The Secret to Take to the Grave, and a Request

"Sir, don't you need to rest today?"

In the small Autumn Leaf Villa, the bluestone slabs on the ground were already full of people.

Based on Qing Chen's past habits, he should have closed his doors to visitors long ago.

Qing Chen looked at Li Ke: "It's alright. As a teacher, one always has to give up something."

Li Ke muttered under his breath, "Sir, this doesn't sound like something you would say."

Qing Chen: "..."

Qing Chen had his reasons for keeping these students at the Autumn Leaf Villa.

After all, these are the Li family's treasures and their future. The old man must also know that the secret of the tunnel has been leaked and that enemies could pass through it at any time.

At a time like this, how could the other side not send experts to protect the Autumn Leaf Villa?

Therefore, as long as Li's precious children are still in the Autumn Leaf Villa, Qing Chen himself will be fine.

At this moment, the most bored person must be Li Ke.

Everyone else had already sat down and begun to meditate, but he hadn't.

Li Ke stared at Qing Chen expectantly, wondering if the master had forgotten about him.

Li Ke looked at his classmates and brother, and finally said goodbye to Qing Chen, saying that he was going out for a while...

Qing Chen watched Li Ke walk out of the Autumn Leaf Villa, wondering how the other would interpret his actions.

Not long after, Li Ke returned with two servants. He told the servants to wait outside the door and not to peek into the courtyard.

He himself carried stacks of cushions into the yard time and time again.

"You went out just to move this?" Qing Chen asked in a low voice.

"Yes," Li Ke nodded, "Sir, you are a cultivator, so you are naturally not afraid of the cold, but they are still ordinary people. If they sit cross-legged on the ground in this season, they will catch a cold and get a fever, which will affect your teaching progress."

"Why don't you ask me why I'm the only one who doesn't teach you?" Qing Chen said calmly.

"Sir, you won't treat me unfairly," Li Ke said, and then went to distribute cushions. In order not to disturb others from entering meditation, he simply placed the cushions gently in front of each person.

In fact, Li Ke had just thought about the question Qing Chen asked: why was he the only one who couldn't cultivate?

Is it because I'm not qualified enough?

No, the gentleman certainly wouldn't forget; he must have something even better for himself.

Although Li Ke didn't know anything better than the orthodox methods of cultivation, he would just wait and see.

Sometimes people say that heroes cherish each other, Qing Chen thinks it should be intelligent people who cherish each other.

When faced with Qing Chen leaving them behind, Hu Xiaoniu and Li Ke made the same choice: to wait.

The word "wait" contains immense wisdom.

At this moment, Qing Chen walked up to Li Shu and gently placed his palm on the other's Shen Ting acupoint.

The Knight True Qi slowly flowed into Li Shu's head. Feeling his bright spots rapidly illuminating, Li Shu said with tears streaming down his face, "Sir, what's happening? My cultivation progress has suddenly accelerated so much! Are you helping me?"

"It's just an initiation," Qing Chen said casually. "Don't get distracted, continue your cultivation."

Sometimes Qing Chen felt that the knight ancestors should have taken the first three sections of the Breathing Technique and passed them down.

This single initiation technique alone can quickly assemble a powerful team of cultivators for oneself.

The Knight Organization is divided into two levels: knights and messengers.

Li Shutong is the knight, while Li Dongze, Su Xingzhi, Lin Xiaoxiao, Ye Wan, and others are the "messengers".

Now, Qing Chen is the knight, and Zhang Tianzhen, Liu Dezhu, Nan Gengchen, Li Tongyun and others are the "messengers".

Messengers are followers of knights.

Qing Chen believes that the Zhunti Method is the most suitable training method for cultivating messengers on the path of knights, because the Knight True Qi can improve the messenger's cultivation progress, and the first, second and third Breathing Technique can be used to control the messenger's strength and demands.

Among these students, some may think that by mastering this Breathing Technique, they can start their own school, but they will soon find that without the subsequent second and third Breathing Technique, they will only stay at the E-Class at most.

The second section Breathing Technique, cultivates the Qi channels, allowing them to reach C-Class.

The third section Breathing Technique, cultivates the chakras, allowing them to achieve a complete and harmonious cultivation up to B-Class.

