Chapter 36

In the study, Zheng Fa flipped open the cover of the "Spirit Crane Body," and it seemed the last words of Xu Jiaotou, spoken with indeterminate emotion, still echoed in his ears:

"Don't learn from me."

In fact, even without hearing Xu Jiaotou recount his experiences, Zheng Fa felt he would not squander half his life over this "Spirit Crane Body."

Because to enter the Immortal Gate, he already had another, better choice: the Talisman Master.

For Xu Jiaotou, the "Spirit Crane Body" was his only chance to transcend the mundane, so naturally, he found it hard to give up.

But according to the Seventh Young Master, becoming a Talisman Master also offered a chance to enter the Immortal Gate.

The greater reason Zheng Fa did not value the "Spirit Crane Body" as highly as Xu Jiaotou was actually the Lady's action—after he merely displayed a hint of Talisman Master talent, even just analyzing the two simplest Yang Yuanfu, the Lady bestowed the "Spirit Crane Body" upon him; this indirectly showed that in the Lady's heart, the martial-arts-based "Spirit Crane Body" was far inferior to Zheng Fa's Talisman Master talent, and even inferior to those two simplest Yang Yuanfu.

Another thought made Zheng Fa doubly suspicious of the so-called path of entering the Dao through martial arts:

If cultivating the "Spirit Crane Body" allowed one to enter the Immortal Gate, then why was the Seventh Young Master grunting and groaning while studying talisman diagrams?

There must be some issues here that Xu Jiaotou did not know about.

But these thoughts did not hinder Zheng Fa's interest in the martial art itself, which was legendary in the Jianghu.

Nearby, the Seventh Young Master leaned his head over and joined Zheng Fa in flipping through the "Spirit Crane Body" manual.

After glancing at two pages, the Seventh Young Master frowned: "This person talks too much nonsense."

Zheng Fa nodded; he had not yet seen how powerful the martial art was, but he had grasped the author's narcissism.

This set of "Spirit Crane Body" consisted of four books; Zheng Fa had thought they all discussed martial arts, but the first book, and the thickest one, turned out to be entirely the author's own preface!

This person chattered on, writing every detail of his life into the preface.

He said he was originally a martial artist, later entered the Immortal Gate but still loved martial arts, so he created this "Spirit Crane Body," hoping future generations would carry it forward and so on.

The vast majority of the text boasted about how formidable his martial Dao was, how highly regarded he was in the Immortal Gate, and how exquisite the cultivation techniques he created were...

"Did he create this cultivation technique just because he wanted people to listen to him brag?" the Seventh Young Master said, stroking his chin.

Zheng Fa actually felt that this view—that one receives a martial art in exchange for listening to bragging—had a sliver of rationality...

He flipped through the later books; unexpectedly, the martial art recorded in the second book was the "Pine Crane Stake," which Zheng Fa had already begun to learn, so was this the reason the Lady had him study the "Spirit Crane Body"?

Because he had shown some talent on the Pine Crane Stake?

He skipped the second book and looked at the third and fourth.

The fourth book was a martial skill, the Spirit Crane Piercing Cloud Hand; according to the book, its power was great, but it was not the core of the "Spirit Crane Body" cultivation technique.

Only the third book, with "Spirit Crane Heart Sutra" written on the cover, was the essence of this cultivation technique.

But when Zheng Fa opened the third book, he unconsciously frowned; the Seventh Young Master nearby also looked completely baffled, muttering, "What kind of thing is this drawing?"

On the pages, a creature with a human head and body, but two wings growing from its shoulder blades, and a lower body consisting of crane legs, covered in feathers, struck poses that made no sense, with no analytical annotations.

Zheng Fa looked for a long time but truly could not grasp the point; he was not discouraged, however; it was perfectly normal that he could not see the clues in a martial art that Xu Jiaotou had failed to comprehend in twenty years.

In the Lady's small tower, the Seventh Young Master lifted the curtain and strode in.

"Oh? Look who's here?" the Lady wore a mocking smile on her face: "A rare guest!"

The Seventh Young Master's face turned red: "Coming to visit you, Mother, isn't that what should be done?"

"Should be done? For these past few years, who has been hiding from me?"

