Martial Warrior's Path

Riding at full gallop, Meng Yuan returned to the Prince's Manor before the morning was even half over.

He first returned to his quarters, carefully washed his clothes, scrubbed himself with soap pods, changed into fresh clothes, and only then headed for the Training Field.

After briefly asking Wu Changsheng and Hu Qian about matters and learning that nothing was amiss, Meng Yuan saw that it was already noon and headed out again for the Drunken Moon Pavilion.

"My father happens to be here. Come with me," Nie Qingqing said directly when she saw Meng Yuan.

"I came to see Sister this time." Meng Yuan would not make the same mistake again, so he immediately began sweet-talking her. "I can see Master Nie whenever I please, so there's no need to hurry. But if I want to see Sister, I have to specifically take leave, just as I did today."

Nie Qingqing smiled radiantly at that and looked at Meng Yuan. "Then please, Young Master Meng."

All day long, Meng Yuan was either facing someone like Xiang Ling, clear-eyed and foolish, or someone like Jiang Tang, innocent and immature. Now that he saw an older sister like Nie Qingqing, with little innocence in her eyes but an exceptional charm, he found her especially captivating.

At the age when one burned hottest, older sisters were ultimately more pleasing to the eye.

They went up to the second floor, chose a spot by the river, and sat down.

As they chatted and flirted, Nie Qingqing, being fond of laughter by nature, was thoroughly entertained by Meng Yuan, her sweet laughter ringing out without end.

A little over a quarter of an hour later, Nie Yannian and Zhang Guinian emerged from a private room.

They had not met for half a month. Nie Yannian looked somewhat weathered, clearly having suffered out in the field.

"Master Nie, Uncle Zhang!" Meng Yuan immediately stepped forward to greet them.

Seeing his daughter standing beside the youth, with the smile not yet faded from her face, Nie Yannian could tell she had been coaxed into a good mood. He did not feel like speaking.

Zhang Guinian, meanwhile, laughed happily. Pointing at Meng Yuan and Nie Qingqing, he said to Nie Yannian, "I think they make quite a fine match!"

Nie Yannian did not respond. He merely glanced at Meng Yuan and said, "Come. Back to the Prince's Manor!"

After leaving the Drunken Moon Pavilion and parting with Zhang Guinian, Nie Yannian and Meng Yuan headed back to the Prince's Manor together.

"Master Nie, I heard from Sister Qingqing that you were borrowed away for official business?" Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"An old Daoist priest was causing trouble, so I went along to take a look," Nie Yannian said.

"The Demon Suppression Division handles that too?" Meng Yuan laughed.

"Other than you stealing women, they handle everything!" Nie Yannian finally stopped pretending to be stern. He looked Meng Yuan over and asked, "What did you come to see me for? Missing the madam?"

Please don't mention the madam. Meng Yuan pretended not to hear him and merely said, "Master Nie, I've already opened all of the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens. I want to ask Master Nie how to achieve completion and break through."

Nie Yannian stopped walking, raised his hand to count on his fingers, calculated the days, then laughed and cursed, "You brat are something else! You haven't even finished your confinement month, and you're already about to give birth again!"

What kind of comparison was that? Meng Yuan said indignantly, "Master Nie, I've never sat through a confinement month, but I do have the ability to make others do so."

"Stop using Qingqing to threaten me!" Nie Yannian tapped Meng Yuan on the nose.

The two did not speak much more on the road and returned to the Training Field together.

Nie Yannian first questioned each student one by one. He paid particular attention to Wu Changsheng and Tie Niu, clearly valuing them highly.

"Let's take a look at that lousy little courtyard of yours." After lecturing the students, Nie Yannian went with Meng Yuan to the residence beside the Training Field.

At the moment, Old Man Jiang was at the stables, while Jiang Tang was with Xun Mei, so there was no one at home.

There was not even any hot tea in the house. Remembering the jar of wine Nie Qingqing had given him, Meng Yuan simply cracked it open and served wine instead.

Seeing that wine jar, Nie Yannian shot Meng Yuan another glare.

Only after offering him three bowls of wine did Meng Yuan seriously say, "Please instruct me, Master Nie!"

Nie Yannian did not explain how to achieve completion and break through. Instead, he said, "I remember teaching you the method for circulating True Qi and the breathing technique when using the Gale Wind Saber Technique. Since you've opened all thirty-three acupoints, have you tried it?"

"I have." Meng Yuan had tried it many times.

"Tell me. How did it feel?" Nie Yannian drank another bowl.

