Chapter 8

Yue Fangxing had maintained a calm exterior, but in his heart, he was greatly astonished. After all, anyone who discovered an unknown change in their body would not remain calm. The fact that he could continue practicing the twelve postures was a result of his years of cultivating tranquility and nourishing his qi. Of course, this was also Yue Fangxing's good fortune.

In this life, Yue Fangxing could be said to have started practicing martial arts from the age of three, and it had been three years since then. Although his young age limited his practice to short sessions, he had already grasped the essence of horse stance at a young age. Practicing for a short time each day was more beneficial than Linghu Chong practicing for an hour, and although he had not learned the secret cultivation methods of the Twelve Postures of the Yi Jin Jing in his previous life, the twelve postures were the essence of centuries of refinement by ancient people, containing profound principles. He had also made slight adjustments to the twelve postures based on his understanding of natural harmony, making them more suitable for himself. Although the effects might not be as good as the original for others, they were extremely suitable for him. Over time, Yue Fangxing's foundation had become even more solid than Linghu Chong's. Additionally, he had started practicing martial arts at a young age, and two and a half years ago, he had undergone a natural cleansing during a state of enlightenment, leaving behind a trace of innate qi that had not completely dissipated.

This innate qi is present in everyone in the womb, but it gradually dissipates with age until it is completely gone. Some people with exceptional talent can still feel it at the age of seven or eight, and such individuals are highly gifted in cultivating internal energy, like Wang Chongyang and Zhang Sanfeng, who became great masters.

Although Yue Fangxing did not know this and had no way to retain the innate qi—after all, who would create a cultivation method for a child to retain innate qi? Even if it were created, a child would not understand it and could not practice it autonomously, which might lead to mistakes and harm. However, after the natural cleansing, the innate qi in his body stopped dissipating. The natural breathing method and the Twelve Postures of the Yi Jin Jing he had created were excellent methods for cultivating and nourishing qi. Over the years, he diligently practiced, and the innate qi that had been scattered in his body gradually condensed. Finally, today, it coalesced into true qi.

Although this true qi was formed after birth and was no longer innate, it still retained some innate properties, making it highly effective in healing and treating illnesses. In the future, it would also make it easier for him to enter the innate realm. This was a great opportunity for Yue Fangxing and a reward for his years of effort.

Seeing the warm current settle and return to his dantian, Yue Fangxing thought to himself: Could this warm current be true qi? Is the Twelve Postures of the Yi Jin Jing really a Daoist guiding technique as mentioned in my previous life? But I didn't learn any guiding techniques, so how could I cultivate true qi?

Yue Fangxing did not think about the Shaolin Yi Jin Jing. Over the years, he had often read the cultivation notes of predecessors in Yue Buqun's study, greatly increasing his martial arts knowledge. Although the Huashan Sect had suffered great changes and lost some martial arts manuals, it still retained many incomplete manuals, cultivation insights, and notes. Yue Fangxing frequently consulted these, and Yue Buqun did not prohibit it. Over time, he combined his own experience with the theories from martial arts novels and web novels from his previous life, gradually forming his own understanding of martial arts. In terms of theoretical knowledge, he was far superior to Linghu Chong, and in some aspects, even Yue Buqun was not as knowledgeable. After all, Yue Fangxing came from the modern era and had received systematic education for many years, able to systematically summarize and justify various matters.

Yue Fangxing now knew that some of the claims from his previous life were not baseless. The Shaolin Yi Jin Jing was indeed a great cultivation method of Buddhism. If one's Buddhist cultivation did not reach the realm of no self and no other, it was impossible to achieve great success, and forcing it could be harmful. Over the centuries, only a few people in the entire Shaolin Temple had succeeded, and the current abbot, Fangzheng, was one of them. Although the righteous path did not know the extent of his abilities, they generally believed he was at least on par with Ren Woxing, and possibly even stronger. However, it was unknown whether the internal energy of the Yi Jin Jing could withstand the Xingxi Da Fa. Based on his knowledge, Yue Fangxing believed that Chinese martial arts were closely linked to Chinese culture, and profound martial arts must contain cultural connotations, just like the Yangwu Sword and Xiyi Sword of the Huashan Sect, which had few true masters in the past century.

Yue Fangxing knew that he had read many Confucian and Daoist classics over the years but had hardly read any Buddhist scriptures. It was impossible for him to become a great monk. Instead, he had some insights into Confucian and Daoist principles. In his previous life, he had only learned the framework of the Twelve Postures of the Yi Jin Jing. Although some names had a Buddhist flavor, he mainly practiced according to his own understanding, even creating his own breathing method, which was already quite different from the original. Therefore, he believed that his current Twelve Postures of the Yi Jin Jing, even if it contained internal energy, should be a Daoist guiding technique.

