Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"In other words, masters who have developed external internal strength do not actually have any real master-disciple inheritance, nor are they trained by any sect."

Lu Chen glanced at Xue Ting.

"The martial arts these people practice are the kind that are widely circulated in the martial arts world and even in the military."

Whether one can cultivate a sense of Qi from the outside in and develop external internal strength depends entirely on aptitude and talent.

Xue Qing, I already know how you learned internal martial arts. Do you know how internal martial arts are passed down in the martial arts world?

Are there any established martial arts sects that specialize in teaching internal martial arts techniques to their disciples?

"Your Highness, I have been wandering the martial arts world for more than ten years and have never heard of a martial arts sect in the true sense."

Xue Ting thought about it carefully.

"If you want to practice internal martial arts, aptitude alone is not enough."

Internal martial arts techniques are not commonplace. Except for a few people who obtain secret manuals and practice on their own, they are usually passed down from master to disciple.

However, internal martial arts require very high personal aptitude and are extremely difficult to master.

Among my disciples, there are two whom I place high hopes on, hoping they can develop internal strength and inherit my mantle in the future.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Despite their hard work in cultivation, they achieved nothing.

Without developing internal strength, he's now only at the level of an ordinary martial arts expert.

The other guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were in the same situation as me.

Back in the day, I only encountered a master and disciple who were both masters of internal martial arts once in the martial arts world.

The master had white hair and beard and looked to be over sixty years old. He was accompanied by more than ten disciples, whose ages ranged from teenagers to forty or fifty years old.

But these disciples, in addition to calling the white-haired old man "Master," also called a young man in his early twenties "Senior Brother."

At the time, I found it a bit strange. Later, when I saw them fighting with someone, I realized that the "senior brother" was also a master of internal martial arts.

I believe that the white-haired old man must have taken in at least a dozen disciples, one of whom developed internal strength and became his successor.

If it can be passed down for several generations, it can be considered as establishing a school of thought.

But in reality, that "senior brother" may not have the same luck as his master, and may not be able to find another successor who can cultivate internal strength in the future.

If they don't receive the inheritance, the lineage will be broken, and they can't become a true sect.

"That's really true. It's so difficult to pass down internal martial arts techniques, and it's also difficult to form a real martial arts sect."

Lu Chen nodded.

"If that's the case, many internal martial arts techniques should have been lost long ago. So how did these internal martial arts masters without any sect lineage come about?"

Could it be that they all practiced on their own, following the manual, like Xue Qing?

"Your Highness, although there are few people who can cultivate internal energy, there are quite a few who have practiced internal martial arts techniques."

Xue Ting explained,

"For example, some of my disciples have been taught the complete techniques."

Although they themselves could not master it, they would pass on this technique to their descendants.

Perhaps in some future generation, someone with exceptional talent will emerge and be able to cultivate internal strength again using this technique.

These techniques will not be lost simply because there is no successor in a particular generation.

Several masters of internal martial arts that I know practice family-inherited techniques.

But in fact, their family has never produced a master of internal martial arts for several generations.

There are very few martial arts sects that can truly pass down their skills continuously, with disciples in each generation able to cultivate internal strength.

These masters of internal martial arts, who only emerge once every few generations, have mostly severed their original master-disciple relationships long ago.

Even if the relationship wasn't completely severed, it should be very distant, and they wouldn't be considered to belong to the same sect anymore.

No wonder!

After listening to Xue Ting's words, Lu Chen finally understood why none of the internal energy masters he had encountered or heard of since his transmigration had a sect backing them up.

Because most of them did not pass on their knowledge directly from master to disciple.

Although they had no sect to rely on, there were no sect rules to restrain them either.

How they choose their own path is entirely up to their own will.

As the saying goes, "He who possesses a sharp weapon will naturally have the will to kill."

Lu Chen had fought against the internal martial arts master "Guo Shan Feng" before and personally experienced his strength.

If this person were not injured, he could easily escape even if surrounded by dozens of ordinary martial arts masters, and might even have the chance to fight back and kill them.

The external martial arts master "Ghost's Sorrow" even used a long sword weighing 27 jin to suppress 20 imperial guards and kill several of them.

He was finally captured only after being surrounded by a hundred Ming soldiers in full armor and carrying shields.

Masters of internal energy possess extraordinary personal martial arts skills far exceeding those of ordinary people; how could they be content to be ordinary people!

Now it is the Ming Dynasty, and local security relies on the constables of the yamen and the archers of the patrol offices.

They were no match for these masters of internal strength; without deploying a regular army of at least a hundred men, they simply couldn't defeat them.

But how could a regular army be mobilized so easily?

In other words, these masters who have cultivated internal strength can act lawlessly and commit crimes in the martial arts world, as long as they don't cause a major incident that requires the imperial court to send troops to suppress them, they will basically not be punished.

Among these people were notorious bandits who relied on their martial arts skills, such as "Over the Mountain Wind" and "Ghost's Sorrow".

Some formed gangs and became underworld bosses.

The Chang Le Society, a large gang in the Xiangyang and Nanyang prefectures, was founded by three masters of internal martial arts.

Some, like Xue Ting, joined the imperial court and were recruited by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Imperial Horse Administration, receiving honorary titles and becoming courtiers.

Besides, there must be some other experts doing something else, but I just haven't come into contact with them yet.

If they served the imperial court, they would receive generous treatment and be granted honorary titles ranging from the sixth to the fourth rank, enjoying a prestigious status.

But at the same time, one must abide by the rules, be subject to constraints, and cannot do as one pleases.

According to the information Lu Bing had given him privately, these officials were not even allowed to leave the capital at will when they were not on missions.

To be fair, from the perspective of these martial arts masters who rose from humble backgrounds, it would be far better to roam the martial world alone and do as they please than to serve the imperial court.

Or perhaps becoming a gang leader and wielding power and influence in the local area would be just as satisfying.

Having figured out how external and internal martial arts masters came to be, Lu Chen felt increasingly that something was amiss.

The emergence of external martial arts masters is completely unpredictable; their techniques are commonplace, and whether one can master them depends entirely on their aptitude.

This aligns with the settings in classic novels such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin," where the fierce generals of the Three Kingdoms and the heroes of Liangshan did not practice any unparalleled martial arts.

Their ability to become top masters must be attributed to their individual talents.

Could it be that the plane I'm currently in isn't actually a parallel plane based on real history, but rather a plane based on a classic novel?

However, neither Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, nor other classical novels of the same period have introduced the concept of internal strength; they only mention external martial arts masters!

What's the deal with these internal martial arts masters?