Experience

"The White Crane Fist Manual may only be cultivated by disciples of the White Crane Style."

Fang Lingjue took the USB drive back.

Though quite a few people secretly learned it, as a disciple of the White Crane Style, he could not openly pass it on to Li Pin merely because he thought highly of him.

He rummaged through the drawer and soon took out another booklet. "These are my accumulated experiences with Embrace Dan over the years. I hope they will help you embrace Dan."

"Thanks."

Li Pin did not refuse this time.

He could accept the give-and-take of human relations.

What he could not accept was the sort of relationship where, once a teacher for a day, a father for life.

Perhaps many people could disregard such a relationship; in pursuit of martial arts, killing one's master and slaying one's father could be as commonplace as eating and drinking.

But in his heart, he could not do it.

"You."

Fang Lingjue shook his head. "If you could be a little more tactful in life, the road ahead would be much easier."

"I know."

Li Pin said, "This world constantly teaches people to be tactful and thick-skinned, black-hearted. Everyone is carving and polishing themselves to adapt to the world's workings, yet they gradually forget that the essence of the world was never so complicated."

His expression was calm. "The greatest square has no corners; the greatest vessel is never finished; the greatest sound is scarcely heard; the greatest image has no form."

Fang Lingjue did not argue with Li Pin.

He could only say...

Being young was wonderful.

"Though your talent is extraordinary, Embrace Dan is no easy step. The process is extremely dangerous as well. One careless move may even endanger your life, and you are unwilling to..."

"Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows what is natural. My martial arts were distilled from the strengths of a hundred schools. If I read more and study more, I should be able to find the direction."

Li Pin said, "What suits oneself is best."

Fang Lingjue wanted to refute him.

He felt Li Pin was making Embrace Dan sound far too simple.

But when he thought of Li Pin's talent...

Communicating with this kind of genius was truly infuriating.

After quite a while, he cautioned him again. "Embrace Dan is no joke. No matter how talented you are, do not act recklessly. Even if you do not have a master teaching you hand in hand, you must at least have a complete Embrace Dan lineage. The ancients were able to forge the path of Dan only through the accumulated experience of countless people exploring and sacrificing themselves."

Li Pin nodded.

He agreed with that.

Therefore, he planned to spend the next five months polishing his Embrace Dan realm.

At this moment, Fang Lingjue weighed his words. "The martial arts circle in Canglong City is neither particularly large nor particularly small. Some top-tier fist manuals and training methods are protected by copyright, while quite precious resources, such as Tiger Leopard Pills and Blood Ginseng, are not permitted to be traded on the open market."

As he spoke, he added, "People with connections and status naturally have their methods and channels. But many who have money yet lack the status or connections also want to obtain them. Where there is demand, there is a market. Over time, a market that operates beneath the surface has basically emerged in every city."

"The black market?"

"Heh, don't put it so harshly. It should be called a private offline trading market."

Fang Lingjue smiled. "If you do not want to take a master but still want a complete Embrace Dan method, you can only search around in the private market. Embrace Dan methods are not actually that precious."

He took out a pen and wrote down an address. "Friday night every week, Luo Family Courtyard on Fangzheng Street."

Li Pin remembered that place.

There was a large flower market beside Luo Family Courtyard.

Back when students in his dorm bought succulents to raise, that was where they went to stock up.

"These private trading markets have rather mixed crowds, and the items sold are a wild assortment. There are many fakes, and it is a case of one willing to sell and one willing to buy. But the advantage is that some big shot is protecting the place, so the local authorities will not come investigating. Sometimes, when we need to buy things unavailable on the open market or sell resources that are inconvenient to dispose of, it is a decent choice."

Fang Lingjue said with a smile.

"A big shot? What sort of big shot?"

Li Pin asked.

"In Canglong City, who could be called a big shot? What do you think?"

Fang Lingjue said.

Li Pin understood.

A Star Refiner.

"So long as you do not draw too much attention, your basic safety is guaranteed."

Fang Lingjue said.

