Chapter 34

"Master, how do you feel?"

Liu Ping looked at Zhu Lingwu, who was sitting cross-legged on the training platform, with a worried expression, even though Zhu Lingwu didn't seem to be showing any abnormal reactions.

But now Zhu Lingwu had reached the critical moment of unblocking the Ren and Du meridians and completing the Grand Circulation, which would lay the foundation for the internal martial arts techniques.

Originally, this wouldn't be dangerous, but the unusual phenomena displayed by Zhu Lingwu still made Liu Ping secretly alarmed.

After completing the Small Circulation, Zhu Lingwu felt his entire body seemed to be in sync with his breathing. With each breath, the blood automatically flowed along the Ren and Du meridians, exchanging life energy through the acupoints and the body.

He felt that the electric current introduced from his hands was no longer sufficient to stimulate his body, so he casually increased the power output from the Baghdad battery pack. As a result, almost twice the current flowed through the copper rods into the blood vessels of his hands.

These currents were too strong, and according to the Ninefold Lightning Body Technique, Zhu Lingwu didn't need to guide them into his heart first. Instead, he directly channeled the currents into the blood circulating in the Small Circulation of the Ren and Du meridians, allowing the currents to be stored throughout his body as the blood flowed through the acupoints.

However, the side effects of the current were also evident. Fine electric arcs flickered on Zhu Lingwu's body, interacting with the particles in the air, causing a series of "popping" sparks.

This tingling and numbness made Zhu Lingwu's brows furrow from time to time, as his body was still unable to adapt to such a strong current.

After five months of cultivation, Zhu Lingwu's hair, which had grown to his neck, stood up due to the electric current, resembling a puffed-up hedgehog.

Originally, Zhu Lingwu's hair was tied into a ponytail with the help of a maid, but now the ponytail had become a crown, with sparks flickering in the hair.

This startling phenomenon naturally made Liu Ping, who was standing nearby, worried. Although Liu Ping knew that special internal martial arts techniques could cause unusual phenomena—when he practiced the Crimson Flame Technique, he could see faint flames around his body, and if he placed some wood nearby, it would catch fire—Zhu Lingwu's electric sparks were directly on his body. If something went wrong, Liu Ping wouldn't dare to touch him, fearing he might get injured by the electricity.

Even at the Ninth Level of the Postnatal Martial Arts, Liu Ping still held a deep respect for lightning.

Perhaps hearing Liu Ping's question, the electric sparks around Zhu Lingwu suddenly disappeared, and he released the copper rods. After the final circulation of the Ninefold Lightning Body Technique through the acupoints, a drop of electrically charged essence blood retreated into his heart.

This drop of essence blood was about the size of a soybean, faintly glowing with a silver-white electric light, as if a lightning snake were coiling and dancing within the blood droplet.

This was the Postnatal Spirit Blood formed after the Small Circulation, which combined the essence blood with the electrical energy absorbed over the past few days. It could be considered the true result of Zhu Lingwu's cultivation.

In fact, Zhu Lingwu could condense this soybean-sized drop of Postnatal Spirit Blood thanks to the special nature of his body. An ordinary person could only condense a grain-sized drop at most.

In the later stages, this Postnatal Spirit Blood would serve as the foundation for breaking through to the Innate Realm and transforming into Innate Spirit Energy. Before that, this Postnatal Spirit Blood would also be the last resort for survival for martial arts experts.

After storing this drop of Postnatal Spirit Blood in his heart, the Small Circulation in his body continued, but without the input of current, it was now purely the life force in his blood circulating through his body.

At the same time, the current that had been forcibly infused through the acupoints into various parts of his body gradually merged into his blood, completely integrating and transforming it. Ultimately, this electrically charged blood would be input into Zhu Lingwu's drop of Postnatal Spirit Blood, enhancing its spirit energy and size.

The current that had dispersed outside Zhu Lingwu's body was also gradually absorbed by his body during this circulation. However, at the current stage of the Ninefold Lightning Body Technique, Zhu Lingwu would still carry a lot of static electricity.

This made the three maids who usually served Zhu Lingwu—Chuyang, Xiayang, and Qiuyang—suffer silently. They often got shocked by static electricity when they touched Zhu Lingwu, but what could they do? Zhu Lingwu was the young master, and they were just maids.

After sensing the drop of Postnatal Spirit Blood in his heart, Zhu Lingwu took a deep breath. The primary function of this Postnatal Spirit Blood was to enhance the power of martial arts techniques.

So, Zhu Lingwu opened his eyes, looked at Liu Ping standing beside him, and smiled, "Master Liu, I feel great! So, from today, you can start teaching me martial arts techniques, right?"

Zhu Lingwu had been practicing martial arts under Liu Ping's guidance, so he naturally called him Master Liu from the beginning.

Of course, this "master" was not a formal master, just a term of respect. Given Zhu Lingwu's noble status, it would be beneath him to formally apprentice to a commoner.

In this era, a formal master was like a father, and in a feudal society, he could order you to die without it being considered a crime. This was the principle of "the ruler commands the minister to die, the father commands the son to die."

Even if Zhu Lingwu was willing, Liu Ping wouldn't dare to accept, unless he wanted his entire family to be exterminated, which was illegal in the current Jin Dynasty.

Like the teachers of past emperors, who were nominally imperial tutors, they couldn't really treat their students as ordinary masters would, and their status was similar to that of school teachers in Zhu Lingwu's world.

However, by addressing Liu Ping with this title, Zhu Lingwu gave him a great deal of respect, and Liu Ping, in turn, taught him with even more dedication.

"Master, martial arts training should not be rushed! Martial arts techniques actually come from real combat. There are no fixed moves or routines on the battlefield; any means that can defeat the enemy are valid! However, in practice, you can follow routines to strengthen your body and form muscle memory. This can also assist in the cultivation of internal martial arts techniques, promoting the circulation of blood and qi, and helping you to break through acupoints!"

Liu Ping first said what he often told Zhu Lingwu, given how quickly he was progressing in martial arts, which had already numbed him.

But soon he began to explain the relevant knowledge about martial arts techniques, which he did in a structured manner. According to his explanation, the so-called martial arts routines described in novels were just superficial.

Zhu Lingwu had never really thought about this before, as in his world, firearms had long become the mainstream, and martial arts seemed more like a form of dance with little practical value.

But Zhu Lingwu remembered a phrase: "No technique is better than any technique..."