Chapter 35: Indeed, it is a supremely yang cultivation method!

Gold Prosperity Prefecture, Ascending Peak County

In the east, dawn broke; the sky turned a faint white.

Inside a room in the rear courtyard of the Drunken Immortal Tower, Niu Ben looked anxious, standing uneasily.

"Manor Lord, how is Niu Qing?"

Seeing Niu Dingtian finish his practice on the bed, Niu Ben immediately rushed over to ask.

Although I often have a strong competitive spirit with Niu Qing, Niu Kui and the others, and we've fought more than a few times, having grown up together without parents from childhood, it's no exaggeration to say we're as close as brothers.

What's more, last night, in order to cover the retreat, he ended up severely injured and comatose, and he still hasn't woken up.

If Niu Qing hadn't brought people to arrive in time, I probably would have been worse off; seeing him injured like this now, my heart clenches.

I actually want to go again and regain face.

But my martial arts are worlds apart from that old monk's, and I fear messing up the Manor Lord's important affair, so I can only keep this thought to myself for now.

I'll settle the score later if I get the chance!

"No problem, his life is fine; I'll treat his wounds again in a couple of days."

"Soon I need to enter seclusion for two days; no one is to disturb me. Niu Ben, you must take good care of Miss Han and the other seriously injured brothers. Everything can wait until I come out of seclusion."

Niu Dingtian saw Niu Ben's urgency, understood, and immediately gave the order.

"Yes! Manor Lord."

That old monk really didn't deal a killing blow; if he had, even one death would surely have forged an enmity between us.

Regardless of who's right or wrong, we must protect our own, warts and all.

However, as the most seriously injured on our side, Niu Qing certainly isn't faring well—his organs are displaced, his meridians severely damaged.

Currently, Niu Dingtian's true qi still has cold qi rampaging; protecting Niu Qing's organs can at most let him suffer a bit more.

But if I directly warm and nourish his meridians for him, his martial arts would likely be ruined; I therefore decided to first examine the Nine Yang Divine Skill, and speak of it after dispelling the cold qi.

Moreover, the Nine Yang Divine Skill is not only supremely rigid and yang, specializing in countering cold; its Nine Yang True Qi also has remarkable efficacy in healing wounds—perhaps in this regard it surpasses my own Arhat Subduing Demon Skill.

After giving those instructions, Niu Dingtian went straight to his own room.

This is a dedicated room; every Drunken Immortal Tower has one.

After closing the door, he walked to the bookshelf, exerted all his strength and pushed; a doorway slowly appeared.

This is quite an ordinary secret-room entrance; the only difference is this bookshelf.

It's heavy enough.

Someone without some strength really can't push it.

After closing the bookshelf from inside again and lighting the lamp, one could see that the secret room, about two zhang long and wide, actually had all the simple necessities.

To the side, there's also a small path, used for escape.

Coming to the table, Niu Dingtian set the bundle aside, then took out the Shurangama Sutra from his bosom and placed it on the table.

After opening the sutra, he didn't bother to look at the pages of Sanskrit, slowly found the stitching, took out a dagger, and carefully pulled out a scroll of yellow paper.

Sure enough, it was written in Chinese characters, not Sanskrit.

Then there's simply no truth to the claim that the Nine Yang True Scripture was created by Damo the Founding Ancestor.

Although Chinese characters can be learned, the profound martial principles contained in them are absolutely beyond the comprehension of foreigners.

He lightly unfolded the yellow paper; the characters were densely packed, and upon close inspection he could see the four slightly larger characters "Nine Yang True Scripture" on the right side.

Looking to the side, there was the general outline; he examined it in order:

Let him be strong, I let him be strong; the clear wind sweeps the hill. Let him be reckless, I let him be reckless; the bright moon shines on the great river. He may be fierce and wicked, I fill myself with a single breath of true qi. Qi sinks to the abyss, power condenses at the mountain's root; when circulating qi, I must return the qi to myself, needing no regard for where external force comes from.

