Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The ink on the pages had smudged, and several words had been blurred by water stains, but the key information was still there.

Yi Yang held the tattered directory pages up to the light from the window, squinting as he read through them word by word.

The record was short, only three pages long, but the more Yi Yang read, the tighter his fingers gripped the corner of the book.

The story takes place approximately three hundred years ago.

Yunlin County was even worse back then than it is now.

Now, at least the Sky Patrol Division provides some semblance of order, so no matter how ugly the martial arts schools and aristocratic families are, they still have to maintain a semblance of decorum on the surface.

Three hundred years ago, there wasn't even this little bit of a fig leaf. The martial arts manuals were monopolized by powerful families and martial arts schools. Even the basic stance training for the first level of Qi and Blood was locked behind high walls. If ordinary people wanted to learn martial arts, they either had to sell themselves to a martial arts school as servants in exchange for a tattered set of stance instructions, or spend all the savings of three generations to send their children to kowtow and become apprentices, and even then, they might not be able to learn anything real.

The plight of martial artists at the bottom of society, as described in the book, is that "there are many able-bodied young men in the county, but none of them have any martial arts skills to learn. They are relegated to manual labor for life and never get to glimpse the path of martial arts until their death."

Upon reading this, Yi Yang let out a very soft sneer.

Three hundred years have passed, countless county magistrates have come and gone, and generations of powerful families have held power, but the fate of those at the bottom has never changed. The only thing that has changed is the hand that presses down on their heads, which has simply changed its posture.

The narrative then takes a sudden turn.

It's about a Taoist priest.

Songqing Daoren.

This person's origins are unknown; the book only uses four words to describe him—"his origins are unknown." No sect acknowledges teaching him, and no famous mountain records his name; this person is practically as if he sprang from a crack in a rock.

When Songqing Daoren passed through Yunlin County, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

A boy of about twelve or thirteen was squatting at the entrance of the martial arts school, clutching a few copper coins in his hand, hoping to ask the senior students inside to teach him the simplest standing posture. As a result, he was kicked out, scattering the copper coins all over the ground. His forehead hit the corner of the steps and bled, but the boy didn't cry. He just bent down and picked up the copper coins one by one from the ground.

The book reads: "The Taoist priest stood at the street corner, observing this scene for a long time, and sighed: 'The martial arts of the world have no master; why are they confined within high walls?'"

Then, he did something that caused an uproar throughout Yunlin County.

He gave away a cultivation technique that could lead directly to the Inner Qi Realm for free.

It is the "Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise".

From the first level of Qi and Blood Refining the Skin, to the sixth level of Qi and Blood Cleansing and Blood Transformation, and then directly to the third level of the Inner Qi Realm, "Heavenly Rain Descends to the Top." Complete and without missing a single word.

No money, no apprenticeship ceremony, no kowtowing to acknowledge ancestors. As long as you are from Yunlin County and willing to practice, come and copy, then leave.

Yi Yang's finger lingered on this section for a long time.

He imagined the scene from three hundred years ago—a Taoist priest of unknown origin standing at the busiest crossroads in the county town, with a stack of yellow paper filled with incantations and techniques behind him, and a huge crowd surrounding him.

Are the people's eyes sharp? Absolutely, as sharp as firecrackers during Chinese New Year.

To be able to learn a technique that leads directly to the perfection of internal energy cultivation for free is an immense fortune that would fall from the sky in any era.

Those poor families who had to spend half a day calculating how much to cook a pot of meat porridge were suddenly told: Your child can also practice martial arts, and if he practices well, he can become a master and walk with his back straight.

Who wouldn't be excited?

The book records: "When the people heard of this, they spread the news and lined up day and night at the street corners, eager to copy it down. The scene was unprecedented and stretched for miles."

Yi Yang's lips curved slightly.

But can powerful families and martial arts schools tolerate such things?

Sure enough, the real show is about to begin.

Less than three days after the cultivation technique was disseminated, the gentry in the inner city panicked. Their control over martial arts resources was based on monopoly. Allowing ordinary people to master the technique was tantamount to tearing a huge hole in their wallets and their power.

