Self-Circulating Heavenly Cycle

Li Ping'an turned around and looked at her with a smile.

Why was she making such a fuss?

Mu Ningning had just washed up and was carrying a bucket to fetch some spring water. Her jet-black hair hung loose, her fair cheeks tinged with a faint blush. Framed by her long lashes, those Peach Blossom Eyes appeared even brighter.

Her undershirt and long skirt were slightly damp, revealing a large expanse of fair skin at her shoulders and chest.

Li Ping'an turned sideways and said slowly, "Junior sister, why not change into something else? I have a few questions I'd like to ask."

"Oh! All right! Senior brother, wait for me!"

Mu Ningning turned and ran off, slamming the wooden door shut.

Li Ping'an floated up, stepped across several walls, returned to his own room for an empty bucket, and fetched Mu Ningning a bucket of water.

Since he was asking someone for help, Li Ping'an naturally could not put on airs as a senior brother.

By the time he carried the bucket back to Mu Ningning's little courtyard, she was already properly dressed.

She had changed into a simple, elegant long dress, with thin gauze trousers beneath the hem. Her long hair was tied into a simple ponytail, and her slender neck was particularly eye-catching.

Remembering what had happened earlier, Mu Ningning felt a little embarrassed and said softly, "Senior brother, please come in."

"I delayed you from fetching water."

Li Ping'an carried the bucket inside, then went straight to the point.

"I have a question. I wonder if junior sister could answer it for me."

Mu Ningning hurriedly nodded. "Senior brother, ask away. I'll tell you everything I know!"

"When I was still in the mortal world, I also studied Martial Dao. I noticed that the aura within junior sister's body seemed to Have Been circulating along the route of a Minor Heavenly Cycle. Could you tell me how you managed that?"

"Minor Heavenly Cycle?" Mu Ningning looked a little confused. "What's that?"

She only knew what a Heavenly Cycle was. She had never heard the term Minor Heavenly Cycle.

"Every cultivation technique corresponds to a simplified method of Heavenly Cycle circulation."

Li Ping'an gave a brief explanation.

"Let me put it another way. How did you make the aura within your body continuously circulate along with your sword moves while practicing swordsmanship?"

"This..."

Mu Ningning clasped her hands behind her back and lowered her head in thought.

"Senior brother, you suddenly asked that, so I don't know how to answer.

"When Mother taught me swordsmanship, she taught me move by move. Every move required the aura in my body to reach a certain position, and the next move would make the aura change along with it.

"I don't think I can explain it clearly like this. Senior brother! How about I teach you a few sword moves and demonstrate them for you?"

Li Ping'an hurriedly asked, "Can those be passed on to others?"

"Why can't they? They're only insignificant Martial Dao techniques, nothing compared to immortal arts."

Mu Ningning smiled.

"My family doesn't have so many rules. My mother often teaches hunters and farmers a few moves too!

"Of course, senior brother isn't some hunter or anything..."

"Then, how about I perform the moves you used just now once, and junior sister can correct me?"

Mu Ningning blinked, somewhat puzzled.

Her sword moves?

Li Ping'an ran outside the courtyard to pick up a branch, then performed the sword technique she had just demonstrated before her once more.

For Li Ping'an's first few sword moves, his force was not especially precise, and his posture was not particularly graceful.

But after a few moves, the sword technique seemed to suddenly open up. His sword momentum flowed like drifting clouds and running water, while the aura within him roared like crashing waves. When he withdrew his sword, the branch exploded with a bang.

Mu Ningning stared blankly.

This?

Wasn't this her family's inherited sword technique?

The aloof senior brother had learned it after watching it once?

Back then, Mother had taught her hand in hand for three or four months... This was simply too...

Li Ping'an turned to look at her. Seeing that Mu Ningning's expression had gone a little stiff, he asked quietly, "Junior sister, is something wrong?"

"Senior brother, um... Have you practiced my family's sword technique before?"

"I remembered it when I watched your sword moves just now."

Li Ping'an smiled.

"I also used a sword in the mortal world, though I wasn't especially skilled. Was there something wrong with the aura circulation just now?"

"Senior brother, let me calm down for a moment. No, let me think carefully about how to explain it to you."

Mu Ningning silently turned around and took several deep breaths, her slender figure trembling faintly.

She refused to believe it!

How could there possibly be a martial genius in this world who learned everything with one glance, and how could she so easily run into one?

"Senior brother~"

Mu Ningning turned around, a faint smile rippling across her lips.

"This sword technique is too simple, and its aura circulation is too monotonous. Let me demonstrate the truly profound Demon Slaying Sword Moves for you, senior brother. You must watch closely!"