"Following the method Master Nie taught me, the Gale Wind Saber Technique truly became much more powerful. But there's always something faintly preventing it from becoming smooth and natural, as though separated by a sheet of paper. Practicing it feels uncomfortable." Meng Yuan honestly described his feelings.

"Is it like going into the courtyard, reciting poetry, listening to music, paying the money, getting onto the bed, taking off your clothes, yet only being able to satisfy your hands and never enter the alley? Am I right or not?" Nie Yannian asked.

Meng Yuan had never experienced such a thing, but he completely understood what Nie Yannian meant, so he nodded.

"Then it seems you truly are only one step away from the realm of completion!" Nie Yannian nodded slightly.

"I await Master Nie's instruction!" Meng Yuan hurriedly poured him more wine.

"You brat are quite clever. I imagine you must also have many questions about the Martial Warrior's Path."

Nie Yannian still did not explain how to reach completion. Instead, he went off on another tangent, tapping his chest as he spoke. "The Lower Thirty-Three Heavens are spread throughout the body, distributed across the limbs and torso. Then what about those missing an arm or a leg, those with incomplete bodies? Does that mean they have no way to walk this path?"

"No! Missing a leg or an arm—even being castrated—does not prevent one from walking this path! Even if the dantian is ruined, it can be opened anew! Unless the person is dead!"

"This is the essence of a martial warrior! Do not fear breaking—for only after breaking can one rise again! Do not fear defeat—just fight your way back! Even if you fall to pieces, you can stand up again!"

"What is a martial warrior? A martial warrior walks the path of resistance, the path of refusing to yield, the path where Heaven never seals off every road! Even if there truly is no way out, when a common man erupts in fury, he can hack out a path!"

After saying that, Nie Yannian took a sip of wine, looking exceedingly satisfied.

"Master Nie, who taught you those words?" Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"Couldn't I have realized them myself?" Nie Yannian frowned, putting on an angry expression.

"Doesn't seem like it." Meng Yuan instinctively felt that Master Nie had borrowed those words from someone else.

"You brat do have some insight!" Nie Yannian pointed at Meng Yuan and sighed. "The Princess Consort's late elder brother taught me them. Unfortunately, I lacked the courage to break and rise again, and I lacked the ability to keep walking onward."

"The Princess Consort's late elder brother also walked the martial path?" Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"No. He was a student of Confucianism and walked the Confucian path. But he was a man of immense learning; he understood everything." Nie Yannian seemed rather forlorn.

Seeing this, Meng Yuan did not dare ask further about the late elder brother and directly asked, "Master Nie, then how should I achieve completion?"

"Simple! Since all four of your limbs and your torso are intact, it's even simpler!"

Nie Yannian's face had reddened from drinking, and his spirits had risen. "Use the True Qi in your dantian to strike the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens simultaneously, linking them together. Then let the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens reflect upon the dantian and carve their corresponding imprints there. From then on, True Qi can circulate without obstruction!"

"Once that happens, moving True Qi will no longer require running it through the meridians to every acupoint. So long as the True Qi in your dantian reaches the reflected location, the corresponding acupoint will tremble and move, manifesting outward as strength."

"This wine jar is the dantian. The Lower Thirty-Three Heavens are reflected and carved upon its surface, the Middle Thirty-Three Heavens are reflected and carved within it, then supplemented by the transformations of the Upper Thirty-Three Heavens! Once the Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Heavens are all opened and every part connected, you can use the acupoints throughout your body to move True Qi and Jade Liquid, open the secret stores within your body, and obtain the Heavenly Secret Technique."

"Why are the Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Heavens called the foundation of martial artists? This is why! Only then can one turn decay into the miraculous and truly count as a martial artist!"

Nie Yannian was so fired up that he even snatched the task of pouring wine from Meng Yuan.

Hearing Master Nie's words, Meng Yuan could not help recalling what the old fox had said about the Heavenly Secrets Map before dying.

"Blossoming Spring Thunder is a Heavenly Secret Technique?" Meng Yuan asked.

"When you aren't seducing women, your brain really does turn quickly!" Nie Yannian said.

My brain turns quickly when I'm seducing women too, doesn't it? Seeing Master Nie look down on him, Meng Yuan did not argue and merely asked, "Master Nie, now that I've fully opened the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens, roughly how long will it take me to achieve completion?"

"That depends on the person. The fast ones take three to five days; the slow ones take years, even more than a decade. Some can't reflect and carve them even in an entire lifetime. There's no telling!" Nie Yannian spread his hands.

"Then shall I give it a try?" Meng Yuan asked.

"Fine! Give it a try!" Nie Yannian rose to his feet. "I'm going to the privy!"