Chapter 83: The Great Completion of Heart Methods

  "Listen, Kongshou," said Tingkong, "I'll tell you the truth. You're here with me and don't know what's going on outside... Right now, there's a war raging outside, and the situation is dire. I hope you can master your inner strength soon and contribute to our country."

  I was shocked: "Fighting? With whom? Have the Wanlong Society's people betrayed again? Or were they just pretending to surrender to the government?"

  Kong Shou sighed and said, "Apart from the Wan Long Hui you mentioned, there are also three small countries around us that have formed an alliance to launch a simultaneous attack on our country's northeast, southwest, and north. This has left our nation exhausted from responding. Not long ago, the three blocking troops sent out by our nation suffered heavy losses and are now in a stalemate. Adding to this, the Wan Long Hui is causing destruction inland, making it a dire situation. It was because of this that we convened a martial arts conference to discuss how to save the country. Although the Wu Dang sect has been declining in recent years, we are still a part of the martial arts world. Therefore, we have decided to send you to support the troops and jointly fight against the invading enemy."

  I frowned and said: "Don't we have very powerful weapons? How can we not beat a few small countries? Which countries exactly attacked us?"

  Kong Shou said: "In the northeast, our arch-nemesis is the Japanese pirates; in the southwest is Nepal. The north is the most heartbreaking, unexpectedly it's Mongolia. Alas, apart from the Japanese pirates, Nepal and Mongolia are just being used by others, the reasons for sending troops against my country are also completely fabricated. I heard that someone important has gone missing, they want my country to hand over people who don't even exist, and both sides went to war without saying a word."

  I sneered, "Missing persons? Isn't this the same excuse Little Japan used to launch an invasion of China in the past? It seems that several countries are trying to take advantage of our internal chaos and invade us. Hmph, they want to swallow us up again, but I'm afraid they don't have such a big appetite."

  Kong Shou sighed and said, "National affairs are not something that we martial artists can understand, but we still have a duty to contribute to the country. I know that the country has wronged you in some ways before, but I still want you to go and support our troops. If you have any thoughts or opinions, you can tell me directly."

  I smiled and said, "Master, you underestimate me. Although some things were unfair to me before, I am also a member of this national family. When the country is in trouble, it's only right that we lend a hand. There's nothing more to say, just assign my task directly."

  Kong Shou shook his head: "We've already decided, in the next year, I'll personally go to the troops. You must seize this opportunity to cultivate your heart method to the Great Completion Realm. Then I'll give you a call, and when the time comes, you can go to the troops to replace me. I'm getting older, I won't be able to stay in the troops forever, I hope you can understand that. Also, in the next year, you, Yifan, and Huang Yi'er must all work hard to cultivate, who knows, maybe when the time comes, the three of you will go to the troops together."

  Yi Fan and Huang Yier immediately said: "We will strictly follow the teachings of our master (master uncle), we will work hard to cultivate ourselves, strive to practice Wudang Kung Fu as soon as possible, and make contributions to the country."

  Kong Shou and Yi Chen nodded in unison, then Kong Shou said to me: "Jin Cang can now begin to cultivate the final chapter of the Heart Method. If Yifan and Huang Yier have any questions, they can ask either Yi Chen Shixiong or Jin Cang. Now, Jin Cang, come with me, I'll explain the oral formula for the third chapter of the Heart Method..."

  I immediately responded with "yes" and followed Kong Shou out the door.

  Kong Shou explained the third part of Xin Fa's oral formula to me in great detail, and also told me about his own experiences during his practice.

  I carefully memorized and soon understood the third part of the Heart Method. Kong Shou was delighted, smiled at me and said: "Jin Cang, you are now the eldest brother among the 100th generation disciples of Wudang, also known as the Big Master Brother. You must set a good example for Yifan and Huang Yi'er. Soon I will bring over a few more disciples, they will worship under your Shifu's door. They are also your younger brothers and sisters, you must cultivate diligently, don't lose the identity of the Big Master Brother."

  I nodded: "Master, rest assured. I will try my best to cultivate the third chapter of Xin Fa and won't let you down."

  Kong Xuan nodded: "Jin Cang, you are my only male disciple and the future leader of our Wudang sect. You must remember my words and never forget the rules of our Wudang sect - that one sentence, or rather three sentences, you must keep in mind at all times to remind yourself and your fellow disciples."

