A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Upon seeing these warning signs, the crowd booed.

"A method for cultivating one's character? Isn't the purpose of martial arts to compete and win? If it's for cultivating one's mind and character, why don't I go home and study?"

A young man in a white brocade robe scoffed in a low voice, all the fervor in his eyes vanishing.

Zhou Ping glanced at the other person and found him somewhat familiar. After a moment's recollection, he suddenly realized who he was.

This person was Liu Haoyu, the first person to receive a lucrative task that day. Because he was the first to go on stage, he left a deep impression on everyone and must also be from a wealthy family.

"Exactly! Exactly! We don't practice martial arts for self-cultivation!"

"Why does this exercise feel more like a health-preserving exercise for old men, supposedly for longevity? Can it even extend lifespan beyond that of a tortoise or turtle?"

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

The others chimed in, which drew bursts of laughter.

Jin Tingyue's expression changed slightly, and he suppressed the laughter of the crowd with a cold snort.

"Hmph! Whether or not one cultivates is entirely up to oneself. If you dare to make another sound, I, Jin, will not be polite!"

He stared sharply at Liu Haoyu, his eyes revealing an unmistakable threat. He had seen plenty of these bumpkins who acted arrogantly just because they had a little money.

Let alone outer disciples, even the formal inner disciples are nothing in the eyes of the Jin Clan!

"Take the cultivation manual and get out of here!"

Liu Haoyu originally wanted to be tougher, but after seeing the other party's fierce and cold gaze, he suddenly shrank back and fell silent.

He bent down, grabbed a copy of the game, and slunk away under everyone's watchful eyes. Several of the boys who had followed him also grabbed a copy and chased after him.

Nobody's stupid. No matter how much you belittle the effects of this technique, it's still a genuine inheritance from the elders. Regardless of its effectiveness, as long as you master it, you can be promoted to a formal disciple.

With just this one reward, no one would ignore its existence, and they would give it a try regardless of whether they succeeded or not.

Seeing that most of the crowd had dispersed, Zhou Ping did not linger and walked straight towards Hsinchu Garden.

Back at his lodgings, he took out the two copies of the transcribed book, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to start practicing the Qingyuan Gong first.

Zhou Ping was not in a hurry to cultivate the Hunyuan Stance. Given the speed at which he gained contribution points, he would probably have plenty of time to spend on it in the future.

Since that's the case, he decided to try practicing the Qingyuan Gong first. If it didn't work after a while, he could switch to practicing the Hunyuan Zhuang later.

As Zhou Ping flipped through the Qingyuan Gong manual in his hand, a meridian circulation diagram came into view. Although he did not understand its true meaning, he still matched it with the meridians of his body that he had learned.

This process was very long. The complexity of the human body's meridians and the changes in their pathways made even the usually composed Zhou Ping feel a bit overwhelmed.

Fortunately, he has always been very patient, and he doesn't care about anything else, he simulates the route in his mind again and again.

He made up his mind that, regardless of whether he understood it or not, he would write it down perfectly first!

According to the senior brother who passed on the skill, the Qingyuan Skill is divided into several levels, and the copy he brought was only the cultivation diagram of the first level.

Once someone masters the skill, they can go directly to the Transmission Hall to notify any elder on duty, and immediately be promoted to a formal disciple.

Outer disciples in the Green Bamboo Sect can only barely make ends meet, unlike formal disciples who not only have no worries about martial arts techniques but also receive monthly stipends that are the envy of many.

Ever since Zhou Ping realized the huge difference in treatment between outer disciples and formal disciples, he made up his mind to become a formal disciple, otherwise he would feel ashamed of everything his father had done for him.

From the moment he obtained the Qingyuan Gong, Zhou Ping meditated on the meridian pathways almost every day.

Aside from reporting to the Weapon Pavilion as usual, he spent all his remaining time cultivating.

During this time, he went to see Yuan Tianjun to find out when he could accept missions and earn contribution points.

However, the other party dismissed him with the words "maintain the status quo," leaving Zhou Ping with no other choice but to continue his cultivation according to the original plan.

Although the Qingyuan Gong manual contains some warnings, it offers absolutely no information on the methods or experiences of its practice.

As for the monthly Q&A session at the Transmission Pavilion, the elders on duty have clearly stipulated that no questions about the cultivation of Qingyuan Gong should be asked.

The reason is simple: these elders only had a superficial understanding of the Qingyuan Technique, and none of them had mastered it.

Zhou Ping could only rely on other internal cultivation methods of the Green Bamboo Sect as a reference and explore his own cultivation methods on his own.

Nearly four months passed, and he was dismayed to find that his progress in cultivating this technique was as slow as a snail's pace.

