Chapter 66: The Tides of the Azure Sea

  Looking at the back of the figure swaying in the sea breeze on the deck, Takahashi Nokaze still stood quietly by the ship's side. Rubbing and playing with the ring on his left hand, a strange color flowed out of his eyes.

  Like Gao Qiao, Du Aniu also looked out at the wind outside through the window in the wing room, and there were some unknown colors in his eyes.

  At this moment, Suifeng didn't know any of these things and had no idea what they were up to. What was waiting for him in the distant Fusang? All of this was a vast unknown, and his original plan had been completely disrupted. However, Suifeng wasn't bothered; he had long since grown accustomed to such an unpredictable life. Since he had come, then so be it - there was nothing worth getting worked up over.

  He watched the tide rise and fall for a while before returning to his room to rest. He didn't know why, but every time he saw the tide ebb and flow, his mood would calm down a lot.

  The injuries he had suffered before were severe, and he had exhausted all his internal strength. He had also clashed with the Mad Blade, and his internal injuries were extremely serious. Moreover, after being soaked in the icy river water for a long time, some of the cold air had entered his body. The internal injuries on top of each other made him even more severely injured, and he didn't have any internal strength to regulate himself, almost fainting several times.

  The next few days were very simple and repetitive. Every day, he would go to Mr. Takahashi's place to learn basic Japanese communication skills, and when he was free, he would either gaze at the sea waves or return to his room to slowly nurse his injuries.

  But to Du A Niu, at the beginning of the wind, with a sickly face, if he hadn't guessed that he might have been seriously injured, A Niu would not have thought that he was a martial artist walking in the world with a treasure sword. As time passed bit by bit, the wind's body quickly recovered, where was there still a hint of sickness? Not only that, but the wind's demeanor seemed to have unknowingly added a touch of elegance, making A Niu feel even more mysterious and unfathomable. And yet, Mr. Takahashi was eerily without any unusual expressions, as if all this had happened just as it should be.

  Three days is neither short nor long, after three days of adjusting and cultivating his internal energy, Rong Feng finally recovered from his injuries. Moreover, compared to before, it seemed that his strength had increased a bit.

  The wind rose, a sound of waves rolling in. One wave pressed against another, rolling in continuously. Watching the tides over the past few days with the wind, I've also summed up some rules. Every morning, the tide recedes, and the entire sea is calm and peaceful. But by late afternoon, the tide surges violently again, and this has been the case for several days in a row.

  "The tides rise and fall, that's just life." He sighed with the wind, and suddenly an idea surged up in his heart. Every time the tide falls, it will surely rise again, and each time it rises, it will be higher than before. Just like his inner strength, every time he exhausts himself, after recovering his power, he will definitely make progress compared to before. This is what they call "breaking down and then standing up"

  No wonder Liang Ze said that many great heroes are honed through countless trials of life and death, just like the ebb and flow of these waves. Each receding tide is followed by a more magnificent rising tide, so their martial arts skills also grow stronger with each trial.

  Ebb and flow... martial arts. Savoring the subtle connection between them in the wind, I stood for a long, long time, suddenly coming back to my senses. If this ebb and flow theory were applied to internal skill cultivation, what kind of effect would it have?

  Never heard of anyone having such an attempt before, with a gleam in his eyes, rubbing his fists and palms, eager to summarize the method and try it out today.

  Is it that easy to apply a brand new idea in practice? His inner skill was only slightly accomplished, and he didn't have such a deep understanding of various mental methods. He also knew that blind attempts were extremely dangerous. The creation of each previous internal skill was the result of countless efforts by predecessors before being summarized.

  In the following days, Sui Feng spent his time either learning Japanese from Mr. Takahashi or standing on the deck watching the wind, clouds and waves changing.

  The sea tide is not just about rising and falling, but also the warm or cold sea breeze blowing across your face, rolling up your hair, as if you have merged into this land and sea. In addition, there are the waves that rise and fall one after another, which is the breathing sound of the entire sea.

