Walking by the Abyss on Thin Ice

Chapter 7: The furnace of change is created by nature

Views:

"I remember exactly what each of them said as they passed by me."

Su Yun's tone was also extremely calm: "After I became blind, I could only recognize people by their voices. If I hear their voices again, I will definitely recognize them."

At this time, a rustling sound came from the distant forest, and several foxes with bloodstains on their heads and faces were peeking out from under the tree.

"Xiao, Xiaoyun..." a fox called from afar and looked at Qiu Shuijing with some fear.

After last night’s massacre, these little foxes that were not afraid of people have become a little afraid of people.

Su Yun showed a look of joy and stood up: "Second Brother Hua? Are you still alive?"

It was a fox with black and yellow fur. It came out from under a tree, followed by several little foxes. The little foxes held the tails of their companions in front of them and walked over in fear.

The leading fox looked at Qiu Shuijing with fear again, and confirmed that he was not the one who massacred people from Huqiu Village. Only then did he bravely approach with the only three remaining little foxes.

Su Yun standing there made Huahu and the three little foxes feel at ease. This young man was like their backbone, giving them a sense of reliability.

This feeling is not without reason, but is the result of six or seven years of getting along with each other and the influence of Su Yun's calm temperament and demeanor.

"… Some people from the city came this morning, saying that they didn't get any good results at the ghost market, so they came to exorcise the demons. The master argued with them, but they ignored him and just said that we would harm people…"

Su Yun listened quietly and asked, "Second brother, do you still remember their faces?"

Huahu shook his head and said ashamedly: "I ran away with my brother and sister, and I didn't have time to see their faces clearly. I only remember that one of them was very handsome, not very old, and was wearing a red dress. Suddenly, fire really came out from behind him, and a divine bird flew out of the fire..."

Su Yun noted this feature, turned around and bowed, "Does Mr. Shui Jing's words still count?"

Qiu Shuijing looked at the young man crawling on the ground. After a moment, he said, "My words are of course trustworthy. But do you have money?"

Su Yun stood up and spread out his palms. In his palms were a few blood-stained five-zhu coins. They must have been found in the ruins when he was collecting the bodies just now.

Qiu Shuijing picked up a five-zhu coin from his palm, but at this moment, Su Yun stuffed all the other five-zhu coins into his hands.

Qiu Shuijing was stunned and looked at him in confusion.

Su Yun looked up and said, "Mr. Yehu taught me for six years and did not expel me because I was a human. I beg you not to expel them because they are foxes."

Qiu Shuijing thought for a moment and said, "Did Mr. Yehu take your money for teaching you?"

Su Yun shook his head.

Qiu Shuijing returned the bloodstained five-zhu coins to him and said, "He doesn't charge for teaching people. If I charge for teaching a few fox spirits, I'm not as good as him. This five-zhu coin is your tuition. They don't need it."

Su Yun took the five-zhu coins.

Qiu Shuijing watched him and Huahu bury Mr. Wild Fox and the fox demons in Huqiu Village.

There were many of their classmates among them, and Huahu and the little foxes couldn't help but cry again.

When they returned to the school, Qiu Shuijing glanced at Su Yun and the four foxes and said, "What Mr. Yehu taught you was the Master's Cultivation of Qi, right? How many years have you studied it?"

Su Yun nodded: "I studied for six years."

Huahu said: "I studied for seven years."

The other three little foxes also learned for two or three years each.

Qiu Shuijing said calmly: "Although Master's Qi-nourishing Chapter is an orthodox Qi-nourishing method, how can there be a textbook in the world that has not changed for 5,000 years? In this era, if it has not changed for ten years, it is considered outdated. I came to the countryside and found that there seems to be a thousand-year gap between the city and the countryside!"

He shook his head and said, "What I am going to teach you is the latest and most basic foundation-building technique in the official school of the capital, the Great Furnace Transmutation and Nourishing Qi Chapter."

Moreover, heaven and earth are the furnace, and nature is the craftsman;

Yin and Yang are charcoal, and all things are copper.

This sentence is the general outline of the chapter on Honglu Transformation and Nourishing Qi.

The Master's chapter on nourishing Qi originally just used the simplest method to nourish the vital energy. Although it is simple and easy to start, it is difficult to practice to a deep level.

However, the Honglu Transformation and Nourishing Qi chapter teaches one to regard one's own body as the heaven and earth, with a Honglu within to stimulate the potential of creation, using the yin and yang qi in the body as charcoal and the internal organs, bones, tendons and blood as copper to refine a powerful vital energy.

Although this Qi-nourishing method is complicated, it is extremely effective, and the speed of cultivation is much faster than Master's Qi-nourishing chapter.

Qiu Shuijing started from the basics to the complex, first talking about how to capture the essence of the sun and the moon, using oneself as the heaven and earth, and the heaven and earth as a furnace, then talked about how to create nature as a worker, and then talked about how to use yin and yang as charcoal and all things as copper.

Su Yun and the others had a shallow foundation to begin with, and the chapter on nourishing qi in Honglu's transformation was really profound. Even a master like Qiu Shuijing took five or six days to get started and learn the first part of the chapter on nourishing qi.

Among them, Hua Hu learns the fastest. He has a foundation in Master's chapter on nourishing qi, so it is easy for him to get started.

The other three little foxes were second, and Su Yun was the slowest learner. He could not see, so Qiu Shuijing had to teach him hand in hand over and over again, which was extremely difficult.

Fortunately, although Su Yun learns slowly, he has a flexible mind and can draw inferences from one example. He has the deepest understanding of Honglu's transformation.

In the past few days, Su Yun invited Huahu and three other little foxes to live in Tianmen Town. However, Huahu and the other foxes were extremely afraid of Tianmen Town and would rather live in the school.

