In the dead of night, the wind howled, and the moon shone brightly amidst sparse stars.
An old man with white hair and beard leaned against the wall, speaking to you, claiming a connection with you.
Li Guanyi's vigilance was at its peak. He was no longer a newcomer to this world; after ten years of fleeing, even though he usually wore a smile, his guard was heavy. The Su Ni Bow in his hand was drawn taut, the arrow firmly aimed at the old man's throat.
The arrow and bow shifted slightly.
This was to facilitate a quick confirmation of the target's position based on the opponent's movements.
The locked range included the center of the forehead, the throat, and the heart.
The Xue family's Arrow of Light was cold and required the release of internal qi, with the form of the weapon being a soldier.
He naturally could not achieve that.
However, as a practitioner of the Arrow of Light, he had laid a foundation. The distance from the wall to his current position would not exceed twenty steps. There was no wind tonight, and the bow was newly adjusted, its resilience and elasticity at their peak; one arrow was enough to pierce the target.
The old man, however, seemed unconcerned, laughing with interest, "You have no idea how much trouble you carry. I just discovered that someone far from here has taken notice of you; in this world, the more trouble one has, the more extraordinary they are."
"And you, especially so."
"Become my disciple, and I will impart all the wonders of Yin-Yang Arts to you."
The old man spoke in a somewhat rambling manner.
Li Guanyi remained composed, not lowering his guard, "If you wish to take on a disciple, please come during the day to reveal your identity. I will respectfully accept your invitation. However, climbing walls at midnight is the act of either a thief or a villain, so please step back."
The old man, who called himself the Master of Fate, laughed heartily:
"Such personality! But I am merely eager to meet you sooner."
"People walk in this world, and the world's rules are meant to restrain the mundane. If one wishes to see their disciple, they should come to see them. When encountering the mediocre, one should look upon them with disdain, while those who bring joy to the heart should be met with candlelight at night, sharing heartfelt conversations, as it is a matter of spontaneity and sincerity."
Li Guanyi could not discern friend from foe, simply stating, "Please come again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? I see, five, four, three, two, one."
"Ah, it has passed midnight; it is about time."
The Master of Fate clapped his hands and was about to jump down directly.
Li Guanyi's arrow was already nocked, when suddenly a dull sound of something breaking through the air was heard. In the night, a dark object traced a perfect arc in the air and then accurately struck the old man's face. The old man had just leaped to jump down when he was directly hit in the face.
The balance was disrupted.
With a strange cry, he fell backward.
It was a cast-iron pot, which clanged as it hit the ground.
Li Guanyi turned his head and saw that his aunt, Murong Qiushui, had come out from another room, holding a pot in her left hand, her brows slightly raised, full of interest, signaling the raccoon child to step aside. It was evident that the earlier incident was her flying pot technique that had repelled forty-seven bandits.
The old man fell backward but did not hit the ground; instead, he landed in an unseen space, a realm invisible to the naked eye. A Xuan Turtle caught him steadily, glancing at him and shaking its head before slowly walking away. The old man exclaimed:
"What?"
"Are you saying that the boy was right? Coming at midnight does not seem like the act of a gentleman?"
The Xuan Turtle nodded slowly.
The old man laughed loudly: "Hahaha."
"Those who pry into heavenly secrets are bound to suffer five flaws, and those who recklessly alter Yin and Yang shall not die a good death."
"These two are, after all, the most unprincipled people in this world. The rulers of the world set rules, hoping everyone is a gentleman, while someone like me is scorned as a five-poison insect, driven out of the capital by the guards wielding halberds."
"But the emperor who scorned me back then has already perished on the battlefield. Even the spot where I urinated on his grave has grown a great tree. His descendants kneel in reverence whenever they visit the mausoleum, while I am still alive, having lost and regrown my teeth five times. How can the mundane restrain us?"
"But this is a good child; we will meet again eventually."
"Today is merely to establish our master-disciple relationship in advance."
"After all, I was the first to utter the words 'master.'"
The old man was quite pleased with himself.
The Xuan Turtle rolled its eyes in a very human-like manner.
That young friend of Master Zhu once wrote a letter saying he would introduce disciples to them, along with a giant from the Mo family and a great Confucian. He knew the old man had calculated something, which was why he climbed the wall at midnight.
Stepping forward, he vanished without a sound. Almost simultaneously, the young man holding the Su Ni Bow stepped out quickly, sweeping the surroundings but finding no trace of the old man, not even a footprint. He picked up the pot that had been thrown.
He had used this old pot for a long time and had nurtured it well; it could not be carelessly discarded.
Touching the bottom of the pot, Li Guanyi's expression grew slightly serious.
The bottom of the pot showed no signs of change, meaning that the earlier incident had not struck the old man at all; he had deliberately fallen, and there was no sound of him hitting the ground. He had simply vanished in a brief moment. The young man bent down to touch the ground but found no traces.
Perhaps, finding a way to settle his aunt in the Xue family would be safer.
Li Guanyi pondered, bringing the pot back. His aunt was somewhat regretful to learn that the man had disappeared. Li Guanyi urged her to rest quickly and returned to his room. The brief drowsiness he had just felt was gone, replaced by alertness.
Li Guanyi reviewed the "Three Levels of Entering the Realm" in his mind.