  I said seriously: "I will. Master, when are you going to set off to help the military? I... if I go into closed-door training, I won't be able to see you off."

  Kong Shou shook his head: "No need to send me off, just focus on your cultivation. And there's one more thing, you must remember."

  "What's wrong? Master, tell me!"

  Kong Shou hesitated for a moment, then finally said: "It's like this. My granddaughter has always been thinking about you and keeps saying she is your fiancée... don't you think it's time to understand the situation? Dragging it out like this isn't good for either of you."

  I was taken aback and then sighed with a bitter smile: "Master, emotional matters cannot be forced. Look at this matter, it's originally just a misunderstanding..."

  "Alas, I'm well aware of this! However, Qianlan is a member of the Nan Gong family, and their family rules do have such a clause. You... Ah, handle it as you see fit, but I truly don't wish for you both to become enemies in the future. That's not something I'd like to see!"

  I nodded: "When I see Nan Gong Qian Lan again, I will have a good talk with her. Master, rest assured, such things won't happen."

  "Great! Kongkuang, go into seclusion and focus on your cultivation. Try to make progress quickly so you can catch up with Master when I return."

  I nodded solemnly: "I will."

  He waved his hand and sat down to meditate. I turned around and left, coming straight to my own room, where I immediately started another closed-door meditation session.

  The third piece of Wudang Heart Method, the Great Success Realm, is actually an upgrade of the first two realms. It mainly strengthens one's meridians, increases the amount of true energy stored in the dantian, refines the true energy, and uses it more skillfully, to the point where it can be done with ease, like extending one's arm or moving one's fingers.

  But this realm is easy to say, but it's hard to do. Not to mention others, but strengthening the meridians is not something that can be done overnight. Many people practice their whole lives and still cannot truly strengthen their meridians to a high level. As for increasing the storage capacity of the dantian for true energy, it's even more difficult. The size of the dantian is fixed, so in order to increase the storage capacity of true energy, one must first expand their own dantian. This step alone, many people cannot complete even after a lifetime of effort.

  I naturally understand these principles, so when I closed my doors to cultivate, I didn't rush too much. Instead, I started by cultivating the first layer of heart method, then proceeded to the second layer, and finally cultivated this third layer in a natural sequence.

  People say there is no time in the mountains, I say there is no time for cultivation either. Apart from eating two meals a day on schedule, all my other time is spent cultivating. And those who bring me food, Yifan or Huangyi, are the same as me, whenever they have time, they will cultivate.

  For a time, in this courtyard, except for Yichun, everyone else hardly spoke, and they were all wholeheartedly cultivating.

  As for what Kongshou said about bringing some more disciples back, I completely forgot about it and don't know if there really are some new junior brothers or sisters.

  Time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, it's almost been a year since Kong Xuan said that. My cultivation speed has basically reached my expected goal, and I'm just one step away from achieving the Heart Method.

  This is already an extremely heaven-defying thing, to know that the time it took for Kong Shou and Yi Chen to reach the Great Perfection Realm was many times more than mine, even ten or more times. This has something to do with my body after using genetic medicine, I don't dare say it's all due to the genetic medicine, but at least part of it is.

  I've been cultivating for three years, and even in the middle of that, there was a year where I was almost doing useless work. To be able to reach my current level, I'm already very satisfied. So when the time arrived that I had agreed upon with Kong Xiang, I ended my closed-door training without hesitation and walked out of my room.

  I thought that as soon as I left the room, I would see Yifan or Huang Yi'er, and at the very least, I would see Master Yichen. But I didn't expect to choose the wrong time to end my closed-door training. When I came out, it was in the middle of the night, and there wasn't a single person in the courtyard.

  I couldn't help but smile wryly and muttered to myself: "Being in seclusion for so long, I've almost forgotten what sunrise and sunset look like. It seems it's time for me to emerge and take a walk."

  No sooner had I finished speaking than a cold voice shouted: "Who is it? What are you doing here in our place at midnight?"

  As I looked around, on a beam in a room not far away, a figure was hanging upside down. My heart skipped a beat, and I laughed: "Who are you again?"

  This figure "whooshed" down in an instant, then jumped again and came directly to my front. I heard him say: "I am the first hundredth generation disciple of Wudangpai, my master is Wudang's elder Yichen, do you know?"

  I smiled: "I know Yidun Shibo, but I don't know you. Are you a new Wudang disciple? What's your name?"

