“Come in, have a seat.”
Yue Buqun glanced at the chairs, and the two disciples immediately bowed in respect before taking their seats properly.
The Mistress, standing beside him, smiled as she poured tea for her two disciples, saying with a loving tone, “Your Master has already told me about your progress. You’ve done very well. Now, your strength is already enough to deal with second-rate martial artists. Our Huashan Sect finally has disciples worthy of being showcased!”
Lian Cheng thanked her and accepted the tea.
Linghu Chong, however, was reminded of his Master and Mistress’s hardships, and he felt a surge of remorse for his past foolishness.
Huashan Sect was truly in a difficult position. It was only thanks to their Master and Mistress that the sect was able to persevere. For years, they hadn’t even had a single disciple to uphold the sect’s reputation. Now, only he and his junior brother had grown strong, finally putting their Master and Mistress at ease.
He had been a real idiot back then!
Fortunately, he had awoken and matured, and he could finally ease the burden on his Master and Mistress!
Yue Buqun pushed the Purple Cloud Manual forward and said solemnly, “As I said, I will pass on the Purple Cloud Divine Art to you. Start reading it now, and try your best to memorize it. This manual is crucial, so you cannot take it away with you.”
“Has the Mistress already read it?” Lian Cheng asked.
“Your Mistress can read it whenever she wants. I can even recite it to her verbally. You don’t need to worry about that. Start memorizing it right now.”
Since Old Yue had said so, Lian Cheng naturally didn’t stand on ceremony.
He flipped through the manual once, then closed it and handed it to Linghu Chong, “Your turn, Senior Brother. I’ve already memorized it.”
Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze were not surprised. They were used to this. Linghu Chong couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Lian Cheng’s memorization ability was simply too powerful, reaching a level that was beyond words.
With no other choice, Linghu Chong could only silently start memorizing.
【In the world of martial arts, cultivating Qi is the right path. The righteous energy, originally a divine gift, is often neglected by ordinary people, who instead use their nature to suppress their Qi. The weakness of martial artists lies in their violent nature, their arrogance, their cruelty, and their cunning. Violence causes chaos in the spirit and disrupts Qi. Arrogance leads to the separation of the true self and the floating of Qi. Cruelty results in the loss of benevolence and the dissipation of Qi. Cunning brings about ruthlessness and the constriction of Qi…】
Of the nine arts of Huashan, Purple Cloud stands first.
The Purple Cloud Divine Art is a superior inner cultivation method of Huashan, initially subtle and ethereal, as if like clouds and mist, yet the Qi it stores is extremely resilient, and it can cover the sky and engulf the earth, overwhelming all resistance.
In simpler terms, it’s slow to charge, but it increases attack power and critical damage significantly.
However, its cultivation requirements are relatively high. It’s no wonder Yue Buqun’s strength isn’t strong. It’s not because the Purple Cloud Divine Art is bad, but because with Yue Buqun’s aptitude, he simply can’t cultivate it to a high level.
Lian Cheng’s talent is extraordinary. After just one read, he understood quite a bit.
Why is the Purple Cloud Divine Art an Yin attribute inner power, even though it sounds so grand?
The reason is simple. The true purple energy in the world is the faint ray that appears for just a moment when the sun rises, at the transition between night and day. That is the true purple energy of Heaven and Earth.
When one first begins cultivating the Purple Cloud Divine Art, it’s just like stealthily moving through the night. It being Yin attribute is natural.
When the Purple Cloud Divine Art is cultivated to its highest level, it’s like the transition between black and white, the rising of the sun in the east. The purple energy of Heaven and Earth will be born within the cultivator, though it will be extremely thin, yet its power will be immense.
By then, the cultivator’s strength might reach the level of Super-first Rate or even the Pinnacle!
However, Yue Buqun doesn’t seem particularly suited to cultivate this inner power. Not only is his aptitude insufficient, but his excessive stress and inner turmoil have led to his slow progress over the years.
Since Old Yue can’t learn it, then he, Lian Cheng, will!
He won’t rush to find other inner cultivation methods for now. He’ll first cultivate the Purple Cloud Divine Art until it reaches the stratosphere!
