Chapter 4 Father-in-law and Mother-in-law

  Days passed one by one, and it had been more than half a month. Originally, Zhang Ping himself was relying on the Lu Zu hundred-character stele to resolve the low whispers of his followers, but unfortunately, the efficiency was too low. Until one day, he discovered that moonlight helped him improve his resolution efficiency. So, every night, he would leave his body and sit on the rooftop of Tian Xu's house, absorbing the moonlight and reciting the Lu Zu hundred-character stele silently. Finally, he successfully eliminated all aftereffects yesterday.

  That day, Shang Qing Guan welcomed two new guests.

  "Big brother, do you think we can leave Yu'er alone in the manor? She's only three years old, will she be able to fall asleep at night? Will she get used to eating during the day?" A woman in white clothes riding a white horse said to the black-clad man beside her in front of the Upper Clearness Temple.

  "I'm telling you, sister, just put your mind at ease. You've asked me this question hundreds of times on the way here, I'm getting tired of hearing it. We're only out for a few days, and besides, there's Wu Ma back at the villa, she'll take good care of Yu'er." The man in black replied.

  "They're just concerned about Yu'er."

  Just as the two were talking, Tian Yu had already walked out of the room and laughed to say: "Shi Shidi, Min Shimu, long time no see."

  "Have seen Tian Xu Shixiong." The men and women who came to the Guan replied together.

  "Junior brother and sister, don't be polite, come in quickly. Today is a matter of importance for your senior brother. Let's walk and talk." Tian Xū said as he led the two into a side hall.

  In the side hall, Zhang Ping had already lain down in the wooden tub, quietly waiting. As a guy with an active mind, he began his new attempt. The object of his attempt was the new way of circulating Qi within his physical body that he had recently discovered. However, although he had been guarding his Dantian for decades, he had never had any real experience of producing Qi in his physical body. Therefore, his attempt did not go very smoothly.

  Just as Zhang Ping was still trying, Tian Xu and Chong Xu brought a man and a woman in.

  "This is the child who was rescued by Zhong Xu's younger brother." Tian Xu said, pointing at Zhang Ping to the couple who had come together.

  "What a lovely child! Eldest Brother, what's his name?" asked Min Shi Mei, rushing to Zhang Ping's side.

  "I'm not afraid to be laughed at by you two, but when I gave this child a name, he cried and made a fuss. Even our master couldn't figure out why, so we had no choice but to give him the Daoist name 'Xiang Li'." Tian Xu replied.

  "Towards Li, this Dao number is good, in the future this child will definitely have a boundless future. As for raising him, don't worry, Master Brother, I Shi Qing will treat him as my own son and won't let him suffer any grievances." Shi Qing immediately agreed to it after hearing Tian Xū's words.

  "Big brother, I have another idea, I don't know if it's suitable to mention." Min Ruo asked.

  "Junior sister, it doesn't matter." Tian Xu replied.

  "It's like this, Shixiong. I think this child and I are quite compatible, so I was thinking of taking him in as a godson. What do you think, Shixiong?"

  "Sister-in-law, don't be reckless." As soon as Mian Rou's words fell, she was sternly stopped by Shi Qing.

  "It doesn't matter, Min Shi Mei is also kind-hearted, I'll take care of this for my brother. Shi Shidi, don't say anything more." Tian Xu hurriedly advised. (In ancient times, the relationship between a master and his direct disciple was like that of father and son, with the disciple responsible for supporting the master in old age and performing funeral rites. Therefore, Shi Qing would stop Min Rou.)

  "Then thank you, senior brother." Shi Qing hastily replied.

  Mian Rou ran to Zhang Ping and said: "Towards Li, call her godmother, call her godmother."

  At this time, Zhang Ping was also happy to be able to leave the Taoist temple. After all, his experience in the main hall that day still made him feel a lingering fear. In order to leave the temple first, Zhang Ping decided to ingratiate himself with this sudden "mother". So, he called out twice and opened his small mouth to prove that he was smiling.

  "Big brother, look at him smiling, thank goodness, he really has a good affinity with me." Min Ruo said excitedly.

  "It's settled then, let's go eat." Tian Xu seemed to have solved a major problem and was in an extremely good mood.

  Today's meal Zhang Ping felt very good, although the porridge is still the original porridge from Dao Guan. But the person serving the porridge has improved a lot compared to before, not too fast or slow, just right, 32 likes!

  The next morning, Shi Qing and Min Ruo set off with Zhang Ping to the Xuan Su Villa. The bumpy ride on horseback might be a big test for other children, but for Zhang Ping, who was carefree and reckless, it was just a new experience.

  After about three days, Zhang Ping finally arrived at Xuan Su Zhuang. Along the way, he just wandered around his body with his soul and didn't cause any trouble. As for Xuan Su Zhuang, Zhang Ping was very satisfied, mainly because there was no terrifying San Qing image.

  "Mother, you're back! I almost died!" Just as they had brought Zhang Ping in the door, a three-year-old boy who was extremely cute rushed out and threw himself at Min Ruo.

