The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 320 The Old Rascal: Opportunity, Don't Run Away.
After twelve years in the desert, Xu Xingchen has gained many new understandings of this world, but compared to the Nine Yin Manual's explanation of the ultimate principles of martial arts in this world, there is still a considerable gap.

His martial arts skills were not weak; they all came from the accumulation of knowledge from the previous two worlds.

In the peach blossom grove, a bonfire blazed, and pink petals scattered on the ground were occasionally lifted into the air by the sea breeze, falling gently.

Zhou Botong whispered the contents of the Nine Yin Manual regarding acupoint striking and releasing, allowing Xu Xingchen to gain a deeper understanding of acupoints and the Xuan Guan (mysterious gate) in this world.

In addition, with the profound understanding he had accumulated over the years from his contemplation of heaven and earth, inspiration began to spark in his mind as he listened.

Xu Xingchen's face also showed a joyful expression. With each thought, his inner energy circulated powerfully in his meridians. When he carefully comprehended the acupoints that Zhou Botong had described, he experienced subtle sensations that were different from those he had experienced before.

After Zhou Botong finished telling this chapter, Xu Xingchen seemed to have a clearer understanding of this world.

Next, Xu Xingchen carefully revised the text while explaining the second level of the Qiankun Great Shift technique.

This can be considered a sign of learning and progressing simultaneously!
This is something that ordinary people cannot do, but for him, who has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and is exceptionally talented, it is not a difficult task.

The second time Zhou Botong recounted the Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter of the Nine Yin Manual, whose profound and subtle principles touched upon some deeply hidden secrets of the physical body.

If martial artists in this world were to obtain this content, it would have an immeasurable effect on their breakthrough in cultivation.

Conservatively speaking, it can enable those who cannot break through once to successfully enter the breakthrough realm once, those who cannot break through twice to successfully enter the breakthrough realm twice, and those who cannot break through three times to break through three times.
It's so amazing!

After listening to the text, Xu Xingchen pondered for a long time, and then began to explain the content in another way, which made Zhou Botong extremely surprised and incredulous.

The Nine Yang Divine Skill obtained in the last world also contains the content of Yi Jing's marrow cleansing and transformation, which is similar to the Yi Jin Duan Gu chapter of the Nine Yin Manual, but there are also differences.

Another difference is that this world is on a higher dimension than the previous world, and it has a deeper development of human physical strength.

Xu Xingchen had already made numerous revisions and improvements to the Nine Yang Divine Skill, and now he had obtained the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Forging Chapter of the Nine Yin Manual.
The collision of these two different knowledge systems sparked countless flashes of wisdom.

After hearing Xu Xingchen's "alternative interpretation" of the Nine Yin Manual's Yi Jing Bone Forging Chapter, Zhou Botong looked at him with the same eyes he had for his senior brother, Wang Chongyang.

"Impossible, impossible! This kid's martial arts talent couldn't possibly be comparable to my senior brother's."

Zhou Botong muttered to himself, shaking his head so hard it was almost like a rattle drum, but he truly felt he had gained a great deal.

When Xu Xingchen began to explain the third level of the "temporary revised version" of the Great Shift of the Universe technique, Zhou Botong immediately focused his mind, pricked up his ears, and listened attentively.

This time, Zhou Botong's training and experience time was significantly extended.

But he eventually succeeded in his cultivation, which shows that his skill was so profound and pure that it was rare in the world.

Then, Zhou Botong recounted the healing section of the Nine Yin Manual.
The healing section takes a different approach, putting people in a peculiar state when they are seriously injured, thereby accelerating the body's recovery.

After listening, Xu Xingchen was in a daze, and it seemed that he saw a person in the form of an insect hiding underground, spending the long winter, waiting for the spring to come and for the flowers to bloom, and then breaking through the soil to be reborn.
This is a completely new method, entirely different from the Nine Yang Divine Skill's rapid healing through profound and unparalleled internal energy.
He smacked his lips, savoring the taste.

It wasn't until Zhou Botong kept urging him, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger, that he had no choice but to keep that wonderful insight to himself and study it slowly in the future.

The fourth level of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth technique is an extremely crucial and difficult realm to break through.

Zhou Botong sat by the campfire, half of his body was bright red and steaming hot; the other half was a ghastly green and chilling.

The yin and yang energies circulated within his body, causing the bright red and pale green to alternate.
As time passed, the frequency of this transformation increased, and Zhou Botong's aura became more and more intense and violent.

When this intensity and ferocity reached its peak, a mysterious aura, extremely obscure and hidden, quietly emerged, attempting to merge into Zhou Botong's body.

Xu Xingchen, who had been paying close attention to Zhou Botong's cultivation progress, suddenly had a thought. His eyes flashed like lightning, and in an instant, he abandoned all distracting thoughts and focused all his attention on the changes and flow of every bit of energy on Zhou Botong's body, trying to find that obscure and hidden aura.
Just at this time
puff!
With a sound like a balloon being deflated, Zhou Botong's chaotic energy merged together, successfully breaking through to the fourth level of the Qiankun Great Shift technique.

