The fourth section sets up a method for self-cultivation

  This man, named Li Shi Qiu, was originally from Zhongdu of the Jin State. His ancestors were Han people from the Northern Song Dynasty. After the Jin State destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty and divided the Yangtze River to govern with the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin State ruled the north for a long time and gradually became similar in customs and habits to the Han people. By the time of Li Shi Qiu's grandfather, he had become an official in the Jin State court, so his family was considered to be a scholarly family for generations. However, by the time of Li Shi Qiu, they had gradually declined and were only able to hold a minor position as a low-ranking clerk in the government office with a meager income. Fortunately, their ancestors had left behind some property, so they did not have to worry about starving and were still able to get by.

  Suddenly, a loud thunderclap shook the earth as the Mongolian iron cavalry marched south to attack the Jin Dynasty. The Jin emperor, Wanyan Yongji, was incompetent and timid, and instead of thinking about how to defend against the Mongol army, he announced that he would move the capital to Bianjing. Instantly, the city of Zhongdu fell into chaos, and the people fled in all directions. Li Shiqiu took his wife and children and abandoned their home to join the fleeing crowd. Not long after they left, Zhongdu was besieged by the Mongols. The people were dragged along with their children, but how could they outrun the Mongolian cavalry? Before long, they were caught up by a large group of horsemen, and instantly, cries filled the air as they were surrounded like cattle by the Mongol riders. Li Shiqiu thought that he would certainly die and wept with his wife and children in his arms. But unexpectedly, the Mongol soldiers did not immediately kill them; instead, they surrounded the people to prevent them from escaping. After a while, several interpreters came out and ordered the people to squat down using the Han language. It turned out that the Mongols had been at war for many years, and many tribes were left with only the old, weak, women, and children; all the able-bodied men had gone off to fight. Therefore, they took away the population and distributed them among the various tribes. Moreover, this time when they attacked Zhongdu, these people were those who had escaped from Zhongdu, so there might be some talented individuals among them. Genghis Khan had always valued talent; his trusted minister, Yelü Chucai, was a good example. Chucai was originally a member of the royal family of the Liao Dynasty, but after the Liao was destroyed by the Jin, he served the Jin. When Genghis Khan attacked and conquered Yanjing this time, he obtained Chucai and was overjoyed. Therefore, his generals also followed suit and did not indiscriminately kill people.

  Li Shi Qiu crouched on the ground and saw one of the interpreters walking towards him. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but feel great joy. This person was someone he knew from his past school days. Having not seen each other for many years, he had heard that this person had moved away with his whole family, but it turned out that he had actually fled to Mongolia.

  Genghis Khan had his heart set on conquering the Central Plains. Therefore, when people from the Central Plains came to surrender, he treated them with great warmth and even personally received them at first. Those who were dissatisfied with their situation in the Central Plains or sought wealth and glory flocked to Genghis Khan's camp. However, after repeated encounters, Genghis Khan found that there were only a few truly talented individuals, while many were just opportunists. Later on, he became impatient and stopped receiving them. Fearing that this would discourage those who came to surrender and harm his reputation, he established the Hall of Talents, which was managed by his fourth son, Tolui. This person went to Mongolia and served as a scribe under Tolui's command. This time, he followed Tolui on the expedition and concurrently worked as an interpreter in the army.

  Li Shi-qiu and others waited for him to approach, then quietly called out to him. The man also recognized him. When Li Shi-qiu asked him to spare his family, he looked embarrassed. Li Shi-qiu secretly handed over a small package of gold. The man took it and went back to discuss with the leader of the troops, Wan Hu, for a while before calling over Li Shi-qiu's family and telling them to follow closely behind him. Next, the Mongolian army selected scholars, merchants, and artisans, lined them up, and plundered all the people's property. Those who looked older were killed on the spot, and then they drove these people like cattle towards the grasslands outside the pass.

  Along the way, many civilians were distributed to various tribes. The remaining people were taken deep into the grasslands, then the capital of Mongolia and Lin. Some people suffered from illness along the way and were abandoned on the spot, left to fend for themselves, probably dying in the end. Li Shiqiu's family was better off with the help of his classmates. After settling down in Hohhot, he had no means of livelihood, so he asked his classmate to introduce him to a merchant group that specialized in doing business on the grasslands. Unexpectedly, he fell seriously ill on his first trip out.

  The Mongols have always attached great importance to these merchant teams. They bring the necessities of salt, tea bricks and other goods that the various tribes on the grasslands need, so even if they encounter a Mongolian army, they will not be looted. Sometimes, in times of war and chaos, they would even dispatch small troops to protect them. The more remote the tribe, the better business the merchant teams do. In these tribes, they can charge exorbitant prices. A large pile of sheepskins could only exchange for a catty of salt. The profit from one trip by the merchant team is enormous. This time, since the merchant team brought many goods, they traveled further. As autumn deepened and all their goods were sold, they should have returned to Huolin, otherwise when winter arrived, it would be difficult to travel on the roads. But Li Shiqiu's illness was getting worse and worse, and if he continued on the bumpy road back, he would surely die. They had no choice but to leave him behind, agreeing that next year the merchant team would come again to fetch him. Ahmuir thought that Yu Xue might be a Han person and should learn some Chinese characters, so using his stuttering Chinese, accompanied by gestures, he invited Li Shiqiu to follow him back.