"I wasn't..."

"Enough, you never come to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason; just say what you want."

"I've wanted to learn the 'Spirit Crane Body' these past few days, but I simply can't understand this thing; Mother, do you know of any secret?"

"You want to learn?" the Lady raised an eyebrow, looking at her own son: "Didn't I give the 'Spirit Crane Body' to Zheng Fa?"

"I am the Young Master; if I want to see and learn, can he stop me?" the Seventh Young Master looked domineering.

"Is that so?"

"I was thinking that no matter how hard that fool Zheng Fa tries, he won't learn it; if there is a secret, and I learn it, I'll be so angry it will kill him!" the Seventh Young Master coughed and said.

"I see..." the Lady nodded, seemingly convinced by him.

"Mother? What about the secret?"

"Secret?" the Lady patted her forehead and spoke: "I seem to have heard someone say that the person who created this cultivation technique once stated that to master the 'Spirit Crane Body,' the mystery lies entirely in the first volume."

"Really?"

"Would Mother lie to you?"

"Mother, I have something else to do, I'm leaving first!" the Seventh Young Master turned and ran; the Lady watched his departing back with a half-smile.

"Zheng Fa! My mother said that to master the 'Spirit Crane Body,' one must read the first volume of the manual!"

The Seventh Young Master rushed in, speaking eagerly.

"Young Master, you went to ask the Lady?" Zheng Fa was somewhat surprised.

"Just chatting, chatting led to this." the Seventh Young Master waved his hand: "Quickly bring out the first volume, let's study it properly."

Zheng Fa glanced at the Seventh Young Master and took out the first volume of the "Spirit Crane Body."

Gao Yuan stood far away, consciously not looking at the "Spirit Crane Body," but his gaze still curiously turned toward this side.

Zheng Fa and the Seventh Young Master carefully flipped through the first volume once more, and both frowned.

This was just an ordinary autobiography; moreover, because the author was of martial stock and probably never properly attended school, the plot was written in a vulgar and boring manner.

"Could there be some code?"

the Seventh Young Master guessed.

Zheng Fa shook his head: "It's not impossible, but for codes, we must at least know the pattern, right?"

Hearing this, the Seventh Young Master did not give up; he dragged Zheng Fa to flip the book back and forth, trying to find some pattern.

After a long while, the Seventh Young Master threw the book down hard, furious, and began launching personal attacks on the author of the "Spirit Crane Body":

"What trash book! It's not even as good as a third-rate story!"

"I'm about to vomit from reading it!"

"Is this person just bored? Claiming he mastered a supreme art by observing a thousand birds on Qianshan? With that kind of time, why not study a bit and learn how to write a book!"

Zheng Fa shook his head, laid the book flat on the desk, but inwardly had to admit—he couldn't see any cultivation techniques in this book at all.

Gao Yuan, standing nearby, saw the two of them looking somewhat dejected and couldn't help but let a smile curl at the corner of his mouth.

The Seventh Young Master saw his expression and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Gao Yuan shook his head.

"Do you think it makes you happy that I, this young master, and Zheng Fa, who has more talent than you, can't understand it?"

Gao Yuan's face turned red, and he quietly admitted honestly, "My martial arts practice hasn't been smooth lately either. Looking at it now, it seems we're all about the same..."

Zheng Fa actually understood Gao Yuan; Gao Yuan was the type who liked comparing himself to others, easily influenced, and particularly prone to anxiety.

In fact, he was confident that Gao Yuan held no ill will toward him; saying he was jealous would be an overstatement.

But according to Zheng Fa's observation, when someone fails an exam, no one's comfort is as effective as their best friend's failing test paper...

"About the same?" The Seventh Young Master glanced at Gao Yuan: "Have you even entered the foundation of the Pine-Crane Post?"

"Still a bit short."

"You haven't mastered the Pine-Crane Post, and he hasn't mastered the Spirit Crane Body. It's equivalent to one failing to become a Tongsheng and the other failing to become a Top Graduate." The Seventh Young Master wore an expression of sincere yet stinging confusion: "You... feel his pain?"

The smile slowly vanished from Gao Yuan's face and then appeared on the Seventh Young Master's dog-like face.