Chapter Thirty-Six: The Powerful Old Man

  Not long after Heng Xintian left, someone came with a pile of clothes, all of which were brands I didn't recognize. But judging by the feel, they seemed to be quite expensive. Besides, given Heng Xintian's status and identity, he wouldn't bring me some street goods to fool me, would he? Letting me enjoy a life like a local tyrant, for this, I still have to thank him.

  After dinner, Xing Mei left here and didn't know where she went. But I also discovered a small secret that they had another passage to leave here, which was still drivable. Otherwise, how could they get out so quickly? I don't believe they really follow the rule of Shen Xian Gu that prohibits driving cars and ride electric vehicles instead.

  For this, I also went online to check the map, but neither Google nor Baidu or Gaode Map had a map of this place. On top, there was only the outside Dashen Valley, and here, the map said it was a mountainous area. This result is shocking enough, has the energy of Haining Tian reached this point?

  A strong sense of crisis made me abandon the idea of going out for a walk, and I returned to my room to study the inherited memories given by Kou Qianzhi. Kou Qianzhi's academic achievements were astonishing, apart from his major in Tulu True Classic, other Taoist absolute skills such as divination, sacrifice, qimen six jia, talisman drawing, and array methods also had deep research, even Buddhist teachings had very profound attainments. These esoteric knowledge almost dazzled my eyes when they were unfolded.

  My first reaction was, damn it, this is a library, I won't be able to finish reading all these books in my lifetime, wanting to master them, let's talk about it next life. When I seriously started studying a certain Taoist secret book, my reaction changed to, just these things, don't even think about mastering them in the next next life.

  What's the point of this, because damn it, I'm illiterate. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, although regular script had already appeared, running script was prevalent everywhere. Wang Xizhi's was even called the best running script in the world. Although running script is not as difficult to understand as later cursive script, I, a trash who's used to simplified characters, really can't recognize it. Kou Qianzhi's legacy is like a silent film in my brain, without any subtitles.

  Flip the table, must flip the table, damn it, can't let losers make a comeback.

  Okay, after studying traditional Chinese characters for half a day, I have to admit that if this is completed, it would be an absolutely great achievement. But for someone like me, it's very difficult to complete in this lifetime. Some Taoist secrets are just meant to be kept hidden, and even if I learn them, they'll only broaden my knowledge but won't immediately increase my combat power. I'd better take a look at how to draw talismans first, that's definitely something I can put into practice.

  However, ten minutes later.

  Damn it, damn it, what the hell are these ghostly symbols? Why can't I understand any of them? Why do my copies turn out different from what's in my head? And what the heck am I even drawing? They're all turning into oracle bone script pictograms! How am I supposed to play like this?!

  Alright, drawing talismans doesn't work either. Let me take a look at the Six Lines of Qimen and the formation method. After reading them, I think I should first understand what Tian Gan Di Zhi is, or else I won't even know where Qian Kun is located.

  Helpless, I had to go and check the information myself. After all, I need to clarify the literal meaning of things first. Fortunately, I'm living in a technological society now, and there's this omnipotent thing called Baidu. With Baidu in hand, I can find almost everything. Even if I couldn't find what I was looking for, I could still find some places where ancient culture enthusiasts gather, and ask them, maybe some experts would show up.

  It's been a busy day, and I'm totally dizzy. Especially with the massive amount of knowledge accumulation, it can't be done in just one or two days. The huge impact of knowledge has not only made my brain feel heavy but also extremely inefficient. I'd better stop while I still can, time is almost up, I should go to sleep and rest.

  The next day, I got up early again to practice by the water pool. This time, I didn't need to assume that strange posture anymore. According to the True Classic of the Ultimate Truth, assuming that posture is only for beginners to better open up their meridians and enhance their sense of the universe. Now that I've made some progress with the first diagram, I can continue practicing by simply sitting in meditation. Once I fully grasp the first diagram, I can move on to the second one, at which point my power will increase exponentially.

