At the beginning, it was only the niwan, one acupoint – that continuously throbbing, but then the tianling acupoint and the left and right yongquan acupoints on the bottom of the two feet followed. At once the two boys felt their entire body itch, their four limbs went numb. This kind of feeling was uncomfortable beyond description; fortunately their bodies were hidden inside the snow, so that the ice-cold snow lessen their suffering somewhat. Otherwise, it would be strange indeed if they did not separate and give up.

This moment, naturally they could not break the snow and come out even more, and were forced to endure the pain and defend their property to the death.

The true qi inside their body was continuously circulating, going back and forth endlessly. Very soon all the acupoints on their whole body were throbbing at the same time. It was the two boys’ good fortune that they were smart; they let the yin and yang primordial qi to go up and down, rising and lowering. The innate true qi pierced through the top of their head and bored into their feet, while they maintained their tranquility as if they were dead, completely lacking any anxiety.

The most amazing thing was that because previously the two boys were buried inside the snow, their true qi had reached the level of dried up oil lamp; this moment, as they went through this process, it was just like after severe winter, the spring was returning to the earth, the dried-up stream was flowing again into the river, the dead grass and trees happily came back to life.

The primordial essence fusion was originally a long process; inside the snowy forest before, they unintentionally released the primordial essence, which was barely enough to stabilize it. But now they really transformed the primordial essence into the primordial qi, and bring it into all acupoints, big and small, to take it for their own.

Even more amazing was that the snow surrounding their bodies was forming a sealed up snow cavity, so that the primordial qi was contained inside and would not leak outside; as a result, the two boys were enjoying an even bigger benefit.

As Kou Zhong’s true qi was growing cold rapidly, Xu Ziling’s true qi was also growing hot rapidly; one yin, one yang, blending with each other, yet to the two boys, it was a natural course, they let it circulate at its own pace, neither urging it nor slowing it down, neither helping it nor neglecting it. Using the training method they learned from the Secret to Long Life, they applied the empty-but-not-actually-empty, solitary-but-not-actually-solitary, the divine qi fusing together to be one entity, vague and indistinct as if they were returning to the Great Emptiness realm before Pan Gu [creator of the universe in Chinese mythology] started the creation. It deeply matched the Taoist School’s realm of ‘the fire in the stove is forced, the White Tiger [the seven mansions of the west sky] remained still in the whole spirit, the water in the three-legged cauldron is melting, the Azure Dragon [the seven mansions of the west sky] is swimming out of the abyss’ [sorry, it’s beyond me]. Together the wind and the fire in the stove, the water and warm weather, formed the red clouds.

The heavy snow was falling continuously, covering the two boys’ head. Outside breathing automatically reversed back into inner breathing. Not only there were no wear and tear to the true energy, the flow of the true qi inside the body was circulating even more vigorously.

All of a sudden strange visions, demonic images appeared in their mind, but the two boys’ heart and mind were firm and persistent, they refused to acknowledge it just the same, guarding their lingtai steady, continuing toward the progress of the martial art way.

Nobody knew how much time has passed, the two suddenly ‘woke up’. All the acupoints on their body stopped together, their meridians swelled to the point of about to snap. The two automatically broke the snow and leaped out above the ground, before falling down heavily.

‘Bang!’

The two boys’ true qi clashed fiercely against each other, and thus it reversed direction outward, smashing the ground so that snow powder swirling up, filling the whole sky, creating a magnificent spectacle.

It was only this moment that they remembered that perhaps the enemy was watching from the side. Overwhelmed with shock, they sprang up, the pain from the swelling meridians disappeared without any trace, their body felt comfortable, relaxed, and peaceful; they felt unspeakably restful.

The heavy snow finally stopped. Above the snowy plain, the sky was grey and hazy.

The two came over toward each other. Together they looked far and near; the snowy plain was desolate and empty, the mountain forest was void and silent, there was no shadow of the enemy’s falcon.

“Why is it still daytime?” Kou Zhong said in horror.

Xu Ziling understood what he meant. The two had been training for quite a long time. Now, even if it was not very late at night, at least it should be dusk. Although they could not see the sun, they could feel that the sun was still in the middle of the sky, behind the black cloud. It did not make any sense.

Frowning, he pondered over, and then said, “How’s you tummy feeling?”

Kou Zhong subconsciously rubbed his stomach and said, “Originally it was full of qi, but now that you mention it, suddenly my stomach is rumbling with hunger; I just want to eat a big meal.”

And then, shocked, he blurted out, “Are you saying that we spent one day and one night in the snow, and that now it is noon the next day?”

Xu Ziling said, “Even if we have been going three, four days without a single grain of rice entering our belly, we can’t possibly be so hungry like this moment. On the third of the New Year we ate until our belly was full, our intestine was fat. On the fourth, early morning, we escaped out of Chang’an. On the fifth, by sunrise, we came to this place. Today could be the seventh or the eighth. Do you think my deduction makes sense?”

Dumbstruck, Kou Zhong said, “If that’s the case, then there must be something wonderful is happening to us, two brothers. Do you also feel like your power is advancing for several years?”

Xu Ziling unleashed his skill of looking inside himself; sneering, he said, “How can there be such thing in the world? However, whatever it is that we get from the Demonic Emperor Relics indeed brought us up a level; we are making a major breakthrough. The circulation of the true qi inside our body is greatly different from the past, but definitely not suddenly advancing for several years.”

‘Qiang!’

Kou Zhong drew the Moon in the Well, rapid and fast beyond human comprehension he swiftly hacked three times; each saber force was identical, but the speed was faster than the previous one. The execution was what the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes; delightful, flowing smoothly, and beautiful.

Watching this, Xu Ziling was dumbstruck; he spoke in disbelief, “What’s going on here?”

Kou Zhong stood with the saber across his chest; laughing aloud, he said, “If this is not great advancement in power, then what is it?”

Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “I am not talking about sharp increase in your power, but the way you moved the heavy saber as if it was light, with easy and understated bearing; compared to your previous fierce, overbearing and ruthless saber technique, it has a completely different flavor.”

Kou Zhong was stunned. “You are right,” he said, “The fact is that I did not feel my power is making any progress, but the circulation of the true qi inside the body is certainly free and unobstructed, following my heart’s desire. Come! Let’s play a couple of moves to see how formidable your ‘being and nothing way’ really is.”

Before he even finished, Xu Ziling’s childish heart greatly aroused, he flashed toward Kou Zhong’s right side like a ghost. Copying Shi Zhixuan’s Huan Mo Shenfa, he struck Kou Zhong with his el