Chapter 193: As a result, it naturally succeeded

Xiao Feng arrived at the dock and immediately saw a large ship with a dark hull, white sails like clouds, heading toward the river's center. He loudly said, "Feng Brother, why must you make arrangements for me in advance?"

He spoke with internal energy, each word like thunder.

Then came Feng Yi's laughing voice on the wind: "You overthink it, I said, people's hearts are changeable,

"How will future events turn out? Who knows? How can they be foreseen?"

Please bear in mind, the so-called 'hard and soft rubbing, the eight trigrams shaking, stirred by thunder, moistened by wind and rain.' Xiao Brother, take care.

His tone was peaceful, just like a whisper.

Although Xiao Feng only had a rough grasp of literature, the Dragon Subduing Palm comes from the Book of Changes, so the meaning of those words was clear to him; he immediately clasped his fists.

He watched until the large ship became a black dot, disappearing from sight, then he left together with A Zhu.

A Zhu muttered softly, "This person speaks in riddles, afraid others will hear?"

Xiao Feng laughed and said, "Feng Brother, you're speaking about martial arts principles; only when hardness and softness are combined, and yin and yang unite, can creation be endless."

"There is another layer of meaning: it says he is too rigid and upright; although sharp and unstoppable, rigidity breaks easily, so it must be balanced with harmony to be the way of longevity."

A Zhu, however, misunderstood the union of yin and yang, her cheeks slightly flushed as if stained with rouge, and she spat, "Really shameless!"

Xiao Feng laughed heartily, took A Zhu's arm, and went to buy wine to drink heartily.

He was by nature a carefree person, but various worldly emotions and grudges tangled together left him with no recourse, powerless, causing him to feel troubled in his heart, rarely finding relief.

Upon hearing Feng Yi's words of guidance just now, his heroic spirit revived, feeling that nothing in the world was difficult. As Feng Yi said, rather than worry, it's better to first enjoy oneself thoroughly!

……

The boat sailed downstream eastward; Feng Yi then entered the cabin, took out the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic, read it repeatedly, pondered left and right, but had no clue; thinking of his worries, he could only step out of the cabin to clear his mind.

At this moment, the moon sank over the wave's center, and the river water was as clear as washed.

Feng Yi gazed at the bright moon over the river's center; his mind suddenly became tranquil and lofty, the battle with the Shaolin Four Mystics vividly before his eyes.

He had merely exchanged a single palm strike with several people.

Yet regarding the direction of their palm power, Feng Yi also perceived it clearly, using the annotations of the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic to verify it!

He secretly sighed, "This Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic is truly profound and vast!"

Because all the various palm techniques of those people do not escape its framework; the classic's essential meaning encompasses the subtlety of their palm methods.

What troubled Feng Yi was that although he understood the meaning, trying to internalize the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic elicited no response.

Huang Wan'er stepped out of the cabin, only to see Feng Yi sometimes burying his head in deep thought, sometimes his eyebrows dancing with excitement; at one moment like an old monk in seated meditation, at another rising to his feet, making gestures.

Seeing his appearance, after looking for a while, I couldn't help but ask: "Feng Elder Brother, what are you doing?"

Feng Yi came to his senses and said, "I'm thinking about martial arts."

Huang Wan'er came to the bow, sat beside him shoulder to shoulder, gazed at the river moon, listened to the waves, and suddenly said, "You've trained your martial arts to such a high level, aren't you satisfied?"

Feng Yi smiled softly and said, "It's not that I'm unsatisfied; it's that the environment and thoughts differ. You think my martial arts are high, but if there truly existed in this world someone who roams the azure heavens in the morning and the vast seas in the evening, dances upon the waves, and treads the surf, would you still think me capable?"

Huang Wan'er laughed and said, "Then wouldn't that be an immortal? Where in the world are there immortals?"

Feng Yi thought to himself, "Perhaps there are none in this world, but maybe elsewhere there are."

Seeing Feng Yi remain silent for a long time, Huang Wan'er suddenly turned, ducked into the cabin, and fell asleep on her own.

