Excitement surged through Chen Ye. He forced down the urge to practice and stopped at once, without rushing to spend his limited lifespan on improving the technique.
The lesson he had learned from the Gao Family was still fresh in his mind.
He had to learn from it. He could not stumble in the same place twice.
Before practicing this technique, he needed to understand it better.
The next day, after finishing his duties, Chen Ye bought some wine with his own money and brought back a bowl of lotus root soup from the kitchen.
Though he was nominally an attendant, he had always received the same treatment as a guest retainer.
Cheng Defu often came over to share his meals, too.
That evening, Cheng Defu ambled into his courtyard at the usual time.
The sight of an extra jug of wine on the table took him by surprise.
"Oh? What's the occasion? What made you buy wine?"
Cheng Defu sat down as though he owned the place, picked up his chopsticks, plucked a piece of lotus root from the soup, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Ye filled his cup and replied with a smile, "Nothing much to do, so I thought I'd have a drink."
Cheng Defu grinned. "Then I've come at just the right time."
After they chatted for a while, Chen Ye gradually steered the conversation toward what had happened that day.
"I saw the Second Young Lady today."
"Oh? What did you think of her?"
Chen Ye smiled. "She didn't strike me as much of a young lady. She carried herself more like a young man."
"Hahaha! That's what everyone inside and outside the mansion says. The Old Madam is worried sick about finding her a husband."
Cheng Defu casually repeated gossip known throughout the mansion.
Chen Ye laughed along, then changed tack and asked in a respectful tone, "Steward Cheng, there's something I've never quite understood. I was hoping you could enlighten me."
Cheng Defu kept eating as he mumbled around a mouthful of food, "What is it? Let's hear it."
"I've heard the great Aristocratic Clans guard their martial arts closely and never pass them to outsiders. But when I went to the Martial Arts Arena today, the Second Young Lady and the others taught their disciples without avoiding us. Why is that?"
"Oh, is that all?" Cheng Defu put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Tell me, what matters most when learning a martial art?"
Chen Ye hesitated. "The technique?"
Cheng Defu shook his head with a snort. "Wrong. What matters most is having someone decipher the coded phrases and show you the path. What the hell can you do with just a manual? You think those great clans and Jianghu sects are fools?"
Putting on the air of a man who had seen it all, Cheng Defu continued, "To protect their martial arts, every family packs its manuals with who knows how many coded phrases. Even a single term like 'true self' has more than ten interpretations. Their disciples study the manual under an elder's guidance. Who would toss them a secret manual and let them puzzle it out alone?
"In other words, without someone to explain it, even if a peerless divine art were placed right in front of you, it wouldn't do you a damn bit of good."
"How else do you think so many clans lost their martial arts legacies?"
"The Second Young Lady didn't avoid you because you can't learn it just by watching."
Chen Ye paused.
Only then did he realize he had been too close to the matter to see it clearly.
With the Pawn System at his disposal, he had assumed he could learn any technique as long as he had the manual. The other possibility had never crossed his mind.
Understanding dawned on him. With a smile, he drained a cup as a self-imposed penalty. "I failed to grasp something so simple. I deserve a drink for that."
"That's one reason. The other is that there's no need."
Cheng Defu picked up another bite of food. "The mansion uses the Return to Origin Art to introduce its children to martial arts. It's a balanced, gentle foundational art of the Cui Family. There are no restrictions on who can learn it; every Cui Family child can. But its ceiling is low, and it's only meant to lay a foundation. Talented children of the main line move on to higher-level martial arts afterward."
"I see."
Chen Ye could not help marveling at what he had heard.
The depth of the Cui Mansion's resources was extraordinary indeed.
An art dozens of times stronger than the Foundation Cultivation Technique was nothing more than basic learning in the Cui Family's eyes.
He could only wonder how profound the Cui Family's so-called higher-level martial arts were.
He took a sip of wine and asked casually, "Steward Cheng, since the Return to Origin Art is a foundational technique, I imagine it has its strengths. What benefits do the less talented Cui Mansion disciples get from practicing it for years? Does it balance their blood and qi, for instance, or nourish the body and extend life?"
Wine had put some color in Cheng Defu's face. He chuckled. "Benefits? Of course it has benefits. People say the Xie Family's martial arts excel at killing, the Wang Family's at adapting, and the Cui Family's at nurturing. How do you think the Cui Family earned that reputation?"
"Because of this technique?"
"No."
Chen Ye was left speechless.
Seeing his deflated expression, Cheng Defu clapped his hands and burst out laughing.
After drinking, his thoughts had begun to wander. He circled back to the question. "Only a few people in any Aristocratic Clan have real talent. This foundational technique doesn't have a high ceiling, but it's good at balancing blood and qi. As for extending life, yes, it can do that too. As long as the mansion's children practice diligently for a year or two, they can usually achieve minor mastery. Living a few extra years isn't out of the question."
