Chapter 61

In mid-December, the first major competition of the Qingyun Temple finally began.

Qingxuan and a few others did not even show up.

It was said that the martial artists in Qingyang Town really gave face, and more than twenty so-called experts and novices came. The most renowned among them was Fang Yuanshan, the head of the "Yuan Mountain Escort Agency." No one knew what kind of relationship Lingxu Zhenren had used, but he managed to invite this notoriously stubborn head to attend the competition as a guest.

In the end, the top six disciples were chosen and announced as direct disciples by the temple. Unfortunately, Fourth Senior Sister Yue Qinglan insisted on specially training a female disciple named Yun Rui, leaving no choice but for Senior Brother Lu Qingzheng to step forward and take on two apprentices. As a result, the first batch of direct disciples in the temple increased from six to seven.

After the major competition, Lingxu Zhenren announced to the public that the Qingyun Temple would be closed for four years. Although the front courtyard would still handle incense offerings, the entire back mountain of the Qingyun Temple would be designated as a restricted area. The disciples of the Qingyun Temple would focus on martial arts training, preparing to register as a legitimate martial arts sect.

In the Divine Martial Continent, martial arts sects are subject to strict government review. Legitimate sects must register with the government. Therefore, such actions are very common in the Divine Martial Continent. Without proper registration, a sect is not allowed to recruit disciples and will not be included in government-supported industries. If a sect recruits disciples without permission, it is considered an act of rebellion against the government and will be listed as a ** sect, becoming a target for suppression by the government and the righteous martial arts community.

Thus, Lingxu Zhenren's decision to close the mountain and later register as a legitimate sect was a very normal and understandable move.

Upon learning of this, the county magistrate personally came to the Qingyun Temple to congratulate them.

Qingyang Town, a remote and desolate town under the jurisdiction of Yunxian County in Kunyang Prefecture of Yunzhou, had no other officially registered sects besides the "Yuan Mountain Escort Agency." Due to its remote location and lack of profit, other major sects did not bother to send disciples to guard it. As a result, the county magistrate, who was like a lone commander, could not even recruit a single officer with martial arts skills and had to rely on farmers who had some strength to make up the numbers.

The presence of a legitimate martial arts sect in a place meant that its disciples could be hired by the government as official officers, and they could also expel foreign races, arrest bandits, and clear out strange beasts. In other words, the disciples of a legitimate sect were a combination of the army, police, urban management, auxiliary management, security guards, and neighborhood aunties, serving as the executors of "serving the people."

Without the maintenance of legitimate sect disciples, the county magistrate would be lucky to keep the government office from being torn down, and his political achievements would be lacking.

*********

The Qingyun Temple was bustling for several days before finally settling down. However, all of this had no impact on Qingxuan and his group, who were diligently practicing martial arts.

"Yunyong, pay attention to maintaining the correct posture..."

"Yunzhong, tighten your buttocks..."

"Thoughts cease when the mind is still, the body becomes light when the breath is smooth, the spirit becomes active when the heart is dead, and yin dissipates when yang is strong. Remember these four breathing techniques."

"What is the key to advancing in the Body Tempering Realm? Remember these four phrases: the body is the furnace, the primordial energy is the fuel, burn away the impurities, and the body and mind will become clear. When the body and mind are clear, focus on the dantian. Even if you don't generate internal energy, use your imagination to mobilize the primordial energy within, imagining yourself as a large furnace, burning away all impurities."

"Sit down and calm your mind until the time is right. What are you worried about? If you master the breathing and sitting techniques correctly, you won't experience such phenomena."

"Listen up, you can't sleep until your mind is calm and your limbs are numb!"

"Before sleeping, your mind must be clear and free of thoughts. Then lie on your side, breathe steadily, and keep your soul from wandering."

"Damn it, Yunzheng, even if you're tired, maintain the correct sleeping posture. Do I need to teach you how to sleep like a dog?"

"Wrong sleeping posture, get up and try again!"

"Two of you are wrong, everyone to the courtyard to sit and meditate until dawn. If you still can't calm down, no food for the day."

...

Since obtaining the "Complete Truth Technique," for several consecutive days, from morning to night, Ye Qingxuan rigorously required the seven boys to practice from sitting, standing, walking, eating, and sleeping, all with fixed postures and breathing methods.

Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Complete Truth Sect, truly was a master, as he had arranged cultivation methods for every movement and stillness in daily life.

In the following days, the seven boys faced the most brutal half-month of torture in their lives, finally integrating this physical cultivation method into their daily lives.

At first, everyone found it difficult, but after a few days, when they mastered the standard actions, they naturally formed habits and no longer heard Ye Qingxuan's scolding.

The Qingyun Temple did not have a widely available foundation-building internal cultivation technique. Currently, apart from the second-generation disciples, only the newly selected seven direct disciples were allowed to practice the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique." However, this technique was an introductory method for the higher-level "Kunwu Jade Technique," which required a high starting point and had low efficiency, making it unsuitable for widespread use within the sect. The seven boys, practicing the "Complete Truth Technique," progressed in their internal cultivation several times faster than their peers, and even faster than the direct disciples practicing the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique."

Since obtaining the "Complete Truth Technique," the importance of the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique" rapidly declined. If it weren't for being a prerequisite for the "Kunwu Jade Technique," which had the "Jade" attribute of "unique techniques," Ye Qingxuan would have abandoned this technique long ago.

