"Adoptive father." Chen Mo entered the study and bowed deeply.
"What is it?" Sun Shouren set down the documents in his hands and asked with a smile.
As for Chen Mo, his adopted son, Sun Shouren valued him highly now.
There was no helping it. Of his many adopted sons, Chen Mo was the only one still in the military camp. Even if Sun Shouren did not value him, he had no choice but to.
"Your son has been cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist and is almost at the peak of the third layer. However, over the past two days, I have felt that the circulation of my qi and blood has been obstructed whenever I cultivated. I then remembered your words, adoptive father, and did not dare continue cultivating. I came to ask for your guidance at once."
Chen Mo rose and spoke, his eyes filled with confusion and puzzlement.
"Oh?" A trace of surprise flashed through Sun Shouren's eyes. He unhurriedly stroked his beard.
"Come with me." He quickly left the desk and headed straight for the martial arts hall in another courtyard.
Chen Mo followed close behind and entered the martial arts hall. Sun Shouren dismissed everyone else inside.
In the enormous martial arts hall, only Sun Shouren and Chen Mo remained.
"Come, let's first see how much strength you have now." He pointed toward the stone wheel nearby.
The stone wheels in the martial arts hall were no longer made solely of stone. Some had already been replaced on both sides with wrought iron that was heavier yet smaller in volume.
This made it possible to measure the wheels' weight more precisely, allowing martial artists to estimate their own strength more accurately.
Chen Mo nodded with a smile and walked up to the nine-hundred-pound stone wheel, lifting it with ease.
This was not difficult for him. Next came one thousand pounds, then eleven hundred pounds.
The third layer of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist gave him an increase of six hundred pounds of strength. Adding the more than five hundred pounds of strength he already possessed, that came to a full eleven hundred pounds.
Thus, none of these were too difficult for him. When he reached the twelve-hundred-pound stone wheel, Chen Mo tried it briefly and finally managed to lift it with great difficulty.
Seeing this, Sun Shouren quietly stepped in front of Chen Mo and placed one hand lightly against the stone wheel. The moment he noticed anything amiss, he would catch it.
In the end, however, Chen Mo held the stone wheel above his head for a full fifteen breaths.
"Not bad. With strength like this, although you are not as strong as I was in my prime, passing the examination for the rank of Presented Scholar would be effortless. In another two years, passing the examination for the rank of Provincial Graduate would not be difficult either."
Sun Shouren was quite delighted. The satisfaction in his eyes as he looked at Chen Mo deepened.
His adopted son had only just begun cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, yet he had already reached this level. Though he was not Sun Shouren's equal, he was still far stronger than many people.
This showed that his talent was absolutely not poor. As long as he was properly nurtured, he would surely become a fierce general who could charge and kill across the battlefield.
"It is all thanks to your nurturing, adoptive father." Chen Mo smiled.
Although his strength might surpass that of many candidates taking the Provincial Graduate examination, the imperial examinations were not passed through brute force alone.
The stone-lifting test, archery, horsemanship, military texts and strategy, weapon skills, and combat techniques were all within the examination's scope.
It was not enough for one item to meet the standard; every item had to reach the required level.
Because he had undergone Mortal Transformation twice in succession, his talent was indeed fairly good. However, he had been cultivating for too short a time.
Since entering the Guard Camp, even if he trained constantly until the imperial examination, he would have cultivated for only half a year at most.
The candidates taking the imperial examination had all practiced for at least several years, and some even more than a decade. Even with good talent and excellent strength, Chen Mo would find it difficult to compete with them.
"Now that you are cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, since you have already sensed an obstruction in the circulation of your qi and blood, you cannot continue cultivating. Otherwise, you will only injure yourself. If you wish to continue cultivating, you must cultivate an inner family method." Sun Shouren spoke slowly.
"Please teach me, adoptive father!" Chen Mo hurriedly bowed deeply.
"Quickly, rise, my son!" Sun Shouren threw back his head and laughed, reaching out to help Chen Mo up.
"Sit first. I will teach you how to calm your mind, circulate your qi, and comprehend the sensation of qi." Sun Shouren sat cross-legged on the spot.
Meditative sitting was a crucial part of cultivating inner family techniques. One first had to sit in meditation and clarify the mind in order to perceive the sensation of qi.
Only after finding that sensation of qi could one condense inner qi and officially begin cultivating.
To reach this step, those with talent and comprehension could succeed in three to five months. Those without talent might gain nothing even after three to five years.
For this reason, pure inner-qi cultivators had grown increasingly rare throughout the world. Apart from the limitation of money, the more important reason was that it consumed far too much time.
Martial artists who cultivated both internal and external methods, or those who cultivated external methods alone, formed the mainstream. Ninety-nine percent of martial artists in the world were like this.
