"Alright, I'm not blowing smoke. When I was young, could I smash through the entire Great Dao Teaching by myself, would I go around boasting about it?" Zhang Xuan sneered.
"Okay, okay, really stop bragging." Zhang Xintai quickly interrupted his old man's nonsense.
"Rongfang, my junior brother, now that you've practiced the Mountain-shaped Talisman, looking at you, I'm afraid you can't just be nourishing blood, right?"
His eyes aren't ordinarily sharp; even Zhao Dachong can sense something amiss, and in dealing with Zhang Rongfang, he discovered Rongfang had secrets.
"I'm just a simple savage scholar... even if my martial arts develop in the future, so what? Keeping a low profile is just for self-preservation, nothing worth mentioning."
Zhang Rongfang didn't deny it, he indeed deliberately revealed some signs, but intentionally showed only the level of freshly forged muscle.
After all, in many cases, whether your strength is great or not is hard to hide in sparring.
You can pretend to be breathless, but your heartbeat, pulse, sweating, whether your skin is flushed—these are all giveaways.
"Savage scholar? Hey, what does that mean? If your martial arts are high enough, the court will still make good use of you.
Currently, Great Spirit values martial over writing. Don't look at martial arts training as tough and unimpressive; barehanded you might not beat several elite soldiers, but if you're a top master, donning armor and wielding weapons, charging on horseback, you could easily be a frontline commander!"
Zhang Xintai laughed.
Immediately, he didn't waste more words; after bidding farewell to Zhang Xuan, he pulled Zhang Rongfang to the disciples' quarters.
He changed his luggage to a different room.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Zhang Rongfang was called up by Zhang Xintai.
The two headed straight to Zhang Xuan's loft.
The stubborn old man had already finished a set of exercises, waiting there ahead of time.
Seeing the pair arrive late, he wasn't annoyed.
"Get up an hour earlier from now on."
"Yes." Zhang Rongfang immediately felt the difference; at Xiao Rong's place, nobody cared what time he got up.
Xiao Rong simply left everything unmanaged like grazing sheep.
But here, it seemed different.
Before he was fully awake, Zhang Xuan had already turned and headed for the loft's back door.
"Come, follow." Zhang Xintai gave him a push, also following along.
Zhang Rongfang hurriedly caught up.
The three arrived at the back of the loft.
The backyard was a separate area, equivalent to a tenth of an arena's size, more than enough for several people to practice martial arts.
Zhang Xuan stood by a weapon rack, hands behind his back, looking at the two.
"You've chosen to be a Martial Cultivator, show me the Mountain-shaped Talisman."
"Yes."
Zhang Rongfang stepped forward, began performing the Mountain-shaped Talisman, methodically going through each move.
Soon, thirty-two moves were done, he exhaled deeply, finished, and stood firm.
"Smooth. No need to teach the Mountain-shaped Talisman anymore." Zhang Xuan suddenly stepped forward, swift as lightning, grabbing Zhang Rongfang's arm.
"Get ready." His hand clenched down; the grip was powerful as an eagle claw, almost pinching five holes into Zhang Rongfang's arm.
Instinctively, Zhang Rongfang felt a stinging sense of crisis coming at him.
He hurriedly exerted effort to try and free himself.
Their strengths collided.
Zhang Xuan swayed slightly, released his grip, and smiled.
"Good kid, you've indeed reached Muscle Forging, interesting." He then looked at Zhang Xintai beside him.
"He's been practicing martial arts for a year?"
"Roughly." Zhang Xintai nodded.
"Good!" Zhang Xuan slapped Zhang Rongfang's back heavily. "Such a good seedling indeed, that Xiao Rong doesn't know talent from trash! Hahaha!"
He burst into hearty laughter.
Zhou Ze claimed to achieve one tier per year, reaching Muscle Forging in two years, but now Zhang Rongfang has done it in one year, this physical talent clearly surpassing Zhou Ze.
He's the top talent in the entire Qinghe Palace.
"It's a pity that our Great Dao Teaching martial arts aren't strong; they focus on cultivation. With your talent, practicing the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual seems a bit wasteful... but."
He shifted his tone.
"But these days, living long is the hard truth; martial arts just need to roughly protect you. Medicine, cultivation, connections are key."
"Master is absolutely right." Zhang Rongfang's heart skipped a bit, that sudden ambush just now forced his foundation to be seen clearly.
Evidently, this new master is not as easy to fool as Xiao Rong was.
"Don't worry, since your Mountain-shaped Talisman is already consummate, next is to break limits in this direction, entering the grade."
"This entering the grade, we differ from other sects. Our Great Dao Teaching Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual, though called a manual, its first seven talismanic skills are all martial arts, while the latter five are medical arts."
"Meaning, our Great Dao Teaching cultivation technique, the Martial Cultivator's limit is Seventh Grade. Breaking limits with one talismanic skill allows you to advance a grade. Seven skills make for Seventh Grade, our martial arts' feature."
Zhang Rongfang was slightly surprised, hearing this for the first time.
Before he could ask questions, Zhang Xuan continued.
"But even reaching Seventh Grade is exceedingly hard. You must practice every talismanic skill to perfection, then repeatedly break limits using different skills."
He chuckled.
"Also, don't underestimate us just reaching Seventh Grade. As grades get higher, the difference gets smaller. Between Seventh and Ninth Grade, in terms of physical constitution, strength, and body technique, there's not much difference.
Often, at that level, the strength difference isn't in the number of limit-breaking martial arts, but in the realm, tactics, strategy, equipment."
