Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Chapter 40: Chapter 39: Cultivate Both Internal and External, Harmonize Qi-Blood

Shen Qing came to understand that the martial arts practiced within the county city could almost be categorized into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The lowest level martial arts were like the "Nine Skills," which could only nourish and train Qi and Blood.

This kind of martial arts, aside from cultivating Qi-Blood, had no other forms of combat, training methods, or killing techniques.

It can only be described as the most fundamental of the fundamentals in martial arts.

Even so, this martial art was still stronger than those inferior bluffs that were not considered orthodox.

As long as one cultivated enough Qi-Blood, reaching the realm of Great Perfection, even those with a frail physique could knock down four or five strong men with a single punch.

If it were not for this kind of power, martial arts would not be so valuable, and the court would not have such strict requirements for them.

What those high above all feared most was that someone in the region would take up arms to assert their status and act against the prohibitions with martial prowess.

For this reason, the court added a large amount of secret codes and hidden language to the martial arts disseminated to the public, increasing the cost of learning martial arts.

Without a proper lineage, one simply cannot even begin the path to Entry Level.

Shen Qing was fortunate enough to have the "Nine Skills" manual, which was low level enough and mostly consisted of diagrams; the textual component wasn't extensive, which allowed him to find an opportunity and enter the threshold of martial training.

Otherwise, even with his Water Ink Panel, he might not have been successful in commencing his training and achieving results.

Now that he had mastered the Thousand Character Classic, combined with his previous knowledge, he no longer faced any reading difficulties.

When he returned home, Shen Qing immediately started studying the "Nine Skills" manual without delay.

Turning to the first page, he found an introduction to the Nine Skills.

After reading it, Shen Qing learned that this martial art was called Nine Skills because it combined nine types of stance training for nourishing Qi and Blood, making it a compilation of the nine major stances, hence the name.

Each stance documented here was the most effective stance practice verified through various practices within the major martial arts, and it was the best starting point for nourishing and training Qi and Blood.

The nine stances progressed from one to nine, each one increasing in difficulty, and the more difficult the stance, the better the effect it had on nourishing Qi and Blood.

Generally speaking, mastering the first four or five stances, or even just practicing one of them diligently, could lead to the realm of Great Perfection of Qi and Blood.

As for how many stances to ultimately practice, it depended on the preferences of the practitioner.

Initially, he thought the album was one complete Training Method, so he practiced the first four stances indiscriminately, and even dabbled a bit in the latter five.

Looking back now, he realized he had chosen the most difficult path.

But that was not a big concern.

The nine major stances within the Nine Skills all focused on nourishing and training Qi and Blood and were not in conflict with one another; they simply utilized different approaches.

Ultimately, they all led to the same destination.

As Shen Qing continued to read, the Nine Skills manual provided a description of Qi-Blood, which instantly opened up his thinking for cultivation.

The so-called Qi-Blood did not refer to Qi and blood separately, but meant that the blood was perceived as Qi flowing through the body.

The flow of blood within the human body is very subtle.

It is only intermittently, in moments of stillness, that one might hear the throbbing of the pulse or become aware of the temple's beating.

this made it difficult to summon one's full strength.

The purpose of stance training was to detect this flow of blood as one would Qi, taking control of it, directing it wherever wanted.

The warm current that Shen Qing experienced during his training was the detection of the flow of blood.

Yet just sensing it was not enough.

Nourishing and training Qi and Blood.

Before training, there needs to be nourishment.

Everyone has different quantities of blood and varying qualities of blood, all of which can be nourished and improved through medications and food supplements.

In the process of nourishing while training, both internal and external cultivation combine to make a person look radiant and full of vigor.

When a certain level is reached, and the body's essence blood reaches the physical limit, merging the Qi-Blood with the intent in one's mind, then one can cultivate Qi, reaching a new realm.

Nine Skills, this process is referred to as—cultivating both internally and externally, harmonizing Qi and blood.

Shen Qing read through the content one by one and directly garnered a lot.

No wonder that while cultivating now, he only felt that there was a breath he couldn't summon, and the progress of his cultivation had slowed down considerably. He felt that something was missing.

It turned out that he was lacking the process of nourishing blood.

In these past days, he had only relied on consuming flesh and blood, which was no longer keeping up with the refinement of Qi and blood within his body.

Shen Qing secretly felt fortunate about his decision to recognize characters and read. If he hadn't understood these things, he feared he might have taken a wrong path.

He cleared his mind and continued reading.

The remainder was all about the techniques and key points of various stance training practices.

It involved quite a few codes, such as "running dragon," "An Xue," "Chong Tian Jiao," and other cryptic terms.

Shen Qing had already mastered them in the course of his training.

After reading the entire "Nine Skills" from beginning to end, he closed the booklet, still not fully satisfied.

All in all, the Nine Skills Martial Arts seemed easy to learn but hard to master; achieving Great Perfection would be very difficult.

At this time, Shen Qing suddenly remembered the medicine that Li Linfeng had given him on that day. According to what A Fu said, that medicine was quite precious, likely used for nourishing and training Qi and Blood.

He hadn't taken it lightly upon receiving it.

Now, having read the Nine Skills and understanding some of the keys to nourishing and training Qi and Blood, he decided to give it a try immediately.

Shen Qing set aside the Martial Arts booklet and took out the medicine that Li Linfeng had given him, found an elixir pot, and started decocting it.

Just as Shen Fang, who was bustling about in the kitchen, saw Shen Qing preparing to make the medicine, she hurried over and volunteered to take over, shooing him out of the kitchen.

Shen Qing shook his head helplessly and ran to the doorway, focusing on practicing his stance training.

Time quickly passed by.

By nightfall, Shen Fang had already prepared the medicine and brought it to the table, "Qingzi, the medicine is ready, it has been cooled down, you should drink it early, so it doesn't get cold."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing finished his practice and exhaled a breath of stale air, responding, "Okay, I got it."

He walked back into the room, picked up the bowl of medicine soup from the table, and took a glance.

The medicine soup was a deep brown color, with fine herbal residues floating on the surface, emitting a strong and complex smell.

Mixed with the richness of ginseng and deer antler and other unknown medicinal fragrances, it direct hit his nostrils.

Shen Qing didn't hesitate at all and gulped it down. As soon as the medicine soup entered his mouth, it immediately filled him with bitterness, causing the muscles on his face to involuntarily twitch.

It was damn terrible tasting.

While Shen Qing was still enduring the bitterness, a strong medicinal power suddenly transformed into waves of warmth, instantaneously flowing from his belly to the Four Meridians and Eight Vessels.

The muscle soreness and weakness caused by the prior cultivation were greatly alleviated in an instant.

Not only that, moments later, the surplus medicinal power surged into his Dantian.

Shen Qing felt his body heat up, his Qi and blood surged, and the originally gentle warm current grew slightly stronger.

As expected, it was a powerful tonic, with immediate effects.

No wonder A Fu said this kind of essence was expensive.

Shen Qing went into the kitchen and said to Shen Fang, "Sis, you didn't throw away the dregs, did you?"

"Not yet, what's up?"

"Add some water and boil it again, then make those dregs into medicine cakes for me."

Such good medicine might not come by again any time soon, and Shen Qing wasn't about to waste it.

Martial Arts are so profound.

He wanted to completely refine his Qi and Blood to Great Perfection as soon as possible and head to the county town.