The First Step

Xu Yao's progress failed to satisfy Ning Weiyu and his sister. Yet there was no other way. The two of them understood that comparing his speed to their own was genuinely unfair. Brother and sister were true geniuses whose talents far surpassed the martial aptitude of the mortal world. Back then, when learning this very same Purple Mansion Qi Circulation Art, Ning Weiyu had mastered it in a single day, while his sister Ning Wuxia had taken only a single shichen. Compared to ordinary mortals, Xu Yao was already exceptionally rare. In a mere seven days, he had familiarized himself with all the blood vessels, meridians, muscles, bones, and acupoints throughout his body, gained a solid grasp of how they corresponded to the cultivation art, and memorized such an obscure, tongue-twisting text until it flowed effortlessly from his tongue. His aptitude was truly decent. Yet compared to true geniuses blessed with eidetic memory, the gap was beyond reckoning. "Big Fatty, it's understandable since you've never had any contact with this before. But the fact that it took you a full seven days to learn it completely also makes it undeniable that your aptitude—*cough, cough*—is indeed not among the top tier." Ning Weiyu spoke with genuine sincerity. "Therefore, this mental cultivation method will be more than enough for you to strengthen your body, extend your lifespan, and go on to protect your region, keep the peace, and become a wealthy magnate. Ah, in this fleeting mortal life, what matters most is still peace and happiness." Xu Yao understood the unspoken meaning: *You aren't a genius, and that's about the limit of your lifetime potential. Just settle down and be a wealthy gentleman. As for kings, ministers, generals, conquering domains, or attaining sainthood, don't daydream so much...* Yet Xu Yao saw things differently. To him: *Strengthen my body, extend my lifespan, protect the region, keep the peace, become a wealthy magnate... Isn't that enough already?* *Isn't that exactly what I, Xu Big Fatty, have been pursuing all my life?!* *This has already far exceeded my life goals, all right?* *Grand ambitions? Dynastic hegemony? Land immortals? Old Xu Big Fatty doesn't even know what any of those things are.* "Can I teach it to others? I'd like my parents to strengthen their bodies and live longer too." Xu Yao simply asked with eyes shining. Ning Weiyu fell silent for a moment before saying, "The saying goes that 'the Dao is not lightly imparted.' Though it's only a proverb, in the mortal world, it holds just as true. If an absolute beginner with zero understanding attempts to cultivate such a profound art from scratch, their meridians can easily stray off course, and they could easily cultivate themselves to death. That's why it requires someone at least in the Heart-Establishing Realm to use the spiritual energy produced by this technique to guide them through the most basic meridian pathways once. Even then, it still requires someone with extraordinary memory to progress step by step. "The meridians in the human body are tangled like tree roots, infinitely complex. An ordinary person cannot execute the technique along a precise route right from the start. Even after being guided multiple times, they might still fail. But with a profound art like this, a single misstep is an immediate matter of life and death! "Therefore, the more profound the art, the more perilous it is for ordinary people—or rather, for those without sufficient aptitude—to cultivate! "In a day's time, I will guide your energy circulation once. How far you can cultivate after that will depend on your own fortune." Ning Weiyu pondered before adding, "As for whether the people around you can cultivate it, that depends on... when you reach the Heart-Establishing Realm! "Why does it require the Heart-Establishing Realm? Because when someone of a lower realm circulates energy through an ordinary person's meridians, they can easily blast those meridians apart. Directing spiritual energy outside your own body to follow another person's meridians demands exceptionally high control! "Furthermore, all superior cultivation arts place extremely rigorous demands on one's physical qi and blood. If a person's vitality has already reached the age of decline, forcibly cultivating will violently concentrate their vital force and hollow out their foundation of life. Instead of helping, it will cause sudden death—something no immortal could save and no precious medicine could remedy. You must keep this firmly in mind, lest your good intentions turn into lifelong regret." Ning Weiyu spoke with solemn earnestness. Xu Yao nodded gravely, indicating that he had taken it to heart. Who knew there were so many taboos involved, every single one hanging between life and death? Hearing it made his heart leap in fright. "For example, take the line: *'Purple qi arrives from the east, the body reaching to the sky above and the netherworld below; the icy wheel wheels about, qi turning to a thunder whip linking to the heavenly palace.'