Chapter Twenty-Four A Night of Deep Thought

  Listening to the faint sound of waves outside the cabin, lying on the bed with the wind, looking out through the quartz wall. At this moment, the night is already deep, the moon is high in the sky, half-hidden among the clouds. On the river surface, only a few flat boats are moored, leaving behind a few scattered fishing fires. This scenery is as quiet and peaceful as can be.

  At this moment, he thought of many things. He remembered the old man selling pancakes in Yangzhou City; he remembered his parents' care for him when he was young; he remembered the scene where Changming Uncle and he parted ways reluctantly. When he was a child, Su Tian often brought him to the banks of the Yangtze River, listening to the sound of the river rising and falling. At that time, he didn't have to worry about food and clothing, nor did he live such a wandering life, and he wouldn't worry about his own safety. His mother would tell him stories of heroes and great men since ancient times by his bedside, and he still remembered that every time the story ended, he would smile and say: "Don't worry, mom, when I grow up, I will definitely become such a hero."

  The words still echo in my ears, the scenes are all vivid in my mind, and it has become a place with only people. Those fragmented memories of drips and drops surged into my heart, and a sense of loneliness that I had never felt before quietly arose. Before, he was busy running around every day for survival, without any gap to breathe, so he had never had this feeling.

  It's just a brief moment of tranquility, but those hidden and suppressed emotions are about to erupt silently. There's nothing more bitter than loneliness in this world, and how can a small boy like Fengfeng withstand it? The faces of his parents flashed before his eyes again and again, his nose couldn't help but ache, and he buried his head in the quilt and cried loudly for a long time.

  The bitterness and hardship of all these years seemed to have turned into tears, which rolled away. "You will eventually have to walk your own path." For some reason, Wang Changming's words popped up in his mind again. He pulled his head out from under the covers, although his nose was still twitching nonstop, but his tears finally stopped. "Elder Hua started practicing martial arts at 15 and became a great hero, why can't I?" He touched his chest, where the golden plaque with the words "Xi Tian Jue" was still there. He thought of his father's painstaking efforts to hide Xi Tian Jue in the tombstone, and he choked up again.

  "Father, Mother, Uncle Changming, I will not disappoint you. I, Feng Xing, will grow up to become a hero of the ages!" Tears welled up in his eyes, but his still-youthful face was set with determination.

  Outside the quartz wall, the moon had emerged from the thick dark clouds. The bright moon was in the sky, shining with a silver light that poured down, and the atmosphere changed with the wind, no longer the weak boy before. At this time, the candle had burned to the end, and the flame flickered and went out. Looking at the empty candle holder in silence, thinking of the invincible Murong Yu Feng. But this time, thinking of him was no longer a sigh, but a surge of excitement in his heart, secretly vowing "Murong Yu Feng, I will definitely surpass you!"

  At this point, he felt more and more that time waits for no man, and there was not a moment to waste. He immediately sat down cross-legged, silently reciting the Xī Tiān Fǎ Jué (Mysterious Heaven Formula) to start his practice.

  Practicing martial arts, especially internal skills, is particularly taboo for being greedy and impatient. Since childhood, I have repeatedly heard my father emphasize this. Even when just starting out, he remains calm and unhurried, slowly guiding the subtle energy between heaven and earth into his body. The Heavenly Key to Analyzing Heaven uses the Book of Changes as its foundation, which is most able to eliminate impurities and retain the essence, transforming the acquired into the innate, and dividing the innate into yin-yang and the five elements. This method requires extremely high standards for the meridians; the wider the meridian, the faster the practice progresses.

  Suī fēng qǐ chū jí wèi jǐn shèn, zhǐ yǐn yī sī líng qì, jīng guò fǎ jué yī cuī dòng, hòu tiān fǎn chéng xiān tiān, biàn qù le jiǔ chéng jiǔ jī hū sī háo bù shèng. Tā dào bù yě jí, yī diǎn diǎn de jiā dà líng qì yǐn dòng liàng, zhí zhì zuì hòu jīng mài bèi tòng dào jí xiàn, jī hū jiù yào sī liè shí yòu huǎn huǎn jiǎn shǎo. Zhè yī fān zhé diàolái lái, suī fēng téng dé mǎn tóu shì hàn. Zhōng yú chán dào le yī sī xiān tiān zhī qì.

  With the gentle urging of a wisp of innate energy, it circulated through the meridians and finally slowly sank into the Sea of Qi. In an instant, a refreshing sensation that seemed to penetrate heaven and earth surged into his mind, just like a person who had been starving for three days finally getting to eat a delicacy. The innate energy entered the Dan Tian and immediately dispersed, turning into a faint, invisible mist. The road ahead was still very long, but Zuo Feng didn't know that today marked the official first step of his cultivation journey.

  As he closed his eyes and carefully sensed, the breath in his meridians was as thin as a strand of silk, almost imperceptible. The more he sensed, the more he realized the importance of the meridians. "Ah, what a pity that I'm old, my meridians aren't as tender as those of children, otherwise this speed would definitely be much faster." Just as he was lamenting in secret, he suddenly remembered that the sword manual given by Changming seemed to have the effect of expanding the meridians. Previously, he didn't understand the inner breath at all and didn't dare to practice randomly. This time, after practicing the Xī Tiān Jué, he had a general understanding of the distribution of meridians in his body, so he no longer had any worries.

  It suddenly occurred to him that the Pure Sword had been borrowed by Liang Stealer, but fortunately, on the wall of this room in the Murong family house, there were swords and other weapons hanging. Su Feng picked one up at random and began to dance according to the sword manual.

