Mei carefully took out a trigram-shaped key. Zhu placed it on the box and turned it slowly.
Inside, a book lay flat. Its cover read *Five Limits Method*. In the bottom left, it said *Written by Zhongwu*.
Mei and Zhu were overjoyed. Ignoring the danger around them, they flipped through it. The words were simple, the training clear, but mastery would take years.
This was expected, but they felt disappointed. They hoped for a technique to master quickly, to kill their enemy and settle the blood debt.
"Mother, look at this manual…"
Mei frowned, her face tense with pain and doubt. Though married, she had once roamed the martial world. Known as the White Plum Fairy, one of the four phoenixes, her twenty-eight heavenly levels of power made her a top Hongmen master. Her martial insight was sharp, but after reading the manual several times, she struggled. Her chest wound throbbed.
"Cough, cough." Mei closed the manual, meeting Zhu's eager eyes. "Zhu, I am sorry. The manual is real, your uncle's divine skill. But mastery takes at least seven years. To kill that traitor… it may take longer."
Zhu saw her pale face and dared not ask more. But he could not help himself. "How long did uncle take? I heard he used the Five Limits Divine Fist before he was fifteen…"
"Your uncle was a genius, gifted from birth. We cannot compare to him." Mei said, "We must hide in the mountains, train for a decade. I believe evil cannot triumph. Your father's vengeance will be ours. But…"
Zhu understood. He had heard Zhongwu shared parts of the Five Limits Divine Fist with his six sworn brothers. Weiting likely knew it. In tonight's battle, Weiting's sleeve cannon, which shattered Shaobo's head, held thirty-eight heavenly levels of power.
Zhu had only twelve heavenly levels. Even ten years of training might not reach thirty-five. Even with Mei, they could not win. And if Weiting grew stronger in that time…
As Zhu placed the manual back, he felt something odd at the box's base. He searched and found another booklet hidden under the padding.
Its cover was red, inscribed with *Blood Shadow Divine Skill* in twisted, eerie script. It looked demonic.
Inside, it described only three moves. Zhu was puzzled. He handed it to Mei.
Mei saw the title and trembled. She read for a long time, then murmured, "No mistake. This is the Extermination Three Forms of the Joyous Sect from the Western Regions."
"What are the Extermination Three Forms?" Zhu asked. He knew of the Joyous Sect but could not imagine why Zhongwu's box held this.
"I am not entirely sure," Mei said slowly. "Your father once told me some martial arts consume the user's life force. They grant immense power briefly, but after a few strikes, the user dies. The Extermination Three Forms of the Blood Shadow Divine Skill are the most dangerous."
Zhu wanted to ask more. A silk paper slipped from the booklet, catching his eye. He picked it up. Tiny script filled it.
"The Extermination Three Forms, the ultimate moves of the Joyous Sect's Blood Shadow Divine Skill, stack in power, pushing force to forty-five heavenly levels, capable of destroying heaven and earth, invincible. But these moves drain the user's vital essence. The user's blood and energy dry up. Use with caution."
Zhu's heart raced. This was the answer to his vengeance. Forty-five heavenly levels neared the legendary anti-gravity realm, unseen in five hundred years. With this power, he could easily kill Weiting and avenge his family.
He was young and feared death. But for vengeance, he would pay any price.
He glanced at Mei. Her eyes held the same unease. Zhu read on.
"The Blood Shadow Divine Skill comes from the Western Regions, following the path of yin-yang harmony. It requires dual cultivation between man and woman, bodies entwined, absorbing the essence of sun and moon through six lunar cycles. On completion, the woman's essence is absorbed by the man, combining their powers.
"But the fusion requires shared blood. If the cultivators are not of the same lineage, their energies clash, causing paralysis or death. Thus, partners must be blood kin. This skill, born in barbaric lands, defies Central Plains ethics. Even if mastered, it leads to eternal damnation. Alas, why does heaven allow such a skill?"
The words struck Mei and Zhu like thunder. Their hearts pounded.
Dual cultivation existed in the martial world, but it was scorned as base, despised by the righteous. This skill demanded not just physical union but union between blood kin. That meant… incest.
The shock was overwhelming. Zhu took deep breaths. He glanced at Mei, wondering her thoughts.