That day, the boat reached Jiujiang Mouth, docked by the shore; at that moment the sun sank westward, the river water sparkled, and Huang Chang and his wife together with their daughter all went up to the deck to admire the scenery.

Feng Yi also went up on deck and heard someone on a nearby junk boat speaking loudly and coarsely: "That scoundrel Qiao Feng is ungrateful and treacherous, cruel and lustful—truly a bastard!"

Upon hearing those words, Feng Yi couldn't help but keep them in mind.

Another person continued, "It's said Qiao Feng is ungrateful and treacherous, cruel—we've heard that—but where does the accusation of lustfulness come from?"

"So you see, your knowledge is shallow; think about it—this bastard Qiao Feng could kill his adoptive parents and his teacher, yet he went alone to the Heroes' Convention at Villa of Gathered Virtues merely to heal a young girl's wound."

"Everyone thought he was extremely vicious toward his adoptive parents and teacher, yet affectionate toward women; such an ungrateful, heartless scoundrel—saying he is cruel and lustful, could that be wrong?"

"Yes!"

"Well said!"

"Clear to see!"

Feng Yi listened and sighed inwardly, "Qiao Feng, a true man of stature, is regarded by Central Plains people as nothing more than an ungrateful, treacherous, cruel and lustful evaluation!"

But upon further reflection, for those unaware of the truth, it perhaps cannot be said to be wrong!

While pondering, another voice said, "But Qiao Feng is after all a Khitan, different from us Han; acting like beasts is also human nature!"

"But that Feng Yi is even more a person who cannot distinguish right from wrong, blusters, borrows the tiger's might, and is lustful without action—a petty villain!"

The Huang family were speaking in low voices when they suddenly fell silent a moment. Hearing their own name mentioned, Feng Yi also couldn't help but turn his face away.

"How could such words be spoken?"

Someone naturally asked what they wanted to know.

"At the Heroes' Convention at Villa of Gathered Virtues, Feng Yi merely killed a little Yun Zhonghe; on the convention there were not seventy or eighty, but also fifty or sixty heroes whose martial arts surpassed his, yet he still thought himself capable!"

"Not to mention speaking up for Qiao Feng, he even dared to utter insolent words toward Gusu Murong—how arrogant and overbearing, thinking himself invincible!"

"Yet the Jianghu road is narrow; Murong Young Master blocked him at Fan Lou, indicated a challenge, but he fled in fright clutching women—his stinking younger sister, you say, isn't that infuriating?"

The Huang family's father and daughter directed four gazes at Feng Yi.

Then another person said, "Yes, speaking of it, the first time I saw Feng Yi at Villa of Gathered Virtues, I thought he was incapable!"

"He has little ability, merely relying on Qiao Feng's great fame, using his name to show off there!"

"Another said, 'Such people overestimate themselves yet love to meddle; when they encounter Gusu Murong, a master equal in fame to Qiao Feng, Qiao Feng cannot intimidate them, so he naturally can only flee in disgrace. Look—life's encounters are inevitable; he may run once, but not twice; this person will surely die a violent death.'"

Hearing him curse his beloved, Huang Wan'er could no longer bear it; she was about to leap overboard, but Feng Yi restrained her and pulled her back into the cabin.

Huang Wan'er suddenly burst into tears, saying, "It's all because of me that you were forced to leave; listen to how harsh their words are!"

Feng Yi laughed, "Even top-notch heroes who have made their name for years are called dung; I, just newly entered the Jianghu, what am I?"

Huang Wan'er wiped her tears, angry, "Then why won't you let me vent my anger for you?"

Feng Yi smiled and said, "How can one aspiring to be a great tree contend with weeds and rotten grass for height?"

He didn't need to look; just by listening to their voices, he knew these people were merely low‑grade goods in the jianghu, and he didn't even know which way the gate of Gathered Virtues Villa faced, or perhaps they didn't know either.