"First, they jointly petitioned the government, requesting that the goods be confiscated."

"The government has not given its permission."

"Then he sent someone to persuade the Taoist to withdraw his teachings, offering a large sum of money."

The Taoist priest did not respond.

"Then he sent his retainers to secretly destroy the copies and set fire to the manuals that had already been circulated at night."

The Taoist priest rewrote it the next day and transmitted it again.

After three decisive blows, the aristocratic families finally tore off their last layer of pretense.

"A certain aristocratic family dispatched a master of the Inner Qi Realm to sneak into the inn where the Taoist was staying at night, intending to kill him."

Yi Yang's eyelid twitched.

Inner Qi Realm.

In a place like Yunlin County, what is the concept of the Inner Qi Realm?

That's someone at the very top of the pyramid, an absolute powerhouse who could crush an entire street with a single finger. To deal with a Taoist who had lost his cultivation technique, the powerful families unleashed their most trump card.

Yi Yang looked down, anticipating some kind of bloody ending.

But what followed stunned him.

"The following morning, the body of the Inner Qi Realm expert was found beneath the main gate of the county town. His face was intact, without any external injuries, his eyes were wide open, and his expression was one of terror, as if he had seen something indescribable. The cause of death was unknown."

He died just like that.

An expert at the Inner Qi Realm was killed by some unknown means, and his body was displayed at the main gate of the county town.

The expression on his face when he died was one of fear.

It wasn't the resentment of defeat, nor the pain of exhaustion, but fear.

What could possibly frighten a martial artist at the Inner Qi Realm to that extent?

Yi Yang turned the book over, ran his fingers along the back of the paper a couple of times, and silently drew a baseline for Song Qing Dao Ren's strength in his mind.

At least at the Inner Qi Realm or above.

Even higher.

What would a master like that want to come here?

Yi Yang had no answer, nor was it provided in the book.

As you flip through the pages, the content begins to change.

Songqing Daoren stayed in Yunlin County for a year. During that year, he repeatedly taught the exercises, patiently explained the key points of cultivation, and even personally corrected the standing postures of the people.

But a problem arose.

The Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise is too slow to get started.

How slow?

The book states it very plainly: "Those with good aptitude may practice for a year, but if they do not grasp the basics and their qi and blood do not improve, it is no different from not practicing at all."

Young people with martial arts talent practiced for a whole year, but they didn't even reach the threshold of the first level of Qi and Blood.

Upon seeing this, Yi Yang couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

He himself relied on the blessing of "an old horse in its stall" to bring sixty times the experience at the age of sixty. One time he practiced standing meditation was equivalent to sixty times or more for others. He entered the door in just a few days.

But ordinary people don't have this cheat.

Based on normal qualifications, it would take at least ten years for Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise to progress from beginner to the first level of Qi and Blood.

ten years.

A martial artist's most precious years, from sixteen to twenty-six, are wasted on a technique that can only be practiced up to the first level of Qi and Blood.

Who can bear it?

With other cultivation methods, even if they're not quite as good, you could at least reach the threshold of the first level of Qi and Blood within three to five years, at least giving you some hope. But the Yi Wood Health Cultivation Exercise completely wears down a person's patience, to the point that you feel like vomiting at the sight of standing meditation, so what's the point of even starting?

So the wind direction changed.

It started with whispers—"Is there something wrong with this technique?"

Then came the public questioning—"Is the Taoist priest playing a trick on us?"

Finally, she erupted in a tirade of profanities—"Liar! You wasted a whole year of my life!"

Yi Yang looked at this record and let out a long sigh.

Human nature has never changed.

If I give you a seed and tell you it can grow into a towering tree, but you bury it in the soil and water it for a year and it doesn't even sprout, anyone would curse.

The problem is, the Taoist priest didn't lie to them.

Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise is indeed slow, but its upper limit is at least at the Inner Qi Realm, or even higher. Where is the ceiling for those street-side exercises that can be mastered in three to five years? Most of them can't even touch the third level of Qi and Blood.

