Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul.

A young couple stood side by side in the middle of the bridge, leaning against the railing and looking down.

The boy, looking at the churning, muddy waves at his feet, was launching into a long, rambling monologue, showing off his knowledge:

"Did you know that the Yellow River has changed its course dozens of times in history? The most serious time was when the entire river channel shifted hundreds of miles south. The ancients called the Yellow River the head of all rivers, and also called it a national calamity. In every dynasty, water management was a matter of utmost importance."

"It's not just about controlling the floods; many people also worship the Yellow River, such as the Yellow River King and the Yellow River Dragon King. Of course, as far as I know, in mythology, the Yellow River God is called Hebo Fengyi, who was appointed by the Heavenly Emperor."

"Wow! You know so much!" The girl listened with great interest, praising her every now and then.

The boy got even more excited, glanced at the bridge, and changed the subject, saying:

"Did you know that there's a saying about the bridge we're standing on in terms of feng shui?"

What do you mean?

The boy, showing off his knowledge, said, "It's called a 'dragon-trapping shackle.' In feng shui, the terrain and waterways of the world are often regarded as dragon veins. Building a bridge over a river is like putting a shackle on this dragon vein, so the location of any bridge spanning a major river is very important. Moreover, this dragon-trapping shackle has another function besides locking the dragon vein."

"What is its function?" the girl asked curiously.

"Lock up the dragon!" the boy said.

"Jiaolong? What does that mean?" the girl asked, puzzled.

"This is another explanation, called 'Snakes Transforming into Dragons.' In the mountains and fields, there are large snakes that have cultivated themselves to a high level. When they reach the critical point of transforming into dragons, they must enter the river with great floods and swim eastward along the water veins until they reach the sea, where they can transform into true dragons in one fell swoop. Floods are the best time for them to undergo their tribulation. Throughout history, whenever there has been a once-in-a-century flood, after the water recedes, people occasionally see long, deep trenches on the ground. It is said that these are the traces left by the large snakes as they crawled through."

He paused, then continued, "Therefore, there's a reason why we build bridges to suppress the dragons. The bridge itself might not be enough to hold down those giant snakes. To prevent them from breaching the bridge piers, a sword called the 'Dragon-Slaying Sword' is hung under the bridge arch during construction. This sword is specifically used to slay those giant snakes that roam the river. Think about it, if those giant snakes enter the river, the floodwaters will inevitably rise. If they are allowed to stir up trouble, destroy the dams, and cause a great disaster for the people downstream."

The girl listened intently and unconsciously looked down at the bridge, only to see a rusty iron sword hanging directly above the arch.

But just then, she caught something unusual out of the corner of her eye.

She suddenly turned her head to look upstream, only to see a huge, turbid wave suddenly rise up thirty or forty meters away.

On the crest of those rolling waves stood a figure dressed in white with white hair.

The man stood on the waves, with one huge yellow wave after another beneath his feet. His long white hair and robes fluttered in the wind. At first glance, it looked as if the waves were his guards, escorting him forward.

The girl was stunned, her mouth agape, pointing in that direction with an incredulous expression.

"There...there..."

"What's wrong over there?" The boy looked in the direction she was pointing.

Then he saw it too: a white figure amidst the turbulent waves, flying towards him, stepping on wave after wave.

His eyes widened instantly, and he stopped breathing.

Not only the two of them, but other people among those watching the water from the bridge also noticed it.

Some people exclaimed in surprise, while others quickly raised their phones to take pictures, but Li Chang'an was too fast, and the phone's resolution was not high at that time, so they only managed to capture the white robe flashing by in the yellow water curtain, disappearing like a fleeting shadow.

Meanwhile, Li Chang'an had already ridden the crest of the wave, passed through the bridge arch, and disappeared from their sight.

A group of people stared at the turbulent water, unable to recover for a long time.

The girl gripped the boy's arm tightly, her eyes fixed on the bridge below, and quickly asked:

"What was that just now? Could it be... the 'snake-like dragon' you mentioned?"

The boy opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

The myths, histories, and even the stories about the guesthouses he told earlier were all things he'd seen on random forums, just to make his goddess smile. He never thought they were true.

Now, I actually saw a scene that only appears in those stories, and it was even more mysterious. After all, in the stories, it was just a snake walking like a dragon. What was that person doing?

Humans becoming immortals? But according to the stories, shouldn't one undergo tribulations of lightning to become an immortal?

He was a little confused.