If there are truly loyal ones, Qing Chen would be willing to teach them the fourth section of the Breathing Technique and let them try to break through the Heart's Inquiry, which would be fine.

But for each of these training sessions, the other party sought help from Qing Chen.

Moreover, how many people can resist the benefits brought by the initiation?

Qing Chen didn't know how many messengers he, the knight, would eventually have. He simply focused on winning people's hearts steadily, and the more the merrier.

He finished bestowing the empowerment upon five people in one go, including Xiao Tongyun, Nan Gengchen, and Li Yinuo. This selection seemed random, but in fact, they were all people that Qing Chen trusted.

After doing all this, he turned around and went back to the recliner.

He was still wondering if the assassins were coming or not. If they didn't, the students would be leaving...

Li Ke asked in a low voice, "Sir, what time will they finish their cultivation tonight?"

"How can cultivation be measured in terms of time?" Qing Chen said seriously. "If they can't even endure this little bit of hardship, then they shouldn't be cultivating at all."

However, Qing Chen's wishful thinking was soon shattered.

At 11 o'clock, someone pushed the door open and entered.

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. The newcomer was none other than the middle-aged man who had handed him the booklet of the Zhunti Method earlier. He had guessed the man's identity before, and he was very likely the expert who was by the old man's side.

The middle-aged man glanced at the students in the Autumn Leaf Villa and then calmly said, "Get up, everyone. The Privy Council asked me to inform you that while cultivation is a joyful thing, it also requires a balance between work and rest. Go back to sleep and come back tomorrow morning."

Qing Chen was speechless for a moment. The old man had clearly seen through his thoughts and wanted to tease him.

As the students said goodbye one by one, the middle-aged man walked up to him and whispered, "Don't worry, there won't be any opponents in the passageway that you can't handle. You may have some doubts, but you can get the answers at Longhu tomorrow."

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Okay."

That night, he sat on the steps of the passageway and waited all night, but the assassin did not come.

Qing Chen even wished he had the assassin's phone number so he could call and ask if the other party was still coming. If they were coming, they should hurry up; if not, they shouldn't come at all. Why keep dragging it out like this?!

At 6 a. m., footsteps could be heard outside the Autumn Leaf Villa, and people whispered, "When does Autumn Leaf Villa open in the morning, sir?"

"I don't know either. Li Ke said it depends entirely on the master's mood," someone replied.

Slowly, all Twenty-Two students waited outside the door, and Lian Qing Yi paced anxiously, waiting for the Autumn Leaf Villa to open its doors.

Li Shu glanced at the others. "I thought I was the only one who would come so early, but I didn't expect you all to be here so early."

A young man Li Huang laughed and said, "What, are you here alone to receive the master's initiation? Dream on."

Li Shu looked at the other person. "Li Huang, yesterday you were the one who muttered in private that you wouldn't kneel to anyone except your parents and grandfather, right?"

"I did that out of a sense of self-respect. A man's knees are worth gold, and kneeling before someone Xiao Qi than me would definitely require me to overcome some psychological barriers," Li Huang explained earnestly. "But I didn't mean to look down on you, sir."

In fact, there was only one reason why this group of people came to the Autumn Leaf Villa early in the morning: they were unable to enter a meditative state at home.

Just like the situation Qing Chen encountered when he first taught Zhang Tianzhen and Liu Dezhu, the frequency of Breathing Technique is not so easy to control. Even Li Shutong thought that Qing Chen would need half a year to be able to use Breathing Technique on his own, but Qing Chen himself was an exception.

At this moment, someone looked at the group who had received the initiation yesterday. "I heard that after you received the initiation from the Master, you immediately lit up your first bright spot?"

Li Shu and Li Yinuo nodded in agreement.

However, at that moment, Qing Chen pulled open the two small wooden doors of the Autumn Leaf Villa from the inside. "Come in, each of you sit on the cushions."

"Thank you, sir," the group said in turn.

Qing Chen went to each person in turn and used his Knight True Qi to check everyone's progress in cultivation.

He needs to know which of these 22 students has the best talent and cultivates the fastest, so that he can pay more attention to them in the future.

