The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 347 Self-directed and self-acted

Huanshishui Pavilion, which is the forbidden place of the Murong family, has a permanent resident recently. After carefully studying "The Divine Art of the North Sea", "The Divine Art of the Purple Air Coming from the East" and "The Xiantian Art", Murong Bo chose the latter.

Firstly, the existence of the Xiaoyao Sect made him quite wary. Even though he knew that his wife, Wang Erlang's wife, and the Eight Friends of Hangu were all from the Xiaoyao Sect, he still did not dare to practice their core inheritance casually.

You said that your wife and son both practiced Xiao Wuxiang Gong?

Haha, my wife's current major is "Tai Chi Magical Skill", which is not inferior to the family's "Dou Zhuan Xing Yi", and is even more profound. My son's core internal skill is called "Nine Yang Magical Skill", although the core has the shadow of Xiao Wu Xiang Gong, but the outer surface has changed a lot. Unless one is a top master of Xiaoyao Sect, no one can tell the difference. Even the top masters of Xiaoyao Sect are not very confident in confirming its foundation.

Secondly, to practice the Beiming Divine Art, one must first use up his internal energy. Although his son said that he could practice it without wasting his internal energy and it could help him temporarily cache his internal energy, he was unwilling to let his son take the risk. This was the only child in the Murong family for five generations. If something went wrong, he would really regret it.

Moreover, the "Purple Qi Coming from the East Divine Art" is not bad overall, and there is also the advanced "Xiantian Gong", which is not necessarily worse than the Shaolin "Yi Jin Jing", and may even be more profound. I really don't know where my son got these inheritances from.

He was also quite surprised by his son's major in the "Nine Yang Magic Art". It was actually based on the Taoist "Small Formless Art" and integrated with the Shaolin "Bodhi Heart Method". Not only did it have the characteristics of the Small Formless Art that it was formless and could not be traced, it could also simulate the world's unique skills and even surpass the originals. It could also make the mind as clear as a mirror, immune to all evils, and had the effect of detoxifying.

Murong Bo held this technique in high regard, but it was also extremely difficult to practice, requiring a high level of character and aptitude. Even he wasn't sure he could succeed, especially at the final stage, where a single mistake could lead to utter ruin. He was astonished that his son had already achieved mastery at such a young age, and from then on, he simply continued to slowly improve his internal strength.

But the son had a better idea. After reading the "Bodhi Heart Dharma" he brought with him, he planned to integrate it and the Xiao Wuxiang Gong into himself, completely master the Nine Yang Divine Art, and then try to practice the "Bei Ming Divine Art". Although it was only a part of it, it could increase the speed of internal force conversion.

Although Murong Bo was worried about his son's ambition, he did not stop him. He just paid more attention to him. His son's qualifications were better than his own, and his martial arts level was vaguely able to suppress him. He really couldn't refute his ideas.

It is not difficult to practice this "Purple Qi Coming from the East Divine Art". Every day, you have to stand at the highest point of Huanshi Water Pavilion and inhale the first ray of purple qi from the horizon. Then, based on this, you can slowly refine other true qi during the period. The first choice is the mixed true qi brought by the 72 Shaolin unique skills.

However, the purple energy he absorbed was too little, and the true energy he refined was not much either. If he wanted to completely eliminate the hidden danger, it would not be easy without three to five years. But even so, his body was getting better day by day, and it did not affect his ability to exert himself. This was the biggest benefit.

His son also said that the purple air on Taihu Lake was not sufficient, and the best place was the top of Mount Tai or Mount Hua. The purple air there was equivalent to ten days on Taihu Lake in one day. However, as a deceased person, it was not easy for him to wander around openly.

Murong Fu said that he had an extraordinary disguise skill, and with the Murong family's business system that connected the world, he could send him anywhere without anyone noticing. Murong Bo had been away from home for twenty years but was unwilling to leave immediately. Moreover, he had not yet fully understood the many good things in his son's hands and the specific situation of his own foundation, so how could he bear to leave like this.

