Chapter 80

Now, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling are a bit like Duan Yu in "Demigods and Half-Devils"; although they have internal energy, they don't know how to use it, and their true qi is sometimes effective and sometimes not!

Xiao Ran had the experience of briefly reaching the seventh level of cultivation and had also fought against cultivators at the seventh level and even pseudo-Heavenly Yuan realm warriors, so his understanding of true qi far exceeds that of many people!

Therefore, just by sensing the flow of true qi in Kou Zhong's body, he was able to deduce a rough method of qi circulation!

He originally thought it would take the two of them three days to learn, but unexpectedly, after just a couple of hours, Kou Zhong shouted, "It's so easy..."

After saying that, he punched the tree that Xiao Ran had hit earlier, and the tree swayed and broke in half!

This even startled him!

Xu Ziling was also frightened and approached to take a look, then said, "I thought Shao's strength had suddenly improved, but it turns out that Elder Brother Ran had already shattered most of the tree trunk earlier...

Shao, does your hand hurt?"

Kou Zhong shook his head and said, "Just now, I wrapped my fist in true qi, and it didn't hurt at all!

Oh, if I can break half a tree, I must be at least half a master!

When my divine skill is complete, I'll kill Yuwen Huagǔ to avenge my mother, and then we'll join the righteous army. I'll be the general, and you'll be the prime minister, just like Liu, Guan, and Zhang..."

At this moment, Xiao Ran said, "Is Liu, Guan, and Zhang really that good?

According to Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, during the Han Dynasty's most prosperous period, the population was about 45 million. But by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, before the Three Kingdoms, the population was still about 40 million. After the Three Kingdoms ended, the Han population was only about 4 million, a tenth of what it was!

Later, during the Five Barbarians' invasion of China, the Han people almost went extinct, and the root cause was the massive loss of life during the Three Kingdoms period, which severely weakened the nation!"

There are many accounts of how many people died during the Three Kingdoms period, and the most exaggerated one claims that by the end of the Three Kingdoms, the Han population was only about 1.5 million! This number is too terrifying, and Xiao Ran preferred not to mention it!

During the late Sui Dynasty, the Han population was about 40 million, but by the early Tang Dynasty, it had dropped to about 12 million, a reduction of over 70%!

This is the truth of the chaotic times, where the backdrop to the emergence of heroes was the countless unnamed and cheaply sacrificed common people.

Kou Zhong loved hearing about the righteous army and military matters, but this was the first time he had heard about this!

The reduction from over 40 million to less than 2 or 3 million was a terrifying number, and both Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's faces turned pale, not knowing what to think.

They had experienced war, and they knew how terrible it was, but they never imagined it would be this terrible!

Xiao Ran didn't think about what seeds he had planted in their hearts and said to them, "Since you've learned how to circulate true qi, let's start healing your injuries!"

The two looked at each other, placed their hands on Xiao Ran's back, and slowly transferred true qi. Since they had just learned how to circulate true qi, they couldn't control it very precisely.

But since they had no intention to attack and the amount of true qi was small, Xiao Ran could easily control it, guiding it to his eye meridian to slowly nourish it!

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Ran felt that the darkness before his eyes was no longer complete, and there were patches of light. Although he still couldn't see clearly, he was no longer blind, which greatly relieved him!

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were so exhausted that they collapsed on the ground, their unease completely gone!

Xiao Ran's willingness to let them transfer true qi into his body meant that if they had any ill intentions, they could have caused him significant trouble, even if they couldn't kill him!

Xiao Ran's trust moved them!

The Two Dragons were emotional people, and when others were good to them, they were willing to give their hearts away!

Xiao Ran said to them, "It's effective. Do this about ten to twenty more times, and it should be fine!"

Kou Zhong exclaimed, "So many more times?

Heaven, can I rest a bit more? I can't even lift my hands!"

Xiao Ran said, "Being too relaxed after excessive true qi consumption can make you weak...

But it's fine once in a while..."

After saying that, he lay down on the grass, lying next to the two of them!

"It's been a long time since I've been so relaxed. It's a bit of a pity that I can't see the white clouds and blue sky!"

