Chapter 138

The valley is extremely vast, in a bamboo forest area.

Zhao Canghu stood outside the bamboo forest, hands behind his back, looking at the six people before him with an air of composure.

"Senior Zhao, by doing this, you are breaking the rules."

"Senior Zhao, where is Lin Chen?"

"Senior Zhao, you are being too overbearing. You should let Lin Chen come out and let him choose who he wants as his instructor."

As soon as the six middle-aged men landed, they couldn't help but speak up. Zhao Canghu's expression remained unchanged. After the six finished speaking, he suddenly took off his outer garment.

His thin, withered upper body was covered in several ferocious scars.

"This sword wound was left behind during my battle in the Yu Guo war."

"This scar was left behind from a battle against the demonic beasts of Zheng Guo."

"And this scar was left behind when I charged into the ice plains and slaughtered thirty demonic beasts."

Zhao Canghu pointed to the scars on his body: "I have fought for the country, my life covered in scars. Why can't I find a successor for my mantle in my old age?"

"Senior Zhao, you... you wanting to find a successor is naturally fine, it's just..."

"Do not let the heroes of our Daliang shed blood and tears. Have you forgotten the holy decree of the founding emperor back then?" Zhao Canghu interrupted the other party directly, his face full of sorrow.

Min Huanbo and the other five looked at each other. It's here, we've reached Senior Zhao's classic "do not let heroes shed blood and tears" segment.

"Senior Zhao, how could we dare to be disrespectful of your sacrifices and contributions to our Daliang? It's just that Lin Chen's situation is special; he... he cannot withstand your tossing."

Min Huanbo spoke helplessly, and another middle-aged man in grey robes immediately followed up: "Senior Zhao, Lin Chen is walking the path of extreme martial arts. My teacher also walked this path back then. Let Lin Chen follow me; I have the experience to guide him."

But before Zhao Canghu could speak, the man with a goatee on the side mercilessly exposed him: "Old Jin, you have zero experience. Your teacher walked the path of extreme martial arts, but you didn't walk this path. You've even lost your own teacher's mantle, and you still have the nerve to bring it up here."

"Lin Lin Shixiong Cai is right. Lin Lin Shixiong Jin, you are not suitable to guide Lin Chen. Although I didn't walk the path of extreme martial arts, and my teacher didn't either, I cultivate leg techniques. When it comes to leg techniques, who here can surpass me?"

The tallest middle-aged man on the scene looked proud: "Since Lin Chen's palm techniques and hard-body techniques have already reached perfection, now he only lacks a leg technique. It is most appropriate for Lin Chen to follow me."

"Follow you to learn leg techniques? Besides running faster, what use is that leg technique of yours?"

……

……

Listening to the six of them arguing, Zhao Canghu said irritably: "If you want to argue, don't do it here. In any case, Lin Chen belongs to me for the three months he is here. It's not that I went looking for Lin Chen; Lin Chen came to find me on his own initiative. That kid Xue Yun is a witness."

Min Huanbo and the other five were speechless. Although they didn't know what had happened, they could judge from Ji Feng's words that Senior Zhao must have been up to something.

Seeing Senior Zhao acting like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, determined to be a stubborn rascal, the six understood that since Lin Chen had entered this bamboo forest, they definitely wouldn't be getting him back.

Such a good seedling!

Min Huanbo sighed in his heart. It was all that mountain wind's fault. If it hadn't been for that slightly cold mountain wind making him think about going back to change clothes, he could have waited a while longer or, like Senior Zhao, gone directly into the thousand-step mist. Then, wouldn't the stubborn rascal be him?

The six weren't complaining that Senior Zhao was a stubborn rascal, but rather depressed that the one who could be such a stubborn rascal wasn't themselves.

"There are many good seedlings in this batch, enough for you to divide up. Don't set your sights on Lin Chen anymore."

Zhao Canghu ignored the arguing six and turned to walk toward the bamboo forest.

Min Huanbo and the others gave a bitter smile. Once a person is in Senior Zhao's hands, they probably won't be getting them back.

"No, Senior Zhao's behavior breaks the rules. If everyone acted like this, wouldn't it be chaos? This matter must be reported to the Academy Master; please ask the Academy Master to preside over justice."

One of them spoke indignantly. Without waiting for others to respond, his figure left an afterimage on the spot and headed toward the depths of the valley.

"Chen Lin Shixiong is afraid he will be disappointed. Senior Zhao's status is special after all; even the Academy Master is helpless."

"I actually think Junior Chen Lin Shixiong's move is appropriate. No matter how special Senior Zhao's status is, he cannot disrupt the rules. I will go and accompany Junior Chen Lin Shixiong."