First, use the mind to move the body, following others, not self; later the body can follow the mind, yet still follow others. If following self, one stagnates; if following others, one lives. Weighing the gains and losses of what others bring, there is not the slightest difference; advancing and retreating, everything fits perfectly—with prolonged effort, skill becomes ever more refined.

When they are still, I am still; when they stir slightly, I have already moved. The force seems broad yet not slack, about to unfold but not yet, the force breaks while the intention continues. When yin reaches its extreme, it gradually wanes; lesser yang arises secretly, yin wanes as yang grows; yin and yang complement, produce and aid each other—lesser yang is born of extreme yin, lesser yin of extreme yang. Nothing should be taken to extremes; at extremes, change occurs, shifting from heavy to light, from light to heavy.

Force is borrowed from others; qi issues from the spine. How can qi issue from the spine? It sinks downward, drawn from the shoulders into the spine, gathering at the waist—this is the upward-to-downward flow, called 'union'. From the waist it spreads along the spine, reaches both arms, is applied to the fingers—this is the downward-to-upward flow, called 'opening'. Union is gathering, opening is releasing. Whoever grasps opening and closing understands yin and yang, breathes in and out the nine yang, embraces the one and holds the primordial.

Niu Dingtian sat cross-legged on the bedside, silently reciting the outline.

Although it's ordinary text, it contains profound principles; the more deeply one reads, the more the mind's gates open wide.

Even the yin and yang qi within his body began to stir faintly.

Continuing onward, he saw the contents of the Heart Method chapter.

Ren meridian first, Du meridian second; qi flows endlessly. The Jing and Chi double acupoints, issuing force gradually. Qi enters the dantian, surges up the life gate, draws the Du meridian past the tailbone, rises straight up the spine to the mud pill, descends to the human middle gum junction, pursues the vital essence, draws the Ren meridian down to the heavy tower, then returns to the qi sea.

The two vessels rotate up and down like a circle, descending first then ascending, endlessly intertwining. The Jing point is the shoulder-well point of the foot lesser yang gallbladder meridian; the Chi point is the crooked-pool point of the hand yang brightness large intestine meridian, located at the transverse crease when the arm is bent.

Having read through the over-one-thousand-character text, Niu Dingtian quickly set the scripture aside.

After slowly closing his eyes, he focused his mind and guarded his spirit, both hands circulating internal power; following the method in the text, he circulated the meridians and struck the acupoints.

The tailbone raises qi, the dantian refines the spirit, qi descends to the sea, light gathers at the heavenly center.

The perineum lifts slightly, true qi rises, reaching the hundred meetings above and arriving at the yin meeting below.

In the secret room, all was quiet and soundless; time flowed slowly.

After an hour,

Then Niu Dingtian's complexion gradually turned flushed; a misty purple vapor began to rise from his head, then spread continuously throughout his body.

This was the cold qi within him gradually dissipating.

After an unknown amount of time,

The seated Niu Dingtian's body gave forth a strong, overbearing aura that began to leak out; the surrounding air gradually warmed in waves, and even his hands and neck began to redden.

Not long after, his arms slowly withdrew their power, the heat waves receded, and his complexion gradually returned to normal.

Indeed, it is a supremely yang cultivation method!

After opening his eyes, Niu Dingtian couldn't help but sigh.

Having only reached the first level of the misty purple qi realm, the cold qi within him was already almost gone; once the second level is completed, it should be able to be cleared out completely.

Upon checking the time, it was probably already night outside, having taken roughly a day and a night.

Now I have, in a day and a night, trained the first of the nine layers; that shouldn't be considered fast, especially given my unusually deep internal foundation.

The further one practices the Nine Yang True Scripture, the more profound and mysterious its content becomes, and the slower the progress.

He remembered that Zhang Wuji of later generations had practiced a total of five years.

After finishing the third volume, it took exactly a year; finally, the fourth volume took over three years, only then was the cultivation perfected.

Upon thinking this far, he immediately closed his eyes again.

He raised his hand to circulate his energy, beginning to assault the second layer of the Muscle Tendon Refining and Bone Marrow Washing realm.

Sorry for the typos and messed-up sentences, thanks for the reminder.

(End of chapter)