The Method of Cultivation

What if someone is indifferent to a particular thing?

Then find someone to engage in intense competition, shake up their mentality, and they won't be so lazy anymore.

Qing Yi originally came to City No. 18 with a completely carefree attitude.

Unlike other Shadow Candidate who had to painstakingly search for allies from three generations of the Li family, he was able to move directly into the Banshan Manor because of his blood relation.

He doesn't even need to be particularly aggressive in the second round of the Shadow Struggle; he just needs to survive to the next round, where others will naturally fight each other to weaken each other's strength.

Compared to the students at the Li Clan Academy, he had already begun to participate in the most important power transition within the Qing family, making him far superior to those naive children in the academy.

Therefore, Qing Yi's mindset is still very peaceful.

Until he met Qing Chen.

His supposed "vacation" turned into a day when he had to come to school early in the morning.

He originally intended to live a quiet life as a wise man, but instead he had to learn martial arts.

This is incredible!

Qing Yi didn't want to learn martial arts; he genuinely didn't want to because he thought it was useless...

But things didn't go as he wished.

Qing Chen addressed all the Li family members, saying, "In the history of combat sports, some say that the Killing Fist is the most ferocious, but there is another fighting technique that has always held a higher status in the Octagon Cage: Jujutsu. From its inception, this technique was quickly adopted by all the fighters in the Octagon Cage because you will find that if you don't know Jujutsu, all championships and boxing titles will be out of your reach."

Qing Chen continued, "Next, I'll demonstrate the technique of the cross chokehold... Alright, have you all learned it? Li Ke and Qing Yi, give it a try."

Li Ke was 14 years old, and Qing Yi was also 14 years old. However, compared to the thin and weak Qing Yi, Li Ke was obviously much more robust.

Qing Chen is of the older generation, so naturally he can't bully Qing Yi, but he has Li Ke.

Now, Li Ke almost obeys him completely. He told Li Ke to choke Qing Yi, and Li Ke did it...

Before Qing Yi could even react, Li Ke grabbed his neck from behind, and his face quickly turned red.

Qing Yi was about to roll his eyes.

Qing Chen continued speaking to himself, "A chokehold like this can suffocate someone and make them lose consciousness in about seven seconds. Moreover, locking the throat from behind makes you feel that this technique requires far less effort than other fighting techniques. Okay, let him go."

At the sixth second, Qing Chen patted Li Ke's arm.

Qing Yi, who had been rescued, was panting heavily. He suddenly realized that even hiding in the Banshan Manor could be so dangerous!

And it might even be more dangerous than the other Shadow Candidate!

"I'm sorry," Li Ke said to Qing Yi, "Although the master asked me to demonstrate, I still went a little too far."

Qing Yi aback, unable to muster any anger, and could only manage to say with difficulty, "It's alright..."

Only Qing Chen sighed, "Young man, someone as upright as you can't be a knight."

Qing Chen continued, "Besides chokeholds, joint locks are also a crucial component of Jujutsu..."

Seeing Li Ke studying so diligently, Qing Yi thought to himself, "If I don't study hard, won't I be beaten up every day in the future?"

Who knows when this second round of the Shadow Struggle will end, who knows when I'll be able to leave City No. 18.

No, I can't just sit here and wait to die...

Qing Yi shook his head. He had to study hard; only in this way could he escape the fate of being beaten every day!

In just half a class period, Qing Chen changed Qing Yi's mindset, making him listen attentively and afraid of missing a single detail.

He was much more attentive than the other students!

You have to understand that other students are only studying this course because of it. Most people are like this during their school years: they just listen to whatever the teacher teaches.

As for Qing Yi, it was for survival...

During the course, when the students started practicing one-on-one on their own, Li Ke went to another room and quietly brought a chair for Qing Chen.

This move would surprise many students, as it is not in line with Li Ke's usual style.

Li Ke was arrogant, and even in the school, he would often point out the mistakes of his teachers.

