Nothing more was said, and another day passed.
In the dead of night, the usual snores of Big Head Liu drifted in from next door.
Lian Youming sat cross-legged on the heated kang, bare-chested, holding a small piece of Solomon's seal in his mouth. Breathing softly with his cheeks puffing in and out, he emptied his mind. At this moment, his mind intent seemed to transform in his imagination into a swimming fish, slipping into six meridians: the Three Yin of the Hand and the Three Yin of the Foot.
Wherever his thoughts passed, these meridians trembled faintly, as though guided by a pair of invisible hands, gradually harmonizing with the rhythmic swelling of his breath to generate a peculiar force.
The Three Yin Earth Fiend Force.
During the day, Lian Youming had asked Yan Lingyun what "wandering the Three Yin" meant. The young girl had told him that for a martial artist to master his own body, mind intent had to lead the way.
Yet a martial artist's mind intent had to be tempered through a thousand trials. Once a person's resolve settled and their spirit hardened, they needed only to bring their sinews and bones to life to turn clumsiness into deftness. With a single shift in intent and the surge of breath, their meridians and muscles could be mobilized in tandem, uniting as one to align subtly with the essence, qi, and spirit.
And "wandering the Three Yin" was precisely the process of uniting his own spirit with his essence and qi. If he brought it to fruition, his spirit would steady and his essence solidify, while his breath would gradually grow long and continuous. At that point, when circulating his cultivation and driving his force, wherever his mind turned, once he could master his breath, mind intent, and sinews to the point of seamless integration, he could be considered to have attained minor success.
Lian Youming had also come to understand that in the end, all of this was about increasing control over oneself.
The more subtle and refined the control, the more formidable the martial art.
The Old Man Who Guards the Mountain barely breathed, his breath so continuous that it seemed never-ending, which was clearly a sign of a profound realm of cultivation.
With each exhalation and inhalation, Lian Youming felt a sweetness seep from the Solomon's seal, trickling down into his belly along with his saliva.
His eyes snapped open. Leaping down from the heated kang, he assumed postures in accordance with the twelve figures of the Golden Bell Shield.
The movements were secondary; what was truly crucial were the patterns of muscle tension depicted upon them. Once those patterns took hold, his heart beat faster and his qi and blood surged, akin to a sudden bout of violent exertion.
At the same time, Lian Youming suddenly felt a ball of warmth spread through his chest and abdomen. In the span of a single breath, he used the inhaled air to knead and disperse the sweetness exuded by the Solomon's seal.
This was the medicinal potency contained within the Solomon's seal, as well as the nourishing essence.
Lian Youming quickened his movements, his breathing growing more forceful. As his cheeks puffed and hollowed, the muscles encasing his five internal organs and the twelve regular meridians all seemed to be mobilized under that strange rhythm, trembling incessantly as if undergoing a thousand poundings and smeltings.
With every shift in his movements, by the residual glow of the stove fire, one could faintly see the muscles across his body undulating and changing, like ripples spreading across water after a pebble fell in.
It was just as Yan Lingyun had guessed.
This martial art did not emphasize offense; its essence lay entirely in defense.
Lian Youming felt the muscles throughout his body tightening and stretching continuously amidst the tremors, as if forming a meat shield, solidifying into a unified whole.
He recalled someone saying that the most powerful punch was one that concentrated the entire body's strength into a single point.
This martial art did the exact opposite. Taking one's own body as a shield and using the tremors of muscle to generate force, it shook apart and dispersed all the force of an opponent's punch that had been focused on one point, achieving the purpose of absorbing and dissipating strength.
That way, no matter how powerful a fist struck him, once its force was dispersed, even a massive force of thirty thousand jin landing on him would become like the flailing of a toddler, its power drastically reduced.
Because of this, the technique required mobilizing the muscles throughout the entire body at every turn, causing it to consume far more energy than ordinary martial arts. Therefore, it required a complementary food-replenishing method to first invigorate the Five Qi and then strengthen the sinews, bones, and physique, resolving this drawback.
Lian Youming continued practicing until the embers in the stove died and the Solomon's seal in his mouth lost every trace of flavor before finally coming to a stop.
Having just stepped onto the martial path, he could not rush his cultivation.
Although the twelve regular meridians were continually stirred by his mind intent, only a scant few truly responded. If he wished to achieve mastery, it would take sustained perseverance over a long time.
"Come to think of it, that Toad Fishing Skill also seems capable of neutralizing an opponent's force. One gathers qi in the dantian, while the other forms a shield from sinews and bones. I wonder what would happen if the two were combined."