  Standing on the deck for a long time, I became more and more familiar with this sea, feeling more and more intimate. Listening to the chanting of the waves by my ear, I unconsciously relaxed my whole body and mind, letting the Taiji diagram in my Dantian breathe with the breath of the vast ocean, and my inner breath rise and fall with the ups and downs of the waves.

  Unconsciously, a wonderful feeling of the harmony between heaven and earth rose to his mind, as if his dantian was an ocean, and the taiji inner power within it was the seawater. Each time the inner power receded like the tide, only to surge up again more turbulent than before. Thus, he opened and closed, but he merely touched upon the realm of the intention with great difficulty, for his strength was still insufficient to perfectly display it. Nevertheless, practicing in this way was extremely beneficial.

  Suī fēng yě zuò le yī cì shí yàn, gù yì jiāng tǐ nèi quán bù de nèi gōng xūn suǒ sàn qù, rán hòu yòng zhè cháo tuó tǔ nà hū xī zhī fǎ yùn gōng. Duǎn duǎn shí jǐ gè hū xī, biàn jiāng quán bù de nèi lì yòu xūn suǒ huī fù le guò lái, ér qiě bǐ zhī cóng qián hái ruò wēi yǒu xī biàn hé hún hòu.

  If the operation can be so, then it should also be possible when washing and refining the marrow. Many of the previous high-ranking officials who were surprised by their beauty encountered such or other obstacles when the air was circulating through the meridians, and they would often be trapped in a certain meridian acupoint for a long time without breaking through, which is the bottleneck in martial arts.

  He also encountered such a bottleneck. Before that, he had already opened up Ren Du and Chong Mai among the eight extraordinary meridians of his whole body. Everything that happened in front of Deng Longtai, no matter how he thought about it, couldn't let go. In order to protect him, Yun Shui gradually paid with her life, and Liang Ze'er's whereabouts were unknown. For several consecutive days, every night he would dream of the scene at that time, and then wake up in the middle of the night.

  In the corridor in front of Tianxu Xinggong, he heard a loud noise when he was running away for the last time. Now that I think about it, it was clearly the sound of some kind of firearm exploding. No wonder at the end, although Blood Hiding's aura was strong, his speed of chasing himself was not fast, and he was injured at that time.

  The fate of the missing Liang Ze can be imagined. It is likely that he has met with disaster rather than good fortune.

  Forcing a smile all along, but what has happened must be faced. When thinking about it, there are still tears in my eyes.

  Liu Jin, Murong Xuanyu, then Kuangdao and Xue Yin, the faces of those he had once looked up to appeared one by one in front of him. Sui Feng didn't know how much longer he would continue to look up to them, but for now, he couldn't wait any longer. Although his current strength was many times stronger than before, if he still couldn't enter the Xiantian, how could he be worthy of the sacrifices made by Hua Jiu and Gong, Liang Tou'er and others who had died for him?

  The third meridian he wants to open is the Dai Mai, also known as the Belt Vessel. The Dai Mai can restrain and regulate the longitudinal meridians, including the Chong, Ren, and Du meridians, which share a common origin but branch out differently. All of these meridians are connected to the Dai Mai. This includes the three yin and yang meridians of the legs, as well as the Yin and Yang Qiao meridians, all of which are restrained by the Dai Mai. Once this meridian is opened, it can not only enhance his cultivation but also connect the leg meridians, allowing him to take his Phantom Step to the next level. If the Dai Mai is opened, then opening the Yin and Yang Qiao meridians will be a straightforward task. This is also the meridian that Xun Er is eager to open at this moment.

  Long before they set foot on the Dragon Platform, Su Feng had already begun his efforts to break through the meridian. However, each acupoint within the meridian was as hard as a boulder, and Su Feng's daily internal force attacks only managed to open up one acupoint after several days of effort.

