Chapter 8: Special Heart Methods

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  Generally, the heart method, even if it is a rare divine secret book on the mainland with an attached heart method, only helps the practitioner to cultivate internal energy and then urges the internal energy to open up the martial arts meridians in the body one by one. However, "Ling Luo Secret Classic" is not like this.

  "Immortal Old Man, make it quick, I don't have much time left! If you want to teach me some advanced martial skills, wait until I've opened up some of the meridians in my body. Right now, I'm unable to use internal energy and can't learn any martial skills." Xia Yan really couldn't wait to dive into his cultivation plan, he had already wasted too much time.

  If he could cultivate normally from the age of three ten years ago, Xia Yan would not believe that he would lose to that guy Xia Liu.

  "Hey kid, don't rush to open your martial arts meridians. Use your spiritual sense to feel the ring in your hand and see if you can perceive its existence." The Holy Emperor flipped his eyes white, put his hands behind his back, and suddenly became serious: "Pay attention, concentrate all your heart and spirit!"

  Xia Yan rubbed his forehead, wanting to quickly get rid of the Holy Emperor. Although he was puzzled in his heart, he had no choice but to follow the Holy Emperor's words. As he concentrated his mind, suddenly, something appeared in his consciousness. Xia Yan slowly gathered his spirit and carefully looked at the extra thing, only to find that it was actually the Ling Luo Ring in his hand.

  Consciousness naturally followed the momentum and entered the ring, suddenly, Xia Yan seemed to see countless white energy beams flashing with light, quickly rushing towards himself from all directions, as if wanting to swallow him whole. Xia Yan's eyes widened in shock at the scene before him, wanting to run away and hide, but just as this thought arose, those white lights rushed in directly.

  "Ah!" Xia Yan let out a painful cry, falling to the ground with a thud. Clutching his head in both hands, he felt an intense pain, as if his brain was about to explode.

  His twisted face was covered with beads of sweat as big as soybeans.

  Severe pain caused Xia Yan's body to roll back and forth on the rocks, but Sheng Huang, standing not far away, showed a delighted gaze, nodded in relief, seeming very satisfied, even narrowing his eyes together.

  "Ow!" Xia Yan's consciousness was already blurry, only knowing that she was hugging her head and shouting in pain!

  "Ouch!"

  It wasn't clear how much time had passed, but Xia Yan finally slowly came to, and everything returned to calm. He discovered that in his mind, there were many more things. These things had appeared out of thin air and became a part of Xia Yan's memories.

  Xia Yan thought carefully and was shocked to discover that these extra contents or memories were actually about the cultivation of mind methods.

  "Could it be..." Xia Yan's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he opened his eyes to look around, but the old Holy Emperor had already vanished into thin air.

  "Am I really dreaming? Did I think all this up in my dreams?" Xia Yan blinked, shaking her head in some incredulity.

  "Kid, this is the legendary secret book 'Ling Luo Secret Classic', can you think of it? Can your brain come up with it?"

  Suddenly, a voice sounded in Xia Yan's ear. Xia Yan instantly jumped up from the ground, his eyes wide open, and his heart racing non-stop.

  "You... are you the Holy Emperor?" Xia Yan asked uncertainly, was it just a dream earlier? That old man, did he really exist?

  "Uh... you... where are you?" Seeing no response from the other party, Xia Yan gritted his teeth and carefully searched around but couldn't find any trace of the old man. His eyes flickered for a moment before he asked again.

  "Listen up, kid! I'm in the ring you're holding, so remember this: don't bother me unless it's necessary. Follow the Heart Method from the 'Spiritual Net Scripture' and cultivate yourself properly! Hmph, if you slack off, don't blame me for being ruthless! Since you're the chosen successor of the Spiritual Net Ring, you'd better become powerful for me!"

  After hearing this sentence, the surroundings fell silent again. After waiting for a while, seeing that the Holy Emperor didn't seem to want to speak again, Xia Yan carefully looked at the black ring on his hand. This ring, compared to before, seemed to have no changes... That old man, is he inside this ring?

  Xia Yan pouted and carefully recalled the "Ling Luo Secret Classic" in her mind, as the Holy Emperor had said.

  "Ah~"

  "Actually using internal force to open up all twelve meridians at the same time? This..." Eyes wide as a cow, mouth agape in shock.

  Although Xia Yan has not opened up a single meridian so far, he has read many books and had no idea that there was such a method to open up the meridians. It seems that this "Ling Luo Secret Classic" is really powerful!