Thinking about this, he felt a bit uneasy. After all, he had not learned the guiding techniques of the Twelve Postures in his previous life, and he did not know how to continue practicing. Creating a new internal energy cultivation method was purely a dream. Not only had he not learned internal energy cultivation methods in this life, but his understanding of internal energy was also limited. The internal energy circulation routes were complex and dangerous, and any mistake could damage the meridians, leading to serious consequences such as qi deviation or even death. Creating a new internal energy cultivation method was vastly different from modifying an external technique. In the martial arts world, any complete internal energy cultivation method that could be practiced continuously was either created by great masters like Wang Chongyang and Zhang Sanfeng or perfected over generations. For example, the Huashan Sect's Zixia Divine Skill, although based on the method created by Wang Chongyang for Hao Datong, took over a hundred years to perfect, earning the reputation of "Huashan's nine skills, Zixia is the first." Incomplete internal energy cultivation methods might reach a dead end at a certain level, requiring risky modifications, or they might have defects, like Ren Woxing's Xingxi Da Fa, which could lead to death due to internal energy conflicts. Many people in the martial arts world lost their skills or even their lives due to qi deviation from practicing internal energy.

While Yue Fangxing was feeling anxious, he heard footsteps in the distance. Due to his cultivation of breathing methods, he was very sensitive to various energies. Looking up, he saw Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, Linghu Chong, and Yue Lingshan approaching. His loud shout had been heard almost throughout Huashan, and Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze had naturally heard it. Not knowing what had happened, and although there were no fierce beasts near Huashan and Yue Fangxing often played alone, they were still worried that their son might have encountered some danger, so they came out to look for him. Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan, familiar with Yue Fangxing's habits, naturally led them over.

Yue Buqun walked up and asked, "Xing'er, what happened just now? Why did you shout so loudly?"

Yue Fangxing replied, "Father, I felt a warm current in my body, and when I shouted, it came out. I don't know if it's the internal energy that Master often talks about."

Hearing this, Yue Buqun was both surprised and delighted: Could Xing'er have already felt internal energy! Although he had long known that his son was a prodigy, with talent no less than his carefully chosen disciple Linghu Chong, he was only six years old. Most children of his age were still playing in their parents' arms, like Yue Lingshan. Generally, people felt internal energy in their teens, and even Linghu Chong had only felt it after a year of hard training on the mountain and being taught internal energy cultivation methods by him.

Yue Buqun had seen Yue Fangxing's efforts over the years. He practiced diligently every day, unlike Yue Lingshan, who often slacked off. He had thoroughly grasped the essence of the horse stance a year ago, but being young, he was only building a foundation, unlike Linghu Chong, who practiced under his watchful eye. Moreover, he had not taught Yue Fangxing how to feel internal energy, and he mostly saw him reading books. How could he have felt internal energy so quickly? Could it be that heaven was blessing Huashan, sending two geniuses to revive the Huashan Sect after its great changes? Thinking of this, Yue Buqun felt a surge of excitement and quickly examined Yue Fangxing.

Yue Buqun's true qi flowed through Yue Fangxing's body, and Yue Fangxing felt a warm current slowly circulating, much stronger than what he had felt earlier. After the examination, Yue Buqun found that Yue Fangxing's meridians were strong and clear, making him an excellent candidate for internal energy cultivation. There were traces of internal energy circulation, but they were scattered and unorganized, leading him to sigh: He hadn't learned the method to cultivate internal energy. He then sent a strand of true qi to examine Yue Fangxing's dantian and was surprised to feel a current of true qi rushing towards him. He quickly withdrew his true qi to avoid disrupting it. He was shocked: How could Xing'er have true qi in his body? Could he have cultivated it on his own?

True qi and internal energy are very different. Internal energy is just a strand of qi in the body. Some people with exceptional talent might feel internal energy without internal energy cultivation methods, which is called "sensing qi." However, without internal energy cultivation methods and several months of qi cultivation, it is difficult to convert it into true qi, and it might even dissipate. Moreover, the nature of the initial true qi one cultivates is closely related to the cultivation method one will practice in the future, determining the direction of cultivation, and cannot be easily changed. Therefore, the qi cultivation methods of different cultivation techniques are different and cannot be used interchangeably.

This is why Yue Buqun was so surprised. If Yue Fangxing had cultivated a type of true qi for which there was no cultivation method in the Huashan Sect, it would have to be painfully discarded. However, true qi is a concentration of the body's essence, and forcibly discarding it would cause significant harm to the body, making it even more difficult to cultivate true qi again, or even impossible. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, no one would take this step.