Chapter 5: Secretly Learning Internal Strength

  Time flies, and more than two years have passed. Zhang Ping has also transformed from a little kid to a young boy.

  In the eyes of Shi Qing and his wife, this child is really obedient. He has always been alone in the villa. However, they do not know that when night falls, Zhang Ping often goes out alone with his soul, which is more convenient than walking out with his body.

  For two years, Zhang Ping has been capturing the purple energy and merging it into his own Qi every day. In terms of the amount of purple energy in his Qi, it can be said that he has already reached the level of an ordinary person in about ten years. However, he is still young and lacks internal energy, so his inner strength is not very strong.

  Moreover, the key is that he can't mobilize the air species with the only fortune-telling method he remembered from his previous life. It can be seen that the previous life was indeed an era where fake and inferior products were rampant, and he was deceived into doing decades of useless work. Fortunately, his Shang Jing Zhuang has made progress in the past two years.

  At his current age, Zhang Ping shouldn't be practicing standing stakes, but thanks to the existence of qigong, he is full of energy every day. He only started secretly practicing a year ago, possibly due to the effect of internal force amplification. Zhang Ping is obviously much sturdier than children of the same age, not fat, but sturdy.

  After all, with decades of experience in the unknown space, Zhang Ping's quiet stake is deeply rooted in the two words "quiet". It can be said that he has grasped its essence, and if not for worrying about being too young, he would have started practicing Hunyuan Stake long ago.

  Today, Shi Qing and his wife are going to formally teach Zhang Ping the art of Qigong and meditation. Although he has already made great progress, at least he still needs to put on a show. Although his memory and thinking were almost worn out in that unknown space, some instinctive things were still preserved.

  "Lier, have you memorized the foundation-building oral formula?" Shi Qing asked.

  "Reporting to Master, I've memorized it... Heaven and man united, the energy is at my command..." Zhang Ping recited the incantation fluently, making Shi Qing very satisfied. This adopted son was more considerate than his own son.

  "Alright, now Master Shi will teach you the usage of this mantra." And so, after Shi Qing finished explaining it once, Zhang Ping pretended to start his "first time" cultivation.

  The result was extremely surprising, as Zhang Ping's first attempt at cultivation not only succeeded in the correct way but also captured a strand of purple energy with just one try. Moreover, he successfully condensed the energy, and such innate talent could be called extraordinary. The couple couldn't help but sigh and express their gratitude for the heavens' favor towards Upper Clearness Observatory.

  But today, apart from teaching Zhang Ping the foundation-building method, there is another important matter. Shi Qing's sworn brother, one of the Snow Mountain Sect's twin heroes, Feng Huo Shen Long Feng Wanli, is coming. Feng Wanli has come to take Shi Qing and his wife's "only son" Shi Zhongyu to the Snow Mountain Sect to learn martial arts.

  After finishing Zhang Ping's early lesson and entrusting Shi Zhongyu with some matters, Shi Qing and his wife began to prepare for the reception of Feng Wanli. Before long, they heard a knocking sound from outside the courtyard.

  "Brother Feng, it's been ages since we last met, I thought you were dead!" Shi Qing rushed up to Feng Wanli with enthusiasm.

  "You and I are brothers, why must you be like this? Are you trying to make me stand at the door so that I won't be able to take your beloved son away?" Feng Wanli teased Shi Qing with a hearty tone.

  "If so, Brother Feng, please come in quickly. My humble wife has prepared some light wine. Today, the two of us will have a good drink."

  "Well, in that case, I won't be polite." Fang Wanli said and then walked in with Shi Qing.

  They arrived at the dining hall, and after the host and guests had taken their seats, Shi Zhongyu and Zhang Ping came forward one by one to pay their respects to Feng Wanli.

  "Good, good, good! Shi Qing brothers are indeed tiger father without dog son. Your son is naturally talented and has a dignified demeanor, from his every move it can be seen that he has been practicing for almost two years. His future achievements are boundless, his talent can be the best of our Snow Mountain Sect. And this is Tian Xu Dao Zhang's high disciple, Shi Qing brothers' adopted son, right? At just three years old, his foundation is already so astonishing, it seems that the Upper Clearness Sect will make a big splash in the martial arts world in the future."

  "Feng Da Ge has praised him, but his son is disobedient. I hope Feng Da Ge will teach him well when he returns to Xue Shan Pai. I don't expect him to achieve great things, as long as he can reach the level of Feng Da Ge's eleven, I'll be satisfied." Shi Qing hurriedly replied.

  "Feng Da Ge's visit is not easy to come by, so let's stay a few more days and I'll learn a few more moves from you, little brother." Shi Qing said.

  "Alright, coincidentally I just learned a few new moves recently, and I hope Brother Shi Qing can give me some pointers."

  After three rounds of drinks, everyone returned to their own rooms.

  "Big brother, Snow Mountain Sect is so far away and so cold. How can you bear to let Yuer go there alone to learn martial arts?" Min Ruo cried while blaming Shi Qing.

