Chapter 1: Cultivating Qi in Nine Layers

  "You and I are ordinary people, living in the world, busy every day, never having a moment of leisure!"

  In the Great Qi Dynasty, in a small courtyard within the Ning Wang Fu, a familiar yet strange singing voice floated through the air.

  The one singing is a thirteen or fourteen year old boy in Chinese clothing. Although the expression on his face appears somewhat childish, his eyes reveal a hint of cleverness and cunning, occasionally flashing with a glimmer of sharpness.

  He hummed a tune in his mouth, holding a book volume in his hand, shaking his head and swaying back and forth, with a very happy look.

  It's really a happy accident. As a young person in the new era, I naturally think about wearing such things. Moreover, this guy was on the run for some reason in his previous life, and suddenly he wore it like that. The identity of the wearer is not ordinary at all. Most importantly, this world is completely different from his previous life, and it's a world where martial artists are respected.

  The warriors are revered, somewhat similar to the martial arts world of ancient China, but it is clear that the level of warriors here is much stronger than most martial arts worlds, more like a fantasy world.

  There is no magic here, no cultivation, some are just warriors, and some are just on the path of martial arts.

  This is Wang Guanlan's memory obtained from the object he wore, rather than saying that it is a traversal, it is better to say that it is a fusion of memories. The problem is that Wang Guanlan's consciousness and memory dominated this body, while the original owner of this body only left behind his own fragmented memories.

  From the other party's memory fragments, Wang Guanlan learned that the world he had traveled to was called the Great Qi Dynasty.

  An ancient dynasty with a history of six hundred years, the Ning Wang Fu's history is as long as that of the Great Qi Dynasty. He was the son of this generation's Ning Wang, Wang Bi Cheng. Of course, this does not mean he was the young master, for Wang Bi Cheng had more than twenty sons and more than twenty daughters. He was just one of the least noticeable among them.

  He is a bastard son, the illegitimate son of Ning Wang!

  Once you enter the noble's gate, it's as deep as the sea. From Wang Lang's memories, being a bastard son in this palace is not easy at all.

  Wang Bizheng had more than 20 sons, but only a few of them could get his attention. As for this illegitimate son born by the maid, he was not even in his eyes, let alone Wang Guanlan's usual behavior, which would not have gotten his attention anyway.

  "This is just a stupid fool!"

  In this world that reveres martial arts, Wang Guanlan surprisingly chose to become a bookworm. As the illegitimate son of the royal family, he had the qualifications and opportunities to practice many profound martial arts, but he refused them all. The only thing he understood was a qigong technique called Chang Qing Jue.

  I'm going to get you!!!

  The Evergreen Secret is a fundamental method of cultivating energy, the most basic and unorthodox method in this world for strengthening one's body. It can be found in street-side bookstores for just ten cents per copy. This guy cultivates exactly that kind of thing. As for why he doesn't practice martial arts, his reason is even more infuriating - he thinks fighting and killing are too barbaric. In a world where reason prevails, being reasonable will get you killed. Although this person is still alive now, their memories have been replaced with those of another person.

  "No matter what, I am now Wang Guanlan, two people as one, sharing the same fate. If one of us is humiliated, we both are; if one of us is honored, we both are!" After humming "The Song of Mortals", Wang Guanlan stretched his waist lazily and looked at the scroll in his hand, couldn't help but smile, "However, as it turns out, this bookworm really has a set of skills. With his foundation, he might actually pass the Imperial Examination for children this year and obtain an official title. If that happens, life in the Ning Wang Fu will be much easier."

  In the Great Qi Dynasty, and even in the entire world, it is a society that respects martial arts as the most important. However, this does not mean that the status of intellectuals is low. In fact, during a period when a powerful dynasty rules, the status of scholars is almost equal to that of warriors, and sometimes, they are even more respected than warriors.

  As a six-hundred-year-old great empire, the status of scholars in the Qi Dynasty was also extremely high, enjoying various privileges, of course, on the premise that you had to take the imperial examination and at least pass the Xiucai.

  "Xiucai? This world actually has imperial examinations too, how bizarre!!"

  Indeed, this world also has imperial examinations. In fact, this world is very similar to ancient China in terms of language, culture, and customs. The only difference seems to be in the value placed on martial power. This world places a high value on martial power, which has led to the unique status of warriors. Moreover, this world does not suppress martial arts, and many warriors are also well-versed in literature. There are many people who excel in both literature and martial arts. Even some scholars with official titles have a good understanding of martial arts, and some even master it, possessing great strength.

  In Wang Guanlan's eyes, the reason why Wenren has such a status is mainly due to two reasons: one is the need for governance, and the other is the demand for balance of power among various factions in the royal court. Unrestrained power is dangerous, and using power to restrain power is even more perilous.

