Chapter 140: Conversation
“At that time, did the Vice Sect Master see it with his own eyes and hear it with his own ears?” Seeing that Lu Xian regarded him as Lu Xin’s biological son, Lu Yun gained confidence and naturally began to defend his father.
“This…” After hearing Lu Yun’s question, Lu Xian showed a ashamed expression and said: “At that time, blood flowed into rivers in the Capital City, yet I did not step out of this Bamboo Garden even half a step.”
“Why?” Lu Yun pressed.
“Sigh…” Clearly, this was a sore spot for Lu Xian. He shook his head and sighed: “As a scion of a noble family, how can one act as one pleases?”
“That’s it then.” Lu Yun said indifferently: “What my father did back then stemmed from the same difficulties as the Vice Sect Master. As long as one bears the Lu surname, no one has the qualification to criticize him!”
“You!” Lu Xian had not heard anyone speak to him in such a tone for who knows how many years, but his anger vanished in an instant. He let out a long sigh and said: “You’re right, I have no qualification to criticize your father.”
Seeing this, Lu Yun also breathed a long sigh of relief. After these days of interacting with Lu Xian, he vaguely felt that this Grandmaster wholly devoted to pure cultivation had thoroughly forgotten many things of the mundane world. He guessed that Lu Xian would not get angry due to his own disrespect. Now seeing Lu Xian’s reaction, Lu Yun finally confirmed his guess.
He believed that he could seize the initiative in this conversation!
Sure enough, Lu Xian no longer dwelled on Lu Xin’s rights and wrongs, and turned his attention back to《Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill》, saying with some emotion: “For Lu Xin to deceive those Heavenly Rank Grandmasters and claim the《Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill》 as his own is quite impressive.” As he spoke, he asked Lu Yun: “Did Lu Xin advance to Grandmaster thanks to this cultivation method?”
“Not at all.” Lu Yun shook his head and said: “My father never practiced this kind of kung fu.”
Originally, he would have needed to explain at length why Lu Xin did not practice it himself but let him practice it. Unexpectedly, Lu Xian had already filled in the blanks himself: “That makes sense. This cultivation method requires Xiantian Vital Energy in the body to cultivate. At his age, it was all Houtian blood energy at work, so he could no longer cultivate it.” As he spoke, Lu Xian looked at Lu Yun with unmistakable envy: “Only children who still retain some Xiantian Vital Energy have a chance to master this cultivation method.”
“What is Xiantian Vital Energy? What is Houtian Vital Energy?” Lu Yun asked despite knowing the answer. He wanted to shift Lu Xian’s attention to the cultivation he was most obsessed with, so that matters outside of cultivation would be easier to discuss.
“You don’t even know this? No wonder you practiced a deviation.” Lu Xian had been alone for too long, and his skill at filling in the blanks himself had reached perfection. He patiently explained: “When a person is first born, their nature is all good, their body all healthy, their roots all solid, and their body is filled purely with Xiantian Vital Energy.” He paused and continued: “Later, once knowledge opens, the spiritual apertures close, Yin and Yang no longer intersect, and what is generated becomes Houtian Vital Energy. Xiantian Vital Energy and Houtian Vital Energy do not harmonize. As age increases, the Xiantian Vital Energy in the body decreases, while Houtian blood energy grows stronger, until finally only the latter remains in the body.”
“Xiantian Vital Energy is also called vital energy. Due to the prevalence of blood energy, vital energy weakens, causing people’s muscles and bones to not be strong.” As expected, once Lu Xian started talking about cultivation, he became unstoppable. Moreover, his knowledge was extremely profound and his experience extremely deep; what he spoke of were all cultivation truths that Lu Yun had never heard before.
Lu Yun involuntarily focused his entire mind, greedily memorizing every word Lu Xian said. These were all the golden words of advice he needed most urgently!
“Therefore, people practice martial arts to strengthen their muscles and bones.” Lu Xian’s words opened a golden-light-shining door for Lu Yun, and behind the door was a brand new world. That was a place one could only see after reaching the peak of the Martial Arts Path! “Actually, according to Taoist cultivation techniques, repeatedly practicing fist and foot methods to make oneself robust and bones strong is called ‘Bone Transformation’. Through internal energy cultivation, gathering the scattered blood energy in the body into the Dantian, making it impartial and harmonious without flowing away, generates True Qi similar to Innate Vital Energy. In Taoism, this is called ‘Strength Exchange’.”