Other students had their servants bring snacks and wait outside the school, but Li Ke never did.

While other students weren't studying properly, Li Ke was always listening attentively in class.

As his classmates all know, this is because Li Ke has a deep-seated sense of pride.

Now, the once arrogant direct descendants of the Li First Branch are suddenly doing things like moving chairs, bringing meals, and cleaning for others, which makes the students feel a little uncomfortable.

At this moment, Qing Chen was sitting in a chair watching the students practice their routines when he turned his head and was surprised to find several heads peeking out from the courtyard wall of the Martial Lecture Hall.

He recognized them; they were the other instructors, secretly observing his teaching.

When Qing Chen turned his head, the instructors were so startled that they fell backward. Quiet gasps and the sound of fleeing footsteps echoed from outside the courtyard wall...

He slowly closed his eyes and entered the mysterious world of "Conquer by Virtue".

Actually, he originally intended to teach the method of cultivation in today's class. After all, the old man had already sent someone to put the method of cultivation in Black Box for him yesterday. It would be a bit dishonest of him not to teach him the family's treasured artifact.

However, Qing Chen really couldn't teach him, because even he himself hadn't figured it out...

After class, Qing Chen left with the temperature-controlled lunchbox that Li Ke had given him. He needed to find the old man and ask him what exactly this cultivation method was all about.

After confirming that Qing Chen had left, Zhou Xingwen called Li Ke into his office.

He sat behind a desk in the corner, his face kind and gentle, and asked, "Li Ke, I heard that you helped Instructor Qing Chen bring you food and move his chair during combat class. I'd like to ask, did he instruct you to do that?"

Li Ke calmly shook his head. "No."

Zhou Xingwen became even more amiable. "Don't be afraid. If he orders you to do this or that, you can tell me. You know that what we at Zhixin Courtyard dislike most is class distinctions, and that instructors shouldn't treat students like servants. If such a situation occurs, just tell me, and I'll help you tell the headmaster."

Li Ke replied earnestly, "Thank you for your kind reminder, Instructor, but I do these things out of genuine respect for Instructor Qing Chen. He has never ordered me to do anything; I simply hope to move him with my sincerity and learn some real skills from him."

Zhou Xingwen was taken aback. "What real skills does he have?"

Li Ke thought for a moment and said, "If you don't have anything else, I'll head back now. I need to preview the material for my next chemistry class."

Zhou Xingwen watched Li Ke's departing figure, and after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't understand why a proud son of the Li family would serve Qing Chen "tea and water" like a servant.

In the main room, Li Ke had just returned to the classroom when Qing Yi walked over with a smile and said, "Li Ke, I didn't have a chance to say this in the combat class, but regarding our demonstration, although I almost suffocated from your grip, I really didn't mind at all, and please don't take it to heart. Now, we've become friends through this little misunderstanding, and I hope we can become friends in the future."

Li Ke paused for a moment, then said, "It's good that you don't mind. I was just doing what the teacher taught me; I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm relieved that you're so magnanimous, Qing Yi."

Qing Yi smiled.

The reason for his sudden change in attitude was that he had just received intelligence that the Shadow Candidate Qing Zhong was suspected of forming an alliance with Li Kun, the First Branch son of the Li family.

This information reminded Qing Yi: others can form alliances, and so can he; that's the mission for the second round of the Shadow Struggle.

Moreover, Qing Chen dragged him to the school, which seemed like a bad thing, but if he handled it properly, he could turn a bad thing into a good thing!

At this moment, Qing Yi even wanted to say thank you to Qing Chen!

You should know that there are more than thirty Li family members in this school!

Don't underestimate the children in the Li Clan Academy just because they are young; a large number of them can be just as useful.

Others can only form an alliance with one person, but if he manages his relationships with his classmates well, he can form alliances with more than thirty people, and there are no other Shadow Candidate competing with him!

Thinking of this, Qing Yi became happy. Who could possibly come to the Banshan Manor to compete with him for an alliance? This was probably something the other Shadow Candidate couldn't have imagined.

