Chapter 232: Chapter 222: Wind and Thunder
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Lin had been in Leisure Cloud Hall for half a month.
"Senior, may I ask what ’gathering the five elements and harmonizing the four symbols’ means?"
Zhao Lin, holding a copy of the *Inner Canon Examination*, asked a man who was leisurely reading a book under a black locust tree in front of the corridor.
The man looked to be in his early thirties and had a scholarly air, but for Blood Realm martial artists, appearance and actual age could differ greatly. So, Zhao Lin simply addressed everyone as ’Senior’.
Besides the servants and guards, there were over thirty disciples of the Xingyun Sect in Leisure Cloud Hall. Their cultivation was mostly at the Blood Realm, and their main job was to research martial theory and compile books.
The Xingyun Sect had even created a special position for them: Martial Author.
These Martial Authors had one major difference from ordinary martial artists: they disliked brawling and were passionate about discussing martial arts.
Whenever Zhao Lin encountered something he didn’t understand while reading, he could just find any Martial Author in Leisure Cloud Hall and receive enthusiastic guidance.
Sometimes, several Martial Authors would even compete to answer his questions.
Zhao Lin felt he had benefited greatly. The only drawback was that the books were full of profound and obscure terms.
To put it elegantly, they were martial arts terms. To put it crudely, they were jargon.
This wasn’t because the authors were being deliberately mysterious. It was an intentional security measure. Apparently, there had been incidents in the past where Cultivation Technique manuals were leaked and learned by other sects or even foreign clans.
Hearing Zhao Lin’s question, the man under the tree glanced at the cover of the book in his hand and smiled. "The five elements originally refer to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, but when cultivating Qi and Blood, they refer to the five viscera."
"The lungs correspond to metal, the liver to water... So, ’gathering the five elements’ means to store essence qi in the five viscera."
"I see!"
Zhao Lin cupped his hands in thanks and continued to ask, "Then what about ’harmonizing the four symbols’?"
Just as the man was about to speak, an old voice sounded from nearby. "When training Qi and Blood, the four symbols refer to the eyes, ears, nose, and tongue."
"’Harmonizing the four symbols’ means the four immovables: restrain the gaze, focus the hearing, regulate the breath, and silence the tongue."
The speaker was an old man with a full head of white hair and long eyebrows and beard, who had appeared in the courtyard at some unknown moment.
After the white-haired elder finished speaking, his figure flashed and vanished.
"Elder Wu is really... unpredictable."
Zhao Lin and the man looked at each other and smiled.
There were two Primordial Realm martial artists in Leisure Cloud Hall. One was Pan Yue, and the other was this white-haired elder.
The white-haired elder’s name was Wu Chuanjun. He was said to be one hundred and nine years old, the oldest person in the Xingyun Sect.
Some people’s temperaments change as they grow old, their personalities becoming more and more childlike. Wu Chuanjun was just like that, often enjoying playing pranks.
His favorite was to suddenly appear when others were in a discussion, say a few words, and then vanish just as suddenly.
The people of Leisure Cloud Hall were long used to this.
Before sunset, Zhao Lin went to the rear courtyard.
"Very good!"
After listening to Zhao Lin’s cultivation insights, Pan Yue said with satisfaction, "It’s not easy for someone as young as you to be able to settle down and study martial theory. So, do you have a plan for the next step of your cultivation?"
Zhao Lin nodded. "I have a rough idea. This disciple will ponder it for another two days."
"Mm, you, of course, are the one who knows yourself best. Tell me when you’ve thought it through. If you run into any problems in the meantime, you can come find me anytime!"
"Yes, thank you, Elder."
Zhao Lin left Leisure Cloud Hall and returned to his residence in the inner courtyard.
He pushed open the door and saw his older brother, Zhao Shan, standing in the courtyard, holding large and small bags and covered in sweat.
"Brother, you’re here."
For safety reasons, Yang Lin had Zhao Lin stay on the mountain. If he wanted to see his family, someone would be sent to bring them over for a few days’ stay.