Like those "online‑raging keyboard warriors", Feng Yi had seen plenty of them in his past life; behind the network cable they seemed able to soar to heaven, but in reality they were nothing.

But there are plenty of such people in the world; who has the time to quarrel with them all!

Huang Shang laughed and said, "Well said! A petty mind is no gentleman, without breadth no true man. People like this—there aren't just ten thousand but eighty thousand of them in the world; how could one hand cover all their gossip?"

"You burst into tears over such idle chatter—where has your cultivation of body and qi gone?"

Huang Wan'er snorted, "I'm not a husband—I'm a young woman!"

Feng Yi and Huang Shang burst out laughing together.

Then Huang Wan'er added, "But I finally understand why big brother wanted to help that Xiao Feng!"

"Oh?" Feng Yi was quite surprised.

Huang Wan'er said, "I heard you talk about his affairs—he suffered so many injustices, and was even framed by his own father, yet he still appears heroic and bold; indeed he is very brave, a true man."

"Helping him is what they call 'heroes cherish heroes, good men value good men'!"

Feng Yi laughed, "I don't consider myself a hero or a good man."

"I don't believe it!" Huang Wan'er shook her head. "Big brother, what do you think is the most heroic thing you've done in your life? Tell me, would you?"

Feng Yi has experienced a hundred battles in his lifetime; speaking of heroic deeds, there's simply no end to them.

But he always felt it was just dumb luck, that he had nothing to be proud of, and he never boasted about it; yet when Huang Wan'er asked, he said, "I never had a moment of greatest heroism—if I must name the one thing worth being proud of, there is indeed one, but it was achieved with others' help; my own contribution was small!"

He felt his most badass deed was going to the Mongolian grasslands, riding a thousand miles to launch a surprise attack, killing Kublai Khan, and altering the original course of events where Han people were ruled by Mongols.

But many others helped; it was not accomplished by him alone.

The Huang father and daughter found it bewildering, but seeing he didn't want to elaborate, they didn't press further. The ship set sail again, and that day they finally reached the end of the Yangtze River.

The river water here flows east into the sea, then continues downstream along the coast, and soon they arrived at Fuzhou Dock.

Everyone went to the Huang residence, a grand mansion with white walls and vermilion gates; after winding through several courtyards, Feng Yi was lodged in a side wing, where he rested for a few days.

That morning after breakfast, Feng Yi went to Huang Shang's study, took out the yellow‑skin book—indeed that very Sanskrit scripture.

At that moment Huang Wan'er also entered; Feng Yi had her wet the pages with water, and suddenly, between the winding characters on the page, a line of Chinese characters appeared: "The Magadha Kingdom seeks to attain samadhi through the practice that fulfills the Divine Foot Scripture." Beside the characters he saw a foreign monk with coiled hair and a braided beard.

The posture was extraordinary—the head passed through the crotch and extended outward, with both hands grabbing the two feet, and the body was covered with many tiny red arrows.

Huang Wan'er exclaimed, "What is going on here!"

The illustrations in this book were drawn with water soaked in a kind of medicinal herb from India; they appear when wet and disappear when dry.

Huang Shang took a look and said, "Magadha Kingdom, a region of India—it turns out this book contains two scriptures, both internal cultivation methods; how interesting!"

Huang Shang possessed profound erudition; after studying martial arts, he used his vast learning to deduce martial principles, making the heavy seem light.

=9+book_ba

Feng Yi, however, was well‑versed and had also practiced the external learning of the Blood Saber Scripture; the two of them joined forces to interpret the Divine Foot Scripture, and within less than two hours they had completely figured out the energy flow on those strange postures.

The posture and energy flow shown in the diagram are no longer the original Muscle Change Classic; rather, they are an extraordinarily miraculous yoga technique from India, transmitted from the Magadha Kingdom, called the Scripture that Fulfills the Divine Foot through Attaining Samadhi, written by ancient Indian ascetics, originally a marvelous method for dispelling external demons during practice.

