Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 136 Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, Movement and the Five Elements
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling are both orphans and depend on each other for survival.

Although they have never learned martial arts, they are extremely talented. They are the kind of geniuses with amazing bones who can ignore the third level of foundation building and can directly start practicing in the acquired realm without worrying about any unstable foundation problems.

This talent made them the most powerful thieves in Yangzhou City even when they were only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Of course, only ordinary people.

Even so, having this skill is enough to ensure that you will have enough food and clothing.

But unfortunately, their boss Yan Kuan asked them to hand over a huge amount of silver. If they failed to do so, they would be beaten severely. If they dared to hide it, they would be beaten even more severely if they were discovered.

It was so fierce that the two of them are still very poor.

However, the two of them had great ambitions and often went to the academy to eavesdrop. As a result, they were not only literate, but also had higher attainments than those regular students in the academy due to their talents.

But holding this strange scroll, the two of them searched their minds for all the knowledge, but still couldn't figure out what was written on it.

"Mr. Zhong, let's stop targeting these scholars and stealing from them. What did they steal?"

"It's all written in oracle bone script. Maybe it's a treasure passed down from ancient times?"

"Then do you understand it?"

"Forehead……"

Kou Zhong was speechless.

There are more than 7,000 characters in the Changsheng Jue, but so many talented people throughout history have only been able to decipher more than 3,000 characters. This shows that although these characters have the same form as the oracle bone script, they may not represent the same meaning.

Naturally, the two of them couldn't understand it.

Kou Zhong thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we go ask that weird old man?"

Xu Ziling also nodded, agreeing with the idea.

In a manor that has been abandoned for who knows how many years and most of the houses have collapsed into ruins, there is still a house that has barely stood still. It is the home of the two.

But not long ago, a strange old man moved into this ruined manor. He looked skinny and about to die, but he was still alive and strong.

The two men felt sorry for him and helped a few buns. Unexpectedly, this strange old man took a liking to them and wanted to teach them martial arts.

The two were overjoyed, thinking they had met some otherworldly master. However, after practicing the martial arts taught by the other party for a long time, they found that it was of no use at all.

However, this person also knew a lot about astronomy and geography, and understood countless knowledge. He also taught them a lot, so the two of them were grateful and thought about becoming his disciples.

But the strange old man directly rejected their request to become his disciple, which made the two of them very depressed.

When the two returned to the abandoned manor, they saw the strange old man lying in the weeds basking in the sun.

He had an old face, short hair, and a haggard appearance. His body was as thin as a skeleton and looked extremely scary.

"Old man! Old man! Wake up!"

"Ah? You're back? It's not even night yet?"

"What's night or not? Look what we brought back."

The two of them directly brought the Longevity Secret to the strange old man. The strange old man opened his eyes, sat up suddenly, grabbed the scroll, and asked in surprise: "This thing...how did you get it?"

"Stolen from an old scholar."

"Stolen? Haha..."

The strange old man stood up and said hurriedly: "Let's go, let's get out of this place!"

"Ah?" The two were shocked.

The strange old man reached out and grabbed the two of them, then jumped away in a few leaps.

The two men only felt the scene before their eyes change rapidly, but in the blink of an eye they were outside the abandoned manor. They exclaimed in surprise, "Old man, you really are an incredible master!"

"Shut up!"

The strange old man stopped on a tree, hid the two of them in the leaves, and looked back at the manor.

The two of them looked together and saw that outside the manor, several people were holding Boss Yan hostage and entering the manor. Soon after, Boss Yan's tragic howling was heard.

When those people came out again, they dragged Boss Yan away.

Boss Yan was covered in blood and dragged forward on the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Seeing Boss Yan, who usually bullied them, end up in such a miserable state, the two men should have felt relieved, but they were smart and could naturally tell that these people brought Boss Yan here probably to find them.

Boss Yan usually bullied them, but in the eyes of the two, he was already a well-known figure in Yangzhou City.

But now it is so miserable, which makes other people look even more terrifying.

Perhaps the only thing that could bring about such a disaster is... that strange scroll!

"Let's go!"

The strange old man carried the two of them and ran quickly in the city. They soon came to the city wall, crossed it easily with his lightness skills, and then entered the mountains and forests outside the city.

After running for half a day, they arrived at a valley, and the strange old man put them down.

The two felt dizzy, nauseous and retching, and lay on the ground for a long time before they felt better.

When I turned around, I found that the strange old man was sitting cross-legged on a rock, studying the scroll.

Seeing that the two of them had relaxed, he asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"No, I don't know..."

"This is the secret of immortality..." The strange old man then recounted the origin of this item.

