This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 38 The Dao of Hidden Immortal Valley

Zhuang Lin understood Liu Hongyu's thoughts, but those who wanted to stay would naturally stay, and those who wanted to leave could not be persuaded.

Many people come here for profit, and when wealth and honor are within their reach in the future, how could they give up easily?

Unless people are told directly and simply that they can achieve immortality, but isn't this also another kind of benefit? Besides, not everyone has extraordinary talent, so how much filth can there be in it? At least Zhuang Lin doesn't want to do that.

Zhuang Lin felt that he was not a powerful person. With his current ability, he only needed to teach a few people, or even just teach Liu Hongyu.

Zhuang Lin was not worried that there would be no one in the valley in the future. Even if that were the case, he would still be able to have peace and quiet.

When he really wants to have some fun, he can go to the mortal world. He has always wanted to travel all over the mountains and rivers to look for opportunities, so of course he will not tie his own hands.

Moreover, Zhuang Lin believed that some of the ambitious people in the valley actually had their own inclinations.

Yes, even at Zhuang Lin’s current level, in his eyes, there are still many people in Yinxian Valley who can be called “masters and experts”.

"Okay, don't bother Brother Fu today. I'll give you some pointers!"

Liu Hongyu looked delighted when he heard Zhuang Lin's words.

"That's great, Master. I want to learn that kind of Tai Chi!"

Others may not have noticed it just now, but Liu Hongyu has outstanding spiritual perception and can feel that the transformation of yin and yang affects the spiritual energy. This is the way of immortals, so the master was basically practicing immortal magic just now!

"Well, you can try to feel it!"

Zhuang Lin began to teach Liu Hongyu seriously, not caring at all that a group of people who had been practicing martial arts since childhood were watching and listening. When Liu Hongyu started to fight like a real martial artist, and even made people around him feel drawn to him, many people could not help themselves.

If even Master Liu can do it, then so can I, right?

"Master Zhuang, why don't you give me some pointers?"

"And me, I feel like I've been practicing for over ten years and still haven't figured it out!"

“I want to learn from you too.”

Fu Zeyang couldn't help but speak. He clearly remembered that two or three months ago, he was the one who taught Master Zhuang Tai Chi, from the simple version to the advanced version. Why didn't he understand it now, or maybe he understood it but had an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

The so-called starting from simple to complex and then simplifying is what Master Zhuang is doing now.

Zhuang Lin nodded. In fact, martial arts sometimes overturned some of his inherent concepts. Now he wondered whether the ancient martial arts of the Jin Dynasty also had many profound aspects. Because when he practiced Tai Chi just now, the spiritual power in his body circulated along with it, affecting the surrounding aura.

In terms of martial arts alone, Zhuang Lin even felt that he was as powerful as the masters in those classic martial arts films.

Then the upper limit of the exquisite and mysterious martial arts is not that low, at least it is definitely not as useless as many people on the Internet used to think.

Seeing that everyone was gathering around, Zhuang Lin was not stingy and started talking about the essence of the matter.

"From my perspective, martial arts require the strengthening of muscles, bones, and skin. You often talk about Qi and blood, which is of course very important, but it's also somewhat helpless. It's clear that whole-body strength is just defensive power, and most of the moves we use are fixed routines."

"Even if someone has practiced martial arts for years, if they only know routine moves, when a real fight breaks out, they might still resort to using the turtle fist!"

When Zhuang Lin said this, some people laughed, but some couldn't.

"Actually, I'm just confused, so I can't use my skills!"

Fu Zeyang nodded and spoke with some embarrassment.

In fact, last time in the dangerous environment of the Jin Dynasty, Fu Zeyang used his usual Tongbeiquan technique in his first attack, but if he got into a fight later, he couldn't say how he would respond.

Fu Zeyang added.

"When people panic, they forget all their skills, but the strength they've trained for is still there, and some movements that have become instinctive will still be used subconsciously. So, don't slack off in training during the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer. It will be of some use!"

"Yes, it's somewhat useful!"

Zhuang Lin nodded and looked at Fu Zeyang, but then shook his head.

"But it's far from enough! Practicing martial arts requires more than just muscles, bones, qi and blood, it also requires enlightenment of the spirit!"

"Myojin?"

This statement may have been recorded, but it may not be often brought up in modern times, and what Zhuangzi, a Confucian scholar, said is definitely unconventional.

Even Fu Zeyang found it quite new at this moment, and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Yes, Ming Shen, Ming Shen is one step higher than what you pursue!"

Zhuang looked at the rising sun and pointed to the east.

