Chapter 7: Rising to First-Class
"The Way of Heaven reduces the excessive and augments the insufficient, thus the empty overcomes the solid, and the insufficient overcomes the excessive. Its intention is vast, its principle profound, its meaning deep; it distinguishes the forms of heaven and earth, arranges the positions of yin and yang, explains the reasons for change, and manifests the signs of life and death. Without deliberate planning, its legacy naturally agrees; without forced constraint, its subtle brilliance is in harmony. Examining its words, there are subtleties; verifying its affairs, there is no excess. It can indeed be called the ultimate principle of the Supreme Way, the beginning of nurturing life."
"When moving, there must be direction in all eight directions. The movement should not be made by oneself, but rather one should carefully observe and follow the opponent's movement, bending and stretching accordingly, without losing or resisting. Do not extend or contract by oneself, for when the opponent has power, I also have power, and my power is prior. When the opponent has no power, I also have no power, yet my intention remains prior. One must pay attention to every detail, where to exert force, where to apply the mind, and seek information from the opponent's movement without losing or resisting. Remember that stillness is not mere stillness, but rather stillness like a mountain. When moving, it should be like a river. As for the saying 'his strength comes from his strength', it means that when the opponent is strong, I am also strong, and when he is weak, I am also weak. The clear wind blows over the mountain peak, and the bright moon shines on the great river. From this practice, after one or two years, you will be able to apply it to your body. This is entirely a matter of using intention, not force. After a long time, others will be controlled by me, but I will not be controlled by others."
Yang Feng continuously circulated the two strands of true energy produced in his body according to the principles of the two divine arts, allowing them to gradually grow stronger. However, Yang Feng's cultivation time was limited, and he could only cultivate for two hours each day during the early morning and late afternoon when yin and yang were balanced; at other times, he couldn't cultivate due to the imbalance of yin and yang.
Although there were only four hours a day to cultivate, Yang Feng's progress was still very rapid. He could clearly feel the two strands of true energy in his body growing stronger bit by bit. So even though he had very little time to cultivate, Yang Feng was still very happy.
However, what made Yang Feng a little worried was that the two strands of true energy in his body had each occupied half of his body and were circulating on their own after leaving his dantian. The true energy of the Nine Yin Scripture was on the left, while the true energy of the Nine Yang Divine Skill was on the right. As a result, every time Yang Feng practiced, he would feel cold on the left side and warm on the right side. Fortunately, these two strands of true energy got along well with each other and did not cause any friction. After circulating for a small cycle, they would return to his dantian and hibernate, so although Yang Feng was worried, seeing them living in harmony made him no longer pay much attention to it.
After obtaining the true energy, Yang Feng can now cultivate other martial arts. He carefully selected and chose to learn "Spiral Nine Shadows", "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" and "Jade Flute Swordsmanship".
Jiuyin Nine Shadows is a lightness skill recorded in the Jiuyin Zhenjing. It combines body method, footwork and aura wrapping into one. Can jump up several meters from flat ground, can also fly horizontally for thousands of miles, with a layer of natural aura around the body that can attack external enemies. When practiced to the highest level, it can create nine illusory shadows, having the same effect as the Buddhist supreme divine skill "Lotus Platform Nine Manifestations". Yang Feng is currently facing the strongest Yang family among the ancient martial arts families in Huaxia Country, so he must practice his lightness skill well, only then can he protect his own life in times of crisis.
The Nine Yin White Bone Claw is not to be mentioned, its claw power is unmatched, and the ghostly energy is overwhelming. Its claws can make a hole in the skull without shattering it, and the center of the claw has a strong suction force that can take objects or absorb others' powers from a distance. The claw fingers have a powerful penetrating energy that can harm people from a distance. One open and one close, one merge and one combine, all conform to the principles of martial arts! Yang Feng naturally obtained the authentic Nine Yin White Bone Claw, without having to find someone's skull to refine it like in the legend. He chose this claw technique because the Nine Yin White Bone Claw is relatively easier to cultivate, and some parts of it focus on external skills, which have many similarities with the Easy Tendon and Bone Tempering chapter he practiced before, making it a bit easier to cultivate.
As for the Jade Xiao swordsmanship, it was passed down by Huang Yaoshi, the master of Peach Blossom Island, to Yang Guo's ancestor. Although this swordsmanship is not as powerful as the Dugu Sword Classic, it can still be considered a superior swordsmanship. Yang Feng currently cannot understand the profundity of the Dugu Sword Classic, so he can only learn this Jade Xiao swordsmanship for now. Although in modern society, one would not see people using swords anymore, in ancient families like the Yangs, many people still use swords, and when mastered, the power of swordsmanship is no less than that of modern firearms.