  One side secretly operated the Tian Xuan secret technique, while the other followed the sword technique to practice. At the same time, using the Tian Xuan technique, this refined energy was transformed into pre-heavenly energy. Indeed, a warm breath flowed into the meridians through the wrist, just like rain nourishing the soil, every inch of the meridian got a little extension. Although it's not obvious, but with the wind, it seemed as if the whole body was breathing and full of vitality.

  Suddenly, a bold idea came with the wind, "Can I use the Xuan Tian Jue to stimulate this pre-heavenly energy and merge it into the Qi Hai?"

  Although there was still a bit of concern, thinking that if it succeeded, the speed of cultivation could be increased several times. He couldn't resist the temptation and carefully tried it out. Although most of it still dispersed into his limbs, a small part of it really entered his dantian.

  Overwhelmed with surprise, Xun was almost jumping for joy. Although the sword mantra gathered spiritual energy slower than simple meditation, it could both expand the meridians and improve swordsmanship. Just this one aspect of expanding the meridians could be considered a heavenly divine skill. Xun also knew this point and was already very satisfied in his heart. He quickly calmed down his thoughts, stopped daydreaming, and focused on practicing his sword skills.

  As the night deepened, it became increasingly quiet. The sound of sword humming in the room was faintly heard, echoing with the waves outside the cabin, rising and falling, lasting for more than half the night. Near dawn, Su Feng stopped practicing, fearing that he would be heard by the disciples of the Murong family.

  On this winter morning, the dawn was already late. Although it was still pitch black outside, the time for the rooster's crowing had long passed. The air inside Ran Feng's dantian had already been filled with a lot of pre-heavenly energy, but these energies were not very pure and needed to be further refined. However, compared to ordinary people, this was already an extremely fast speed. But Ran Feng still felt it wasn't enough. He himself knew how big the gap between him and Liang Ze and Mu Rong Yu was. Who knows if their progress wasn't slower than his.

  He then started practicing the Phantom Step in the house. According to Liang Ze's words, if the Phantom Step is practiced to its extreme, it can not only traverse empty spaces, but also take a step that is as large as several meters or as small as a tiny fraction of an inch, changing unpredictably.

  Don't rush with the wind, start from the basics. First, take ten slow steps in the room and measure it roughly, about three zhang. The heart method says "slowly take ten steps, the heart method follows. Strides gradually increase, steps gradually decrease, until it becomes one." That is to say, every time you drive with the fantasy step heart method, after becoming more proficient day by day, your stride will unknowingly become larger. The number of steps required for the same distance will also decrease accordingly, which is called "merging steps" in the heart method. When one step can span ten steps, it is considered to have achieved some minor success.

  Of course, the Fantastical Step is not just about the Coordinated Step; there are many other ingenious uses. However, the Coordinated Step is the foundation of all other stepping methods, and it's also the one used most often in emergency situations.

  He had thought that this kind of footwork would be simpler compared to internal strength, but he tried it many times according to the mental method, and each time either his inner breath couldn't keep up with his footsteps or he forgot about his footsteps while focusing on his inner breath. Often after practicing a few times, he would stop, panting, and think back to the scene where Liang Stealer used Phantom Steps to get on top of Water Dragon Whirl. Following the wind, he sighed and slowly imitated Liang Stealer's movements.

  He gradually realized that it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined. As long as his footsteps were accurate, and he slightly adjusted his breath, the air would flow naturally without needing to be too deliberate. Before this, he hadn't grasped this key point despite trying many times in the past. Later on, he simply stopped using internal force and focused solely on the footwork.

  His internal strength was extremely shallow at this moment, and he couldn't even walk a few times. Without using his internal strength, it actually felt more smooth. After coming back three to five times, he gradually gained some insight. Although he had already taken one step forward, he still had a feeling of being in an illusory state. When he finished the ten steps and looked down, he found that he had already exceeded a distance of over three zhang. Seeing that there was finally some effect, Ran Feng felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart, and his enthusiasm for practice became even more intense.

  This exercise was only half a time. His footwork had become more and more skilled, without adding internal breath, ten steps were not enough to reach a distance of three zhang. What made him puzzled was that every time he stepped down, the distance was clearly unchanged, why would it be farther than before? This question Liang Tou'er didn't mention before, maybe he didn't know either.

  He didn't dwell on those unanswerable questions, and instead focused solely on his cultivation. He gradually closed his inner breath again. At this moment, his foundation was shallow, and he could only take three steps within a distance of three meters using his inner breath. After the third step, his dantian would be empty, and he would have to sit down and adjust his breath again. Fortunately, as long as a thread of the pre-heavenly true energy stored in his dantian remained, he could quickly cultivate it back, unlike before when he had to absorb it bit by bit from the heavens and earth.

  It took him another half an hour to perfectly merge his inner energy into his footsteps. The three-zhang distance was covered in just nine steps, which was only one-tenth less than before, but it was a huge opportunity. Later, when his internal strength improved further, the effect would be even more pronounced.

  Finally, he took a few more steps to solidify his movements, and with each step, he felt as if his body was about to disappear. The feeling was as if he was going to slip away from the world, although it only lasted for an instant, but it still shook Su Feng severely. What Liang Ze said was not wrong at all, this footwork was indeed the best in the world.

  "I wonder what special properties the Qingyun Step he learned has?" muttered to himself. He looked outside again, and at this moment, a faint white line could be seen on the horizon. It was time to get up and wash up, and it wasn't until then that Su Feng realized he had been practicing all night. However, he felt very spirited at the moment, feeling the prenatal energy in his dantian. People who practice martial arts often practice all night, which is normal. Internal skills originally have the effect of eliminating fatigue and recovering energy, and some high-level practitioners even go into closed-door meditation for several days without eating or drinking or sleeping, which is where the term "Bigu" comes from.