Red Flag Order

Meng Zhao did not hide his abilities either, generously recounting the three martial arts he had learned so far to Meng Jizu one by one.

The Postnatal Realm was divided into three levels: Breath Absorption and Essence Condensation, Qi Accumulation into Sea, and Meridian Circulation, corresponding to beginner, minor accomplishment, and major accomplishment.

The Innate Realm was likewise divided into three levels: Qi Through Nine Apertures, Heavenly Cycle Realm, and Qi Condensation into Gang. Each level was a whole new heaven.

Though Meng Jizu had never reached Qi Condensation into Gang, he was likely in the Circulation of the Heavens Realm. He could be called a powerhouse of the present age. He had his own understanding of Martial Dao Cultivation and could view matters from a lofty height, offering Meng Zhao proper guidance.

Upon hearing Meng Zhao's account, Meng Jizu was overjoyed and laughed repeatedly.

"Excellent. I had thought that your cultivating alone at Great Compassion Temple would hinder your Martial Dao Cultivation. I never expected you to have made such progress. It truly exceeds my expectations.

"I know of the Arhat Young Monk Skill. It is the foundational martial art of Great Compassion Temple's Arhat Demon-Subduing Scripture. It may not be unfathomably profound, but within the Postnatal Realm, it is among the finest martial arts for tempering a solid and vigorous foundation. It is by no means ordinary.

"Especially the Pure Yang Child Qi it nurtures—it is exceedingly rare. It will be of great help when you cultivate our family's Red Flag Order in the future.

"And these thirteen forms of Luohan Fist may be simple, but they contain the essence of fist techniques. Since you have cultivated them close to major accomplishment, when you take up the world's Fist, Palm, Finger, Claw martial arts in the future, grasping one principle will allow you to understand a hundred.

"As for the Plum Blossom Stance Steps, they are somewhat shallow, but that does not matter. They still count as a foundation."

Meng Jizu went on at length, explaining the origins, characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of the martial arts Meng Zhao had learned. Clearly, he possessed some degree of understanding of all of them.

In terms of rank, they were somewhat shabby. Yet in terms of function and value, they were not only comprehensive but highly useful. At the very least, Meng Zhao was no longer an unyielding stone, but an uncut piece of jade.

At the same time, Meng Jizu understood why Meng Zhao possessed such lofty ambitions in the martial path. The boy had inherited his father's talent for martial arts, and thus had the confidence to do so.

"However, these are ultimately only foundational martial arts. Today, I will teach you the Unrivaled Ultimate Skill passed down through the direct line of our Meng Family generation after generation—the Red Flag Order Divine Art."

Hearing this, Meng Zhao's heart blossomed with joy. He had waited so long and accumulated no small number of energy points—was this not the very moment he had been waiting for?

His principle was simple: since he possessed a cheat-like golden finger such as the Sky-Illuminating Mirror, he naturally had to make full use of it.

Rather than cultivate middling, or even mediocre, martial arts, he might as well begin with the strongest martial art directly.

And for the Meng Family, their strongest art was certainly not the martial arts they had gathered from outside over the years. It was the Red Flag Order Divine Art left behind by the first Earl of Nan'an, the founder of their Meng Family and a peerless genius of his generation, Meng Shentong.

The Red Flag Order was also one of the symbols of their Meng Family, the origin of the red flag.

As he spoke, Meng Jizu began to tell Meng Zhao of this martial art's origins and history.

This martial art had not been created by their ancestor Meng Shentong. Rather, he had learned it from a secret place. Its inheritance seemed extremely ancient, at the very least predating the Great Ming of the Middle Ages.

The red flag signified the virtue of fire, so the true qi cultivated through it was supremely yang and supremely fierce, capable of burning gold and melting iron, possessing unmatched explosive force and destructive power.

The Order, meanwhile, represented how the true qi and internal power cultivated by this art were exceptionally forceful and domineering, with the quality of suppression.

It was said that upon reaching the highest level, one could even command the fire-aspected primordial qi between heaven and earth for one's own use, wielding boundless might.

Unfortunately, success came from the Red Flag Order, and ruin came from the Red Flag Order as well. Precisely because this art was too outstandingly powerful, it carried the risk of injuring its practitioner.

As a cultivator's skill deepened, the Red Flag Order qi force within their body became ever more scorching and surging, increasingly difficult to restrain. There was even a risk that the heat force would spiral out of control and scatter throughout the body. Qi Deviation thus became the greatest enemy of Meng Family martial artists.

