The sun rises slowly from above the valley, and birds sing, fly and chase each other among the green woods in the valley.
As time passed, the sun slowly moved from the east to the center above the valley, and then slowly slanted towards the top of the mountain on the west side of the valley.
Until the evening, it slowly sank behind the mountain peaks, the earth was shrouded in darkness, and only the chirping sounds of autumn insects could be heard...
Time passed day by day, and eight or nine days had passed since Li Yan started practicing. Except for eating and washing up, Li Yan would open the door every day, and the rest of the time he kept it closed.
Inside the room, Li Yan, dressed in a black gown, was sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed with his eyes slightly closed. He placed his hands on his abdomen in a mudra and breathed evenly.
After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and frowned.
He practiced diligently for the past eight or nine days, but still failed to stimulate the Qi in his Dantian. During this period he also asked his teacher for advice.
Master Ji’s reply to him was that this entry-level practice varies from person to person, and it may take as little as three to five days, or as much as ten days to half a month, to stimulate the Qi in Dantian. The most important thing to avoid during the practice is being restless and irritable, and one needs to calm down and settle the mind.
However, it had been nearly ten days, and he still couldn't find the so-called cultivation feeling, and he couldn't help feeling a little discouraged.
He simply got out of bed, opened the door and walked out.
Watching the sky gradually darken, he walked slowly in the valley, pondering the meaning of every sentence and every word in the formula, thinking as he walked.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of trickling water, and found that I had arrived at the pond without realizing it.
Listening to the sound of the mountain spring flowing slowly down the cliff, looking towards the valley where the dark moon was casting a cool glow, the sound of the flowing water echoed in his heart, and he suddenly felt something in his heart.
Just like that, Li Yan stood here quietly and motionlessly. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt as if there was a chill in his body that echoed with the sound of the flowing water.
He then sat down cross-legged beside the pond, and the "breath guidance technique" that had lingered in his mind for the past few days followed his heart naturally. Not long after, a dark aura faintly emerged on his face.
When the black air appeared on his face, it did not appear strange, but rather there was a feeling of cold and deep water lightly covering it, with a hint of transparency.
Li Yan himself didn't know this at the moment. He only felt the sound of flowing water filling his mind, and with his breathing, it began to fill his body.
Suddenly, he felt a coolness rising from his dantian, and it began to slowly flow along the meridians guided by the "breath guidance technique".
Wherever this coolness passed through, it would make the meridians in that area feel cold, but Li Yan did not feel cold. Instead, he felt like a fish swimming into the sea.
In this way, every time this cool air travels through the meridians, the Dantian will feel even cooler, making the Dantian even cooler.
In the stone house on the east side of the valley, Strategist Ji was also sitting cross-legged behind the table with his eyes closed in meditation. Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
He looked towards the door. Although it was closed, a smile appeared on his face.
"Finally, can you feel the energy of heaven and earth? It seems that I can prepare herbal medicines. I am really looking forward to it."
After saying that, he slowly closed his eyes again.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. The valley was still there, and the water was still flowing on the cliff, but the moon had disappeared above the valley. It was already midnight.
There was a look of hesitation on his face. The nights in the mountains in autumn were very cold, but Li Yan did not feel the coldness from the outside at all. The coolness inside his body was even stronger, but it did not make him feel any discomfort. Instead, he felt as if his ears and eyes were sharp and his whole body was light.
However, he remembered that the "Breath Guidance Technique" said that stimulating the Qi in the Dantian should be a warm current, so why did he feel the exact opposite
"Did something go wrong during the training? If so, will he end up like my senior brother before?"
Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Just as he stood up hesitantly, he suddenly felt a chill in his dantian. It became blocked, as if being pulled by something.
At this moment, a voice sounded in my ears.
"Li Yan, you have finally completed the entry level, that's really good."
Hearing the voice, he was startled and turned around quickly. A man in a black robe was standing silently behind him, like a ghost in the dark night.
However, after hearing this voice, Li Yan felt relieved and he quickly bowed.
"Teacher, you haven't rested yet."
He felt somewhat surprised that the teacher's internal strength was so profound. He only experienced some changes in his body, but he knew about it immediately. It was really amazing.
Although the moonlight in the valley had gone, Li Yan could vaguely see the teacher's face with a vague smile under the starlight in the sky. He continued hesitantly.
"Disciple, disciple... I'm not sure if it will succeed."
"Master can sense the aura of you stimulating the Qi in your Dantian. This is what should happen."
Division Master Ji said calmly.
"However, the disciple's Dantian did not produce warmth as the formula said, but a slight coolness instead."
After saying this, Li Yan showed an uneasy look on his face.
After hearing this, Strategist Ji was stunned at first, and then a light laugh was heard.
“I haven’t explained this to you in detail. The Qi-inducing technique is only to stimulate the Qi in Dantian. When it is stimulated, everyone will feel soreness, numbness, itching, coldness, heat, etc.
Generally speaking, warmth and heat are the most common. The formula I gave you only lists the common feelings, so you don’t have to worry about them.”
After hearing this, Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief, his worries disappeared, and he thought to himself.
"It seems that in the future, I should just ask the teacher about these things. I am just scaring myself by making wild assumptions."
Advisor Ji seemed to be able to see Li Yan's relieved expression in the dark night.
"You have been very tired these past few days. You don't need to practice anymore today. Go to sleep early. You can formally practice the 'Wood Yin Gong' method tomorrow."
"Yes, teacher. Then the disciple will take his leave." Li Yan was delighted when he heard this. It meant that he had entered the door of cultivation and was qualified to practice real skills.
