Dragon Elephant Sleeping Art

Lu Yuan's eyes were full of murderous intent. "That's all you've got, and you still thought you could make a fat sheep out of me?"

As his thoughts shifted, the blade of Po Jun in his hand grew faster and fiercer. He pressed the attack relentlessly, intent on riding his advantage and killing the Gray-clothed Man.

"Die!"

At the brink of life and death, the Gray-clothed Man was chilled to the bone. He fought back desperately, enduring the agony as he swung his steel saber at Lu Yuan.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Po Jun and the two men's long sabers collided again and again, drawing a long trail of sparks through the night.

In the reflected firelight, the three men's faces were clearly visible.

Lu Yuan's expression was cold and cruel. His gaze was like that of a savage beast, his ferocity declaring that he would not stop until he had cut both men down.

The Gray-clothed Man and his companion, however, were filled with unease and terror.

The more they fought, the more horrified they became. Lu Yuan's saber was like a raging storm and towering waves, crashing down one surge after another without giving them the slightest chance to catch their breath.

The moment they let their guard down, even for an instant, Lu Yuan's blade slithered in like a venomous snake, adding yet another wound to their bodies.

They knew all too well that if the fight continued like this, they were sure to die.

The Gray-clothed Man was filled with terror.

Why?

Why was the little fat sheep they had so carefully sought out a man-eating beast?

Why did this kid wield such a vicious saber technique at such a young age?

With skill like that at his age, he had to come from an extraordinary background. And if he did, why hadn't he brought a few guards along? If he had, they would never have picked him as their target!

"Yang Song, you—!"

His companion saw that things were going badly and bolted, abandoning him to his fate.

In Yang Song's eyes, the two of them were brothers, and he wanted to avenge his elder brother. Yang Song and the brothers were only friends—why should he die alongside them?

Better that a fellow Daoist die than I.

The Gray-clothed Man roared in rage and shock, leaving a huge opening. Lu Yuan seized the chance, pivoted, and stepped in, unleashing a fierce strike he had been building up for a long time.

Shhk!

A flash of saber light, the sound of flesh parting, and the spray of blood rang out. Lu Yuan and the Gray-clothed Man crossed paths. Behind him, the Gray-clothed Man staggered a few steps, his upper and lower body already separated. His body had been cut in two, and he died with hatred in his heart.

One slash, one kill!

The Great Gale Saber Technique was crude and simple, focusing on power, speed, and momentum. It had none of those fancy variations.

Yang Song was chilled with fear, his mind consumed by terror. He wished his parents had given him a few more legs when they brought him into the world.

"Run! Run! Run as far as you can!"

His courage had vanished with the two brothers' deaths. He had no thought beyond escaping with his life.

But how could he get away? Before he had taken ten steps, Lu Yuan caught up with him, his saber flashing.

"My body... it's so light... Can I fly?"

Yang Song felt a chill at his neck. Then his whole body seemed to float weightlessly. His head spun through the air, and he saw his own headless corpse, eyes wide with shock. Then it hit the ground, and he lost his last shred of consciousness.

Lu Yuan expressionlessly wiped the blood from Po Jun with the dead man's clothes.

He had dared to strike first because he had judged that these three were no experts. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been picking and choosing, trying to rob the easiest target.

To be sure, compared with the many experts at the auction, he wasn't strong.

But he couldn't be the weakest, either.

He could only say that his age had misled the three men.

And they had paid for it with their lives.

The three men hadn't actually been weak. All of them had reached the Blood Refinement stage. In Lingbao County, even if they weren't considered experts, they were still skilled martial artists.

Someone of their caliber would have been valued within a faction like the Lu Family.

Having killed for the second time, Lu Yuan felt calm, yet a little conflicted. He only wanted to practice martial arts in peace and grow stronger, but people kept picking fights with him. Trouble had caught up with him, and in this world where the weak were prey to the strong, if he didn't kill, he would be killed.