Qing Yi looked around the entire classroom, feeling a surge of pride as he thought about how these people would become his allies in the future.

However, he remained outwardly calm to avoid arousing suspicion.

However, at that moment, Li Ke said earnestly, "Since you don't mind, I'm relieved. Because I was afraid of hurting you, I've been holding back and haven't been able to grasp the key points of the movements. Next time in class, I can move freely. Thank you."

"Huh?" Qing Yi aback. "That's not what I meant..."

On the broken bridge in Longhu, Qing Chen handed the thermos-free lunchbox to the old man. "Let's continue with what we discussed yesterday. What is the last rule of Forbidden Zone No. 37?"

The old man opened his lunchbox and exclaimed, "Where's the twice-cooked pork?"

"I'm giving you a change of pace. Eating twice-cooked pork all the time isn't good for your health," Qing Chen thought to himself. He had already taken this from someone else, and he felt bad about eating the students' food for free. He couldn't order dishes every day, so he just ate whatever was available.

The old man thought for a moment and said, "I can tell you the last rule of Forbidden Zone No. 37, but you also have to tell me how you caught the fish yesterday."

"Okay, you go first," Qing Chen agreed.

"The rule is that you must be punctual," the old man said. "Decades ago, one of the top experts under the Li family died in the Forbidden Zone No. 37. We compiled his preferences and tried them one by one, and that's how we discovered this rule."

"Oh, he was a very punctual person when he was alive?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"That's not it," the old man said. "The main problem is that every time he takes his wife out, she has to spend two hours putting on makeup, which he finds utterly repulsive."

Qing Chen was speechless for a moment, wondering what all this was about. "Also, yesterday afternoon you sent someone to deliver the Black Box to me, right? Inside was a cultivation manual."

"If it wasn't me, who else would be so kind as to give you the cultivation method?" the old man said proudly.

"But the question is, where is the writing on it from?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"I don't know either, and the Li family has been trying to decipher it but hasn't succeeded," the old man sighed. "Every cultivation organization regards its inheritance as a unique treasure, so when passing it on, they leave behind their unique 'key,' which only they themselves know how to unlock. Just like the text on this cultivation method, if you're not one of their clansmen, no one can understand it. Even if you manage to seize the cultivation method, it's useless."

"Then where did you get this cultivation technique from?" Qing Chen pressed.

"According to the records, this happened a long time ago. After humanity entered the new era of civilization, some reclusive cultivation organizations gradually emerged," the old man explained. "Two organizations have always existed in the Great Snowy Mountains of Southwest China. One is the Fire Pit, and the other is the organization to which this cultivation method belongs. They have been hiding in the hot spring valleys deep in the snowy mountains until they reappeared in the world after the Federation was established."

"What are they hiding from?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

The old man glanced at him. "You've seen the textbooks from the Li Clan Academy, so you should know that the last time human civilization was almost wiped out was because Artificial Intelligence was 'zero,' right?"

"Yes, I know," Qing Chen nodded.

"But before that, there was another disaster more than two hundred years ago, which is hard to find in the records," the old man said. "That time, a nuclear war broke out on Earth, and all the survivors sought their own way out in order to avoid the war and the effects of the climate."

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment, which meant that humanity had faced two near-extinction disasters.

The first time was with nuclear bombs.

The second is Artificial Intelligence.

More than two hundred years passed between the two disasters, and the fire pit and the mysterious writing organization hid deep in the snow-capped mountains during the first disaster.

"When did they come out?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"This mysterious organization clashes with the Fire Pit's beliefs," the old man said. "They grew up in the same vast valley and initially got along well, but gradually they couldn't defeat the Fire Pit, so they had to leave the snow-capped mountains to find a new habitat. However, this organization is somewhat cruel. After arriving in modern civilized society, they used their cultivation methods to plunder more than a dozen federal production bases in one go, and they also controlled federal citizens to spread their beliefs, demanding that believers dedicate everything to their gods."