He now had an urge to practice martial arts immediately, but he also knew that this could not be rushed. Moreover, although he had not consumed much physical strength in the past ten days, his mind was indeed too exhausted.
So he walked towards his stone house. After he took a few steps, the uncomfortable feeling in his dantian suddenly subsided a lot.
He couldn't help but secretly admire the teacher's profound skills. He didn't have this feeling before when he didn't have any internal energy. Now that he has this little bit of internal energy, he can feel the pressure brought by the teacher.
Looking at Li Yan's disappearing back, Master Ji just turned around and disappeared on the spot. When he appeared again, he had already arrived in his room.
He swept his sleeves behind him, and the door closed silently. He sat cross-legged behind the table again. The smile on his face had disappeared, and his expression became changeable for a moment.
"It turns out that the first thing he sensed from the energy of heaven and earth was water. In this case, the black energy that he saw the strongest when he tested the needle last time was real.
Then practicing wood-based exercises is not the best choice, but fortunately he has mixed spiritual roots, and based on his last performance, the green energy is still among them, second only to the perception of water.
He should be able to cultivate, but it will definitely take a longer time. I don’t know if I can suppress the poison until he succeeds in cultivation.”
Advisor Ji thought for a moment, then shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"It's already a great fortune that I can wait for this second person to arrive. I'm overthinking. Can I expect a better result than this
However, he must speed up his training and start tomorrow. In any case, my body can no longer wait."
Thinking of this, he closed his eyes and entered into meditation again.
The next morning, Li Yan woke up and felt refreshed. His mood was just like the blue sky outside the window in early autumn.
After breakfast, he came to the teacher's house early. Just like last time, as soon as he arrived in front of the stone house, Master Ji's voice came out.
"come in!"
Although Li Yan had only left his house a few times in recent days, he roughly knew that his teacher would only go out once every few days, and usually practiced behind closed doors in this stone house in the valley.
Li Yan was in there for another half a day. After he came out, Military Advisor Ji also walked out slowly. He called Chen An and Li Yin and gave them some instructions. Then he walked straight into the second stone house.
Not long after, Chen An and Li Yin came to Li Yan's room carrying an exquisitely crafted copper stove. Li Yan naturally waited in the room as instructed by his teacher.
Seeing the two of them coming, he asked them to put the copper furnace inside the house. His stone house was spacious, so they could just find an empty place to put it down.
The copper furnace is about half a person's height, made of fine copper, with a faint yellow glow all over, and a solid jade base underneath.
There are three purple dragons carved around the furnace body, with their heads raised upwards, forming a lifting shape. There are several hollow areas between the dragon bodies and the furnace body, through which the scene inside the furnace can be vaguely seen.
At this time, the furnace was already ablaze with fire, but no one knew what the fuel was, but there was no smoke at all, and waves of heat were surging out of the furnace.
About a quarter of an hour later, Division Master Ji walked out of the second stone house, with a look of fatigue on his gray face.
Chen An and Li Yin then entered the stone house. After a while, they carried out another copper basin from the stone house. There was also hot steam coming out of the basin. They then carried the basin to Li Yan's stone house.
He placed the copper basin on the three dragon heads on the copper furnace again, then bowed to Advisor Ji and Li Yan, and the two of them closed the door and walked out.
Advisor Ji came to the bronze furnace, a smile appeared on his tired face, and he said to Li Yan.
"Did you remember the mantra I told you this morning?"
Li Yan also stood in front of the copper furnace and responded respectfully.
"Disciple has memorized it."
"Good! Although there are not too many mantras in each level, the meaning is profound and subtle, and we must understand and comprehend it.
I, the teacher, have spent half a day to clear up your doubts, so that you can fully understand the usage of this first level of the formula. As for the rest, you can only rely on your own diligent practice.
As the saying goes, 'A teacher can only lead you to the door, but it is up to you to practice.' This is an eternal truth, and you need to keep it in mind."
Division Master Ji nodded and said.
"I will practice diligently. Thank you for your guidance, teacher."
Li Yan stood with his hands hanging down, with a respectful attitude.
At this time, hot steam was already emitting from the copper basin on the copper stove.
Looking closer, under the smoke inside the copper basin, you can vaguely see a lot of herbs bubbling in the juice, with blue-black gas rising up and lingering above the copper basin.
"The preparation of these herbal medicines is a secret method of our sect. This pot of herbal medicine can be used repeatedly for seven days.
After seven days, these herbal medicines will lose their effectiveness and need to be prepared again, but the dosage will be increased by several percent. After repeating this for 49 days, your meridians will undergo the process of marrow cleansing and meridian strengthening, and finally become extremely strong.
Only by cultivating the meridians in this way can one withstand the sect's domineering internal force. As far as the meridians are concerned, the work done in these forty-nine days is not much inferior to that of second- or third-rate masters in the martial arts world.
Ordinary people who practice martial arts cannot reach this level without nearly ten years of hard training, but our sect can reach this level through the secret method of cleansing the meridians and cutting the marrow.
However, the good things that come without effort are extremely painful and cannot be accomplished without great perseverance. You have to get through them all by yourself. Do you understand?"
At this point, Division Master Ji's voice became stern.
"I know that I will live up to your expectations!"
Li Yan looked at Master Ji with a determined look. He had been told about this repeatedly in the morning, and he was prepared. He was also a man of strong will, and he would never give up since he had made the decision.
"Okay! Then you can get started. I will guard outside the house for you in the next few days. If you have any problems, I will help you solve them in time."
After saying that, Advisor Ji said no more. He opened the door and walked out. After closing the door again, he sat cross-legged on the stone table outside the house and closed his eyes to meditate.