ReignWulin:Unique Disciplines

Divine Melancholy Palms

During the fifteen years of lonely seclusion he spent separated from Xiaolongnu, Yang Guo created this unique palm style, which synthesized the various techniques he had learned over his lifetime with the profound internal energy he had built up using Dugu Qubai's training methods and allowed him to channel his loneliness and frustration. Since he had already been partially crippled, his new style incorporated many strange and unorthodox moves that allowed him to strike with parts of the body that are not normally used, and even to apply muscle systems that are normally thought of as involuntary. During the year of his reunion with Xiaolongnu he taught most of the style to Zhou Botong before retiring with her into seclusion from the Wulin.

These techniques are all used with Coordinated + Unarmed Strike. Some of them allow you to make unarmed strikes with parts of the body that are not normally used for striking. All of them draw upon the practitioner's sorrow and anguish, and function much more effectively if the user is suffering the effects of a thwarted Passion (see pg 38).

• Cherish Hate, Suppress Sobs (1 point): If you know this technique, your attack rolls gain bonuses from thwarted Passions instead of penalties. You still suffer penalties from your thwarted Passions to all other rolls, including Dodge and Parry attempts.
• Meaningless Wanderer (2 points): This eerie movement is an enhanced Feint attempt. If it is successful, you gain a +2d bonus on your next attack against that opponent (instead of the usual +1d). If you are suffering from a thwarted Passion, the extra die becomes an Expert Die (for a total bonus of +1d+E).
• Frightened Heart Spasm (3 points): You may Parry attacks against you even if none of your limbs are available to use. (If used against an armed attack, you suffer the normal penalties for parrying unarmed, unless another technique you know negates them.) If you are currently suffering from a thwarted Passion, a successful Parry using this technique deals a point of Shock damage to the limb striking you.
• Overbearing Sadness (4 points): Your palm strike does an additional two points of Shock damage. If you are currently suffering from a thwarted Passion, it costs two Gobble Dice to remove one die from your attack success. This is the only attack you can make in the round but you may combine this with non-attack actions if you wish (suffering the usual multiple action penalty.)
• Out of Nothing (5 points): You may make as many attacks as you wish without suffering a multiple action penalty, and you may attack even if none of your limbs are available to strike with. If you are currently suffering from a thwarted Passion, all of your Waste Dice become Area Dice against an opponent of your choice as well.

Other stance names from the novel include: Disturbing Oneself, Entangled by the Web of Love, Entering Dead End, Face Without Feeling, Good for Nothing, Hesitating on Return to Empty Valley, In a State of Disunity, Irrational Direction, Longing for Emptiness, Restless Thought, Settled Cessation, Six Disturbed Ghosts, Strong Desire Weak Strength, Stupid as a Wooden Chicken, Walking Upside Down, and Wandering the Empty Valley.