Zhou Ping slowly channeled a wisp of cyan energy into his dantian. After circulating it for ten cycles, feeling the stinging sensations throughout his meridians, he knew that his cultivation for the day had to end. If he continued, he would inevitably suffer a torment.

His training experience over this period told him that whenever he experienced this stinging sensation, it meant that his body had reached its limit, and continuing to train would cause some damage to his meridians.

"well..."

Zhou Ping sighed softly. He had long since grown accustomed to this kind of spiritual practice.

Feeling the faint, hair-like flow of energy within his body, he sighed more than once.

Two months ago, Zhou Ping, who had persisted for a long time, stopped practicing the Qingyuan Technique because he saw that it was not making any progress.

After nearly two months of relentless, day-and-night arduous training—the maximum time commitment he could bear—he still achieved nothing. He could only lament that he lacked the luck to inherit the elder's legacy.

After making inquiries in secret, he discovered that most disciples only persisted for ten or twenty days before giving up on the practice. Even the few with great perseverance only lasted for a little over a month.

He hadn't heard of anyone practicing the Qingyuan Technique for nearly two months. Although he couldn't rule out the possibility that some people were still secretly practicing it, for Zhou Ping, it was time to stop.

He decisively abandoned his unrealistic fantasies about Qingyuan Gong and focused his attention on the more realistic foundation of martial arts.

Such an opportunity to rise to the top in one step is something to try once and then forget. If you get too caught up in it and can't extricate yourself, then you've become blinded by greed.

Zhou Ping spent several days familiarizing himself with the Hunyuan Zhuang training method, and then immediately immersed himself in the new martial arts training.

However, the good times didn't last long. After Zhou Ping practiced the Hunyuan Zhuang stance for half a month, the originally normal standing meditation suddenly became difficult.

Whenever he practices the stance training and circulates his qi, the meridians that should be slowly generating true qi will immediately become swollen, numb, and tingling.

At first, Zhou Ping thought that his stance training was not up to standard, which caused damage to his meridians. However, after correcting it many times, the pain not only did not disappear, but became even more intense.

Finally, after enduring the pain and looking inward several times, a faint wisp of blue energy appeared in his meridians.

Zhou Ping discovered that it was this almost non-existent "green qi" that was forcefully repelling the faint true qi generated in his meridians, causing his meridians to become blocked and his whole body to swell and ache.

This discovery gave him a jolt. If nothing unexpected happened, this wisp of "green energy" might be a trace of "true energy" produced by cultivating the Azure Origin Technique.

He suppressed the shock in his heart, calmed himself down, and began to circulate the Great Circulation of the Qingyuan Technique once again.

Sure enough, after trying it for a while, Zhou Ping was pleasantly surprised to find that the wisp of "green energy" flowed smoothly through his meridians under the guidance of the Green Origin Technique.

No wonder I couldn't practice Hunyuan Stance; it turns out I'd already reached the beginner level of Qingyuan Gong.

Zhou Ping took out a copy of the Qingyuan Gong, compared it with the warnings inside, and nodded to himself.

The phrase "cannot be cultivated with any internal energy" likely refers to his current situation. This cyan "energy" clashes with other internal energies in his meridians and cannot coexist.

This discovery led Zhou Ping to throw himself back into the practice of Qingyuan Gong. Imagining that he would soon become a formal disciple, he became even more engrossed in it!

But his passion was largely extinguished by new problems after a while.

Zhou Ping discovered that his progress in cultivating the Qingyuan Technique was extremely slow!

After four months of relentless cultivation, his azure "true energy" was only as thin as a hair, a result that left him somewhat frustrated.

At this rate of cultivation, he doesn't know when he will be able to complete the first level of the Azure Origin Technique.

Disciples practicing other martial arts can clearly see each other's progress. While their progress may not be rapid, they are making steady and solid progress step by step.

By combining their respective internal energy techniques, both their physical strength and movement speed have seen significant improvements.

However, Zhou Ping, who was practicing the Qingyuan Gong, did not feel any obvious changes.

As a carefree child of the Weapon Pavilion, he has no worries about food and drink every day and has free time. In the high-intensity training, he not only does not feel tired, but his energy is also getting stronger and stronger!

He was sometimes secretly surprised, wondering if he had developed a demonic disorder. How could anyone have so much energy?

Zhou Ping exited his meditation state, got up, walked to the wooden basin, and washed his face.

Looking at his young face reflected in the water, he winked at himself, then frowned helplessly.

Since I started practicing Qingyuan Gong, I've become like an old man, constantly thinking things over and worrying about gains and losses. I don't act like a child under thirteen at all!

"So be it. It just means I'm not good enough and not suited to cultivate the Qingyuan Technique."

"I wonder if there's any way to switch to other martial arts techniques. The day for answering questions is coming up soon, so I can ask the elders in the sect for help."

If there is...

That would be wonderful!