Another person left. The remaining four, including Min Huanbo, looked at each other. Since when did these two become so tough?

Daring to confront Senior Zhao so head-on?

"Not good, we've been tricked!"

A few breaths later, Min Huanbo seemed to have thought of something: "We've been tricked. Chen Lin Shixiong and the others aren't going to report to the Academy Master at all; they want to imitate Senior Zhao!"

Up to now, there have already been four students who could persist to a thousand steps in the Thousand Mist Steps. However, according to the rules, they, the instructors, can only select students for special training after all students have arrived.

Now Senior Zhao has broken this rule, and Senior Zhao's words just now reminded Chen Lin Shixiong and the other.

There are indeed several good seedlings in this batch.

If Senior Zhao can be bad, why can't they?

The other three reacted after Min Huanbo's reminder, their faces showing great anger. Chen Lin Shixiong and the others were too cunning.

And they actually thought the two were going to report to the Academy Master.

"Can't let their conspiracy succeed!"

"Hurry and stop them!"

Min Huanbo and the six came quickly and left just as quickly.

In the bamboo forest, Zhao Canghu looked at the six who had left and gave a disdainful snort. All is fair in war; some people just don't understand the principle of "first come, first served."

……

……

In the open area within the bamboo forest, Lin Chen stood quietly in front of a bamboo house. By now, he had also come to his senses.

He had been tricked!

Tricked by that old senior!

That old senior never said from beginning to end what relationship he had with the Gale Martial Hall. That old senior only said that for the sake of the Gale Martial Hall...

As for why he gave face to the Gale Martial Hall, there were too many reasons; as long as one wanted to pull on the thread, there was always something to talk about.

No wonder that old senior didn't let him ask. If he had gotten to the bottom of it, this old senior couldn't have lied to him.

And now, everything was his own miscalculation. To put it bluntly, he had over-imagined it.

Ginger is indeed spicier when it's old!

"What's wrong? Looking at your expression, do you feel cheated by me and regret it in your heart?"

Zhao Canghu's figure appeared before Lin Chen, admitting his previous act of deception as soon as he spoke.

"I cheated you because your martial arts comprehension is indeed quite good, which moved me to cherish talent. Let me ask you, if you were my age, nearing the end of your life, but had no successor for the mantle of your life's learning, and you met a youth extremely suitable to inherit your mantle, what means would you use to make them take you as their master?"

Lin Chen pondered for a moment and replied: "This junior would demonstrate my strength, make the youth admire me, and take me as their master voluntarily."

Zhao Canghu nodded very satisfied: "That makes sense. Use every means to make the youth take you as their master, and get the rice cooked into porridge first." Lin Chen: ……

No, that doesn't seem to be what he meant.

This isn't even a misinterpretation; this belongs to taking the answer and forcing it onto the question.

"Senior, are you sure we are talking about the same thing?"

"I understand what you mean, but the apprenticeship ceremony is unnecessary. I don't care about these ceremonies. You can call me Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhao, or you can call me Old Zhao."

Replying without reading?

Lin Chen fell completely silent.

"This bamboo house is prepared for you by me. Your batch of students has two more days before the official special training. In these two days, you must finish reading and memorizing all the books I have left inside."

Zhao Canghu looked at Lin Chen: "Do you have any objections?"

Lin Chen shook his head. He had no objections. He hadn't even seen what was written in the books in the house. More importantly, even if he raised an objection, with this Senior Zhao's method of replying without reading, there would be no objection anyway.

"Very good. Since there are no objections, go in. Following me, you must be prepared to suffer for these three months. I am extremely strict in teaching students."

Zhao Canghu was very satisfied with Lin Chen's attitude. With his hands behind his back, he walked away with his small, splayed-foot gait, leaving the bamboo forest on his own.

Watching the figure of this Senior Zhao leave, Lin Chen didn't have any look of complaint on his face.

Since you're here, settle in.

Moreover, for this Senior Zhao to forcibly guide his cultivation like this, it should be against the rules. But being able to get something done that doesn't conform to the rules is enough to show the special status of this Senior Zhao.

There are only two types of people who can break the rules and succeed: those with a background, and those with strength. Letting this Senior Zhao guide his cultivation, he isn't losing out.

Pushing open the door of the wooden house, Lin Chen sniffed. He smelled a rich scent of Chinese medicine. Several wooden shelves were placed in the house, filled with various dried medicinal herbs.

However, what attracted Lin Chen's attention most was a wooden human carving in the middle of the house.

The carving's figure was similar to his, but it was covered in dense red lines.