Heavy Iron Sword Technique

• The path the eagle took descended lower and lower. Soon, Yang Guo found himself inside a deep valley. After walking continuously for another good while, they came to the entrance of a big cave. The ugly eagle nodded its head three times with three chirrups as if it was saluting toward the cave.
• The cave was actually not deep at all. Only about thirty feet into the cave, they had already reached the end. Other than a table and a bench made out of stones, there was nothing inside the cave. The ugly eagle chirped again, signaling toward a corner of the cave. Casting a glance toward the corner, Yang Guo saw a pile of rocks and stones of all shapes and sizes jumbled together. It looked like a grave.
• The rock wall seemed to have some words written on it. The strokes of the words were thin but were carved into the rock wall very deeply. It seemed that the words were carved using a very sharp blade. The three lines said: “Having roamed the martial world for more than thirty years, I have killed all my villainous foes and defeated all heroic champions. There’s no one who can be my equal under the same sky. Without any other challengers, I could only retreat to this deep valley, living a hermit’s life in seclusion, with only an eagle as my companion. Alas, throughout my life I searched for a match in vain. Unbearable loneliness is my destiny.” The signature at the bottom was, “Demonic Swordsman Dugu Seeking-Defeat.”
• “The many Senior Masters I’ve met in the martial world never mentioned somebody named Dugu Seeking-A-Loss. He must have been someone who existed sixty or seventy years ago."
• “If this legendary master was able to roam the Martial World with no equal, his Kung Fu skills must have been extraordinary,” Yang Guo thought to himself. “But he must have also been very eccentric and arrogant because of his unmatched talents and didn’t get along with ordinary people. That was probably why he just passed away so quietly in such a desolate valley while no great stories or legends of him were told in the Martial World. And no sword art manuals or apprentices of his were left behind to pass down his invincible martial arts techniques. His life must have been very exciting and admirable, yet at the same time sad and gloomy."
• On this no particular day, the verdant hill at the back of the cave caught his attention. It was a beautiful day, so he decided to take on a random scenic walk. About half a mile into the walk, he found himself in front of a big cliff. The cliff towered straight into the sky almost like a huge screen. In the middle of the cliff, probably two hundred feet above the ground, a huge rock, about thirty or forty feet wide, stuck out from the cliff like a platform, and vaguely, he thought he could see words carved on the rock. Raising his head high, he stared up. Only after a long while was he able to tell what they were. Carved on the rock were two large characters: ‘Sword Tomb’. On the rock wall, there were dozens of patches of moss, each patch several feet away from the other, going upwards in a straight line. An idea popped out. He leapt up and reached for the lowest patch of moss. Not to his surprise, a small hole emerged after he scrubbed out the dark soil. He figured that Dugu Seeking-A-Loss must have dug these holes with sharp blades. After so many years, dirt had accumulated in the holes and mosses had started to grow.
• Although the sword looked dark with nothing unusual, it turned out to be extremely heavy. The sword was only slightly longer than three feet, but it weighed at least one hundred and ten to one hundred and thirty pounds, several times heavier even than the heaviest saber or halberd used on the battlefield. Taking a better look at the sword, he found both sides of the blade blunt, and the tip of the sword was more like a half circle.
• Yang Guo’s sword stayed motionless while he channeled his inner strength into it. Only a ‘puff’ sound could be heard as the sword and the iron rod clashed. The “Melancholy Rod” broke immediately, sending several pieces flying. Xiaoxiang Zi cried out: “Heavenly gods!” and then scrambled backwards. Yang Guo then stretched out his sword and struck left and right, breaking both of Xiaoxiang Zi’s arms. But this time he didn’t even move his body, nor lift his arm, but simply used internal energy to break Xiaoxiang Zi’s weapon, these people were even more puzzled, looking at each other in disbelief, all thinking: “This person’s martial skills were really unbelievable!”
• “Heavy sword with blunt edges, simplicity brings superiority. Before I reached the age of forty, I used it to roam the entire world under Heaven.”
• Besides, the sword in Yang Guo’s hand was simply too heavy for him to use any sword moves out of the “Quanzhen Sword Art” or “Jade Maiden Sword Art”. So for defense, all he could do was to dodge to the sides, and for offense, all he did was thrust the sword forward clumsily.
• In the meantime, he also came to realize that all the sword arts he had learned before were too intricate with too many fancy techniques. While sparring with the Divine Eagle, he concentrated on comprehending the movement of his sword, and what he started to realize was that the more ordinary a sword move is, the more difficult it was for an opponent to defend against it. For example, if he simply thrust out straight forward, as long as he had fierce and resourceful power to back it, the might of the thrust would be actually more powerful than the kind of sword arts like the “Jade Maiden Sword Art” that relied on fluctuating and unpredictable techniques.
• Gradually he began to realize many sword art principles such as piercing following the force, blocking against the force, slashing from the side, and chopping with a back swing. By then he finally understood: Wielding a sword this way, nothing would be strong enough to stand the force from the sword, and there would be no need for the sword to have a sharp blade. But without such a unique heavy sword, which was twenty or even thirty times heavier than a normal sword, this kind of sword art wouldn’t have been effective. If it were just an ordinary blade, the force released from a gentle wrist snap would have shocked the blade into pieces.
• “A sword this powerful is really not common. The blade is deep black with a hint of red glow, is it possible that it was actually forged from black iron? This black iron is the world’s most precious metal. Even an ounce is very difficult to find. By adding just a little to a common sword or spear, ordinary iron would become a sharp weapon. Where did he find that much of the black iron? Also, if the sword was indeed made from the black iron, how could it not weigh 40-50 catties [1 catty = 1.1 pounds/ 500 grams]? If so, how could Yang Guo be this agile?” Actually, this sword weighed 64 catties altogether. If it was not this heavy, even though Yang Guo’s internal force was strong, he still wouldn’t be able to send out such power.
• Yang Guo thrust his sword out and seven swords simultaneously dashed out to counterstrike. A ‘qiang’ sound was heard as the seven swords were all broken and the seven priests holding the rest of their broken swords were quickly leaping aside.
• They saw with their own eyes how thick and heavy the coffin was. It was chiseled from granite. To break it into two pieces, a stone mason using a big axe to cut it for half a day still wouldn’t be able to do it. If Yang Guo had used a large mountain-cutting axe or a thick machete, it might have been conceivable. But long swords were originally light and quick weapons, which were treasured for their sharp blades. If colliding with a solid stone like this, they would immediately snap. Who would have thought that this sword could cut through a stone like it was clay. As soon as the blade dropped, the coffin broke.