Showing Off

Master Nie hadn't shown his face for several days, but as soon as he did, he was leaving. Meng Yuan was naturally reluctant and kept pulling at him, not letting him go.

Of course, the main reason was that he wanted to learn more things.

"Master Nie hasn't been here much lately, and the trainees' morale is a bit low," Meng Yuan said.

"What? Do I have to get some eggs and give them to whoever practices diligently?" Nie Yannian laughed after saying that.

Meng Yuan also laughed and asked, "Master Nie, how are things with the Buddhism and Demons?"

"Can't find anything. It's already been reported. They'll probably send someone down specifically to investigate. Anything related to those bald donkeys is not a small matter," Nie Yannian answered casually, his steps not stopping, clearly wanting to leave.

Meng Yuan followed closely and asked again, "Master Nie, do you have any other arrangements for the Training Field?"

"Practice more, practice harder, practice diligently, practice bitterly!" Nie Yannian said, which was as good as saying nothing. He clearly didn't care much about the young men in the Training Field.

As the two were chatting idly, they saw a person rushing into the Training Field from outside, full of energy and excitement, as if he had struck it rich. It was Ren Debiao.

"Master Nie, I've reached Eighth Rank! My Niwan is open!" Ren Debiao was excited and his voice was very loud. Seeing Meng Yuan beside him, he didn't forget to glance at Meng Yuan proudly.

The young men who were training were all envious when they heard this.

It usually takes three to four years for an ordinary person to go from Ninth Rank to Eighth Rank. Ren Debiao only took a little over two years. His aptitude wasn't excellent, but it wasn't bad either.

Moreover, after reaching Eighth Rank, not only would his abilities be stronger, but his monthly allowance would also increase.

"Alright, not bad! Go find Lao Gou, your monthly allowance should be raised," Nie Yannian said casually, then waved his hand and walked out again.

Seeing that Nie Yannian was quite perfunctory and didn't seem to think highly of him for reaching Eighth Rank, Ren Debiao quickly followed.

But after following for a few steps, Ren Debiao saw that Nie Yannian wasn't looking at him, but instead kept turning his head to chat endlessly with that eunuch. One moment he was threatening the eunuch, saying that if he dared to go whoring, he would castrate him; the next moment he was instructing the eunuch to go to the Drunken Moon Pavilion more often to help out, like washing dishes or something.

And that eunuch was also quite shameless, saying that when it came to castration, he was the expert, and then talking about how he should be paid for washing dishes.

Ren Debiao followed him all the way out of the Royal Residence, trying to talk to him several times, but Nie Yannian didn't seem willing to pay much attention. Instead, that eunuch was very good at flattering and had already helped lead out the horse.

That eunuch was very proactive and kept saying that his skills were low and he was afraid of embarrassing Master Nie, clearly wanting to learn something.

Ren Debiao saw that Nie Yannian was so pestered that he actually agreed to teach the eunuch a set of boxing techniques when he had time.

"Master Nie, I also want to learn boxing techniques," Ren Debiao quickly jumped on the bandwagon.

"We'll talk about it later," Nie Yannian didn't give a definite answer and rode away on his horse.

Ren Debiao watched Nie Yannian's back disappear into the distance, pondering for a while, but couldn't figure out why Master Nie, who had previously been quite supportive of him, was now ignoring him.

Looking at Meng Yuan, he was now pressing one hand on the money bag at his waist, as if there was some treasure hidden inside.

Ren Debiao carefully sized up Meng Yuan. He saw that this young man was a few years younger than himself, his aptitude was not bad, and his appearance was also better.

"Eunuch, you haven't known Master Nie for long, I didn't expect you to be so familiar with him," Ren Debiao asked with a smile.

Meng Yuan had worked with Ren Debiao before and knew that this person was narrow-minded and lacked tolerance, so he didn't want to get too involved with him. Keeping a distance was enough.

"Master Nie treats everyone in our Training Field the same," Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Congratulations, Brother Ren, on reaching Eighth Rank."

"Eighth Rank is nothing. If you practice hard and diligently, you'll catch up to me in a year or two," Ren Debiao finally had a hint of a smile on his face and asked again, "I see that Master Nie treats you a bit differently. Are you planning to become his son-in-law?"

Meng Yuan smiled and didn't answer, only saying, "The Training Field is busy, I'll go back first."

"I'll go with you and teach the younger generation too!" Ren Debiao actually referred to himself as a senior.

Meng Yuan smiled and didn't stop him.

Back at the Training Field, Ren Debiao indeed went forward to give pointers. It was already well-known that he had reached Eighth Rank, so everyone was happy to interact with him and ask questions.