  "Sister, don't cry. I have no choice either. You know that Ken's grudge cannot be left unavenged, but if we go out to investigate, Yu'er will be in danger whether she follows us or stays at the manor. The Snow Mountain Sect is located outside the pass, and with Master Wei De sitting there, Mei Fang won't dare to act recklessly." Shi Qing said while patting Min Ruo's shoulder to comfort her.

  "Wow, my adoptive parents actually have an enemy, and it seems like a formidable one. I'd better work hard on my martial arts skills to avoid any unexpected disasters." Zhang Ping overheard Shi Qing's conversation and couldn't help but worry about himself. In fact, he didn't need to be so anxious because Mei Fang wouldn't harm him. But this only increased Zhang Ping's motivation to learn martial arts.

  So, on the second day after Shi Zhongyu was taken away by Wanli, Zhang Ping found Min Ruo.

  "Mother, can you promise me one thing?" Zhang Ping asked Min Ruo with a pitiful expression.

  Min Ruo, who had just left her son, now faced the pitiful Zhang Ping and was unable to resist, so she said: "Li'er, if there's anything, just tell your stepmother, as long as it's something I can do, I'll agree to it."

  "Master, I want to learn the inner power circulation method." Zhang Ping hastily revealed his true intention.

  Min Ruo, who usually spoiled the child, was rarely serious at this time. "No way, running internal force is not a trivial matter. Once something goes wrong, the consequences are unthinkable. I absolutely cannot agree to this."

  "I won't, I won't, I won't. What my stepmother says doesn't count, I'm going to learn."

  "Not allowed" "Must learn"

  In the end, Zhang Ping still won.

  "Alright, I can teach you, but I'll only teach you one method of running the meridians. You can only practice this one method too. And it must be under my and your adoptive father's supervision. Once you feel anything is off, you have to stop immediately. Got it?"

  More than two years of getting along had allowed Zhang Ping to accept this pair of foster parents, and he even wanted to tell them the truth. However, he still endured it, because he was uncertain what would happen if the fact that he was a ghost was exposed. He silently decided to learn martial arts well and help his foster parents take revenge. As for the Guangda Shangqing Temple, please forgive him for not having such thoughts for the time being.

  "Listen carefully, Li Er. The Qi originates from the Dan Tian and emerges at the Yong Quan, then passes through the Rang Gu, Zhao Hai, Tai Xi, Shui Quan, Tai Zhong, Fu Liu, Jiao Xin, along the foot and up to the upper abdomen, crossing the horizontal bone, Tai He, Qi Xue, Si Man, Zhong Zhu, Mang, and ends at the Lian Quan hole under the tongue. This is the "Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian". When your Dan Tian Qi emerges..."

  Min Ruo carefully explained it several times, and also had Zhang Ping silently recite the explanation several times, before finally feeling at ease letting Zhang Ping perform his first Qi exercise in front of her. So that if anything went wrong she could stop him in time.

  Then, Zhang Ping performed his first Qi exercise in front of Min Rou. He saw Zhang Ping with his five hearts facing the sky, his consciousness sinking into his Dantian, carefully using Min Rou's method to guide a strand of internal energy from his Dantian, and then releasing it through Yongquan. However, as soon as he reached Ran Gu, he was blocked and couldn't go any further. Zhang Ping continued to mobilize new strength from his Dantian.

  Ran Gu, Zhao Hai... Mang Yu, Shang Qu and even Lian Quan were all opened up by him at once. The vital energy in these acupoints then mixed into Zhang Ping's internal force, greatly increasing his internal force. From now on, his internal force could circulate and absorb the vital energy in the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian. At this time, Zhang Ping decisively began to calm down and refine these vital energies, preventing his internal force from retreating back.

  In just over an hour, Zhang Ping had completed his task.

  "Lier, how are you? Nothing unexpected happened, right?" Min Ruo hurriedly asked with concern.

  Zhang Ping stood up and replied, "Don't worry, Mother. I'm fine. This time, I successfully opened the Yongquan, Rangu, and Zhao Hai acupoints. After absorbing the vital energy from them, I feel my internal strength has greatly increased."

  "It seems that Lǐ'ér is indeed exceptionally talented, achieving such accomplishments in just a short month. However, Lǐ'ér, your internal energy has only just begun to accumulate and is extremely unstable. Recently, you must focus all your efforts on refining your internal energy, absolutely do not be greedy for quick success or take reckless risks."

  "Yes, mother, I know. The child is going to practice reading."

  "Go, but remember never to be greedy for merit or rashly advance, and don't attack the cave alone."

  Before Meng Rou finished speaking, Zhang Ping had already rushed to the study room to recognize characters. As a former adult, Zhang Ping attached great importance to recognizing characters. Although the ancient complex characters were difficult to understand, and his own memory of characters was almost completely forgotten. But through diligent learning, Zhang Ping's character recognition level is basically the same as Shi Zhongyu, who is two years older than him.

  As for why Zhang Ping became so diligent and studious, the answer is simple. He couldn't understand the secret recipe... So, in order to avoid not being able to understand it when he sneaks a peek at the secret recipe in the future, Zhang Ping decided to study hard and strive upwards every day.