Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Creation and Righteous Heart Scripture
As he made his choice, a stream of internal breath, like a cool breeze or a mountain spring, instantly materialized from thin air.
This internal breath wasn’t dense, yet it felt like a pure stream flowing through a murky world, washing away all impurities.
In an instant, Jiang Ran felt as if his entire body had been cleansed, and his mind jolted with sudden clarity.
His mind was clearer than it had ever been before!
"This is..."
As Jiang Ran stood stunned, the verses of a Heart Method suddenly appeared in his mind.
[From One, Three are born, contained within the ten thousand things. Moving through Heaven and Earth, yin and yang secretly turn.]
[A single point of ancestral qi, from which the four seasons flow. To grasp this is to stand shoulder to shoulder with Creation itself.]
The profound verses of the Heart Method instantly circulated through his mind.
Jiang Ran silently closed his eyes and subconsciously began to circulate the internal breath in his body according to the verses.
He felt a stream of Inner Strength enter the Changqiang point from the Huiyin point, travel through the Mingmen, Zhiyang, and Lingtai acupoints, then pass through Fengfu before entering Baihui!
The path this Inner Strength took completely defied convention!
One had to understand that the Huiyin point belonged to the Ren Meridian, while the Changqiang point belonged to the Du Meridian.
To have one’s True Qi flow between the two, one had to first open the Ren and Du Meridians.
Yet, the minor circulation for the second level of this Cultivation Technique began with the internal breath from the Dantian sinking to the Huiyin point, starting from the Ren Meridian and entering the acupoints of the Du Meridian directly.
Fortunately, Jiang Ran possessed a full sixty years of Inner Strength. Even though the nameless Heart Method he had practiced was crude, part of the reason for the strange phenomenon that night—his long, unbroken roar in the mountain forest that lasted the time it takes to drink a cup of tea—was that he had already opened his Ren and Du Meridians.
Now, as his Inner Strength circulated, there was not the slightest hint of obstruction.
And when this Inner Strength flowed into the Baihui point, Jiang Ran’s mind became incredibly clear, filled with an indescribable sensation.
It was as if he could see heavenly light above his head, his internal breath converging in a great cycle. The sensation was endlessly profound!
The internal breath flowed onward, reaching the Yintang point. After passing Shenting, it suddenly plunged, like a torrent from the Nine Heavens crashing down. In the next moment, it had already reached the Chengjiang point.
From there, it re-entered the acupoints of the Ren Meridian. With every point it passed, his Inner Strength grew stronger, and the cool sensation within him intensified.
Finally, it sank into his Qi Sea and returned to his Dantian.
The minor circulation was complete.
But Jiang Ran didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he felt the internal breath flowing endlessly within him as the core principles of the technique fused with his mind.
His internal breath shifted, and he immediately began the circulation once more.
This time, however, the Heart Method he was using had already advanced from the second level to the third.
A gentle breeze began to flow, coiling around Jiang Ran. Though there was no wind, his sleeves began to flutter and strands of his hair danced in the air.
With a solemn, dignified expression, Jiang Ran entered a state of deep meditation.
He had cast aside all awareness of his surroundings.
His hands moved in concert with the circulation of his internal breath. He didn’t know when it had started, but his movements could now affect the objects around him.
With a wave of his hand, a sharp gust of wind would occasionally manifest.
This wind was a perfect blend of hard and soft, a convergence of yin and yang. It flowed continuously, as if it could be controlled without end.
As he progressed deeper into the technique, his body was gradually lifted by this formless wind, floating more than half a foot above the bed and bobbing gently.
By now, beads of sweat had begun to form on his forehead.
Circulating his energy through the acupoints was no longer as effortless as before.
Finally, he separated his hands and slowly pressed his palms downward.
With every inch he pressed down, his body descended an equal amount.
By the time he had guided all the energy back into his Dantian, he had settled back onto the bed.
He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
The breath shot out like a blade, splitting into two spiraling streams that struck the opposite wall. THUMP! It left a small dent.
Jiang Ran glanced over in surprise. ’That was just a breath of stale air I exhaled after my cultivation... it actually has that much power?’
’The Creation and Righteous Heart Sutra... it’s actually this incredible?’
After that one session, his entire sixty-five years of Inner Strength had been converted into this "Creation True Qi."
He felt as if a clear spring were flowing through a creek inside him, like water cascading down a mountain. It was a feeling of pure, unimpeded flow, far superior to what he’d felt before.
While this internal energy remained within his body, it was purifying and cleansing.
But once channeled externally, it naturally combined yin and yang, multiplying its power.
This was far beyond what his previous, nameless Heart Method could ever achieve.
To make a rough analogy:
When he channeled Inner Strength with his nameless Heart Method, exerting ten percent of his energy produced less than ten percent of the force.
But when using the Creation and Righteous Heart Sutra, ten percent of his energy could unleash twenty to thirty percent of the force.
How could the two even be compared?
Feeling the True Qi now circulating within him, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.
’I never expected that the "second level of the Creation and Righteous Heart Sutra" wasn’t just the manual for the second level.’
’It was the entire text, and it came with the cultivation base of the second level already achieved.’
’In other words, this reward gave me what amounts to at least ten years of Inner Strength...’
’But even with all that, I’ve only reached the seventh level of the Creation and Righteous Heart Sutra.’
’The peak ninth level feels impossibly far away... Just what kind of technique is this?’
Jiang Ran was uninformed and had never heard of such a martial art.
He was curious, but with no way to learn of its origins, he could only let the matter go for now.
He glanced out the window and saw that dawn was already breaking.
Absorbing the reward had taken him the entire night.
That was something he hadn’t expected.
And yet, after a full night of cultivation, he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. On the contrary, he was brimming with energy and spirit, feeling far better than before.
Since it was already light out, Jiang Ran decided not to rest any longer. He got up, grabbed his travel bundle, and left his room.
In the main hall of the inn, someone was already awake and eating at a table.
Jiang Ran paid the man no mind, but as he walked past, the man let out a seemingly deliberate "hmph."
Jiang Ran was baffled.
He glanced at the man. He looked slightly older than Jiang Ran, was dressed in black, and had a cold, arrogant expression. His features were unremarkable, and his complexion was somewhat sallow.
A saber rested on the table beside him.
Seemingly sensing Jiang Ran’s gaze, the man suddenly looked up and met his eyes.
"What are you looking at?"
Jiang Ran gave a short, baffled laugh. ’This guy must have a screw loose.’
He couldn’t be bothered to engage, so he sat down, ordered some steamed buns and porridge, and began to eat.
Seeing that Jiang Ran didn’t respond, the man said nothing more.
After finishing his breakfast, Jiang Ran left the inn.
He made his way to a public notice board and read through all the wanted posters.
He didn’t take any of them down, however. Since his system had a triggering mechanism, physically taking a poster seemed unnecessary.
Besides, taking a poster meant officially accepting the task.
If the old drunkard sent word in the next day or two, being locked into a task would prevent him from responding. Wouldn’t that delay more important matters?
’For now, all I need to do is memorize the faces, names, and bounties of everyone on the list. If I happen to run into one of them, I can just accept the task and capture them on the spot.’
Just as he was thinking this, he saw a man in black, saber in hand, walk up to the notice board as well.
The man first shot Jiang Ran a surprised glance, then snorted, strode past him to the notice board, and tore down every single wanted poster... before stalking away without a second glance.
Jiang Ran: "???"
