The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 5: Yin and Yang Training: Internal and External Cultivation
Seeing that his master's wife was looking at him with something strange in her eyes, as if she wanted to use a sword to split open his brain to see what the structure inside was, Xu Xingchen quickly said goodbye and left.

On the way, he met a group of senior brothers and greeted them. The senior brothers wanted to take him to hunt pheasants and roast them for dinner. The eldest brother Linghu Chong even raised the gourd in his hand and smiled as he wanted to buy him a drink. Yue Lingshan followed suit and cheered.
He just smiled and refused, saying that he had to go back to study and write, which made the brothers who were having fun roll their eyes and wave their hands, saying, "Go away, boring little brother."

After returning to his remote courtyard, Xu Xingchen's heart quickly calmed down.

Looking at the sky, there was still some time before lunch, so he walked back and forth in the yard, not knowing what to do.

According to the original plan, this morning period was to be used to study the integration of Huashan swordsmanship and Huashan mental skills. Now that this research topic has come to a temporary end, he did not feel relieved, but instead felt empty and uncomfortable.

He is a research-oriented academic who doesn't care about eating, drinking and having fun. He can only feel happy and joyful when he is studying something.

If his fellow brothers heard what he was saying, they would probably poke him with their fingers and mutter to him, "Are you a normal person?"

Coming to the quiet room and lighting incense sticks, Xu Xingchen sat cross-legged on the cushion, thinking about what he should do next.

When doing things, he always likes to make specific plans and arrangements, and then execute them one by one in an orderly manner according to the schedule.

Now that he had free time in the morning, he had to find something to fill it.

While thinking, he felt that the world in Mr. Jin's books was quite interesting.

The world in the old man's books is not a place for flesh-and-blood warriors, so weight-bearing training cannot make one a master. At most, one can become an outsider who travels around the country selling fake medicine.

Even the external martial arts such as the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, Shaolin Yi Jin Jing, and Dragon Elephant Prajna Paramita Exercise are not weight-bearing training to enhance physical strength, but are trained from the outside to the inside to cultivate internal strength.

Therefore, in the world of the old man's book, the real masters are all cultivating internal strength.
As long as the internal strength is strong, not only can one be as light as a swallow, but one can also break stones and split rocks, and can fight for a long time with unparalleled endurance.

There is another characteristic of the world in the old man's book, that is, the martial arts skills decline more and more with each dynasty, especially the bonus effect brought by internal strength.

In the world of The Deer and the Cauldron, some people who practice external martial arts can be called masters.

The protagonist, Lord Wei, has no internal strength, but relies on his three magic weapons: his ever-changing steps, his invulnerable robe, and his dagger that can cut through iron like mud. In addition, he uses a knockout drug that works all the time, his ability to flatter people, and his ability to lie without blinking. He thrives in the underworld and the court, and even marries seven beautiful wives, which makes others envious.

In the world where Xu Xingchen is now, the effect of internal force has been greatly reduced, and sword techniques have begun to become more important.

Fortunately, the proportion of internal strength is still greater than that of sword techniques. Many advanced sword techniques require profound internal strength to drive.

Therefore, Xu Xingchen's initial decision was correct. He had to grasp both internal strength and swordsmanship, and both had to be strong.

Now, the problem of improving internal strength has been solved, and you just need to practice step by step in the future!
In terms of swordsmanship, after half a year of hard training, his progress is remarkable. The thirteen styles of Huashan swordsmanship, in his hands, can be both steep and beautiful, and as steady as a rock. This represents his precise control over his strength, which is moving towards the realm of perfection.

Since his internal strength and swordsmanship have made progress, in which aspect should he continue to enhance his strength?
Xu Xingchen thought of the remains of the Five Mountains sword techniques in the hidden cave of the Siguo Cliff, but quickly shook his head, thinking that it was not the right time to look at those sword techniques yet, and he would wait another two years.

Soon, he thought of the Old Boy's two-handed fighting technique. This set of skills did not show much power on the Old Boy, but after passing it to Xiaolongnu, Xiaolongnu used two swords, one Quanzhen sword technique and the other Jade Girl sword technique. The two sets of sword techniques originally restrained each other, but when used in the same person, they immediately became perfect sword techniques that complemented each other's flaws.

As soon as Xiaolongnu learned the art of fighting with both hands, her martial arts skills increased greatly. Even King Jinlun was no longer her opponent. This shows how powerful the art of fighting with both hands was in improving Xiaolongnu's martial arts skills.

Xu Xingchen stretched out two fingers and drew a circle with one hand and a square with the other on the floor in front of him. After half an hour of unremitting "torture", he finally had to admit that he was not a genius or a freak who could use both hands at the same time.

Although he gave up the art of fighting with both hands, Xu Xingchen also thought of a new way to practice swordsmanship, which is to practice left-handed swordsmanship.

Those martial artists in the world who use double swords and double knives naturally cannot be as unrivaled as Old Boy and Little Dragon Girl with both hands at the same time. Their sword techniques are often one hand for main attack and the other for auxiliary attack, with a distinction between primary and secondary.

Xu Xingchen would not practice dual-sword swordsmanship. The goal he set for himself was just to be able to perform the Huashan swordsmanship with his left hand without any hindrance.

As long as he succeeds in his training, when he encounters a strong enemy in the future, he can wield his long sword, sometimes in his right hand and sometimes in his left hand, which will definitely give the enemy a big surprise.

When he made the decision, the servant just brought lunch.

After lunch and an hour's rest, he continued to practice the compromise version of the "heavy" sword in the yard.