Li Ping'an could not help growing solemn.

This junior sister was actually so generous. He would definitely have to find a way to repay this favor later.

"Thank you, junior sister."

"You're too polite. Come sit over here."

Mu Ningning immediately adjusted her breathing, went inside to take a sip of cold water, then took two treasured swords from the Jade Bracelet on her wrist before running back into the courtyard.

Li Ping'an had noticed long ago that this junior sister had not brought any bundles or luggage when she arrived.

Clearly, Mu Ningning's cultivation was above Qi Refining Stage Six, allowing her to use a Storage Artifact.

"Senior brother, please watch!"

Brilliant light burst from Mu Ningning's Peach Blossom Eyes. She stood graceful and poised, then performed a set of exquisite sword moves with many more variations woven into the sword technique.

Li Ping'an watched with great interest from the side. He raised two fingers in a sword gesture and carefully pondered the moves, already faintly grasping A Ray of Spiritual Light.

Self-Circulating Heavenly Cycle—he had found a path.

While Li Ping'an was enthusiastically learning swordsmanship, a white cloud slowly drifted toward Flowing Cloud Temple.

A slightly chubby Daoist priest stood on the cloud. He wore a gray-black Daoist Robe and had a small topknot tied on his head. When the mountain wind blew, his flowing long hair kept fluttering.

Who else could it be but Li Ping'an's old man?

Li Dazhi was feeling pleased with himself for having just learned a spell. Thinking of how smoothly his cultivation had advanced, he could not help swaying his head as he composed a poem in his heart.

Cultivating in the mountains is wondrous indeed, breaking through whenever there's nothing to do.

Teacher glares, senior brother kicks his legs, next year I'll ascend and live forever.

Wonderful... Hm?

Li Dazhi suddenly crouched down, and the white cloud slowly began to decelerate.

He had already flown into the range of the great formation on the Front Mountain. Releasing his spiritual sense, he could now inspect Flowing Cloud Temple halfway up the mountain.

"What's happening?"

Li Dazhi muttered to himself. He simply lay flat on the cloud, quietly drifted above Flowing Cloud Temple, poked a hole in the cloud, and looked down.

Within the fairly spacious little courtyard, a man and a woman were... interacting intimately?

Li Ping'an held a sword and posed while a pretty girl gently instructed him from the side. From time to time, she even helped correct his stance. Their bodies inevitably touched, and their eyes met.

Then the beautiful girl said, "My mother taught me this way too. I need to hold senior brother's wrist."

Li Ping'an smiled. "Junior sister, there's no need to worry. It's not as if I'm covered in poisonous thorns. Why can't I be touched?"

The girl softly said, "Then... then I'll help straighten your posture."

On the cloud, Li Dazhi's mouth curled wildly upward, his gaze practically melting. Three bubbles slowly rose above his head, displaying respectively:

A large red Double Happiness character and red candles.

A swaddled infant crying.

Two little children with double buns shouting, "Grandpa! Grandpa!"

This!

This was how it should be!

Why were young people in such a hurry to cultivate immortality?

Li Dazhi watched for a while and found the girl quite pretty, with a bright and lively air about her. Her figure had not fully matured, but it was already quite lovely, and her temperament was excellent as well.

Li Dazhi nodded in satisfaction.

He immediately sat up, his spirits completely different from before.

I need to hurry up with my cultivation too. I can't slack off.

If Ping'an's side progresses quickly, perhaps I'll be holding a grandson next year. Shouldn't I first get them a Cave Abode with its own courtyard in the mountains to ensure privacy, as their wedding home?

What conditions does one need to meet to get an independent mountain peak as a Cave Abode within the sect? It seems one needs the Heavenly Immortal Realm? Tsk, Heavenly Immortal is hard to cultivate... Those in the Heavenly Immortal Realm are all senior experts of the cultivation world...

The cloud lingered for a while before gradually drifting away.

Li Ping'an seemed to sense something and looked up, but did not think much of it. He continued drawing inspiration from the sword.

Achieving Self-Circulating Heavenly Cycle was what mattered most!

Near dusk, Li Ping'an took his leave with great satisfaction. Before leaving, he did not forget to perform a Daoist salute to Mu Ningning.

Mu Ningning hurriedly returned the salute.

"Thank you for your guidance, junior sister," Li Ping'an said. "I've gained some insight and may enter seclusion for a day or two. If anything happens in the rear courtyard of Flowing Cloud Temple, please call for me."

"Mm! Senior brother, cultivate in seclusion without worry!"