The most recent example was Meng Zhao's father, Meng Zhengan. His Qi Deviation during cultivation had resulted partly from being defeated by someone, growing restless and impetuous, and rushing for success. Yet part of the reason was also that the Red Flag Order Divine Art had slipped beyond control, sending him down the road to destruction.

There were even tales within the family that their old ancestor Meng Shentong, despite reaching the Grandmaster Realm in his day, had ultimately suffered damage to his heart meridians from a surge of heat force and died young.

Therefore, while teaching Meng Zhao the cultivation methods and mnemonics related to the Red Flag Order, Meng Jizu repeatedly warned him to be careful and cautious, never greedy for quick gains or rash advancement.

This was also why he had repeatedly poured cold water over Meng Zhao earlier, warning him not to rush for success.

Internal cultivation was unlike external cultivation. One moment of carelessness could lead to a lifetime of regret. No degree of caution was excessive.

Meng Zhao possessed an astonishing memory and exceptional comprehension. As he listened, he committed everything to memory, discovering that its contents were extraordinarily complex and marvelous as well.

The complete Red Flag Order martial art was divided into five major sections.

The first section was the general outline. It was profound and obscure, yet it was also where the essence lay.

The second section explained methods for cultivating and using internal power, beginning with Breath Absorption and Essence Condensation and continuing all the way to the Grandmaster Realm.

The third section contained the secrets to consolidating the foundation at every stage. It served as a supplement to the second section and was even more exquisite.

The fourth section contained the mental art and essential formulas for suppressing the backlash of the Red Flag Order internal power. It was of utmost importance, a required subject that Meng Family descendants had to study diligently throughout their lives.

The fifth section consisted of the insights gained by successive Meng Family ancestors while cultivating this art. It contained the most material and was also the most complicated.

All in all, the seemingly simple Red Flag Order was all-encompassing and vast in its profundity.

No wonder it was praised as a grandmaster-level divine art. It explained cultivation at every stage with utmost clarity.

As for Meng Zhao, two obstacles now lay before him.

First was how to transform the internal power of his Arhat Young Monk Skill into Red Flag Order internal power. This step was critically important, as it involved changing the very foundation of his cultivation.

Moreover, he had to avoid allowing his internal power to suffer losses during the process as much as possible. Only then could he preserve his strength to the greatest extent and avoid a period of weakness.

Second was finding a way to use the Red Flag Order Divine Art, when opening his dantian, to create a dantian as vast as the sea and establish a perfect foundation. This would be the first barrier he had to face.

Several methods described in the fifth section all possessed a certain degree of feasibility, but none came without considerable risks. They required careful consideration.

Of course, for Meng Zhao, these might not prove to be obstacles at all.

With as many as 9,700 energy points in hand—mentioned in Chapter 31—he had sufficient confidence to learn and improve this divine art.

The answers to every problem could presumably be found through the Red Flag Order itself.

Besides this, Meng Jizu had specially selected a fist martial art called the Sun Wheel Seal to teach Meng Zhao as a means of self-defense.

The Sun Wheel Seal was a special kind of martial art. Through specific hand seal postures, it could mobilize internal power and unleash its might. It was a hand technique from Meng Jizu's personal collection.

In terms of power and rank, it naturally far surpassed foundational martial arts such as the thirteen forms of Luohan Fist, allowing Meng Zhao to bring out his strength to the fullest.

If the Postnatal stage were divided into five levels—crude, ordinary, excellent, supreme, and peerless—

then Luohan Fist could only be considered ordinary, while the Sun Wheel Seal could be ranked among the excellent.

As for weapon arts, the Meng Family naturally did not lack them. However, Meng Jizu personally believed that Meng Zhao was already rather old. Rather than spend extra time and effort on such things, it would be better for him to focus on hand-to-hand martial arts.

After all, weapon martial arts emphasized extension. One had to develop tacit understanding with one's weapon, which itself was a process that consumed time and energy. To then pursue realms such as wielding it like one's own arm or unity of man and weapon would be putting the cart before the horse.

By contrast, fists and legs were parts of one's own body, freely wielded at will. Saving the effort of developing rapport with a weapon naturally meant having more time, and more effective time, to improve oneself.

Meng Zhao had no objections. Though he possessed the Sky-Illuminating Mirror, it was not yet time for him to become inflated with confidence.

The advice of an Innate Master like Meng Jizu would surely bring him nothing but benefits.