Li Pin nodded.

Fang Lingjue once again reminded Li Pin of several matters requiring attention.

Only at the end did he say, "You will not even acknowledge a master. Judging by you, you do not intend to take the path of entering politics or the military through the Martial Arts Association either? I had planned to introduce you to the council of the Canglong City Martial Arts Association once you reached Hua Jin."

"That works too, though I may not remain in Canglong City for long."

Li Pin said.

Fang Lingjue's eyes widened. "Good lord, you..."

But when he thought of Li Pin's achievement in figuring out and cultivating Dan Jin on his own...

As long as this kind of genius did not die, Embrace Dan would never be his endpoint. Gang Jin, or even a Martial Saint who refined the spirit, would be his ultimate pursuit.

And leaving aside Martial Saints who refined the spirit, the openly known Gang Jin masters in all of Canglong City could be counted on both hands.

His future...

Would indeed not be confined to a tiny Canglong City.

After understanding this, Fang Lingjue gave a bitter smile. "I think I should open a branch in Jiangzhou City. With you as a living signboard, I would not need to fear failing to gain a foothold in Jiangzhou City."

"Sure. Didn't we sign a contract? When the time comes, I'll hold down the fort for you."

Li Pin said with a smile.

Fang Lingjue had merely brought it up tentatively, but upon hearing his words, he became somewhat serious. "You agree? Then I'll go look for a location?"

"Mm."

Li Pin nodded with a smile.

Fang Lingjue immediately perked up.

Apartment meditation room.

Li Pin closed Fang Lingjue's notes on Embrace Dan.

"Embrace Qi into Dan."

The most important part of this realm was controlling the qi and blood within the body, making it round and unified, without easily leaking away.

Once this step was completed, so long as one was not engaged in strenuous exercise or fighting someone, qi and blood would circulate at every moment, washing over the cultivator's body, strengthening the physique and expanding qi and blood, thereby allowing bodily strength to swiftly break past 30.

Humans had limits.

Just like Blue Star's track athletes, improving from twelve seconds in the hundred meters to eleven seconds was easy, but improving from eleven seconds to ten seconds grew geometrically harder, while improving from ten seconds to nine seconds...

To this day, no one had succeeded.

The same applied to strengthening qi and blood.

Martial artists tempered themselves through force, so their physiques and qi and blood could easily surpass 20 and rapidly rise to values such as 25, 26, and 27. After that, reaching 28 and 29 could only be achieved by grinding through time.

Yet reaching qi and blood values of 30 or 31 during the force-training stage was as difficult as running the hundred meters in nine seconds.

But once one embraced qi into Dan, the body completed a round of evolution, and the circulation pattern of qi and blood changed. The subsequent increase in qi and blood would be like an ordinary person cultivating force, entering a period of rapid growth.

In three to five months, qi and blood could rise to 32, 33, or 34. Yet after 34 or 35, it would slow once more. Only by training force into Gang Jin and strengthening the internal organs could one continue rising to 37, 38, or even 39.

"I have always had some idea about embracing qi into Dan. All that remains is practice. But training force into Gang Jin..."

There was longing in Li Pin's eyes.

On Blue Star, Dan Jin masters were rare, but they at least appeared in fleeting glimpses from time to time. Gang Jin masters, however, had already become legends, utterly extinct.

He had practiced martial arts for more than ten years without seeing a single living Gang Jin practitioner.

This was also why he had repeatedly lamented that this world was in a golden age of martial arts.

"After reading Master Fang's experiences with Embrace Dan, my understanding of embracing qi into Dan has become clearer. I only need to continue pondering Dan Jin... make my qi and blood boil again and again until it becomes round and unified, then smoothly transform it into Dan Jin and strike it out. Once I do it enough times, embracing qi into Dan will naturally fall into place like water flowing into a channel... It will probably take..."

Li Pin calculated briefly.

Very quickly, he obtained an exact figure.

"Come forth, my attribute panel."

[Embrace Dan: 0/514]