In the secret chamber, Qin Yu skimmed through the books at a remarkable pace, going over twenty-eight outer strength secret manuals in just a single hour.
"Grandpa Lian is right, cultivating outer strength does seem truly grueling," Qin Yu furrowed his brows on his young face.
Having perused twenty-eight secret manuals, Qin Yu had gained a certain understanding of outer strength cultivation, which was about using various methods to tirelessly enhance the body's physical strength, constantly training beyond the point of fatigue and surpassing limits.
Inner power cultivation, however, was merely about absorbing nature's spiritual energy, and there was no pain during practice, but rather a feeling of refreshment afterward. Outer strength, on the other hand, was about pushing the body to its limits and enduring the most extreme hardships and pain. These were two entirely opposing methods of cultivation.
Outer strength was hard, tiring, and also unable to make one an innately expert. It was generally only the common people without any background, the poor, who would choose to cultivate outer strength, while the true descendants of great families were mostly cultivators of inner strength. But what about Qin Yu?
With sixty-eight top-tier inner power cultivation techniques, each one incredibly impressive, could he even practice them?
"Let's take a look at the inner cultivation methods. Although my dantian is a bit unusual, maybe there's a mental method I can practice," Qin Yu thought with a sliver of hope and opened the secret books full of anticipation, only to be dumbfounded at what he saw.
The Shenting acupoint, Bai Hui acupoint, Fengchi acupoint, Qimen acupoint... the Triple Burner's hand lesser yang meridian, the hand greater yin, the kidney's foot lesser yang meridian...
"This…" Qin Yu was at a loss.
He had read many books and heard these terms, but the thing was... he knew of the Fengchi acupoint, but didn't know where it was located on the human body. The books had diagrams, but they were only rough sketches with a few lines.
You couldn't just practice inner power recklessly. If the energy took the wrong path, it could be life-threatening.
"It seems I need to go to the library to study books about meridians in detail first, at the very least to understand the meridian points," Qin Yu's small face showed only helplessness before he packed away the books and left the secret chamber.
Six days later.
Qin Yu entered the secret chamber once again.
"Hehe, this time I am full of confidence. Out of the sixty-eight, I'll try them one by one to see which one I can practice," Qin Yu's face brimmed with excitement, after all, he was just an eight-year-old child, often dreaming of becoming a master.
In the six days spent studying the meridian points, to fully understand them, Qin Yu even had the servants of Cloud Mist Villa make a wooden model and asked Mr. Weng Xian, a medical expert specially employed by the villa, to clearly mark all the meridian points and so on.
Combining the books, the wooden model, and frequently consulting Mr. Weng Xian, Qin Yu felt completely confident and prepared to begin cultivating inner power.
"Which one should I cultivate first? Let's go with this one, 'Water Classics'," Qin Yu mumbled to himself, randomly picking a secret manual, 'Water Classics.' This method was very famous hundreds of years ago, but now, not many people knew about this top-tier cultivation method.
Following the cultivation method, Qin Yu sat down cross-legged and began his practice.
The first step in cultivating inner strength was to have a sense of qi, to be able to feel the extremely sparse nature's spiritual energy one absorbs. In fact, from the moment one is alive, one unconsciously absorbs this energy, but because it's so minimal, one can't actually feel it.
Cultivation is about consciously absorbing it, trying to take in as much as possible.
An hour later, Qin Yu's mind got disturbed, and he couldn't maintain his focus.
"Qi sensation, qi sensation, Grandpa Lian said that those with good talent would feel it as soon as they cultivate, but I've been practicing for an hour, and still don't feel it at all," Qin Yu's face was full of helplessness as he sat cross-legged for such a long time that his legs had gone numb.
After getting up and moving around for a while, Qin Yu once again sat down quietly to practice 'Water Classics.'
...
Two days later.
After having breakfast, Qin Yu continued his cultivation. He was very stubborn and kept practicing the first chapter of 'Water Classics.' In reality, just to feel the qi sensation, it didn't make much difference which inner power secret manual one used.
Stubbornness.
Qin Yu sat down cross-legged again and began imagining the flow of qi circulating through his meridians, then cleared his mind of everything, entering a state of emptiness as he continued on...
Suddenly—
Qin Yu felt an extremely weak current of qi slowly flowing within his body. After more than two days of perseverance, he had finally succeeded. In an instant, a wave of excitement surged through his heart, and the tranquil state of mind, the emptiness in his brain, immediately disappeared. At the same time, Qin Yu could no longer feel the flow of qi.
