Secret Martial Prologue: Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake!?
Hiss!
Now that's a powerful-sounding name!
He recalled how Lu Hongyu had spent the past few days showing him around Lu Manor.
Furthermore, Lu Chengfeng had taken a liking to him. Seeing that he had yet to begin Blood Nourishing and Tendon Forging, he had kindly offered some pointers, intending to pass on one of Lu Manor's Blood Nourishing Pile Skills.
It wasn't as if he was completely ignorant about the Pile Skills of the Bone Marrow Refining Realm.
The Pile Skills in Lu Manor's collection were all compiled into books from high-quality bamboo scrolls and recorded in its registers.
The entire manor only had a few such techniques.
In Anning County,
they were considered first-class inheritances, second only to the core Secret Inheritances of the Three Great Gangs and the Four Great Halls.
He had heard that if one were to use such a Pile Skill to open a hall and accept disciples, a single technique could fetch a fee of one or two hundred taels of snowflake silver!
A Martial Art for Entering the Realm often cost anywhere from ten to several dozen taels.
But these skills involved personal transformation, forging a body with bones and sinews like steel bars and blood like mercury. They were the very foundation of one's life, so it made sense that they were far more expensive.
But,
Ji Xiu had browsed the catalog of bamboo books recording these Pile Skills. Most had names like 'Tiger Crouching Posture,' 'Guiyuan Posture,' or 'Vajra Posture'...
Never had he seen one...
...with a name as grand and majestic as the one on the Silk Book Duan Chenzhou had just produced!
And what's more...
'Master Duan wants to take me as his closed-door disciple?'
Ji Xiu's heart pounded in his chest.
In this world, among the various Daoist Schools and martial Schools,
serving tea and paying respect to a Master's Sect was called 'being registered.'
As the name implied, it just meant your name was on the list and you would be taught some Martial Arts.
If you made a name for yourself later, it was because your Master taught you well, and you were expected to uphold the name of the Daoist School or School.
If you didn't, you were left to fend for yourself. Even if you starved or froze to death, it was simply because you weren't skilled enough to succeed.
Beyond being registered,
came 'taking a seat and being ranked'!
Only when one had truly been named, seated, and accepted into the inner hall by one's Master,
would a Disciple be considered favored. Only then would the Master give you special lessons and pass on True Techniques.
The one who ranked first among them was the face of the sect, also known as the 'Head Disciple.' They represented the honor of the entire lineage and enjoyed immense prestige.
He'd heard that the 'Head Disciples' of the Four Great Martial Arts Halls of Anning County—the halls of Fist, Spear, Saber, and Sword—were each extraordinary experts who had reached Great Success in bone refinement, making them impervious to blades and spears.
And beyond all of these...
there was another type.
It was called 'closing the door'!
The so-called closed-door disciple.
It was either when a Martial Artist, a master whose skills had reached Great Success, felt he could advance no further...
...or when a Martial Artist was old and his strength was failing, with one foot already in the grave, and he didn't want his lifetime of skills to be buried with him...
Only then would he take on the last Disciple of his life!
He would close his doors, wash his hands of the world, and no longer concern himself with worldly affairs.
According to common understanding,
this closed-door Disciple would often inherit the most profound teachings, perhaps even the very foundation of an entire School!
Ji Xiu, who had only hoped to gain the status of a 'registered' disciple today, never expected such a turn of events. He had leaped three ranks at once to become the sole heir to Duan Chenzhou's lineage!
He thought of Lu Yu, who hadn't even earned a nominal title after nearly three years of service. Even realizing that the title of 'Closed-door True Inheritance' disciple likely came with pressure as heavy as mountains and seas, and was tangled in all sorts of hidden complexities,
Ji Xiu didn't hesitate. He broke the seal on the Flower Carved Wine, filling the courtyard with its fragrance. He took a few quick steps forward and hurriedly filled the bowl before Duan Chenzhou to the brim.
Then, looking at the scroll of the 'Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake'...
...his fingertips brushed against it, and without a shred of hesitation, he clenched it tightly in his palm, as if seizing the throat of destiny itself!
A poor boy like him had no other choice.
When a Heaven-Reaching Road lay before him, to refuse to walk it, to be unwilling to take a little risk...
...would mean his life would amount to nothing more than this!
"Master Duan, this disciple is willing to learn!"
"Life is full of hardships. A road of no return? What truly is a road of no return?"
Ji Xiu presented the wine and kowtowed, his voice ringing with conviction:
"Being stuck in these muddy alleys for a lifetime—that is the only road of no return."
"Master Duan once inspired me, telling me just how wide and vast the Great Dao of a Martial Artist is."
"The path is beneath my feet, and how far I walk is up to me."
"That being the case, a Pile Skill that can build a foundation of Superior Tendons and Bones is right in front of me."
"If I were to cower and not dare to move forward because of the 'Dangerous Calamity' that Lord Gu and Master Duan speak of..."
"...wouldn't that go against the very principle of a Martial Artist's 'Fierce and Vigorous Progress'?"
[Tutor detected to have obtained the Superior Pile Skill 'Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake.' This skill is divided into two scrolls: the Blood Nourishing Scroll, 'Profound Turtle Great Toad Technique,' and the Muscle Forging Scroll, 'Soaring Serpent Cloud-Chasing Technique.']
