Wandering Souls Peering at Martial Arts

As they spoke, they actually mentioned him. Like the Asura Contemplation: visualizing oneself amidst a hundred ghosts and ten thousand demons, feeling not a shred of fear. This is to eliminate terror. However, Hong Yi understood in his heart that this Hong Gui had once been drunk, and just happened to be summoned by Marquis Wuwen, resulting in him being disciplined by family law. His soul drifted toward the east courtyard. Hong Yi had seen both of these people reading together in the Hong family's ancestral school. "Cousin, what are you afraid of? He's just the son of a deceased concubine. I've seen him in the ancestral school, and he really does just put on a show of being learned. If you find him an eyesore, when the ancestral school reopens, I'll find an excuse to beat him up." Hong Xuejiao's figure darted left and right; every punch and every movement emitted a sound, as if the wind from her fists were exploding, or as if the bones within her body were snapping. Servants, guards, stewards, accountants, and maids were all gathered in the northern corner. He hurriedly stopped his thoughts. "I've only just flown a person's height, and my drifting is no faster than an ordinary person running, so why is it so uncomfortable? At this rate, let alone traveling a thousand miles in a night, it's barely any different from walking. Clearly, my soul is not yet strong enough. However, the cultivation methods in the Amitabha Sutra are truly perilous. Visualizing the power of celestial stars entering the brain, illusions arise one after another, and one must hold firm against each. If one fails to hold firm for even a moment, the soul will scatter, it is truly... The Daoist Classic also records methods for strengthening the soul like the White Bone Contemplation, Asura Contemplation, Jade Maiden Contemplation, Ascension Contemplation, and so on, but I seem to have experienced the trials of all these visualization methods one by one! No wonder this volume of the Amitabha Sutra is the source of all ancestral methods." Like the Jade Maiden Contemplation: visualizing oneself embracing a jade maiden, while the jade maiden performs various seductive actions, yet one remains firm and unmoved, tempering the mind to be as cold as ice and snow. Hong Yi drifted his soul inside again and saw Hong Xuejiao standing in the center of the courtyard, practicing martial arts with leaps and bounds. The other concubines lived together in the west, but they could not occupy a whole area like the three wives. The second wife, Lady Fang, lived in the "Yunting Studio" on the east side of the Marquis's mansion and had one daughter, Hong Xuejiao. Rong Pan chuckled, "Young Master Gui, no need to be angry. I heard the Marquis doesn't let him practice martial arts. In our Great Gan Dynasty, civil service leads to officialdom, but martial arts lead to titles. If Young Master Gui masters martial arts in the future and goes to the 'Martial Hall' in the army for advanced training, given the Marquis's prestige and connections in the military, you would at least be a commander upon graduation. After a few battles, wouldn't you be a Marquis yourself? Even if this Hong Yi passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, so what? Perhaps one day he displeases the Emperor, and having his home raided, being beheaded, or exiled would be a daily occurrence. Although our Great Gan Dynasty nominally respects scholars, when it comes to beheading and raiding homes, they are not soft-hearted at all." On the ground lay a book, filled with many human figures, movements, characters, and annotations. Hong Yi seemed to have felt all these various visualization scenarios while practicing the Amitabha Sutra. In other words, the cultivation in the Amitabha Sutra encompassed ten thousand methods in the blink of an eye. Hong Yi passed through the wall and saw two men sparring; one was wielding a hard wooden staff, while the other seemed to be using his fists and feet to defend and counter. Both were wearing silk training outfits, looking quite imposing. Just as he arrived at the "Yunting Studio" in the east courtyard, Hong Yi heard a crisp bang, as if something had exploded or a porcelain vase had been smashed. Subsequently, the sound of shattering echoed one after another, leaving one wondering what was happening inside. Like the Ascension Contemplation: visualizing a great power in the sky beckoning the soul to ascend in broad daylight, resisting the urge to ascend, which also eliminates delusional thoughts. Hearing the conspiracy, Hong Yi secretly guarded himself in his