Chapter 62: The Ancestral Matriarch's Tempering Bone Fist

  The image of the woman on the wall was actually demonstrating the iron bone fist, and Xiao Qiu was really startled. He didn't enter a state of pure imagination, and he immediately shifted his gaze to avoid the call of the unknown.

  He felt a surge of anger in his heart and didn't dare to look at the wall again - Xiao Qiu from Ye Lin Town could catch fish in the river and grab birds on trees, Pang Shan Dao Tong's disciple Mu Xingqiu was good at fighting and punching, but from head to toe, what made her look like a girl? How did she attract this trouble?

  Next to it was the Secret Department, and there were only three disciples in the area. Fangfang had already fully entered a state of reverie, Xia Qiu didn't go disturb her, and gazed enviously at the tower wall - being able to obtain the coveted inheritance was truly blissful.

  Xiao Qiu suddenly opened his eyes wide, and the wall of the Forbidden Sciences Tower actually displayed a graphic! Before that, he had walked around for two laps without any reaction.

  Not only that, the entire wall of the pagoda was opening up to him, with dense patterns and texts twinkling like stars in the sky. He had seen this scene once before on a Thought Ancestor's Day, but it had only lasted for an extremely short time.

  What surprised Xiao Qiu the most was that this time he didn't even enter a state of reverie. Looking around, among hundreds of disciples, he was the only one who was clear-headed, and it seemed that only those two female elders could see everything as well.

  Xiao Qiu walked forward slowly, Lin Duo was not there, he decided to conceal his special place, pretending to see nothing, just raising his head and gazing into the distance, where his eyes stayed, that small piece of text would quickly enlarge until it was clearly displayed.

  Xiao Qiu saw the complete inheritance of the 18 departments of the Jiudao Tong, with the first three ancestors and second nine ancestors still hidden in the darkness at the top of the tower. From the third generation of twelve ancestors onwards, all were clearly visible, eight men and four women, who were also the founders of the eighteen departments, some of whom held multiple positions.

  Apart from the obscure and nameless department with very few records, the other seventeen departments were all filled with talented individuals. The Secret Department was notoriously difficult to join and prone to demonic possession, yet many of its disciples had achieved enlightenment. Xia Qiu wondered if this might be the most attractive aspect of the department. He spotted Zuo Liu Ying's name on the lower part of the tower wall, but there were few records about him, and they were vague and unclear. The ancestral tower seemed unable to make a definitive judgment about him. Xia Qiu didn't want to draw the attention of either of his teachers, so he also didn't look too closely.

  Eighteen lines of transmission, the more they are passed down to later generations, the more people there are. The records on the wall are therefore narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, perfectly matching the shape of the pagoda. However, starting from the fourth generation of Taoist priests, only one person in each generation can be called the "Ancestor Master". He is among all the Taoist priests, with the largest image, shining with a distinctive red light, like a burning fire.

  To date, there have been more than thirty generations of ancestors. Apart from the unknown department, all seventeen departments have had ancestors, coming from different Taoist schools. The current 37th generation ancestor is the Wàng Shān Dào Tǒng Zōng Shī, and the transmission is the recitation department.

  Xiao Qiu deliberately looked at the five-line department for a while and found the name of Pang Shan Zong Shi Ning Qi Wei. He is a Dharmachakra who is proficient in all five-line techniques.

  Unconsciously, Xiao Qiu returned to the area of the unnamed department, and could see all eighteen inheritances. Naturally, he could also choose any one of the eighteen departments of Pongshan at will. Xiao Qiu had a bottom line in his heart, so he didn't have too much resistance to those twenty-nine figures that were still boxing, and stopped to watch for a while.

  These female successors were indeed practicing the Bone Fist, but upon closer inspection, there was a slight difference from the fist method taught by Pang Shan. The twenty-nine people's moves were not entirely the same, and the differences became greater as the generations went on. The woman who ranked among the twelve ancestors of the third generation had a particularly unique style.

  Tempering Bone Fist can only be used for physical training, Zhang Lingsheng made it very clear, and Xiao Qiu has a deep understanding of this. He had fought several times, not to mention Tempering Bone Fist, even the array fist method taught by Meng Yuanhou couldn't be applied, and he still relied on his past experience.