However, pure inner-qi cultivators often grew stronger with age. More importantly, they enjoyed long lifespans. As long as they achieved something in cultivation, living to a hundred was no difficult feat.
As for external cultivators, even if they later switched to an inner family method to nourish their bodies, most still found it difficult to live to eighty.
"The inner family method I am imparting to you is called the Five Elements Yuan Nurturing Skill. Its purpose is to regulate the five organs and balance the five elements within the human body. Only then can one cultivate Inner Breath." Sun Shouren spoke earnestly, explaining every word in painstaking detail.
The Five Elements Yuan Nurturing Skill also had corresponding cultivation methods. However, compared with the broad and forceful movements of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, this method was far gentler.
Moreover, one had to sit in meditation for at least half an hour every day, calming the mind and bringing clarity to one's thoughts.
This was merely the standard for beginners. As one's cultivation time increased, the time spent sitting in meditation and calming the mind would gradually increase as well.
Sun Shouren practically taught Chen Mo the method hand in hand, afraid that he might make a mistake somewhere.
"From now on, you only need to focus on cultivating this method. Once you produce inner qi, it will mean that your five organs are harmonized, and only then can you continue cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist. Before that, you absolutely must not practice it again."
Sun Shouren's tone was somewhat stern as he repeatedly admonished him.
"Your son understands. But does the Five Elements Yuan Nurturing Skill have only this one layer? Once one comprehends inner qi, does that count as mastering it?" Confusion showed on Chen Mo's face. What he lacked was not a method for cultivating inner qi, but a way to use it.
"Of course not. Unlike us external martial artists, who can hardly distinguish superiority without actually fighting, inner family cultivators also cannot reveal their true differences without combat, but there is still a rough division among them." Sun Shouren gently shook his head.
External hard techniques essentially improved a martial artist's strength; they had no strict division of realms. When two external martial artists met, it was difficult to determine who was superior unless they truly exchanged blows.
Even among inner family martial artists, despite the division into higher and lower realms, as long as they remained mortal bodies, a single thrust of a spear could still pierce a bloody hole through them. Thus, the gap between realms was not as great as one might think.
As long as one made a mistake or was ambushed, even someone of a higher realm could still meet a bitter end.
"The first realm for an inner family martial artist is Sensing Qi. It mainly involves seeking the sensation of qi. You are currently in this realm.
"After the Sensing Qi realm comes Inner Breath. A martial artist accumulates inner qi in the dantian. Once the inner qi in the dantian is completely full, this realm's cultivation is considered complete.
"Although martial artists in this realm possess inner qi, every use consumes some of it, and they must spend even more time cultivating to accumulate it again.
"The third realm is Meridian Circulation. True qi travels through the meridians and completes a cycle within the body. Once the inner qi in the dantian is exhausted, it will slowly recover on its own.
"As for the realms beyond that, they are still too distant from you. There is no need for you to know about them yet.
"You have only just begun cultivating. First sense qi, then cultivate Inner Breath. Only after that can you begin Meridian Circulation and cultivate the next layer of the method."
Sun Shouren spoke at length, while Chen Mo listened with great seriousness beside him.
"May I ask, adoptive father, once your son cultivates inner qi, how should I use it?" Chen Mo continued asking.
"That is complicated to explain. Tomorrow, go to my study, and I will give you the cultivation method for the Five Elements Yuan Nurturing Skill. You will understand after reading it slowly." Sun Shouren rose with a smile.
He had no intention of withholding anything from Chen Mo. Besides, letting him look at the later cultivation methods now would also help his future cultivation.
Inner family techniques were intricate and complex, far surpassing external techniques several times over. Martial artists born into great sects and powerful clans often began comprehending cultivation methods at the age of six or seven, when they first started learning.
Even if they could not cultivate yet, they began comprehending them in advance so that they would avoid problems once they started cultivating.
Chen Mo had begun too late. If Sun Shouren still withheld things from him, Chen Mo might cultivate inner qi in this lifetime yet never achieve much.
Although techniques were not to be casually passed on, Chen Mo was his adopted son. More importantly, this method was not taught to him alone.
The adopted sons under Sun Shouren, along with several close nephews, all cultivated this method.
If only one person knew it, it could be considered precious. But if twenty or thirty people knew it, then the method was no longer particularly precious.
It was like the foundational methods of many great sects and powerful clans. With so many people cultivating them, they inevitably spread throughout the martial world.
However, so as not to offend the sects and clans behind those methods, their cultivators generally did not casually speak of the matter.
"Thank you, adoptive father!" Chen Mo bowed and thanked him again.
If it was an external cultivation method, ordinary people could still find a chance to cultivate it if they worked hard enough.
But inner cultivation methods were not something ordinary people could obtain through effort alone. Every manual was exceedingly precious.
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