An Indian high monk saw the book; since the characters were hidden, he took it for blank paper, brought it to the Central Plains, and there copied in Sanskrit the Muscle Change Classic created by Bodhidharma, unaware that it contained two scriptures in one volume.

The former high monks of the Young Forest Monastery practiced the visible Sanskrit characters in the book to cultivate the Muscle Change Classic's divine art, yet had no connection whatsoever to the Divine Foot Scripture concealed in the hidden characters.

Having finished the explanation, Huang Shang sighed, "I never imagined these outsiders could have researched the human body's meridians, qi and blood to such an extent; many of their principles are absent from the Nine Yin True Classic."

Feng Yi replied, "What the Nine Yin True Classic has, it also lacks—this is called each having its own strengths!"

Huang Shang nodded, "That's true too! The way of martial arts is indeed vast and profound; no wonder you seek to make up for shortcomings by drawing on strengths!"

Feng Yi pondered a moment, then said, "If I can't master the Muscle Change Classic, I'll try this instead." He then practiced the energy flow according to the strange posture.

His Nine Yin Divine Art had already achieved yin‑yang harmony and a solid foundation, so he didn't fear mixing Buddhist and Daoist methods; following the Divine Foot Scripture, he trained step by step.

Huang Shang and Huang Wan'er also each cultivated their divine arts, and a month passed in this way.

That afternoon, Feng Yi felt his power had progressed somewhat, so he went to find Huang Shang.

Huang Shang was sitting upright at the desk, one hand holding a scripture, the other leisurely sipping tea; hearing his approach, he set down the teacup and looked up.

When Feng Yi's eyes met his, his heart suddenly fluttered; he felt Huang Shang gave off an aura of deep, still water—unfathomable—and he was instantly startled.

Seeing Feng Yi's strange expression, Huang Shang asked, "What's wrong?"

Feng Yi wondered, "Has your power greatly increased?"

"Really?" Huang Shang, bewildered, stared blankly for a moment before laughing, "I see now."

Feng Yi rejoiced, "How?"

Huang Shang suddenly rose to his feet and, in the blink of an eye, struck out seven palms.

Feng Yi met them calmly, receiving all seven palms, yet his face lit up with joy.

It turned out that Huang Shang's inner strength not only far surpassed what it had been before, but also exceeded his expectations.

He sensed Huang Shang's true qi was warm, abundant, and mighty, vastly different from the Nine Yin Divine Art; stepping back two steps, he exclaimed with delight, "Mr. Huang, are you practicing the Muscle Change Classic?"

Huang Shang stroked his beard and said, "It appears so."

Feng Yi bowed and said, "Please, sir, point me out of my confusion."

Over these past days, he had clung to the Muscle Change Classic without a clue, unable even to get started, but Huang Shang clearly had achieved results.

Huang Shang paced a few steps, gazed out the window, and said slowly, "Legend has it that when the Buddha Shakyamuni was born, he pointed and said, 'Between heaven and earth, I alone am honored.' Do you understand what that means?"

Feng Yi replied, "That just means the heavens are vast, the earth is vast, and Laozi is the greatest!"

Huang Shang chuckled, "That's arrogant and overbearing—you think you're above everyone!"

"As you said, the Buddhist teaching of 'all beings are equal'—how else should it be interpreted?"

Feng Yi scratched his head.

Huang Shang didn't keep him in suspense, saying, "In Buddhism, whether it's the Buddha, a person, or an animal—all are equal living beings."

Therefore, the phrase 'I alone am honored' means to realize one's original mind, to see one's nature and become a Buddha.

Having become a Buddha, in his eyes everything is equal.

Patriarch Damo came west from Tianzhu, founding the Chan Sect lineage; martial arts were merely for strengthening the body and improving health, a precious treasure passed down to later generations—this is truly the true meaning of his Buddhist Dharma. For only by understanding the Buddhist Dharma can one truly comprehend its essence.

Speaking of this, he smiled slightly and gazed at Feng Yi: "Understanding the true meaning of the Buddhist Dharma, what do you think will happen?"