“The purpose of Bone Transformation and Strength Exchange is to restore the practitioner’s body to an infant state, preparing the body to absorb Heaven and Earth Vital Energy. Yet martial artists treat Bone Transformation and Strength Exchange as means for competing in bravery and ferocity, which is completely neglecting the root and pursuing the frills, falling into the inferior path.” Lu Xian finally poured out the insights he had pondered over these years, which made him unable to stop. He continued: “While Taoism calls Bone Transformation and Strength Exchange ‘Refining Essence into Qi’, which is directly pointing to the source!”
As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Yun, the envy in his eyes even thicker, and said: “You have cultivated《Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill》 since childhood, so your body’s vital energy is not lost, skipping the long step of Refining Essence into Qi. You can directly impact the Ren and Du Meridians right away, and the younger you are, the easier it is to open them, which is why you became an Earth Rank Grandmaster in your teens!”
Lu Yun was suddenly enlightened in his heart and could not help but feel ashamed. He had practiced《Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill》 for nearly ten years, yet had always known the what without knowing the why. Only today did he understand why he could advance by leaps and bounds, crossing over a dozen years of others’ cultivation path, and effortlessly open the Ren and Du Meridians!
“Even more so, although True Qi has the word ‘true’ in its name, it is ultimately generated postnatally, inevitably impure and mixed. Compared to true vital energy, no matter from which aspect, it is far inferior. Therefore, even a Grandmaster who has opened the Ren and Du Meridians for many years, with True Qi far exceeding yours several times, would probably not be your opponent in a fight…”
Lu Yun was taught once again and finally understood why the Grandmasters of the Xiahou Clan, who had all bitterly cultivated for many years, were completely no match for him, a novice.
Looking at Lu Xian’s gaze, it was as if he was jealous to death of Lu Yun as he said: “Even I, a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster, have cultivated my True Qi to be extremely pure, yet I can only say it infinitely approaches the quality of vital energy. But the real cannot be faked, the fake cannot be real; no matter how close, it cannot become true vital energy!”
At this point, Lu Xian’s robes unexpectedly moved without wind, and his loose hair slightly floated up. Clearly, this Grandmaster also had an uncontrollable Inner Demon, causing his True Qi to lose control and leak out of his body!
Fortunately, Lu Xian quickly suppressed the Inner Demon, and his entire body immediately returned to normal. He gave a self-mocking bitter smile and said: “I have been in seclusion for over ten years precisely to meditate bitterly on how to turn True Qi into true vital energy, but the boundary between Xiantian and Houtian is set by Heaven and Earth. How could a mere mortal cross it?”
“Then, Vice Sect Master, your study of bamboo was to deduce the Supreme Principle of Heaven and Earth?” Lu Yun could not help but ask softly.
“Hey…” Hearing this, Lu Xian became angry and said: “We were all led astray by that old Taoist priest Zhang Xuanyi!” He said furiously: “Twelve years ago, I went to Mount Taishi to challenge him, and Zhang Xuanyi thoroughly thrashed me. I never imagined that I wouldn’t last three moves under his hand before being utterly defeated!”
Lu Yun nodded. This Lu Xian did not shy away from speaking of that past humiliation, which showed he had long walked out of the shadow of the past, rather than as others guessed, being so struck that he shut himself away dejectedly.
“At that time, although I was proud, I was convinced by that old Taoist priest in heart and mouth, simply regarding him as a celestial being. After admitting defeat, I sincerely asked him for guidance on how to reach his level.” Lu Xian’s tone did not match his words at all; from it, one could only hear his resentment toward Zhang Xuanyi. “That old Taoist priest solemnly told me not to follow his path, because he had discovered that the path he walked was wrong. I should be like him now, abandoning everything to pursue one thing.”
“He said that thing is formless and shapeless yet omnipresent, heavy as Mount Tai yet light as a feather. Once obtained, all things under heaven, sun moon stars, flying birds and beasts, human heart’s good and evil, would be like viewing patterns on my palm, with no secrets left!” As Lu Xian spoke, his anger gradually subsided, leaving only a bitter smile on his face: “I was dumbfounded at the time and hurriedly asked him what exactly that thing was.”
