Working together

The news brought by Mo Heng plunged the warm pavilion into a long silence. Gongsun Li's teacup stopped in mid-air, Pei Qinhu's fists clenched until they turned white, and even Yang Yuhuan's fingers, which were playing the zither, froze slightly.

"Damn it!" Pei Qinhu slammed his fist into a pillar, the force rattling the windowpanes. "These bastards dare to plot such a thing! When I find them, I'll make them taste..."

"Ah Hu," Yi Xing interrupted softly, his pale face calm. "Anger only clouds our judgment. Mr. Mo, in your opinion, is there any crucial point in breaking through this 'Hun Tian Pivot'?"

Mo Heng nodded approvingly and spread out the diagrams to explain in detail. When he mentioned the vulnerability of the "stabilizing the pivot" stage, Pei Qinhu's eyes suddenly lit up: "I know from practicing boxing that the moment before gathering power and releasing force is when the stance is strongest and most vulnerable to being touched in the waist area!"

These words prompted Mo Heng to clap his hands in delight: "Brother Pei, you've hit the nail on the head! That's exactly the point!"

A series of clear notes flowed from Yang Yuhuan's fingertips as she softly said, "Even the most complex musical piece has a rest, and even the most intricate mechanism has its Achilles' heel."

Ming Shiyin had appeared at the door unnoticed, his crimson sleeves gleaming faintly in the lamplight. "Now that we know the location of the vital point, we must act in two ways. Yixing, take the blueprints to see Di Renjie. As for the person to infiltrate the underground..." He paused slightly, "...I've found a suitable person, but he demands to see the original copy of the *Tian Yuan Ce* as payment."

"This..." Gongsun Li couldn't help but speak, "The 'Tian Yuan Ce' is currently in the Dali Temple, I'm afraid..."

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," Ming Shiyin said calmly. "As for Di Renjie, we might as well let him know about the movements of the Wu delegation."

Yi Xing immediately understood his master's profound meaning—this was to make the various forces check and balance each other, yet also force them to join forces against the enemy.