* When one understands the secrets of the art and how to apply them, one knows this refers to absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, concentrating the spirit for internal reflection, mentally reaching for the sky without climbing high, drawing qi in through the mouth, connecting thirty-six acupoints to the dantian before descending to the Yongquan; at the same time, connecting seventy-two acupoints and guiding the qi through the meridians into the Shenting, achieving complete flow above and below. But to an ordinary person, it's just a meaningless string of words—neither proper poem nor song, neither rhymed couplet nor sensible prose, neither godly nor ghostly." Ning Weiyu chuckled. "Low-grade body-strengthening methods may be crude, but they are plain and easy to understand. Because of that, things rarely go wrong with them." "Understood." Xu Yao pursed his lips and nodded. A hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes. Yet on second thought, his parents were still not even forty years old. Their vitality hadn't declined yet... right? And what if he cultivated quickly? What if he reached the Heart-Establishing Realm sooner? The next day, early morning. Not a cloud lingered across ten thousand li. Purple qi rose toward the sky, suffusing the heavens. Upon the summit of the tallest nearby peak, facing the eastward purple qi, Xu Yao sat bathed in morning glow. "Remember this feeling!" Ning Weiyu sat behind him, placing one hand atop his head, and spoke softly. "Draw qi into the body, entering through the mouth. Once inside, hold your breath and calm your mind, directing it into the Tianling meridian. Follow it downward, passing through the heavenly circuit meridians to the dantian, through the meridians in the soles of your feet, and finally into the Yongquan. Then reverse the flow upward... returning once more into the dantian. This completes one heavenly circuit. Only after qi is gathered in the dantian may you open your mouth to exhale the turbid air. Only then do you draw in the essence qi of heaven and earth. The pure and the turbid must remain strictly separate; they must never be conflated... "With every acupoint, I will give you a slight vibration with my spiritual energy. Commit both the path and the feeling of that vibration to memory. "Most people favor their right hand. Once the heavenly circuit is complete, I'll clear the meridians of your right hand as well to make it easier for you to exert force. For the rest, you'll have to practice and feel it out on your own, bit by bit. "I can't watch you cultivate every day. Once I leave, how much progress you make and what you achieve will depend entirely on your own diligence." Ning Weiyu murmured softly: "To hold fast or let slip is one's nature; To succeed or to fail is one's fate; To swell into an ocean, or turn into dust; A mayfly or a soaring roc—all hangs upon a single thought. "We share the fate of meeting; I only hope you... do not squander this fortuitous opportunity." In the east, the morning sun rose, spreading brilliant rosy clouds for millions of li. Heaven and earth were magnificent, shrouded in billowing mists and radiant dawn. On that day, guided by Ning Weiyu of the Tianshu Purple Mansion, Xu Yao stepped onto the path of cultivation. At that moment, Xu Yao's heart was filled with thoughts of promotion and wealth, his eyes fixed on a bright and open road, wishing only for peace, happiness, and prosperity. For the siblings Ning Weiyu and Ning Wuxia, it was just like their ordinary morning lessons. They paid little heed to Xu Yao. Inside the Mountain Guard Compound, Brigade Captain Chen Chong had uncharacteristically cracked open a jar of wine in the early morning, pouring and drinking alone in the morning light. "Brother Xu, the debt of saving my life can never be repaid in full, but today, I've finally returned a ten-thousandth of it. "All my life, I've hated owing people. Today, I am truly happy. "A fine time to get drunk." ... After guiding Xu Yao through his first circulation, Ning Weiyu slowly withdrew his hand, allowing Xu Yao to absorb the state on his own. He quietly stepped back. Walking over to his sister, he let out a silent sigh, filled with regret. "What is it?" Ning Wuxia asked softly via voice transmission. "It's a pity for that calm, clearheaded temperament of his." Ning Weiyu sighed softly and transmitted back, "Normally, ordinary mortals who haven't undergone fundamental cultivation cannot concentrate their essence, qi, and spirit. Thus, their memory is flawed, and under normal circumstances, they cannot compare to cultivators. Although Xu Yao is quite exceptional among ordinary people, he still falls short of the minimum standard. "Yet what offers some comfort is that his meridians are remarkably dense and supple. In other words, he doesn't have what ordinary people call a 'naturally leaky body.' He still leaks, but he leaks less." Ning Wuxia nodded. She understood, of course, that a so-called 'leaky body' was what cultivators referred to as a constitution that 'cannot retain the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, much less assimilate it for one's own use.' The vast majority of people possessed such a constitution. "Which means as long as Xu Yao successfully absorbs spiritual energy, he can cultivate. For others, it might vanish with a fart, but Xu Yao can retain a portion, or at least slow its dissipation, letting it nourish his flesh and blood. Do you see? He's material that can cultivate, and his character is so steady and calm—yet he's burdened by lacking aptitude. Isn't that a pity?" Ning Weiyu said, furrowing his brow. "Brother, you talk so crudely." Ning Wuxia pinched her nose in distaste. "Speak properly! Why bring up farting..." "! ! !" Ning Weiyu stared wide-eyed for a long moment, then gritted his teeth, snapped off a nearby branch, and raised it to strike her. "Aah! He's hitting me!..." ...