Mu Ningning patted her chest, making her long dress tremble slightly, and smiled.

"I'll protect these senior brothers and senior sisters. There won't be any problems."

Li Ping'an was amused by her as well.

After spending the day together, Mu Ningning's frankness, straightforward nature, and eagerness to help had left Li Ping'an with a good feeling.

She was a friend worth making.

Li Ping'an bid her farewell once more. With a light tap of his toes, his body rose like a drifting feather. After a few bounds, he returned to his wooden tower and activated the formation around it.

Mu Ningning wore a somewhat stiff smile as she turned and returned to her room, slamming the wooden door shut with a bang.

The upright posture she had maintained earlier immediately collapsed. Dejected, she looked at the two swords in her hands.

"This..."

Was the aloof senior brother a monster?

Only half a day, just half a day!

All the martial insights Mother and Aunt had painstakingly taught her had been taken away by the aloof senior brother!

If the aloof senior brother asked about Martial Dao cultivation again next time, how was she supposed to respond? Should she just admit that this was all she knew?

She had disgraced the Mu Family!

But then again, if senior brother's comprehension was so strong, why was he still at Flowing Cloud Temple?

Could someone with such comprehension not be accepted as a formal disciple by the immortals?

Mu Ningning worried for a while, then gently blew at the bangs before her forehead and went to the bathing tub nearby.

The jade bracelet on her wrist flashed faintly. She took out two folding screens with built-in shielding formations, put her hands on her hips, and encouraged herself.

Whatever. When the cart reaches the mountain, there'll be a road.

My Mu Family has produced Outer Sect Disciples of the Myriad Cloud Sect for three generations. I'll definitely take a grand apprenticeship and become an official disciple of the Myriad Cloud Sect with honor!

Splash!

Mu Ningning jumped into the bathing tub. Her close-fitting undershirt slowly floated up, her jet-black hair spread to either side beneath the water, and she began meditating underwater.

After the sun and moon had turned three times.

It's done.

Li Ping'an opened his eyes, sharp light flickering within them.

He lowered his head to observe the primordial qi circulating through his body along a fixed route. A faint smile appeared on his lips, and a deep sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

By drawing on the circulation methods of Martial Dao inner breath, the Self-Rotating Heavenly Cycle had been initially achieved. Its circulation speed was nearly identical to the Heavenly Cycle when he normally meditated.

His Cultivation speed could now increase by roughly thirty percent!

Next, he needed to figure out how to increase the amount of spiritual energy entering his body, as well as how to improve the efficiency with which spiritual energy was converted into dharma power.

From this point onward, Li Ping'an could free himself from endless seated meditation. He could read ancient texts, study Daoist magic, and work on those little designs he had always wanted to make but had never had time for.

No sooner thought than done.

Li Ping'an rose and went to the first floor of the wooden tower. From a large wooden chest in the corner, he took out several tools he had previously collected from the rear courtyard.

He wanted to give Mu Ningning something in thanks.

Using a few spirit stones to make a useful handmade gift would be a good choice.

Li Ping'an worked for several hours. During that time, he took two Five Grains Pills, and an improved Mechanical Crossbow gradually took shape beneath his hands.

He deliberately whittled some bamboo arrows into simple bolts.

Such a Mechanical Crossbow was naturally a toy to Qi cultivators capable of flying through the skies and burrowing into the earth. Yet against ordinary Qi Refining Realm or Spirit Gathering Realm cultivators, if they were unprepared, it could be used for a surprise attack or two.

Unfortunately, his cultivation was still too low. He had neither an exquisite method for forging artifacts nor any precious materials to use.

Li Ping'an thought to himself.

Once my cultivation is sufficiently profound, I'll forge a few artifacts for her and repay this favor.

This can count as the deposit.

He rose and walked toward the wardrobe, humming a tune he had enjoyed in his previous life. From time to time, he glanced at the dharma power circulating on its own within his body, and a smile once again rippled across his lips.

Of the many things in life, eight or nine out of ten went against one's wishes. Things where effort brought reward were not all that common.

It was only right to be happy.

Just as Li Ping'an was about to leave, a crisp ringing of bells sounded by the second-floor window. His spiritual sense caught someone entering the courtyard.

Then Mu Ningning called softly from outside the courtyard gate.

"Senior brother! Did I disturb your cultivation? Something happened here."

"What is it?"

Li Ping'an carried the small Mechanical Crossbow out the door and saw Mu Ningning, whose face held a trace of worry.

"The Five Grains Pills in the front courtyard are gone. Several younger disciples have already been hungry for a whole day!"