Book 1 - Chapter 9 – Another Long Journey (1/2)

Book 1 Chapter 9 – Another Long Journey

In the following eight days, the two boys practiced separately So, they simply picked sora man, where the channels and acupoints were marked in red dots and dotted lines It was notpracticed, but the pattern the qi traveled was coinate with a bold black arrow pointing to the Tian Ling [lit heaven’s spirit] acupoint at the top of the head And froreen, blackish green, blue and purple, seven colors Each color seemed to indicate a completely different method Not only the route was different, the acupoints it pointed to were also substantially different Practically there were a lot of channels and acupoints that Fu Junchuo had not even mentioned, or perhaps she did mention it, but it was totally unrelated to thepicked was the lying ushi+ng spring] acupoint on the right foot The seven-color arrows finallyQuan acupoint on the left foot, unlike Kou Zhong’s diagra acupoint But the corams was more or less similar

In their hearts the two boys did not expect anything, they had nothing else to do anyway, so they sile-ht involuntarily followed the channels and acupoints that they already memorized well, and thus in the end, whether intentionally or not, they were actually going deep into the Nine Mysteries Great Method training

So the red arrow, soh there was no immediate effect, the two of the would suddenly get up from his sleep and, with his eyes still closed, walked around the valley according to the posture shown on the picture And Xu Ziling would only feel co to the posture shown on his picture Oneand the other still, each with his own interest

On the evening of the ninth day, there was a sudden thunderstorm; the two boys were unable to sleep, they were co wandered around the valley, Xu Ziling went to soak in the creek, with only his head above the water Both were training their respective skill

Not long afterwards, they both entered the peculiar state of ‘no-self’, where they seemed to be asleep, but were not actually asleep, and seemed to be awake, but not quite awake In their mind suddenly there was the picture that they kneell froer care about following any particular arrow, they simply entered the state of emptiness where their spirit was fixed on certain hard-to-describe phase

A who suddenly felt his heart was burning, the hot burning feeling like he was on fire And then the heat reached its peak, linked in countless ways it spilled onto all channels and acupoints, big and s was so unbearable that he nearly wanted to kill himself to end the pain It was fortunate that the ice-cold creek water and the rainwater slightly alleviate his pain

It was fortunate that Xu Ziling was smart that he knew that it was the er paid attention to the pain in his body, he also ignored the arbitrary rushi+ng and randoe of the ‘real qi’ within hi his

It was also fortunate that Fu Junchuo did not have ti of qi

If the ular Nine Mysteries Great Method training, the heat may start at the lower extre the arteries and veins, it would floard, breaking through Yu Zhen Guan [jade pillow pass], via Ni Jiu [ht Extraordinary Channels, Chapter 7] at the front This cycle continued ceaselessly for thirty-six days and becae martial art practitioners, this is the state where they yearn for even in their dreams, because from this state they would eth

Xu Ziling’s situation was actually unprecedented Average people would think that they were having fire deviation; if the fire deviation was mild, they would be paralyzed, if it were heavy their pulse and channels would rupture and they would perish Hence when shi+ Long tried to follow the diagram the other day, because he already had a preconceived idea, as soon as he felt soht, he stopped i, on the other hand, had no idea as going on, and thought that it ought to happen this way; under no apprehensions, the dead horse has beco horse, and he obtained the real essence of the diagra was under different situation A burst of incoe cold qi penetrated the top of his head and flowed into all channels and acupoints, big and small The cold was so intense that he nearly froze to death; auto freely

And thus the two of them overcame their respective adversity this way for two sichen [ie 4 hours] until daybreak Kou Zhong eventually could not endure anyround In this terrible moment, the channels in his entire body seemed to burst open at once and he lost consciousness

Xu Ziling felt that the tidal wave of heat that nearly burned hi; ness and lost his consciousness as well

By midday, the rain stopped and the sky was clear, the sun broke through the clouds and was shi+ning brightly Kou Zhong was the first to wake up; he felt his entire body was i sun at all It was extre was still unsure of as going on Recalling last night’s experience, he still had a lingering fear, and sat up in daze

