Chapter 3

The Bao Long Clan held a very special status in the Great Ming Dynasty. It was said that when the founding emperor was fighting to establish his empire, there were four extraordinary men who had risen from the common folk and were always by his side. These four men were dedicated to protecting the emperor's personal safety. Despite their significant contributions, they never boasted or took credit, and they never interfered in political matters. Despite their many years of service, they all refused promotions and titles. Moved by their loyalty, the founding emperor thus created the Bao Long Clan!

The Bao Long Clan was directly under the emperor himself, not subject to any organization and holding no official positions, operating independently of the imperial system. Their primary duty was to protect everything related to the emperor, and they were managed internally as a family, passing down their loyalty and reliability through generations, serving as the last line of defense for the emperor!

The Bao Long Clan had their own training ground in the palace, which was large enough to host three soccer matches simultaneously. To outsiders, the Bao Long Clan consisted of only four people, but behind these four was a vast support system. This included medical care, supplies, weapon forging, and even the training and selection of successors. When Ling Xiao first learned of this, he was quite shocked.

Why? Because ultimately, only four people could become part of the Bao Long Clan, and there were ten thousand competitors! This wasn't the most astonishing part; what truly terrified Ling Xiao was that he was the only one competing for the position of 007! Since he was the 9,527th competitor, his code name was 9527!

Every time he thought about it, Ling Xiao felt as if he were caught in a massive whirlpool. The successors of the Bao Long Clan were entirely chosen by the previous generation, and even the emperor had no authority to interfere. Although 007 was not favored, given how coveted the Bao Long Clan positions were, had no one ever used underhanded tactics to force him to comply?

Ling Xiao thought he understood the Bao Long Clan well, but the real world and movies were different. This half-knowledge about things was the most annoying feeling!

As he walked through the training ground, Ling Xiao kept his eyes straight ahead. Even though he had been there many times, the disdainful looks from the other candidates still made him very angry.

Of course, Ling Xiao didn't wake up early just to be given the cold shoulder. After passing through the training ground, there was a temple behind it. In fact, it wasn't unusual for there to be temples in the palace, as many emperors throughout history had religious beliefs. Initially, Ling Xiao didn't care much, but things changed after he came with 007.

The temple was not grand but rather simple, with a statue of Guanyin enshrined inside. A high-ranking monk was devoutly reciting scriptures before the statue.

"Every time I see you, you're reciting scriptures!" Ling Xiao exclaimed.

"Because I have a devout heart!" The monk turned around, saw Ling Xiao, and nodded slightly with one hand raised to his chest.

"If you're so devout, why don't you remove the spider webs from the Guanyin statue?"

"Originally there is nothing, where does dust come from?"

"Spider webs are spider webs, and they exist. Don't always talk philosophy to me about science! And don't fool me because I'm not well-read; that phrase isn't used like that!" Ling Xiao shook his head and countered.

The monk was delighted, "Layman, you indeed have a connection with the Buddha! At such a young age, you have already reached the realm of seeing mountains as mountains and water as water. Why not give up on the unambitious 007 and follow me to Jinshan Temple to practice?"

"Ha, my master will soar to the sky one day! Besides, I often reach the realm of seeing nothing when I clean my room. Don't bring this up again, or I'll get angry!"

"Alas! I offer my heart to the bright moon, but the moon shines upon the gutter!" The monk looked like a heartbroken teenager, his head hanging low, and even a couple of tears squeezed out from the corners of his eyes.

If you didn't know him, you might think he was planning to take revenge on society after losing all hope. But Ling Xiao ignored him and went to a corner to sit and practice his skills.

The monk's dharma name was Foyin, and he also served the emperor, holding a position similar to the Bao Long Clan. In this world, everything exists for a reason. In the movies, this thick-browed monk was just a comedic side character, but here he had a special meaning.

Perhaps because they were both not favored by the emperor, 007 and Foyin had the best relationship in the Bao Long Clan. Ling Xiao had asked his master about Foyin, but the answer left him puzzled and impressed: Foyin was sent by Jinshan Temple to the palace to exorcise ghosts and ward off evil!

