I have a martial arts panel.

"Not bad, this time there are actually four people who have achieved minor mastery of swordsmanship."

The old man strode in and then sat down.

Tao Jinglu, one of the elders of the Tao clan.

"Uncle."

Tao Ye was the first to offer his greetings.

Her grandfather was the village chief, and she knew all these clan elders.

"Greetings, Uncle."

After Tao Ye, the three of them bowed at the same time.

"Tao Ye, you haven't disgraced your grandfather! You've mastered the Gale Blade Technique to a minor level at the age of thirteen, almost catching up with your sister Tao Jin."

Tao Jinglu first praised Tao Ye, then looked at Tao Qingfeng and asked, "You're Tao Qingfeng?"

"Yes, Uncle."

Tao Qingfeng nodded in response.

Although he was young, his confident tone made Tao Ye take another look.

This is the confidence one gains from growing up in an environment full of praise.

"The younger generation is truly formidable..."

Tao Jinglu had clearly been aware of the young man's talent beforehand.

The elders place great importance on the young geniuses within the clan.

The future prosperity of Taojiazhuang rests entirely on the shoulders of these young geniuses.

"Who are you?"

Tao Jinglu looked at another person that Xu Ning did not recognize.

"Uncle, I am Tao Qingping."

Tao Qingping looked to be about the same age as Xu Ning, but his talent couldn't compare to Tao Ye's or Tao Qingfeng's. He seemed a little nervous in front of the clan elder, Tao Jinglu.

"oh……"

Tao Jinglu nodded, clearly not taking Tao Qingping seriously.

He then looked at Xu Ning: "What's your name?"

Tao Jinglu was completely unfamiliar with Xu Ning.

"Uncle, my name is Xu Ning."

Xu Ning responded.

"Xu Ning?"

Tao Jinglu was clearly somewhat surprised.

There are very few people of the Tao clan who are not related to the Tao family, and even fewer who can master the Gale Blade Technique to a minor level.

Xu Ning's situation is very rare.

"An outsider..." Tao Jinglu rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, "Whose family are you?"

"Uncle, my brother-in-law is Tao Yunchuan."

Xu Ning responded truthfully.

"Tao Yunchuan..."

Tao Jinglu pondered again; clearly, he was unfamiliar with the name.

Tao Jinglu paused for a moment, then asked, "How old are you? Do you practice marksmanship or swordsmanship?"

"Seventeen, he practices the Gale Blade Technique."

Xu Ning answered truthfully.

"Seventeen..."

Tao Jinglu's expression remained unchanged: "Not bad..."

He thought Xu Ning had only mastered the Gale Blade Technique to a minor level.

The young people of Taojiazhuang start practicing martial arts at the age of twelve or fourteen at the earliest, and those who achieve minor success by the age of seventeen are not considered to have outstanding talent.

Xu Ning clearly understood that Tao Jinglu's assessment of him was inaccurate.

But after thinking it over, Xu Ning didn't offer any explanation.

That would seem rather deliberate.

After that, Tao Jinglu stopped asking the group questions and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, enough dawdling. You've all been waiting impatiently. I'll teach you my internal energy now."

Upon hearing Tao Jinglu's words, the eyes of the four men lit up simultaneously.

Tao Ye was no exception. Although she was the clan leader's granddaughter, her grandfather never allowed her to learn about internal energy cultivation in advance without her permission, and she was full of anticipation.

Amidst the expectant gazes of the group, Tao Jinglu stood up and walked to a private room behind the lobby.

After a short while, Tao Jinglu walked out.

At this moment, he was holding several booklets and a few pages of paper in his hand.

"This is the internal skill you've all been longing for!"

Tao Jinglu smiled and handed the booklets to the four people.

Xu Ning took it last and glanced at it.

The cover has three large characters printed on it: Spring Breeze Secret.

"So this is internal energy cultivation...?"

An expectant look appeared in Xu Ning's eyes.

He slowly opened the cover and quickly glanced through a few pages.

The Spring Breeze Manual consists of text and some human figure drawings, and the method is quite detailed.

Although ordinary people had little access to literacy in this era, Taojiazhuang, being a large village, had its residents begin learning to read and write from a young age.

Although Xu Ning did not spend her childhood in Taojiazhuang, she learned basic writing from Guo Ye during the three years after settling there.

Guo Ye provided a great deal of help to his predecessor.

"Uncle."

