Chapter 27: Cheating-Level Cultivation Speed

"As for basic knowledge of Immortal Martial Arts, that’s about all. Now I will formally teach you the Guan family’s ultimate skill: The Tiger Soul Seven Killings."

As Guan Huchen spoke, he activated his Thousand-Mile Eye once more, meticulously scanning every direction—above, below, all around—without a single blind spot—then used both hands and mouth, reciting the heart mantra aloud while swiftly writing it down with a brush.

Tiger Soul Seven Killings: seven levels, seven killing techniques.

Each level contains only eight lines of heart mantra, each line eight characters long, totaling fifty-six lines and 448 characters.

But Huchen did not simply recite the 448 characters—he spoke continuously for two full hours, even replacing a candle midway—it was night, lit by candles.

"Yu’er, you truly possess innate wisdom!"

After spending two hours dissecting each of the 448 characters, and still only grasping the broad meaning, Huchen did not grow discouraged or impatient; like a parent tutoring a young child, his face remained fixed with a satisfied smile.

Beneath that smile lay unmistakable shock.

Not only did she instantly master the obscure characters in the heart mantra, but more importantly, she seemed to have already grasped the “Tiger Soul Divine Intention” embedded within the words.

In plain terms, the 448-character heart mantra describes the true essence of the Seven Killings of the Fierce Tiger, along with the method to master that essence.

The ultimate goal is to comprehend the Tiger Soul Divine Intention and the Seven Killings’ mysteries by silently reading and understanding the mantra’s words.

If one masters the Divine Intention, even an illiterate person who cannot recall the mantra at all would be fine.

Yet the vast majority of Guan family members—including Huchen himself—could recite the 448-character mantra backward, knew multiple ways to write and pronounce each character, had thoroughly memorized the meanings of each variant, yet only a handful in the entire Guan family truly grasped the true meaning of the Seven Killings.

Huchen had trained in The Tiger Soul Seven Killings since childhood, for nearly forty years, and even his great-grandfather had repeatedly cheated for him—invoking spirits skilled in Tiger Soul Seven Killings to transmit the mysteries through dreams—yet now he had only achieved minor mastery of the Fierce Tiger Divine Intention and mastered five of the seven killing techniques.

Xiao Yu, tonight, for the first time encountering The Tiger Soul Seven Killings, and including the time spent learning characters and their meanings, had spent only two hours—and her current level already equaled at least fifteen years of his own cultivation.

He began martial training at age three, attained a glimmer of the Seven Killings’ true meaning at eighteen, and was lavishly praised by elders and masters of the martial world as “Guan’s Tiger Cub, a peerless genius.”

They were not flattering him due to his family status—Guan Huchen was a true genius, undefeated among his peers.

Today, he had encountered a monstrous being surpassing even genius!

"It’s not that Yu’er is a genius—it’s that your righteous father’s realm is too high; even your casual guidance is golden advice, and when you teach Yu’er with unwavering diligence and boundless love, every achievement she gains is entirely due to your instruction." Xiao Yu herself was deeply shocked.

Her mastery of The Tiger Soul Seven Killings heart mantra surpassed even Huchen’s wildest imagination.

Indeed, she had not only refrained from showing off, but deliberately concealed her true ability.

Even more astonishing: she had not only grasped part of The Tiger Soul Seven Killings’ Divine Intention, but also uncovered the spiritual principle that counteracts it—Xiao Yu did not know how to describe it, but it was a mental state opposing The Tiger Soul Seven Killings.

This was not because she was truly a “born Saint.”

Having lived two lives, her soul was strong, her mind mature—naturally, her intellect was far sharper than an ordinary person’s.

But to rival a “born Saint”? Honestly, she was far from it.

Xiao Yu’s extraordinary ability came entirely from “Big Annihilation Dad” cheating!

“Big Annihilation Dad” was fundamentally a purple space within her dantian, which she called the “Purple Mansion.”

The Purple Mansion could independently deduce “methods to kill your righteous father.”