But his girlfriend, who was standing next to him, suddenly became clear-headed and excitedly said:

"Didn't you say before that the description of the River God in the 'Songs of Chu' is, 'The wind rises and the waves surge, he rides a waterwheel under a lotus canopy'? Could what we just saw be the River God's procession?!"

Chapter 177 Amazing Skill

"Is the River God on a tour?"

The boy was stunned for a moment, then went through the scene in his mind again: the turbid waves soaring into the sky, the white robe fluttering in the wind—the scene really did have a sense of the majesty of the water god inspecting the rivers in mythology.

"Did we really encounter the water god?"

He murmured something and then fell silent, standing side by side with his girlfriend on the bridge, gazing at the distant water, hoping to see that white figure again.

Many of the people on the bridge who had just caught a glimpse of Li Chang'an were also gazing at him, just like them.

Some tourists who hadn't seen clearly were asking others what had just happened with puzzled expressions.

Upon hearing the vivid description from those around him, he was immediately incredulous, exclaiming, "How is this possible? Could it be that I just saw things and mistook a white garbage bag in the water for a person?"

But then, an eyewitness countered that while one person might have misjudged, it's impossible for so many people to all have misjudged.

At this moment, someone raised their phone and said they had taken a picture of the Yellow River Fairy.

Upon hearing this, a group of people gathered around to watch.

On the phone screen, a pure white figure was seen clustered at the highest point of the turbulent flood. Because of the stark contrast with the yellow Yellow River water, it was easily spotted.

However, the phone's camera resolution was so poor that the image became a blurry mess after being magnified several times, making it impossible to see the front of the white figure clearly. Only the outline of a human figure with long, pure white hair flying in the wind could be vaguely discerned.

"The resolution is terrible, what can you even see clearly? If you used my DSLR camera, you could definitely get a clear picture!" one of them said, holding up the camera hanging around his neck, his tone smug.

Upon hearing this, the phone owner immediately became displeased: "Your camera is so amazing, how come you didn't take any pictures?"

"I...I...I..." The camera owner was speechless.

……

Later, that photo was posted on Baidu Tieba. This was truly the era when UC Shocking News Department was all the rage.

Therefore, the headline was sensational: "Shocking! A white-clad River God appears during the Yellow River flood season; dozens of people witnessed it firsthand, with pictures and evidence."

However, despite the presence of pictures and evidence, the post did not generate much buzz on the forum.

The few scattered replies below were mostly jokes.

Some people are asking if this photo was taken with a landline camera?

Some people said the poster was making a fuss over nothing, that the white-clad river god was nothing, and that someone had even filmed a red-clad figure floating dead on the Yellow River.

Then someone posted pictures of Yellow River water monkeys and ancient coffins in the Yellow River.

Some people even started serializing a novel on Baidu Tieba, titled "The Corpse Retriever of the Yellow River".

These days, many people like to write first-person novels with some thriller and horror elements on online forums.

Therefore, this matter only caused a tiny ripple in the forum and quickly faded away. In fact, this ripple was only started by the person who wrote the thriller novel.

The white-robed river god himself isn't much of a gimmick. In the end, the Yellow River is too old, so old that it carries countless mythical tales. Adding or removing one won't make a difference.

……

The person who started this incident stopped after running wildly along the river for dozens of kilometers.

He stood on the surging river, slightly out of breath. The waves around him did not diminish at all, and continued to surge one after another.

But his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground, and no matter how big the waves came, they could not shake him in the slightest.

This demonstrates his refined control and application of Qi.

This was the trick he gradually learned while running on the river.

In the beginning, he used Qi to resist and counteract the impact of the waves.

However, the Yellow River's floodwaters are incredibly powerful, with wave after wave crashing down, making it extremely difficult to withstand.

Therefore, he changed his strategy. Instead of fighting, he went with the flow. He used the white qi around him to sense every force and direction of the water flow, and then followed the trend, using qi to guide the waves to slide away from both sides.

It not only neutralized the powerful impact of the waves, but could even use that potential energy to support its own body.

This is like a top Tai Chi master who doesn't directly meet the opponent's punch, but instead guides the force of the punch to the side, using minimal effort to deflect a great weight.

Each time a wave crashes in, the Qi around him surges in sync with the direction of the surging waves.

This greatly reduced his energy expenditure, which is why he was able to run for dozens of kilometers in the Yellow River.

It was precisely because of this mastery of Qi that he was able to stand steadily on the turbulent and dangerous river.

"We're almost at our limit." Li Chang'an took a deep breath: "If we keep running like this, the consumption of Qi will be too great. Too much of a good thing is bad."