  Xia Yan's most urgent wish now is to have the qualifications to enter the Zi Ye Academy, and then have enough strength to challenge the Holy Temple Master and become the new Holy Temple Master. At that time, he can let his mother's spirit tablet be placed in the ancestral temple with his father.

  According to the method in "Ling Luo Secret Classic", Xia Yan began to slowly control the internal force that was like a wandering thread inside his body. These internal forces were extremely weak and wandered around every corner of his body, making it very difficult for Xia Yan to control them. If he used an ordinary mental technique, he could still slowly control it, but now Xia Yan was using the "Ling Luo Secret Classic" to control the internal force while simultaneously guiding it towards the twelve meridians. After half a day's effort, there was still no progress.

  Early morning, sunrise!

  Xia Yan stood up from the ground, simply washed his face, ate some dry rations, and continued to enter a state of cultivation.

  The sun had set, and Xia Yan opened his eyes, shaking his head as he stood up. He wanted to ask the Holy Emperor if it was because he had started from the wrong point or if his understanding of the secret recipe was incorrect. Why was there no progress at all? However, Xia Yan tried several times, whether using his consciousness to call out or shouting loudly, but the Holy Emperor seemed to have completely disappeared, ignoring him entirely.

  However, Xia Yan discovered a very strange phenomenon, that is, he had not slept for more than thirty hours, but he didn't feel tired at all! After simple speculation, the quick-witted Xia Yan knew that the problem must be with the mental method he was currently cultivating.

  Actually, most of the mind methods attached to the secret recipes are similar, and they all aim at stimulating the internal force to open up the meridians. Most high-level secret recipes don't have mind methods, only simple martial techniques. Mind methods are just used by practitioners when starting out to open up the meridians.

  With this great discovery, Xia Yan regained his energy and entered a state of cultivation.

  One day...

  Two days...

  A week...

  A month...

  A month's time had passed, and Xia Yan finally felt that he had made some progress. The originally weak internal force in his body was now being used intermittently with the techniques recorded in the Ling Luo Secret Manual. However, wanting to use this internal force to open up the twelve meridians, Xia Yan felt that there were still great difficulties ahead, and he needed to continue working hard.

  "The dry rations are finished, it's time to head back down the mountain. It seems that in order to complete the refinement of the body and open up all 12 meridians, there is still a long way to go!" Xia Yan rubbed his chin, glanced at the distant mountain ridge, took out a clean blue shirt from his bag and changed into it, then spread his legs and quickly ran down the mountain.

  Although not a single meridian has been opened, the current Xia Yan seems to have undergone some changes compared to the past. The current Xia Yan's mental state is extremely full and the overall feeling he gives people seems to have a kind of ethereal and otherworldly flavor. It seems that he has really become a powerful and mysterious cultivator in the mountains.

  Xia Yan's small courtyard, the only change was that it had accumulated a thick layer of dust, and the tables in the room had turned gray. The more powerful sons in the family all had their own maidservants to serve them, Xia Yan naturally did not receive such treatment, and it was even less likely that someone would come to clean for him.

  "I don't know if Third Grandfather has been here before, but when he finds out I'm not around, he'll definitely be worried. Hmm, I'll leave a note for him saying I've gone to cultivate and that there's no need to worry." Xia Yan gazed at the broken purple桐 flower tree in the small courtyard, a faint sense of melancholy on his face, but then his expression changed suddenly, "Next year, in June, during the family selection tournament, I must win and make everyone look up to me. Then, I'll be able to participate in the entrance examination for Purple Leaf Academy in September. Every three years, Purple Leaf Academy recruits students from outside, and next year just happens to be one of those years. Being the most outstanding young master within the family will definitely earn a recommendation to take part in the entrance examination for Purple Leaf Academy. Entering Purple Leaf Academy is also an honor for the family, because graduates from Purple Leaf Academy have relatively high social status."

  Xia Yan walked on the main street of Yushui City with his head down, because although he had been living a secluded life for over a decade, there were still many people in Yushui City who recognized him and knew his special identity. Of course, they also knew that he was the least welcome son of the Xia family.

  In order not to attract attention and gossip from others, Xia Yan always tries to make himself inconspicuous. To say the least, Xia Yan, who is dressed in ordinary clothes and has his head down, does not attract much attention either. Moreover, the streets he passes through are mostly populated by ordinary civilians, making it easy for him to blend into such a crowd.