However, when it came to Li Yinuo Nan Gengchen, he suddenly frowned.

Because, in just one night, the two of them actually lit up a bright spot at the same time.

Qing Chen felt something was off. He could understand other people, but he had specifically checked the progress of these two when he was receiving the initiation last night, so he was absolutely certain that he hadn't made a mistake.

Moreover, he knew Nan Gengchen's talent; even if the other party could maintain his Breathing Technique in the Qingshan Courtyard, he couldn't possibly have such a cultivation speed.

"What's going on with you two?" Qing Chen asked, frowning. "Why is your cultivation progressing so quickly?"

Nan Gengchen hesitated for a moment. "No... it's nothing."

"To be honest," Qing Chen said coldly.

He himself had not practiced the Cundi Zhunti Method, so he had to make adjustments to his teachings based on his students' experiences.

"Yesterday... um," even with Li Yinuo's carefree and outspoken personality, she seemed somewhat embarrassed to talk about it.

Finally, looking at Qing Chen's calm eyes, Li Yinuo braced herself and said, "When Nan Gengchen and I had sex yesterday, we discovered that our bright spots were actually feeding back a kind of 'qi', which was alternating between us. After we finished having sex, our cultivation progress was much faster, and we have now lit up a bright spot."

Nan Gengchen stared innocently at the sky, experiencing the taste of social death.

Qing Chen was shocked!

Even he, the teacher, didn't know that the Zhunti Method could be developed in this way!

Although he had previously speculated that Tantric Buddhism has always had the legend of dual cultivation, which is why many Buddhists consider this lineage to be an unorthodox tradition.

But Qing Chen never expected that this kind of cultivation method actually existed!

Moreover, this method of cultivation greatly enhances the progress of cultivation, achieving the same effect as initiation in one session.

No, judging from Nan Gengchen's expression, Qing Chen guessed it had happened more than once.

At this moment, Qing Chen noticed the strange expressions on Li Shu's and the others' faces and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

This is a legitimate cultivation method, and I'm a respectable person, but seeing how these people are getting restless, I wonder if my cultivation organization will end up with some strange reputation in the future?!

When the time comes, all the messengers under my command will be doing this kind of thing, and others will have no choice but to know.

While rapid cultivation is definitely a good thing, the reputation of one's sect is also very important!

If this gets out, what will people think of me?

No one cares how he explains it; people only believe what they want to believe!

However, it seems that this Joyful Zen requires both people to practice the Zhunti Method, right? In that case, Li Shu and the others can't actually use it.

Qing Yi stood silently in the crowd, watching the pack of wolf-like young people around him, thinking to himself, "What a bizarre turn of events..."

The next moment, a young man named Li He hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, it's not just the two cultivators who have this reaction. My wife and I are the same, but we're not progressing as fast as Li Yinuo and the others. We're only about halfway there."

Li Shu and the others' eyes lit up.

Qing Chen, who was standing to the side, looked at Li Shu and the others and quickly said after considering his words, "It is certainly a good thing to cultivate quickly, but I hope that you will all exercise restraint in this regard, especially not to go out and flirt with other women and harm girls outside."

Li Shu bowed slightly and said, "Sir, you are overthinking it. We all have our bottom lines and will not go out to harm others."

Qing Chen felt a little relieved. "That's good."

Immediately after speaking, Li Shu added, "Then is it okay to find a wife?"

Qing Chen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay."

Although he really wanted to say no, he couldn't very well stop others from having sex.

Although Qing Chen is his master in name only, he can't interfere in this kind of thing!

Qing Chen looked up at the sky, where the sky was just beginning to lighten, and thought to himself that his reputation was going to start to look strange in the Li family.

Fortunately, among these people, only Li He was married; the others hadn't had the opportunity to get married during their years in the military.

It seems that his reputation can be preserved for a while.

In the early morning, everyone practiced in the Autumn Leaf Villa until the morning, and it wasn't until nine o'clock that they discussed leaving one by one.

During this period, Qing Chen selected seven more people to receive the initiation ceremony.

He discovered that as he repeatedly exhausted his Knight True Qi, and combined it with the first section of Breathing Technique, the Knight True Qi in his body was also increasing rapidly.

