Be a proper Taoist priest in The Condor Heroes

Su Yan sat cross-legged on a futon in the library. The first rays of dawn shone through the window, illuminating the books in the room and filling them with a faint scent of ink. He cleared his mind of all distractions, focusing his attention on his dantian, feeling the condensed, mercury-like internal energy slowly flowing through his meridians.

Since entering the Quanzhen Heart Sutra, the quality of my internal energy has doubled, and the bottleneck of the peak of the third rank has already loosened. Now is the best time to break through.

Qiu Chuji once said to him.

Third-rate martial artists accumulate internal energy, second-rate martial artists master the twelve regular meridians, first-rate martial artists break through the six extraordinary meridians, and those who surpass the first-rate master master one of the Ren and Du meridians. Grandmasters, on the other hand, construct their own microcosms, achieving an inexhaustible flow of internal energy. The Five Greats are figures who stand at the pinnacle of the Grandmaster level.

What he needs to do now is to open up the first of the twelve primary meridians—the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin.

The mantra of the Quanzhen Martial Arts flowed through his mind, and his internal energy slowly impacted the meridian nodes along a specific path. At first, he only felt sluggish, as if walking through mud, and his meridians ached faintly. Su Yan gritted his teeth and persevered. His internal energy in his dantian surged out continuously, like a fine stream polishing a stone, gradually widening the blockage.

The realm bar on the panel kept jumping, and the words "[Third-rate martial artist (99%)]" gradually blurred, and were replaced by "[Second-rate martial artist (1%)"."

A sense of clarity instantly spread throughout his body, and his previously condensed internal energy became even smoother, carrying a faint warmth as it circulated, no longer the fierce and impetuous force of the past.

Su Yan slowly finished his practice. When he opened his eyes, a glint of light flashed in them. He moved his wrists and could clearly feel his internal energy flowing freely in the newly opened meridians. When he used the Leaping Technique, his body was even more agile than before.

"I've finally reached the second-rate level."

Su Yan felt at ease. This step was not only a leap in strength, but also the key to exploring the ancient tomb. The Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian governs breathing, and doubling the breath-holding time was enough to support him in crossing the underground river.

He quickly checked the panel:

[Host: Su Yan]

Age: 16

[Internal Skill: Rank B - Quanzhen Inner Strength Technique (Beginner, 115/200)]

Martial Arts:

Rank E - Su Family Sword Technique (Perfect, 500/500) [Consumable -30%, Armor Penetration +30%, Pressure +40%]

Rank E - Leap Technique (Perfect, 500/500) [Consumer Cost -30%, Agility +40%, Evasion +40%]

Rank E - Monument Slayer (Perfect, 452/500) [Consumable -30%, Critical Hit +40%, Fist Power +40%]

Rank C - Quanzhen Swordplay (Minor Success, 289/500) [Consumer Cost -20%, Compatibility +15%]

Level B - Golden Goose Skill (Beginner, 256/300).

Rank B - Tonggui Sword Technique (Beginner, 44/300).

Rank A - One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Sword Techniques (Beginner, 37/400).

Rank A - Seven Star Sword Technique (Beginner, 56/400).

Grade B - Three Flowers Gathering at the Top Palm Technique (Beginner, 5/300).

Grade B - Frost-Treading and Ice-Breaking Fist Technique (Beginner, 6/300).

[Realm: Second-rate Martial Artist (1%)]

It can be said that Su Yan has learned almost all of the existing martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect. Although Qiu Chuji initially disagreed, he couldn't resist Su Yan's talent and only advised him to choose a few to study. Among them, the Seven Star Sword Technique is the sword technique that complements the Big Dipper Formation. After Qiu Chuji personally taught the application of sword techniques for each position in the formation, it was automatically integrated into a complete sword technique by the panel.

The "One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones" sword technique is the most famous sword technique of the Quanzhen Sect. Back then, Wang Chongyang defeated the other four masters, and this sword technique played an indispensable role in that. The "Mutual Destruction Sword Technique" does not mean "to perish together," but rather "all techniques converge." The sword technique emphasizes striking after the opponent has acted first, but it is not very profound. However, it is much better than the Quanzhen sword technique, otherwise it would not be ranked as a B-level technique.

Two days before obtaining the Quanzhen Sword Technique, he had already broken through to the minor completion stage. In the past few days, he has been practicing every day and has already made more than halfway through. On the contrary, the sword technique he just learned is only at the entry level.

Over the next two days, Su Yan did not rush into action, but stayed in the library to cultivate and consolidate his newly broken-through realm, while refining the internal energy circulation of the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian to become more and more harmonious.

He instructed Su Ye to focus on practicing swordsmanship and studying classical texts, using the excuse of "familiarizing himself with the terrain of Zhongnan Mountain" to begin planning a route to find the underground river of the ancient tomb.

