Becoming a Martial Master: Starting as a Swordsmith

Tamago

Shen Chu answered truthfully, "It feels like there's something inside my body, warm and very comfortable."

Old Master Sun nodded: "That is true qi. Although there is only a trace of it now, as long as you persist in cultivating, this trace of true qi will gradually grow stronger and eventually fill all the meridians in your body. Only then can you truly be called a martial artist."

He then added, "Starting today, practice standing meditation for one hour each morning and evening, rain or shine. Within three months, I want you to open your first meridian."

Shen Chu nodded vigorously: "This disciple understands."

In the days that followed, Shen Chu's life became more regular. Every morning, without fail, he would stand in a meditation posture for an hour, sensing and guiding his inner energy. Then he would practice the Thirteen Forms of Divine Fist, integrating the newly generated inner energy into the fist techniques and experiencing the feeling of using energy to generate power.

In the afternoon, I sparred with Master Sun to hone my skills in real combat. In the evening, I reviewed internal energy cultivation techniques and adjusted my breathing methods.

As the days went by, the true energy within Shen Chu's body gradually grew from the size of a tiny lighter flame into a wisp of water.

Although he is far from being a master, his overall spirit and energy have changed significantly. His eyes are brighter, his steps are more steady, and the power and speed of his punches have increased considerably.

That day, Shen Chu practiced standing meditation as usual. After guiding his true energy to complete a full cycle, he suddenly felt a jolt in his lower abdomen, and a surge of true energy, more powerful than ever before, poured out and began to circulate on its own along a meridian route it had never traveled before.

A thought struck him, and he quickly steadied himself, carefully guiding the true energy forward.

His true energy broke through one barrier after another, finally flowing into the Tanzhong acupoint in his chest, where it slowly settled.

Then he opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath, almost twice as long as he usually exhaled. The breath condensed into a white arrow in the air and slowly dissipated three feet away after it was exhaled.

Old Master Sun had somehow appeared behind him. Seeing him exhale that arrow of energy, a hint of approval appeared in his eyes: "Not bad, the Ren meridian is open. Opening the first meridian in three months is half a month faster than I expected."

Shen Chu then stretched his muscles and bones, feeling full of energy, as if he had inexhaustible strength.

He looked at Elder Sun, his eyes filled with eagerness: "Master, I want to test my current strength."

Old Sun saw through his thoughts, smiled, picked up the ash tree pole leaning against the wall, walked to the center of the yard, and waved the pole: "Come on, let me see what you've accomplished in the past two months."

Shen Chu also picked up his pole and strode to the center of the courtyard.

As the morning light shone down, the master and apprentice stood facing each other. Old Master Sun had one hand behind his back and the other hand holding a white waxwood staff, the tip of which pointed diagonally to the ground. However, the aura emanating from him made Shen Chu feel that he was not facing an old man, but a towering and unmoving mountain.

Shen Chu mobilized the wisp of true energy within her body, allowing it to flow slowly along the newly opened Ren meridian.

Wherever his true energy passed, a warm power flowed into his limbs and bones, making him feel that his arms were stronger than before and his steps were more steady.

"bring it on."

As soon as Elder Sun spoke, Shen Chu moved!

Without any hesitation, he pushed off the ground with both feet and shot out like an arrow!

His speed was almost twice as fast as it had been two months ago. The white waxwood staff in his hand emitted a slight whooshing sound as it was infused with true energy, and it pierced straight at Old Master Sun's chest.

The thrust was swift and ruthless, without the slightest flourish. Old Sun's eyes flickered slightly, and he gently shifted his body to the left, narrowly missing the target by less than an inch.

At the same time, he flicked the stick in his hand upwards, aiming for Shen Chu's wrist.

The angle of this flick was extremely tricky; if it had hit, Shen Chu would have lost his grip on the stick.

But Shen Chu's more than a month of sparring practice was not in vain.

With a flick of his wrist, he abruptly changed the direction of the pole in mid-air, transforming it from a thrust into a sweep, aiming horizontally at Old Sun's waist.

