My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Lü Yang lowered his voice:

"I'm planning to try practicing Qi cultivation. Do you want to join me?"

Shen Zhaoyue paused for a moment, then shook her head:

"I've said it before, I use a knife, I don't practice this."

Lü Yang scratched his head:

"So what kind of swordsmanship do you practice? It can't possibly be more powerful than some immortal cultivation method!"

Shen Zhaoyue remained silent.

Ye Qingfeng suddenly spoke:

"What are the different levels of martial arts training?"

He looked at Shen Zhaoyue, his gaze calm.

Shen Zhaoyue paused for a moment, then replied:

"Martial arts cultivation is divided into seven realms."

She paused, then slowly began to speak:

"First stage, skin training. The skin becomes tough and resilient, making it difficult for ordinary swords and blades to penetrate."

"The second stage is muscle training. The muscles become solid and strong, and one's strength is as great as an ox."

"The third stage is tendon training. With strong and resilient tendons, one can move with agility."

"Fourth Realm, Internal Organ Refinement. The five internal organs are strengthened, and the breath becomes long and sustained."

"The fifth stage, marrow refinement. The bone marrow is full, and the qi and blood are vigorous."

"The sixth realm, blood transfusion. With pure blood, one is free from all diseases."

"Seventh Realm, Martial Saint. Unity of inner and outer, reaching the heavens and earth."

Lü Yang was stunned:

"So many? Then... what realm are you in now?"

Shen Zhaoyue said calmly:

"Peak of Dirt Refining, half a step into Marrow Refining."

Lü Yang gasped:

"That powerful? Does that mean he's practically a Martial Saint?"

Shen Zhaoyue shook her head:

"Far from it. The Marrow Refining stage is the most difficult to break through. Martial Saints are extremely rare, appearing only once every hundred years."

Ye Qingfeng nodded slightly, then asked:

"How did you train?"

Shen Zhaoyue was silent for a moment, then slowly said:

"I started training from a young age. I entered the Six Doors at the age of ten and learned swordsmanship from my master. First, I practiced stance training, then footwork, and then swordsmanship. I practiced one set of swordsmanship a thousand times every day for three years."

Her tone was flat, as if she were talking about someone else:

"Three years later, my master said it was time to begin the body tempering process. First, we trained the skin by soaking it in medicinal water and hitting it with a wooden stick to loosen the skin membrane before it grew back. Once it was strong, we hit it again. After a year of training, the skin membrane was formed."

"Then train your muscles. Every day, do weighted running and weighted jumps to push your muscles to their limits. Then use medicinal baths to nourish them and allow the muscles to regrow. Repeat this process for another year."

"Training the tendons is the hardest part. You have to stretch all the tendons and bones in your body, which is excruciatingly painful. If you can't stretch them, you have to force them with your internal energy, which almost breaks your meridians. It took me two years to train my tendons."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Ye Qingfeng:

"Why does the Taoist priest ask this?"

Ye Qingfeng did not answer, but simply nodded slightly:

"Practicing martial arts is not easy."

Shen Zhaoyue:

"I can't compare to the Taoist priest's cultivation. But everyone has their own path, and I'll see this path through to the end."

Lu Yang, who was listening intently, couldn't help but ask:

"So... when you practice martial arts, do you have any secrets or tricks?"

Shen Zhaoyue glanced at him and, unusually, said a few more words:

"The most important thing in the early stages is to control the force."

"Only by mastering the control of one's strength can one temper one's body. Otherwise, no matter how fiercely one trains, it's just brute force, which will harm the body but not the enemy."

"For example, when training your skin, you don't just stand there and take the hits. You have to be hitting while simultaneously using your strength to protect your skin."

Allow the skin membrane to contract naturally when subjected to force. This results in skin that is resilient.

Lü Yang nodded repeatedly, though it was unclear whether he understood.

Ye Qingfeng stood to the side, his eyes flickering slightly.

At this moment, Lü Yang once again offered his advice:

"Trying it won't hurt you! The Immortal Master said that Qi cultivation is the fundamental method, it's the same for everyone. Even if you don't practice swordsmanship, practicing Qi will benefit you!"

Shen Zhaoyue looked at him without saying a word.

Lü Yang then said:

"Think about it, didn't you say that official career advancement can enhance swordsmanship? Maybe practicing Qi can enhance it too?"

Shen Zhaoyue remained silent.

Then she raised her head and looked at Ye Qingfeng.

Ye Qingfeng nodded slightly:

"You can give it a try."

Shen Zhaoyue remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

Lü Yang was overjoyed and pulled her to sit cross-legged on the bed.

"Come, come, let me recite the method that the immortal master passed down to me..."

He was speaking when he suddenly froze.

How do you recite that Dharma gate?

Ye Qingfeng said calmly:

"The contents of that jade slip are already in your mind. You only need to calm your mind and it will appear on its own."

Lu Yang was stunned for a moment, then closed his eyes and tried to calm down.

really.

Those words and those images, as if rising from the bottom of the water, gradually appeared in his mind.

He "saw" the method of cultivating Qi—how to sense the Qi between heaven and earth, how to guide Qi into the body, and how to circulate Qi throughout the body.

He opened his eyes, his face full of excitement:

"Disciple saw it! Saw it!"

Shen Zhaoyue looked at him, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

Lu Yang quickly recited the mantra of that method.

It's not really about reciting; it's about expressing those mysterious and esoteric descriptions in your own words.

"It's about... first calming your mind, then sensing the energy between heaven and earth... not the breath you breathe."

It's another kind of thing... anyway, it's the same thing. You can feel it, then absorb it into your body and let it travel through your meridians...

Shen Zhaoyue listened, seemingly understanding but not quite.

After finishing speaking, Lü Yang eagerly closed his eyes and began to try.

Shen Zhaoyue glanced at him, closed her eyes, and tried to do as he said.

The room fell silent.

The moonlight shone quietly in and fell upon the two of them.

Lu Yang closed his eyes, trying his best to think of nothing.

The more I try not to think about it, the more chaotic my mind becomes.

One moment he was thinking about the words on the jade slip, the next he was thinking about the realms Shen Zhaoyue had mentioned, and then he was thinking about those two tiger demons...

He took a deep breath and forced himself not to think about those things.

Gradually, the jumbled thoughts in my mind faded away.

In the darkness, he suddenly sensed something.

It was very faint, almost imperceptible, as if something was flowing around him.

A surge of joy welled up within him, and he instinctively reached out to capture it—

That feeling vanished instantly.

He opened his eyes, his face full of annoyance:

"Oh dear, so close!"

Shen Zhaoyue looked at him:

"What's missing?"

Lü Yang said excitedly:

"I feel it! There's something around me, like...like the wind, but not quite, very light..."

As he spoke, he closed his eyes again, trying to re-enter that state.

This time, he was much more relaxed.

I no longer try to capture anything; I simply feel it quietly.

In the darkness, that faint feeling reappeared.

It flowed around him, gently and slowly, like ripples in water, like willow catkins in the wind.

It touched his skin, seeped into his pores, and flowed slowly through his body.

That feeling was wonderful.

It's like soaking your whole body in warm water, with every pore opening up and every muscle and bone relaxing.

He was so engrossed in it that he lost track of time—

Suddenly, the feeling of flow accelerated dramatically!

It was as if a stream had suddenly turned into a river, and those faint breaths continuously flowed into his body, along his meridians, and gathered in his dantian.

He shuddered and couldn't help but open his eyes.

Looking down, I saw a faint white halo flowing over my hands.

The halo was very faint, appearing and disappearing intermittently, but it was definitely there.