  It is precisely these two reasons that have led to the possession of a special and unparalleled position by scholars in the Great Qi Dynasty, as well as in the entire world.

  Of course, this is just Wang Guanlan's own understanding and point of view. The fact that literati occupy such an important position in the world is not something that can be decided by a single dynasty, but rather it is the foundation and key to the development and growth of the entire human race over tens of thousands of years. Of course, Wang Guanlan is not aware of this.

  "This imperial examination system seems to be the same as that of the medieval period, could it be that this is also something conjured up by a time-traveler?!" As he thought more carefully about the imperial examination system of the Great Qi Dynasty in his mind, the more Wang Guanlan thought about it, the more suspicious he became.

  "You child, don't just focus on getting into school, studying and standing out. Pay attention to your body too. If your health declines, everything else is meaningless!"

  "I know, Mother, I'm also practicing the Evergreen Technique. Although I won't say that I'm completely immune to cold and heat, at least I won't get sick easily!" Wang Guanlan patted his not-so-sturdy chest and chuckled.

  "I knew you were just bragging, hurry up and go, I've asked Yancui to cook lotus seed porridge!"

  "Yes, ma'am!" Wang Guanlan obediently followed behind the young woman.

  Although he was a bastard, his mother was also born as a servant girl, but after all, the king's biological son, one of the lives is still good, although it can't be compared to those legitimate sons, but it's also considered to be well-fed and clothed, much stronger than ordinary people, and there are many opportunities to learn martial arts, only this Wang Guanlan has never grasped all of this.

  As the son of Ning Wang, Wang Guanlan had four maids and four slaves. However, he knew that among these people, except for his mother's personal maid Yan Cui, everyone else was a plant with different uses. Heaven knows which madam or young master they were backing.

  "It's just a small royal palace, but they're making such a big deal out of it. Even I, who have no chance of inheriting the title, am being watched so closely by this illegitimate child! How ridiculous!" Wang Guanlan thought to himself, secretly grumbling in his heart.

  Ning Wangfu, one of the five great non-royal kings of the Da Qi dynasty, has a status similar to that of the Yunnan Muwangfu in ancient China's Ming dynasty. It is located on the southwestern border of the Da Qi dynasty and controls three major provinces: Dian, Qian, and Li.

  The area of the Great Qi Dynasty is several times larger than China in his previous life. Each state is equivalent to a province, with a total of 99 states, and each state has an area that is not inferior to Tibet.

  The Ning Wangfu ruled over the three states of Dian, Qian and Miao, representing the local forces of the Da Qi dynasty.

  Local forces, this word, generally appears only in the middle and late periods of a dynasty. The Great Qi Dynasty ruled for 600 years and prospered for 600 years, but hidden behind this prosperity were countless crises. These crises were covered up by the strong military power of the dynasty, but once the dynasty's military power encountered problems, everything would come to an end.

  This point, Wang Guanlan believed very much, but he also believed that in his lifetime, it would be very difficult to see this day.

  This is a prosperous age, what is being fought for in this prosperous age? Interests!

  What is it to rely on? Strength!!

  Strength is everything's foundation, this sentence Wang Guanlan often saw inside, but now he understands that this is the true reality of this world.

  Wang Guanlan finished the last mouthful of rice in her bowl and bid farewell to Cheap Old Mama before returning to her own room.

  To be honest, now facing his young mother, he still feels a bit awkward. A person who is psychologically in their thirties or forties suddenly has an old mom who is about the same age as him, or even younger than him - what kind of feeling is this?

  So, towards this mother now, Wang Guanlan adopted a method of respecting her from afar.

  Gently opening the yellowed book cover, a faint scent of grass and wood wafted into my nostrils. Inside the book was an illustration, a diagram of the human body's meridians. Further flipping through the pages revealed various human figures posing in different postures.

  This is a boxing manual.

  Wàn Xiàng Quán Pǔ

  Of course, the "Wanxiang Quanshu" is not some profound secret book, but rather an introductory textbook for the world's martial arts, with the intention of encompassing all phenomena, equivalent to Wang Guanlan's previous life's elementary school textbook.

  In this world, the development of martial arts has reached this point. The cultivation of martial arts has already formed a rigorous system. If you want to take shortcuts, it's possible, but you need to have a powerful master. Wanting to become an extraordinary expert by eating a magical herb like in those stories is absolutely impossible.

  Martial artist cultivation, also known as refining Qi, has strict boundary divisions, divided into nine layers.

  And each stage is further divided into three phases: early, middle and late.

  In the nine layers, there are also three realms: leading energy, condensing energy and controlling energy.

  Refining Qi in the first three layers is the Guiding Qi stage, the fourth to sixth layers is the Condensing Qi stage, and the seventh to ninth layers is the Controlling Qi stage.