Zhao Lin needed to regularly take cold-natured medicinal herbs, so he had entrusted his brother with helping him buy them.
Zhao Shan wiped the sweat from his forehead and unwrapped the bundle. "Yeah. See if these are the right herbs."
Zhao Lin sniffed the air and nodded. "No problem. Thanks for your hard work, big brother."
Zhao Shan was taken aback for a moment. "You can tell just by smelling them?"
Zhao Lin smiled. "I take them often, so I remember the smell of these herbs."
"Good, then. I’ll be heading back."
"Be careful on the road, Brother."
"Don’t worry..."
After seeing his brother off, Zhao Lin went back to his room and took out the herbs one by one.
This time, in addition to the usual cold-natured herbs he took, he had also specifically asked his brother to buy some Wind and Thunder Attribute herbs.
Medicinal herbs were classified as warm or cold, yin or yang, and by the five elements, but herbs of the Wind and Thunder attributes were relatively rare.
Among the commonly available herbs, there were only a dozen or so of the Wind Attribute, and even fewer of the Thunder Attribute—only five or six types.
’I’ll try the Wind Attribute first.’
Zhao Lin placed the Wind Attribute herbs—Wind-drilling Grass, Qianghuo, Tong Bamboo Leaf, and Ma Jiu Powder—into a pot to decoct.
After half an hour, the herbs were decocted. Soon after drinking the concoction, he felt a swelling and surging in his chest, as if a ball of energy was rushing around chaotically.
The Wind Fox’s Essence Soul in the Spirit Beast Scroll began to flicker. It quickly absorbed this current of energy completely and then released Wind Attribute True Qi.
’Excellent! Wind Attribute True Qi can also be increased by taking medicine!’
Overjoyed, Zhao Lin opened another package of herbs containing Bamboo Bell Root, Wooden Linked Fruit, Thunder Vine Leaf, Pujia, and Heiwujia.
Thunder Attribute herbs were the rarest; there were only five types.
To prevent the medicinal properties from conflicting, Zhao Lin waited for four hours. It was nearly midnight before he finished decocting and drinking the medicine.
Unfortunately, these so-called Thunder Attribute herbs had no effect at all.
Zhao Lin shook his head, guessing that either the herbs were wrong or this path was a dead end—with the latter being more likely.
’It seems Thunder Attribute True Qi can’t be accumulated by taking medicine, unless I practice a Thunder Attribute Basic Cultivation Skill. But the sect just so happens to have no such legacy...’
Zhao Lin mulled it over and could only conclude that he would have to explore this slowly in the future.
...
「Lv Tian City, Qianye Tower.」
"Is there any news from Tuzha and Enli?"
Huo Shan asked, his face grim in the dimly lit room.
Across from him stood two young men in embroidered short robes. One of them replied, "Reporting to the Grand Elder, Tuzha has not sent back any news."
The other added, "This subordinate has not received any news from Enli either."
Huo Shan’s brow was tightly furrowed, his expression grave. All his previous composure was gone.
"Why haven’t they reported back yet? They’ve been with me for so many years; don’t they know this basic rule? Could it be... No, impossible!"
The two young men glanced at each other secretly, but neither said a word.
Just then, a flurry of urgent footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a knock.
"Come in!"
An ominous premonition inexplicably rose in Huo Shan’s heart.
"Grand Elder..."
A man in brown robes pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that there were others in the room, he immediately fell silent.
Huo Shan gestured with his chin and said to the two young men, "You two are dismissed."
"Yes."
After the two had left, the brown-robed man carefully closed the door.
Huo Shan asked, "What happened?"
The brown-robed man lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the floor. "This subordinate just received a message by carrier pigeon. Our disciples planted in the three major sects of Great Yue have all been exposed. We’ve also lost five groups of our peripheral spies."
Huo Shan sucked in a sharp breath. Feigning composure, he asked, "What about the Wuche side?"
"It might be even worse. There’s been no news from them for seven consecutive days."
"I understand. You may go!"
"Yes."
After the brown-robed man left, Huo Shan leaned back in his chair, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
Comments