Being able to lift heavy things as if they were light is a form of training for the precise control of one's own strength and you must never stop!
In the evening, he would still interpret Taoist classics, the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams and other books. He needed to accumulate more knowledge to prepare for future research.

The next morning, after finishing my morning exercise on the rocks on the cliff, I returned to the yard and had breakfast.

After resting to digest the food, practice the "Eight Exercises of Mount Hua" for an hour, followed by the left-hand sword technique.

When I first started practicing left-hand swordsmanship, my body was not able to adapt. The Huashan swordsmanship that I was so familiar with showed the poor performance of a novice in my left hand.

Xu Xingchen was patient, slowed down his movements, and used every move and form to the standard first, and then talked about other things. He spent the whole morning struggling to learn to walk.

On the morning of the third day, his left-hand sword skills became more fluent and smooth, but his speed was still slow, and the moves became more standard.

On the fourth day, I went to visit my master's wife again, but my master had not returned yet.

This time, the master's wife's mentality finally returned to normal. After chatting for a while, she tested his knowledge and swordsmanship. At noon, she stayed for a meal. Finally, when Xu Xingchen said goodbye, she whispered to him, "The Eight Huashan Exercises you created are very effective in improving internal strength, but you can't stop practicing meditation. The two. One is quiet and the other is moving. Quiet is Yin training, and movement is Yang training. Both quiet and moving should be practiced. When the inside and outside are combined, it is the right way."

After hearing this, Xu Xingchen slapped his forehead and said in a low voice: "Ah! Master's wife is right, but I was a little wrong!"

Over the past month, he has only practiced the "Eight Exercises of Mount Hua" and no longer meditated.

In his previous life, he was a scientific researcher. Once he found a faster and more reasonable method, the backward and inefficient method would be discarded.

However, they don’t know that in this martial arts world where one can cultivate magical inner strength, sometimes, slow is fast and fast is slow, and between fast and slow, like the rotation of yin and yang, there is always some kind of mysterious connection. Therefore, some scientific research methods are not applicable to this world.

If it wasn’t for Master’s Wife Ning Zhongze’s timely reminder, he would not have woken up for a while due to his inertial thinking!
After expressing his gratitude to his master's wife, Xu Xingchen turned around and left.

After returning to his residence, he continued to practice the "heavy" sword in the afternoon and studied in the evening, but before going to bed he began to meditate again and practice the Huashan Heart Method.

Using mental power to guide the inner force to circulate in the meridians, the speed remains the same as before, touchingly slow.

After getting used to the super-fast experience brought by the Eight Huashan Exercises, Xu Xingchen actually felt restless and unable to sit still when he came to meditate and practice.

But now that he knows his mistake, he will definitely be patient and continue to practice.

After several cycles, his state of mind gradually calmed down, and his inner strength, which was as lively and agile as a flame, gradually lost its restlessness and returned to a neutral and peaceful state.

No, it still feels very different!

At this moment, the internal force running through his body can truly be described as moderate and peaceful. It is generated naturally and contains vigorous vitality in the calm and orderly state.

Compared with his current internal strength, the so-called moderate and peaceful internal strength he cultivated in the past five years was simply an illusion. It lacked a certain extremely important qi. It was only moderate and peaceful, but not naturally generated, let alone full of vitality.

After the meditation, Xu Xingchen opened his eyes and couldn't help but sigh: "To cultivate both the inside and the outside, and to harmonize yin and yang, this is the ultimate principle of Taoist practice. If I want to achieve something in martial arts in the future, I must not forget this principle."

After thinking for a while, a smile appeared on his face: "I have restrained the strange and dangerous artistic conception of Huashan Swordsmanship and made it as stable as a rock. These two completely opposite artistic conceptions are not another form of Yin and Yang?!"

Another half month passed, and Yue Buqun still hadn't returned to the mountain. The things he had to do this time seemed a bit tricky.
The monthly sword-fighting competition went on as usual, and the person in charge was undoubtedly Master's Wife Ning Zhongze.

Although Ning Zhongze's martial arts skills are not as good as her husband Yue Buqun, they are much better than those of the disciples on the mountain. During the competition among the disciples, she can also point out the advantages and disadvantages of their swordsmanship and tell them how to improve.

During the competition, all disciples must fight each other to become proficient in opponents of different styles and levels.

Relying on the precise control of his own power, Xu Xingchen continued to keep a low profile and secured his position as the "Ninth".

However, in the process of sparring with each senior brother, he naturally had some assessment in his mind.

The swordsmanship of the eldest senior brother Linghu Chong is full of spirituality. He can often change his moves according to different situations and display the essence of Huashan swordsmanship.

For the other senior brothers, the same sword technique, when performed by different people, had different styles.

Some are good at defense, some are good at attack, some like to have both offense and defense, and some seek to win in danger.
But no matter what their styles were, they were surpassed one by one by Xu Xingchen as time passed.

Compared to the progress of several of his senior brothers, his improvement was obviously abnormally fast.

At present, he has no confidence in winning against his senior brother Linghu Chong, but he is confident that he can win against the other senior brothers.

As for the seventh senior sister Yue Lingshan, she learned the "Jade Girl Sword Technique" taught by Ning Zhongze. She focused on sword movements and changing moves quickly and gracefully. Because she was still young, she did not grasp the essence of the sword technique.

Finally, at the end of the competition, Xu Xingchen received this comment from Ning Zhongze.

"The swordplay is very precise, but too rigid, lacking in dexterity and variety."

　Collect! Follow! Thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)