Martial Arts Master

They climbed up the stairs and entered the hall. Upon entering, Lou Cheng had a panoramic view of the Cultivator’s Den.

There was a Dan room, a study, a meditation room, and a living room in the den. It was small, but it still had everything a cultivator would need. Even the wall seemed to shimmer, barely lighting the interior.

Looking around such a cool and dusky den, Lou Cheng shivered and recalled the layout of tombs he had seen in an archaeological documentary. This place seemed like a former residence, but it was now cut off from the outside world.

Geezer Shi coughed to clear his throat and then said, as if he guessed what Lou Cheng’s was thinking, “I have no idea why cultivators select sites under lakes or in caves to build their dens, that end up like a tomb. We are basically in a coffin now.”

“That is not true. The owner filtered through the sunshine and moonlight so the room was naturally lit in the daytime and became darker at night!” Fei Dan, Queen of Thought, replied and smiled.

They had already visited and searched before. Now they were here for only one reason. While talking, they entered the meditation room.

From what Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame and Queen of Thought said, Lou Cheng basically understood the difference between Cultivation and martial arts. A martial artist exercised the body first, with some meditation training augment it. Once he began developing his spirit, the fighter would start spiritual training, merging his will, Qi, and blood into one. But a cultivator would start with the spirit, trying to harmonize his soul and Qi first. Meanwhile, his body would be forced to toughen naturally until he reached the Seven Returns and Nine turns. Upon crystalizing his Qi into Dan, he would finally reach a balance.

As for other more advanced and detailed concepts, Fei Dan barely mentioned them. Even if she did, Lou Cheng would not have understood.

The layout of the meditation room was almost entirely bare, only containing a stone bed and a stone table. Far below what Lou Cheng imagined he would find in a Cultivator’s Den.

“It should be on the wall.” Fei Dan looked around and said with confidence.

“On the wall? What were they looking for?” Lou Cheng looked as far as he could, but the room was so dark. He could not find even a trace of something.

Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame lowered his voice and said, “I told you we missed something, but you were in such a hurry!”

A green blaze spurted from his hand, casting a gloomy light over everything.

Lou Cheng followed Old Shi obediently. He dared not interrupt while the others were talking, and thus looked at the wall closely, only to find some mottled marks.

“Why are you in a daze? Want to spend the night here?” Geezer Shi sipped at his wine and mocked, as if he was purely an onlooker.

“Humph!” A dark green blaze flew from Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame’s wrist, separating and then hitting the wall in eight different locations.

There was a humming in everyone’s ears, and a series of ripples emerged on the surface of the wall, glimmering lightly. An instant later, nine Chinese characters revealed themselves on the wall,

“Confrontation, Army, Fighting, Swordsman, Wholeness, Formation, Dequeuing, Forwarding, Attainment!”

Some characters were damaged, some faded. But “Army”, “Swordsman” and “Forwarding” remained untouched, even appealing.

“That is true… ” Fei Dan said, then sighed meaningfully.

“This is the Nine Words Formula of Taoist School.” Geezer Shi informed his apprentice.

Lou Cheng had heard of Nine Words Formula before, and its derivations from novels, animations, and materials of Cultivation. Therefore, he was no stranger to it. But he was curious why Queen of Thought and Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame explored the den again, seeking the same Nine Words Formula everyone already knew.

As the idea flashed across Lou Cheng’s mind, Geezer Shi carried on.

“This is different from the one you’ve heard of. Nine Words Formula of Taoist School and six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra of Daxing Temple were alike. Son, you have encountered the Hum Formula once. You know well the force of those characters.”

“Reciting them would bring about various effects?” Lou Cheng asked.

Geezer Shi taunted. “Reciting it is not enough. You have to recite and visualize the Formula at the same time to display it’s true power!”

“I know, and I am not stupid…” But Lou Cheng would not dare to talk back.

Fei Dan stood beside them smiling and said, “You also have to read it in its primitive pronunciation, instead of the contemporary one. Otherwise, no matter how hard you tried reciting, it would be useless. For example, the character Confrontation should be… ”

Suddenly she took a serious tone of voice. Her chest was vibrating and her vocal chords resonated as she said,

“Confrontation!”

The sound reverberated through the building, entering Lou Cheng’s ears from all sides. He felt the Jindan in his lower abdomen. The stars in his stomach were shifting, causing ripples within. Something was about to emerge.

But it was fragile and transient, lacking a strong stimulus and effect!

“Here! The Confrontation formula or Nine Words Formula caused a change in the Jindan?” Lou Cheng was pleasantly surprised. This was a rewarding trip!

He imitated Queen of Thought’s pronunciation and repeated,

“Confrontation!”

This time, the nebulous Jindan remained still, and Fei Dan laughed then said, “You spoke with an accent of Xing Province.”

Damn! Lou Cheng lowered his head in embarrassment.

“If you are interested, I will sort out the ancient pronunciation of those words and send it to your master. However, without the coordinated visualization, it is of no use.” Fei Dan sighed and turned around to Geezer Shi, “By analyzing the last words of Longhu Immortal, we found out that Nine Words Formula was not only a secret discipline but also a manual. By following its instructions, it’s possible to reach an incredible level of power. The reason why Longhu Immortal stands first on the list of cultivators is that he always brought forth new ideas. He actually applied Nine Words Formula into his own Cultivation.”

