Sword Roaring in the Sky

Chapter 10 Meridian

On the second day, Sun Yanwan got up early, found his senior brother Zhang Qingxi, took some work tools, and cleaned up the Taiyi Temple.

The Taiyi Temple was badly damaged, and there were only two people working there, master and disciple Zhang Yuanqiao and Zhang Qingxi. Although both were good at martial arts, they had worked hard for over a year and had only managed to renovate the front part to a passable level. The back part was still in ruins, and there were only a few intact houses.

Sun Yanwan wanted to suggest hiring people from nearby villages and towns for help. He really wasn't short of money, but he had the habit of a time traveler. He always felt that this move might have a deeper meaning, such as tempering one's character, or even practicing martial arts through work. In the end, he chose to keep his mouth shut.

The two of them cleaned for half a day. Zhang Qingxi took his junior apprentice to the main hall for dining. Zhang Yuanqiao had already prepared the food. The three of them had a simple meal. Zhang Yuanqiao then took two of his apprentices to a side hall that was halfway through cleaning and still had some light leaking from the roof.

Zhang Yuanqiao sat down on a cushion and asked his two disciples to sit down as well. He smiled and said, "Yan Wan just arrived, so I won't be teaching new lessons today."

"I will re-explain the martial arts heritage of our Songyang School, as well as the introductory Ziwu Sutra!"

Sun Yanwan's spirits suddenly perked up, and she thought to herself, "I have to listen carefully! I just wonder if I can take notes?"

"Eldest Brother didn't record it, so it must be forbidden. I will go back and write it down quietly. It will definitely make learning more efficient."

Zhang Yuanqiao said slowly, "Our Songyang sect's founder, Feng Laozu, was a learned man with many adventures in his life. Therefore, he passed down the Five Classics and Thirteen Secrets, and nineteen long and short sword techniques, allowing his disciples to choose a method to practice."

"In our Songyang Sect, the first thing we teach when we enter is the Meridian Classic."

"The human body has eight extraordinary meridians, twelve main meridians, and thirty-six hidden meridians. Each school's internal skills determine which meridian to cultivate first, which to cultivate later, which meridians to prioritize, and which to avoid. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the methods of cultivation vary greatly. Yin and Yang, hardness and softness, smoothness and astringency, coldness and intensity, are infinitely varied, forming thousands of different internal skills."

Sun Yanwan's heart surged upon hearing this. He thought to himself, "The concepts of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Main Meridians also exist on Earth, with only slight differences. However, I've never heard of the concept of the Thirty-Six Hidden Meridians. This must be the key to why martial arts in this world can cultivate a half-foot sword beam, or even one that can suspend several inches in the air."

Zhang Yuanqiao was unaware of the many thoughts running through his disciple's mind and continued, "Most sects in the world have very crude mental methods, cultivating only a dozen or so meridians at most, and their achievements also have a limit. The Ziwu Sutra, as the Songyang Sect's entry-level mental method, records the complete cultivation methods of the Eight Great Extraordinary Meridians, the Twelve Main Meridians, and the Thirty-six Hidden Meridians. In other sects, this would already be considered a top-notch sect-level mental method."

Sun Yanwan's heart trembled slightly, and he thought to himself, "The Hu family's thirty-six Hunyuan stances focus on a single meridian each time, but Teacher Miao Youxiu didn't explain in detail. So, doesn't the Hu family's mental method also cultivate all the extraordinary meridians, main meridians, and hidden meridians?"

Zhang Yuanqiao explained, "The Ziwu Sutra is a peaceful and calming method that doesn't easily lead to errors, but it's extremely slow to cultivate. While a superior method can open up meridians in a few months, practicing the Ziwu Sutra often takes several times longer. Its greatest use is to determine which meridians of the Songyang disciples are most unobstructed and which are most blocked, so that they can choose the main method to practice."

"Therefore, once everyone has cultivated the Ziwu Sutra to the first or second level and determined their own aptitude, they should switch to cultivating a different mental method. Because of the Ziwu Sutra's discernment, the techniques chosen by Songyang disciples are often extremely compatible with their own abilities, allowing them to achieve twice the result with half the effort, making rapid progress. Their martial arts achievements are unmatched by other schools."

