Here Lies The Wicked - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Incomplete Rare Manuscripts

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation;

Nine Yang Divine Power;

Flaming Wooden Blade Skill.

These were the three fake copies of rare manuscripts Fang Zheng decided to use for evolution. 

The marrow-washing sutra in the Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation. 

The training for internal strength and true Qi in Nine Yang Divine Power. 

The blade skills in Flaming Wooden Blade Skill. 

They were three separate developments that did not overlap with each other. They complemented each other without affecting each other. 

Fang Zheng picked up Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation. His palms were slightly sweaty, and he was nervous. 

Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation was one of the top three Divine Skills in the Jin Yong Series. 

There had always been talk about whether the Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation was a Buddhist martial art or a Taoist one. 

There was a rumor that it was created by Bodhidharma. Shaolin monks had stumbled upon it as they were repairing the statue of the Dharma. 

Another rumor claimed that both marrow-washing and tendon-changing were phrases from Taoism. They were not found in Buddhism nor ancient India. 

It seemed as if both Taoism and Buddhism had their own arguments that spanned across the centuries. 

There was another less popular version: Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation was created by both Taoists and Buddhists. This would explain why tons of Taoist phrases could be found in the book; it was birthed where the Dharma practiced. 

Anyhow, Fang Zheng was just a commoner. The thing he was most concerned about was whether the Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation could be evolved into a true, rare manuscript. 

Fang Zheng held the Human Skin Scripture in one hand, and Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation in the other. 

He focused his attention. ‘Evolve!’ 

Everything was shiny in the blink of an eye. The Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation was coated in golden rays of light. Its pages began flipping quickly; it was that familiar sight again. Each page seemed to be coated with a golden stream. The words, paragraphs, and illustrations on them began transforming rapidly. It seemed to be evolving into a scripture of the heavens; it was impossible for the human eye to keep up with the speed of the transformation. 

At the same time, one part of the runes on the Human Skin Scripture faded away. 

When there were only two lit parts of the runes left on the Scripture, the transformation of the Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation was completed. 

Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation! 

The evolution was successful! 

The Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation (Level 1)!

‘What? 

‘F*ck, is this a joke?’

Fang Zheng stared at the cover of the book. The words, ancient and as large as a dragon, left him a little dumbfounded. 

It was his first time encountering something like this after three evolutions. ‘The first level?

‘Does this mean that there is a second and a third?’

Fang Zheng wasn’t excited about the face that the number of possible layers meant more powers. His first reaction was, “F*ck!”. 

‘What a waste!’

His heart was aching. ‘A precious part of the runes was spent on evolving an incomplete rare manuscript?’

With a broken heart, Fang Zheng opened the book with his shaking hands. 

According to the introduction, there were nine layers to the rare manuscript. 

The first layer was for Qi-changing, the second for blood-changing, the third for spirit-changing, the fourth for pulse-changing, the fifth for marrow-changing, the sixth for bone-changing, the seventh for tendon-changing, the eighth for divinity-changing, and the ninth was fate-changing. 

The copy of The Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation (Level 1) he had in his hand was indeed an incomplete rare manuscript. It only contained Qi-changing instructions in the first layer. 

‘Motherf*cker!’ 

Fang Zheng’s testicles throbbed in pain; he nearly threw the book in his hand, but he eventually chose to put it in place carefully. He was afraid that if any corner of the book was folded, it would be a waste of the runes he obtained when putting his life on the line. Soon after that, Fang Zheng picked up a fake copy of Nine Yang Divine Power. 

This was another debated book. 

Some people claimed that this was a Shaolin skill. 

Others have argued that back when the Quan Zhen denominations Wang Chongyang had a drinking competition with a peculiar person, Wang Chongyang lent a copy of Nine Yin Divine Power to the latter after losing to him in the competition. Later on, the peculiar man hid himself in Shaolin and created Nine Yang Divine Power, as he felt that the Yin energy from Nine Yin Divine Power was too strong. 

There were multiple versions of the story online. 

Fang Zheng eventually decided to evolve his copy of Nine Yang Divine Power to prove a hypothesis he had in his mind. 

Given that Nine Yang Divine Power was one of the top skills in the Jin Yong Series, it was no surprise that it had its own specialties. 

Its true Qi was pure and endless; it was possible to replenish one’s true Qi with this skill. 

On top of that, it had the effect of training one’s body and strengthening his veins. 

It was also a specific skill to prevent cold and Yin poisons. 

Fang Zheng chose Nine Yang Divine Power in an attempt to fulfil his dream of becoming a martial arts master on top of having it complement the Yang-based Golden Immune Arhat. 

‘The most important thing was! 

‘Prevention of the cold and Yin poisons. Wasn’t that the antichrist of ghosts?!’ 

This was the true reason why Fang Zheng prioritized Nine Yang Divine Power. 

With the Human Skin Scripture in one hand and the Nine Yang Divine Power in the other, he evolved it once again! 

A familiar sight occurred: the golden rays of light could be seen. 

The letters and symbols in the book began transforming like a sped-up scene in a movie. It was amazing; it was a miracle. 

Nine Yang Divine Power successfully evolved! 

The Nine Yang Divine Power (Level 1)! 

Fang Zheng stared at yet another copy of an incomplete rare manuscript in his hand in frustration. So much for the first level. 

As stated in its name, there were 12 levels to this book. The more powerful your skill was, the faster it was for your true Qi to recover, and the more powerful the effects were from strengthening your veins and fending off the cold and Yin poisons. 

Fang Zheng looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle as he clenched onto the Nine Yang Divine Power (Level 1) in his hand. 

He figured out why he had been getting incomplete copies of rare manuscripts after two rounds of evolution. 

It was the same reason why he couldn’t evolve the Mantra of the Five Lightnings, Divine-Crushing Mantra, and Fiend Breaker Tongues. Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation and Nine Yang Divine Power were both on the top of the martial arts literature pyramid. The effects of perfecting those were way stronger than the usual literature. Therefore, it was only natural that the depletion from the evolutions were greater. 

The Human Skin Scriptures collection of Gray Qi prior to this wasn’t enough. Forcing the evolutions only resulted in the First Levels of incomplete rare manuscripts. 

As they did not evolve into complete books, their titles did not change either. They were still The Manuscript of Tendon and Marrow Transformation (Level 1) and Nine Yang Divine Power (Level 1).

If he wanted a complete set of skills, it was easy; he only had to continue risking his life to collect the Gray Qi endlessly. Although this seemed like a bright future—given that these were top of the literature—why did he feel such unprecedented, throbbing pain in his testicles? Fang Zheng was tired. He did not have the energy to curse anymore. 

This was such a waste of his resources!

Who knew how many years it would take for him to complete the evolution of all 12 levels in a series?! In times of scarce resources, the effects of these were not nearly as good as having a full version of an ordinary book! 

He was not sure if he should say the curse words he was thinking about. 

Soon after that, Fang Zheng’s tired gaze landed on Flaming Wooden Blade Skill.

After a few seconds of doubt, Fang Zheng gave up on finding other blade skill books to replace this one. Blade skills were different from powers, if he got it to evolve into another incomplete book, the special martial arts moves he could learn from it would make him better than hundreds of firewood collectors and butchers. 

‘Evolve!’

The Flaming Wooden Blade Skill (Level 1)!

It was yet another incomplete copy of a rare manuscript. It was divided into the upper part, the intermediate part, and the lower part.