"Then what?"

"Then we encountered the Federation Group Army," the old man said casually, "And were wiped out."

Qing Chen could imagine how helpless a group of cultivators in that mysterious organization would be when faced with the artillery fire of an entire Group Army.

But here comes the question, Qingchen asked doubtfully, "Don't you leave any chance to interrogate their practice method?"

"They were spared, but their language wasn't Commonwealth," the old man replied. "The Federation Group Army captured a total of 11 people alive, but one night while they were being transported to City No. 5, they all committed suicide."

"So, you're saying the upper limit of this cultivation method is B-Class because the data shows that the highest level this organization ever reached was B-Class, right?" Qing Chen asked.

"That's right," the old man said, "They've cultivated for so long and they're only at B-Class. That should be their maximum level."

As he spoke, the old man glanced at him and said, "Being able to cultivate to B-Class is something many people crave, and in actual combat, the B-Class warriors in their organization are far more ferocious than the gene warriors. Moreover, their cultivation method has no side effects."

Qing Chen knew that many cultivation methods in the Inner World had side effects. For example, the "Tiger Sect" that Li Yinuo practiced would turn people into strongmen, with plenty of strength but lacking agility.

Although Qing Chen disliked Huan Yu, the other party was right about one thing: with every gain, there is a loss.

The old man said casually, "In this world, there are very few cultivation methods like the knight's, which have a complete path of advancement and no side effects."

Qing Chen sighed, "I think you don't need to hint so aggressively. Just say what you want to say."

The old man said with a smile, "I didn't say anything or ask anything."

At this moment, Qing Chen already knew very well that the old man was aware of his knightly identity.

The fact that he had to choose a direct descendant from the Li family to inherit the path of a knight was also a deal between Li Shutong and this old man.

Otherwise, why would they feed him Dragon Fish every day?

Li Shutong once told him something: although knights are strong and reach the pinnacle of their level after each promotion, they have one flaw: their knightly advancement is too fast, and their bones are only strengthened at the fourth Life and Death Trial.

This could very well result in you throwing a punch that leaves the other person unharmed, while you yourself suffer a fracture.

Qing Chen asked his master how to solve the problem, Li Shutong's answer at the time was: eat more calcium tablets.

This answer is clearly meant to deceive people.

The old man seemed to know exactly what he lacked most, so he generously gave him the Dragon Fish as a greeting gift.

It seems that when Master Li Shutong stole the Dragon Fish, he was trying to make up for his own shortcomings.

At this moment, while searching for fishing line in the old man's fishing gear, Qing Chen said, "Getting back to the point, I don't understand this cultivation method you gave me, so it's useless to me. How about I return it to you tomorrow?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "I am the only one in the world who knows that you have obtained this cultivation method. I certainly won't tell anyone. The person who gave you the cultivation method yesterday doesn't know what's in the Black Box either. So, take your time to study it. I won't ask you if you have any research results."

As Qing Chen cast his fishing hook into the water, he pondered the other person's words.

He suddenly realized that the old man probably even knew the secret that he was Time Walker.

The other party meant that they hoped he would put aside his concerns and just translate the mysterious text without worrying about anyone having doubts.

Because, although Qing Chen kept insisting that he couldn't understand the cultivation method, he had at least seen the writing...

That is the Tibetan language of the Outer World.

A language that has long been lost in the Inner World.

There's a 5,000-word chapter, and another one tonight.

To clarify something for Brother Yan: The recent online dispute between the author "Romantic Ashes" and the online literature platform has absolutely nothing to do with the Qidian ID "Ash Falls Dimly". We hereby declare that all author IDs containing the word "ashes" are unrelated to "Ash Falls Dimly", and all disputes and grievances are unrelated to "Ash Falls Dimly".

Here, I also sincerely hope that the dispute involving the author "Romantic Ashes" can be resolved and that the author's rights can be protected. Thank you everyone.