"If we take the heaven and earth to represent the human body, this is the God in our hearts. If we can understand God, then the rising sun will be like fire, and everything will be radiant with light!"

Regardless of what others thought was mysterious, Zhuang Lin continued speaking.

"The mind is like the spirit. If the mind is still, the intention will not be confused. This is to control the energy within the body. Using energy to control force, the force will not be dispersed. This is to mobilize the strength of the whole body and to control the momentum of the moves. If the momentum is achieved, the spirit and force will be combined, strengthening oneself and shocking the opponent. This is the ultimate achievement!"

"In short, it's about controlling your energy with your mind, and controlling momentum with your energy. Clarify your inner self, and draw inspiration from the outside world. Then, you'll be able to face your opponent without thinking, and your moves will naturally evolve. This is the state where no moves are better than moves!"

"Of course, strength can defeat skill, so one's own foundation must not be compromised!"

Liu Hongyu on the side understood that what his master said was no longer just about martial arts, but also involved the level of "Tao" to a certain extent, so he listened very carefully.

Zhuang Lin looked at the people around him and smiled.

"Actually, apart from martial arts, what I said essentially applies to all walks of life!"

Fu Zeyang stared at Zhuang Lin blankly, and the others around him also looked stunned.

In fact, even if many of them have heard some great truths, they were mostly unable to listen to them in the past because the people who were speaking did not actually understand them themselves and were just passing them on word of mouth, so what they said was half-truthful.

Moreover, many of these people were forced to practice martial arts with sticks since childhood, and they themselves were somewhat rebellious and resistant to the teachings of their elders.

But the situation is different now!

Because I had just seen the teacher practicing boxing, the memory was still fresh in my mind. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying at the moment, I felt inexplicably touched.

After a while, someone suddenly thought of something, shouted something, and ran home.

"Master Zhuang, please wait a moment. I'll go get Grandpa out—"

That was Fu Zeyang's nephew. Then he realized that this guy was going to take his father. "You little bastard, your grandfather is not able to walk conveniently-"

Despite shouting, Fu Zeyang chased after him but did not stop him. Instead, he went home with him. He should have asked the old man to come along. As the two of them ran, Fu Zeyang turned back and shouted.

"Mr. Zian - please wait until we come back -"

Liu Hongyu looked at the two people running away, then looked at Zhuang Lin, and felt that his master's method of keeping people was much better than his!
-
Time quickly passed from summer to autumn, and the school also had a period of vacation, but it was not the winter or summer vacation in the conventional sense of the outside world, but because this was the season with the most frequent crop harvests in Yinxian Valley.

Whether it is the fruit trees outside the valley, the various crops in the fields, or some gifts from nature in the mountains and forests, it is a relatively abundant season.

Even the children in the valley need to help with the work, and this is also the busiest season in Yinxian Valley.

As for Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu at this moment, they were heading to a place outside the Hidden Immortal Valley.

That place is about a few hundred meters away from the edge of the convex valley on the surface. It is a bend-like place formed by the remaining veins extending from the end of the valley.

The two places are divided by a small hill on one side of the valley wall, so they are considered outside the valley.

Water in the valley seeps through the ground and emerges again, and mountain streams also converge.

This is the most special place in Yinxian Valley. It is separated from most residential areas, but there are buildings there, so it is not uninhabited. It is also the place with the highest temperature.

Porcelain kilns, charcoal kilns, blacksmith shops and other workshops are basically concentrated in this area, and people in the valley are accustomed to calling this place the Fire Valley.

Recently, Zhuang Lin likes to come here, and Liu Hongyu also follows him.

When practicing martial arts, it is inevitable to involve weapons. When it comes to weapons, Liu Hongyu often mentions concepts such as immortal magic weapons in front of Zhuang Lin, and the desire in his words cannot be more obvious.

Liu Hongyu's commotion also aroused Zhuang Lin's interest in magic weapons. Who wouldn't be interested in this?
However, Zhuang Lin said that there really wasn't any, and Liu Hongyu also understood in his heart that his master had waited until the time when everything was exhausted, and all kinds of spiritual objects such as natural treasures had been corrupted by the spiritual energy, and only immortal bodies with long life could withstand it.

However, since the Master has reopened the "spiritual vein" of Hidden Immortal Valley under God's arrangement, can the Master also refine the magic weapon again?
This is what Liu Hongyu mentioned, thought, and asked, so Zhuang Lin was naturally interested after hearing it.

The heat was raging in the Valley of Fire, especially in the blacksmith shop.

