Chapter 15

"This is Wu Changlu, the direct son of Elder Wu Yueming of Wu Family Fort; it is said that he has some martial arts talent, entering the third rank at sixteen and only eighteen this year, but there are already rumors outside that he is expected to step into the fourth rank next year, so he is quite valued by Wu Yueming." In the inner courtyard meeting hall, looking at Xia Daoming opening the leather bag and revealing a young face, Yuchi Xiao's expression changed slightly.

Xia Daoming's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly returned to normal, then looked at Liang Jingtang and asked: "Hall Master, do you think this nomination letter is acceptable?"

"Since he is a descendant of a collateral branch of Wu Family Fort and has some weight, this nomination letter is not bad," Liang Jingtang nodded, a hint of a smile appearing on his majestic face.

Wu Family Fort was located outside the east gate of Li Cheng and was a force that could not be underestimated outside the city; the Fort Master, Wu Yueli, was also a sixth-rank Martial Master.

Qianjiao Hall and Wu Family Fort had always had grievances, but the two sides had not yet reached the point of life-and-death fighting.

The nomination letter Liang Jingtang requested was for Xia Daoming to kill a collateral descendant of Wu Family Fort at the third-rank Martial Master level.

If he killed a direct descendant of the Fort Master, if the news leaked, the situation would easily get out of control.

But killing a collateral descendant, even if the news leaked, would not cause a major conflict.

Moreover, killing a collateral descendant could slightly weaken the power of Wu Family Fort, slightly relieve the hatred in his heart, and also test Xia Daoming's courage and determination and ensure his loyalty.

Because Xia Daoming was only a mere fourth-rank Martial Master, if he didn't have Thousand-Leg Hall as a backer, once this news leaked, he would definitely be hunted down and killed by Wu Family Fort, so he couldn't help but be loyal to Thousand-Leg Hall.

"This is three thousand taels of silver; I ask Master to accept it!" Seeing Liang Jingtang nod, Xia Daoming immediately knelt and offered the three thousand taels of silver notes.

"Good!" Liang Jingtang accepted the silver notes and turned to Yuchi Xiao: "You are the senior disciple; find a time to gather the junior brothers and sisters, let everyone get to know Daoming, and there will be support in the future.

I am old and won't join the fun, so as not to make you feel uncomfortable. Also, take this head and deal with it."

"Yes, Master." Yuchi Xiao bowed slightly in response, picked up the leather bag on the table, tied the head up, nodded to Xia Daoming, and turned to leave.

After Yuchi Xiao left, Liang Jingtang pointed to a sandalwood chair on the side and said: "Sit down."

"Yes!" Xia Daoming responded and sat down.

"Generally speaking, after martial arts practice reaches the fourth rank, one must temper and hone in the fourth-rank realm, try to practice blood and internal force to be vigorous and surging, and temper the meridians to be tough, while taking a dose of unique secret medicine every month to prepare for comprehending the secret map and practicing enough dark energy to impact the fifth meridian barrier.

This process generally takes one to two years, and then one can observe the secret map. Originally, you should have been like this, but you will be twenty-five years old next year; if you delay any longer, I fear that even if you luckily comprehend the secret map, it will be too late to practice enough dark energy to impact the barrier before thirty.

Because with your aptitude, I fear you will need to observe the secret map six times or even more to comprehend dark energy, which will take at least three years.

And under normal circumstances, after comprehending the secret map and practicing dark energy, it also takes two or three years of accumulating dark energy to have a possibility of impacting the fifth meridian barrier, so your time simply cannot be delayed any longer.

Fortunately, I see that your blood and internal force are still vigorous and surging; you must have put in a lot of hard work and eaten supplements to strengthen your blood these two years, so today I will make an exception and let you observe the secret map.

As for the secret medicine, you can take a dose every half month after observing the secret map, hoping to make up for the vacancy of the previous two years.

It's just that you have to be mentally prepared; once a person is over twenty-five, their blood generally reaches its peak; if you cannot comprehend the secret map and practice dark energy before this, even if you eat a large amount of supplements, it will be good enough to maintain the peak state.

Therefore, if you really need to observe six times or more to comprehend the secret map, the chance of impacting the fifth meridian barrier and becoming a fifth-rank Great Wu Shi is actually very small," Liang Jingtang said earnestly after Xia Daoming sat down.

