Chapter 65 - 65 Xu Yan Returns i
Xu Yan has returned.
He’s returned with a large package on his back.
“Master, I’m back!”
Xu Yan put down the package and greeted respectfully.
“Good, good, it’s good to be back!”
Li Xuan nodded.
“Come, this is your junior disciple brother Meng Chong, this is your senior disciple brother Xu Yan!”
Li Xuan called Meng Chong over.
“Meng Chong pays his respects to the senior brother!”
Meng Chong greeted respectfully.
“Junior brother, you’re too polite!”
Xu Yan reciprocated, a bit surprised that Master had already taken in a disciple!
“Junior brother, this is a gift from your senior brother!”
Since he now had a junior brother, he, being the senior brother, should make some sort of gesture.
Xu Yan reached into the package and pulled out a large saber.
“This…Thankyou, senior brother!”
Meng Chong touched his bald head and gratefully accepted the saber.
The moment he held it, it was heavy. He slightly pulled it out of its sheath, instantly filled with immense joy.
This saber seemed extraordinary!
Li Xuan’s expression shifted, that saber didn’t look like an ordinary steel blade.
“Disciple, where did this saber come from?”
“Master, I found it in the royal treasury. All these are from the royal treasury.”
Xu Yan grinned excitedly as he opened the package to reveal medicinal herbs, calligraphy and paintings, precious gems and all sorts of rare treasures. “Master, these are gifts I brought for you!”
“Very thoughtful!”
Li Xuan felt gratified knowing that his disciple was so filial.
However, he didn’t particularly value these items.
After all, as a Martial Artist, his mindset and perspective are now different.
Meng Chong looked on with envy, thinking to himself, “Senior brother got gifts for master from the palace, and 1 haven’t presented master with a gift since 1 became his disciple.
“Once I succeed in martial arts, I’ll make a trip back to Wu Country, get the one hundred thousand taels of gold from the Emperor of Wu, and also check out his treasury for any valuable items!”
Li Xuan sat in his chair, listening to Xu Yan recount his adventures. Xu Yan told the whole story, very thoroughly.
“I didn’t expect the Emperor Qi to be such a decent fellow.”
In the end, Xu Yan chuckled.
Li Xuan sighed inwardly, Emperor Qi was a decisive individual. By trapping Gou Rongshan with his reputation, Gou Rongshan would certainly not rebel unless absolutely necessary for the sake of his esteemed status.
“Disciple, you need to remember, you now possess power beyond royalty and the entire Qi Country. No need to feel restricted when handling matters…”
“Yes, Master!”
Xu Yan nodded, then started talking about the Heavenly Mother Sect: “That Kou Ruozhi actually wanted to name me as the Grand Saint of Heaven, tying me to the Heavenly Mother Sect. He’s delusional!”
Li Xuan was taken aback, the Grand Saint of Heaven?
What a coincidence, that night the elderly man in the hemp robe and the County Magistrate wanted to name him the Grand Saint of Heaven.
And in the prefecture city, Kou Ruozhi also wanted to make Xu Yan the Grand Saint of Heaven. It seemed the people in the Heavenly Mother Sect were always looking for the right person to become the Grand Saint of Heaven.
So, it was such a coincidence.
Xu Yan was back, and with both his disciples present, Li Xuan shifted his focus more towards the grand scheme of martial arts. Especially how Meng Chong should further cultivate his physical body.
“Master, the cultivation technique that junior brother practices seem a bit different.”
Meng Chong was diligent in his practice; he spent over half of his day on cultivation.
Xu Yan watched for a while, revealing an expression of confusion.
“Meng Chong’s potential is in his physical strength, what I impart to him is body-oriented martial arts, focusing on the refinement of the physical body…” Li Xuan calls Meng Chong over.
It is time to explain to his disciple the issues about the martial arts system, future new disciples may possibly open up new branches of martial arts.