"I, the master, practiced the Ziwu Sutra. I was quite good at the masculine meridians, but my progress was a little slower at the feminine meridians. So after learning the Ziwu Sutra, I chose the Xuanyang Jue. After I mastered the Xuanyang Jue, the ancestor asked me to choose the Sanyang Qianyan Divine Art and the Xuanhao Divine Palm!"

"Your senior brother is different from me. After entering the Ziwu Sutra, he chose Qianqing Zhenqi and Xuanyu Tianluo Hand..."

Sun Yanwan listened for more than an hour and had some complaints about the teacher's teaching level. When Zhang Yuanqiao was lecturing, he covered every detail, but he was often disorganized and had to repeat some things several times.

After two hours of discussing the inheritance of the Songyang School's techniques, Zhang Yuanqiao finally reached the point of practicing the Ziwu Sutra. This Songyang School's internal gong technique was profound and extensive, and he continued his lecture until evening, having only covered a small portion of the text. Seeing that it was getting dark, Zhang Yuanqiao got up to make dinner, leaving his two disciples to practice on their own. He also urged Zhang Qingxi to provide more guidance to his junior fellow apprentice.

After the teacher left for the kitchen, Sun Yanwan asked Zhang Qingxi for advice on how to begin practicing the Ziwu Jing. Zhang Qingxi's ideas were much clearer than the teacher's, and his explanations were easy to understand. Sun Yanwan quickly understood how to begin practicing the Ziwu Jing.

The two brothers were chatting animatedly when Zhang Yuanqiao called out from afar, "Come and have dinner."

Zhang Qingxi smiled and stood up, saying, "Junior brother, let's go eat."

Sun Yanwan agreed and followed the eldest brother to have dinner.

He stayed in Taiyi Temple and spent more than a month learning the entire Ziwu Jing. He also secretly wrote out a copy of it and added countless annotations. Some were for asking the teacher, some for asking the senior brother, and some were his own understanding, just like taking reading notes.

It’s no wonder that this way of learning is very efficient. He has a thorough understanding of the Meridian Classic and no longer has any doubts.

One day, after dinner, Zhang Yuanqiao said, "Disciple Yan Wan, I have already taught you the entire Ziwu Sutra. You are naturally diligent and eager to learn, and you have a deep understanding of the text. Today, I will protect you and begin your formal practice of the Ziwu Sutra."

Sun Yanwan agreed, feeling very excited. Although he had "learned" the entire Meridian Classic, it was only on paper and he had not started practicing seriously.

Zhang Yuanqiao was afraid that his disciple didn't fully understand, so he strictly ordered him not to practice recklessly.

Sun Yanwan had been looking forward to officially starting to practice the Ziwu Sutra for a long time. He sat cross-legged, made a Ziwu hand seal, took a deep breath, and tried to circulate the Ziwu Sutra.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he felt a palm against his back. A gentle internal force penetrated his body and protected his eight extraordinary meridians, twelve main meridians, and thirty-six hidden meridians.

Although it was the first time that Sun Yanwan practiced the Ziwu Meridian Heart Method, he still felt that one of his meridians was very unobstructed, while another meridian seemed to be unobstructed, and he could also faintly feel the flow of true energy.

During this month or so, he could only study the Ziwu Sutra and could not practice. Sun Yanwan was reluctant to waste time and did not dare to neglect the Thirty-Six Postures of Hunyuan and the Demon-Slaying Sword Technique.

He had already opened up one meridian, and this second meridian, which seemed to be open but not quite, was the result of his efforts over the past month.

He followed the Ziwu Meridian Heart Method and, with the support of his teacher's inner strength, circled it seven or eight times. Suddenly, he felt a slight warmth in his waist and spine, and a stream of true energy spread out. Another meridian suddenly became connected. True energy flowed through the two connected meridians. According to the Ziwu Meridian Heart Method, yin and yang combined, and the going and coming of each other actually formed a cycle.

　"The Immortal Son-in-law Riding the Dragon" is a pure-blooded classical fairy hero with a pure taste.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)