Thinking to himself, Lian Youming looked at the moon outside the window and assumed the posture of the Golden Toad Gazing at the Moon. With his feet apart and arms hanging naturally at his sides, he tilted his throat toward the moon, pursed his lips, and inhaled. A stream of cold air was drawn over his tongue and throat like soft flowing water, sinking straight down until it seemed to condense into a round pellet.
As the pellet of qi entered his abdomen, Lian Youming's breathing shifted once more. Soon came the croaking of a toad. In mere moments, he felt a swelling fullness in his belly, and his whole body seemed to expand a fraction.
Yet after maintaining it for barely three to five minutes, he felt signs of the qi pellet collapsing. He immediately released his breath, exhaling a long plume of turbid air.
His attainment was still too shallow.
***
The chill receded and the weather warmed; the plants and trees grew ever greener, and flowers bloomed everywhere across the forest sea.
By day, Lian Youming was busy with labor and work shifts; by night, he seized the quiet hours to cultivate.
Beyond that, he grew closer and closer to Yan Lingyun. Though young, she could explain principles of martial arts through her understanding of traditional Chinese medicine. As if comprehending the core principles unlocked everything, she could explain all the mysteries of the human body with clarity and depth.
Lian Youming greedily and furiously absorbed this knowledge he had never encountered before. Naturally, all of this came at a price: every few days, the young girl would crave something delicious, demanding whatever came to mind, and he naturally did everything he could to satisfy her.
As a result, in just over a month, while the other educated youths grew thinner and more haggard by the day, Yan Lingyun visibly filled out.
Meanwhile, as his grasp of the Golden Bell Shield grew more thorough, Lian Youming's appetite skyrocketed to an astonishing degree. Along with his height and physique, it was as if he were undergoing a second growth spurt. His sinews and bones grew sturdier by the day, his breath more robust, and he even collapsed his heated kang from sleeping on it.
Even with the Solomon's seal replenishing his essence, hunger remained a physical urge. The two bowls of thin porridge and few steamed corn buns during the day barely filled the cracks between his teeth. By nightfall, hunger clawed at his heart and liver, his eyes glowing green. He rummaged through cupboards and chests, eating whatever was edible, stopping just short of cannibalism.
He endured such days until mid-May. More and more educated youths were returning to the city, and the tasks down the mountain were largely wrapping up. Two days before they were scheduled to head up into the mountains, Platoon Leader Yang, whom they had not seen in a long time, granted them a few days of leave.
Thus, Lian Youming and Yan Lingyun arranged in advance to venture deep into the mountains for an expedition. He had Big Head Liu quietly borrow a crude hunting rifle, and prepared mountain-climbing ropes and various herb-harvesting tools.
Besides this, there was another matter.
Big Head Liu seemed to have a screw loose. No matter how Lian Youming explained himself or wore his tongue out, Liu stubbornly insisted that the youth before him was a reclusive qigong master. Every day he clamored to become his disciple, and even gathered a bunch of elderly men and women to establish a qigong society in the district.
Unexpectedly, word leaked out. The village Party branch secretary, having heard about it from who knows where, insisted on dragging Lian Youming to the commune to put on a demonstration for everyone, claiming it was for "mutual learning," and even threatening to subject him to a public struggle session if he refused.
Terrified, Lian Youming had no choice but to bite the bullet. Under the blazing sun, he performed breaking a large stone over his chest and cleaving bricks with a single palm strike.
He thought that would be the end of it, but little did he expect that the villagers' tales would only grow more outlandish, practically turning Lian Youming into an immortal and nearly attracting television reporters.
Seeing the hype spiral out of control, Lian Youming had no choice but to hurry over to Qin Yuhu, who finally managed to suppress the matter.
Early that morning, while the sky was still dim before dawn, Lian Youming packed his gear for the mountains and slipped out of Kaoshan Hamlet carrying a bundle of equipment on his back.
With the wave of youths returning to the city swelling day by day, it likely would not be long before they would have to leave as well.
Yet Lian Youming truly did not want to leave right now.
For one thing, once he went back to the city, not only would he have to worry about schooling, but given his parents' temperaments, they would probably already be planning for him to start a family and career. Bogged down by trivial chores, how could he have any mind left for cultivation?
Moreover, the Northeast was vast and abundantly rich in resources—an ideal place to temper a person.
During this past period, in order to get food for Yan Lingyun, taking advantage of his steadier foundation and driven by unbearable hunger, he had ventured into the mountains alone at night several times.
Unlike the harsh winter, once spring and summer arrived, the wilderness became an entirely different world. Lian Youming had caught plenty of wild game, eating meat with every meal. Not only had this greatly replenished his qi and blood, but his martial prowess had also risen along with it.
Once outside Kaoshan Hamlet, Lian Youming pressed down with his feet and quietly channeled the silk-reeling force. As the muscles of his legs tightened, he strode vigorously forward into the morning light.
Chapter 24