"The ancient tomb is located on the edge of the forbidden area in the back mountain. Although there is a general direction, the Zhongnan Mountains stretch for dozens of miles, and the entrance to the underground river must be hidden."

Late at night, Su Yan secretly plotted while looking at the map in her memory.

"We need to avoid the patrol routes of the disciples guarding the mountain. It would be best to enter from the western valley, where the forest is dense and we would be less likely to be noticed."

On the third day at midnight, Su Yan used the lightness of his leaping technique to quietly evade the disciples on duty and sneak into the back mountain. The western valley was overgrown with thorns, and the morning dew soaked his Taoist robe. He swung his sword to cut through the vines blocking his path, stepping on the slippery pebbles, and explored deeper into the valley.

The search lasted for more than ten days.

Setting off at midnight each day and returning quietly before dawn, Su Yan's Taoist robe was torn in several places by thorns, and his palms were blistered, but he never gave up. He searched every hidden corner of the valley, checked three dried-up streambeds and five deep caves, but still found no trace of the underground river.

Several times, he was almost spotted by the disciples guarding the mountain, and could only quickly dodge through the dense forest, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Could we be going the wrong way?"

On the seventh day, when things had not yet gone smoothly, Su Yan had some doubts, but then he thought of the value of the incomplete Nine Yin Manual and gritted his teeth and persevered.

"In the original story, the entrance to the underground river was already hidden. If you search carefully, it might be in a lower depression."

On the afternoon of the thirteenth day, after a light rain, a damp mist filled the valley. Su Yan trudged down the muddy mountain path, suddenly smelling a faint scent of moisture, different from the damp chill of rain, carrying a hint of eeriness. A thought struck him, and he followed the scent, passing through a dense thicket of bushes, where he suddenly saw a crevice in the mountain wall, hidden by vines. The crevice was narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways, and the faint sound of flowing water could be heard from within.

"Found it!"

A surge of joy welled up in Su Yan's heart. Suppressing his excitement, he carefully crawled through the crevice. At the end of the crevice was a narrow cave. Deep inside the cave, a dark underground river flowed quietly, its water gleaming with a cold light, and the air was thick with moisture.

He took a deep breath, circulated the Quanzhen Inner Strength Technique, and concentrated his inner energy in his lungs. With the support of his second-rate cultivation level and the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, his breath-holding ability was sufficient to sustain him for a long time.

Su Yan leaped into the dark river. The water was icy cold, but it did not affect his movements. He used the lightness effect of the Leap Technique to move nimbly through the water.

The underground river has three tributaries, and the forks are pitch black. Su Yan can only search one by one, swimming forward with all his might. The icy river water constantly washes over his body. He grits his teeth, and his internal energy slowly circulates in his dantian to resist the cold and the discomfort of lack of oxygen. When he reaches his limit, he returns to the starting point, rests, and then goes down again.

One hour, one and a half hours, two hours...

Until they found the last tributary, a glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

Su Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he swam faster. After emerging from the waterway, he found himself in a spacious, dark room!

On the rock wall at the top of the dark room, there were densely packed characters carved in bold strokes—the very fragments of the Nine Yin Manual!

The handwriting is ancient and vigorous, revealing the profound mystery of Taoist martial arts. The martial arts techniques recorded on it are all-encompassing, including not only exquisite auxiliary methods such as Yi Jin Duan Gu Zhang, Healing Zhang, Jie Xue Mi Jue, Shou Jin Suo Gu Fa, Fei Xu Jin, She Xing Li Fan, and Xuan Lu Jiu Ying, but also fierce offensive techniques such as Cui Xin Zhang, Bai Mang Bian Fa, Cui Jian Shen Zhao (Nine Yin Divine Claw), Da Fu Mo Quan, and Yi Hun Da Fa.

"Hard work pays off!"

Suppressing his joy, Su Yan took out a piece of paper wrapped in oiled paper, a brush, and a candle from his pocket. After lighting the candle, he quickly began copying by the dim light. He dared not delay, and although his handwriting was fast, it was neat, recording all the fragments on the rock wall.

Half an hour later, the copying was completed.

After checking and finding nothing amiss, Su Yan extinguished the candle, rewrapped the package, hid the oil paper packet close to her body, and jumped back into the underground river, returning along the same route.

When he emerged from the crevice in the mountain wall again, the sky was already turning a pale white. Su Yan wiped the water droplets from his face and, taking advantage of the morning mist, quickly returned to the library.

The moment he pushed open the door, Su Ye was anxiously waiting in the courtyard. Upon seeing him return, she quickly went to greet him.

"Yan-ge'er, are you alright?"

Su Yan smiled, her eyes filled with barely concealed joy, and patted the oil paper package close to her body.

"It's nothing, we found something useful."

He didn't say much, but he was already thinking that the fewer people who knew about this, the better.