Murong Fu and his father got along quite well. Murong Fu had the memories of four generations and his martial arts training was quite good, while Murong Bo was also a top genius. Not only did he study the 72 Shaolin unique skills, he also studied the essence of them and the targeted methods to break them, which opened Murong Fu's eyes. The father and son often competed with each other purely with moves without using their internal strength, which made Murong Fu's Dugu Nine Swords more advanced.

After he merged Lingbo Weibu and Dugu Jiujian into one, even his father and mother had to retreat together. The reason was that this combination was too disgusting, and there was no other way except to use his profound internal force to unleash his ultimate move.

"'Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra'?" Murong Bo looked at the introduction to the divine skill in his hand, and the corners of his mouth twitched. Murong Fu said, "Although this divine skill is a bit useless, it can be used for military training. Father, you don't know, I have such a Dragon Elephant Army under my command. It has a total of 300 people. They focus on the Dragon Elephant Skill and supplement it with the Iron Shirt. They have spent eight years on it. Now half of them have reached the second-rate level, and the other half are at the peak of the third-rate level. The 300-man army is composed of Mo Dao, Meteor Hammer, and Mace as weapons. Wearing heavy armor, they can fight against ten thousand people without being defeated."

Murong Bo was no ordinary man. He did not think that second- or third-rate people were insignificant. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up. "If that's the case, why not double the expansion?"

Murong Fu rolled his eyes and glared at him, saying, "Father, you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt are. Each of these three hundred Dragon Elephant soldiers will cost me more than one thousand taels of silver per year. They need meat every day and a medicinal bath every month. Three hundred people is already a lot. Any more and I really can't afford it."

Is it really that you can’t afford it?

This is not the case. It's just that the Dragon Elephant Army is a bit useless. It is a heavy armored infantry with insufficient mobility. If it encounters water or fire, it has little resistance and is easily outmaneuvered by light cavalry. It needs the cooperation of other arms to be the strongest.

Of course, if equipped with excellent war horses, they can also be used as heavy cavalry, but a lot of war horses will be wasted every time they are used. Murong Fu would not do this unless it is absolutely necessary. That is why he controlled the Dragon Elephant Army to about 300 people.

After discussing martial arts, father and son began to simulate war scenarios, deploying different forces based on the relative strengths of the Song, Liao, Western Xia, Tubo, Dali, Goryeo, and Dayan, and engaging in theoretical battles in various locations. Murong Bo always chose Dayan, even voluntarily investing his entire fortune, but could only capture Dali. Other times, despite repeated defeats, he would unrepentantly choose Dayan, and he never tired of doing so.

"Fu'er, this is not right. The Liao intelligence said that the garrison of this border town cannot be so sophisticated. There is no reason why the 300 masters of the Dragon Elephant Army cannot capture the city." Murong Bo felt that the failure of his sneak attack was unreasonable.

Murong Fu methodically placed wooden plaques representing various soldiers on the city model he had built with building blocks, his expression unwavering as he spoke, "My son and father are playing a military chess game. The city's troops are from the Liao Dynasty, but I'm the commander. Father, you can't let me pretend to be mentally retarded, right?"

The Liao general defending the city: I feel despised?

Murong Bo: The strength of both sides is clear, and you're so focused on defending the city that it'd be difficult for you to launch a surprise attack. Even worse, how could Liao reinforcements arrive so quickly? You're playing the role of the defending general while also acting as the Liao emperor. Isn't that a bit too much?

"Fu'er, I heard from your mother that some gangsters came to Gusu College to cause trouble again. How are you going to deal with those rumors?" After a great defeat, Murong Bo had no choice but to withdraw his troops and start to change the subject.

"Compared to a powerful emerging family that is both civil and martial, the world is more willing to accept a person with weaknesses and being suppressed." Murong Fu said calmly, "The saying that all martial arts come from Murong was originally my idea, and I secretly used it to trick hostile court officials. As for how to solve it?"

Is this really that difficult? The original troublemakers were all second- and third-rate gangs, and Murong Fu didn't take them seriously at all. He treated them as training grounds for his men. With the Beggars' Sect as an ally and the Murong family's intelligence network, nothing serious could happen. He had plenty of big names in his arsenal.

"What?! You were the one who orchestrated this matter?!" Murong Bo suddenly felt that he was really crushed by his son, in all aspects!