Meng Yuan didn't bother with them. He just took the key given by Master Nie and went to the storeroom to find a Five-Stone Bow.

After getting slightly familiar with it, he adjusted the bowstring according to Master Nie's instructions and then started shooting arrow after arrow.

After shooting more than twenty arrows, his right arm felt slightly sore and swollen. Meng Yuan calmed his mind, slowly gathered his True Qi, and infused it into the acupoints of his right arm before shooting again.

The bow was like a thunderclap, and the string vibrated! Although the accuracy was slightly off, the power of the Five-Stone Bow was already far greater than the Two-Stone Bow.

Meng Yuan thought to himself, If it were within the same rank, even if all the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens were open, if they were hit in a vital spot within a hundred paces, they would probably be in trouble.

"Low rank is low rank, after all, it hasn't escaped the category of 'human'. I'll ask Master Nie for a horizontal training technique later so that I won't be instantly killed by a saber or sword cut."

Meng Yuan muttered for a while, then became extremely envious of Master Nie's Blossoming Spring Thunder.

That Blossoming Spring Thunder was truly extraordinary. When the saber was drawn, there were bursts of thunder, and it had the appearance of spring thunder over mountains and rivers. He wondered how he could cultivate it.

Meng Yuan estimated that it was probably related to the circulation of True Qi in the Upper Middle Lower Three Heavens, as this was the foundation of a martial artist.

"How can a person live between heaven and earth and remain suppressed for long? Master Nie only has one daughter, I wonder if he needs someone to take care of him in his old age..."

After shooting for a while, Meng Yuan switched to his left hand and shot until both arms were sore and unbearable before stopping.

Besides the Way of Looseness and Tightness taught by Master Nie, there were other methods for Opening Acupoints.

For example, the sixteen acupoints in front of and behind the chest and abdomen should be combined with breathing techniques and the Horse Stance Punch. The limbs were simpler; just use and practice them more, such as pulling a bow, lifting Stone Locks, and kicking with sandbags tied to the legs.

After putting away the bow and arrows, Meng Yuan stretched his arms, tied heavy iron sandbags to his legs, and then went onto the Plum Blossom Stakes to practice.

Over there, Ren Debiao had already given pointers to everyone one by one and had gained several followers.

"Did Master Nie tell him to come? Why does he act like he's teaching one part, training two parts, and showing off seven parts?" Hu Qian also jumped onto the Plum Blossom Stakes and came to ask Meng Yuan.

"He just reached Eighth Rank, can't he show off a bit?" Meng Yuan smiled.

Hu Qian nodded in understanding and said, "Wealth and pride bring ruin upon oneself. Learning martial arts isn't for showing off; there's no reason to fall into the lower ranks."

Meng Yuan heard Hu Qian quote a Daoist scripture and smiled, asking, "Sister Qian, I see you're skilled in techniques, learning the Gale Wind Saber Technique the fastest. It seems you've been practicing martial arts since you were young, right? Why are you only now thinking of entering the martial path?"

"I learned some sword techniques and Qi cultivation since I was a child, following the Daoist path, but I never succeeded," Hu Qian shook her head, looking quite helpless. "The Princess Consort said I was suited for the martial path, so she sent me to learn from Master Nie."

So you were a little Daoist nun!

Meng Yuan had only seen people from the martial and Buddhist paths take action, but he hadn't witnessed the style of Confucianism or Daoism. So he asked curiously, "What's it like following the Daoist path?"

"Daoist studies are the most widespread, with various schools and different focuses in their cultivation methods. However, at the lower ranks, there isn't much difference," Hu Qian seemed to know a bit. "Daoism emphasizes cultivating both nature and life, hence nourishing nature by consuming Qi. I don't understand the deeper aspects."

Hu Qian said this, and seeing Meng Yuan listening attentively, she blinked and said, "If you're interested, you might as well ask Sister Xun Mei for some Daoist classics to read."

That made sense. Meng Yuan had already roughly skimmed through the history books and generally understood the historical context. He planned to use his free time to read some Confucian and Daoist classics to broaden his horizons.

Learning more is always good. Master Nie said the Princess Consort loves to read. If he meets the Princess Consort later and is completely ignorant, wouldn't he lose his reputation as a wise eunuch?

The two chatted casually for a few minutes, then Hu Qian went back to diligent practice, while Meng Yuan performed the Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art once.

Afterward, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and visualized the momentum of a great river, mobilizing his True Qi. With nine shallow and one deep, nine slow and one fast breaths, he began to impact the acupoints in his left arm.

Meng Yuan was no longer troubled by lack of money or external distractions. He planned to open the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens as soon as possible so he could serve the Princess Consort.