He felt that it wouldn't take three months; at this rate, it would only take two months to infuse the entire body with the essence.

I wonder what expression Master Li Shutong would have had when he learned of this.

After all the students had left, Qing Chen slowly walked towards Longhu, intending to ask the old man for an answer.

However, as soon as he reached the Broken Bridge, before he could even sit down, the old man asked him impatiently, "What kind of cultivation method did you teach them? This morning, all those children ran to the Privy Council, asking them to grant them marriages... and even a fourteen-year-old went to ask for a marriage decree!"

Qing Chen: "..."

What the hell is this arranged marriage?!

These elite soldiers are most sensitive to strength, and now that they have discovered a shortcut to quickly improve their strength, how could they not want to seize it?

However, it's too hasty to ask the family for a marriage just for the sake of cultivation!

Moreover, after following his cultivation, he suddenly asked for a marriage decree. If the other members of the Li family knew about it, they would definitely speculate that it was him!

The old man said, "I had the Privy Council reject them all. If they want to get married, they should find their own partners. Stop causing me this trouble. Years ago, we asked them to arrange marriages for their families, and they all ran away to hide in the military camps. Now that there are no marriage partners, they're all coming to ask their families for marriage... Also, is your cultivation method even legitimate? Is it really orthodox?"

Qing Chen retorted irritably, "Isn't this the cultivation method you gave me? What does it have to do with me!"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "It seems so..."

"Let's not talk about that now," Qing Chen said, knowing his reputation was doomed, and stopped dwelling on it. "You were the one who leaked the secret passage, weren't you?"

"Strictly speaking, no," the old man shook his head. "Someone spent all the money I gave them and wanted to sell this secret for a much higher price. But what they didn't expect was that the buyer was too ruthless. He didn't intend to pay or spare their life. So, the most unpredictable thing in this world is the human heart. Those who can truly hurt you are mostly your friends."

"Since you knew about this, why didn't you stop it?" Qing Chen asked curiously. "Those who knew about it should be under the close surveillance of the Li family, right? I don't believe you would trust human nature so much."

"Of course I know, but Changqing is worried about how to catch those rats. This is the bait I set out for her," the old man said with a smile. "However, those rats are very clever. Even if their whereabouts are discovered, they won't all be caught, so you have to be careful. People will be visiting again soon."

"By the way, I'm curious, who exactly are you trying to trick with this whole show?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"Whoever takes the bait, we'll trap them," the old man said with a smile. "The fish see the bait and take the bait themselves. Before I leave, I need to take care of the external enemies before the turmoil of the power transition occurs, right?"

Qing Chen sighed, "You've arranged everything so perfectly. I'm planning to move back to Feiyun Courtyard. You can find someone to catch the rats yourself."

The old man chuckled, "Don't your Puppet Master need sacrifices? I'm helping you find them. Besides, those who come after them will definitely be the sacrifices you need most. I've had the privilege of witnessing others use Puppet Master in my life; when you reach that point, you'll understand how terrifying it is to have one. I've lured these damned people to your doorstep; you should be thanking me, not complaining!"

Qing Chen said expressionlessly, "My master sold me out pretty cleanly."

"What bad intentions could an old man like me, who is about to die, possibly have?" The old man smiled. "Don't worry, I will take the secrets about you to my grave."

Upon hearing this, Qing Chen suddenly asked, "How much longer do you have?"

The old man said slowly, "I don't know either. I'm just hanging on by a thread. I'll leave the rest to fate."

"Knowing that you're not in good health, why did you brave the cold wind to go fishing?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"What's the point of fishing if you're dead?" the old man said cheerfully. "Isn't it just a way to do what I want to do in my last moments?"

After saying that, he pulled up the fishing hook and handed the Dragon Fish to Qing Chen.

This time, however, Qing Chen did not leave. Instead, he sat on the broken bridge with the old man from noon until sunset.

Neither of them spoke again, and they just sat there quietly.

"Can I ask you for a favor?" the old man said, watching the setting sun slowly sink into the back of the mountain.

"Hmm?" Qing Chen looked over.

As the sun set, the old man spoke slowly, and the boy listened attentively.

A 5,000-word chapter, with another chapter at 11 PM tonight.