  He hesitated and muttered "en", then suddenly spoke loudly: "Are you our senior brother Jin Cang? You...you've come out of the mountain?"

  I smiled and nodded: "I'm Jin Cang, what's your name?"

  "This man scratched his head in embarrassment and said: 'My name is Yīyǔ, the "Yǔ" in "feathers". Sorry about that, senior brother. I thought you were a bandit who had burst in, so I spoke without thinking. Please don't mind.'"

  I smiled: "How could that be? Yī Yuè, was this name given to you by your master? Your original name shouldn't have been Yī Yuè, right?"

  Yi Yu nodded: "Elder brother is right, the name Yi Yu was given to me by Master. All of us new disciples are of the same generation, besides me, there are fourteen other junior brothers and sisters! Do you want me to go call them over to meet Elder Brother now?"

  I was taken aback and immediately shook my head: "No need. It's too late now, everyone is resting, don't disturb them. You said you all came with fifteen people, did you mean that?"

  Yi Yu smiled and said, "That's right. We were all taken in by Master Yichen from outside and became his disciples. Eldest Brother, you are our eldest brother in the sect, please take care of your junior brothers in the future."

  I smiled: "Don't worry, I'll take care of all the younger brothers and sisters. You go rest too, it's getting late."

  Yi Yu said, "It's my turn to be on duty tonight, so I won't be able to rest. Big Brother, you go and rest, I still need to take a look around everywhere to prevent any little thieves from sneaking in and disturbing Master and Big Brother."

  I frowned and said: "You're on duty? Aren't you all living here? Where do the other junior brothers and sisters live?"

  Yi Yu smiled and said, "This courtyard is where Master and the Gatekeeper Uncle live, as well as Eldest Brother, you, and also Yi Fan Brother and Huang Yi Sister. The later disciples all live in a temporary residence about 300 meters away from here. Because Master was afraid that with too many people it would disturb your cultivation, he made arrangements."

  I nodded: "Then why are you on duty? It's very safe here, no need for someone to be on duty at night, right?"

  One of them let out a wry smile and said, "Elder Brother doesn't know, but things have been quite unsettled around here lately. Ever since our army clashed with the Japanese pirates, some martial artists from their side have come to cause trouble. Master is worried that it will disturb your meditation, so he's had us take turns keeping watch."

  I felt a stir in my heart and secretly said, "It seems that the current situation in our country is not optimistic. We've been fighting for a year now, but we still haven't driven out the Japanese pirates... nor do I know how the war between Mongolia and Nepal is going. Hopefully, the military has already controlled the situation..."

  One of them saw me not speaking, thinking I still didn't understand the current situation, and continued to say: "Not long ago, Master Shu received news that some Western countries are secretly supporting the Japanese pirates, wanting to take advantage of the Wanlong Society's rebellion to thoroughly defeat us. The current situation is very bad, our military has already recalled retired soldiers to fight several times."

  "My eyebrows furrowed even deeper: 'Is it because the front line is stretched too long and lacks troops? Or are the losses too heavy, so recalled retired soldiers to join the battle?'"

  "I've thought about it, and I think the first possibility is quite high. Currently, we're facing four threats, with battles all over the country, and a lack of troops is a normal thing. This isn't what worries me, what worries me is that many hidden forces are secretly doing all sorts of despicable things to our country, just like those ninja from the pirates, their numbers may not be many, but their destructive power is truly astonishing. Moreover, they're not easy for the military to detect, and have always been our greatest threat."

  I couldn't help but ask him: "Which organizations have been doing despicable things to our country?"

  He paused for a moment and said, "Actually, I'm not very clear about these things either. I just heard them from a few senior brothers. If the eldest senior brother wants to know, he can go ask Master. Master should know much more than me."

  I nodded slightly and turned around to leave, going straight to find Master Yichen to ask for clarification.

  The little Japanese pirates, unexpectedly daring to invade my China several times, this time I will definitely help the military with all my might, give the Japanese pirates a fatal blow, and let them know that we are not weak and vulnerable.

  Now that my kung fu skills are complete, various martial arts moves have long been familiar to me. Those Japanese ninja thieves who rely on stealing our country's martial arts to achieve some success, just wait for me to give you a severe blow!