As for other martial arts, such as the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Dog-Beating Stick Method, the Finger-Popping Divine Ability, and the Toad Skill, these all require extremely deep internal energy to cultivate. Someone like Yang Feng, who only has those two strands of true energy, can't even learn them, let alone practice them. He'll have to wait until his true energy grows stronger before he can try again.
After selecting these three sets of kung fu, Yang Feng spent all his time practicing them, allocating every moment of the day without any waste. He even gave up sleep, as after the four hours of internal energy training, he felt particularly refreshed and not sleepy at all, so he naturally used that time to practice instead.
Yang Feng cleared a spacious area in the small valley, and carved Spiral Nine Shadows' footwork into it, one footprint at a time. He then practiced the body method of Spiral Nine Shadows repeatedly. At first, Yang Feng was very clumsy and often fell to the ground, but such minor tumbles no longer fazed him after enduring the hardships of the entire winter. If he still cared about falling down, then all his suffering would have been in vain.
When Yang Feng was practicing the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, he was still under the same steep cliff where he had practiced the Easy Tendon and Hard Bone Chapter. He continued to practice, clawing at the cliff with one hand after another, until all ten fingers were bleeding. Originally, Yang Feng should have started by finding something softer to practice on, but in this small valley, there was nothing except the cliff and a few fruit trees. Now that the weather was getting warmer, the fruit trees had begun to bloom, and at this time, Yang Feng would absolutely not use them to practice his skills - they were his future food supply. If he accidentally clawed through a tree, he would have nothing left but tears, so he could only continue practicing against the cliff.
The Jade Xiao sword technique is relatively easier to practice, Yang Feng found a thin stick about two feet long, and estimated that the average Xiao would be around this length. Then he began to cultivate the Jade Xiao sword technique. The moves of the Jade Xiao sword technique are not very difficult, Yang Feng quickly mastered them, but to become proficient, there is still much to be desired. Therefore, every day, Yang Feng takes out a part of his time to repeatedly practice the Jade Xiao sword technique until he has fully mastered it.
The three months of spring passed quickly, and summer arrived again. At this time, the rain increased, and the water in the mountain stream flowing into the small valley became extremely large, forming a waterfall with an increasingly grand momentum, making people feel more and more shocked! Yang Feng looked at the waterfall and thought that his ancestor, Yang Guo, had once practiced the solitary sword technique under the waterfall. Although he couldn't yet grasp the essence of the solitary sword technique, he could still use the power of the waterfall to practice the Easy Tendon and Hard Bone Chapter.
Yang Feng then ran to the waterfall every day to endure the power of the falling water. At first, Yang Feng couldn't even get close, but after persistent efforts, he finally stood under the waterfall for a second before being washed away. However, this didn't make Yang Feng give up; he persisted, and slowly, he was able to stand under the waterfall for one minute, two minutes, until he could last half an hour. This was all due to Yang Feng's strong will, step by step, moving towards success.
Under such training, Yang Feng's physical quality has changed a bit, making his internal strength increase faster when practicing the Nine Yin Scripture and the Nine Yang Divine Skill. The internal strength of both the Nine Yin Scripture and the Nine Yang Divine Skill have increased, originally only having true energy as thin as hair, now it can be as thick as a thread.
Yang Feng's Spiral Nine Shadows had already shown initial results, his footwork and steps were extremely familiar, and he would no longer stumble or trip. His speed was also getting faster and faster, although it was still far from being able to separate into nine shadows, but it could be said that he had reached the realm of coming and going like the wind.
The Nine Yin White Bone Claw has also made great progress, and the situation on that steep cliff is now even worse. Originally, it was being punched by Yang Feng with many holes, but now it's covered with holes as big as fingers, almost the entire cliff has no extra space left. Such achievements can already show that Yang Feng's Nine Yin White Bone Claw is almost small and complete.
Yang Feng, although he couldn't practice martial arts at the Yang family, still had some understanding of certain things in the Jianghu. The current Jianghu is divided into several realms: third-rate masters, second-rate masters, first-rate masters, acquired peak, innate first level, innate second level, and innate third level. Yang Feng knew that his current strength should be that of a first-rate master!
Although achieving such a result has made Yang Feng extremely happy, he deeply knows that his current power is already unimaginable for ordinary people, but for the Yang family, it's nothing. His current level is just about the same as Yi Shu, who was chasing him down at first, and only qualifies to be a servant of the Yang family. To deal with the Yang family, he needs even greater power.
However, Yang Feng is now ready to leave this small valley because it's already deep autumn and next will be winter. Yang Feng will face the situation of starving to death here again, because the fish in the water pool have been caught by Yang Feng. If Yang Feng doesn't leave, then when winter comes, Yang Feng can only drink northwest wind!
Today is Laba Festival, brothers don't forget to drink a bowl of hot Laba porridge, wish you all a happy Laba Festival!!
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