A man stands before the heavens, his sword emerges from the Emei Mountains.

Yang An had a long, narrow face, was in his early thirties, tall and thin, and looked weathered. He glanced around at the dozen or so people who had recently joined the Emei Sect, his gaze finally lingering on Chen Yu and Tang Zhihu for a moment. He thought to himself, "Bright eyes, ruddy complexion, confident and composed demeanor, and a good physique—they're good for martial arts."

"Which of you has practiced martial arts since childhood?"

This statement is not unfounded. The Emei Sect has many disciples who come up the mountain with their own skills, such as Ji Xiaofu, who comes from the Ji family of Hanyang.

Tang Zhihu said, "My family runs a security escort agency, and I've learned some martial arts and weaponry from the head escort and the escorts."

"I learned Taizu Changquan and Yanqingquan from the guards in my family."

Yang An nodded and looked at Chen Yu, "Where's my junior brother?"

"I also know a few styles of boxing, Senior Brother."

"What kind of boxing style?"

"Hung Kuen is the primary style."

"Hmm." Yang An had never heard of this boxing style before, so he couldn't really comment on it. He simply gave a thumbs-up, "No wonder you have such a good physique."

"Thank you for your comments, senior brother."

Yang An got back to the main point, "Now that you've entered Emei, all of you junior brothers and sisters should focus on our sect's martial arts. Remember, you must not forget the difference between primary and secondary."

"Yes, we understand," came the unanimous reply.

"Practicing martial arts without internal cultivation is a waste of time in old age." Yang An's voice deepened. "Internal cultivation involves training strength, speed, flexibility, balance, and internal energy. Internal cultivation begins with stance training. But who knows how to do stance training?"

Yang An asked the young man who had learned martial arts from the guards, "Junior brother, why don't you tell me?"

"Replying to Senior Brother, the waist and stance are in perfect harmony," the young man said respectfully.

"Junior Brother Chen, do you have anything to add?"

Even without Abbess Miejue's guidance, Chen Yu could not be stumped by such a question. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Standing meditation is the foundation, shaping form and intention."

"What is form? What is meaning?"

"The foot is form, and its placement is meaning; one form, one meaning. Through the tangible foot, one can perceive the intangible meaning."

"Very good." Yang An then asked, "Junior Brother Tang, do you know how to use your feet to sense meaning?"

Tang Zhihu carefully considered his words and said, "Landing gently is like standing on ice. If you exert force, the ice will break and you will fall into it. So you should land gently and lightly, using the feeling of walking on thin ice to understand the meaning of stepping on something that is not quite stepping on it."

"Well said," Yang An applauded, "Remember, force is always reciprocal. When the waist and stance are in harmony, the force sinks to the feet, and the earth will return the force to you. The two are mutually rooted. Therefore, in standing meditation, there must be a falling and a lifting motion, two opposing forces, one yin and one yang. Lifting is the lifting of the crown of the head in standing meditation. Falling is downward, lifting is upward. What is upward? The Baihui acupoint on the top of the head, the highest point of the physical body. It is this point that allows us to unite with heaven and communicate with the heavens. The highest realm of standing meditation is the unity of heaven, earth, and man."

Chen Yu sighed. This was the foundation of a great sect. Even an outer disciple could speak eloquently about the true meaning of stance training. He himself could not do such words.

"Senior Brother Yang is very knowledgeable, and I have learned a lot from you," Tang Zhihu said sincerely.

"No problem."

Yang An said, "I will demonstrate the Emei Four Symbols Stance. Fellow disciples, please follow suit."

"Shoulders relaxed and arms rounded, legs flat on the ground, head upright and neck suspended, waist supporting backward. Wrists clasped together, palms facing each other, breathing in and out through the nose naturally and evenly."

Chen Yu's body sank down, landing smoothly, and the Four Symbols Stakes took root in the ground.

Tang Zhihu landed steadily on the stake.

Yang An taught by example, and looking at the two of them, he thought to himself that Chen Yu and Tang Zhihu had a solid foundation and quickly grasped the essence. Their stance training was perfect in both spirit and form. The other junior brothers and sisters were not bad either. I have to be on my best, otherwise I will feel uneasy if I waste such talents.

Yang An's thoughts returned, and he paced back and forth, correcting the postures of those who were not grasping the essentials.

As the cool sensation emanating from the jade ruyi spread through his body and bones, Chen Yu quickly cleared his mind. With each breath, his now considerable internal energy rose from his dantian, circulating along his meridians, allowing him to enter a state of complete absorption and forgetting himself.

Tang Zhihu glanced at Chen Yu out of the corner of his eye and was quite surprised. Soon after, he also became as muscular and well-proportioned as a cast iron, quickly getting into the zone.

……

As the sun began to set in the west, some disciples started to tremble, and then their bodies shook violently.

"Senior brother, I can't hold on any longer."