Xia Daoming finally truly understood that Liang Jingtang's decision to accept him a few days ago was indeed out of consideration for the friendship between him and Chou Zhiheng in the past.

At the same time, Xia Daoming also had some doubts in his heart, pondered for a moment, and said: "Isn't it said that only a fifth-rank Wu Shi can practice dark energy? Listening to Master, it seems a fourth-rank Wu Shi can practice dark energy."

"To be precise, after comprehending the secret map, one can practice dark energy. But only when dark energy accumulates to a certain extent can one impact the fifth meridian.

Dark energy is a higher quality of internal force; if one cannot impact the fifth meridian before thirty and reach the Great Wu Shi realm, not only can one not practice more dark energy, but dark energy will slowly dissipate.

That is why I said that if you cannot accumulate enough dark energy before thirty, you basically don't need to dream of the fifth-rank Great Wu Shi realm in this life.

Precisely because of this, fourth-rank Martial Masters who have hope of reaching the Great Wu Shi realm, unless it is a life-and-death fight, generally cannot bear to consume the dark energy they have worked so hard to accumulate. And after thirty, fourth-rank Martial Masters who have lost hope will soon see their dark energy dissipate.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, fourth-rank Martial Masters rarely display dark energy; only Great Martial Masters will display it, and over time, many people regard dark energy as the unique internal force of Great Martial Masters, but in fact, it is not," Liang Jingtang explained in detail.

"In that case, doesn't that mean Wu Changlu is very different from the rumors outside? Not only was he a fourth-rank Martial Master, but he was also a genius descendant of Wu Family Fort who had already comprehended the secret map.

It seems Wu Family Fort will definitely investigate this matter; fortunately, I chose a good place and covered my face; otherwise, I might have really caused big trouble," Xia Daoming felt secretly shocked and relieved after hearing Liang Jingtang's explanation.

While feeling shocked and relieved, Xia Daoming continued to ask for advice: "Master, without dark energy, is it impossible to impact the fifth meridian?"

"Logically speaking, it is possible, but who can practice bright energy to such a powerful level? Moreover, meridians are invisible to the eye and can only be felt through imagination; the more meridians one practices, the more complex the situation of blood and internal force circulating in the meridians becomes, and not the slightest mistake can be tolerated.

A slight carelessness means internal force running wild, blood attacking the heart, and meridians breaking and dying. In this situation, one must comprehend the secret map, know the meridian layout, and practice dark energy.

Dark energy is far more condensed and pure than bright energy, and it is more precise and flexible to control," Liang Jingtang explained.

Liang Jingtang's explanation made Xia Daoming feel a lingering fear.

His internal force was far more powerful than that of a fourth-rank Wu Shi, and he had not lacked the thought of directly impacting the fifth meridian. It was just because he lacked subsequent cultivation techniques and knew that the fourth-rank and fifth-rank Wu Shi was a big threshold that he did not act rashly.

Now it seemed fortunate that he did not act rashly; otherwise, he might have exploded and died all of a sudden.

Then Liang Jingtang taught the subsequent cultivation techniques, some tips for observing the secret map, and roughly described the key points such as the meridian and blood internal force circulation paths, nodes, and rhythms of the Great Wu Shi realm.

However, the latter could not make people comprehend the Great Wu Shi realm cultivation technique just by words, but with someone pointing it out in advance, once one sensed the divine charm in the secret map, one would have foresight and could consciously verify and deepen comprehension, taking fewer detours.

Liang Jingtang was a veteran sixth-rank Great Wu Shi with rich martial arts cultivation experience and rich teaching experience.

Xia Daoming, however, was a Wu Shi who jumped from the second rank to the fourth rank; although his strength was very powerful, his understanding of martial arts cultivation was still very lacking.

Now with Liang Jingtang's careful teaching and explanation, many of his misunderstandings about the Dragon Snake Art cultivation were suddenly cleared, and he had a deeper understanding of the true meaning of the Dragon Snake Art cultivation technique.

"Truly, listening to your words is better than reading for ten years!" Xia Daoming sighed secretly in his heart, adding a little more respect for Liang Jingtang, whom he already had a good impression of.

Soon, the sun set behind the mountains.

Liang Jingtang first led Xia Daoming into a secret room and let him wait for him inside.

Soon, Liang Jingtang returned, holding a jade box in his hand.