In the city of Xiushui in July, the weather was unpredictable. In the early morning, the sun was shining, but after the sixth hour, it started drizzling.Chu Yunyun came out of the cafeteria, holding an umbrella, casually walking along the paved alley towards the Taoist temple to the north of the martial arts academy.The temple was a bit far, situated on a small hill surrounded by vast wastelands. Such sparsely populated areas were most suitable for cultivating spiritual energy and practicing magic.She would have to stay there for a few days until she condensed her own "spiritual seed." The spiritual seed was the core of all magic skills and the key to a mage's strength, equivalent to the golden core of a martial artist, which could gradually grow and eventually transform into a primordial infant.
Chu Yunyun's cultivation level had long been ready, and several instructors from the Mage Academy had urged her for a long time. In the current world, magic was declining, and martial arts were revered. Although magic still had a place, it was generally not given much importance.After reaching the third rank in martial arts, one could control the wind and rain and move mountains. Anything that a mage could do, a martial artist could also accomplish, so what was the point of practicing magic? Moreover, the path of magic cultivation was difficult, and very few people succeeded in this path.It was rare to have a young person like Chu Yunyun, who had decent talent in magic, willing to devote herself to the magical path, so the instructors at the Mage Academy paid special attention to her.However, Chu Yunyun had to postpone the time for condensing the "spiritual seed" because the inner door martial trial was approaching, and she had to gather eighty taels of silver to fulfill the requirements for Chu Xisheng. She had been escorting caravans until today, and she could no longer delay it.Her spiritual power had reached its peak and could not be increased any further.
As the saying goes, when the moon is full, it wanes. This is not a good thing in the practice of magic.At that moment, Chu Yunyun suddenly stopped and looked ahead. About ten zhang away, at the corner of an alley, a large group of disciples wearing blue robes hurriedly walked towards the Scripture Tower with umbrellas in hand.They should be the newly promoted inner disciples of the northern courtyard of the martial arts academy, preparing to go to the Scripture Tower to study the classics and choose their inheritance.
Chu Yunyun noticed one of the young men among them. He appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, older than most of the inner disciples. This person had a thin figure and a sallow complexion, giving the impression of an ordinary young man.But Chu Yunyun had the "True Vision of the Cave," which could see through ninety percent of the illusions in the world. In her gaze, this person clearly appeared fair and handsome, with lips as red as blood. He wore a red coronet on his head, with a few strands of hair loose on his forehead.There was a three-inch-long green scar on his brow, extending from his hairline to his nose.Chu Yunyun didn't recognize this person, but he felt familiar. What caught her attention even more was his cultivation level, which was close to the fourth rank.What was such a master doing at Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy? And why was he disguising himself as a newly promoted inner disciple?
A coldness flickered in Chu Yunyun's eyes.
In her expectation, Chu Xisheng's entry into the Scripture Tower to comprehend the "yazhi" totem should have been an opportune and straightforward matter. However, now everything had changed.As Chu Yunyun contemplated and walked forward, she suddenly felt a shift in her thoughts and turned towards the martial arts academy's main drill ground not long after.On the south side of this place, there was a tall stone wall covered with various posters. These included internal notices and decrees from the martial arts academy, as well as official announcements from the Xiushui County government office.Chu Yunyun focused her attention on one of the wanted posters. "Jiangyang notorious bandit Li Daogui, also known as 'Blood Wind Sword,' with a bounty of three thousand magic silver—"
So it was him.
In front of the Scripture Tower, dozens of baskets filled with steamed buns and meat sandwiches were quickly snatched up.
The chefs all patted their bulging waist pouches with smiles on their faces. Several martial artists from the East Court also looked delighted.
Meanwhile, Ye Zhiqu stood on the steps, continuing to instruct the disciples, "Once you enter, your first priority is to memorize the visualization diagrams and secret medicine prescriptions for the nourishing Yuan technique.
Next, you must learn two of the external ten arts and fully memorize the 'true intent diagrams' of the first two levels, which will serve as the foundation for your future promotion to the true transmission. If you have time, you can also look at other martial arts classics. If you are fortunate, you may catch a glimpse of the notes and true intent diagrams left behind by Qin Muge in the past."
The over a hundred inner disciples in front of the steps suddenly buzzed with excitement.
"Qin Muge?" "Is it the Warlord, former Grand General of Anbei, Qin Muge?" "The one who conquered the Northern Region within 12 years, achieving the rank of First Grade Divine General, undefeated in his lifetime, the invincible Qin Muge of the Northern Region?"
Chu Xisheng couldn't help but feel a slight stir in his heart as he listened to these discussions. "This is impossible. The true intent diagrams hand-drawn by Qin Muge are invaluable. How could they end up here?" "Is the instructor just bragging to us? Qin Muge comes from the Qin family of Iron Mountain. What does that have to do with our Unparalleled Divine Sect?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhiqu didn't seem to mind. She smiled and said, "At the age of 16, Qin Muge joined the border army to inherit his father's position. At 22, he took control of the 'Anbei Army' in the North, sweeping through the Northern Region in six years, unstoppable, achieving unparalleled martial accomplishments.
However, few people in the world know that at the age of 10, Qin Muge once used an alias to infiltrate our Unparalleled Divine Sect. Starting as an outer disciple in our Zongyang Martial Hall, she became the direct disciple of our sect in just six years. If it weren't for her father's death in the Northern Frontier, Qin Muge might have been an elder of our sect by now.
