Does a great hero have to wear a white robe?

The moon was bright and the stars were few, and there were many mosquitoes in the woods, buzzing incessantly.

Fortunately, a bonfire had been lit, and waves of heat rolled out. The main force hid in the darkness, only sending out the vanguard to probe.

Zhang Yu sat cross-legged, with his five senses facing the sky.

Yue Lingshan asked, "What are you doing?"

"Opening up my Dantian."

"Are you kidding me?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"You... you're simply ignorant and fearless."

Yue Lingshan was speechless for a moment. How could opening up a Dantian sound as easy as drinking water or eating flatbread in his mouth? She had spent a full seven years preparing.

"Before the age of sixteen, with a pure heart and mind, impervious to evil, that is the best time. As one gets older, distracting thoughts arise, making it difficult to achieve the state of embracing origin and maintaining unity. Forcibly opening up the Dantian can lead to disordered meridians and paralysis of half the body in mild cases. In severe cases, it can cause qi and blood to flow backward, leading to immediate death."

She looked at Zhang Yu, a schadenfreude smile on her face.

"May I ask your esteemed age?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "If you don't count my previous life, eighteen."

Yue Lingshan laughed, "That's too old, there's no hope for you in this life. Do you really think that just because you found a cultivation technique and know the method of breathing and qi guiding, you can casually open up your Dantian?"

Zhang Yu smiled confidently, "Isn't it just about clearing the mind and concentrating the spirit? What if I could have a hundred thoughts cease, embrace origin and maintain unity, and my mind be as clear as emptiness?"

Yue Lingshan was full of disbelief. She raised her hands and shooed away a mosquito that landed on her slender, fair neck. "Unless you're an ascetic monk from the Shaolin Temple, or the junior uncle Chen Lingyue of Wudang."

"I am no one, I am myself."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Yue Lingshan's expression turned serious. "The danger of opening up a Dantian is no less than entering a life-and-death seclusion. Even Chen Lingyue would not dare to be in such an environment."

"When Senior Brother opened up his Dantian, my parents were there to protect him. If you mess around like this, you'll really die!"

Zhang Yu looked at the young woman in the green dress, who looked a little haggard after a few days, and a genuine concern flickered in his eyes. He chuckled, "Thanks."

Yue Lingshan felt guilty under his gaze and turned her head away, saying softly, "Why am I bothering to care? It's best if you, a scoundrel from the Demonic Cult, die!"

The vanguard was tragically annihilated.

The buzzing of mosquitoes around them grew louder, as if they were plotting how to launch their next offensive.

"The body is the Bodhi Tree, the mind is like a Mirror Stand. Constantly wipe it clean, do not let dust alight."

Zhang Yu sighed softly, flicked his sleeve, and slowly recited to the bright moon, appearing like a pearl of great price, misunderstood by the world.

He gently rotated the Green Jade Thumb Ring, closed his eyes, and began to guide qi into his body...

Yue Lingshan turned around and saw Zhang Yu's face was serene, his breathing steady, as if he were... asleep.

"Is this little scoundrel tricking me again?"

She stared at him closely, but suddenly noticed a faint white light between his eyebrows, extremely weak.

Yue Lingshan rubbed her eyes and looked again.

She rubbed her eyes again, confirming she wasn't mistaken.

"This... is this Samadhi? Entering Samadhi instantly? How is this possible?"

Yue Lingshan covered her mouth in disbelief, afraid that her exclamation would disturb Zhang Yu, which would be a great sin.

"Father once said that for martial artists, Samadhi is a profound and mysterious state, attainable but not easily achieved. Usually, only eminent Buddhist monks or true Daoist masters with profound martial arts cultivation have the chance to enter Samadhi."

Entering Samadhi could greatly enhance one's state of mind.

It was of great benefit for understanding the mysteries of martial arts and breaking through realms.

She watched the point of white light grow brighter, from the size of a bean to the size of a ring.

In the dark room, it was like the bright moon in the sky. This was the appearance of eminent monks entering Samadhi. Zhang Yu had not yet reached that state, otherwise, he would truly be a monster.

However, even so, he was already quite monstrous.

Yue Lingshan thought to herself, "It's such a pity that such a martial arts prodigy has fallen into the Demonic Cult."

With the aid of the Green Jade Thumb Ring, Zhang Yu's breathing slowed, and he entered a mysterious state of internal visualization...

With each breath, it was like clouds rolling and unfurling.

There was a vast, rugged mountain with many waterfalls, streams, peaks, and deep valleys.

Qi from all directions converged in the center, gradually condensing into a white ball of light.

When this ball of light first formed, it was the size of a fist, then it continued to rotate and condense until only a point of golden light remained.

What was this point of golden light like?

A soybean, a grain of sand, a pearl, a lotus seed...

As his consciousness shifted, this point of golden light seemed to change its form.

Finally, as his mind settled, the point of golden light transformed into a Purple Gold Lotus Seed.

