The next day.
Qing Family Manor, main hall.
Breakfast was a bowl of emerald rice porridge personally simmered by Shen Wanqing, served with Liu Yunlan's pickled jade-green melon strips. It was light and refreshing.
Qing Mufeng ate a bowl and a half, then his grandmother pressed another half bowl on him, leaving him so full that he kept hiccuping.
"Eat more. Last night's medicinal bath drained your vitality, so you need to replenish it," Liu Yunlan said matter-of-factly.
Qing Mufeng did not dare refuse his grandmother's kindness and forced himself to finish that half bowl of porridge as well.
The moment he set down his bowl, Qing Zhengyue's voice came from the seat of honor.
"Feng'er, come to the study with me."
The old man rose and left without any further explanation.
Qing Mufeng looked at his mother. Shen Wanqing nodded at him, and he hopped down from his chair and followed behind his grandfather.
Liu Yunlan called after them, "Don't teach him for an entire morning! Feng'er is still young; he can't sit still that long!"
Without turning his head, Qing Zhengyue waved a hand.
The study was on the eastern side of the manor, where Qing Zhengyue spent most of his days.
The room was not large. Bookshelves lined three walls, packed densely with books.
Some pages had yellowed and turned brittle, clearly antiques more than a century old;
others had been well preserved and had been added in recent years.
The desk stood by the window. Outside was a cluster of lush bamboo, its leaves rustling whenever the wind blew.
Qing Zhengyue sat behind the desk and pointed to the floor in front of it.
"Sit."
Qing Mufeng sat cross-legged, his back straight and his hands resting naturally on his knees.
The old man gave a slight nod when he saw his posture.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yes."
"Did you take the medicinal bath?"
"Yes."
"Did you drink the medicine your grandmother brewed for you?"
"Yes."
After asking those three questions, Qing Zhengyue fell silent for a moment, then took a thin booklet from the desk drawer.
Its cover was made of dark blue cloth, its corners worn white from countless readings.
There was no title on the cover, only four tiny characters written in neat script at the lower right corner.
Qing Family Secret.
Qing Mufeng's eyelid twitched.
Qing Zhengyue placed the booklet on the desk without opening it.
"Mufeng, do you know what is most important in a Soul Master's cultivation?"
Qing Mufeng pretended to think for a moment. "Soul Power?"
"Soul Power is the fruit, not the cause." Qing Zhengyue shook his head. "For a Soul Master, the most important thing in cultivation is a meditation method."
The old man raised his right hand, palm upward, and a strand of green Soul Power condensed within it.
"A meditation method determines the speed at which you absorb Soul Power, the purity of that Soul Power, the carrying limit of your meridians, and even how far you can go."
He withdrew his Soul Power and picked up the booklet.
"This meditation method is called the Green Snake Meditation Method."
Qing Mufeng's gaze shifted slightly at the name, but he said nothing.
"The Green Snake Meditation Method was originally only an intermediate meditation method."
Qing Zhengyue spoke unhurriedly. "When the Qing Clan's ancestors obtained it from the Tiandou Empire military, it was merely an ordinary intermediate wood-element meditation method, theoretically allowing one to cultivate only to the Soul King rank."
"But for a hundred years, the Qing Clan's generations have continuously revised it. Every generation's clan head made adjustments, optimizations, and additions based on his own cultivation experience. By my generation, it has become a high-level meditation method."
The old man opened the booklet and pointed at the densely packed annotations.
"Look. The red writing was revised by your great-grandfather, the blue writing by your grandfather, the gray writing by me, and the black writing by your father."
Qing Mufeng leaned closer for a look.
The annotations were packed tightly together. In some places, there had been so many revisions that slips of paper had been pasted over them and rewritten.
Every alteration represented the painstaking efforts of several generations of the Qing Clan.
"Theoretically, it can be cultivated to the Soul Saint rank."
When Qing Zhengyue said this, there was a trace of regret in his tone. "That is already the limit of a high-level meditation method. Above level seventy-one, a top-tier meditation method is required. Though one can theoretically awaken and cultivate a high-level meditation method, the progress would be extremely, extremely slow."
"Unfortunately, no one in the Qing Clan has cultivated beyond level seventy in the past hundred years."
He looked at his hands, already marked with age spots.
"In my lifetime, reaching level sixty-six as a Soul Emperor is already the Qing Clan's greatest achievement in a century. But this is as far as I can go. I am old, my meridians are deteriorating, and my Soul Power grows slower and slower. If I can reach level seventy before I die, it will be heaven's blessing."
Qing Mufeng looked at the faint unwillingness in his grandfather's eyes and said nothing.
There was another, even crueler truth that he did not say aloud.
Whether it was the so-called top-tier meditation methods or divine-grade meditation methods across the continent, none could compare to the Mysterious Heaven Technique Tang San had brought with him.
"Mufeng, do you know why I had you absorb a high-year Soul Ring across ranks at innate level twenty?"
"To build a solid foundation and raise more Soul Power as quickly as possible," Qing Mufeng answered.
"Right, but not entirely." Qing Zhengyue looked at him. "Building a solid foundation and raising more Soul Power quickly are meant to let you go farther. And to go farther, you need more than a foundation. You also need a meditation method."
He stood and walked to the window, his back facing his grandson.
"The Green Snake Meditation Method is a snake's meditation method. And you are a dragon."
Qing Mufeng's heart jolted.
"Snakes and dragons share the same origin in essence, but they stand on different levels."
"Though this meditation method is called the Green Snake Meditation Method, it is still the most suitable for wood-element Soul Masters."
"You are the Azure Dragon, the Origin of Wood. Your compatibility with this meditation method will only be higher than ours."
Qing Zhengyue turned around, his eyes blazing as he looked at his grandson.
"I do not expect you to use it forever."
"But it can give you inspiration. Once you find a higher-level meditation method in the future, or comprehend a meditation method belonging to dragons yourself, it will be your best reference."
The old man returned and sat down again.
Qing Mufeng nodded solemnly.
"Now, sit cross-legged properly."
Qing Zhengyue's voice turned stern. "I will inject Soul Power into your meridians and lead you through the circulation path of the Green Snake Meditation Method once. Feel it carefully and remember the position and direction of every node."
Qing Mufeng closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.
Qing Zhengyue extended his right hand and pressed it against his grandson's crown.
A warm strand of Soul Power slowly entered through the baihui acupoint at the crown of his head, spreading downward along his meridians.
"The first path runs from Baihui to Danzhong, along the Ren Meridian."
That strand of Soul Power slowly descended along the Ren Meridian at the center of his body, passing his brow and throat before finally stopping at the danzhong acupoint in the center of his chest.
Qing Mufeng focused completely on sensing the path of that Soul Power, engraving it deeply into his mind.
"The second path runs from Danzhong to the dantian, splitting into three branches."
The Soul Power divided into three at the danzhong acupoint. One strand continued downward along the Ren Meridian to the dantian;
the other two branched left and right, circling around to the lower back via the belt meridian before returning to the dantian through the Governing Meridian.
"This is the core of the Green Snake Meditation Method."
Qing Zhengyue's voice sounded beside his ear. "Wood-element Soul Power values endless vitality. Only when the three branches run in parallel and cycle repeatedly can they stimulate the life force within the meridians to the greatest extent."
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