In the past, the “righteous fathers” she had killed were merely strong ordinary people—the Purple Mansion would map their muscles and bones, deduce their “movement flaws” (they knew no martial arts, had no techniques, only habitual killing motions), and find the precise moment to strike the vital point.

The Purple Mansion’s deduction was extremely fast and extremely simple.

But Guan Huchen would not be defeated by “movement flaws.”

If movement were technique, Huchen possessed not only technique, but also true qi, mastery of the sword’s Divine Intention, and the great divine art of the Thousand-Mile Eye.

Xiao Yu understood none of these—completely.

She had only witnessed the activation of the Thousand-Mile Eye once, but the Purple Mansion’s deduction immediately stalled.

Now, however, Huchen had directly revealed his core cultivation method.

He not only recited the heart mantra, but explained every single word to Xiao Yu.

True, complete transmission!

Over the past two hours, every word Huchen uttered transformed into experience points, allowing the Purple Mansion to rapidly deduce the flaws in “Huchen’s Seven Killings Mysteries,” and the opposing Divine Intention that countered Huchen’s Seven Killings.

These deduced “flaws” and the counter-intention were instantly absorbed into Xiao Yu’s soul, fully mastered.

Because she understood the flaws in Huchen’s Seven Killings Divine Intention, and had received Huchen’s own transmission of its essence, the two combined allowed Xiao Yu to attain “Perfect-Level” Seven Killings Divine Intention.

Even if “Big Annihilation Dad” had not actively helped her cultivate The Tiger Soul Blade Art, her slight “innate wisdom” alone had propelled her Seven Killings Divine Intention forward dramatically.

—“Big Annihilation Dad” truly suppresses your righteous father!

Xiao Yu could only make this observation.

"Yu’er, don’t be modest—I’ve trained The Tiger Soul Seven Killings for forty years and seen countless people, none with your level of comprehension." Huchen’s emotions were complex: shock, joy, envy, and resentment.

“Little Lifu” was so astonishingly gifted—his “great future” was now even more secure, which delighted him.

Yet her “innate wisdom” filled him with deep envy.

He resented that decades of his own ascetic practice could not match her two hours of listening.

"Righteous Father, is there something missing from The Tiger Soul Seven Killings you taught me? I’ve gained some insight, but I have no idea how to manifest what I feel inside." Xiao Yu said.

Whether the Fierce Tiger Divine Intention or the Seven Killings’ mysteries, they seemed to be states of mind.

Perhaps she could attempt to infuse the Divine Intention into her daily exercises—practicing fist and staff forms, all infused with the Fierce Tiger Divine Intention, with the Seven Killings’ mysteries as their foundation.

Huchen paused, then said: "Correct. The Tiger Soul Seven Killings includes not only the heart mantra, but also the blade manual and the breathing method."

The blade manual records the techniques and training methods.

The techniques are easy to understand—they are fixed routines you follow when punching or wielding a staff.

Train these routines until they become instinctive, so in battle you can use them effortlessly, not in fixed sequence, but fluidly.

The training method is also called ‘body refining method.’”

He patted his solid chest. "This is the effect of the training method. The training method strengthens the body, the breathing method strengthens the qi—qi is the core."

Refining the body through the training method merely aims to awaken more ‘internal qi’ and allow the body to hold more ‘external qi.’

Qi born from muscle and blood is ‘internal qi’; qi absorbed from the outside world is ‘external qi.’

When internal and external qi merge, they become true qi, also called ‘true yuan.’

Of course, from body refining to spontaneous internal qi generation, then absorbing heavenly qi, finally condensing true yuan—each step represents a realm in martial cultivation, impossible to leap over.

Here, he glanced at Xiao Yu strangely. "I’ve heard from Lao Zhong about your training—you’ve done every kind of high-difficulty movement: punching, kicking, somersaults, tiger jumps, four-flat leaps—you’ve done them all, and done them excellently."

"But after all this time, have you generated any internal qi?"

Xiao Yu shook her head. "I don’t know martial arts—I just practiced blindly."

"Because you don’t understand the breathing method! Even if your movements included every technique and training method from The Tiger Soul Seven Killings Blade Manual, you still cannot refine your body or generate internal qi." Huchen said.