After all, a person's energy is limited, and practicing multiple internal techniques simultaneously is a waste of time. If these techniques are not highly compatible, they can form different types of true qi within the body, leading to serious consequences such as qi deviation, loss of martial arts skills, or even death.

Therefore, throughout history, all martial artists practiced one technique at a time, only choosing a higher-level technique when they advanced to the next stage. On the Divine Martial Continent, there are three stages for reselecting martial arts techniques: the foundation-building stage, the postnatal stage, and the prenatal stage.

Both the "Complete Truth Technique" and the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique" belong to the foundation-building stage. The "Complete Truth Technique" can be practiced up to the peak of the postnatal stage, and the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique" has a subsequent technique, the "Kunwu Jade Technique"... Both are profound Daoist internal cultivation techniques with many points of mutual verification.

However, due to the slow cultivation speed of the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique" and the compatibility of the "Complete Truth Technique" with any Daoist technique, Ye Qingxuan decided to have the seven boys focus on the "Complete Truth Technique" first. Once their internal energy was fully developed, they would switch to the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique" and then advance to the "Kunwu Jade Technique"... This would make their overall progress three times faster than directly practicing the "Kunwu Primordial Jade Technique."

Therefore, Lu Yunming, Xiao Yunfeng, and the other seven boys, due to Ye Qingxuan's influence, gained a significant lead over their peers from the beginning of the foundation-building stage, a rare and valuable opportunity.

Since deciding to teach the seven boys martial arts, Ye Qingxuan devoted himself entirely to the task. By inputting true qi into the seven boys' bodies, he fully understood their physical characteristics and made targeted training plans.

Especially for Yunfeng, Yuncong, and Yunyong, each had unique traits, and the techniques they learned had different focuses.

Xiao Yunfeng had an extremely strong overall physical condition, especially an extraordinary understanding of swords. When he first held a sword, Ye Qingxuan knew he was born for the sword. However, due to previous grief, his heart meridian was damaged, and several meridians connected to it were also congested. This condition could be improved by continuously practicing the "Taiji Cultivation Technique." Additionally, the mental illness must be treated with mental medicine, and resolving his heart knot as soon as possible was the best way to fully unleash his talent. Therefore, Yunfeng currently focuses on the "Taiji Cultivation Technique" and the "Qingyun Thirty-Six Sword Techniques."

Lin Yuncong was short and lacked physical activity, with extremely poor motor skills, often tripping over himself. However, Yuncong had an excellent memory and the ability to remember things at a glance. His meridians were also of high quality, being three times as strong and wide as those of ordinary people. He was quiet, diligent, and obedient. His brain was good, but his limbs were clumsy, and his understanding of the "Complete Truth Technique" exceeded his sword skills. Currently, he puts more effort into the "Complete Truth Technique" than in sword techniques.

Ma Yunyong was originally thought to have an excessive amount of yang energy, but after further investigation, it was discovered that he had a "pure yang constitution," a rare trait found in only one in a million people. This constitution made him the best candidate for practicing extremely yang and strong martial arts. If Ma Yunyong joined a Buddhist sect or another sect with extremely yang and strong martial arts, he would undoubtedly be treated as a treasure, receiving special care and becoming a core disciple. Unfortunately, he was now buried in the remote Qingyun Temple, like a pearl covered in dust.

A "pure yang constitution" is extremely rare, and externally, it shows no difference from ordinary yang excess conditions. Without special internal energy detection methods, it cannot be distinguished from other yang excess symptoms. This is why even the first and second highest-ranking figures in the temple, Lingxu Zhenren and Qingyan Daoren, could not identify it.

Daoist techniques emphasize long-lasting qi and the balance of yin and yang. The martial arts of the temple also follow this Daoist characteristic. Even in the entire martial arts world, there are very few purely yin or purely yang Daoist techniques. If there are any, they are extremely rare and highly valued, and ordinary people rarely see them, let alone pass them on to Ma Yunyong.

Besides these purely yang martial arts techniques, another way to help Ma Yunyong make progress in his martial arts cultivation is to find some purely yin substances to balance the yang energy in his body.

Purely yin substances are extremely rare and highly sought after by many martial artists. How could a minor sect like the Qingyun Temple even dream of obtaining them? Especially for Ma Yunyong's "pure yang constitution," which is a congenital yang energy, to balance this yang energy, only congenital yin energy substances could possibly change it. Such substances are the most precious of all, and obtaining them would undoubtedly cause a storm in the martial arts world, making it almost impossible.

Because of this constitution, Ma Yunyong, the big-bearded one, found it difficult to practice the Daoist techniques of the temple, and ultimately became a lagging disciple. A golden thread nanmu, treated as firewood, was given to the children's class leader, Little Daoist Qingxuan.

Who says Daoism doesn't have purely yang techniques? Damn it, I have the "Lianghuan Lingmiao Pavilion," where I can easily find dozens of extremely yang and strong martial arts techniques. Not to mention other sects' "Nine Yang Divine Technique," "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms," "Dragon Elephant Vajra Technique," and "Vajra Demon Subduing Technique," even the Wudang Sect's "Pure Yang Wuji Technique" and the Free and Easy Sect's "Tianshan Six Yang Palms" are rare and purely yang techniques. With enough skill points, exchanging one or two techniques would be enough to benefit him for life.

With this understanding, Ye Qingxuan's teaching became much easier. Of course, teaching was secondary; his main focus was still on improving his own cultivation level.

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