[Do you wish to borrow the first scroll: Profound Turtle Great Toad Technique?]
[After borrowing, repayment condition: Perform the Profound Turtle Posture, circulate Qi through all meridians, and exhale in a single breath for a total of thirty repetitions to achieve Perfection.]
[By completing the Cultivation of the 'Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake,' the Tutor can use the Primordial Daoist Talisman to capture its 'Traits' for personal use!]
Lines of small, gilded characters floated amidst the slowly coalescing Daoist Talisman.
As Ji Xiu touched the Silk Book, Gu Baichuan and Duan Chenzhou, who were right in his line of sight, seemed completely oblivious to it.
He, however, understood every piece of information that appeared.
Ji Xiu's gaze lowered. To an outsider, it looked as if he had deliberately paused for a long moment before speaking:
"If there are external forces trying to interfere... although I don't know who or what powerful entity would make Lord Gu speak so cryptically, or cause Master Duan to live in seclusion, ignoring the world."
"But..."
"Call me overly ambitious and reckless, or say I don't know what's good for me."
"Since I have entered this sect."
"Then if trouble comes, Master Duan need not be the one to face it."
"This ancient, deep-seated malady..."
"...I, Ji Xiu, will bear it on my own shoulders!"
"At worst, it's only my life!"
WHOOSH!
Gu Baichuan shot up from the stone table.
"You kid..."
"Hah."
"Ignorance is truly bliss."
He shook his head, pretending to be drunk. Chuckling, he picked up his sheathed Brocade Spring Saber and swayed on his feet.
"I'm not looking, not looking. I see nothing, see nothing..."
"This is the path to the Truth, involving the Secret Martial Dao. Even glimpsing a single breath, a single movement..."
"...can turn friends into enemies in the future!"
"I'm off, I'm off!"
With that, he grabbed a jug of the Flower Carved Wine that Ji Xiu had brought and strolled away alone.
Reaching the threshold, he suddenly turned back and scoffed:
"Asked me to be a witness?"
"You heard your old enemy rose to power, and your heart turned to ash. You're planning for after you're gone, trying to make sure your lineage doesn't die with you, so you asked me to 'look after' this kid a bit, didn't you."
"Hmph, Duan the Brute, you've been bullheaded your whole life. If you had just known when to bow your head in your younger years, it wouldn't have come to this."
"Ah, forget it. This umbrella... when you can no longer hold it, I suppose I can hold it for your lineage for a little while."
"But this 'Secret Martial Dao'... so many rules, so many gradual steps just to even see the threshold."
"Are you so sure this kid can succeed?"
He shook his head.
And with a step, he was gone.
Only Duan Chenzhou remained, gazing at Ji Xiu with a smile.
"This ancient, deep-seated malady... you'll bear it on your own shoulders?"
A nostalgic look appeared on his face.
"You certainly are stubborn."
"But since you have become my disciple, I must give you a few words of advice."
"Sometimes, you shouldn't be so proud. If you don't know how to bend to the rules, how to play the game, sooner or later you'll suffer for it."
"It's fine here in the County. Everyone's a rough-and-tumble strongman, no one is more noble than anyone else. But once you leave the five-hundred-li radius of Anning, you'll need to tone it down."
"There are people who can't stand to see someone as 'spirited' as you."
"In this vast Great Xuan, with its countless billions of souls, on the path of the Human Immortal Martial Dao, are there not tens of millions of Martial Artists?"
"But some are born brilliant, ranked among the Nobles, destined to ride the tides of their time."
"Others must face endless hardships, treading through mud and mire, struggling to claw their way to a future."
"Life is already bitter, and opportunities are few. One wrong step, and you fall into a bottomless abyss."
His voice suddenly became low.
But after Ji Xiu rose to his feet and listened, he pondered for a moment, then shook his head in disagreement.
"But if I were a sycophant who only knew how to flatter and curry favor, would Master Duan still have accepted me as your disciple and passed on the True Inheritance?"
He had just raised the wine.
Duan Chenzhou, who had just been about to lecture him with the grave air of a 'Master,' looked at the clear wine, heard the unexpected words, and suddenly froze.
His brow furrowed. He took a sip, and only after a long moment did he speak:
"I would not have."
He watched the black-clad youth tightly grip the Silk Book, and after a while, he sighed.
"Fine, I can't win an argument with you."
"But..."
"You don't understand what the 'Secret Martial Dao' represents."
"And you don't know that this 'Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake,' even though it's just the most basic, introductory prologue of my lineage, is still extremely difficult."
"Even if I teach you personally, guiding your every move, I don't know if you'll even be able to grasp the basic form in one or two months."
"If you still haven't made any progress after so long, it's better to give up early so as not to delay your progress in the Bone Marrow Refining Realm..."
Listening to Duan Chenzhou's lament, which seemed to speak of the difficulties of this Dharma Gate,
But holding the Secret Inheritance Silk Book,
Ji Xiu looked at the advance-borrowing prompt from the Primordial Daoist Talisman. The hair at his temples stirred in the wind, and he suddenly smiled as if joking.
"But what if—and I'm just saying, what if."
"Master Duan."
"What if I... am a one-in-ten-thousand genius?"