"Moreover, I've completely adapted to this level of wave intensity. Continuing to run won't further improve my refined control over Qi."

With this thought in mind, he lightly touched the water's surface with his toes, and like a white egret, he gracefully rose from the crest of a wave and landed steadily on the grassy shore.

Upon landing, he smoothly finished his practice, and the white aura surrounding him returned to his body like a tide, leaving him clean and refreshed, except for a slight stain on the hem of his clothes.

Li Chang'an didn't linger. After getting his bearings, he resumed his journey.

As we walked, a torrential downpour suddenly began.

Soon, the dirt road turned into a muddy puddle.

Li Chang'an was dressed in white and walked barefoot on the muddy road. His feet sank into the mud, but when he lifted them up, they were perfectly clean, without a speck of dirt on them.

Only upon close inspection can one notice that a thin layer of white mist always separates the mud and water from the soles of his feet.

Not only his feet, but also the rain from the sky could not wet his white clothes. The raindrops would automatically separate and slide down when they reached a foot away from him.

This ability to automatically separate water is precisely an application of his three-foot-high Qi wall.

In fact, many methods can achieve this, but very few people are so extravagant as to use Qi to block the rain, because it consumes too much energy.

However, the Triple Rebirth ability is extremely durable and can withstand such consumption.

After that, on his way back, Li Chang'an discovered even more wonderful uses for the three-foot Qi wall.

For example, when he walks through a wasteland overgrown with weeds, he doesn't need to reach out and pull out the waist-high weeds. With just a thought, the surrounding white energy presses downwards, and the weeds in front of him automatically bend and bow down as if crushed by a heavy object.

As he walked by, it was as if the grass and trees in front of him sensed his arrival, bent down and laid out a carpet for him, and after he passed by, they bounced back to their original positions, as if no one had ever passed by.

If the area ahead is a thicket of thorns, he doesn't need to clear it himself. He can simply use his mind to transform his Qi into invisible arms and pull the thorns to both sides.

Because the protective white aura surrounding him was very faint, it was almost invisible unless you looked closely. To ordinary people, it would look as if the thorns in front of them had automatically parted to make way for him.

Chapter 178 Return

If there are branches growing horizontally in front of him blocking his way, he uses his Qi to raise the branches a few inches, as if the branches were actively forming a sunshade for him.

If he encounters a deep ravine or canyon, he leaps across and lands lightly.

The reason Li Chang'an did this was not because he wanted to show off or be cool in the middle of nowhere.

Instead, it is through this method that one trains their control over Qi. Pulling weeds, parting water, lifting branches, leaping across streams—every seemingly casual little thing is actually a precise manipulation of Qi.

At the beginning, he needed to consciously think about it and make adjustments.

But after walking for about ten days, these actions gradually became instinctive reactions of the body. He didn't need to think about it deliberately; the Qi would react instinctively, truly making it as easy as using his own arm.

This hardcore approach of overcoming mountains and building bridges over rivers greatly accelerated his return journey.

Of course, his way of traveling is occasionally seen by ordinary people on the road.

Some hikers in the mountains saw a figure in white walking through the thorn bushes without getting a single leaf on him. They exclaimed that they had encountered a ghost. Some of the braver ones even took out their cameras to take pictures of him, but they only managed to capture a blurry white figure.

Such things were not uncommon during Li Chang'an's journey.

However, he always manages to disappear just as the other person is about to get a clear shot of their face or figure, leaving behind only an empty landscape photo or a blurry white shadow in the photo.

In the past, as long as no one showed any murderous intent towards Li Chang'an, he would not be aware of the gazes of those around him, because his attention was always focused inward, on his own tranquility, and he had very little awareness of the outside world.

But now, Li Chang'an has freed himself from the tranquil cage.

This caused a qualitative change in his perception ability. He could now detect not only murderous intent and malicious intent, but even ordinary glances from a great distance.

Therefore, he was able to easily dodge whenever someone raised their phone and pointed it at him.

This also meant that even though he made no attempt to conceal his abilities and displayed them without restraint, no one ever captured any crucial evidence or footage of him.

Therefore, even if he violated the company rule prohibiting him from displaying his abilities in front of ordinary people, he was not afraid of the company coming after him.

Not long after, Li Chang'an walked back to Suzhou and arrived at the Lu family compound.

The gate to the Lu family compound is still the same gate, and the stone lions at the entrance are still the same two stone lions. Two years have passed, and nothing has changed.

Li Chang'an knocked on the door, entered the Lu family home, and met Lu Jin, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.