Chapter 94
Heaven and Earth Fist.
The ultimate fist art of the world that Tang Yishui, who had left the Tang Clan, had displayed, being called the Butterfly Scholar.
It was said that when the Heaven and Earth Fist was displayed, a strong qi would swirl around the arms in the form of a wheel, and its power was enough to break rocks and to collapse mountains.
It was truly the strongest of all the strong fists.
The Heaven and Earth Fist was the pinnacle of the internal heavy hand fist art, based on the Butterfly Scholar's profound internal energy.
The martial artists of the world, seeing his martial art that was so different from his weak-looking nickname and appearance, were afraid, saying that a tiger does not show its fangs before it hunts.
"Martial art..."
Nezha held the secret manual of the Heaven and Earth Fist preciously with his trembling hands.
Until now, Nezha had been forbidden from learning martial arts in the Tang Clan, so no one had taught him martial arts.
This was because the Tang Clan's martial art that he had learned when he was young to control his poisonous qi had harmed his surroundings.
When he circulated his internal energy heart art, the poisonous qi would spread beyond three zhang, and when he held a sword, the blade would be damaged, and even if he swung a wooden sword, the poisonous qi would be smeared on it, so it was impossible to handle.
In the end, the Tang Clan's martial arts could not control the power of the poison man.
In the end, he had no choice but to find a solution from the outside, but the problem was that the existence of the poison man was a top secret of the Tang Clan, and since the Martial Arts Alliance would never tolerate a poison man, there was no way to ask for help.
But Nezha had hope.
Tang Yishui was a person who had received the treatment of a poison man before Nezha was born.
If it were an item that he had arranged, it was clear that he had anticipated this state of his and had arranged it.
Moreover, if it were a martial art, it was what Nezha had been longing to learn until now.
Even after he had been forbidden from learning martial arts, he had been craving martial arts so much that he would secretly watch others' training.
Jiang Ziya, seeing Nezha cherish the secret manual of the Heaven and Earth Fist and rejoice, felt a sense of pride.
Since he had granted the Butterfly Scholar's request a long time ago, if he were to know this wherever he was, he would surely be happy. He was also proud of himself.
Nezha, after touching the secret manual of the Heaven and Earth Fist preciously for a long time, glanced up at Jiang Ziya.
"Your uncle was an ultimate master who was famous in the martial world with the nickname of the Butterfly Scholar. Since it is a martial art that he has left for you, you must do your best to repay his expectations."
Nezha carefully nodded his head.
"Do you like it?"
"..."
Nezha, instead of answering, rolled up the sleeve that he had been hiding with the Heavenly Silk and suddenly stretched out his arm to Jiang Ziya.
Not only had his caution against Jiang Ziya been broken, but since he had received a great favor, he had obediently allowed him to check his pulse.
"Ah, my father... he can't know... I'll be in big trouble..."
A sense of worry was mixed in Nezha's crawling voice.
The reason why Nezha had been so disgusted when he had said that he would check his pulse and to examine his body was surely because Tang Yizheng had strictly forbidden it.
From the Tang Clan's perspective, since the poison man itself was a top secret, they had no choice but to react more sensitively to a pulse check on his body.
"I understand. If I just find the cause of the magic that is flowing from you and to confirm if it is related to the ones I am chasing, I will not bother you anymore."
Nezha's bare skin was very rough to be seen as a child's skin.
Jiang Ziya carefully grabbed one of Nezha's arms.
"It won't hurt at all. I'll finish it quickly."
Since a poisonous qi was circulating on Nezha's skin even though Nezha had not intended it, Jiang Ziya naturally circulated his energy and pushed his internal energy into Nezha's body.
"Ugh!"
Nezha, as if he were very tense, was frozen stiff and let out a groan.
Nezha's body reacted violently to the external energy.
Jiang Ziya was startled by the repulsive force that was flowing in Nezha's eight extraordinary meridians.