  When I found Yitian, he was studying a letter. Seeing me arrive, Yitian was very surprised: "You're out of the pass? Just now I heard a feather talking and thought it was Yifan coming to check on things, didn't expect you to be out of the pass."

  I stepped forward and bowed: "Master Shibo, thank you for your help and that of the other disciples during this time. I... I heard that the Japanese pirates have invaded our Great Xia again, what is the current situation? Can you tell me?"

  Yi Chen's face tightened, and he sneered: "Those small Japanese pirates have failed so many times but still don't give up. They want to cause chaos in our China and take advantage of the situation to gain benefits from us. Recently, some of their ninjas infiltrated our China and sabotaged several key strategic targets. Although we successfully stopped them, some ninjas managed to escape. To prevent such destructive actions from happening again, the highest leader of the country has issued an order, requiring all martial artists in our China to unite and eliminate those daring ninjas who invaded us. This is the notice I just received; you might as well take a look."

  I took the letter handed over by Yichen, took a look at it, and couldn't help but say: "They actually dare to take action against the Three Gorges Dam? Don't they fear that we will be forced to use nuclear weapons against them?"

  "We're just too soft-hearted, letting the Japanese pirates think we won't use nuclear weapons, so they dare to be so reckless. Plus, with the support of Xing Guo behind them, they're even more unscrupulous."

  I just found out that Yichen had already seen a dentist and had a mouthful of pearly white teeth. But I didn't care about this now, instead I asked Yichen: "How many ninjas snuck in?"

  Yi Chen frowned and said: "According to the national intelligence department, now even the Japanese common people are very disgusted with war and killing, so there are very few people willing to join the ninja organization. Only a small number of radical elements or anti-Chinese elements are willing to be ninjas. This time, the ninjas who infiltrated our China, initially estimated that there will not be more than fifty people. Except for those who have been killed and captured, the remaining ninjas still in our country's borders, there are about twenty people left."

  I was secretly shocked, fifty ninjas, it doesn't seem like a lot, but looking at the entire China, there are only a few hundred people who can still practice ancient martial arts and achieve something. This time, the Japanese pirates sent fifty ninjas all at once, which means that they still have many organizations or institutions training ninjas in private, and their cultivation of ancient martial arts is not as neglected as it seems on the surface. The Japanese pirates' emphasis on cultivating ancient martial arts far exceeds ours in China.

  Huaxia has a loud and clear Wudang faction, before that there were only two successors. The nine major martial arts factions passed down from generation to generation, except for Shaolin, may all be in this situation. What's more, it is possible that some have no successors at all.

  So when I heard that the Japanese pirates could dispatch fifty ninjas at once this time, I was very surprised.

  Yi Chen also seemed to have thought of this: "We've always underestimated the Japanese pirates, they may have stolen our martial arts, but over the years, they've made great progress through exploration. And we ourselves, gradually abandoned these very important things, many things that have been passed down for thousands of years, were lost by us. Your master is eager to take in a large number of disciples, it's because he saw this point, and wants to try his best to make up for the loss of China."

  I nodded: "I understand. Now our Wudang sect also has a successor, although the number of people is not many, but I think it will slowly develop from now on. Now my heart method is basically practiced, what is lacking is only actual combat experience. I plan to replace my master immediately and participate in military actions. On the one hand, for the country's benefit, on the other hand, also for myself to provide enough actual combat experience, so as to truly achieve Wudang Kung Fu."

  Yi Chen nodded repeatedly: "Very good. After dawn, you set off. First go find Nan Gong Qian Lan, she will provide you with the necessary help, and let you find the military organization as soon as possible."

  "I hesitated for a moment: 'Then I'll go prepare, and set off at dawn. As for Master's side, please trouble Master to notify him so he can make some preparations too.'"

  Yi Chen nodded, looking at my eyes with a sudden hint of reluctance: "Your journey ahead is fraught with danger and uncertainty, life and death are unpredictable, be extra careful. When all else fails, prioritize survival, don't make unnecessary sacrifices."

  I smiled and suppressed the reluctance in my heart: "You're old now, take good care of your body and don't worry too much."

  Yi Chen smiled slightly and said, "There's no need to say more. You can go prepare now. I'll wait for your return with your master and your fellow disciples."

  I also smiled slightly and turned around to walk out of Yichen's room, returning to my own room to pack my luggage.

  My war is coming soon, I have made sufficient preparations and am ready for the upcoming war.