  Li Shi Qiu was heartbroken and distressed, but had no choice but to settle down in the temple to rest and recover from his illness. Fortunately, he only suffered from a cold and it wasn't serious. After nursing himself through the winter, by the time spring arrived the following year, he gradually recovered.

  Spring returned to the land. The tribe moved again. The tribal chief set up a small tent for Li Shiqiu two or three zhang away from his own large tent, and then told him that he wanted him to teach his two daughters Chinese characters. Li Shiqiu gladly agreed.

  From then on, Jade Snow's sister did chores in the morning and followed him to learn in the afternoon.

  Li Shi Qiu was greatly surprised in just a few days. After a winter, Yu Xue's skills had not improved much, but her knowledge had deepened by another layer. When Li Shi Qiu was feeling better, he would teach her Chinese or tell her about his experiences in the Central Plains. Yu Xue picked up Chinese characters quickly and easily. She could recite and write the Three Character Classic in just one day without any mistakes. Seeing this, Li Shi Qiu put all his energy into teaching her everything he knew, from the Four Books and Five Classics to the 300 Tang Poems. However, what Yu Xue's mother had given her was too profound, and she didn't understand half of it. Now that she had a foundation, she shouldn't need much time to master it. Her mind was already open to learning, and things came naturally to her without forgetting. Yu Yan was also making progress, just not as quickly as Yu Xue. It turned out that during the crisis with Feng Huang, she had automatically appeared and saved the two of them. Afterwards, she had transmitted some of her spiritual energy into Yu Xue, breaking her seal. The spiritual energy had flowed through her body and also benefited Yu Yan, who was standing behind her. Li Shi Qiu secretly admired this. These two Mongolian sisters were actually smarter than Han people! Even the child prodigy Du Sheng was not as quick a learner as they were. Especially Yu Xue, whose questions gradually became so difficult that even Li Shi Qiu himself couldn't answer them.

  Yu Xue had been studying for a while and came up with a plan. She used the excuse of loving to read books, and after dinner every night, she would go to Li Shi Qiu's tent to look at the few books he brought back, often staying until midnight. Yu Yan was young and couldn't stay up late, so she went to sleep early. Li Shi Qiu was old and his body wasn't well, so he dozed off after accompanying her for a while. When Yu Xue saw this, she advised him to go to sleep first. After observing him, she found that he slept very soundly. After several days of this, Yu Xue proposed moving into Li Shi Qiu's tent so that she could ask for his guidance morning and night. Everyone agreed, and a bed was set up in the small tent near the entrance. At night, after reading books, Yu Xue would get tired and go to sleep directly. But when it got late and quiet, Yu Xue blew out the lamp but didn't rest. She made the quilt look like someone was sleeping under it, then quietly slipped out of the tent, using a stone to weigh down the door curtain. During the day, she had cleaned up a small corner in the felt house where they stored miscellaneous items, not far away. In front of the corner were piled many rough and clumsy household items, so even if someone came near, they wouldn't be able to see her. It was here that she began to carry out her big plan.

  Night after night, she would sneak out until just before dawn and then slip back into her tent. Her skills were gradually increasing, and her movements became more agile and light. Although she didn't sleep at night to practice, during the day she showed no signs of fatigue and remained radiant and full of energy. No one discovered her secret.

  When autumn came, the merchant team did come to take Li Shiqiu away. The clan leader thanked him for teaching the two children to read and gave him many gifts. Li Shiqiu couldn't refuse and had to accept them. Before leaving, he gave all his books to Yuxue and also gathered a lot of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones from others and gave them to her in one go.

  Li Shiqiu left, and Yuxue made an excuse that she liked to read books and was afraid of disturbing their rest, so she insisted on living in this small tent alone. The tribal couple had no choice but to follow her. Ahmu'er reinforced the small tent, which made him slightly more at ease. From then on, Yuxue had her own place and could practice boldly at night.

  Three years have passed in a hurry, and Jade Snow is already ten years old. After reaching the late stage of foundation building, she seems to have made a breakthrough recently. However, the innate true energy in her body has not been converted into spiritual energy yet. When she reaches the stage of drawing in energy, she can draw in the spiritual energy from heaven and earth, convert her true energy into spiritual energy, and use many magical techniques. Nevertheless, at present, she is equivalent to a top martial artist in the Jianghu world, with abundant and thick true energy, agile movements, and quick reflexes. She often shows herself that she can already do many incredible actions. For example, by slightly mobilizing her energy according to her intentions, she can catch up with a galloping horse, easily jump onto its back; or with immense strength, lift up an ox; or with extraordinary eyesight, shoot down a flying wild goose in the sky with a bow and arrow. However, she only plays around like this when there is no one else around. She asked her father for a sickle to cut grass, and after sharpening it by the river until it shone brightly, from then on, her family members often saw this strange, taciturn, yet beautiful little girl holding a sickle and running out alone, doing who-knows-what.

  She actually ran to the foot of the mountain where no one was practicing knife skills. Since she encountered a tiger last time, she felt that danger existed everywhere. The Taoist method cannot be used now, even if it can be used, it will scare the tribe people. It's better to practice martial arts, at least you can defend yourself. Gradually, she practiced a unique knife skill. That sickle knife swung up and down with a fierce and stable momentum, without using half of her strength. When she activated her true energy, the sickle knife had a three-foot-long blade aura, making a hissing sound, and the unpredictable wind generated by the knife made people's faces ache. This broken sickle knife actually has the aura of a world-class divine soldier.