Xu Xingchen frowned and tried to find that hidden, mysterious aura again, but it had vanished without a trace.
Having successfully broken through, Zhou Botong suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with eagerness as he reached out and touched things, as if trying to capture something from the surrounding air.

He was also anxiously muttering, "I feel it, my destiny, my opportunity, where have you gone, where have you gone?"

"Come out quickly, don't run away!" Xu Xingchen listened to Zhou Botong's desperate nagging and watched him jump up from the ground and run around chasing after him. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he understood what that hidden and obscure aura was.

It was precisely because he understood this that he felt even more sorry for Zhou Botong and understood why Zhou Botong had become so neurotic.

After a long while, Zhou Botong finally came to his senses. Looking dejected, he returned to the campfire, plopped down on the ground, and continued muttering to himself, "My opportunity... my breakthrough... my opportunity... my breakthrough..."

After a moment, he seemed to understand something, suddenly raised his head, looked at Xu Xingchen with shining eyes, and said eagerly, "Quick, quick, let's continue; this time, I'll teach you a very powerful chapter from the Nine Yin Manual."

"Old rascal, you're pinning your hopes on the fifth level of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth technique." Xu Xingchen's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought to himself, "But can things like opportunities and chances, which are so hard to explain, really be obtained through this method?"

Seeing that Zhou Botong had already begun to explain, he had no choice but to clear his mind and concentrate on listening.

This time, Zhou Botong recounts the "Soul Transfer Technique" chapter from the Nine Yin Manual, which involves how to strengthen one's mental power through internal energy, and then use one's eyes to subdue people and make them obey one's commands—a magical method.
This chapter contains wondrous and profound content, touching upon Xu Xingchen's blind spots, and represents a completely new application of the essence of martial arts.

After listening to the whole thing, Xu Xingchen finally understood.

To put it bluntly, this is still a kind of hypnosis technique, but the method is more sophisticated and the power is greater. And unlike the Martial Arts Divine Aura, it does not only appear when the Martial Arts Divine Image is used.

Moreover, when the Soul Transfer Technique is cultivated to a high level, it can even erase a person's memories or reshape them, making its power incredibly strong.

There are also disadvantages.
It's ineffective against people of equal skill level; it can only be used against those with weaker martial arts skills.

The power depends on the martial arts skill level of the person receiving it.

Even so, Xu Xingchen listened with great interest, because it was a topic he had never studied before.

Novel! Intriguing!
After Zhou Botong finished reciting the text, Xu Xingchen memorized it all.

"Have you memorized it?" Zhou Botong stared at Xu Xingchen with his round eyes. After seeing him nod, he rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "Then quickly teach me the fifth level of the Great Shift of the Universe technique!"

Xu Xingchen frowned and looked at Zhou Botong seriously: "Your mind is full of distracting thoughts and your energy is in chaos. How can you possibly cultivate the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth technique?"

Seeing Zhou Botong standing there in a daze, he sighed helplessly, "We can't rush things now. I'll teach you once you've calmed down."

The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth is not a method for accumulating internal energy, but rather a subtle way of using internal energy. The higher the level of cultivation, the more one needs to be calm and composed.

Otherwise, it is extremely easy to go astray and become possessed by evil spirits!
Zhou Botong's current condition is completely unsuitable for cultivation, which is why Xu Xingchen offered the aforementioned words of advice.

He thought Zhou Botong would make a huge fuss and not give up, but to his surprise, after a long pause, the other man muttered something and sat back down by the campfire.

"You look exactly like my senior brother when he taught me martial arts."

Xu Xingchen heard the mutter clearly and couldn't help but laugh, "It's clear that your senior brother understands your temperament very well!"

Zhou Botong rolled his eyes, straightened his posture, closed his eyes slightly, and began to recite the Taoist classic "Qingjing Jing" (Classic of Purity and Tranquility).

"The Dao is this: it has purity and turbidity, movement and stillness; heaven is pure, earth is turbid; heaven moves, earth is still. Man is pure, woman is turbid; man moves, woman is still; descending from the root to the branches, all things are born."

"Once these three are understood, one sees only emptiness; observing emptiness, one finds emptiness itself empty; emptiness has nothing to be emptied; since what is emptied is nothing, even nothingness itself is nothing; since nothingness itself is nothing, there is a serene and constant stillness; in this stillness there is nothing to be still, how can desire arise? Since desire does not arise, this is true stillness."

Lao Tzu said: "The superior man does not contend, the inferior man loves to contend; the highest virtue is not virtue, the lowest virtue clings to virtue. Those who cling to virtue are not truly virtuous. The reason why sentient beings cannot attain the true Way is because they have deluded minds."

Xu Xingchen heard Zhou Botong's incredibly fluent tone as he recited the "Qingjing Jing" and knew that he had memorized this text many times when he followed Wang Chongyang to practice martial arts.

Just as he was wondering how long it would take Zhou Botong to calm down, Zhou Botong, who had recited the Taoist classic "Qingjing Jing" three times, opened his eyes and calmly said, "My heart has calmed down, you can teach me now."

Looking into Zhou Botong's eyes, which were calmer than ever before, Xu Xingchen was genuinely surprised this time.

After a long pause, he shook his head and exclaimed in admiration, "I really underestimated you."

(End of this chapter)