  But this female ancestor's tempered bone fist is different, she just modified the moves slightly and accelerated the speed, turning a simple physical exercise into a powerful attacking technique.

  Xiao Qiu was shocked and didn't expect that the Iron Bone Fist had such a move, she watched for just a few moments before being completely absorbed in it, no longer paying attention to the moves of the other twenty-eight female disciples.

  However, the 36 moves of Grandma's Iron Bone Fist were not the 64 moves that Xiao Qiu had learned. After finishing one set, she would start another, repeating the cycle and increasing her speed until Xiao Qiu could barely keep up with her movements.

  After the seventh repetition, some previously unseen text appeared on the edges of the female ancestor's diagram, describing breathing methods to match each move. The text was not long and Xia Qiu quickly memorized it, but it wasn't until the third appearance of the text that he noticed one line: "Turtle Breathing Dragon Leaping Method".

  Upon careful consideration of the meaning, it coincides with Lin Du's words "storing air", Xia Qiu suddenly thought of climbing Yang Shen Peak, if she masters this method, maybe she can climb even higher.

  Xiao Qiu watched the activity pictures and texts over and over again, when suddenly she heard someone speaking.

  "Congratulations, Mount Pong has produced a genius disciple."

  "We all know what genius is like, unless we reach the end, no one knows whether so-called genius is true or false."

  Xiao Qiu's head spun, and the entire tower seemed to be tilting precariously. When he came back to normal, the patterns on the wall had vanished, and the two women were standing ten paces away, staring at him - one with a smile, the other expressionless. Meanwhile, he himself was in the midst of executing a move from the Female Ancestor's Bone-Refining Fist technique.

  "What a unique tempered bone fist, where did you learn it from?" asked the Mountain Lady of Disorderly Thistle, her smile not much different from before, but her eyes full of interest.

  "I... I just imagined it myself." Xiao Qiu quickly composed himself and stood up straight, he didn't want to say out loud what he had seen, but he knew that lying in the presence of Pang Shan would be difficult, his heart couldn't help but beat wildly.

  "You're even more of a genius then, being able to modify the Iron Bone Fist to increase its power. Yang Daqian, what do you think?"

  Yang Baozhen's voice was calm and soothing, not moved at all by Xiao Qiu's fist method. "The Tao is boundless, the Bone Tempering Fist is just a fighting technique, no matter how powerful it is, it's useless. Mu Xingqiu, have you found your own legacy?"

  "No." Xia Qiu lied again. If it were Lin Xiao who had come with him today, he would have chosen to be honest and humble in seeking advice. But facing Yang Baozhen, he didn't want to reveal a single true fact.

  "You should keep looking."

  Xiao Qiu made a bow and responded, once again circling around the tower's interior. Behind him, the gaze of the women from Luanzhu Mountain had not shifted, "I saw his expression just now, it seemed like he had broken through the Three Fields, so he could see everything..."

  "That's not what the Flowing Light Treasure Mirror said." Yang Baozhen cut off the other person's words, using this as an end to the conversation. As a cultivator of the Way of the Unity of Heaven and Man, she naturally knew the results of the Flowing Light Treasure Mirror's appraisal.

  The guest of Luojia Mountain was the topic of discussion for Pangshan disciples all day, and at noon, even Zhou Ping couldn't help but comment a few words. He had seen three generations of female disciples from Luojia Mountain and thought that this year's standard was average.

  Xiao Qiu eats faster than anyone, puts down the bowl and rushes to Ban Yue Lin. Da Liang Shen Xiu Ming calls him but he doesn't respond. Taking advantage of his deep memory, he practices Nu Zu's Bone Fist for an entire afternoon, gradually coordinating with the Turtle Breathing Dragon Jumping method. The more he practices, the more he gains insight. At dusk, not only has he grasped some of the subtleties of the fist method, but also found a way to climb mountains.

  He simply didn't go to dinner, sat on the boulder in contemplation, and finally unknowingly entered a state of reverie. When he opened his eyes, it was already dark, and he didn't feel hungry at all, but wanted to try out the method he had thought of immediately.