  "Don't be naughty, can't you see your mother holding a younger brother in her arms? What if you hurt him?" Shi Qing scolded the little boy with a straight face. The little boy seemed to be very afraid of Shi Qing and immediately stood aside without daring to make a sound.

  "Look, you've scared Yuer." Min Ruo blamed Shi Qing. "Yuer is not afraid, this child is your Master Tianxu's disciple. Father and mother have already recognized him as a sworn son, from now on he will be your brother, when he grows up a bit, he can play with you together, okay?"

  Shi Zhong Yu was after all just a kid, and as soon as he heard someone wanted to play with him, he clapped his hands excitedly and said: "Great! Great!"

  "Let me tell you, if you bully your younger brother again, I'll break your legs. Got it?" Just as Shi Zhongyu was about to get excited, Shi Qing poured a basin of cold water over him, scaring him into silence once more.

  "Look at how scared you've made Yuer, and besides, Yuer is so well-behaved, how could she possibly bully Lier?" Min Ruo immediately began speaking up for Shi Zhongyu.

  "Sister, I'm not afraid that something will happen to Lier here and I won't be able to explain it to Brother. Sister, sister, don't go!" Min Ruo didn't care about Shi Qing at this time, she hugged Zhang Ping with one hand and pulled Shi Zhongyu with the other as they walked inside.

  A day at the Xuan Su Villa passed quickly, and when the sun finally set in the west. Zhang Ping's excited soul escaped, first strolling around the Xuan Su Villa to confirm that there was no danger. Zhang Ping happily wandered around nearby, playing for nearly an hour before flying back to the rooftop to start meditating and absorbing moonlight. This practice, one of the few remaining exercises from his memories, had become second nature to him over decades of days.

  But today, just before dawn, Zhang Ping found that his adoptive parents had woken up his younger brother early.

  Shi Qing said to Shi Zhongyu, "These past few days, your mother and I weren't home. Have you been practicing your foundation-building skills?"

  "I've practiced." Shi Zhongyu hastily replied.

  "Alright, recite a tongue twister for me and let's practice it again."

  Shi Zhong Yu had no choice but to start reciting the incantation "...This aperture is not an ordinary aperture, Qian Kun together form. This hole is the gate of God, inside there are Kan Li Jing... I am in the air, the air is in me, heaven and man unite, the air is for my use..." As for Shi Zhong Yu, he was only three years old, but he was born with a clever mind, and he recited a long incantation without any mistakes.

  However, when it comes to action, Shi Zhongyu's performance is greatly disappointing.

  "Sister, take a look at him. With his qualifications, he hasn't had any qi sensation for such a long time. He must not have been diligent in his practice. This foundation-building exercise is easy to understand, even an ordinary person can produce qi sensation within a few months. But look at him, it's infuriating."

  "Senior brother, Yu'er is still young and might have a restless temperament. Besides, most children start building their foundation at the age of five or six. Although it's better to start earlier, younger children find it harder to understand the intricacies. You can just explain it to her a few more times, no need to scold her." Min Rou hurriedly spoke up for Shi Zhong Yu.

  "Alright, listen up, I'll explain it to you one more time. If you still don't get it later, watch out or I'll beat you up."

  "Every morning when the sun rises, the world transforms from yin to yang, this is extreme yang. Extreme yang produces purple energy, most of the world's gongfa (martial arts) aim to capture this strand of purple energy as their qi, and then continuously expand it, which becomes internal power. When the sun first rises, five hearts face heaven, visualize three, energy enters from the heavenly spirit, that is..."

  Shi Qing's words didn't matter whether Shi Zhongyu remembered them or not, the key was that Zhang Ping suddenly felt enlightened. It turned out that his body didn't have any spiritual energy, no wonder he couldn't cultivate internal power no matter how hard he tried. If he had remembered everything from his past life, he would definitely give those masters the middle finger. Because they hadn't taught him the most crucial thing.

  Zhang Ping thought of this and immediately returned to his body, set up the Five Hearts Facing Heaven, and started practicing according to Shi Qing's teachings. Needlessly to say, a child's body has excellent flexibility, setting up the Five Hearts Facing Heaven was not tiring at all.

  Although he was in the room, his soul's instinctive palpitation at sunrise allowed him to accurately grasp the time. He successfully captured a strand of purple energy at that moment and guided it into his dantian according to Shi Qing's explanation, mixing it with the vital energy inside his body to form an air species.

  According to Shi Qing, the more purple gas in the air, the faster the internal force will be cultivated later. However, capturing the purple gas can only occur at the moment when the sun rises in the east, which is extremely difficult to grasp and can only rely on luck. Therefore, the innate physical quality of a martial artist is one aspect, commonly referred to as "root bone". The grasp of the timing of the appearance of the purple gas is also very important, commonly referred to as "wisdom".

  While Zhang Ping, due to the soul's palpitation towards Chaoyang, had an absolute full score in terms of wit. Thinking of this, Zhang Ping smiled complacently in his new cradle, he smiled complacently.

  With his air of confidence, Zhang Ping finally took the first step towards becoming a great hero.