Tao Ye first happily flipped through a few pages of the Spring Breeze Manual, then seemed to realize something and asked, "Was this Spring Breeze Manual always passed on to the villagers in this way before?"

"It's always been like this."

Tao Jinglu nodded.

Tao Ye frowned slightly: "I remember Grandpa saying that internal strength is the foundation of martial arts. If the person who received the instruction obtained the internal strength manual so easily, what if it gets leaked?"

Xu Ning, who was listening nearby, felt that Tao Yewen made sense.

Taking myself as an example, once I obtained this book, if I wanted to pass it on to others outside Tao Family Village, no one in the village could stop me.

Tao Jinglu laughed and explained, "Internal strength is indeed a martial art, but it's not something precious."

"Outside the manor, anyone who has the desire to practice martial arts can easily acquire an internal skill. You can buy internal skill manuals in Kangyun County with silver."

"this……"

Tao Ye was clearly very surprised.

"But if internal energy cultivation methods are so widespread, why does the manor still impose restrictions on us? They won't let us access internal energy cultivation until we've mastered the Gale Blade Technique to a minor level?"

Tao Ye asked again.

Tao Jinglu said, "The reason we don't let you get involved in internal energy cultivation early is to prevent you from being too ambitious. Besides, when you first start learning martial arts, internal energy cultivation may not be as practical as external energy cultivation."

"For a newcomer with no martial arts foundation, the immediate combat power of mastering an external skill to a minor level is stronger than mastering an internal skill to the first level of the Mortal Realm, the Strength Refining Realm. The difference in combat power between internal and external skills is not significant in the early stages, but becomes obvious in the later stages."

"Moreover, the difficulty of cultivating internal skills is far greater than that of external skills. If a person cannot even master an external skill to a minor degree, then their talent and perseverance are simply insufficient to embark on the path of internal skill cultivation."

"This is why the manor first had you learn external martial arts before internal martial arts."

Upon hearing this, Tao Ye nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

Tao Jinglu's words explained Tao Ye's doubts and also made the others understand the difference between internal and external martial arts.

"What, is there another problem?"

Tao Jinglu seems to be very patient with the younger generation.

"Uncle, I have another question."

This time, it was Tao Qingfeng who spoke.

"Go ahead and speak."

Tao Jinglu waved his hand.

"I've heard that there are many kinds of internal energy cultivation methods. For example, our Tao clan's internal energy cultivation method is the Spring Breeze Technique, while the Song family next door uses the Wind and Thunder Manual. What's the difference between them?"

Tao Qingfeng's still somewhat immature face showed a curious expression.

"You know quite a lot, kid. You even know that the internal energy cultivation method of the Song Family Manor is the Wind and Thunder Book."

Tao Jinglu smiled and pointed at Tao Qingfeng, explaining, "That's right. There are countless internal cultivation techniques in the world, but their essence is all the martial arts path to break through the ninth level of the mortal realm."

"The main difference between various cultivation methods lies in the different ways they stimulate an individual's physical potential. Our Tao clan's Spring Breeze Technique is a steady and methodical approach to cultivation and breakthroughs, offering strong protection for the individual. Ordinary practitioners rarely suffer serious injuries due to practicing the wrong technique. However, its drawback is that the cultivation speed is relatively slow."

"The Wind and Thunder Book of Song Family Village has a more domineering way of stimulating physical potential, resulting in faster breakthroughs, but it is also more prone to injury. Last year, a young man from Song Family Village was so eager to break through that he almost lost his life. Although he was later rescued, he was left crippled."

"Generally speaking, there are no good or bad cultivation methods, only different styles of practice. The internal energy cultivation methods that have been passed down to this day have all been tested and proven. You don't need to worry about the quality of the cultivation methods. No matter what kind of cultivation method it is, the strength you will have after breaking through to a higher realm is similar."

"I see..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning finally understood the essence of internal energy cultivation.

This is somewhat like the textbooks from my previous life; although the writing style is different, the essence is not much different.

"Where do the differences lie when martial artists of the same level fight?"

Tao Qingfeng was still asking questions.

"There are many factors that influence this..." Tao Jinglu said. "At the same level, some martial artists are just entering, while others have already reached the peak; some grow in battle, while others grow in a greenhouse; some people have average external skills, while others have mastered one or even several external skills to the point of perfection... These are all factors that determine the outcome of a fight between martial artists of the same level."

"oh……"

After pondering for a moment, Tao Qingfeng clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for your explanation, Uncle!"

"And you two? Do you have any further questions?"