After teaching Gu Shaoan the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, Miejue also passed on the Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon.
As Emei Sect's finest lightness skill, the Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon allowed its practitioner to draw on a single breath of True Qi to lie horizontally in midair, then wheel and turn within a circle seven or eight zhang across. It was like a divine dragon coursing through the sky, changing direction unpredictably.
Miejue was a stickler for rules. She had always believed in progressing step by step in her own training.
Thus, when it came to her disciples, Miejue also adhered to the belief that martial arts should be mastered thoroughly rather than learned in abundance.
Whether it was Zhao Jingxuan, Ding Minjun, Bei Jinyi, or Zhou Zhiruo, who had only recently joined Emei Sect, they all had to master one martial art to the level of Entering the Hall before they could learn another.
But Gu Shaoan was different.
In addition to his talent, Miejue had spent these past few days observing him and found that his temperament far surpassed that of others his age. After several consecutive days of training, he was arguably even more diligent than Zhao Jingxuan, Ding Minjun, and the others.
That was why Miejue had taught Gu Shaoan three martial arts at once. She had set a one-month assessment date, then sent him back to practice.
Having acquired three martial arts in succession, all of them among Emei Sect's finest, Gu Shaoan was in high spirits.
He couldn't help feeling grateful once again that he had chosen to come to Emei.
If he had chosen to join Wudang instead, what he was learning now would probably have been Wudang Sect's most basic martial arts, wasting his time for nothing.
After leaving Miejue's bamboo hut, Gu Shaoan didn't head straight back to his courtyard. He found a scenic spot not far away, rested briefly beneath the trees, then began to practice.
Perhaps because he had been so startled by Miejue's Immortal Touches My Crown, the first thing Gu Shaoan practiced was the Golden Summit Cotton Palm.
Gu Shaoan had already memorized the moves and the Mind Method Incantation for the Golden Summit Cotton Palm. He had also personally experienced it at Miejue's hands. Even so, he practiced the moves with the corresponding inner energy three times before a notification appeared before him.
[Golden Summit Cotton Palm reached Beginner Level. Achievement Points +50.]
[Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Beginner Level)—Proficiency: 1/100]
"As expected of one of Emei Sect's finest palm techniques. Just reaching Beginner Level earned me as many Achievement Points as advancing the Willow Catkin Sword Technique to Entering the Hall."
Looking at the notification, Gu Shaoan was delighted rather than worried.
What Gu Shaoan lacked most right now was Achievement Points.
And the more difficult the martial art he practiced, the more Achievement Points he could earn.
Then Gu Shaoan settled his mind and began practicing again.
It was June, and the sun blazed fiercely.
Mount Emei was exceptionally high, and beneath the scorching sun, the heat was even more intense.
Even though Gu Shaoan had chosen a shady spot beneath a large tree,
after practicing for a while, he was already drenched in sweat.
Yet Gu Shaoan seemed oblivious to it all, his mind still entirely absorbed in practicing the palm technique.
Martial arts training didn't mean that one had to practice every move in sequence from the first to the last.
Once a martial art had been learned at Beginner Level, a practitioner first needed to break down and refine each move. Only after becoming familiar with the movements and how to coordinate them with inner energy could they try stringing the moves together.
It was like wanting to write a poem. First, one had to understand the meaning and form of each character, then link them together to make a complete poem.
If one didn't even know how to write the characters or understand what they meant, how could one write a poem?
At that moment, Gu Shaoan was practicing the moves of the Golden Summit Cotton Palm individually. As he committed them to memory, he was also training his inner energy to flow in sync with each movement.
Throughout the process, his movements varied in speed.
Had Miejue been watching beside him, she would surely have been surprised to find that each time Gu Shaoan completed the moves, the angle and timing of his next strike differed, sometimes slightly and sometimes considerably, from the previous attempt.
After several rounds of practice, Gu Shaoan glanced at the Golden Summit Cotton Palm notification.
[Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Beginner Level)—Proficiency: 7/100]
His proficiency had risen by six points after just a few rounds. Gu Shaoan gave a quiet smile.
Practicing more didn't necessarily mean making greater progress in a martial art.
Take the eighth move of the Willow Catkin Sword Technique, Catkins Fall on Cold River. Its Mind Method Incantation was to sink the qi into the Dantian, guide it through the Hand Shaoyang Meridian, pass through the Shoulder Crevice, then channel it into the Heavenly Well before gathering the qi and releasing it.
When striking, at what point should the inner energy enter the Hand Shaoyang San Jiao Meridian? When should it pass through the Shoulder Crevice? And when should it enter the Heavenly Well?
If the inner energy and the movements weren't properly coordinated, the sword technique would be far less powerful and full of openings at best; at worst, the inner energy would stagnate in the acupoints and the flow of qi and blood would reverse.
One couldn't be a fraction too fast or the slightest bit too slow.
And as proficiency in a martial art increased, once the Hidden Meridians involved in that art were opened, the flow of inner energy would change as well.
Not to mention the movements, angles, timing, and everything else involved in a strike.
Some martial arts could be mastered through diligence and hard practice.
But others were like advanced math from his previous life. If you couldn't learn them, you simply couldn't learn them. Going bald wouldn't help.
If martial arts training were really that simple, then anyone in the martial world could master their skills to the level of Perfect Mastery just by practicing hard. The world would be full of experts.
Yet plenty of people trained for years, even decades, and still couldn't advance beyond Initial Glimpse, despite having memorized their martial arts inside and out.
But Gu Shaoan didn't have that problem.
As the ancients said, a bronze mirror could help one straighten one's clothes and appearance.
For Gu Shaoan, the figures on the Proficiency Panel were a bronze mirror that showed him whether he had made a mistake in his training.
If he was practicing incorrectly, controlling the flow of inner energy too quickly or too slowly as he struck, or getting the angle or force of his palm wrong, the proficiency of the Golden Summit Cotton Palm on the panel wouldn't increase.
If he practiced correctly, he could gain one point of proficiency, or even more.
This let Gu Shaoan consciously monitor and adjust his martial arts training as he practiced.
In a game, this would hardly be of any use.
But in the real world, it was an enormous advantage.
He didn't know whether he had been practicing for a quarter of an hour or the time it took an incense stick to burn.
As his hands swept through the air and his inner energy flowed, an indescribable sensation suddenly welled up from deep within him.
In that moment, Gu Shaoan felt as if an immortal had touched the crown of his head. His mind was crystal clear, and flashes of inspiration arose one after another, without end.
As his hands swept through the air, his inner energy moved to a special rhythm, coordinating seamlessly with his movements.
Gu Shaoan's proficiency in the Golden Summit Cotton Palm also began to soar at an astonishing rate.
[Golden Summit Cotton Palm successfully reached Initial Glimpse. Achievement Points +100.]
[Golden Summit Cotton Palm (Initial Glimpse)—Current Proficiency: 1/500]
[Practiced a high-level martial art for half an hour. Achievement Points +10.]
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