231: Chapter 11 Family Martial Arts, Debt Collection

Having clarified the relationship between A Zhu and A Zi, Meng Li conveniently unsealed A Zi's acupoints.

A Zi didn't try to escape again; instead, she sized A Zhu up from head to toe.

A Zhu stared back at her as well.

After a while, A Zi asked, "So, are you my elder sister or my younger sister?"

A Zhu was stumped by the question.

Because she wasn't clear on this matter herself.

Then, as if remembering something, she pulled out her own Golden Locket from her bosom and flipped it over to the back along with A Zi's.

Their Birth Dates and Times were engraved there.

Seeing this, A Zi leaned in to take a look.

Immediately after, A Zhu smiled and said, "I am the elder sister, and you are the younger sister."

A Zi's eyes darted around, and she immediately threw her arms around A Zhu, shedding tears. "Sister, I've had such a hard life these past years..."

Meng Li had no interest in listening to the little girl vent her grievances, so he gave a quick greeting and left.

After leaving the Listening Fragrance Pavilion, he thought for a moment and went to the confinement room to see Ding Chunqiu, refining the story he had told Kang Guangling.

Before long, after handling the matters, Meng Li went to the study and began browsing through the Secret Manuals for the Mixed Finger Technique, Shifting Stars, and the Longcheng Swordplay alone.

The Murong Family had a Martial Arts treasury called "Huanshi Shuige," which housed many Martial Arts Secret Manuals, but these three family Martial Arts of the Murong Family were not kept inside. This was because they were of a higher grade and held extraordinary significance, serving as the Foundation of the Murong Family's Legacy.

Since Meng Li was born into the Murong Family in this life, he naturally had to master them thoroughly.

After studying them for a while, Meng Li found that these three Martial Arts were indeed remarkable.

Among them, the Mixed Finger Technique was similar to his Air-striking Acupoint technique; both could emit invisible Qi energy to strike a person's acupoints from a distance, killing invisibly. The difference was that his Air-striking Acupoint technique involved flicking Qi energy with bent fingers, leaning towards hidden weapon techniques, while the Mixed Finger Technique focused power into the fingers to strike with Qi energy, making it a genuine finger technique.

In the original story, Murong Bo had said that the Mixed Finger Technique was extremely exquisite and not necessarily inferior to the Dali Duan Clan's Six Veins Divine Sword.

After his research and comparing it with known information, Meng Li found that this claim was not an exaggeration.

Because the power of both the Mixed Finger Technique and the Six Veins Divine Sword lay in hurting people invisibly from a distance, and both were executed through the fingers.

From this point of view, the two were on par.

However, the Six Veins Divine Sword released Sword Qi, which didn't require specific aiming at acupoints; as long as it hit, it would cause injury. The Mixed Finger Technique emitted finger-force Qi energy, which had less lethality than Sword Qi, and if it didn't hit an acupoint, its effectiveness would be diminished.

In short, the mechanisms of these two Martial Arts were the same, and their effects were similar, but the Six Veins Divine Sword had more lethality and lower requirements for accuracy.

As for other aspects, Meng Li would have to see the Six Veins Divine Sword before he could make a comparison.

The following Shifting Stars was a miraculous skill with reflective properties, but after careful study, Meng Li found it a bit tricky.

Its main focus was using the opponent's strength against them, reflecting the opponent's attacks back at them.

Because of this, the Murong Family earned the reputation of "returning a person's technique back to them."

When practiced to a high level, Shifting Stars could even deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces.

But there was a prerequisite: the practitioner's own "four ounces" had to be substantial enough.

To return a person's technique back to them, one must first understand that "technique" and receive it into one's own "dipper." Only then can the "dipper" turn and the "stars" shift, achieving the goal of returning the technique without harming oneself.

This didn't mean one had to know every martial art, but one had to have experience in every type and know the general principles.

Then, the more Martial Arts the practitioner understood and the deeper their knowledge—meaning the higher their martial cultivation—the more freely they could perform Shifting Stars, and the better the results.

