After finishing the pirated copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique, Shi Feizhe reread the Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record he had copied during the day. Compared with True Origin Sword Finger Technique, this manual was fairly simple.
The Blood Qi Barrier was the first barrier in martial arts. Through breathing and training methods, combined with medicinal herbs and food, one built up the body and strengthened the five organs.
The so-called "blood qi" referred to the point where one had trained one's sinews, bones, skin, and flesh enough to easily sense blood flowing throughout the body, and feel as if there were "qi" within. At this stage, one could circulate blood and qi, control one's muscles, and sense the five organs and six bowels within. Only then could one be said to have passed the barrier.
As long as a person wasn't born with problems or defects in their sinews and bones, they could reach this stage eventually with perseverance and money.
The Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record described four training routines: Reward Good Fist, Punish Evil Leg, Yin Law Stake, and Investigate Course. They were used to train the sinews, bones, skin, and flesh. It was important to note that these four routines weren't for fighting enemies, but were simply training exercises, like calisthenics.
As for fighting techniques, there was the accompanying Senluo Palm!
Though it was called a palm technique, if one picked up a saber, it became Senluo Saber. If one picked up a sword, it became Senluo Sword! This fighting style wasn't bound to fists, palms, or weapons; it was extremely flexible. It truly overturned Shi Feizhe's impression that palm experts only used their palms, and that sword experts became weaker when they switched weapons.
The manual's instructions were extremely detailed. As long as you could understand them, you could follow them step by step.
The only problem was that half the manual was guesswork, and the Blood Qi Barrier required large quantities of herbs and food. With Shi Feizhe's current finances—only two or three taels of silver to his name—in such an expensive tourist area, he could probably afford to stay for just a month.
He hadn't even been willing to eat dinner. In his previous life, he skipped dinner to control his weight. In this life, he skipped it simply because he couldn't bear to spend the money!
If he had the same living conditions as in his previous life, he would have no trouble breaking through the Blood Qi Barrier!
What a pity...
Thinking about all this, Shi Feizhe continued studying the Spirit Barrier.
The "spirit" in the Spirit Barrier wasn't "spirit" as in "mental illness," as Shi Feizhe had understood it in his previous life. It was divided into "essence" and "spirit."
"Essence is the root of life." The so-called "essence" was a person's primordial qi, the foundation of life—not some strange thing like "semen." While training blood qi, one needed to use methods for nourishing essence, strengthening and consolidating it at the same time, until one's vital essence was abundant.
"Spirit" was more mysterious. When spirit existed outside the body, it was called a heavenly deity, the creator and ruler of all things in heaven and earth. For humans, spirit was also the ruler of their own thoughts and actions. But ordinary people were full of stray thoughts and couldn't sense their "spirit," so they needed to visualize deities, using the false to cultivate the true and let their own "spirit" manifest.
According to the Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record, one had to visualize the Ten Kings of Hell, beginning with King Qinguang of the First Hall and continuing through King Zhuanlun of the Tenth Hall. Once one could visualize all ten Kings of Hell at the same time, one had completed the training of the "spirit."
At that point, blood, qi, essence, and spirit would unite as one; upon seeing the true, true qi would form!
How were the four to unite? How did one unite them? What if they couldn't be united? The Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record merely glossed over this part, leaving Shi Feizhe utterly confused.
He'd already been guessing his way through the manual, and now it was even more vague. Shi Feizhe couldn't help scratching his scalp!
He couldn't train the Blood Qi Barrier methods yet. Should he try the visualization method for the Spirit Barrier?
The visualization method was simple enough: all one had to do was quiet the mind and sketch the deity being contemplated in one's consciousness.
He could give it a try. Even if he got it wrong, it wouldn't do any harm.
Putting thought into action, Shi Feizhe sat cross-legged, emptied his mind, and settled into meditation.
As it turned out... he fell asleep while trying to quiet his mind.
When he opened his eyes again, dawn had arrived! The landlord's family had already started heating soup and cooking.
Only then did Shi Feizhe realize that meditation took practice too!
He'd chosen this place because the family offered hot soup (boiling water) and a meal of coarse grains every morning.
The household consisted of an elderly couple in their fifties or sixties. When he rented the room, they'd told him they had a son who'd gone off to roam the martial world and hadn't returned in years!
Shi Feizhe washed his face and hair with hot water, then ate a bowl of coarse-grain porridge and two coarse-grain cakes. He'd originally planned to practice his Sword Stance, but remembering the two manuals from last night, he skipped his practice and went straight out.
Today, he would first find a copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique, then go to Three Talents Manor to discuss the Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record. He'd seen plenty of people copying the manual yesterday; surely they had plenty of questions too?
True Origin Sword Finger Technique really was a common book. Shi Feizhe found a copy after asking at only two bookstores.
Under the curious gaze of the shop assistant, Shi Feizhe opened the copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique. But after reading just a few pages, he returned it to the assistant and left, leaving the boy completely baffled.
The assistant looked at the copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique. To be honest, he'd secretly practiced it too. Who hadn't dreamed of becoming a martial artist?
In the end, though, it had been nothing but a waste of time!
Shi Feizhe went to the next bookstore and opened another copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique. Fortunately, this was such a bizarre martial arts manual; otherwise, they might not have let him browse it.
"Hey, hey! Are you buying it or not? If not, quit flipping through it!" This bookstore didn't have an assistant. Its owner was a sharp-tongued man, and when he saw Shi Feizhe riffling through this trashy book, he couldn't help speaking up.
"No, I'm not buying it!" Shi Feizhe tossed the book to the bookstore owner and headed for the next shop.
"Xiao Zai!" Watching Shi Feizhe's retreating back, the bookstore owner couldn't help cursing in his hometown dialect.
Shi Feizhe didn't care what the owner thought. He went to every bookstore in Three Talents Town and looked through every copy of True Origin Sword Finger Technique there. In the end, he even spent four copper coins to buy another one.
He returned to his rented room in a daze and laid out the three copies of True Origin Sword Finger Technique in a row.
The bloodstained first copy, the second one he'd bought yesterday, and the third one he'd bought today.
None of the three were the same!
There were two versions of True Origin Sword Finger Technique in Three Talents Town. One was like the second copy he'd bought yesterday: although the layout was occasionally wrong, the contents were basically the same. The other version was the one he'd bought today.
This version differed greatly from the bloodstained copy, and it also differed greatly from the one he'd bought yesterday.
Three books with the same title, True Origin Sword Finger Technique, and yet their contents were different!
What the hell— which one was correct?
Shi Feizhe's scalp prickled, and he cursed furiously under his breath.
No wonder that bastard had said martial arts training drove people mad. Even this widely circulated trash of a book had several versions. What about all the others?
For all he knew, there were even more versions of True Origin Sword Finger Technique in the martial world!
How could he prove which of the three versions of True Origin Sword Finger Technique was correct?
There was only one way!
He had to practice the other two versions as well!
Martial arts training was fucking insane!
Before you continue