  In front of the Qiyao Hall, a group of people gathered unexpectedly, including men and women, disciples of Pangshan and female disciples of Luanzhu Mountain. They showed their true faces to each other and were chatting happily with new friends they had just met.

  All taught Yang Baozhen herself was not there, her three reminders immediately became invalid. Xia Qiu walked around the mountain and found that it was really hard to find a quiet place to climb alone today, as there were people everywhere, and late work was forgotten by everyone.

  After circling around half of the mountain, Xia Qiu finally found a quiet place. This place is far away from the main road, with tall ancient trees close to the foot of the mountain. There are few people who come here during the day, and even fewer at night.

  Going around a big tree, Xiao Qiu found himself mistaken, someone had already taken over the place before him.

  "Fang Fang?" he exclaimed in surprise.

  Fang Fang turned around, as if she had just awakened from a reverie, looked at Xiao Qiu and said, "Yang Shen Peak is not an ordinary mountain peak."

  "Are you also mountain climbing?"

  "Like you, try once every day."

  "How could I have known?" Xia Qiu was even more surprised.

  "You said you wanted to climb the mountain alone, I'm the same." Fang Fang revealed a faint smile.

  Xiao Qiu coughed and asked, "Have you thought of a solution?"

  Fang Fang shook her head, "I was just thinking, why do we have to stay in the Nurturing Spirit Peak for three years without leaving the valley? Why is there a powerful seal at the edge of the mountain valley? What benefits does this bring to our cultivation? And you, have you found the key?"

  "Lin Dujiao told me that to climb the Yangshen Peak, I need to 'go against the small heaven and follow the big way'. The small heaven refers to myself. I got a set of turtle-breathing dragon-jumping techniques, which allows me to hold my breath for a long time and move even faster. But I think this can only help me climb higher, not reach the top. I still haven't found where the 'big way' is."

  "Reversing the small and following the big way." Fang Fang repeated these six words in a low voice, "The Spiritual Peak has no path, where is the big way?"

  She thought for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and walked up the mountain. It was really "walking" rather than "climbing". Her body was perpendicular to the cliff and parallel to the ground, just walking upwards as if on flat ground.

  Xiao Qiu was stunned.

  But Fangfang only walked out a dozen steps before falling down, fortunately she was agile and landed smoothly on the ground.

  "This is......" Xia Qiu could hardly believe her eyes.

  "Yangshen Peak is very special, up and down, left and right seem to be completely opposite from the outside, so ordinary disciples can't get out, and they need to bring a guide when entering. Unfortunately, my cultivation is not enough, I couldn't see through the truth here, every time I walk out for more than ten steps, my heart will feel panicked."

  "How did you think of it?" Xia Qiu's brain suddenly exploded, Fang Fang's hint was too important.

  "They all say that the Nurturing Spirit Peak wraps around the only branch of the Ancestral Tower, so it won't be naturally formed, but rather created by magic, and must have a very special place to help disciples cultivate." Fangfang stared at Xia Qiu, "The main body of the Ancestral Tower is only nine inches high, but its branch is so tall and large, Xia Qiu, don't you think this is strange?"

  "The Tao is boundless, its size is up to you, it's normal for it to change and become bigger."

  Fang's eyes lit up, "Size doesn't matter - what if it's not that Mount Yangshen is too big, but rather we're too small?"

  Xiao Qiu was stunned again, then thought of the pictures and texts inside the ancestral temple, to the left flowing English this generation's annotation Taoist priests, records have approached the ground, later generations of Taoist priests should be recorded where? Can only push all previous pictures and texts upwards, but the height of the ancestral temple itself will not change, need to accommodate nearly infinite inheritance with limited height.

  The ancestral hall can accommodate more people than its actual size, which is one of its wonders.

  "I'll give it a try," Xia Qiu said, closing her eyes, using the Turtle Breath method, taking the Dragon Leap step, with no thoughts in mind and no dependence on her body, she ran up the mountain.

  Fang Fang looked up and gazed out, only to see Xiao Qiu quickly disappear into the night, her heart filled with longing.

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)