Feeling the soft grass and the earthy smell, Xu Ziling said, "The weather is nice today. That cloud over there looks like a horse!

Do you think if there were no wars, and everyone could live peacefully, even if we were as poor as we are, we could still look at the sky in our free time, wouldn't that be a good life?"

Influenced by Xiao Ran's words, Xu Ziling actually started to think about these issues!

Kou Zhong asked again, "Elder Brother Ran, is our Longevity True Qi very powerful?"

Xiao Ran nodded and said, "Very powerful. Although it only has a kind of instinctive reactive ability, it still has a bit of spirit.

You're only at the first level of cultivation, and I don't know how you managed to do this!

The Longevity Sutra is truly marvelous!"

Xu Ziling said, "Elder Brother Ran, if you want to see, we can show you!"

Xiao Ran laughed and said, "Of course I want to see, but I never let my friends down.

After seeing your Longevity Sutra, I'll train you more, so when you go out into the world, you won't be chased around like dogs!"

"Who would be chased around like dogs..."

"You two...

If you underestimate us, the Yangzhou Twin Dragons, Shao, show him our strength..."

...

The days passed in a lively manner!

A month later, Xiao Ran's vision was fully restored, and his Phoenix Eye was back to its former state. His relationship with the Two Dragons was also greatly improved!

He taught them many martial arts techniques. Although they were beginners, their high comprehension amazed Xiao Ran!

Any martial arts technique they learned was immediately mastered, and they could apply it in various ways, making Xiao Ran teach them non-stop!

Linghu Chong had extremely high comprehension, but compared to the two of them, he was still a step behind!

This time, Xiao Ran killed the Du siblings and, combined with his previous victories, earned 36,000 points!

Xiao Ran had found a pattern: defeating opponents of the same level earned him 500 points, defeating opponents one level higher earned him 1,000 points, and defeating opponents two levels higher earned him 2,000 points...

And so on, defeating opponents five levels higher earned him 16,000 points.

So this time, Xiao Ran could stay in the Tang Dynasty world for 3,600 days, which is ten years, or one year in the Ancient Continent!

This time was enough for Xiao Ran to plan how to spread martial arts in this world!

If you want to know what spread the most widely and had the greatest influence in Chinese history, it's the teachings of Confucianism!

Because common people who wanted to become officials and have a chance to rise in society had to be brainwashed with Confucian teachings, constantly reminding themselves to be loyal to the emperor and the country...

The emperor used this to manage officials and the country!

The rise of Confucianism began in the Han Dynasty, with Dong Zhongshu's proposal to abolish all other schools of thought and exclusively promote Confucianism!

But its peak came during the Sui and Tang Dynasties!

The Sui Dynasty first established the imperial examination system, and the Tang Dynasty continued it, making the imperial examination system flourish!

Unlike before, when becoming an official required being recommended for filial piety or through the Nine-rank System, which depended on one's social status, making it difficult for common people to become officials!

Now, as long as you were willing to study and read Confucian classics, you could become an official, so everyone was willing to study, as it was the ladder for social advancement!

Its influence was greater than that of any religion!

For Xiao Ran to make martial arts spread and have an influence comparable to Confucianism, there was only one way!

To make martial arts promoted by the state, just like Confucianism, and become a ladder for social advancement!

To achieve this, there was only one method: to unify the world, become the emperor, and use the power of the state to promote martial arts!

This had a solid foundation in the Tang Dynasty world, as every great Confucian scholar was also a martial arts expert!

But to achieve this, just being good at martial arts wasn't enough; he also needed to package martial arts with a set of theories to make it look extremely high-end and beneficial to the country!

To make martial arts coexist with Confucianism, or even integrate the two...

Yes, in ancient times, there was the concept of the Six Arts of a gentleman. Adding one more art or elevating one of the existing arts, such as archery, to martial arts would be a better way to promote martial arts!

Although Xiao Ran wasn't a great scholar, he was born in an era of information explosion and enjoyed reading miscellaneous books. He could create such a system and gradually build it up, believing he could piece together a set of theories!

---

The page flip ad begins

The page flip ad ends