Free Web NovelChapter 500: Chapter 216: The Sect’s Legacy, a Heavy Burden and a Long Road
The Imperial City was located in the southeastern part of the Great Yuan Dynasty. The Canal flowed eastward, and according to Yu Wanshao, they would reach the Imperial City after traveling for three days by water and another two by land.
Chu Lingguang planned to use this rare three-day opportunity to read through all the books.
Now that his Sea of Consciousness Power had evolved, a small ocean had appeared within it, granting him a photographic memory. The first book he read was Heavenward Force.
It contained various annotations on techniques. Although Chu Lingguang had already mastered this Kung Fu, he read through all the material anyway. He followed it with other Martial Arts he had already learned, such as the Iron Mountain Saber Technique and the Basic Thirteen Spear Techniques.
Although he had already learned them, some even to the stage of Perfection, Chu Lingguang still found he could gain new insights from reading the annotations and personal reflections left by the predecessors of his sect.
Next, he turned to the Flying Leaf Lotus Spear.
This Spear Technique was a cornerstone of his sect’s Martial Arts. All of his martial brothers, as well as everyone from the previous generation, had practiced it. Consequently, its manual had the most annotations, filled with a wide variety of insights, and Chu Lingguang studied every single one.
After he finished, he closed the book and carefully compared the different perspectives in his mind, hoping to spark some new ideas.
And so, for three days, he stayed in his small cabin, completely engrossed. He read through every one of the Secret Martial Arts Manuals Guo Wei had given him, even rereading some of them several times over.
To his surprise, the collection of Secret Martial Arts Manuals also included Sword Techniques, Whip Techniques, and even methods for using various Heavy Weapons. One, in particular, was a Body Refining Method that promised to awaken defensive capabilities and Attack Power comparable to a sixth-level Dharma Aspect through tempering the physical body.
However, the training was arduous and yielded slow results. According to the manual, throughout the sect’s entire history, members had only attempted the Body Refining Method during its golden age. Even then, only a single person had ever managed to cultivate it to the stage of Perfection.
From that predecessor’s personal reflections, Chu Lingguang learned that the so-called Body Refining Method involved communing with one’s Qi Blood. By causing the Qi Blood to combust, one could elicit a special response from their flesh and blood, which would then trigger an evolution and transformation of the body.
If one lacked precise control over their Qi Blood, they couldn’t make it combust naturally. Instead, they would have to rely on stimulation from external forces and medicinal powders. The process was described as being similar to ingesting Heart-Devouring Powder—an agony that no ordinary person could endure.
Even if one succeeded in making their Qi Blood combust, the pain was no less agonizing than taking Heart-Devouring Powder. That was why even someone like Guo Wei had never practiced this particular Body Refining Method.
After reading through the Secret Martial Arts Manuals, Chu Lingguang discovered that there were at least six or seven techniques that Guo Wei himself had never practiced.
The Body Refining Method was just one.
Guo Wei had also likely never practiced any of the Whip Techniques, the methods for using several Heavy Weapons, or a particular leg technique called Thousand Layered Mountain.
All of these techniques shared a prerequisite: they required exceptionally strong Qi Blood for support. The slightest mistake could lead to permanent complications or even severe internal injuries.
That was why, before Chu Lingguang left, Guo Wei had simply encouraged him to do his best and not be too hard on himself. He had especially warned him against wasting time on unfamiliar Martial Arts during the critical run-up to the Martial Arts Examination.
「The three days on the water passed in the blink of an eye.」
After another two days of riding on land, Chu Lingguang, Yu Wanshao, and the others finally reached the Imperial City, having journeyed with great difficulty from a small county in the Northern Territory and across the entire Southern Domain.
They had arrived at the most prosperous and power-concentrated place in all of the Great Yuan.
(Author’s Note: I was going to write another 3,000 words, but it’s just too cold. Your humble author, Fat Dragon, is a southerner with no heating! All this extra padding is useless. Future updates will be earlier than today’s; I just can’t make it through the cold nights.)
