After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Yi was preparing to leave, his heart filled with regret that he had not learned any secret techniques.
"I am about to die!" Wei Chang suddenly declared.
There were still more than ten days left until his execution.
"May you have a safe journey, hero. Before you go, I will surely find a bottle of century-old wine for you!"
Zhou Yi spoke slowly, "That's all I can do."
After spending half a month delivering wine, Zhou Yi had greatly closed the gap between him and Wei Chang, knowing that the latter had always been cultivating to expel poison. However, the potent poison fed by the Jinyiwei, like a chronic bone cancer, was futile to cure.
"This is already enough!"
Wei Chang said, "I never leave debts of gratitude unpaid. If I could escape, I would repay the wine a hundredfold. But now, with my execution imminent, the only thing I can do is pass on martial arts to repay the debt."
Zhou Yi, without any insincerity or pleasantries, clasped his hands and said, "Please impart your knowledge, hero!"
"I come from humble beginnings, nothing but a country hunter. I didn't start practicing martial arts until I was fifteen, dominated a territory by the age of twenty, and by thirty there were hardly any rivals in Yuzhou. People claimed the Flying Rainbow Swordsman was innately talented, but that's not the case!"
Wei Chang said, "The real reason is, while hunting, I chanced upon an ancient cave dwelling and obtained an anonymous mantra."
Zhou Yi's eyes sparkled with excitement, inwardly guessing it to be some kind of unrivaled cultivation technique.
"This mantra is quite mystical. After establishing my family, I tried passing it onto my children, but none of them succeeded. Then I passed it to other clan members, with the same result!"
Wei Chang said, "Today, I will pass this mantra on to you. If you cannot sense its mystique, I will pass on another cultivation technique to you."
"Thank you, hero!"
Zhou Yi said, "Even if I cannot master it, if I meet your descendants one day, I will also pass this mantra on to them."
"Humph! You sly fellow, I look down on using deceit to harm others," Wei Chang said with his lips, but still felt relieved in his heart. Initially planning to impart an ordinary martial arts technique, he switched to a superior one after hearing Zhou Yi's words.
"Listen carefully now!"
"Heaven and earth generate yin and yang, create all things..."
The anonymous mantra was a little over three hundred words. Zhou Yi listened carefully several times and memorized it. He recited it twice without errors to Wei Chang and then sat cross-legged to meditate in the cell.
"...calm your heart naturally, breathe slowly and evenly, gather divine light, and reach for the celestial heart..."
Following the guidance of the anonymous mantra, Zhou Yi contemplated the heavens and the earth in quietude. However, there was no response at all; he could not sense the clear and spiritual qi that Wei Chang spoke of.
After almost half an hour, Zhou Yi's legs became numb from sitting in meditation, so he had to get up and move around.
Seeing Zhou Yi's expression, Wei Chang naturally knew the outcome, "Do not lose heart. Of my many clan members, no one has managed to succeed."
Zhou Yi was disheartened, not because the technique was unsuccessful, but because he had a different speculation in mind.
"Did you ever investigate the origins of the anonymous mantra?" he asked.
"I couldn't find any traces of the origins of that cave dwelling, however..."
Wei Chang hesitated for a moment and then continued, "Perhaps it has something to do with the legendary immortals. Nevertheless, talks of immortal cultivation are ethereal and elusive, so after a few years, I gave up looking."
"Immortal Technique!"
Zhou Yi muttered to himself; he was certain that immortals existed in this world.
The practice of the anonymous mantra was to sense the clear and spiritual qi between heaven and earth, while the common martial arts techniques focusing on body refining and cultivating Inner Qi start with the human body itself.
The completely different methods of cultivation were likely to be Immortal Techniques.
This suggested that cultivating immortality might require some innate talent, like a Spirit Root, Spirit Vein, and similar attributes.
On the flip side, those unable to cultivate Immortal Techniques are the ones without the talent for immortality!
"..."
Zhou Yi could only shrug helplessly, indeed there is a loss for every gain. He was a bit disheartened, but certainly not devastated.
Longevity Dao Fruit promises an endless lifespan.
This represents boundless hope. Since Immortal Techniques require a special talent, then he would create a technique that doesn't rely on such innate gifts.
The Great Dao is fifty, from which the heavens derive forty-nine, leaving a single thread of life for all beings!
"Moreover," said Zhou Yi, "the 'Nameless Technique' may not necessarily be a cultivation technique for immortality. Perhaps it's a martial arts secret technique that requires a special physique."
Zhou Yi was not one to wallow in self-pity, and immediately he regained his spirited vigor, "Hero, since I have no fate with the 'Nameless Technique,' I must ask to be taught a conventional cultivation technique."