In front of the mountain, a large waterfall cascaded down.

The Purple Gold Lotus Seed swam upstream against the waterfall, entering the mountain and weaving through peaks and valleys, climbing to the mountainside before circling to the back of the mountain.

There was another waterfall on the back of the mountain.

The Purple Gold Lotus Seed flowed down with the waterfall...

After this cycle, the Purple Gold Lotus Seed became clearer and more solid, its patterns lifelike.

The Purple Gold Lotus Seed landed on the ground, instantly bursting into golden light.

"Dantian opened!"

The Dantian he opened was like a golden pool. It was almost empty, with only a wisp of mist and a single lotus seed.

Zhang Yu opened his eyes and saw a face of unparalleled beauty, her eyes filled with curiosity and admiration.

Their eyes met.

"Are you going to kiss me?"

"I... I thought you were dead."

Yue Lingshan sat back down on the other side, unable to resist asking, "What grade is your Dantian?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Can you not tell anyone?"

Yue Lingshan quickly replied, "Yes, I swear to the moon."

Zhang Yu smiled, "I believe you."

"What is it? Hurry up and tell me."

"Silver Furnace."

"Really?"

"Really, why would I lie to you?"

"Heh, it's just so-so then."

Yue Lingshan couldn't help but feel happy.

Humans are not saints.

No one wants to see what they have achieved through years of hard work and effort be surpassed by someone else in just a few days.

Moreover, saints have no desires because they have already won everything in the world.

This was true for the young girl in the green dress, and even more so for those formidable martial artists.

Yue Lingshan suddenly asked, "Why did you join the Demonic Cult?"

"There are many reasons. Let me think for him: to make a living, to achieve success, to awe the martial world. In short, I don't want to live an ordinary life like mud, and I don't want to be powerless when a steel knife is at my throat."

Yue Lingshan was confused, "Then you could join a righteous sect, like Shaolin Temple or Wudang, Qingcheng or Emei, or the Five Great Sword Sects."

"Righteous sects? Are you referring to those two disciples from Songshan at Guanyin Nunnery?"

"You're being stubborn. If there are many fruits on a tree, some will be bitten by insects, but the soil is good, so most of the fruits will still be good."

"Perhaps."

Zhang Yu stood up, stretching his limbs, his bones cracking like popping beans.

Opening his Dantian and cultivating inner energy. In this martial world, he had finally risen from the role of a low-level grunt to at least a supporting character with a few lines.

But to leave his name and let this world know he had been here, he still needed to work harder.

"I came, I saw, I conquered!"

Zhang Yu recalled the famous saying of a Western emperor, looked at the full moon in the sky, felt invigorated, and lost all drowsiness.

He looked at Yue Lingshan excitedly, "The night is long and very boring."

The girl in the green dress flinched back, "What are you doing?"

"To save the innocence of Heroine Yue, I'll tell you a story."

Yue Lingshan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

"The story takes place in Meixi Village, on the southern outskirts of Pingding City. There were two young boys in the village."

"They aspired to become great heroes in white robes, wielding swords and traveling the world. They had heard from somewhere, perhaps from a storybook, that heroes must wear white robes, carry long swords, and ride horses. So, they chopped firewood for half a year to buy a white robe, sold their ancestral fertile land and houses, and bought a poor horse and an iron sword."

"They first traveled east to Lu, hoping to join the Taishan Sect. The Daoist guarding the gate, upon hearing they were from Pingding Prefecture, beat them soundly and drove them away."

"They sold the poor horse and gathered their travel expenses."

"Then they traveled south to Xiang. They lingered in Hengyang City for half a month, but because no one introduced them, they couldn't even get through the gates of the Hengshan Sect."

"..."

"A year later, they returned to Pingding Prefecture, with only the white robe left."

Yue Lingshan asked with great interest, "What happened next?"

To her, this story was novel. A boy from a humble background, working hard, and finally becoming a great hero – this was the true spirit of the martial world.

Yue Lingshan was born on Mount Hua, which was already an endpoint that many martial artists could never reach in their entire lives.

"Times change, but things stay the same. It's like that everywhere."

Zhang Yu suddenly lost the mood to continue.

"Later, they joined the Sun Moon Divine Cult. One died fighting on Mount Heng's Damaoling, and the other..."

Yue Lingshan already understood in her heart that he was using the story to talk about himself. She asked, "You're the young man who survived, aren't you?"

Zhang Yu chuckled, "I'm not. That young man is also dead."

Yue Lingshan had hoped for a twist in the story, a dramatic turn where the young man would rise against all odds and become a king. But it ended there, and she couldn't help but say, "This story is so boring."

Zhang Yu lay on the grass, his hands behind his head, looking at the moon. "It is boring, but this is the story of most people in the jianghu."

"Heroine Yue, you must understand that many people might spend half their lives striving just for the right to sit here and eat sesame cakes with you."

Yue Lingshan's face flushed slightly, and she whispered, "You're talking nonsense again."