It is said that when Qin Muge was in our Zongyang Martial Hall, she spent 72 days reading through the 17,000 volumes of martial arts secrets in this Scripture Tower, leaving behind many annotations and notes, as well as a few true intent diagrams she copied herself. Not long ago, a disciple was fortunate enough to see one of these diagrams and cultivated an extremely powerful sword technique—"
As Ye Zhiqu was speaking, she suddenly saw the West Court instructor, Shao Lingshan, leading a large group of people walking over.She pursed her lips, then gestured to the gatekeeper to open the doors of the Scripture Tower. "Let them in!"
The disciples eagerly rushed into the room as soon as the heavy door slowly swung open with a resounding thud, each vying to be the first to enter the first room on the right.Chu Xisheng was no exception, displaying the same assertiveness he had used to claim seats in the study room, pushing his way to the front of the line and stepping into the room.
The room was constructed like a tiered classroom, with a spacious interior that quickly filled up with people within a few breaths.Having entered early, Chu Xisheng not only secured a spot in the first two rows but also had a great view. However, not long after, he was surprised to find an empty circle around him.
Despite the apparent congestion, the nearby senior disciples were avoiding him, and those who were unaware of the situation and attempted to squeeze in were forcefully driven away.Chu Xisheng's heart skipped a beat as he noticed eight or nine youths in the crowd with cold, unfriendly gazes fixed on him.He immediately realized that he had become the target of someone's attention, most likely related to the previous day's incident.Furrowing his brow slightly, Chu Xisheng cast aside his distractions and focused entirely on studying the visualization diagrams for the nourishing Yuan technique.
Not because he was fearless, but because there were several martial arts instructors keeping an eye on him in the room. If they intended to take action against him, they wouldn't do so in such a public setting.Moreover, being afraid wouldn't help him, so he decided it was best to memorize the diagrams as quickly as possible. The visualization diagrams for the nourishing Yuan technique were displayed on the wall ahead, spanning about three zhang in length and width, occupying most of the wall. The painting depicted a sun drawn in ink wash.
At first glance, it seems simple, but upon closer observation, one will discover the peculiar charm in the ink-drawn contours, flames, and light traces.After looking at it for a while, Chu Xisheng felt as if the 'sun' was directly reflecting into his consciousness, scorching and burning him.A warm sensation radiated from his brow, and strands of primordial yang energy were generated, spreading throughout his body.His cultivation technique, Yuan Qi Cultivation, was boiling and undergoing strange changes.At this moment, the effect of cultivating his Qi was even better than when he practiced facing the morning sun. Combining the two would surely complement each other.
Chu Xisheng estimated that it wouldn't take long for him to cultivate the first level of Yuan Qi Cultivation to perfection.However, if he wanted to advance, he would need the corresponding secret medicine.The second level of Yuan Qi Cultivation corresponds to the 'Ninth Grade Lower' stage.Only when his martial arts cultivation technique advanced could he be considered a true ninth-grade martial cultivator.In the martial path, there are nine grades and eighteen stages. Each stage of the cultivation technique requires the corresponding secret medicine to advance.
However, the visualization diagram of the martial cultivation technique is equally important, as it can greatly enhance one's progress.For example, the diagram in front of Chu Xisheng's eyes is a simplified version of the sun.Ordinary people cannot visualize the real sun, as it would burn their spiritual souls and even cause self-immolation.
Therefore, the experts of the Formless God Sect meticulously copied a tiny portion of the charm of the 'Great Sun Primordial Yang' onto the drawing, allowing ordinary martial cultivators to visualize it gradually and progress step by step.When practicing the cultivation technique, visualizing this diagram not only accelerates their progress but also nurtures pure primordial yang energy.To Chu Xisheng's surprise, it seemed that his memory had been strengthened significantly after transmigrating.The 'Hawkeye' ability enabled him to notice every detail in the picture.
In just a moment, Chu Xisheng had memorized the visualization diagram down to the smallest detail. When he closed his eyes, the image of the sun remained vivid in his mind. Nevertheless, as a precaution, Chu Xisheng carefully examined and reviewed the diagram repeatedly until he was certain he wouldn't forget it, before finally getting up and leaving.
Soon after, someone else took Chu Xisheng's place. However, several stern-looking youths nearby stood up and followed him out of the room. Chu Xisheng's gaze slightly hardened, his steps hesitated for a moment, then he continued forward with a calm expression.
First, he went to look up the recipe for the second level of the Yuan Qi Cultivation technique. In fact, the internal Sun Martial Hall had complete recipes for the second level secret medicine available for sale. The price, however, was exorbitant, with a single bottle of the secret medicine costing four hundred ounces of demon silver. Even if Chu Xisheng had the money, he couldn't afford such extravagance.
The majority of people, after learning the recipe, would search for the ingredients themselves and concoct the medicine, often at less than one-third of the price offered by the martial hall. Chu Xisheng memorized all the recipes, then looked back thoughtfully.
The few youths still trailed him, becoming more and more brazen. They only refrained from taking action due to the dense crowd around them. However, if he wanted to go to the second or third floor, he would definitely be blocked by these people. Therefore, before studying the "Eyebrow Furrow Diagram," he had to resolve this trouble.