"Disciple understands." Zhang Rongfang comprehended, the grade gap isn't large, a notion he's heard in many places.
Now, Zhang Xuan is merely applying this to high-grade levels.
"Nonetheless, our Great Dao Teaching always values harmony, winning without form. It emphasizes adaptability, so martial arts can merely protect oneself. Don't use them for glory and victory; however strong your martial arts, can they surpass crossbows?"
Zhang Xuan advised again.
Isn't this just saying that our martial arts are relatively weak, so when we go out, it's better to avoid fighting if possible.
Zhang Rongfang automatically translated the meaning in his mind.
"Alright, today, since you've already perfected the Mountain-shaped Talisman, in terms of techniques, you don't need to wait for your body to adapt any longer. For the next talismanic skill, what would you like to practice?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"Anything is fine?" Zhang Rongfang asked in return.
"With others, I would tell them to proceed step by step. But with you, you may choose for yourself," Zhang Xuan nodded, pinching his few strands of beard and squinting his eyes.
"May I ask, Master, which talismanic skill in our school is to practice body technique?" Zhang Rongfang asked again.
"Indeed, no matter where you are, having a good body technique means even if you can't win, you can at least run," Zhang Xuan laughed once more.
"Speaking of body technique, the top one would be the Morning Energy Talisman! One breath to the origin, practiced to the limit can allow one to run on rooftops and walls briefly, leaping nearly a yard!"
"One breath to the origin, Morning Energy Talisman??" Having studied the Talismanic Manual for so long, Zhang Rongfang naturally knew of this top-ranked talismanic skill.
Of the seven talismanic skills, the top-ranked one is actually the most difficult and also the strongest.
"Alright, let me demonstrate it once." Zhang Xuan said solemnly.
"Yes, Master!" Zhang Rongfang stepped back several paces in high anticipation, focusing his gaze.
"What we call the Morning Energy Talisman is the practice of a single breath in the abdomen. With this breath lifted, the entire body's blood and flesh coordinate, through special training methods, can make one's body light as a swallow, and strength enhanced.
The strength of the Morning Energy Talisman depends on this breath. The depth and length of the breath significantly affect your subsequent actions."
After explaining, Zhang Xuan suddenly took a deep breath.
Ssss.
For a moment, it seemed as though the entire backyard could feel the slight convergence of airflow.
Soon, his chest was seen bulging high.
With a light step forward.
Zhang Xuan's figure suddenly dashed forward.
His steps were not random movements, but carried a peculiar rhythmic cadence. He swiftly circled Zhang Rongfang and then returned to the original spot, standing still.
Exhalation.
"Did you watch carefully?"
"Watched carefully!" Zhang Rongfang nodded seriously.
"This is the Mist Smoke Step within the Morning Energy Talisman. It's one of the key practices paired with it."
*
*
*
The practice of the Morning Energy Talisman was more difficult than Zhang Rongfang imagined.
Every step requires strict control of the strength of each stride. The weight, tempo, coordination with the state of the Heart Method, and choosing the ground environment all have key points.
Thus, in reality, the Morning Energy Talisman is a special talismanic skill that must adapt to changes in the external environment.
However, Zhang Xuan treated him quite well, teaching him hand-to-hand and correcting mistakes with bamboo sticks at any time.
For the entire morning, Zhang Xuan accompanied him for practice.
They rested twice in between, ate something, and continued.
Under this strict guidance, Zhang Rongfang clearly felt his grasp of the Morning Energy Talisman becoming increasingly familiar.
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
Qinghe Palace's back mountain. Night.
"Brother Wuyou, where are you?" Xiao Qingying whispered in the dark laundry area of the back mountain.
At night, the occasional roar of strange animals made the entire back mountain appear dark and mysterious.
Two days later, Xiao Qingying received another note from Chen Wuyou.
This time, it was to meet her at the back mountain.
Compared to last time at the mountain gate area, the back mountain was evidently much safer.
Without thinking much, Xiao Qingying immediately requested Jiao Teng to let her out.
Jiao Teng hesitated for a while, but unable to resist her pleading, he agreed.
However, the condition was that he must accompany her and she must not run around.
This made Xiao Qingying feel that, compared to Zhang Rongfang, the senior brother was significantly better.
Now that Sister Zhao Da Cong was punished to reflect by chanting scriptures, Jiao Teng exclusively protected her daily.
It has to be said, having such an understanding senior brother is really great.
Xiao Qingying couldn't help but reveal a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.
"Brother Wuyou? Are you here?" She called again.
"Wait a moment." Suddenly, behind her, Jiao Teng made a light sound. "There seems to be someone over there." He held a lantern in one hand and pointed with the other to a spot in front on the right.
Xiao Qingying looked over with her eyes and saw that the moonlight there was dim, and she could only vaguely make out that there seemed to be a person standing there.
"Let's go over and take a look!" Without waiting for Jiao Teng to reply, she immediately rushed in that direction.
Puff.
She hadn't run but a few steps when she suddenly felt a pain in the side of her neck, as if something had pricked her.
Soon, she felt dizzy, and her body quickly became weak.
With a thud, she fell to the ground.
"Who...! Who hit me??"
Xiao Qingying struggled to turn around, just in time to see Jiao Teng's indifferent and contemptuous look.
"You...."
"Did you bring everything? Junior Brother Wuyou," Jiao Teng no longer looked at her but looked towards that figure in front on the right.
"I told you not to mention me!!" Chen Wuyou's voice came out with anger.