Su Yun also invited Qiu Shuijing to live in Tianmen Town, but Qiu Shuijing politely declined, so the young man had to give up.

Early in the morning of that day, Qiu Shuijing and four foxes were breathing in and out towards the rising sun. Suddenly, Qiu Shuijing felt as if there was a small sun beside him. He opened his eyes and looked, and it was the direction of the flower fox.

"Although Huahu is a demon, his aptitude and understanding are very good, and he has already cultivated to the first level."

Qiu Shuijing nodded secretly, absorbing the essence of the morning sun, using himself as a furnace to temper his body and cultivate his vital energy. This was the sign of achieving the first level of Honglu Transmutation.

Huahu was able to cultivate to this level in just five or six days, which was considered remarkable among scholars.

Qiu Shuijing checked on the other three foxes. Although the three little foxes had a shallow foundation, they were making rapid progress and it wouldn’t take long for them to achieve the first level.

He checked Su Yun's progress again and frowned slightly.

Although Su Yun had a deep understanding of Honglu Transmutation, he was blind after all. He could learn the theory, but if he wanted to master it physically, he would have to put in several times more effort than others.

Moreover, Su Yun's progress in cultivation was slow, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

According to his prediction, Su Yun would learn the slowest due to his eye disease, but would practice the fastest. Unexpectedly, Su Yun turned out to be the slowest one.

Qiu Shuijing sighed secretly: "My expectations of him are still too high. Even the fox demon can cultivate to the first level in such a short time, but he can't do it. The eye disease has a huge impact on him."

He didn't know that Su Yun's vital energy was flowing vigorously in his body, but every time it reached his eyes, something strange happened.

Su Yun’s vital energy flowed into his eyes, and his originally dark eyes suddenly “saw” something!

Before his "eyes", the Heavenly Gate appeared out of nowhere!

In addition to the Tianmen Gate, there are eight tall and majestic Chaotianque!

Behind Tianmen and Chaotianque is a vast ocean.

The Chaotianque of Tianmen Town had long disappeared. These eight-sided Chaotianque were naturally not the Chaotianque of Tianmen Town, but the mark in Su Yun’s eyes.

But the weird thing is that the Eight-sided Tower was actually absorbing Su Yun’s vitality!

The eight towers face the sky, like eight bottomless pits.

Chaotianque continued to devour Su Yun's vitality, causing him to be unable to cultivate to the first level of Honglu Transmutation.

Qiu Shuijing did not expect such a change in Su Yun's eyes. He thought he just had good comprehension but average talent.

However, Su Yun thought that he was treating his eye disease, so he did not tell Qiu Shuijing about the abnormalities that occurred during his practice, which led to Qiu Shuijing's misunderstanding.

When the morning class was over, Qiu Shuijing began to think about leaving.

After all, he was a private school teacher, and there were many scholars from aristocratic families in Shuofang City who needed him to teach, so he couldn't stay in Tianshiyuan for too long.

He taught the second part of the Honglu Transformation and Nourishing Qi chapter to everyone in its entirety and then left.

"Yun, in this world, it is hard for a poor family to produce a noble son. Why?"

Su Yun saw him off. Qiu Shuijing hesitated for a moment, but still gave him a sincere instruction, saying, "Although children from poor families have official schools and can study with children from noble families, it seems fair. However, children from noble families have money and power, and they also have private schools in addition to official schools. If you learn one thing in official schools, children from noble families can learn two, three, four, and five in private schools. Therefore, the gap in knowledge between children from poor families and children from noble families is widening."

Su Yun followed him closely and said, "I heard that poor scholars can become successful if they study hard..."

"That's a big mistake! With private schools, poor scholars can never be more hardworking than the sons of the nobles! The things taught in official schools are all general things, but in private schools, they can hire teachers like me!"

Qiu Shuijing said: "The sons of the nobles are more studious than the sons of the poor! When the official school is over, the children in the countryside go out to play, while the sons of the nobles study in private schools! When the official school is on holiday, the sons of the poor stay at home, while the sons of the nobles are still studying in private schools!"

"Emperor Yuan promoted official schools, hoping that everyone would be equal under education, without distinction between poor families and the gentry. But a hundred years have passed since Emperor Yuan, and education has actually been monopolized by the gentry. Children from poor families don't have the money to go to private schools, and they can't learn the latest knowledge in official schools, and the class stratification is becoming more and more serious. The path for children from poor families to rise, the path for fish to turn into dragons, has become narrower and narrower."

He stopped, turned around, and said frankly, "The situation in the countryside is even worse. Yun, you come from a poor family, but you have good talent and good understanding. If you stay in the countryside, you will be buried. You must go to the city to study! But even if you go to the city to study, you will not be able to make a name for yourself if you only enter the official school. You need to study in both the official school and the private school."

"However, even if you study the same things as the scholars and have the same knowledge, you may not be able to make the leap to the dragon gate. Because the sons of the gentry have prominent family backgrounds and extensive connections, and all of this will take you more than ten years, or even decades, to catch up. Is this fair?"

"It's unfair, but it's fair! Because this is the legacy left by their ancestors' hard work, and it's natural for them to inherit their ancestors' legacy. If you are a poor scholar with no foundation, no family background, and no connections, and want to stand out, then you only have one advantage that others don't have."

Qiu Shuijing patted his student on the shoulder and said earnestly, "That's wildness. The wildness of the countryside! The wildness that the scholars in the city don't have!"

He walked forward with his sleeves fluttering, and his voice came from afar: "The city is a furnace of heaven and earth, full of struggles and opportunities. Only by preserving your wildness, using wildness as yin and yang, and struggle as charcoal fire, can you light the furnace and seize good fortune, then you can jump out of the solidified class, cross the boundary, and ascend!"

Home Pig: Linyuanxing Episode 1