Grand Perfection

"What?!"

Lei Wanjun was so shocked that he slapped the table, nearly knocking over his wine cup. He stared at Chu Ning with wide eyes, utterly incredulous.

"He wants to give you pointers on martial arts?"

Chu Ning looked at Lei Wanjun in confusion, wondering if that was really so strange.

Lei Wanjun stared at Chu Ning in shock before slowly letting out a breath. "Li Jing'an... He was once powerful enough to defeat an eighth-grade martial artist in three breaths in the prefectural city!"

"You know about all those geniuses in the prefectural city, right? Who knows how many people wanted to take him as their master, yet he didn't take a liking to a single one of them."

"And now, he actually wants to take the initiative to give you pointers? This isn't just an opportunity fallen from heaven—it's a heaven-defying opportunity!"

Chu Ning smiled faintly. "So, does that mean the hall master supports me going to learn martial arts from him?"

Lei Wanjun sat back down, his gaze solemn. "Of course. This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. You absolutely can't let it slip by."

At dawn, a gentle breeze swept through the county town's streets. Morning light spilled across the bluestone paving, carrying a touch of cool, tranquil stillness.

Dressed in a black martial outfit, Chu Ning headed steadily toward the county office.

The previous night, he had already made up his mind.

If Li Jing'an truly intended to teach him martial arts, then he would personally test just what the other man was capable of.

The rear courtyard of the county office.

Li Jing'an stood atop a stone platform, holding a slender wooden staff and casually tapping it against the ground.

He looked at Chu Ning in the distance, the corners of his lips lifting into a faint smile.

"You came rather quickly."

Chu Ning stopped and cupped his fists. "I naturally wouldn't refuse Constable Li's invitation. However..."

His eyes gleamed as he looked at Li Jing'an, the corners of his lips curving upward. "I can join the Constabulary Camp, but first I have to see how effective your instruction is."

Li Jing'an was slightly taken aback, then burst out laughing. "Oh? Then what do you want to do?"

"Teach me a few moves at random and let me see whether they're really that impressive."

He casually tossed the wooden staff aside and said indifferently, "Since that's the case, I'll teach you something."

With that, he slowly assumed an extremely simple posture. He clasped both hands before his abdomen, palms facing downward, his legs slightly bent, and his feet seeming to follow some particular footwork.

"Just stand like this."

Chu Ning furrowed his brows slightly. After waiting for a while, he couldn't help asking, "That's it?"

Li Jing'an smiled. "It's not merely standing. While maintaining this posture, you have to sense your own qi sea."

"Qi sea?" Chu Ning frowned slightly. He naturally knew that the qi sea was the core through which a martial artist's qi circulated, but could merely assuming a posture really affect it?

"Although your qi sea has already opened, it is still far from undergoing a true transformation." Li Jing'an stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "To bring about a qualitative change in the qi sea, the most basic step is to make it resonate with the qi currents of heaven and earth with every breath."

He paused, then continued, "This posture is the best method of initiation."

"But this looks like nothing more than ordinary stance training." Chu Ning was still somewhat puzzled.

"Heh." Li Jing'an shook his head with a soft laugh. "If it were merely ordinary stance training, why would it have taken me an entire year back then to push my qi sea into the 'Return to Origin Realm'?"

"One year?" Chu Ning's heart trembled slightly.

Li Jing'an nodded, his eyes carrying a trace of reminiscence. "That was already extremely fast. An ordinary person might not succeed even after ten years."

Chu Ning pondered for a moment before following his instructions and assuming the same posture, quietly beginning to sense his qi sea.

However—

After a moment, his brows drew together even more tightly.

There was... absolutely no feeling.

His qi sea remained as steady as ever, without the slightest change. The qi currents of heaven and earth were equally motionless, as though this were nothing more than an ordinary stance-training exercise.

"Can't feel anything?" Seeing this, Li Jing'an looked at him with a half-smile.

Chu Ning shook his head. "I don't feel anything special."

Li Jing'an said calmly, "That's because your qi perception isn't sensitive enough. The hardest part of this step is sensing the existence of the qi sea."

Chu Ning thought for a moment, then slowly said, "In other words, as long as I can sense the existence of the qi sea, the cultivation afterward can advance?"

"That's right." Li Jing'an nodded. "However, this step will take at least several months."

Several months?

The corners of Chu Ning's lips lifted slightly, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"What is this cultivation method called?" he suddenly asked.

Li Jing'an was slightly startled, then took a book from his robes and handed it to Chu Ning.

Chu Ning accepted the book and swept his gaze over it. The words "Chaos Origin Qi Refining Method" were written clearly across the cover.

"This method was created by my master. No one in the world knows of it." Li Jing'an spoke slowly, his gaze carrying a trace of pride.

However, he had no idea that as long as Chu Ning was willing, the Chaos Divine Order could directly advance any cultivation manual he saw, whether it was self-created or inherited.

And at this moment, Li Jing'an was unknowingly taking one step after another toward the direction Chu Ning had anticipated.

The corners of Chu Ning's lips rose slightly. He gently placed his palm over the cultivation manual and stirred his thoughts.

The current Order Master is attempting to rely on qi-refining fundamentals: "Chaos Origin Qi Refining Method" (Grand Perfection)

Advance payment conditions: None

Repayment conditions: None

Boom—

In an instant, Chu Ning felt his qi sea shudder violently, as if invisible thunder had surged in from the void. His sinews and bones trembled, while his blood seemed to transform into a rushing river in the blink of an eye, surging and roaring through him!

In that instant, he seemed to glimpse some vast and mighty law—the trajectory along which the qi currents of heaven and earth circulated...

This peerless secret art that Li Jing'an had spoken of had unexpectedly been eligible for advancement even though he had yet to repay the "Thunderclap Saber Art."

What surprised Chu Ning even more was that because this method was exceedingly simple, once the advance payment was activated, he had directly reached the Grand Perfection realm—and he didn't need to repay any conditions at all!

In the blink of an eye, his qi sea surged, and a strange perception spread throughout his entire body. The qi currents of heaven and earth seemed to converge toward him of their own accord.

At this moment, Li Jing'an was still standing in the distance, the corners of his lips carrying a teasing smile as he watched Chu Ning's stiff, clumsy movements.

Li Jing'an said indifferently, "You think this is merely stance training? Wrong."

"The core of it is to make your qi sea resonate subtly with the qi of heaven and earth. Once you truly master it, your qi sea will expand on its own."

"This isn't merely about cultivating a foundational method. It also lays the groundwork for higher-level methods."

"Don't rush. This method isn't simple. After you've practiced for a few months, perhaps you'll be able to sense..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Li Jing'an slightly furrowed his brows and scrutinized Chu Ning's movements. The casual look on his face gradually vanished.

"This kid..." he muttered.

The next moment, his pupils suddenly constricted!

Because Chu Ning was standing there with his qi completely stable, and his body was faintly radiating a trace of aura from the—impossible—Return to Origin Realm!

"Impossible!!!" Li Jing'an's heart pounded wildly. It had taken him an entire year to barely enter the Return to Origin Realm, yet Chu Ning had done it in just three repetitions...

He even involuntarily took a step back, as if he had seen some incomprehensible monster.

Before Li Jing'an's shock had fully subsided, he saw Chu Ning slowly open his eyes, a faint smile at the corners of his lips.

"Old Li, this simple method is pretty good. You can teach me a few more moves."

Li Jing'an's expression instantly became incomparably complicated.