  With my previous experience, meditation was not difficult for me at all. Before long, I entered that profound and mysterious state where I could clearly feel everything around me, a bit like having a divine consciousness. Any slight movement of the wind or grass around me, I could sense it all.

  Huh, wait a minute, what the...? Whose gaze is that, and it's so intense. Could it be some pervert?

  In great surprise, I didn't care about anything else and immediately turned around and retreated 7 or 8 steps in the opposite direction of that gaze. After seeing the person clearly, I suddenly became furious - it was that old man from yesterday again! Is this guy sick?!

  "Who are you and why did you appear here to spy on me while I'm cultivating?" I said coldly.

  "Hey kid, shouldn't I be the one asking you this? Yesterday I went back and checked, you're not even from around here. Plus, I've been practicing Tai Chi here every day for years, it seems a bit out of line for you to just take over my spot like that." The old man said slowly and calmly, seemingly unfazed by my glare.

  "Alright", I was left speechless by what you said, and indeed this is not my territory.

  "Hmph, you shouldn't be sneaking a peek at my cultivation either, that's a big taboo, do you understand?" I continued to talk tough, I didn't want to admit defeat. This old man was suspicious and who knows what he was up to.

  "Heh heh, don't try to fool this old man. What's so great about sitting there meditating? You'd better explain which family you're from first. There are few people here, and I know them all. If you don't tell me, I'll have someone ask you to leave." The old man said with a smile.

  "Whose house is that? Ah, that one, Hsin-Tien's house. He invited me over." I pointed to Hsin-Tien's house.

  "Oh, so you're a guest of the Xiao Kang family, no wonder. Come on, young man, let's have a chat. I'm also interested in ancient culture, but I've never seen anyone practice like that before, and it doesn't seem to be some sort of esoteric technique either. Can you explain it to me?" The old man said with an air of humility as he walked up to me.

  He didn't lie, yesterday he went through all sorts of materials, but he hadn't seen anyone put their body in that position before, not even in ancient yoga. What's most important is that state, and he clearly saw that person enter the state of unity with heaven and man. This state is called "entering Wu" by martial artists, "enlightenment" by Taoists, and "meditation" in yoga. It's a very rare opportunity, and those who can enter this state are absolutely top-notch masters.

  "No, this is a matter of our sect's secrecy, how can I tell you, an outsider?" I firmly refused. The law cannot be transmitted to the six ears, this is what Kou Qian has repeatedly asked for in his inherited memory, and it absolutely cannot be told to outsiders.

  "Oh, still a Door Sect, that old man wants to see what sect you are from" The old man's eyes flashed with a sharp light, then his whole body pounced towards me at an extremely fast speed, leaving only a residual shadow in my eyes.

  In a state of shock, I hastily raised my fist to block, but before the force was released, I felt an external force transmit through my hand and knock my fist away. Then, my chest defense was wide open, and a huge palm slapped onto my body.

  "Bang" I was slapped flying at least three or four meters back, almost falling into the water pool, but strangely, I didn't feel any pain. Lifting my head to look, that old man had made a Tai Chi starting gesture, it seems he used the technique of borrowing force to strike, otherwise that one hit would have left me seriously injured.

  "Tsk tsk, your school's kung fu isn't that great either," the old man said with a smile.

  "Hmph, old man, what's the big deal about sneaking up on me? Come at me again!" I jumped up and shouted loudly. Although I had already guessed that my opponent was a high-ranking martial artist, I refused to back down. As they say, "fists fear youth," and I didn't believe I couldn't take down an old man like him.

  I raised my fist and rushed to the old man's side at the fastest speed, left and right, constantly waving my fists at him, but the old man's speed was even faster than mine. Not only could he dodge most of my punches, but he could also tease me, and the punching power I hit on his body was basically unloaded. The more I fought, the more suffocated I became. This is being played like a monkey.

  "A punch from me" The anger that came from my chest made me a bit crazy, I didn't hold back with my hands anymore, and I didn't care who the other person was. I used all my strength to throw a punch, and this punch seemed to bring out something else. A hot flow emerged from my lower abdomen, and when it reached my hand, I felt myself filled with power.