"Is the breathing method a kind of breathing technique?" Xiao Yu asked.

Huchen shook his head. "It’s not just about breathing rhythm, nor merely the meridian map for true yuan circulation."

The breathing method, like the heart mantra I just explained, requires a special perception from body to soul."

The Guan family’s Tiger Soul Seven Killings Breathing Method is not a drawing of human meridians—it is a ‘mystic artifact’—a piece of Fierce Tiger spine bone."

Purify your body, burn incense, dwell alone in a quiet room, hold the tiger bone, silently recite the breathing mantra, and intuitively sense the Fierce Tiger’s breath and qi rhythm—ultimately, you will generate your first thread of internal qi."

Once you generate internal qi, it becomes simple."

Sit in meditation, circulate the internal qi through all meridians, nourish every acupoint—day by day, year by year, it gradually grows stronger."

Xiao Yu was surprised. "After generating internal qi, are all meridians naturally unblocked, no need to deliberately open or activate acupoints?"

Huchen frowned. "With your innate wisdom, how could you say such a foolish thing? Humans are alive—do you think your meridians and acupoints could be blocked?"

If your meridians were truly clogged and acupoints dormant, you’d be useless—what use would martial arts be?"

Xiao Yu lowered her head. "Yu’er is foolish—I thought advancement in true yuan and bodily changes were linked, so I assumed..."

—Blame the novels she’d read in her past life!

"Ah, it’s not your fault. Though clever, you’ve never truly felt internal qi or true yuan—you’re like someone on shore trying to guess how fish feel in water." Huchen said.

Xiao Yu smiled brightly. "Tell me more, Righteous Father."

—Righteous Father, hurry and teach me the blade manual, training method, and breathing mantra! Better yet, let me feel the tiger bone’s essence with your true yuan—I’m sure I could generate my first thread of internal qi immediately.

Her eyes burned with eager anticipation.

He had already taught her the Tiger Soul Divine Intention—he wouldn’t withhold the rest.

Huchen said: "I practice martial arts daily. Tomorrow morning, come to my courtyard—I’ll demonstrate the Tiger Soul Blade Art for you. But the breathing method may not suit you."

He paused, then admitted: "The blade manual will broaden your knowledge, the heart mantra will strengthen your spirit and willpower, but if you learn the breathing method, you will truly enter The Tiger Soul Seven Killings."

If you intend only to be a martial woman or fight alongside me on the battlefield, the deeper you master The Tiger Soul Seven Killings, the better."

But I have other plans for you—you have a greater, brighter future ahead."

The Tiger Soul Seven Killings is not inferior—it was obtained by your great-grandfather from the spirits of Fengdu, an ancient martial art."

Legend says it was the divine art cultivated by Chiyou, the Demon God who once battled the Heavenly Emperor ten million years ago."

But it still remains within the realm of Immortal Martial Arts—it cannot compare to orthodox Daoist methods."

According to my plan, you will soon encounter Daoist methods—so there’s no need to waste your energy on Immortal Martial Arts."

Xiao Yu’s mind exploded with shock and confusion.

Her “great-grandfather”… she was an orphan—how could she have a great-grandfather?

So the “great-grandfather” the righteous father mentioned… was it his great-grandfather?

Guan the Elder had exchanged a technique with spirits from Fengdu… this was too fantastical!

If you’re already this fantastical, why not go all the way and exchange for a full Immortal cultivation scripture?

And his plan… what kind of plan could get her to encounter Immortal methods so soon?

As the saying goes: the bigger the storm, the rarer the fish—the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

But conversely, the greater the reward, the greater the risk.

How great was the risk of Immortal methods?

"Righteous Father, are you joking? Yu’er is merely a barbarian girl from the sands—how could I earn the favor of Immortals?"

She spoke dryly, yet deep in her eyes flickered a hint of expectation she hadn’t even noticed herself.

You'll understand in a few days.

Huchen glanced out the window, stood up, and said, “There’s plenty of time left—don’t rush. It’s late now; go to sleep.”