  Arrived at the second acupoint, it was simply like Taiyue, let alone breaking through, even shaking was almost impossible. This is just the second major acupoint, and there are 17 acupoints in total along the belt meridian that connects the whole body. The second one was already so difficult to break through, and it can be imagined how hard it would be to open up the subsequent acupoints.

  No wonder Liang Ze said earlier that encountering a bottleneck in martial arts and bitter practice is of no benefit. Without an epiphany or sudden enlightenment, it's difficult to get through the bottleneck.

  It wasn't until then that I realized that opening up the meridians wasn't as easy as I had imagined, which is why there are so few innate masters in the world. Just opening up the meridians was extremely difficult, not to mention communicating with nature and heaven, which was even more challenging. However, the meridians were different from practicing internal energy, and slight mistakes could lead to disastrous consequences, such as losing one's martial arts skills or even risking one's life.

  Can the Dharma obtained from Bi Hai Chao Sheng be used on meridians?

  His eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he was hesitant. But thinking again, he had never been in a moment like now when he urgently needed to increase his strength. Wasn't the idea of his father about the complementarity of Huitian Gong and Xitian Gong also a guess? Many times, wrong decisions are better than no decision at all.

  The uncertain journey of Fusang, if there is no strength as the backbone, the future prospects are likely to be very bleak. Apart from his initial family feud, he has indeed borne many burdens. Just thinking about the Blood Concealment that has already entered the Pre-Heaven realm is like having a huge mountain pressed on his heart.

  The tide in front of me has receded to its lowest point, just like the current predicament that is drifting with the wind.

  Eyes dim as the wind, but in his heart, he had already made up his mind. Silently circulating his Qi, using his entire Dantian's energy flow as a vast ocean, those sealed and unopened acupoints were like unbreakable reefs on the shore. As he practiced, it was as if the tide of the emerald sea surged forth, wave after wave rising, one wave not enough, then slowly receding, followed by an even stronger second wave riding on the remaining momentum. Thus, ring after ring, it seemed that his body had truly become a vast ocean, and when he closed his eyes to introspect, he could even hear the sound of the tide ebbing and flowing within him.

  No matter how magnificent human power is, it cannot be compared to the mighty force of nature. The momentum of a tsunami, like billions of galloping horses, has completely exceeded human imagination. Even stubborn boulders that have stood for thousands of years will be shattered entirely, and nothing can survive in front of such waves.

  With a sudden burst of energy, a mouthful of blood spurted out and fell into the sea below, forming a crimson patch. With Wind wiped the corner of his mouth, but there was a hint of excitement in his eyes. The previous bout of intense internal energy had indeed slightly shaken the unyielding acupoint. However, as the saying goes, "pull one hair and move the whole body", he came at it with such force that although he didn't use brute strength to try and break through, his internal energy was too vigorous and ended up injuring his meridians.

  Looking at the sun that has already risen to the middle of the sky, even in winter, the noon sun is still very scorching. Having been exposed to it for too long, even a martial artist would feel somewhat uncomfortable.

  He pretended nothing had happened, and returned to the house with a normal expression. Only then did he reveal his brilliant smile, although he had suffered some minor injuries, it proved that his conjecture was completely correct, and this method could indeed dredge and unblock the closed acupoints. The benefits of this to his entire internal skill cultivation were immeasurable.

  Actually, he didn't know that his easy success was a stroke of luck. Firstly, he had mastered both the Heavenly Return Technique and the Analytical Heaven Technique, two extraordinary methods with extremely strong inclusiveness, which wouldn't have combined so perfectly otherwise. Additionally, he had previously tried using the Tidal Breathing Method to circulate his internal energy, and when he transformed his yin-yang into Taiji earlier, it greatly improved his control over his internal power. This allowed him to timely control the surging internal energy that was like a raging wave. If it were someone else, they would have already died from infinite layers of internal energy accumulation. Moreover, the pre-heavenly energy transformed by the Taiji internal energy within his body was originally gentle and warm due to its purity, causing relatively minor damage to his meridians. Without these reasons, he would have likely failed long ago.