"Meridian and acupoint diagram? No, it's a Qi and blood circulation diagram!"

Lin Chen stared at the wooden carving for a while, recalling the trajectory of the Qi and blood flow he felt in his body while in the clouds and mist, which matched the red lines on the wooden carving perfectly.

Soon, Lin Chen discovered that this wasn't the only wooden carving; there were over a dozen more in the corner, though their sizes were slightly smaller.

"Meridians, acupoints, is this the five organs?"

These wooden carvings all had one thing in common: they all had red lines drawn on them. If he weren't sure he was in another world, Lin Chen would have suspected he had pushed open a door and walked into a traditional Chinese medicine clinic from his previous life.

Besides the wooden carvings, Lin Chen also found the book Senior Zhao mentioned.

"Senior Zhao really thinks highly of me, to finish reading and memorizing the contents of this book within two days."

Looking at this book, which was a finger-joint thick, Lin Chen's mouth twitched. But after opening the book and reading just a few lines, he was completely drawn in.

This book had no title, but it was a book recording human acupoints, including various meridians.

But if it were just that, it would at most be a book helping people recognize human acupoints and meridians, not enough to make Lin Chen read with such absorption.

This book detailed the name and function of every acupoint, and even included the effects caused by the subtle changes in Qi and blood flow to that acupoint due to different methods of Qi movement.

A miss is as good as a mile.

"This book solves my urgent need."

Lin Chen's eyes grew brighter the more he read. The reason he couldn't fuse the Breeze Palm and the Water Cloud Palm was that he was unsure when changing the Qi and blood circulation method, eventually leading to Qi and blood colliding chaotically in his body.

This book wouldn't help a martial artist's cultivation realm, but in Lin Chen's heart, the value of this book was no less than the Thousand Hammer Diagram.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools!

Cultivating until now, Lin Chen only had a vague concept regarding a martial artist's Qi and blood, including acupoints.

But the path of the Martial Way is precisely a path of forging one's own body.

If one doesn't even understand one's own body, how can one go far?

He had asked Kong Kong Guanzhu Ceng and Kong Kong Guanzhu Tai, but even the Iron Bone Martial Hall, which cultivated hard-body techniques, didn't have books in this regard.

Martial artists in the entire Poyang County only knew that the more acupoints opened, the more vigorous the Qi and blood, and the stronger the strength.

Knowing the "what" but not the "why."

"Human acupoints consist of twenty-four major acupoints and seventy-two minor acupoints. The twenty-four major acupoints are the roots of vitality and the source of Qi and blood. The other seventy-two minor acupoints are parasitic within the twenty-four major acupoints. Therefore, for a martial artist, opening twenty-four acupoints is sufficient."

Lin Chen held a wooden carving, which marked the locations of the twenty-four acupoints and also noted the locations of the seventy-two minor acupoints.

"When a person is born from the womb, the acupoints are blocked. Thereafter, they inhale postnatal Qi, and the acupoints open on their own. Occasionally, there are people born foolish, deaf, or mute; this is because the acupoints were damaged in the womb..."

Sitting on the small wooden stool in the wooden house, Lin Chen read the contents of the book while comparing it with the wooden carving in his hand, reading with great interest.

"Eight acupoints on the upper body, eight on the lower body, eight for hard-body cultivation. The reason for this division is related to the changes in Qi and blood circulation through the meridians and acupoints."

"The Qi and blood of the upper body circulate slowly; the Qi and blood of the lower body circulate quickly. Therefore, an ordinary person's leg speed is far faster than their palm speed."

"However, I have another question: if palm speed is not as good as leg speed, why is punch speed not inferior to leg speed? Where is the mystery in this?"

"This question is difficult for the teacher to answer, and there is no answer in the book."

"For this, I spent sixty years devotedly researching human acupoints, deeply cultivating the wonders of Qi and blood circulation, and finally, at the age of destiny, I perceived the true meaning and wrote this book to leave for future generations."

"I have named this book 'True Explanation of the Twenty-Four Acupoints'."

Seeing the book title, Lin Chen paused slightly. This title was very fitting.

For the author of this book, Lin Chen also had admiration in his heart. This was a senior who loved to research.

Because one question couldn't be answered, he spent his whole life researching this path.

……

……

Outside the bamboo forest, Zhao Canghu stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the firmament.

The book in the house was left by an old friend of his, but the words written inside were too shocking and could not be verified as correct or not.

But he felt that his old friend's research was fine. The reason he had stayed here all these years was to find a seedling to verify that this path could be walked.

PS: Two thousand monthly tickets now. One chapter owed, will be returned within three days.

(End of chapter)