Miao Ruolan let out a laugh. "My dad works as a security guard in Shengcheng, and my mom went to my grandma's house to help arrange my cousin's wedding. No one's home, anyway. It's just a book—I'll bring it to you tomorrow..."
A martial artist had traveled all the way to Shengcheng to work as a security guard.
That alone showed just how far ancient martial arts had declined in modern society.
Yet Lin Xiaosu felt like a cat was scratching at his heart. "Not today?"
"Look at how anxious you are... But I have to pour some cold water on you first. That senior brother back then spent a full five years and learned nothing at all. That was actually perfectly normal. It took me thirteen years just to cross the threshold. I only hope you won't call me a liar after you practice it!"
"If I call you a liar, just kick me ten yards away. Getting hit by that transcendent kick would be more convincing than anything! Still, speaking of it, your dad was too rigid. Didn't someone question him? Why didn't he just beat that person down with martial arts? Let them experience the destructive power of ancient martial arts firsthand. Facts speak louder than words..."
A faint smile touched Miao Ruolan's lips. "Get on. I'll tell you about it on the way..."
She got on her little electric bike, took Lin Xiaosu with her, and headed home along the mountain road west of the county town. The mountain on the west side of town was called Dangjiashan. Together with Tashan, it was one of the county town's two guardian mountains.
Originally, Dangjiashan held a higher place in the hearts of the county residents than Tashan, because it was closer to the town center. However, the county had expanded south rather than west, and the town center had shifted south as well. Before long, Tashan had become an untouched paradise in the heart of the development zone, while Dangjiashan remained where it was, preserving its natural state.
The breeze brushed past his ears as Miao Ruolan's voice carried over, telling him about the skill.
This "Spring Return Skill" was very unusual, unlike the techniques passed down by other Ancient Martial Arts Families.
What was its greatest difference?
Its original purpose was not to be a martial arts classic at all, but a technique for "healing ailments and making up deficiencies."
Its creator had been a eunuch.
He had everything, except his root.
That was his greatest regret. He had served others for half his life and built a fortune enough for his descendants to squander freely for dozens of generations, yet he had no root and no descendants to inherit it.
An ordinary person would probably have simply died with that regret. But this eunuch possessed an unyielding will. Once he set his mind on something, he had to accomplish it. He wanted to draw upon the various texts in the imperial palace to create a method of restoring what was missing. He wanted his ancestral root to grow back. He wanted to continue his glory. That eunuch's surname was Miao, and his name was Miao Renjie.
His name alone revealed what kind of person he was. Even without his root, he still wanted to be an outstanding man!
As Lin Xiaosu listened to those words drifting through the wind, enormous waves surged in his heart.
He had lost his ancestral root and created the "Spring Return Skill"? Damn! You could actually do that?
Wait, that eunuch's surname was Miao...
No way. Was your Miao Family descended from that eunuch?
Did he really succeed?
As Miao Ruolan rode across ridges and hills, she continued recounting the legend...
That legendary figure, Miao Renjie, had truly succeeded in creating the "Spring Return Skill." He had even successfully regrown his ancestral root, continuing his family fortune, his legend, and this extraordinary family text.
The Spring Return Skill began from a special part of the body, giving birth to Spring Return true qi. Wherever that true qi reached, it strengthened the human body.
In that respect, it was no different from other ancient martial arts.
So where was the difference?
Its limitless malleability.
What kind of malleability?
The human body had two main meridians, twelve regular meridians, and eight extraordinary meridians. Those were merely the conventional meridians. In truth, there were countless tiny meridians as well. Once those fine meridians were opened, different combinations formed different "qi domains." In theory, the possible combinations were endless...
No one could discover every combination, but everyone could freely choose certain combinations.
If your heart was weak, you could specially design a route to protect it.
If your kidneys were weak, you could specially design a route to protect them.
If your hands lacked strength, you could specially design a route to strengthen your arms.
If your legs lacked power, one route could guide the flow, allowing even a cripple to walk as swiftly as the wind.
If your brain was no good... then forget it. A fool probably could not design the complicated route needed to protect his own brain...
To sum it up, the Spring Return Skill was actually a medical art, not a martial art.
And the patient was yourself!
Pretty miraculous, and pretty awkward, wasn't it?
Miraculous, you say?
Its effects truly were miraculous. Even a severed ancestral root could grow back. How unbelievable was that?
But so what?
It took more than ten years just to get started. You could spend your entire life turning yourself into a super doctor, only to treat one patient for the rest of your life—and that patient was still yourself!
What kind of people was this suited for?
Probably only people like Miao Renjie.
What traits did such people need? Great perseverance, a great fortune, and a serious illness. But the illness could not be too serious—if it was too severe, they could not afford to wait. Before the skill was mastered, they would already be dead...
With so many requirements combined, the target audience was far too niche. The technique thus became a niche technique, and by modern times, it had practically played itself into the state of "needing to be posted online."
If Miao Renjie, who had created this technique, knew about that, he would probably rise from the grave...