Even on a technologically advanced Earth, there were many things that couldn't be explained, like aliens and ghosts! At first, Ling Xiao didn't take it seriously, but then he thought about how this world even had 007, so the appearance of a Black Mountain Old Demon wouldn't be too surprising. However, humans are strange creatures; if they haven't seen something, they often believe it doesn't exist. The emperor clearly saw Foyin as a fraud who performed rituals, so he often assigned him dirty tasks like washing dishes and cleaning toilets.

Seeing that Ling Xiao ignored him, Foyin sat down and resumed his recitation, feeling bored. After a while, he said to Ling Xiao, "With your talent, even ten more years won't help. Why not give up and practice external skills instead?"

Ling Xiao exhaled a deep breath and looked at Foyin, speechless. Foyin knew he had hit a sore spot and felt a bit embarrassed, scratching his head and not knowing how to comfort him. In the end, under Ling Xiao's resentful gaze, he turned back to continue his recitation.

Just thinking about it made him want to cry! If he didn't learn martial arts in this martial world, wouldn't it be a waste? But Ling Xiao's talent was truly pitiful!

At first, when he was training in the Jinyiwei camp, it wasn't noticeable, but after following 007 and practicing internal skills, Ling Xiao discovered that he had a dead pulse!

What is a dead pulse? It doesn't mean he couldn't practice internal skills, but his meridians were naturally narrow and severely blocked. Meridian blockages were manageable; it just took more effort to clear them, and there were many rare herbs to help. But narrow meridians were a different story. One day of practice for others was equivalent to a year for him. Even a month's difference was enough to make him despair.

When the imperial physician examined his talent, he didn't even bother to speak and left. His gaze towards 007 was full of admiration, "How did you find a successor as useless as yourself?"

Initially, Ling Xiao didn't give up. For his martial arts dream, he used the Bao Long Clan's status to obtain a basic Daoist internal skill from the armory. This skill, though common, was the best for ordinary people to build a foundation. Those with the best talent would feel the qi in half an hour, ordinary people in about half a month, and those with poorer talent in one to two months.

Ling Xiao knew his talent was poor, but after three months of practice, he still felt nothing. Feeling depressed, he told 007. 007 was genuinely concerned about his disciple and shared his own embarrassing story. It turned out 007's talent was also extremely poor, and it took him half a year to feel the qi. Later, seeing his slow progress, he gave up practicing.

Hearing this, Ling Xiao regained confidence, but after seven months, he still felt nothing. This time, even 007 didn't encourage him. Instead, he often used this to belittle him, finding a long-lost sense of superiority!

Ling Xiao was used to his master's behavior but was determined. Finally, after a year, on New Year's Eve, Ling Xiao felt the qi! But the joy was short-lived. Feeling the qi meant he could practice internal skills, but his progress was so slow that he might never be able to fight even a street thug. His martial arts dream was shattered, and if not for that incident, he wouldn't be so diligent now.

After realizing he had no hope with internal skills, Ling Xiao decided to practice external skills. He thought of the bull horn, which was considered a family treasure. After becoming part of the Bao Long Clan, his skills hadn't improved much, but his discernment had. The drawings on the bull horn clearly represented a skill, but it looked more like a set of exercises without any offensive moves. It didn't show any meridians or acupoints either.

Ling Xiao had practiced it before with no results, but this time it was different. He couldn't even complete the first of the 81 drawings before feeling completely drained, as if he had been beaten by seventeen or eighteen men for days. In an instant, the tiny bit of internal energy he had cultivated was gone!

Ling Xiao lay on the ground in an ungraceful position and didn't get up for an hour. But his mouth was stretched to his ears, and he was grinning like a fool, as 007 would say.

From this, it was clear that the drawings were a profound skill! However, to practice it, one needed internal energy as a foundation. Even with just a bit of internal energy, completing the first drawing made Ling Xiao feel like he had taken a strength pill, and he could feel a surge of power in his fist. Ling Xiao didn't test how much stronger he had become, but this only strengthened his resolve to practice.

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