Killing Moves are techniques that involve the ingenious combination and simultaneous use of several Gu, unleashing powerful effects.
A Killing Move is not a simple Overlay of Gu abilities, but rather the result of an experienced and exceptionally talented Gu Master understanding the characteristics and essence of Gu, unearthing this essence, and fusing the powers of different Gu to create new power, producing an effect where one plus one is far greater than two.
In this process, some Gu are not directly used, but rather their power is guided out through other Gu.
Therefore, some Gu with significant side effects can have their side effects circumvented in a Killing Move, and some one-time consumable Gu can also be reused in a Killing Move without being consumed.
The Killing Move, City - Spring Grass and Trees Grow Deep, is precisely the result of Zhou Ming's painstaking research these past few days.
Although it is currently only in its initial stages, with drawbacks such as a large number of Gu, high True Essence consumption, and slow activation of the Killing Move, and many Gu have not yet been added to the Killing Move and can only be activated separately, its potential is immense, and its power is also considerable, especially effective in group battles.
This Killing Move can serve as a reconnaissance Killing Move, as well as an offensive or even defensive Killing Move; the key lies in adding different Gu to it.
As the Killing Move was continuously activated, the grassland kept spreading outwards, quickly encroaching upon the living space of the native species in the cave, immediately provoking a fierce counterattack from countless creatures.
Fist-sized black-haired spiders, arm-thick centipedes, colorful venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, poisonous toads, and various other terrifying venomous insects, crawling on the ground and flying in the air, densely covered the grassland, spraying venom, causing large patches of grass to wither and die, leaving scorched earth in their wake.
"Hmph! They're here."
Zhou Ming sneered, and the Grass and Trees of Heaven and Earth immediately transformed into a Killer Array that devoured everything, whipping, piercing, strangling, and digesting, initiating a grand battle between plants and animals.
"Five years ago, a group of Eastern martial arts experts, acting on the orders of Yagyu Killing God, secretly explored Changyun Cave, suffering heavy casualties from countless venomous insects, snakes, and ants. Only three people escaped, and Xue Ji was one of them."
"This disastrous defeat left a deep psychological shadow on Xue Ji, almost causing her to be discarded by Yagyu Killing God. It took her a long time to recover, but the fear of this place would forever be etched in her memory."
Changyun Cave has numerous branching paths and a complex structure. Venomous insects are only one part of the danger; there are many more perils. At that time, Xue Ji had only witnessed a few before several experts in her team had already died or been injured. They barely managed to penetrate deep before fleeing in a panic.
"It's a pity that Xue Ji was never a core figure deeply trusted by Yagyu Killing God. The last time she explored Changyun Cave, it was led by others, and she had no idea what they were ultimately looking for there."
"Was it to track down Shangguan Wuji and come here to find him?"
"Or could there be information about the Dragon Vein here?"
"Neither possibility seems entirely plausible; otherwise, it's unlikely there would have been only one exploration in twenty years, and the participants were not top-tier experts."
"Strange, strange, what is Yagyu Killing God's objective? What secret is hidden in Changyun Cave?"
Zhou Ming walked at a leisurely pace, deep in thought, when suddenly the path ahead branched into three forks.
From the left cave, venomous insects and mosquitoes continuously emerged to attack, pouring out like a stream.
The right cave entrance had a chilling wind, and the terrain sloped downwards, seemingly extending deep underground.
The middle cave entrance was the widest and quietest; no wind could be heard, nor were there any snakes, insects, rats, or ants crawling out.
The grass under his feet continuously grew, spreading into all three cave entrances. Zhou Ming continued without stopping, heading directly into the middle cave entrance.
After walking for a short while, there were two more forks ahead. Zhou Ming continued without pause, going deeper and deeper.
The grass spread to every fork and every cave entrance, like a map slowly being drawn, unfolding in Zhou Ming's mind, constantly expanding, becoming more intricate and varied.
Suddenly, his steps halted. Zhou Ming's "gaze" penetrated the thick rock wall and "saw" another place, where a person suddenly appeared on a path covered by grass.
Upon seeing the continuously growing and spreading grass, the person's first reaction was not to flee, but to push both palms outwards.
An invisible force blocked the grass's forward expansion.
"A Martial Forest expert?" Zhou Ming thought to himself, turning back and quickly heading towards that passage.
After all, it was only a Killing Move in its initial stages. With such a large-scale expansion, once the power dispersed, it was not difficult for it to be blocked.
Activating the Rank Three Grass Flying Gu attached to his legs, Zhou Ming moved at lightning speed, following the map in his mind, and rushed into that passage in less than a minute.
As Zhou Ming rapidly approached, the slight footsteps on the grass immediately attracted the person's attention.
He withdrew his palms and, without looking back, darted deeper into the passage.
The unobstructed grass once again grew rapidly, but its growth and spread could no longer keep up with Zhou Ming's advancing speed.
After just five breaths, Zhou Ming rounded a corner and personally saw the figure who was running.
He wore a grey cloth tunic, his hair disheveled and somewhat curly, greyish-white, making him appear aged.
However, his steps were agile, his movements nimble, and his lightfoot skill was good, moving with a gust of wind, each step covering several meters.