This was the cultivation experience recorded by the Xue family's number one general, detailing the different levels of entering the realm. It introduced the most basic method of entering the realm, which involved tempering the body while refining internal qi. Once both the internal qi and the body reached a certain level, they could naturally merge, allowing one to enter the realm.
A better method than this was to imprint divine intent.
"By utilizing techniques that contain the essence of divine forms, one can initially grasp the essence of divine forms. Breaking through to enter the realm with such techniques can refine to a more subtle level, allowing a martial artist to master a martial art that channels internal qi out of the body upon entering the realm."
"Since ancient times, great sects and prominent families have relied on this method."
"Beyond this supreme method, there is another approach."
"In the Western Regions, there was a Buddha known as the 'Crown of Enlightenment,' who claimed that one could enter the realm at the age of three, with many servants and numerous bone artifacts under his command; I was curious about his methods and once borrowed the teachings of the Crown of Enlightenment."
"Those who do not comply shall be punished."
These four words carried a sense of ferocity and intensity.
"Later, I learned that the Crown of Enlightenment's method was, in fact, a technique for the transmission of divine forms; this path is malevolent, as it can transfer the divine form from one person to another, but the transmitter must die violently, and all their power is lost. I burned their techniques, scriptures, and temples, yet I still read their scriptures and pondered for a long time, eventually gaining some insights."
"Before entering the realm, one must cultivate a small world; it is about tempering the body."
"Entering the realm is about connecting the inner and outer worlds; the Daoists call it the inner and outer scenery, the Buddhists refer to it as enlightenment, while the Confucians call it setting aspirations. In my view, the three teachings are one; the human body is like the earth, and entering the realm is akin to digging a canal to guide the outer waters into the river; ordinary tempering is like digging a canal without thought, taking the longest time and yielding the worst results."
"There is also the possibility of damaging the foundation of the body."
"However, as long as the general direction is correct, one can dig to the river water, thus entering the realm."
"This is also the method used by ancient martial artists to enter the realm."
"Later, they recorded their experiences of entering the realm, detailing how to temper the body and how to nurture qi, which became the initial techniques for entering the realm, akin to having a map of water systems, knowing where water is and where to focus efforts and accumulate."
"Thus, one can achieve twice the result with half the effort, and the canals dug will be more stable. Subsequently, guiding the primordial qi inward will also be most exquisite."
"However, this is ultimately achieved through human effort, not as effective as the natural forces of heaven and earth opening the canal; if one can temper the body before entering the realm, and then utilize special auspicious locations to combine internal and external forces, naturally breaking through the barriers to enter the realm, that would be the supreme method."
"I kindly inquired with the Daoists and borrowed the techniques from the Innate Sect."
"They opened the library for me, and I studied for a month, integrating the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism."
"With my friend who calls herself Yaoguang, we verified each other’s insights and created a method for entering the realm, borrowing the power of heaven and earth, cultivating righteous qi, flowing and transforming, naturally entering the realm; if there could be a martial artist at the divine form level assisting, it should be possible to cultivate what is referred to as the 'Living Buddha Reincarnation' or 'Innate of the Dao.'"
"I laughed heartily, realizing that the so-called supreme roots of the three teachings could also be achieved through human effort."
"Unfortunately, I entered the realm at the age of eight and had no opportunity to try it."
"Yaoguang, however, was unconcerned; the Eastern Star-Gazing School was always like this; she did not understand."
"If one could shake the supreme roots shaped by mystery and majesty of the three teachings, the Child of Destiny."
"What profound significance would that hold for the world?"
"But she was too beautiful, so I could not blame her."
"After descending the mountain, Yaoguang spent three years finding a place with excellent feng shui near Guan Yi City in Jiangnan, then set up a formation that could artificially create the auspicious location needed to enter the realm. I relocated the Xue family here and asked her how long it would take."
"She calculated and said that it would take at least two hundred years to gather the earth's energy."
"By then, I might still be alive, but she would surely be dead."
"The star-gazing masters see the destiny, so they are indifferent to life and death, while the names are passed down through generations. Those who inherit the legacy should remember to give it a try; you should have already mastered the divine form, hahaha, only by obtaining the divine form can you wield my bow, and obtaining the divine form inevitably leads to entering the realm."
"The feeling of having the means to enter the realm yet being unable to grasp it, gnashing your teeth in frustration, is also a gift from your ancestor to you, hahahaha, after all, I was quite vexed at that time, feeling that this sensation must not be missed by the younger generation."
Li Guanyi grinned.
This unrivaled general, recorded as the number one in the world, seemed a bit mischievous as he continued reading: "But you can bring along the younger generation you recognize to search for this auspicious location. Yaoguang and I left behind some interesting things."
"If a top-tier foundation can truly be created, one can then seek the Innate Sect."
"Yaoguang mentioned that there is a young, somewhat dull child there who might be able to cultivate Dao techniques and should be able to live for several hundred years. You should go up the mountain and find that Qingwei Daoist."
"Tell him that the Xue Lang of yesteryear has returned."
"Is the peach blossom wine that existed here hundreds of years ago still good?"
Li Guanyi saw that a section of the technique had been severed, and his thoughts paused for a moment.
Wait a minute???
Where is the secret realm?
Where did you hide the secret realm?
Below?
Is that it?
(End of Chapter)