Feng Yi was bewildered, thought for a moment, and said: "Could it be that grasping the true meaning of the Buddhist Dharma allows one, while practicing martial arts, to transform hostility into harmony?"

Huang Shang shook his head and said slowly: "This is nonsense.

All martial arts are based on internal energy, just as tree roots are to a tree; martial techniques are the branches and leaves.

The so-called transformation of hostility into harmony merely means seeking harmony between one's nature and internal cultivation during practice, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

For the Buddhist path lies in the emptiness of the five aggregates, creating something from nothing; the body is like a treasure mountain, practicing itself without effort, attaining without seeking.

Upon hearing this, Feng Yi's face lit up with joy.

He suddenly understood why the sweeping monk had given Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo each a Buddhist scripture to read, saying they needed to resolve hostility through Buddhist Dharma.

In fact, the scriptures themselves possessed no miraculous power; rather, having them read the scriptures enabled them to grasp the true meaning, comprehend the path of emptiness, whereupon their hearts naturally became peaceful and hostility faded away.

For their ailment lay in an imbalance of yin and yang.

Xiao Yuanshan had excessive yin, Murong Bo excessive yang; in the end, each still needed to heal their injuries with internal energy, mutually supplementing yin and yang, and thus the injury healed.

Thinking this through, he asked doubtfully: "Do you mean I should read more books?"

Huang Shang laughed and said: "The verse of Dharma says: 'I originally came to this land to transmit the Dharma and save the deluded; one flower opens five leaves, the result comes naturally.'

Later generations took this as a forecast of the Buddhist direction, but this 'result comes naturally'—is it not pointing to the essence of divine skill?

I never deliberately practiced the Muscle‑Change Classic; I merely read some Buddhist scriptures while translating, then examined them word by word, fearing omissions, so this content became etched in my mind—I do not even know when the skill had already taken hold!

This is the principle that after reading a book a hundred times, its meaning reveals itself.

Feng Yi listened, dazed.

Damn it!

What is a genius?

He recalled that in the original plot, Huang Shang feared errors in the Ten Thousand Longevity Dao Canon, so he proofread it character by character, thereby intuitively grasping internal and external martial arts and becoming a supreme master. This time, translating the Muscle‑Change Classic, he unknowingly entered its gate.

Just then Huang Shang swayed his head and said: "Whether it is the Muscle‑Change Classic or the Divine Light Classic, the emphasis lies on the two words 'natural.' One must not seek it deliberately; the saying 'the whole body needs no exertion' is precisely this principle.

'Change' means transformation; 'Sinew' refers to the body's meridians,

therefore, the Muscle‑Change Classic and the Yin‑True Classic's Muscle‑Change and Bone‑Forge technique share a wonderful similarity in different forms—both are methods of training strength and qi, circulating the meridians.

Their aim is to make weak sinews strong, slack sinews harmonious, contracted sinews elongated, and flaccid sinews robust.

The internal energy of the Muscle‑Change Classic focuses on circulating the body's meridians, connecting the spirits of the five organs, flowing without dispersion, moving without interruption; qi arises internally, blood is moistened externally; when the interior becomes strong, it is as if the body is a treasure mountain, needing no external addition.

The foundation of interior strength lies in one's own qi and blood.

The transformation of the body's qi and blood is again linked to the four seasons of heaven and earth,

therefore, emptying the mind and heart, marvelously comprehending nature, following heaven and responding to man—only then does one conform to the great Dao!"

Huang Shang, with his vast learning, deduced martial principles with ease; now, using Daoist methods to explain Buddhist teachings, he was even more broadly cited, drawing analogies and applying one example to many, as if reciting treasures.

Having listened to Huang Shang, Feng Yi became utterly engrossed; thereafter, besides practicing the Divine Light Classic and the Divine Foot Classic each day, he let Huang Shang guide him in Daoist and Buddhist studies, no longer researching how to practice the Muscle‑Change Classic, merely reciting and copying the scriptures daily.

(End of Chapter)