When it comes to Huangdi and Guangchengzi, although the two are amazed, they don't feel anything substantial.

But when it comes to Yang Guang and Yu Wenhuaji, and how after Yu Wenhuaji came to Yangzhou, he directly blocked the entire city and easily suppressed the entire Shilong Martial Arts Field. Even Shilong, the number one master in Yangzhou, died. Only then did the two of them tremble in shock.

After all, the county magistrate is not as good as the current manager. The Shilong Martial Arts Field is the most terrifying force in front of them, which makes them feel real.

"I didn't want to accept you as my disciples before. Do you know why?"

"I don't know."

The strange old man said, "Actually, I've accepted two apprentices before, but they were unlucky. Your talent is decent, but to have fallen to this point means your luck is also bad, so I didn't want to accept you. But now, by chance, you two have obtained this longevity secret, which is enough to prove your luck."

Kou Zhong was overjoyed when he heard this: "So, old man, you... no, Master is willing to accept us as disciples?"

"No!"

"what?"

The strange old man laughed and said, "You two, be my sons!"

"what?!"

"What? Don't want to?"

"willing!"

The two men immediately kowtowed three times and said, "My brother and I have been wandering for half our lives, and our fates have been full of hardships. If you don't abandon me, I will accept you as my adoptive father!"

"Father!"

"Okay, okay." The strange old man said, "It's been so long that I've forgotten my name, but people in the martial arts world call me Taoist Baisun.

Since you two have accepted me as your adoptive father, I will teach you the methods of martial arts practice!"

"Thank you, foster father!"

"Then, Dad, can you teach us the secret of longevity?"

Kou Zhong quietly changed his name to a more intimate one. Taoist Baisun laughed heartily, grabbed a branch, hung the scroll on it, and asked, "Do you understand?"

"can't read."

“I don’t understand it either!”

"what?"

"What? So many talented people throughout history couldn't understand this secret of longevity, let alone us? Besides, you haven't even entered the martial arts world yet, so why would you learn the secret of longevity? Practice what I teach you first."

From then on, the three of them settled down in the valley.

There was water and prey in this valley, so Taoist Baisun quickly built a wooden house, hung the secret of longevity in the house, and then taught the two of them to practice.

Although it was said to be a cultivation method, what was passed on to the two of them was actually the same set of methods as before.

The two of them had practiced for a long time before, but their strength did not increase at all. In fact, it was normal because what was taught to them was just pure method of refining and calming the mind.

Although the two complained that the method did not increase their strength, they were actually still practicing it.

Now Taoist Baisun has adopted the two as his adopted sons and is still teaching them this method.

The two of them understood that this seemed to be the foundation of martial arts, so naturally they no longer held any resentment and practiced even more diligently.

The two of them had no worries in Yangzhou City. Coming to this valley, they had food, drink, and shelter, and someone to teach them martial arts, so they didn't care about anything else.

He hunted and played every day, and studied the scroll of the secret of immortality in his spare time, but he could not understand it. After a few days, he lost interest in it and did not study it even when he had free time.

After a few days of this, the two of them practiced again, their minds extremely clear and peaceful.

Taoist Baisun appeared silently behind the two of them, and then gently released two streams of perfect aura into their bodies.

This is not the perfect energy after decomposition, but two complete perfect energies.

Under the influence of this perfect energy, the minds of the two returned to their peak state, and their hearts became more and more peaceful. They only felt the vastness of the world, like a vast ocean, and the two of them were like a boat on the ocean, rising and falling with the water.

This situation is naturally extremely dangerous. Compared with the ocean, a small boat is as small as dust, and the ups and downs of the sea water may overturn the boat at any time.

But the two of them were incomparably peaceful and calm, letting the boat move with the sea, as if they had completely become a part of the sea, rising and falling, without any sign of danger.

In this state of mind, the seven human meridian diagrams engraved on the Changsheng Jue inexplicably emerged in their minds.

Kou Zhong thought of the sixth picture and instinctively practiced according to the instructions. Before he knew it, he had stood up and was walking around in the wooden house.

Xu Ziling thought of the seventh picture, which was also about practicing according to the picture album, but standing still, like a rock or a tree.

"As expected, it's you who should be the one who gets it!"

Taoist Baisun...or Zhou Ming couldn't help but sigh.

It has been some time since he got the secret of longevity, but he has never reached this state of mind and has not yet entered the door.

The practice of the Art of Immortality first requires that the practitioner must not have any other forces in his body, and secondly, he must have an extremely peaceful and undemanding state of mind, and most importantly, do not think about practicing the Art of Immortality.