It was precisely because of this that Murong Bo and Murong Fu studied a wide variety of Martial Arts.

Besides various techniques, the practitioner's internal power also had to be solid.

Otherwise, if a thousand pounds of force struck and one didn't even have four ounces of strength, they wouldn't even be able to catch it, let alone deflect it.

But a person's time and energy are limited, making it extremely difficult to study a wide range of Moves while simultaneously cultivating profound internal power.

Unless he was cheating!

Coincidentally, Meng Li really did have a cheat.

Setting aside the memories and accumulation from his previous three lives, he also had a Golden Finger similar to super Comprehension Ability in this life.

So, although Shifting Stars was a bit tricky, it was no problem for him.

As for the final Longcheng Swordplay...

After looking at it carefully, Meng Li could only say it had its unique points, being more suitable for combos and looking cool.

Because when performed, one Move followed another in an endless stream, like flowing water and floating clouds.

It looked impressive, but the power of individual Moves was somewhat lacking.

At least it was far inferior to the Divine Sword Technique of Yan Nantian in Meng Li's memory.

Combining all this, Meng Li felt that Murong Longcheng's ability to be invincible in his era was likely due to his own prowess. The ultimate techniques he created were secondary, just like a saying Meng Li had seen online in his first life: "There are no invincible techniques in this world, only invincible people."

Of course, the Mixed Finger Technique, Shifting Stars, and the Longcheng Swordplay were not bad.

After finishing the three Secret Manuals, Meng Li pulled back his thoughts and read them a second time, beginning to extract their essence to fill the "Universal Treasure Sutra."

Halfway through, there was a knock on the study door.

Meng Li immediately put away the Secret Manuals and said, "Enter."

The door opened, and A Zhu stepped inside, her eyes a bit red.

Meng Li frowned and asked, "Who bullied you?"

A Zhu said, "To answer the Young Master, no one bullied me. It's just that A Zi told me about her experiences over the years. I thought she was pitiful and couldn't help but cry."

Meng Li then understood and said, "Then just take more care of her in the future."

A Zhu nodded, then realized what he meant and said with joy, "Young Master, do you mean A Zi can stay?"

"Mhm." Meng Li nodded and said with a smile, "Otherwise, why would I have brought her back?"

"Thank you, Young Master!" A Zhu hurriedly bowed in thanks.

Meng Li waved his hand and said, "Don't be so quick to thank me; let me say the unpleasant things first. Although she is your biological sister, she has been wandering outside and even stayed in the Xingxiu Sect, so her temperament is a bit wild. You must discipline her well; otherwise, if she causes trouble, I will certainly not be lenient!"

"A Zhu understands." A Zhu quickly agreed and then made a serious promise, "Please rest assured, Young Master, I will definitely discipline A Zi well and never let her cause trouble."

Meng Li nodded with satisfaction. "Since you are biological sisters, I won't make other arrangements. Let her live with you at the Listening Fragrance Pavilion; it will also be convenient for you to discipline her."

"Yes."

"Then go take her to familiarize herself with the environment and teach her some rules along the way."

"Okay."

...

Night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Li Qingluo lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Because of Meng Li.

The shock he had brought her during the day was too great: the Beiming Divine Skill, the eerie soul-capturing methods, the exposed scandals, the missing Ding Chunqiu...

Every single one of them made her heart tremble.

She had originally thought she was finished, but as it turned out, nothing unusual happened.

Meng Li had not made public the things she had done, nor had he done anything to her.

But Li Qingluo didn't feel happy; instead, she became increasingly worried, fearing that the other party had even greater schemes.

For a time, all sorts of conspiracies and cruel scenes lingered in her mind.

So much so that she still couldn't sleep.

Suddenly, a sound came from the window.

Li Qingluo was startled and instinctively sat up to look, only to find an extra figure by the bed.

"Who's there?!"

"Me."

"What are you doing here?"

"Collecting a debt."

...