The fact that a repulsive force that was resisting the energy of the Six Arts and Three Strategies had arisen from the body of a child who had not even practiced martial arts meant that the child's body was already unusual.
The Butterfly Scholar had surely handed over his ultimate art, the Heaven and Earth Fist, to Nezha through Jiang Ziya.
But if one were to look at just that, it could not be a strange thing.
A complete martial art was a law where the moves and the heart art were tied together.
Didn't Jiang Ziya, who had been practicing martial arts until now, know that better than anyone?
Although the Butterfly Scholar's Heaven and Earth Fist was surely an ultimate move, in the secret manual, there was no trace of the heart art he had learned or even the Crouching Frog Art that he had passed on to Jiang Ziya.
Jiang Ziya, as he checked Nezha's pulse, could grasp his intentions.
The poison that was filling Nezha's body was connected to Nezha's original true qi, beyond a simple poison.
He was breathing in poison as if he were breathing, and the poison was spreading throughout his body as if his blood were circulating.
Jiang Ziya now knew the reason why this mansion had no poisonous qi.
Nezha had been staying and had been unconsciously absorbing all the poisonous qi in the mansion.
'The Crouching Frog Art... so this that the child is displaying is the real Crouching Frog Art.'
Jiang Ziya had almost died from absorbing the poisonous qi of the forbidden zone with just the Crouching Frog Art that he had learned from the Butterfly Scholar.
The Crouching Frog Art that Nezha was displaying unconsciously now was surely several times stronger than that.
The Butterfly Scholar had not passed on the heart art, not because he hadn't, but because he had known that it was not necessary.
Nezha's body, which had absorbed all sorts of elixirs and poisons before he was born, already had a strong poison flowing through it, to the extent that he could face a supreme master.
If this could be formalized and to be displayed as a martial art, it might be possible to display the legendary poison strong qi, that is, the poison qi.
"Ugh..."
The more Nezha got tense, the stronger the repulsive force became.
If he had tried to check Nezha's pulse by force, it would have been impossible to check his pulse before he had killed Nezha.
"Hmm!"
Jiang Ziya, who had been checking Nezha's pulse for a long time, could find what he wanted.
Unlike an ordinary person, the position of Nezha's middle dantian was a little strange.
The middle dantian, where the energy of the Crouching Frog Art was accumulating, was the essence of the poison that Nezha had absorbed.
But there was something made of magic there.
Thump!
As he approached the middle dantian, no further progress was possible.
Jiang Ziya, at the repulsive force, ended up letting go of his hand, and Nezha also, with his face contorted in pain, clutched his chest and bowed his head.
"Y-you liar. It, it hurts."
Drip... Drip...
Whether it was because he was very tense, or because of the energy that Jiang Ziya had forcibly pushed in, green beads of sweat began to flow on Nezha's forehead.
As the sweat that Nezha had shed fell to the ground, a blue smoke rose, and the poison spread around again.
Even at Nezha's reproachful words, Jiang Ziya could not say anything.
This was because he was confused about whether he had checked his pulse correctly.
"How... can there be an energy like Tonglin in your chest?"
The trace of magic that was emanating from Nezha was not a simple thing.
There was surely something that was emitting magic in Nezha's chest.
It was not an energy, but an item like the Tonglin that Jiang Ziya was holding.
And it was a very familiar feeling.
'This is surely the power of Miss Mu.'
Jiang Ziya could be sure.
The magic that the people of the Non-Duality Gate used had very different characteristics and feelings depending on the user.
Since he had always felt the magic of Sorin or Circe (Miss Mu), who had made Tonglin, he could not have seen it wrong.
In the first place, Circe's party had not even left the Hermit's Valley.
Jiang Ziya could not understand at all.
If this were the case, the conclusion was that Nezha was not related to the group of Sheng Wang that he was chasing.
But another question was tormenting Jiang Ziya.
How could those who had not come out of the Hermit's Valley be related to Nezha?
No, more than that, there was surely something in Nezha's heart.
It meant that someone had artificially put something inside Nezha's body.