One look around and he was amazed

The whole heaven and earth seemed to be a lot clearer Not only the colors were a lot richer, a lot of minute details that he usually overlooked have also becoe in the way the wind blows that he usually

The strangest thing was that both the heaven and the earth, the stone, a single blade of grass, seemed to be connected to him as if they were alive, while he hier becareatly surprised; he quietly pondered that after the qi was aroused, the world unexpectedly looked coht rushed forth in his heart,up i releefully, he called out, “Xiao Ling, I finished the first level Look! My body is a lot lighter, I can do soood brother

The fact is that even if we asked reat e and experience, they may not knohat kind of skill these two boys have trained Even the author of the ‘Secret to Long Life’at the two boys’ present condition

But the change in the two boys’ physique was real Only, speaking about real fight, unless their opponent was an ordinary disciple of ordinary school, it would not be hard tofor mercy However, if this trend continued, nobody could predict what kind of level these two boys would be able to reach

Hearing his shout, Xu Ziling slooke up Still floating on the water, he felt his body was cohtest bit of cold Hurriedly he crawled up the bank, and was so shaken that he dropped on his knees in disbelief Because he saw the world ice as beautiful than before

From that day onward, the two of them believed that they had reached the first level of the Nine Mysteries Great Method But reht, te

But then they could not stand having too , they went out to hunt, and did not go back to the valley until the sun set over the western hills However, no matter how tired they were, they only need to sleep and when they woke up, the fatigue immediately went away

When they woke up that day, Kou Zhong pulled Xu Ziling toward Fu Junchuo’s grave “If we continue like this,” he said, “Niang would not be happy Much less she still wanted us to get s and not si was silent for half a day Finally he nodded and said, “I ah we have trained a bit of our school’s skill, compared with real martial art master, the difference is still more than a li away If we only beco was so formidable, no matter e led and said, “Absolutely Just like Niang said, Yuwen Huaji is deter Life’, he will never let us off Perhaps he already has peoplea reward for our capture Hence we still need to lie low until the fuss dies down It is actually best to stay here, but if we continue like this, ill definitely turn into savages”

“So what’s your plan?” Xu Ziling asked

Acting as if he had already planned ahead Kou Zhong said, “First weLife’, and then we head south, try to find a city, countryside, county or town to stay and see if we canthere After we know the situation better, we can proceed with our original big plan of joining a o out very much Thereupon they irave, buried the ‘Secret to Long Life’, retrieved their clothes and put them on, bundled their silver well, and left this beautiful little secluded valley, which had made their hearts ached and their souls broken, which they would never forget forever

By this time it was already autu, they slowly recovered fro to talk and laugh lied to acquire, their self-confidence enjoyed considerable boost

After walking to the south for seven days, they cae There were only a dozen or so houses in this village, with only two or three had lantern lights, indicating that this village had suffered under the chaos of war, and that life was difficult, hence they had to save as ret in the two boys’ hearts for returning to civilization

As they alking toward the village, suddenly they heard a dog barking in the distance Is were jostling with each other while slowlytoward their direction The two boys were inwardly scared so they were on guard Fortunately a villager careeted theht

The nextfor clear direction to the nearest largest county-level town, they continued on their journey

After walking another ten or so days, they reached a big town called Cui Shan [lit bluish-green/green-jadeRiver, south of Xin’an County It was a town of approxi Lake [Jiangxi] The residents looked rather prosperous, there were stone bridges and row upon row of houses with tiled roof; it was a typical thriving Jiangnan town Although in ter, and it did not have high city walls, when the two boys saw the town, they both had a feeling that they wanted to live here

They were most interested in how exquisite was the clothes the wo and the eirls’ skill and the way they paid particular attention to details

Whatembroidered scarf draped over their upper arms, embroidered shoes on their feet, and thickly pleated skirt around their waists, raceful and vibrant, as they paraded ostentatiously around town in groups Looking at the girls, the two boys’ heart began to itch Especially now that they had a few pennies in their pocket, unlike before, where they were just poor drifters; their mood was completely different, they walked with puffed chest

The two boys found a small hotel that did not look too expensive, booked a small room, and then with much trepidation went to the town hall to scout around; if they saw their portraits in a wanted poster, they would immediately escape without a trace