “I want to master the technique up till its seventh stage.”

Immortal Peng reached his crutch out and touched the killer’s shoulder with it. He had demonstrated a level of kung fu that was so great it could grant its practitioner the ability to kill as he or she wished as well and to tackle multiple opponents at once.

Gu Shenwei felt like a blind man who was, with external aid, able to see for an instant; he could never go back to live in the dark anymore and would give anything for the ability to see again.

Hypnotism played only a minor part in influencing Gu Shenwei to make up his mind to stay behind and master all seven stages of the Emotionless Swords technique. To him now, it was a hundred times better than the sword craft from Death Scripture. With it, he would no longer need to plot behind the scenes to get his revenge. Once he had mastered the technique, all of the Shangguan Family would be sitting ducks for him to strike down at ease.

After Immortal Peng left, Gu Shenwei stood in front of the screen and studied the words of the Emotionless Swords technique with unbridled passion. It was only when dawn came that he could collect himself.

Even though he had previously promised Maid Lotus that he would memorise all the content of Secrets of Love, he had been enthralled by the Emotionless Swords technique all night, and did not have the mind to memorise any other content other than that.

After his meeting with the immortal, he was spurred on to train even harder than Chu Nanping. Finally, there was camaraderie between both ‘Heartless Men’ and they pushed each other on. Their skill in sword craft increased swiftly, and it was not long before they had progressed from the second to the fourth stage – ‘The Sword Moves as Intended’. Their concentration had also increased tremendously, and they cared for nothing other than their swords.

At the end of the 100th day, Gu Shenwei had already completed inscribing Death Scripture, but there were still remnants of the Peripheral Force left in his body. However, he did not think much about it. He was pre-occupied with improving his sword craft and to master all seven stages of the Emotionless Swords technique. He wanted to reach the immortal’s level of kung fu.

That said, both he and Chu Nanping were unable to break through to the fifth stage, no matter how hard they tried. One night during the end of Spring, they decided to seek the advice of the immortal.

Immortal Peng only gave them a few words of advice. “The first four stages of Secrets of Love train your body, while the rest trains your heart. The reason both of you haven’t made any breakthrough is that there are still obstacles in your heart holding you back. The only way is to kill it off.”

He left the two practice partners to think it over. Chu Nanping seemed to know that they would be facing such a problem sooner or later, and it was as though he was waiting for this moment to tell his partner, “We have to kill someone whom we do not wish to.”

Gu Shenwei also came to the same conclusion about the immortal’s advice. It was stated very clearly in the text of the Emotionless Swords technique, and they had avoided the inevitable until now.

“Who is the person I don’t wish to kill the most?” thought Gu Shenwei. The first person that came to his mind was Shangguan Ru, but he quickly pushed that thought aside. As a member of the Shangguan family, she was on his kill list. Finally, he came to the conclusion that there was only one person he did not wish to kill – Maid Lotus.

Just the thought of killing her personally gave him goosebumps. She was his only loyal supporter, and by killing her, it would mean he would forever be alone, without anyone he could trust.

However, this was the essence of the Emotionless Swords technique.

Still, he made up his mind to do it. Chu Nanping seemed to have decided earlier than him that he would also follow through with the plan. The both of them parted ways in the peach forest, each looking to kill someone dear to them.

Gu Shenwei felt a little curious as to who his practice partner would kill. Chu Nanping had been conditioned to be emotionless at a young age and did not seem to have any feelings for anyone.

The moment of curiosity soon passed, and he re-focused on his own plan.

Maid Lotus was no easy target. She was also skilled in the swordcraft from Death Scripture, and would be sure to not hesitate when striking, what with her strong killing intent. As for himself, he was stuck in the learning stage of the Emotionless Swords technique and his original skills had diminished. It was an embarrassing situation for him, and he was not sure whether he would be Maid Lotus’ match.

Thus, he decided that he could only leverage on her trust in him and assassinate her.

Gu Shenwei walked determinedly to his rendezvous point. He paid no attention to the sounds of the street around him. The commotion from the taverns, the laughter from the brothels and the noise from the gambling dens all did not affect him in the least bit.

He saw the light coming from her room in the backyard of Southwall Tavern as he approached.

Gu Shenwei observed from the roof of the opposite room, going through his plan for assassination again mentally.

“It’s my own choice,” he said to himself in his heart without any reason. He leapt down the roof and approached her door, knocking twice.

Maid Lotus was examining what he had written down of Secrets of Love from his last visit. Since that time, he did not meet up with her once every three days according to plan, and it made her increasingly worried. She had thus wished to discover the loopholes in Immortal Peng’s sorcery from the manual.

She was surprised by his visit out of the blue, and could sense a slight difference in him. She could not describe it but felt that he looked a little off color even though he did not seem to be under anyone’s control.

She went straight to the point as usual. “Immortal Peng’s kung fu seems to be a little weird.”

“Is that so?” replied Slave Huan indifferently. It seemed as if he was pre-occupied with other thoughts and was not interested in the statement made by Maid Lotus.

She turned and stared at him. The feeling of peculiarity he brought with him grew by the minute. Physically, he looked unchanged, yet she felt he had become a different person. His reply made him seem like a stranger, and the rapport which they had was not present today. It made her seem as though she was being overly close to him.

“Have you come to kill me?”

Her words came like a sharp arrow and pierced through all his thoughts. He trembled slightly and shifted his right hand to the shaft of his sword. This was the prime opportunity to strike, but instead he spoke. “I… don’t know.”

Maid Lotus turned her gaze back to the manual. She had already found a big flaw in Secrets of Love and hoped it would help Slave Huan snap back to reality. He had been over confident of his ability to resist the immortal’s charms and had fallen under his influence. She would show him the truth about that dwarf.

“Consider it carefully.”

Her calmness was an antidote to his enchantment and made him come back to his senses. He shook even harder, and his hand could not even hold on to the sword shaft. He sat down on the chair and held his head in his arms. He wished that he could come up with something, anything, but at that moment he could only feel his head hurting.

The light flickered in the room, as the sounds of enjoyment from the tavern slowly came to nothing. They did not speak to each other for a long while.

“I won’t kill you,” he finally said, his voice steady but his mind still undecided. Part of him still wanted to kill this teenage girl in front of him to master the Emotionless Sword technique, which he now believed was the best sword craft in the entire world. He did not notice that he was unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fist. His sword shaft not one feet away seemed to calling for his grasp.

Maid Lotus turned to face him, the manual in her hands. “Immortal Peng is a charlatan, and you fell for his lies.”

“What?”

“There are no 64 methods of training. Although both Secrets of Love and the Emotionless Swords techniques are real, they are not connected with each other. Do you understand? What he means by 64 different methods of training just means 64 different types of kung fu. These different types of kung fu are not similar at all. The Secrets of Love is just an Internal Strength technique and the other kung fu skills don’t serve as a way of interpreting it.”

Gu Shenwei went from a state of blankness to confusion. “But the seven stages…”

The Emotionless Swords technique is indeed a good kung fu technique, but how can it be compared to Death Scripture? You’ve been tricked. The immortal has offered the least he could in exchange for your most prized skill.”

She suddenly struck at Slave Huan with her sword, and her killing intent enveloped the entire room.