  Feeling the killing intent emitted by his opponent, the old man's eyes turned cold. Whoever dared to emit killing intent towards him must be tired of living. He immediately added force to his hand, no longer probing, and transformed his palm into a fist, striking with great force.

  "Bang" fists clashed, a surge of power came, and I flew out directly. This time it was really flying out in mid-air. "Splash", I fell into the water pool, while the old man remained on the spot, not moving a single step. The gap between us is really not small.

  "Ahh" escaped my lips as I clutched my right hand, gasping in cold air. It hurt, it hurt so much that I felt like my hand was going to break off. Moreover, I could feel a force surging through my body, pounding against every spot and causing piercing pain, making me unable to even crawl, only able to lie on the shore, panting.

  "Hmph, don't know what you're talking about. Tomorrow, I don't want to see you here again, or else old man will beat you up every time he sees you." The old man said coldly, then turned and left.

  Astonished, extremely astonished, the old man's face turned pale with shock. He had received a full-force blow and yet hadn't died on the spot - how was this possible? His opponent was just an ordinary person, while he was someone who had shaken the Jianghu decades ago. It seemed that young man had indeed had some extraordinary encounter.

  No way, people like this are either useful to me or should be killed as soon as possible. The old man's face was a bit strange, but he still took out his phone and dialed a number "Let Haruaki send me the information of his family's guest"

  ……….

  As soon as the old man left, I couldn't bear it anymore and rolled around on the ground with my hands covering my arms. However, after a few minutes, the pain didn't subside at all, but instead intensified to the point where I almost fainted. Gritting my teeth, I tore open a small hole in the belt and took out a black lump about the size of a grain of rice, then tilted my head back and swallowed it down.

  That's right, this black lump is the Dragon and Tiger Pill. The thumb-sized Dragon and Tiger Pill was divided into grain-sized pieces by me and Lan Jie, then hidden away for use in times of need. Lan Jie speculated that the Dragon and Tiger Pill contained a large amount of energy, which could be used as a healing medicine to some extent, so we had always treated it as a life-saving medicine, not daring to use it lightly.

  The dragon and tiger pill hit the stomach, and before long, it started to take effect. A surge of heat emanated from the stomach, spreading throughout the body like a raging fire. The strange power left behind by the old man was instantly dispersed by the dragon and tiger pill.

  "When the energy of the Dragon Tiger Pill surged into my right hand's Wheel Eye, it indeed activated the Wheel Eye again. The Wheel Eye was like a whirlpool in the ocean at this time, emitting an attractive force that absorbed all the remaining energy over. The Wheel Eye then emitted scorching light, quickly burning through the gauze."

  Then a golden light was emitted, hitting the water pool in front of him. At this time, there was a group of fish swimming by in the water pool. The golden light hit the fish, and the fish stopped for a second before suddenly flipping over and floating to the surface of the water.

  "Dead, dead!" I couldn't believe it. I picked up a dead fish and looked at it, without any wound, how did this happen?

  "Whatever, I'll definitely get back on track tomorrow." The mysteriousness of the Wheel of Reincarnation is something I'm also aware of. Since I couldn't figure it out, I won't overthink it either. On the contrary, I know where my strengths lie. In terms of martial arts skills, even if I practiced for ten years, I wouldn't be a match for those people. As for Taoist magic, I haven't even grasped the most basic concepts, but I have Golden Fingers. Now, the Wheel of Reincarnation is my Golden Fingers. With such a powerful existence, it would be stupid of me not to take advantage of it.

  "Hmph, if I don't see you tomorrow, I wonder how you'll stop me." The circulation of the eye on my hand cooled down again, and the pain on my body also disappeared. I crawled out of the water pool and slowly walked back to my home in Xincheng.

  But soon after I left, two figures rushed to the edge of the pond, first searching around in the pond and then picking up a dead fish before quickly leaving.