Even Going Bald Wouldn't Help

After teaching Gu Shao'an the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, Miejue also passed on the lightness skill Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon to him.

As the finest lightness skill of the Emei Sect, Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon allowed one to use a single breath of true qi to change direction and circle through an area seven or eight zhang wide while lying flat in midair, like a divine dragon soaring across the sky, ever-changing and unpredictable.

Miejue was someone who valued rules above all else, and her cultivation had always followed a gradual, step-by-step path.

Thus, with her disciples as well, Miejue upheld the principle that martial arts valued mastery over quantity.

Whether it was Zhao Jingxuan, Ding Minjun, Bei Jinyi, or Zhou Zhiruo, who had only recently joined the Emei Sect, they could only learn a new martial art after mastering one to the level of Ascend the Hall.

But Gu Shao'an's talent was different.

Moreover, after observing him these past days, Miejue had found that Gu Shao'an possessed a temperament far beyond that of his peers. His training over the past several days had been even more diligent than Zhao Jingxuan's, Ding Minjun's, and the others'.

That was why Miejue taught Gu Shao'an three martial arts at once, then gave him a one-month assessment deadline before sending him back to train.

Having obtained three martial arts in succession, all of them among the Emei Sect's finest, Gu Shao'an was in high spirits.

He could not help feeling grateful once again that he had chosen to come to Emei.

Had Gu Shao'an chosen to join Wudang before this, what he would be learning now would likely be only the most basic martial arts of the Wudang Sect, wasting his time for nothing.

After leaving Miejue's Bamboo Hut, Gu Shao'an did not return directly to his own courtyard. Instead, he found a scenic spot not far from the courtyard, rested briefly, and began training.

Perhaps because he had truly been stunned by Miejue's earlier use of Immortal Caresses My Crown, the first martial art Gu Shao'an practiced was the Golden Summit Cotton Palm.

Gu Shao'an had already memorized the moves and cultivation formula of the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, and he had personally experienced it at Miejue's hands before. Yet after practicing it three times with the moves coordinated with his internal force, a notification appeared before him.

Golden Summit Cotton Palm mastered to the Beginner level. Achievement Points +50.

Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Beginner) -- Proficiency: 1/100

As expected of one of the Emei Sect's finest palm techniques. Just reaching the Beginner level gave as many Achievement Points as Willow Leaf Swordplay did upon reaching Ascend the Hall.

Looking at the notification before him, Gu Shao'an was delighted rather than worried.

For Gu Shao'an, what he lacked most right now was Achievement Points.

And the more difficult a martial art was to cultivate, the more Achievement Points he could obtain.

Gu Shao'an then settled his mind and resumed training.

It was currently June, and the sun blazed fiercely.

Mount Emei was especially tall, making the heat beneath the scorching sun even more intense.

Even though Gu Shao'an had chosen a shaded spot beneath a large tree,

after one round of practice, he was already drenched in sweat.

Yet Gu Shao'an seemed wholly unaware of it, his mind still completely immersed in practicing the palm technique.

Martial arts training did not mean one necessarily had to practice continuously from the first move all the way to the last.

After entering the beginner stage of a martial art, a martial artist first needed to break down and refine each move individually. Only after becoming proficient with the movements and their coordination with internal force could one attempt to link the moves together.

It was like writing a poem. One first had to understand the meaning and writing of every character in the poem before connecting them into a complete work.

If one did not even understand how the characters were written or what they meant, how could one speak of writing?

And now, Gu Shao'an was practicing the individual moves of the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, allowing his internal force to flow in coordination with the moves as he committed them to memory.

Throughout the process, Gu Shao'an's movements alternated between swift and slow.

If Miejue had been beside Gu Shao'an watching at that moment, she would surely have been astonished to discover that each time he completed a round of practice, the angle and timing of his palm strikes in the next round differed, to varying degrees, from the previous one.

After several rounds of practice, Gu Shao'an glanced at the notification for the Golden Summit Cotton Palm.

Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Beginner) -- Proficiency: 7/100.

Seeing that his proficiency had risen by six points after only a few rounds, Gu Shao'an chuckled inwardly.

Improving a martial art did not mean that the more one practiced, the greater one's improvement would be.

Take the eighth stance of Willow Leaf Swordplay, Willow Flakes Fall on Cold River. Its cultivation formula was: sink qi into the dantian, travel through the Hand Shaoyang, pass the Jianliao Acupoint, run through the Tianzhu Acupoint, gather qi, then move.

When executing the move, when should internal force enter the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian? When should it pass through the Jianliao Acupoint? And when should it enter the Tianzhu Acupoint?

If internal force and technique were improperly coordinated, the swordplay's power would be greatly reduced and riddled with openings at best. At worst, internal force would stagnate within the acupoints, causing one's qi and blood to surge backward.

It could not be one fraction too fast, nor even the slightest bit too slow.

Moreover, as one's proficiency in a martial art increased and the Hidden Meridians involved were opened, the circulation of internal force would change as well.

That was not even mentioning the movements, angles, timing, and other factors involved in executing a move.

Some martial arts could perhaps be mastered through diligent study and bitter practice.

But some martial arts were like advanced mathematics from his previous life. If one could not learn them, one simply could not learn them—even going bald would not help.

If martial arts cultivation were truly so simple, then anyone in the martial world could become a master merely by training diligently until they mastered their martial skills to the level of perfect fluency. Experts would already be everywhere.

Nor would so many people spend years, or even more than a decade, working hard only for the martial arts they knew by heart to remain stuck at the Glimpse the Path stage.

But Gu Shao'an had no such concern.

The ancients said that one could use bronze as a mirror to straighten one's attire.

For Gu Shao'an, the data on the proficiency panel was the bronze mirror that verified whether he had made mistakes in his training.

If his training method was wrong, if the speed of his internal force circulation during a palm strike was wrong, or if the angle of his strike or the force contained within it was wrong, then the proficiency gain for the Golden Summit Cotton Palm on the panel would not increase.

If his practice was sufficiently precise, he could gain one point or even more proficiency.

This allowed Gu Shao'an to actively intervene and adjust his martial arts training while practicing.

In a game, this would have been nearly useless.

But in reality, the benefits it brought were immense.

Gu Shao'an did not know whether he had trained for a quarter of an hour or one incense stick time.

As his palms fluttered and his internal force circulated, a profound and mysterious sensation suddenly arose from the depths of his heart.

At that moment, Gu Shao'an felt as if an immortal truly caressed his crown. His mind became crystal clear, flashes of inspiration rising endlessly within it.

As his palms danced, the internal force within his body also moved to a special rhythm, matching his moves with flawless precision.

The proficiency of Gu Shao'an's Golden Summit Cotton Palm also began soaring at an astonishing rate.

Golden Summit Cotton Palm successfully entered the Glimpse the Path stage. Achievement Points +100.

Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Glimpse the Path) -- Current Proficiency: 1/500

Practiced a superior martial art for half an hour. Achievement Points +10.

The pace is a little slow for now, mainly because this buildup is necessary at the start. The relevant plot will begin afterward. This newcomer humbly asks for data and continued-reading support!