"Demonic skill, full of filth. It is useless. Destroy it." Mei tore the silk paper to shreds and scattered it out the window. Her face was stern, as if she had never read it.
She placed both manuals back in the box. "We are still in danger. We must hurry to safety. Zhu, drive the carriage. I am tired. Let me rest here."
Zhu said nothing. As if fleeing, he left the carriage, grabbed the reins, and whipped the horses forward. But the words from the manual lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.
Several days later, Mei and Zhu left Hebei, heading south to their old home in Hunan, hiding from pursuit.
They took turns driving. At Mei's urging, Zhu memorized the *Five Limits Method* and burned the manual to avoid capture.
As for the Blood Shadow Divine Skill, he dared not study it. He hid it carefully.
While driving, he thought about the skills.
The *Five Limits Method* held the Five Limits Divine Fist, a supreme technique refined from Hongmen's "People's Fist," with five forms.
The Blood Shadow Divine Skill, rumored to be the Joyous Sect's core art, contained only the Extermination Three Forms, each move pushing the user's limits, killing both enemy and self.
Zhu weighed them. The Five Limits was powerful but vast and complex. Mastery could take decades.
Without it, not only vengeance but even surviving the court's pursuit felt impossible.
For quick power, only the Blood Shadow Divine Skill would do.
But that meant sacrificing his life and… uniting with his mother.
"Zhu, you are a scholar. How can you think such vile thoughts? You shame your parents and your studies." Guilt surged. Zhu slapped his face hard.
The slaps stung, his head spun. He shook off the thoughts. Then he saw Mei's graceful figure outside the carriage. His heart raced again.
Since that day, Mei acted normal, but small gestures showed her turmoil.
Zhu's feelings had changed too. When he looked at Mei, he could not look away. Only now did he realize how beautiful she was.
As Hongmen's heir, Zhu was admired by many young women, all beautiful. None matched Mei.
Once one of the martial world's four phoenixes, the White Plum Fairy, Mei, at thirty-four, bore no marks of age. Her beauty was mature, radiant. Her skin was snow-white, her breasts full, her hips curved, her waist slender. No trace of childbirth marred her. Her maternal charm, like a blooming plum in snow, was a woman at her peak.
He had not noticed before. Now, her every move stirred his heart.
His father and Mei had been inseparable, deeply in love. After his father's death, Mei's heart was broken. She needed a man's comfort.
* Mother, what should I do? * , Zhu thought.
Mei knew her son's thoughts. A mother always did.
Three years had passed since her husband's death. She raised Zhu through grief, taught him martial arts, and evaded enemies. Exhaustion consumed her. Only motherly love and loyalty to her husband kept her going.
At midnight, memories of her husband's kindness soaked her pillow with tears.
No matter how proper she was by day, loneliness gripped her at night. She recalled her husband's touch. Her body, young and craving love, ached with need. How could it not?
Zhu was growing. His body was taller, his arms stronger, his face more heroic. When he trained shirtless, sweat gleaming, focused, he was his father's image. Yet his delicate beauty, inherited from her, proved their bond. It intoxicated her, beyond her control.
To Zhu, she was a strict mother, cold and demanding, pushing his martial training for vengeance. But he did not know that as she scolded, her thighs trembled, wet with desire, barely able to stand.
She had long known Zhu admired her, but it was a son's innocent love.
After reading the manual, his gaze changed. It was the look of a young man eyeing a beautiful woman, lustful, heated, desiring. When their eyes met, he looked away in shame. Wise as she was, how could she miss his change?
* Zhu, your every glance burns me like fire. It ignites my body, making me press my thighs together * , she thought.
* Zhu, I am glad you cling to me * , she thought.
But it was forbidden. Her husband, her ancestors, were honorable heroes, respected in life and death. She could not let incest stain their legacy. She would face them in death with shame.
Even for vengeance, it was wrong. Using such a vile act to avenge her husband would betray him.
Her husband's love bound her. She would remain his widow, never loving another.
Mei sighed. Her breath was hot, her body burning. The forbidden love's temptation was strong.
She vowed to her husband to stay loyal. Opening her eyes, the stars above seemed like Zhu's bright gaze, watching every inch of her body.
* Jueren, what should I do? * , she thought.