"That's interesting."

A smile appeared on Old Sun's lips. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and closed in on Shen Chu.

At this distance, Shen Chu's long pole was unable to be used effectively, while the pole in Old Sun's hand bent at an incredible angle, its tip like a snake emerging from its hole, pointing towards Shen Chu's armpit.

Shen Chu was startled and quickly stepped back, holding the pole upright in front of her to block.

With a crisp clang, the two poles collided. Shen Chu felt a powerful force coming from the poles, which made his hands go numb and he slid back three or four steps before regaining his balance.

Old Sun didn't pursue, but stood still, looking at him and said, "Your reaction was good, but your lower body isn't stable enough. That retreat just now caused your center of gravity to shift. If I were your opponent, I could have caught up and finished you off while you were off balance, and you would have lost."

Shen Chu reflected on the exchange just now and had to admit that Old Sun's words were spot on.

He nodded, readjusted his posture, and said, "Let's try again."

This time, Shen Chu did not rush to attack, but instead moved slowly around Elder Sun, looking for an opportunity to strike.

His steps were much more agile than before, no longer straight, but darting left and right, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, trying to disrupt Old Master Sun's rhythm.

Old Sun stood still, his body turning with Shen Chu's movements, always facing him directly. He was neither impatient nor lax, like a rock, unmoved by wind and waves.

Shen Chu circled around twice but couldn't find any obvious flaws, so he decided not to wait any longer and made his move again.

This time, instead of using the pole to stab or sweep, he used the ash pole as a club. He gripped the pole with both hands, raised it high, and chopped it down hard on Old Sun's head!

He used all his strength in this strike, even pouring in that last bit of true energy without reservation. The pole let out a sharp whistling sound in mid-air, its momentum astonishing!

Old Sun's eyes finally became serious. He did not take the chop head-on, but slid his body to the right and pushed the pole forward along Shen Chu's shaft, using the force of the chop to redirect Shen Chu's powerful strike into empty air.

Shen Chu felt the stick in her hand being pulled by a clever force, and she involuntarily staggered forward, leaving her wide open.

Old Sun's stick had silently come to a stop in front of his throat. "You've lost again."

Old Master Sun retracted his staff, his tone appreciative. "You've improved since last time. At least you've learned to change your moves and dare to go all out. For a newcomer who's only been training for two months, that's quite good."

Shen Chu took a breath. Although she lost, she felt no frustration, but rather a surge of excitement.

He could clearly feel his own progress. Two months ago, he couldn't even last three moves against Master Sun.

Now, he can exchange four or five moves with Master Sun, and has even forced Master Sun to take things a little more seriously.

"Master, was there something wrong with how I applied force when I chopped just now?"

Shen Chu recalled her mistake and asked the question.

A hint of approval appeared in Master Sun's eyes. This disciple was not only willing to endure hardship, but also knew how to think and summarize, which was better than many people who had practiced boxing for several years.

"Your power generation is fine; the problem is your balance. When you attack with all your might, your attention is entirely focused on the attack, neglecting the stability of your lower body. As a result, once your opponent avoids your attack and applies pull, you will lose your balance."

Old Master Sun took a breath and continued, "Remember this: power comes from the ground, and the fist originates from the heart. No matter how fierce your attack is, you can't lose your lower body. As long as your feet are firmly planted, even if you miss your opponent, you won't expose your weaknesses to them."

Shen Chu kept those words firmly in mind and nodded solemnly.

"Alright, that's enough for today's sparring."

Old Master Sun put the pole back on the weapon rack, patted the dust off his hands, and said, "You've just opened your Ren meridian, so your true energy isn't stable yet."

For the rest of the morning, go to the bronze cauldron and continue your standing meditation to solidify your cultivation. I have to go down the mountain this afternoon, so practice on your own and don't slack off.

Shen Chu responded, readjusted his posture, closed his eyes, and began to slowly circulate the true energy within his body. Seeing his diligent efforts, Elder Sun nodded and then left. After some time, he suddenly felt an unusual fluctuation in the true energy within his body.