"Senior brother, me too," a female disciple said sweetly.

Yang An glanced at Chen Yu and Tang Zhihu, who remained motionless, and said in a deep voice, "The key to practicing martial arts is perseverance. Only through daily accumulation can one achieve extraordinary results. Don't say you can't persevere; you must encourage yourself to keep going for a while longer."

"Thump." The female disciple swayed and fell to the ground. The others who had been struggling to hold on suddenly gave up and sat slumped on the ground, motionless.

Yang An said sternly, "Get up and stretch your muscles, apply the ointment, otherwise your muscles will be sore and you won't be able to continue."

The disciples dared not disobey. They got up and followed Yang An's instructions, receiving the ointment to apply. They massaged and patted their waists and legs to relax their muscles and tendons. When they looked at Chen Yu and Tang Zhihu, their faces showed envy.

……

When Chen Yu felt his meridians begin to ache and become numb, he snapped out of his meditation and glanced around, only to find that he was the only one still in the stance, while Tang Zhihu was stretching his muscles on the side.

"call……"

Chen Yu exhaled slowly, "Senior Brother Yang, I've reached my limit."

"Junior brother, take a rest for a while. I'll explain the basics of swordsmanship later. Junior brother, your stance training is solid, so your foundation should be strong. You'll pick it up very quickly."

"Thank you for your care, senior brother."

After finishing his practice and relaxing his muscles, Chen Yu went to the side of the field, picked up a teapot and porcelain bowls, and poured tea for everyone. "Brothers and sisters, please have some tea to quench your thirst."

Tang Zhihu was slightly taken aback, then quickly smiled and said, "Thank you, Junior Brother Chen. Junior Brother and Sister, please have some tea and don't refuse my kind offer."

"Junior Brother Chen is so kind," a female disciple replied sweetly.

Chen Yu brought a porcelain bowl to Yang An's side, "It's hot under the sun, senior brother, have some tea."

"Thank you, junior brother."

"Senior brother, please don't be so polite."

Chen Yu handed the porcelain bowl to Yang An, returned to the sidelines, poured himself a bowl of tea, and gulped it down.

Yang An came over and handed a box of plasters to Chen Yu, saying, "It can relieve muscle soreness and joint discomfort, clear the meridians, and reduce swelling."

"Okay, thank you, senior brother."

Yang An's action was not to give Chen Yu any special treatment; rather, it was because he was finishing his final stance training, and the other disciples had already received ointment to apply to their hands and feet. However, his initiative in bringing it over showed his good intentions.

Chen Yu couldn't help but think of the excuse given by the sect leader, Miejue. He explained that martial artists internally cultivate their inner energy by focusing on their dantian, and externally use medicinal ointments to soothe their meridians, improve blood circulation, and strengthen their bones. This two-pronged approach yielded twice the results, which was another advantage of having a sect to back them up.

After Chen Yu applied the ointment and rested for about a quarter of an hour, Yang An gathered everyone and began to explain the basic skills of Emei swordsmanship, such as sword drawing, thrusting, parrying, splitting, pointing, slashing, hanging, piercing, clouding, intercepting, and twisting. After explaining these, Yang An flicked his wrist and rotated it inward, causing the wooden sword to spin out a huge sword flower.

"This is a wisteria flower."

"This is an outer wreath."

"Turning your wrist and twisting your waist is the back-facing flower-like movement. Don't underestimate these basic movements. If you do them well, they will be like 'a sword flower blooming like an autumn lotus, its light emerging from its sheath, and sword energy soaring through the clouds to open the heavenly palace.' When you are traveling in the martial world and suddenly attacked by hidden weapons from all sides, you rely on the inside and outside movements, as well as the back-facing flower-like movement, to deflect the hidden weapons and save your life."

"Understood, Senior Brother Yang."

Everyone responded in unison.

Practicing swordsmanship is more interesting than standing in a stance, especially for female disciples. For a while, everyone held their swords, thrusting, parrying, slashing, and pointing, with the sound of the wind whistling. However, when it came to the sword flourishes, disciples who did not know the key points and had no foundation were often hit by the wooden swords, and cried out in pain.

Some disciples with basic swordsmanship were distracted, their minds preoccupied with learning the authentic Emei swordsmanship as soon as possible.

Chen Yu was meticulous. As he twirled his sword, his wrist twisted, and it was as if hundreds of swords had been arranged in an unbelievable order in an instant. The gray light flowed brilliantly, as if it were real and illusory, which drew cheers from Yang An and the female disciple.

As the view shifted upwards, Miejue, atop Huayan Peak, looked at Chen Yu with approval. "Clearly you already have a good foundation, yet you continue to practice diligently step by step, without arrogance or impatience. Very good."

Chen Yu spent half a day formally practicing martial arts at the Emei Sect in a rhythmic alternation of standing meditation and basic sword techniques.