“We hope it will help us break down the barrier between martial arts and Cultivation. I want to find a way to resolve the problem before I am too old.”

The Nine Words Formula found in the den confirmed their speculation about Longhu Immortal’s methods of Cultivation.

“What about the corresponding visualization?” Lou Cheng almost blurted out this question. Fortunately, he bore his master’s warning in mind, keep silent.

The reason that Confrontation Formula only caused a few ripples in the Jindan must be because he lacked the supporting visualization.

Geezer Shi threw a quick glance at Lou Cheng, gaining insight into his mind, he smiled.

“This was indeed a fruitful trip. The Nine Words Formula wrote by Longhu Immortal when he was cultivating contained spirit and essence, which was basically a visualized diagram without minor details.”

“Right. It only takes some time to master the skills. However, only three characters were intact,” said Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame in a soft and regretful tone.

Except for the character of Army, Swordsman, and Forwarding, the rest were deficient in essence.

“It’s no big deal. Longhu Immortal was not the only one who understood Nine Words Formula!” Geezer Shi gave a snort.

“Those three characters on the wall are the visualization diagram?” Lou Cheng was shocked. He could see that those characters were in an elaborate and thickly-colored style representing a special meaning. They seemed to illuminate some of the ultimate mysteries of the universe.

To be specific, Army was sharp, Swordsman was dignified, and Forwarding was full of vitality!

While Lou Cheng was obsessed with these characters, Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame stepped forward, placing his fingers on the wall.

With swishing sounds, the green blaze cut off the characters of Army, Swordsman, and Forwarding, leaving the rest to burn.

Three pieces of stone flakes with characters flew to Queen of Thought, falling into her hands.

Such telekinesis was far stronger than Liu Xunzhen’s supernatural ability… Lou Cheng restrained the impulse to stop her from taking away those flakes.

They left the Cultivator’s Den and returned to the shore. Lou Cheng and his master gazed at the receding figures of Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame and Queen of Thought. Lou Cheng lowered his voice and told Geezer Shi, “Master, Nine Words Formula had an affect… ”

Lou Cheng was not finished, and Geezer Shi interrupted, “It affected the thing in your body that was left by Longhu Immortal?”

“Right.” Lou Cheng nodded hard.

That was correct!

He added. “The ancient pronunciation is not enough. We have to find the right visualization.”

“I will ask them for a rubbing of those stone flakes. Although the display would be less ideal, it is better than nothing. You can try with that and confirm the effect first.” Geezer Shi mispronounced the word rubbing.

“Thank you, master!” Lou Cheng answered joyfully.

Geezer Shi was indeed a good master!

There was a ray of hope that the mystery of Longhu Immortal’s Jindan can finally be solved!

He took out his phone and noticed the signal strength was restored. Yan Zheke had sent him an emoji of “stretching herself”.

“We finally get a break. Our teacher taught so fast that he finished dozens of pages of a textbook in one class and it was exhausting!”

Lou Cheng checked the time. The last message was received several minutes ago.

That adventure was over very quickly. It lacked the breathtaking and thrilling moments he had expected!

“I managed to find time to have an adventure.” He sent back an emoji of “snicker” to Yan Zheke, and tried to hail a special car with the APP.

He waited. No taxi had accepted the order by the time Yan Zheke replied.

“Let us call it a night. I am leaving first. You can go for a run if you like.” Geezer Shi waved his hand and held in his laughter.

“Master, you are not taking me with you?” said Lou Cheng with a steady look on his face. He could not believe his master!

Geezer Shi coughed, “You know I am wounded. I could do just fine by myself, but I can’t take you with me. You are a red-blooded young man. Go for a run.”

“O… OK.” Lou Cheng accepted the excuse.

Without the least hesitation, Geezer Shi strode forward, disappearing into the darkness.

Geezer Shi took a rest from time to time. Whenever he stopped, he was unspeakably happy thinking of Lou Cheng’s embarrassed look.

You have an abundance of stamina, don’t you?

So run and keep running!

Lou Cheng pulled himself together and ran. Breathing in the fresh and humid air by the lake and following the GPS on his phone, he headed toward the new campus of Songcheng University.

On his way to the school, Lou Cheng received Yan Zheke’s message with an emoji of “puzzled face”. “Adventure? I do not understand… ”

Lou Cheng explained roughly without revealing things about the others that were involved.

“There was a Cultivator’s Den nearby that was previously explored. My master took me there. Do you know what a cultivator is?”

“Of course. Shushan Study owns enormous material on Cultivation. The first cultivators were the fighters of Taoist School.” Yan Zheke replied with a “pondering face”, “Are you still in the Den? Your phone has service there? Do you have a global package?”

“No. I am already running home!” Lou Cheng replied with mixed feelings. But what Coach Yan told him thronged his mind.

Maybe more material of Cultivation could be gathered from Shushan Study..