The originally flowing true energy suddenly became restless as it passed through the dantian, as if it were being drawn by something, rushing headlong in one direction.

Shen Chu was startled and quickly calmed himself down, trying to control the flow of his true energy. However, the pulling force grew stronger and stronger, as if an invisible vortex had opened deep within his body, frantically absorbing his true energy.

His face turned pale instantly, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"What happened?"

Shen Chu gritted her teeth, trying to bring her true energy back on track, but the vortex-like suction force did not diminish at all, but instead intensified.

His internal energy was visibly draining away, and he felt a tearing pain in his meridians, as if something was awakening within him, greedily devouring his cultivation.

No, this will lead to a major disaster.

Shen Chu made a decisive move and forcibly interrupted his cultivation. He opened his eyes and gasped for breath. His clothes were soaked with cold sweat and clung to his body, making him look as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

He looked down at his hands and saw that his internal energy was almost completely depleted, with his dantian feeling empty, as if it had been hollowed out.

"What... what's going on?" Shen Chu muttered to herself, a sense of unprecedented panic rising in her heart.

All the true energy he had painstakingly accumulated through so much cultivation had vanished almost entirely in that instant.

If he hadn't interrupted his cultivation in time, even the last bit of true energy would probably have been completely devoured.

He took a few deep breaths, calmed down, and began to recall his feelings from just now.

The suction force didn't come from the outside, but from within his body.

To be precise, it comes from deep within his dantian.

It was as if there was something else hidden inside his body, something that had been dormant until today, only to be awakened by the true energy he cultivated!

Shen Chu frowned, closed her eyes, and focused her consciousness into her body, carefully examining her dantian.

The dantian was empty, with only a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of true qi slowly circulating within it.

But beneath that wisp of true energy, he vaguely sensed an extremely subtle energy fluctuation, like a seed buried deep within, quietly absorbing the nutrients from his cultivation and growing!

"What is this?" Shen Chu asked, her mind filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Since he transmigrated to this dream world, he had always thought of himself as just an ordinary mountain village boy, with nothing special about him except for having a mysterious master.

But now it seems that things are not so simple. There is a secret hidden in his body that even he himself does not know!

Shen Chu pondered for a moment and decided to ask Old Master Sun for clarification when he returned.

With Mr. Sun's experience and knowledge, perhaps he can provide an answer.

He stood up, stretched his stiff body, and was about to go to the well to fetch water to wash his face when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the roots of the old tree in the corner of the yard. The soil in one spot was a different color from the rest of the soil.

The soil was a dark brown, much darker than the surrounding soil, as if it had been recently disturbed.

Shen Chu's heart stirred, and she walked over, squatted down, and used her hands to brush away the layer of loose soil.

Beneath the loose soil, a stone slab was revealed.

The stone slab was small, about a foot square, with a rough surface and no patterns or words on it, looking just like an ordinary stepping stone.

But Shen Chu noticed that the edges of the stone slab were very regular and square, not like it was naturally formed, but more like it had been deliberately polished.

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the edge of the stone slab, forcefully lifting it upwards.

The stone slab was lifted, revealing a dark hole, about half a foot square, just big enough for a person's arm to fit inside.

A faint musty smell wafted out of the cave, causing Shen Chu to wrinkle her nose involuntarily.

He peered inside, but the cave was dimly lit and he couldn't see how deep it was. He then found a branch and poked around in it, discovering that the cave wasn't deep, only about two feet deep, and the bottom seemed to be solid.

He reached in and groped around, his fingertips touching something smooth.

The object was small, about the size of a fist, and felt cold to the touch, like a stone, but its surface was unusually smooth. Shen Chu took it out of the cave and examined it carefully in the sunlight.

It was a round bead, about the size of a baby's fist. Under the sunlight, faint dark red lines could be seen inside the bead, like congealed blood or some kind of ancient runes, exuding a mysterious and eerie aura.

Shen Chu held the bead in his hand, feeling its coolness. A strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart; the bead seemed to be calling to him.