There should be a voiceover here, with Lian Cheng providing the voice: 【Your talent is extraordinary, and you’ve instantly grasped the essence of the Purple Cloud Divine Art. 】
Lian Cheng closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. He didn’t rush to cultivate. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Linghu Chong was still stumbling through the memorization. He also saw his Master and Mistress reading books. He picked up the book catalog his Mistress had organized and began looking through it.
The Chen family library truly had a vast collection. Ning Zhongze had spent a lot of time yesterday organizing it, classifying and arranging the books, and even making a list of their titles.
This would make finding books much easier in the future.
“Let’s see what books there are… hmm? ‘The Tai Xuan Scripture’?!”
Lian Cheng was startled. His heart skipped a beat, and he thought of a certain dog brother.
This was an instinctive reaction. After all, any reader familiar with Jin Yong’s “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” would surely have a strong impression of Dog Brother and feel a sense of yearning for the “Tai Xuan Scripture” on the Island of the Departed Heroes.
In the world of Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, there aren’t many martial arts that can be categorized as cultivation techniques.
Among them is the “Tai Xuan Scripture” comprehended by Dog Brother!
The first twenty-three lines of the poem “A Wanderer’s Song” by the Poet Immortal Li Bai were engraved in twenty-three stone chambers on the Island of the Departed Heroes, with each chamber housing one line of the poem. Each line was a martial art, including movement techniques, swordsmanship, palm techniques, boxing techniques, inner cultivation, and so on. They were profound and powerful. Zhang San and Li Si, after learning a little bit of it, swept through the martial arts world. Even the porridge-cooking men on the Island of the Departed Heroes were stronger than Bai Zai.
The final, twenty-fourth stone chamber even contained a diagram of the meridians in the form of 蝌蚪文 (tadpole characters). Anyone who successfully comprehended it could open up all the meridians in their body and reach a state of complete freedom.
That’s already considered cultivation!
Just thinking about it makes me drool!
“I wonder if my extraordinary talent can comprehend the ‘Tai Xuan Scripture’. If I can succeed, others will be cultivating martial arts while I cultivate immortality. We wouldn’t be on the same level. Who could compete with me then?”
Lian Cheng thought to himself, but his expression remained unchanged.
There was no need to rush. He needed to carefully consider the matter, calculate the probability of success, and make some preparations.
He first found the “Tai Xuan Scripture” and looked through it. It was written by Yang Xiong in the late Han Dynasty. It used “玄” (xuan) as the ultimate category, with Xuan as the core idea to explore the mysteries of the universe. It sounds extremely impressive.
However, the content isn’t important, and it doesn’t even require literacy. The most important thing is to write this text in the form of the 蝌蚪文 (tadpole character) meridian diagram.
Therefore, Lian Cheng needs to delve into the study of human meridians and also learn about 蝌蚪文 (tadpole characters). It’s quite a lot of trouble.
Furthermore, he needs to learn calligraphy. He has to write Li Bai’s poem “A Wanderer’s Song” in various calligraphy styles to see if any style can transform the poem into a pattern, making it easier to comprehend.
Even after all these preparations, whether he can comprehend it successfully is still a question. After all, this is a cultivation martial art!
“No need to rush. I’ll learn the Purple Cloud Divine Art first. Dog Brother’s success must not only be due to his illiteracy and good comprehension, but also because he initially had powerful inner strength. Only after comprehending the meridian diagram could he have enough inner strength to open up all the meridians in his body. So, my inner strength reserves cannot be lacking. Therefore, I need to master the Purple Cloud Divine Art first!”
Having reached this realization, Lian Cheng no longer had the heart to read. He excused himself from his elders and left the study.
Then, he prepared some dry food and went straight to the Cliff of Repentance.
He intended to go into seclusion for a while, aiming to reach the second-rate level before anything else. With insufficient inner strength reserves, comprehending the “Tai Xuan Scripture” would have to be put aside for now.
Fortunately, after years of martial arts training, his strength had already touched the threshold of the second-rate level. All he needed was to use the Purple Cloud inner strength to forcefully open up the twelve main meridians.