The little electric bike sped along the mountain road. Miao Ruolan's face had remained faintly flushed. Even though the mountain wind in early May still carried a chill, it could not dispel the blush from her cheeks.
There were many reasons for that...
The most important was probably her own particular nature.
She looked ordinary. If she were left overnight on the street, her parents would probably only worry whether she had gone hungry.
She had a quiet temperament, and amid crowds, she was more accustomed to exiling herself far away.
Therefore, she had never been so close to a man before.
More fatally, she was talking about ancestral roots.
There was no avoiding that subject.
She swore on the innocence she had preserved to this day that she had used the most euphemistic wording possible...
Fortunately, they had reached Huashi Bridge.
Miao Ruolan practically jumped off the electric bike, drew in the cool air of the mountain village, then slowly turned around. "This is my home!"
"Pretty nice! Better than mine!" Lin Xiaosu looked around.
A small bridge over flowing water, a pond bordered by green grass, a clean and tidy village, small buildings constructed by the pond, several large trees at the village entrance, and a newly built bus stop. The buses had already connected the village to town, which was the greatest benefit the county had given this near-suburban village.
There were not many households in the village, but compared with other rural villages that were "dying out," it was clearly still fairly populated.
"Come inside!"
Lin Xiaosu entered the house. It had the standard appearance of a rural home as well—cement floors, a large wooden table, exposed electrical wires against white walls—but the backyard had a touch of novelty.
The backyard was large, with bare earth underfoot and a high embankment behind it. Beyond the embankment was a bamboo grove. On the right stood a tall crape myrtle tree, its luxuriant branches and leaves forming a natural screen for that side of the yard.
On the left was a stone. Its surface was not natural, but embedded with many pebbles arranged into the shape of a flower, lending this rural backyard a touch of elegance.
Beneath the crape myrtle tree, scattered pebbles covered the dirt ground. A small table stood atop them, with a reclining chair beside it. In summer, sitting in that chair would definitely feel cool.
"Have a seat. I'll boil some water. I didn't boil any before leaving this morning," Miao Ruolan said.
"Okay!"
Lin Xiaosu sat down in the reclining chair. It was genuinely quite comfortable. Then suddenly, his gaze was drawn to the flower across from him.
It was a flower made of embedded pebbles.
That had been his first impression when he entered.
But now, his impression had changed...
Those pebbles were not set in cement. Holes had been drilled directly into that stone.
He lightly pressed his foot down, steadying the reclining chair as he stared at the pile of pebbles beneath him. Huge waves rose in his heart...
Could it be?
Someone had sat here with nothing to do and tossed pebbles at the large stone, embedding them directly into its surface to create a flower of pebbles!
Even an expert like Chang Ye could not possibly achieve such a feat. At most, she could smash the large stone across from her, but she could never leave the pebbles intact.
If an egg collided with a stone at sufficient speed, it could possibly damage the stone. But no matter how heaven-defying your abilities were, you could not keep the egg from being damaged!
It was like a bird hitting an airplane. Everyone was amazed when a fragile bird shattered an airplane window, but who had ever seen a bird hit a plane and survive?
Miao Ruolan came out carrying a teapot, with a thread-bound book beside it.
She smiled gently. "I brought you the book. Drink some tea and take your time reading it. I'll go make lunch."
Lin Xiaosu's entire attention was immediately diverted by the book.
He picked it up. Three archaic characters were written on the cover: Spring Return Skill.
He opened it. The introduction read: "If the human body is like the cosmos, then its hidden realms contain heaven and earth. The movement of blood within the body, the flow of qi through the meridians, all are creations of nature..."
Lin Xiaosu skimmed through it at a glance...
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Half an hour passed, and he closed the book.
Ancient texts were like this. They did not contain many words, but they were obscure and difficult to understand. Yet was any of that a problem for Lin Xiaosu?
He could recite everything backward after reading it once. Once Humanity Orchid Heart integrated the contents, he digested them rapidly.
Everything seemed effortless, but that did not mean it was not breathtaking.
This book elevated the human body to an infinite, almost divine level.
It claimed that the human body contained countless hidden realms, and that opening each one was like opening a gate to creation.
It sounded like nonsense, but hadn't people said that the end of science was mysticism?
Didn't modern people also have a conclusion?
Less than eight percent of human genes had been deciphered!
The human body had never truly been deciphered by anyone!
That was the theoretical portion...
The practical portion was very complicated. The body's meridians, the names of acupuncture points, the point where the first wisp of true qi was born...
Everything was laid out clearly...
But the world was just that damned. Lin Xiaosu felt as though this was one of those things that looked easy but fell apart the moment you tried it.
How was true qi supposed to arise from that point?
He fiddled with it for a full two hours and got nowhere.
True qi was something that could neither be seen nor touched. Could it really arise from nothing?
Miao Ruolan brought out the meal. Though it was all ordinary home cooking, it looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful.
Lin Xiaosu ate with great enjoyment and praised her a few times, making Miao Ruolan's cheeks flush red with embarrassment.
Before you continue