Zhou Ming's speed was even faster. After just three breaths, he had run beyond the furthest reach of the grass, quickly leaving the continuously growing grass behind him.
With his feet on the dirt and rock ground of the cave, the effect of the Grass Flying Gu greatly diminished.
Zhou Ming simply activated the Rank Four Elusive Gu, and his speed soared again, leaving a long afterimage in the dark underground cave, flashing and landing in front of that person.
The person was so startled that his whole body recoiled, but when he looked back, he found that the grass behind him had gradually covered the path, and he was now trapped.
"Uh, hahahaha, this, this heroic fellow, you suddenly stopped me, may I ask what you want?"
Up close, one could see that the person had a small mustache, which made his otherwise upright face appear somewhat comical. Like his hair, his eyebrows and mustache were greyish-white, and there were many wrinkles around his eyes, making him look about sixty years old. At this moment, he was smiling broadly, trying to curry favor with Zhou Ming.
"Are you Ghost Doctor?" Zhou Ming asked with some uncertainty.
He matched the face of the person in front of him with a piece of information from Xue Ji's memory.
Yagyu Ichinyo had truly gone to great lengths to invade the Central Plains.
In terms of the Martial Forest, they invested heavily in building an intelligence System, tirelessly collecting and constantly updating information on every Jianghu faction and every famous Jianghu figure.
As for Ghost Doctor, a once renowned figure in Jianghu, known for his eccentric temper and unpredictable whereabouts, there was actually not much information about him. Xue Ji had only seen it once while perusing intelligence reports and had practically no recollection of it.
If Xue Ji herself were standing here today, she might not even remember having seen such an intelligence report, let alone recognize the person in front of her.
Yet, her memory had been taken by Zhou Ming, and Zhou Ming perused her memory like sifting through files. Supported by a powerful Soul foundation, he could match those memory fragments like a computer search engine.
Although the appearance of the person in front of him differed considerably from the portrait in Xue Ji's memory, based on subtle similarities, Zhou Ming still tentatively asked.
"Ah! You recognize me?" Ghost Doctor pointed at his face, somewhat incredulously.
"I don't even recognize myself, yet you can recognize me? You wouldn't be my long-lost son, would you? No, the age doesn't seem right, strange, strange."
Ghost Doctor's blatant attempt to take advantage made Zhou Ming's eyelids twitch involuntarily.
However, considering that Ghost Doctor seemed to have such a crazy and erratic personality, Zhou Ming couldn't determine whether he said those words intentionally or unintentionally.
"You are indeed Ghost Doctor." Zhou Ming stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Ghost Doctor.
"I heard that Ghost Doctor and Shangguan Wuji had a good relationship, and after Shangguan Wuji disappeared twenty years ago, Ghost Doctor also gradually became elusive and eventually vanished."
"Could it be that Shangguan Wuji is actually hidden here by you?"
Zhou Ming stared intently at Ghost Doctor, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a powerful Aura pressed down on Ghost Doctor.
"What? Shangguan Wuji is here?"
Ghost Doctor almost jumped up, seemingly unaffected by the pressure Zhou Ming released, and grabbed Zhou Ming's sleeve.
"Where is he? Did he come to find me? Quickly take me to see him, I want to ask him where he's been all these years! And that Three Divine Flower he promised me back then, shouldn't he give it to me now?"
Once Ghost Doctor started speaking, his words tumbled out like a rapid-fire cannon, seemingly not having heard what Zhou Ming said, his whole demeanor frenzied and extremely abnormal.
"Oh, by the way, who are you? You don't look very old. You wouldn't be Shangguan Wuji's son, would you! Haha, yes, that's right, considering the age, it should be correct. What's your name? Your father used to call me Uncle Ghost Doctor, why don't you, why don't you, hmm... call me Grandfather! Haha, not bad, not bad, that address is perfectly reasonable, hurry, hurry, call me Grandfather and let me hear it."
Ghost Doctor chattered on, gesticulating wildly when he got excited, grabbing Zhou Ming's arm with both hands, trying to touch him up and down, but Zhou Ming firmly grasped his unruly hands.
"I've heard that while Ghost Doctor's medical skills are superb, his methods of using poison are even more mysterious and unpredictable, often poisoning others to the bone marrow without their knowledge, so they die without even realizing they were poisoned."
Zhou Ming chuckled softly, activating the Snow Wash Gu. In his Aperture, a white willow leaf unfurled, emitting a soft white light that shone through Zhou Ming's body.
Streams of colorful mist were forced out of his body, rising gracefully and dissipating into the air.
"It seems Senior has a deep misunderstanding of me."
Meeting Ghost Doctor's astonished gaze, Zhou Ming released his hands and said with a faint smile, "Junior Zhou Ming, searching for my friend Shangguan Nianci's father, I intruded upon Senior's quiet cultivation place. I hope Senior will forgive me."
I binged nearly a hundred chapters of Dao Gui today, and it was exhilarating! The ending of the new volume truly shocked me. That strong stream-of-consciousness feeling, it was like re-watching Evangelion, and as I watched, I felt a sense of despair, the kind of despair where you realize you might never be able to write something like this in your lifetime. It's truly ineffable.