Kou and Xu had no worries.

Zhou Ming asked them to keep practicing that method of refining their minds, and hung the scroll of the Art of Immortality in the house so that they would get used to it and no longer have any concerns about the Art of Immortality. With the help of a little bit of perfect energy, the two of them were able to enter this realm.

This is a state that Zhou Ming himself knows but cannot achieve at all.

Or perhaps, precisely because he knew it, he couldn't do it.

That's why Zhou Ming deliberately trained the two of them.

The purpose is all for now...

Overlapping projections!

This time, it was Zhou Ming's own projection that was projected onto Kou Zhong.

As Zhou Ming's abilities improved, his integration with the portable space continued to grow, and he had already reached the point where he was both in the world and in the space at the same time.

Since he is in space, he can naturally use himself as a projection.

It's just that the projection has the ability to reduce, but he never uses it.

Now it comes in handy.

Overlapping with Kou Zhong's projection, Zhou Ming seemed to be able to feel Kou Zhong's incomparably wonderful state of mind at the moment.

Driven by this state of mind, there is actually a subtle tendency to enter this state of mind.

Zhou Ming's real body, who was far away in Ming Country, also calmed down. The seven diagrams of the human meridians in the Changsheng Jue emerged in his mind.

Each of these seven diagrams of the human meridians is a complete set of exercises, representing the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, earth, yang and yin. The most complex ones are the sixth and seventh, representing the yang and yin parts respectively.

Yang is movement and Yin is stillness.

Kou Zhong practiced the sixth scene, so when he practiced, he unconsciously walked back and forth in the wooden house.

Xu Ziling had practiced the seventh posture, so he sat cross-legged and motionless, like a lifeless stone.

Now that Zhou Ming has entered this realm, what emerges in his mind is the picture of water among the previous five pictures.

He came to the lake without realizing it, his feet stepping on the water without falling, and he came into the lake. Endless power of heaven and earth flowed into his acupuncture points and meridians from all directions.

At the same time, he could also feel the power of movement brought by the sixth picture that Kou Zhong practiced.

He swam on the lake, and ripples rose and gradually turned into waves.

He suddenly had an idea and overlapped his projection with Xu Ziling's.

The power of stillness brought by the seventh picture that Xu Ziling practiced also merged with his body.

Zhou Ming sat cross-legged, his body like a big stone, sinking into the water, submerged to the bottom of the lake, motionless.

Movement and stillness, yang and yin, are all clear to me at this moment.

The Heavenly Eye opened unconsciously, like a high and mighty king, in charge of the territory under his command, possessing the power of movement and stillness, and operating the water map.

When the water is moving, it creates raging waves; when the water is still, it creates calm waves.

With movement and stillness, the power of water flows through the whole body, then flows out of the body, harmonizing with the heaven and earth, and feeding back into the body.

It flows out again, merges into the heaven and earth, but wanders in all directions, falls on a tree, and returns with the energy of wood.

Zhou Ming unconsciously recalled the Wood Picture among the seven pictures. He took the wood energy into his body, circulated the Wood Picture, transformed the power of wood, and sent it out of his body in the flow of movement and stillness, absorbed the fire energy, returned it to his body, and then refined the Fire Picture.

In this way, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, water produces wood, and wood produces fire. The five elements rotate in a cycle over and over again.

Yang and Yin are present in every corner of the rotation of the Five Elements. They are the clues of communication between heaven and earth and the human body, the channels for the intersection of the Five Elements, the foundation for promoting the continuous operation of human power and heaven's power, and the insurance to prevent human power from being completely dispersed in heaven and earth, or the power of heaven and earth from overwhelming the human body.

It seems to be nowhere, but in fact it is everywhere.

The moon sets and the sun rises.

Zhou Ming opened his eyes underwater, and the water current wrapped around him, pushing him to the surface. When he reached the shore, he was not wet at all, as if he had never been in the water.

“I didn’t expect to gain so much… Although I was able to reach that realm thanks to the opportunities provided by Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, this Art of Immortality is indeed more suitable for a practitioner like me who has opened his clairvoyance.

Even though Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling only cultivated one diagram each, I, a freeloader, cultivated seven diagrams!"

Moreover, this sudden enlightenment of these two people is truly a chance encounter, and they don’t know if there will be such an opportunity again in the future.

But Zhou Ming has an aura of perfection.

It would be fine if you have not reached the realm above the mind in the past.

Since it has already been achieved, using the perfect energy can directly restore the mind to that state again!
In other words, if Zhou Ming wants to enter this state again, he only needs to use the perfect energy and does not need to take any other rides.

(End of this chapter)