heart, and his soul drifted out. The surroundings were silent, with only soft starlight spilling down. Like the White Bone Contemplation: visualizing one's body rotting, covered in maggots and flies, with white bones exposed, to eliminate one's own sense of terror. Within the Marquis's mansion, the three wives were the primary wife, Lady Zhao, who lived in the main residence in the center of the mansion and had two sons. This was his first time roaming the night with his soul, and Hong Yi found it very novel. Hong Yi felt a surge of curiosity and wanted to flip the cover to see what book it was. But since he was a soul out of his body, he could not turn the pages. The source of the sound was a large courtyard with high red-lacquered walls; inside, the sounds of fists and feet, as well as conversation, could be heard. Hong Yi drifted out of the corner of the Marquis's mansion and wandered toward the south. "Hmph, it was so hard for me to see my father, yet I was punished with family law and had to lie in bed for half a year to recover." Hong Gui's eyes were filled with resentment: "This Hong Yi saw Father once and received a reward, even getting the accounting office to give him a hundred taels of silver. A son of lowly status, what right does he have? Isn't he just a scholar? It's nothing special." Hong Gui said bitterly. Moreover, doors and walls could not block him; with a single thought, he passed right through. The two of them traded blows for a few rounds before stopping to talk. "Although that's how it is, I just feel stifled." Hong Gui stabbed his staff into the ground. Hong Yi recognized them; the one holding the staff was Hong Gui, the son of the third wife, Madam Rong, while the one sparring with him was a relative of Madam Rong's side, named Rong Pan. "Young Master Gui doesn't need to be angry at such a person." A thought stirred, and his soul flew upward, his drifting speed increasing. It was now deep into the night, and everyone in the Marquis's mansion was asleep, save for the servants patrolling with lanterns. Hong Yi's soul left his body and drifted out to roam, feeling quite content. Hearing this, Hong Yi sneered inwardly; he hadn't expected that just one meeting with Marquis Wuwen would lead to such secret jealousy. The soul is a formless and intangible thought; how could doors and walls possibly block it? The south courtyard of the Marquis's mansion was called "Lanting Studio," the residence of the third wife, Madam Rong. "Truly, there are gods three feet above one's head; mechanical conspiracies are bound to be known by ghosts and gods. Hmph..." He drifted forward with his feet a foot or two off the ground, feeling light and weightless, lacking the solid sensation of walking in the flesh. "Brother, I heard Hong Yi was suddenly summoned by Father a few days ago? And he even had the accounting office give him a hundred taels of silver to prepare for the imperial exams in the spring. Does this imply something? Is Father starting to value Hong Yi? Father has never paid any attention to that brat." But suddenly, Hong Yi heard a voice. It felt as comfortable as playing in water on a hot day. "I never thought I would reach the Night Roaming realm so quickly. The Daoist Classic says that a practitioner needs at least a year of meditation and calming the mind to barely reach the Night Roaming realm. How did I reach it so fast?" As the two talked, Rong Pan said flatteringly. Just then, Hong Xuejiao's body swept past, kicking up a strong gust of wind that flipped the book over, and Hong Yi saw five large characters: Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist! As his soul flew higher and his speed increased, Hong Yi felt as if he couldn't catch his breath, and at the same time, his body felt cold, as if he were about to be blown away by the wind. The third wife, Madam Rong, lived in the "Lanting Studio" in the south courtyard of the Marquis's mansion and had one son. Hong Yi had read the Daoist Classic, which recorded many visualization methods for strengthening the soul. "Some study notes mention the ability to roam a thousand miles in a night. It is said that a Daoist once sat face-to-face with someone, suddenly sat still, and after a day, woke up and told the person what had happened a thousand miles away, claiming he had left his body and traveled a thousand miles and back in a day. The person didn't believe him, but a month later, news came from a thousand miles away, and it was exactly as the Daoist had said. I wonder if I have the ability to roam a thousand miles? Let me test how fast my soul can drift." "Why is it so strenuous?"