Ye Qiu opened the iron box and found an old, thread-bound book inside.
The cover was yellowed.
Clearly an ancient artifact.
“What kind of divine technique does this manual record?” Ye Qiu wondered.
Curious, he picked up the book and flipped open the cover.
The next moment, a few traditional Chinese characters caught his eye.
Instantly, Ye Qiu gasped.
“Wudang’s Cloud Ladder!”
He never imagined the Wudang sect’s treasured technique, given to him by Master Chongxu, would be the Cloud Ladder.
The Cloud Ladder was an unparalleled lightness skill created by Zhang Sanfeng, dubbed the pinnacle of lightness techniques. It emphasized agile movement, allowing the practitioner to move as lightly as a swallow, scaling mountains as if walking on flat ground.
A single step could cover ten zhang!
“Once I master this, I’ll have another trump card to save my life. What an unexpected bonus.”
Ye Qiu quickly opened the manual and began reading.
The manual had nine pages.
Each page featured a practice diagram.
Beside each diagram were a few lines of small annotations.
Ye Qiu studied them carefully.
Five minutes later, he closed the manual, the Cloud Ladder’s cultivation method fully etched in his mind.
He returned the manual to the iron box and began practicing.
A while later, a golden light flashed under Ye Qiu’s feet, and his body shot into the air, his head slamming into the ceiling of the secret chamber.
“Clang!”
A loud crash.
Ye Qiu fell back to the ground, lucky his body was tough, or his skull would’ve cracked.
“This chamber’s too small, the ceiling’s too low, it’s not suitable for practicing the Cloud Ladder. I need a new spot.”
He placed the iron box back in the stone groove and left the chamber.
Outside, he didn’t see Master Chongxu in the study and didn’t think much of it, starting to practice the Cloud Ladder in the courtyard.
After a while, he realized no matter how he tried, he couldn’t truly grasp it.
At best, he could manage a step of one zhang.
“What’s going wrong?”
“Did Master Chongxu hide something from me?”
“Or is the key cultivation method not in the manual?”
“Damn it, that old schemer tricked me again!”
Ye Qiu was furious.
He wanted to find Master Chongxu right then and give the old schemer a beating.
Soon, he calmed down.
“If the old Taoist really hid something, confronting him won’t make him admit it.”
“He’d probably say something like I’m not destined for the Cloud Ladder.”
“Like hell I can’t master it.”
Ye Qiu kept practicing.
…
Ten minutes earlier, after handing Ye Qiu the iron box, Master Chongxu left the chamber.
As he exited the sect leader’s residence, he saw Shangling and Shangzhen waiting outside.
“Why are you two here?” Chongxu asked, puzzled. “Didn’t I tell you to show Miss Xiao around?”
Shangling replied, “Master, Miss Xiao didn’t want us to accompany her, so we came back.”
Shangzhen asked, “Master, where’s Sect Leader Ye?”
“He’s inside studying the manual,” Chongxu said openly. These two were his direct disciples, his most trusted confidants.
Shangzhen’s face lit up, “Master, did Sect Leader Ye agree to join Wudang?”
Shangling smiled, “Sect Leader Ye is young, with extraordinary cultivation and unmatched medical skills, plus he’s the Dragon Gate leader. His joining Wudang would be all benefit, no harm.”
“I heard Master Longbrow tried to recruit him for Dragon Tiger Mountain, but Ye turned him down.”
“Master, convincing Sect Leader Ye to join Wudang is incredible!”
Shangzhen added, “Master, your talent for gathering great people is a boundless merit. I admire you.”
Hearing his disciples’ flattery, Chongxu’s old face flushed, and he sighed, “Sect Leader Ye didn’t join Wudang.”
What?
Shangling and Shangzhen exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in the other’s eyes.
A moment later, Shangling said, “Master, you’re not joking, are you?”
“Wudang’s techniques are never taught to outsiders.”
“If Sect Leader Ye didn’t join, why did you let him see the manual?”
Shangzhen added, “Master, since Wudang’s founding, no outsider has ever been allowed to view our manuals. Why show Sect Leader Ye our sect’s treasured technique?”
Both were utterly confused.
Chongxu said, “I have my reasons.”
“Don’t worry, Sect Leader Ye is a man of his word. I trust he won’t leak the Cloud Ladder.”
“Besides, even if he memorizes the cultivation method, he can’t succeed.”
“The Cloud Ladder is Wudang’s supreme lightness skill, created by our founder, Master Zhang. To master it, one must first grasp the Pure Yang Limitless.”
“Though Sect Leader Ye has cultivated innate true qi, he hasn’t practiced Pure Yang Limitless, so he can’t learn the Cloud Ladder.”
Shangling said, “Master, Sect Leader Ye’s martial talent is extraordinary, I’m worried…”
“No need to worry,” Chongxu smiled. “I’ve studied for sixty years, practicing Pure Yang Limitless and the Cloud Ladder, and I’ve only grasped the basics. Do you think Sect Leader Ye can learn it?”
Shangling hesitated, “Master, if you knew he couldn’t learn it, why show him the manual? It’s pointless.”
“Pointless?” Chongxu’s face broke into a sly grin. “Sect Leader Ye promised to recover Wudang’s stolen manual.”
At this, Shangling and Shangzhen were overjoyed.
They also admired Chongxu’s cunning.
“Sect Leader Ye saw the manual but can’t learn it, yet he promised to retrieve our stolen manual. Master, that’s a brilliant deal.”
Shangzhen bowed to Chongxu, “Master, your methods are masterful, I’m in awe.”
Shangling added, “Sect Leader Ye is still too young. Be it cultivation or scheming, how could he match Master?”
“A little trick from Master, and Sect Leader Ye fell right into it.”
“As the ancients said, old ginger’s the spiciest.”
“Master, my admiration for you is like the endless flow of a mighty river, like the Yellow River flooding, unstoppable…”
Chongxu beamed.
He loved his disciples’ flattery, and his mood could be summed up in three words—
Pure bliss!
“Master, what if Sect Leader Ye realizes he can’t learn the Cloud Ladder and comes to confront you?” Shangling asked.
Chongxu chuckled, “Easy, I’ll just tell him he’s not destined for the Cloud Ladder…”
“Who says I’m not destined for the Cloud Ladder?”
Ye Qiu’s voice cut in.
Chongxu and his disciples turned quickly, seeing Ye Qiu at the doorway, smiling faintly. In an instant, he was right in front of them.
One step, ten zhang!