Wei Chang asked, "Martial arts cultivation is divided into tempering the body and cultivating the Inner Qi. Which one do you wish to learn?"
Zhou Yi decisively answered, "Inner Qi cultivation technique!"
Wei Chang said, "Young man, do not be greedy. Do you know why Inner Qi cultivation techniques are rare?"
Zhou Yi guessed, "Because they are treasures beyond measure?"
"Not because they are valuable."
Wei Chang shook his head, "Tempering the body externally requires less talent, and progress is rapid. Train the skin and the membrane for three to five years, and you'd become a third-rate expert. Harden the sinews and bones for seven or eight years, you become a second-rate expert."
"If you are not too lacking in talent, twenty or thirty years of body tempering could let you reach the first-rate realm of refining the viscera!"
"By comparison, cultivating Inner Qi requires high aptitude and comprehension. The average person meditating for twenty or thirty years would have a martial prowess not much different from that of the membrane realm."
"Inner Qi reaching second-rate in fifty years, first-rate in a hundred years, and it takes two hundred years of cultivation to be comparable to the marrow-refining strength!"
"Two hundred years? Who can live for two hundred years!"
Zhou Yi was astounded. He had thought that Inner Qi cultivation techniques were hard to come by because they were precious, but it turned out to be because they were too trivial.
"That is the average person! Those disciples from great sects with exceptional talent, are nurtured with medicinal baths from a young age, refining their flesh, and using True Qi to temper their sinews and bones, cultivating Inner Qi three to five times faster than ordinary people."
Wei Chang said, "Furthermore, with profound techniques and various elixirs, they could reach two hundred years of cultivation after only twenty or thirty years of dedicated practice!"
"If body tempering requires less talent and leads to rapid strength gain, why bother going through the arduous process of cultivating True Qi?"
Zhou Yi harbored doubts. He didn't care if it took several hundred years. Disciples from great sects consumed vast resources to perfect their Inner Qi; there must be reasons for that.
"Both body tempering and Inner Qi cultivation belong to the postnatal realm, but above them lies the Innate realm of Grandmasters. Cultivating Inner Qi, compared with crude body tempering, makes it easier to break through to the Innate!"
After pondering for a moment, Wei Chang said, "I once participated in the martial alliance convention and listened to the teachings of an Innate Grandmaster. Some of the essence of cultivation he shared had some similarities to that 'Nameless Technique'."
A thought struck Zhou Yi, "Please, hero, impart to me the Inner Qi cultivation technique!"
"Have you decided?"
Wei Chang reminded him, "I will teach only one technique, enough to repay the favor of the wine you sent!"
Zhou Yi nodded, "One must have dreams; what if I can break through to the Innate Grandmaster?"
"Innate Grandmaster... If there comes a day when you truly break through to the Innate, I ask you to visit the Northern Border and look after my wife and children," said Wei Chang, suddenly thinking of his family exiled in a bitter land. "Convey my apologies to them for involving them in my affairs!"
Zhou Yi solemnly replied, "Your trust will not be misplaced!"
"The Inner Qi cultivation technique I practice is named the 'Guiyuan Skill,' of a neutral and gentle nature, a true transmission from the Qingcheng Daoists..."
Wei Chang recited the 'Guiyuan Technique' word by word, and it turned out to be several times longer than the 'Nameless Technique.'"
The complete technique, comprised of more than two thousand words, took Zhou Yi a full hour to memorize.
Zhou Yi asked, "Hero, is it possible to practice body tempering and Inner Qi cultivation concurrently?"
Body tempering strengthens sinews, bones, and organs; when fully mastered, one's body becomes as tough as steel, impenetrable to blades and weapons. Cultivating true internal energy nourishes the organs; in case of illness or poisoning, one can circulate the energy to heal diseases and expel toxins.
Mastering both the external and internal to achieve the Great Achievement Realm would make Zhou Yi invulnerable to harm in the mundane world!
Body tempering can effectively reduce physical injuries, and True Qi can nourish the five viscera and six bowels, preventing diseases. Achieving the Great Achievement Realm both externally and internally would grant Zhou Yi a life free from worry in the mundane world.
"It is possible! I myself practice both, with Inner Qi nurturing the organs to accelerate body tempering. Most martial arts experts in the world do the same!"
Wei Chang cautioned, "Human energy ultimately has its limits. As the body ages and weakens, martial prowess declines instead of improving. Therefore, while practising both, one must make choices about which to prioritize."
"Thank you for the guidance, hero!"
Zhou Yi bowed in gratitude; with the Longevity Dao Fruit, even if his combined cultivation was slow, several hundred years of practice could probably allow him to kill an Innate Grandmaster with a single slap!