“Xu Yan, you are cultivating the orthodox martial arts, your bones are pristine, and the purity of your martial arts has been achieved. You should understand it as well, so there’s no need for me to elaborate.”
Li Xuan’s mysterious aura enshrouds him entirely, making him seem more inscrutable in his clear state of mind.
Xu Yan and Meng Chong are both shocked at how truly inscrutable their master is.
“Meng Chong is cultivating body-oriented martial arts, focusing on physical body refinement, reflecting a strong strength in himself, but it is not brute force…
“The Golden Bell Shield is foundational in body-oriented martial arts, with vitality as strong as the golden bell, confining it into yourself, a defense which is unrivaled…”
Li Xuan briefly explains the body-oriented martial arts.
“Orthodox martial arts’ fundamental state is to temper jade bones, jade bones without flaw, martial arts at its purest, this is the foundation of martial arts…
“And the foundation of body-oriented martial arts is the Diamond Glazed Bone. Only after tempering the Diamond Glazed Bone, can one be said to have truly reached the quintessential foundation of body-oriented martial arts. “Meng Chong, do you understand?”
At the end, Li Xuan looks at Meng Chong and solemnly asks.
Meng Chong’s heart tightened, and he respectfully answered, “Disciple understands, 1 will definitely not let down master, I will indeed temper the Diamond Glazed Bone!”
“Your unwavering determination reassures me.”
Li Xuan nodded.
“Master, between orthodox martial arts and body-oriented martial arts, which one is stronger?”
Xu Yan couldn’t help but ask.
Body-oriented martial arts doesn’t sound simple, achieving the state of the Golden Bell, becoming invincible in defense sounds difficult to break!
And the force of the physical body is extremely powerful.
Li Xuan said calmly with a smile, “Whether it’s orthodox martial arts or body-oriented martial arts, there’s no real distinction of strong and weak, strength or weakness simply depends on the person.
“Orthodox martial arts practitioners enter with gold bones, body-oriented martial arts practitioners enter with copper bones, who is stronger or weaker?
“Even if both disciplines start with gold bones, who is stronger or weaker? Whoever has a deeper understanding and richer experience in dealing with opponents naturally has an advantage.”
Xu Yan nodded silently, excitement showing on his face, he looked at Meng Chong and said, “Junior brother, once you’ve entered the door, we’ll compare notes, the experts in the outside world are too weak, and it’s no fun.”
“Good! Brother, wait for me to get started!”
Meng Chong has an excited look on his face as well.
“Master, can ordinary people practice martial arts? 1 want to teach martial arts to my family and let them give it a try!”
Xu Yan lowered his head, sneaking a look at Li Xuan while speaking.
Whether the cultivation technique can be passed on or not requires the master’s permission.
“You may pass it on if you wish, but whether they can cultivate is a unknown, how long they will need, and how different everyone’s martial arts talent is, those without martial arts talent might not be able to breakthrough their entire lives.”
After a brief deliberation, Li Xuan gave Xu Yan permission to pass on the cultivation techniques.
The benefits of sharing completed cultivation techniques with others can be fairly minimal, but what if many people are practicing?
Little streams make a mighty river, there may be unexpected gains?
Since Xu Yan wants to pass it on, it’s a good opportunity to see what happens.
The biggest benefit of Golden Finger is undoubtedly direct disciples successfully cultivating unique techniques that he devised. If the technique has been completed and is passed on to other disciples, the feedback is not high.
But that does not mean there are no returns, just that the returns are very low.
What if the technique is widely distributed?
With more people practicing, accumulating over time, there might be unexpected gains.
As Li Xuan thought about it, he decided to try it out by letting Xu Yan share the technique, after all, how many people can succeed in cultivating the technique is still unknown.
Martial arts eventually favor those with talent.
“Thankyou, Master!”
Xu Yan was very excited.
“Focus on your cultivation, strengthening oneself is what’s important, the martial path is endless!”
Li Xuan encouraged..