This is a skill that requires half a lifetime to cultivate, but the rewards far outweigh ten or a hundred times the initial investment, yet no one is willing to wait.

Everyone wants to be fast.

Master Songqing attempted to explain, citing a passage in the book that he had said: "Although this method is slow, its foundation is profound. Once mastered, it will be like a pine or cypress taking root, enduring for a hundred years. If you all endure for a few more years, you will surely achieve something."

Nobody listened.

The insults were louder than his words.

A year later, the Taoist priest left Yunlin County.

Did he say anything before leaving? The book doesn't say. Yi Yang guessed he probably didn't say anything at all. What could someone who could so easily kill an Inner Qi Realm expert say when he saw a group of people he wanted to help spit at him?

You say you don't know its value? You say this skill is priceless and you're not worthy to say it's worth a fortune?

If he were that kind of person, he wouldn't have come in the first place.

After the Taoist priest left, the aristocratic families and martial arts schools breathed a sigh of relief. They had originally planned to use various means to confiscate the scattered copies of the martial arts manuals, but after investigating, they found that it was completely unnecessary.

The common people themselves stopped practicing.

The news spread like wildfire, faster than the practice itself. Even those who had painstakingly copied the manual ended up stuffing the yellow paper into their stoves as kindling.

Later, a disciple from a prominent family, unwilling to give up, took a copy of the Yi Mu Health Preservation Technique to Sui Ning Prefecture and spent a large sum of money to have a martial arts master from the Guihai School appraise it.

The expert's conclusion was simple: "The method is correct and its intention is very high, but the entry threshold is too strict. It would take an average person ten years to break through. I do not recommend practicing it."

It happens once every ten years.

Four words killed the last hope of Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise.

From then on, this martial art became a complete joke in Yunlin County. Only poor families in remote towns, unaware of its origins, foolishly copied and practiced it after hearing that there was a free martial art available.

It was passed down from generation to generation, until it reached Zhou Liang, a hunter in Sanmu Village, and then Yi Yang.

However, the complete version—the full version that leads directly from the Qi and Blood Realm to the Inner Qi Realm—is no longer preserved.

Yi Yang's gaze fell on the last two lines of text.

"Only Pang Qing, the owner of a grain shop in the county, whose ancestors received personal instruction from the Taoist Song Qing when they were young, was grateful for the kindness of the Taoist and kept the complete copy of the Yi Mu Nourishing Life Technique, vowing not to burn it."

Pang Qing.

Grain shop.

Yi Yang closed the book, leaned back in his chair, and clasped his hands together in front of his abdomen.

His gaze passed through the window and landed on the bustling crowd on Qianyang Street outside, but he didn't see anything.

My mind is filled with that story from earlier.

Master Songqing... Yi Wood Nourishing Life Technique... One level every ten years...

Yi Yang suddenly felt a little cold.

It wasn't a physical coldness, but a chill that emanated from the depths of my heart.

Three hundred years ago, a wise man wanted to help a group of poor people change their fate, but he was mistaken for a fraud and driven away.

Three hundred years later, a sixty-year-old woodcutter, with the help of an incredible cheat code, cultivated that universally despised martial art to the sixth level of Qi and Blood.

Who is right and who is wrong? Is the Taoist priest too naive, or are the common people too short-sighted?

neither.

The world is wrong.

Talking about ten-year plans in a place where people can't even get enough to eat isn't preaching, it's torture. How can you expect someone who doesn't even know where tomorrow's rice will come from to gamble ten years on an unseen and intangible future?

The Taoist's good intentions were not wrong, nor were the people's choices.

The only truly hateful people are those who leave ordinary people with no choice whatsoever.

Yi Yang exhaled a long breath, pulling his thoughts back from three hundred years ago.

Despite the感慨 (feelings/reflections), there's only one crucial issue right now—

Is Pang Qing, or rather, Pang Qing's descendants, still alive in Yunlin County?