At last, Chen Ye had a clear answer and a basic understanding of the Return to Origin Art.
Cheng Defu had no idea he had secretly learned the Return to Origin Art, so there was no reason for him to lie.
Having achieved his aim, Chen Ye said no more about it and simply drank with Cheng Defu.
What he had not expected was that Cheng Defu had an appallingly low tolerance for alcohol and behaved even worse when drunk.
After only a few cups, he threw off all restraint.
Cheng Defu looked at Chen Ye with a lecherous grin. "Boy Chen, do you know the 'four hard things' and the 'four soft things'?"
"What four hard and four soft things?"
"Haha! You don't know? Let me tell you. See if I've got the four hard ones right." Swaying his head, Cheng Defu chanted, "Heh heh, a carpenter's adze, a blacksmith's block, a young man's cock, and a diamond drill.
"And the four soft ones: a maiden's waist, a cotton bale, a ripe firecrystal persimmon, and a pig's bladder. Ah, so soft!"
Cheng Defu nearly laughed himself breathless and kept repeating the lines under his breath.
Only then did Chen Ye realize the old man was talking entirely about things below the belt.
When he looked down, he saw that the old fellow had even pitched a tent. He was more speechless than ever.
He hurriedly got up and half-supported, half-dragged Cheng Defu back to his room.
Cheng Defu collapsed onto his bed and tugged at Chen Ye's sleeve, still mumbling, "Hey... don't rush... If I can't get up tomorrow, I'll have you fill in for me... Take good care of that red-maned horse. She's the Third Young Lady's favorite, Red Lady... Don't let anything happen to her."
With that, Cheng Defu flopped onto the bed and immediately began to snore.
Chen Ye shook his head helplessly.
He had brought this trouble on himself, so he would have to bear it.
Fortunately, he had spent the past few days learning the feeding routine from Cheng Defu. He could manage for a little while.
By the time Chen Ye returned to his quarters, night had fallen.
Now that he was sure the Return to Origin Art was safe and could extend his life, he decided to pawn some lifespan for cultivation.
This time, he would be pawning lifespan he had previously redeemed. Once spent, it was gone for good, so he had to be careful.
Chen Ye took a deep breath and summoned the system panel.
[Name: Chen Ye] [Current Martial Arts: Foundation Cultivation Technique (perfected), Return to Origin Art (not yet initiated)] [Realm: Mortal Shedding (three)] [Current Remaining Lifespan: 585 days] [Pawnable Lifespan: 584 days] [Cumulative Lifespan Redeemed: 548 days] [Remaining Redeemable Lifespan: 0 days]
Chen Ye pawned a year of his life at once.
[365 days of lifespan deducted. 365 days of cultivation granted.]
The status on the panel changed rapidly.
[Return to Origin Art (not yet initiated)] → [Return to Origin Art (minor mastery)]
The instant the Return to Origin Art broke through, a powerful sensation of qi surged up his spine like a flooding river, branched through his extraordinary meridians, then returned to his dantian.
Unlike the dull pressure and erratic collisions he had felt while practicing the Foundation Cultivation Technique, the immense current formed by the Return to Origin Art followed a fixed path. It became a torrent he could guide.
Chen Ye could clearly sense a complete "qi route" within his body, a cycle that flowed outward before returning, coming and going without cease.
What surprised him even more was that the Return to Origin Art's circulation path overlapped with and complemented the Foundation Cultivation Technique's to a considerable degree.
The Foundation Cultivation Technique emphasized "cultivation," strengthening the sensation of internal qi while paying little heed to its circulation.
The Return to Origin Art emphasized "return," focusing on circulating qi rather than strengthening it.
By some unexpected means, the two arts answered and reinforced each other.
At a thought, Chen Ye circulated both arts at once.
Each time he completed a full celestial circuit, the qi within him grew ever so slightly.
After nine consecutive Greater Celestial Circuits, the "sixth speck of Radiance" that had been gathering for so long burst from his flesh like a shoot breaking through the earth and settled into an acupoint.
Chen Ye suspected that if he continued practicing this way, he might cultivate Radiance in all 361 acupoints.
If he did, his body might undergo an astonishing transformation.
He set the thought aside and quickly opened the Pawn System to check his lifespan. Delight spread across his face.
[Current Remaining Lifespan: 400 days] [Pawnable Lifespan: 399 days] [Cumulative Lifespan Redeemed: 183 days]
The Return to Origin Art really could extend his life.
Even at minor mastery, it had given him an extra half year.
This path could work after all!
Sitting cross-legged on the bed in his side room, Chen Ye felt the vigorous life force within him, his spirits soaring.
He thought he might find an opportunity to undergo his fourth Mortal Shedding sometime soon.
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