The final chapter of the handwritten manuscript...
What kind of martial arts did Wang Chongyang write in the final chapter of his manuscript? Could it be the ultimate essence of Quanzhen martial arts? Wang Chongyang had recorded the final chapter of the manuscript, dividing it into three parts.
In the first part, Wang Chongyang wrote a brief autobiography. Little Monkey was interested in knowing his Master's personal history and read it with great focus.
Wang Chongyang was a man who loved his country and his people. From a young age, he joined the Song Dynasty army and fought bravely against the Khitan enemies in the Jin Dynasty. He attempted to reclaim the lost Song territories from the Jin Dynasty but was defeated by the superior Jin army.
Moreover, having frequently witnessed acts of treachery within the Song court, where traitors sold out the country, he became disillusioned with the world and left the army. Wandering around, he discovered an ancient tomb cave on Zhongnan Mountain and lived inside it alone.
In that cave, he reflected on and reviewed the mistakes he had made in the past. After that, he practiced Buddhist teachings and was able to quietly train his martial arts. He hated the Khitans intensely. He decided he would rather die in the cave than live under the same sky as the Khitans, and he resolved never to leave.
Soon after, the Khitans invaded the Song territory. His friends searched for him but gave up when they couldn't find his hiding place. When the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty learned of this, he sent spies to find out about the ancient tomb cave so that they could assassinate Wang Chongyang before the martial artists could find him. When they discovered the location of the ancient tomb cave, he sent the ten best martial artists in the Jin Dynasty to kill Wang Chongyang. However, all ten high-level martial artists died at the hands of Wang Chongyang.
(At this point, Little Monkey felt a sense of awe and pride at his Master's martial prowess.)
From that time on, all traces of Wang Chongyang vanished. As time passed, the martial world also forgot about him. However, there was one person who continued to search for Wang Chongyang everywhere. That person was a young woman from the martial world named Lin Chaoying. Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang were originally close acquaintances with an intimate relationship.
Lin Chaoying had fallen for Wang Chongyang. However, Wang Chongyang was only interested in martial arts. He had even shared the martial arts he had mastered with Lin Chaoying. Finally, Lin Chaoying found the ancient tomb cave where Wang Chongyang was hiding. After finding out, Lin Chaoying went to the cave entrance and cursed and scolded him every day to make Wang Chongyang come out.
Finally, Wang Chongyang could no longer bear it and came out of the cave. Lin Chaoying laughed and said, "Do you remember what you once said? You vowed never to leave the cave and never to return once you came out."
From that moment, Wang Chongyang followed Lin Chaoying. They traveled the world together, studying and practicing martial arts. Eventually, both their martial skills gradually advanced, reaching the peak level. They loved each other, but the wall of pride stood in the way, and they never confessed their feelings. (Wang Chongyang confessed to regretting this later.)
Lin Chaoying often gave hints, but Wang Chongyang did not pick up on them. Even when he knew, he pretended not to see. As he continued to be distant, Lin Chaoying's love turned into hatred. Nevertheless, the two continued to practice martial arts together as before.
Wang Chongyang did not want to defeat Lin Chaoying, and he would often concede whenever Lin Chaoying occasionally gained the upper hand, so their fights often ended in a draw. Lin Chaoying's hatred finally erupted one day. She challenged Wang Chongyang to a duel.
If she lost, she would commit suicide. If Wang Chongyang lost, he would have to give the ancient tomb cave to her. Then, he would have to live on Zhongnan Mountain as a Taoist hermit or a Buddhist monk for ten years.
Wang Chongyang did not understand the meaning of her words. Giving the tomb cave to her meant she wanted to marry him and live together as husband and wife.
The requirement to become a hermit or a monk meant that if they did not marry, it was a way to prevent Wang Chongyang from marrying another woman. It was the subtle cunning of a woman.
Wang Chongyang was shocked and terrified and told Lin Chaoying that he could not accept such a challenge. Then Lin Chaoying proposed, "Then let's have a competition of writing calligraphy on a stone slab using our fingers."
This time, he accepted. However, he could not write a single word on the stone slab. When it was Lin Chaoying's turn, she walked up to the stone slab and wrote a poem on it. Thus, Wang Chongyang was defeated by Lin Chaoying. True to his word, he entered the religious life as a Taoist hermit.
Wang Chongyang later built a Taoist monastery on the climbing path and named it the Chongyang Palace. From that time on, he lived in the Chongyang Palace and guarded the tomb cave for Lin Chaoying.
After many years, the Chongyang Palace became the headquarters of the Quanzhen Sect. After Wang Chongyang won first place in the Huashan Sword Tournament, the reputation of the Quanzhen Sect shone like the sun and moon in the martial world.
(Wang Chongyang's autobiography ends here.)
Little Monkey was stunned with wonder as he read his Master's autobiography. His Master's life story was extraordinary and strange. Though his Master's martial arts reached the peak, his life was lonely.
Again, he learned the lesson that a woman's love can easily turn into hatred.
After the autobiography, Wang Chongyang wrote an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and shortcomings of the signature martial arts of the four other martial world leaders who were his contemporaries: the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms of Northern Beggar, the Toad Technique of Western Poison, the One Finger Solar Art of Southern Emperor, and the Flute Sword Technique of Eastern Heretic.
It seemed that Wang Chongyang had clearly seen the flaws and weaknesses of these martial artists.
In any case, Wang Chongyang's analyses were beneficial to Little Monkey. These martial arts had vanished from the jianghu for many years.
Not only did he get the chance to study ancient martial arts, but by learning their strengths and weaknesses, his knowledge and wisdom greatly increased.
Reading on, he gradually reached the final page. On the last page, Wang Chongyang had written small, densely packed words that Little Monkey could not understand. Not that he couldn't read the words, but he couldn't grasp the meaning of the text.
The words were like a moral lesson. They alluded to the connection between religion and martial arts. They referred to the importance of nature. There was not a single word about martial arts. What could this meaning be?
In this way, about five years had passed. Little Monkey had now become a legitimate martial artist.
Little Monkey decided it was time to leave Zhongnan Mountain. He had the burdens of punishing the Gongsun family, finding his father, and establishing the Quanzhen Sect, so his shoulders were heavy. He would have to cast these burdens down one by one.
On a day when thick snow was falling, Little Monkey descended the mountain.
A young man with a horse and a sword slung across his back, turned his back on Zhongnan Mountain. His steps were directed toward the martial world. And at this time, the martial world was...