"Calm, stay calm," Qin Yu murmured to himself, then once again entered the state he had just been in, following the method described in the "Water Classics." After a moment, Qin Yu indeed felt a faint current of qi within his body again.
Immediately, Qin Yu began to apply the method from the "Water Classics," guiding the qi to circulate through his meridians in a Small Cycle. As it moved, Qin Yu's perception of the qi became increasingly clear. Once he had completed a Small Cycle, Qin Yu attempted to integrate this spiritual energy into his Dantian.
According to the secret books, once the qi entered the Dantian, it would settle there and accumulate.
But—
"What's going on? Is my Dantian truly incapable of accumulating Inner Strength?" Qin Yu was dumbfounded as he realized that the spiritual energy, after completing the Small Cycle, scattered and dissipated from his Dantian back into nature. His Dantian remained empty as ever.
"It seems Uncle Feng was right. My Dantian is different from others and cannot accumulate Inner Strength. Inner Power cultivation stores power within the Dantian. If my Dantian can't store it, what's the use of continuing my cultivation?" At that moment, Qin Yu finally understood.
Although there are countless methods of Inner Power cultivation in the world, all with their differences, one thing is the same.
All cultivate and convert Inner Strength to be stored within the Qi Sea Acupoint, which is the Dantian. If the Dantian can't hold Inner Strength, what's the point in further cultivation?
Suddenly, Qin Yu casually noticed the golden "Ancestor Dragon Technique" among the Inner Power books. The only secret manual written on Golden Paper stood out conspicuously. Qin Yu reached out and picked up the "Ancestor Dragon Technique."
The "Ancestor Dragon Technique" was thin, only three pages, but the writing on the golden paper was tiny, and the three pages contained much content.
Qin Yu tried to cultivate according to the mental method of the "Ancestor Dragon Technique," and in a short while, he felt a stream of qi within his body. The "Ancestor Dragon Technique" was indeed powerful—the nature's spiritual energy absorbed was much more than before, and the Circulation was extremely fast. However, when Qin Yu tried to store the Inner Strength into his Dantian, the same thing happened.
His Dantian was like a funnel, leaking out as much Inner Strength as it received, unable to hold anything.
A bitter smile, mixed with helplessness, appeared on Qin Yu's face.
He then began to laugh, "Alas, it seems I can't take the easy route. I was hoping to find a way to cultivate Inner Power without suffering. With a Dantian like a funnel, leaking as much Inner Strength as it holds, how can I possibly cultivate Inner Power?"
Yet, Qin Yu's face seemed utterly unconcerned.
In fact, Qin Yu had long prepared himself for failure. After all, the person who had said he could not cultivate Inner Power was none other than Feng Yuzi, one of the three Upper Immortals of the Chu Dynasty. A judgement from such a figure was unlikely to be wrong.
"Outer Strength, hmm, from today onward, I will dedicate myself to the cultivation of Outer Strength," Qin Yu's eyes sparkled with resolve as he looked at the twenty-eight Outer Strength Secret Manuals and burst into laughter. "Hidden Dragon Continent has never had anyone reach the Innate Realm through Outer Strength; let me be the first one to achieve this."
Qin Yu was, after all, only an eight-year-old child, still with the heart of a child.
Reaching the Innate Realm with Outer Strength truly had no precedent; how powerful would an Outer Strength Expert of the Innate Realm be? It was a mystery.
...
Two days later in the morning, inside Qin Yu's study.
Qin Yu was quietly reading a book, holding it with solemn interest. Next to him stood two large bookshelves, which, at a glance, held at least a thousand books of various kinds. 'Little Black' also roamed around the study without disturbing its young master.
"Third Prince, eight Outer Strength Experts have arrived, led by the Prince Mansion's Deputy Steward. They've come to offer the Third Prince a selection of teachers in Outer Strength," a servant respectfully reported from outside the study door.
Qin Yu's eyes lit up at once, and he immediately put down the book in his hands, his heart beating with excitement. He had already discussed this matter with Lian Yan, who had passed on the message to the people in the Prince Mansion. Prince Zhen Dong, Qin De, had learned of this and specially arranged for several formidable military experts, as well as a few Outer Strength Experts from the Eastern Domain Three Prefectures, to come over.
"I've waited two days for this, Kang An, quick, lead the way!" Qin Yu commanded the servant excitedly.
"Yes," Kang An promptly led the way with due respect, while Qin Yu left the study and headed towards West Garden.