At this moment in the blacksmith shop, the master craftsman who was nearly seventy years old was drinking tea, while his two disciples were busy. One of them slowly took out a red-hot piece from the furnace with pliers to check it, and then put it back into the furnace.

The old master's face showed joy. At this time, he happened to see Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu coming over, and hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"Mr. Zi'an and Mr. Liu are here! They've arrived just in time, just in time!"

The old master was quite old, but at the moment he was a little excited. He put down his teacup and went out to greet him.

Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu also hurriedly returned the gift.

"Hello, Mr. Qiao!" "Grandpa Qiao!"

"Please, please, please!"

The old man was in a very good mood. He grabbed Zhuang Lin's hand and walked into the blast furnace, pointing at the fire over there.

"Mr. Zi'an is indeed a master who is well versed in the teachings of hundreds of schools of thought. My Qiao family has been specialized in forging for generations, and the forging methods passed down by our ancestors are indeed correct. I have been obsessed with it and even doubted our ancestors, thinking that those methods were just feudal superstitions. I am truly ashamed of myself!"
I didn’t expect that with a little guidance from Mr. Zi’an, the remaining ores could be melted and combined, turning decay into something magical! This old man in the Hidden Immortal Valley is really amazing.”

The old man was so excited that he almost blurted out the truth, but the words in his throat stopped suddenly after he saw Liu Hongyu's face.

"Uh, this Hidden Immortal Valley has really treated me well!"

Liu Hongyu had already noticed the old man's mistake, but he pretended not to know. Now it was not someone else playing him, but he was playing someone else. However, he was very interested in the mineral that the old man mentioned.

"Did they really merge together?"

"Is this true? I still rely on Mr. Zi'an's knowledge, otherwise I wouldn't be able to complete the first step of the Black Iron Forging Method!"

Zhuang Lin smiled. That was not his knowledge at all. It was clearly content found in the Qiao family's classic books.

It’s just that some of the so-called “traditional methods” are obviously difficult to be effective in modern times, but this may not be the case in Yinxian Valley.

Coupled with Zhuang Lin's slight improvements, the current result was inevitable.

If there is anything that is entirely the work of Zhuang Lin, it is the star carvings on the blast furnace, which he helped carve.

But what Master Qiao said was right. He made the right decision to come to Yinxian Valley!
"Oh, by the way, I'm a man of my words. If this method works, I'll make an artifact for you, Master, even if it's just for a study ornament!"

Although some materials are precious, craftsmen are most concerned with skills. This can be regarded as a favor of spreading the teachings, and no matter how much we repay it, it is not enough!

Zhuang Lin looked at Liu Hongyu beside him. The latter looked delighted and hurriedly stepped forward.

"Grandpa Qiao, the master gave it to me. I want to make a sword, and I will also participate in the forging myself!"

"Give it to you? And forge it yourself?"

The old man looked at Zhuang Lin, who nodded slightly.

"Give it to him."

Old Master Qiao groped his stubble and looked Liu Hongyu up and down.

"Since the Master has spoken, it's perfectly acceptable for me to forge it for Young Master Liu. It's not that I look down on Young Master Liu, but he's so delicate and fragile that I'm afraid he can't even swing a hammer, let alone collaborate with others to forge it."

Liu Hongyu smiled and said nothing. He took off his coat, picked up a sledgehammer beside him with one hand and waved it gently a few times.

The hammer cut through the air, making a "woohoo" sound, which made the old man's eyes light up. This move was definitely not simple!
Afterwards, Liu Hongyu tried collaborative forging with one of the old man's apprentices. In just a moment, he was able to grasp the rhythm and strength.

Even later on, the young blacksmith could not keep up with Liu Hongyu's pace and had no time to correct some things.

This made the old man's eyes light up. He kept praising Mr. Liu as a natural blacksmith, and his impression of him changed greatly.

So when they really started forging Liu Hongyu's sword, the old man actually did it himself. When he took off his coat, his muscular body shocked both Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu.

After a while, Zhuang Lin and the old man's apprentice became spectators, while Old Man Qiao and Liu Hongyu were hammering the sword blank together.

"Ding~dong~ding~dong~ding~dong."

Amidst the surging heat and the sound of hammering, Liu Hongyu was fully focused. The control of the sword embryo mainly depended on the old man, while he also forged his spirituality into the process.

Seeing how focused Mr. Liu was, Mr. Qiao perked up and used his best skills.

Zhuang Lin looked at this scene and felt a little emotional. This was the inherent truth of Hidden Immortal Valley!
(End of this chapter)