Feng Yu was currently lying in her bed with her face pressed on the pillow. There were tear stains on the silk pillow cover, but instead of a sorrowful expression, there was a smile on her face.
"I shone the brightest…" She muttered to herself as an embarrassed smile appeared on her face. Remembering her intimate action with Yi Chen, her embarrassment only intensified.
Turning around to look at the ceiling, she softly muttered with an expression filled with anticipation.
"Yi Chen…"
Night slowly deepened as she drifted into sleep.
Next Day.
Knock Knock
"Young master, it's morning."
An hour after sunrise, Yi Chen was roused awake by his servant's knocking. Glancing at the incense clock, he realised that it was seven in the morning.
"Come in!" Yi Chen said as he pushed himself up to sit on the bed's edge.
Hearing his words, the servant soon entered the quarter with a bowl filled with water in his hand, along with a plate carrying a few chew sticks.
A while later, Yi Chen wiped his wet face with a towel and thanked him.
"I'm only doing my duty, young master," the servant smiled and politely said, "Master Ru has told me to guide you to the courtyard."
"Oh yes! I almost forgot," Yi Chen hurriedly got up just to see the servant taking out neatly folded white training robes from the cupboard.
"Young master, it's advisable that you change into these," the servant suggested.
"Yes, thank you!" Yi Chen hurriedly changed into the training robes and was guided to the courtyard by him.
The courtyard was just behind the main quarters. It was covered in clayey soil and was 30 x 15 meters in dimension, a size similar to that of a modern basketball court.
In the courtyard, Master Ru was training with a sword in his hand. No robe was covering his upper body, which was covered in sweat. Sensing Yi Chen's arrival, he stopped swinging the sword and turned around.
"You're finally here, huh?" Master Ru asked with an energetic voice.
However, Yi Chen's eyes widened the very next moment as his eyes fell upon the countless old scars and wounds that had covered Master Ru's body.
'Freaking hell…did he wrestle with a bear or what?' Yi Chen couldn't help but think to himself.
"Haha, majestic, aren't they? These are the medals from all the battles I've gone through in this life," Master Ru snickered and continued, "Alright then, before I teach you the basics of martial arts, go and do as many laps around the courtyard as possible.,"
"Yes, Father-in-law," Yi Chen nodded with enthusiasm and started running around the courtyard.
With that said, Master Ru ordered the servants to make some preparations while Yi Chen continued on with his laps.
'G-god…I'm so weak?' Yi Chen thought to himself as he ran around the courtyard while struggling to breathe.
This was his twentieth round of the courtyard, which might seem impressive, but it wasn't. He had barely run around one kilometre and was out of breath!
As someone who could proudly run at least five kilometres in his former life, Yi Chen saw this as a great insult.
'No! I must cover at least two kilometres before giving up,' Yi Chen repeated to himself in his head and kept running. This was now a matter of pride!
However, this drive didn't go on forever, as by the thirty-fifth round, Yi Chen collapsed on the ground.
His heavy breaths blew the dust near his face as he soon noticed two feet making their way towards him before stopping just a few centimetres away.
Looking down at Yi Chen's exhausted state, Master Ru couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Your condition is a lot worse than I thought," Master Ru muttered as he asked a nearby servant to help Yi Chen up.
A few minutes later, Yi Chen was brought to a hall. Master Ru was waiting for him while standing in front of a low-height table.
"Take your seat," Master Ru gestured towards his front before waving his hand at the servants. A second later, Yi Chen and Master Ru were the only ones in the hall.
"Now that we are all alone, I'll start today's lesson and introduce martial arts to you. It's going to be a bit boring at first, so try to keep up," Master Ru clapped his hands to attract Yi Chen's attention and finally began.
"Martial arts are broadly divided into two areas. External and Internal cultivation. Physical exercises, like what you did just a few minutes ago, fall under External cultivation. It's beneficial for raising the overall strength of the body to a certain level, but after a while, its limitations become clear.
That's how Internal Cultivation came into existence, and that is what I'm going to teach you today, Xiao Chen, you understand?"
"Y-Yes, Master Ru, I completely understand," Yi Chen nodded exaggeratedly.
'Gosh, I almost closed my eyes there,' Yi Chen thought to himself and forced himself to be awake. He didn't want to miss any details, no matter what.
Seeing that Yi Chen was paying attention, Master Ru continued.
"Internal Cultivation consists of several stages. However, for now, you only need to know the details of the first one, which is called the [Elementary Transformation Stage].
In this stage, our motive is to open all 360 Qi Points in our body. Therefore, it is divided into nine levels, with each level requiring us to open forty Qi point each. These points must be opened in a specific pattern, which is clearly mentioned in this book."
Master Ru took out a book from within his robes and placed it on the table.
"You should go over this whenever you're free," Master Ru passed the book to Yi Chen.
"Yes, Master Ru," Yi accepted the book as a sacred treasure.
'So, this is how a martial arts book feels,' he thought with a grin while stroking the cover of the book.
Master Ru just looked amused at Yi Chen's antics and continued, "You can look over that book later on. Now, I'll be teaching you a few breathing patterns to follow, which is the main thing."
Yi Chen's attention was immediately pulled by Master Ru's words, and he listened diligently while observing him.
"First, you take a deep breath and hold it for 2 breaths' time before exhaling normally. Take another deep breath, hold for four breaths' time, exhale," Master Ru demonstrated it to Yi Chen and said, "With each inhalation, you'll increase your period of breath hold for an additional two breaths. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master Ru. But what if I can't hold for more than eight breaths of time?" Yi Chen asked with concern.
"I'm getting at it. Once you've reached your limit, you start the process all over again. Why don't you try for yourself now?"
Master Ru suggested.
Yi Chen nodded enthusiastically and started the breathing routine.
'First inhalation…two's breath's hold…'
'Second inhalation…four breath's hold…'
.
.
When Yi Chen tried to hold his breath for ten breaths' time, he started feeling dizzy and opened his eyes.
"It isn't as easy as you've thought, right?" Master Ru smirked when he saw this and started explaining how it's done in a more detailed manner.
When Yi Chen became a little familiar, Master Ru started demonstrating more forms of breathing to him.
'These are so complex…yet so interesting,' unlike earlier, Yi Chen absorbed everything that Master Ru told him like a sponge and couldn't wait to practice it later.
While this was happening, Feng Yu was making her way towards the training hall. Seeing the guards who were standing outside, she asked, "Guard Bai, is Father inside?"
"Greetings, Young Miss." Guard Bai bowed and continued, "Master Ru is teaching Young Master Chen about martial arts."
"Is that so?" A smile formed on Feng Yu's face, and she nodded at this news. She soon made her way to a building adjacent to the main training hall. It was her private training hall.