"Have you heard anything about the item in your chest?"
"I d-don't know."
Nezha was still stroking his chest with his palm, as if it were still stuffy and painful.
In the first place, there was a high probability that Nezha did not even know that there was such an item in his chest.
"It's an important matter. Think carefully. Perhaps the reason why you became a poison man is also in it."
Nezha, at the words that it was the reason why his body had become like this, pouted his lips and thought about something carefully.
"My mother... when I was in her womb... she, she said that she had received the help of a certain grandfather."
"A grandfather's help?"
"Since I was causing t-trouble in my mother's womb... the d-deceased person came and helped."
"By any chance, do you know who that deceased person is?"
"M-my mother said that he was the benefactor who had helped me... to be born... and that I should repay the favor if I were to meet him. His name is..."
"His name is?"
"Only... Old Master Hong..."
"Old Master Hong..."
Jiang Ziya shut his mouth in silence.
If it were a person related to the Hermit's Valley, who would be called Old Master Hong, except for one person?
Old Ancestor Hongjun.
Come to think of it, it was a set answer.
Who could have freely come and gone from the Hermit's Valley more than ten years ago, and to have planted an item with magic in a child's body?
'But why...'
Although the Old Ancestor Hongjun had committed eccentric acts, he had surely moved with a purpose.
It was a question what kind of wind had blown for him to have helped the Tang Clan to create a poison man more than ten years ago.
Moreover, the poison man was surely a long-cherished wish that the Tang Clan had been preparing in top secret.
If the Old Ancestor Hongjun had predicted all the situations of the Tang Clan and had received something from Miss Mu...
Jiang Ziya felt a chill run down his spine for a moment.
Although he thought that it was impossible, he could not erase the feeling that meeting Nezha was perhaps a destiny that had been arranged for Jiang Ziya.
But how could that be possible?
If Jiang Ziya had not met the Butterfly Scholar and had not received the Heaven and Earth Fist, and if the Non-Duality Gate had not escaped from the Hermit's Valley, the probability of Nezha and Jiang Ziya's meeting today was extremely low.
Although it was a meeting that had been made by a coincidence on top of a coincidence, Jiang Ziya could not easily erase the thought of 'perhaps' that was constantly circling in his head.
"Why, why are you like that? I, I'm fine now."
As Jiang Ziya was silent, Nezha stealthily looked at Jiang Ziya and stuck out his chest.
Although it had not been long since they had met, it was clear that Nezha had already opened his heart to Jiang Ziya a lot.
"It's nothing... I didn't find what I was looking for in you."
"I-if you check again, perhaps... it might be there?"
As Jiang Ziya seemed to be disappointed, Nezha, as if he had forgotten that he had been in pain, hurriedly stretched out his arm again.
Jiang Ziya shook his head.
"Rather, it's a fortunate thing for you and me. But something that bothers me has come up... it must be my groundless fear."
"Y-yes."
Nezha showed a faint smile, as if it were a relief.
Although it was an extremely awkward smile, as if he had not smiled much in his life, Jiang Ziya, seeing that smile, could forget the thoughts that had been shaking his head complicatedly for a moment.
"Then I will be on my way. I suddenly appeared and I have been a great burden to you."
"G-go back?"
Nezha, as soon as Jiang Ziya was about to go back, was startled and stretched out his neck.
"I'm very sorry for having bothered you until now."
"Have you... already checked everything?"
"You should also hide yourself here for a while. Even if you didn't intend it, since you have caused a trouble, there is an old Taoist who is very angry outside, looking for you."
At the words that Jiang Ziya was going back, Nezha's neck, which had been stretched out, went back in like a turtle.
"Then... you're not coming back?"
"Are you sad that I'm going back?"
"N-no...!"
"Alright, then take care."
"This! Y-you said you were asked for a favor!"
Nezha hurriedly took out the secret manual of the Heaven and Earth Fist that he had received from Jiang Ziya from his pocket.
(End of Chapter)