He searched the three men and found more than a hundred taels' worth of gold and silver. He left their bodies where they lay and went on his way.

"More than a hundred taels. Better than nothing, I suppose."

He chose the biggest inn in Zhenping County and slept there for the night. Early the next morning, Lu Yuan rode off toward home.

He was back before noon.

After lunch, Lu Yuan retreated to his little courtyard and took out the Dragon Elephant Longevity Art to study it.

The dragon elephant was a colossal beast from ancient times, as big as a small mountain. It took a thousand years to reach adulthood and lived for ten thousand years.

For half of its ten-thousand-year lifespan, the dragon elephant slept. The Dragon Elephant Longevity Art was a sleeping art that imitated the dragon elephant's slumber.

"A sleeping art?"

Lu Yuan stared in astonishment. He continued reading the formula, committing each of its key points to memory.

"The dragon returns to the sea of origin; yang sinks into yin. They call me a dragon elephant, yet I lie coiled within. I silently conceal my power; my breath sinks deep. I lie beneath the white clouds, unknown to the world. The Dao lies in guarding one's life-force; true fire warms the outer kidneys. Turn the light inward and gaze within; let the spirit dwell in the dantian..."

"Heart and breath forget each other; spirit and qi become one. The great precelestial Dao is the unity of spirit and qi. Spirit has no shadow, qi no shape. Thus spirit cannot be seen, but is lodged in the heart; qi cannot be grasped, but must be sought through the breath..."

Then he began cultivating the Dragon Elephant Longevity Art.

He stood with his feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, chest drawn in and back straight, knees slightly bent, shoulders relaxed and elbows lowered, armpits open and wrists loose. He held the crown of his head as if suspended from above, gazed straight ahead, then let his eyes relax. His lips barely touched, his tongue rested against the roof of his mouth, and his hands formed lotus palms.

He focused his mind and regulated his breathing, regulated his breathing and focused his mind.

Heart and breath relied on each other; spirit settled into emptiness.

He relaxed his body and emptied his mind, gathering his thoughts and awareness to guard the "emptiness beyond the body."

His intention guarded the emptiness within the "emptiness beyond the body." His eyes turned inward, observing the breath flowing through the "emptiness beyond the body." His ears listened inwardly to the faint sound of the breath within that same emptiness. Intention, sight, and hearing became one, all belonging to the heart.

His thoughts and breathing clung to each other, intertwined without end, coiling and never coming apart.

Gradually, Lu Yuan entered a hazy, indistinct state.

The intervals between each breath grew longer and longer.

Within a chaos of forgetfulness, in a freedom without restraint, heart and breath finally came to rely on each other completely.

He didn't know how much time had passed. Sleepiness came over him. Lu Yuan relaxed his body and lay quietly on the bed. In that state of emptiness, without realizing it, he drifted naturally into sleep.

The reason the Dragon Elephant Longevity Art had such a high barrier to entry lay in this "sleep."

As long as one could manage to "sleep," that was as good as reaching the entry level.

Once one had entered, persistent cultivation day and night would bring results.

How great those results were depended on the individual.

Why was the barrier so high?

Because ordinary people tossed and turned, mulling over one thing after another before sleep. But the Dragon Elephant Longevity Art required the heart and breath to rely on each other as one fell asleep, then gradually forget each other, until one drifted off without noticing and entered a deep sleep.

The fact that Lu Yuan had entered this state on his first attempt was naturally thanks to his High-grade Talent.

After a deep night's sleep, dawn came. Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

[Dragon Elephant Longevity Art: Initial Glimpse (21%)]

"Just as I thought. Cultivating a middle-grade art is far more difficult than cultivating a low-grade one. After a whole night, I've only reached 21% of Initial Glimpse."

Lu Yuan still remembered that on his first day practicing the Great Gale Saber Technique, he had reached 58% of Initial Glimpse in a single night.