Internal Family Martial Arts

After Zhou Yan finished practicing the Five Animal Frolics and the Shennong Health Cultivation Method, he felt his body relax significantly.

However, a large mass of cold ice seemed to remain lodged in the center of his chest, preventing his body temperature from rising and leaving him feeling perpetually chilled.

This is caused by the accumulation of Yin energy; it hasn't been fully refined, nor has it been dissolved by my vital blood...

He felt a headache coming on. This was the drawback of heterodox paths.

Orthodox practitioners of the Profound Gate possess complete and comprehensive legacies, with cultivation methods that advance the physical body, magical power, and spirit in tandem.

While their focus might vary—some practitioners might sweep through enemies with a powerful physique, others might manifest awe-inspiring magical abilities, and some might suppress everything with spiritual pressure—they never suffer from glaring flaws that cause an imbalance between the three.

Heterodox paths are different. They also cultivate all three, but they tend to take extreme, unconventional routes.

Take the Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique, for instance; it focuses primarily on Qi refinement, leaving the physical body and spirit neglected, with only minimal attention paid to them.

Zhou Yan's current predicament stems from his Qi and spirit advancing together, while his physical body struggles to keep pace.

Had it not been for the fortuitous discovery of the Yakshas Meditation Method, his problems would likely extend far beyond just his physical state.

This is precisely why heterodox practitioners find it increasingly difficult to advance their cultivation as they reach the later stages.

Because they must go back and compensate for the shortcomings caused by their rapid early progress, the difficulty of doing so increases many times over.

Of course, this does not mean Zhou Yan is truly frail.

In reality, his current strength, speed, and physical durability far exceed those of an ordinary person; he could easily lift hundreds of pounds.

After all, the first realm of cultivation is the Essence Blood Realm.

Beyond condensing essence blood and magical power, the physical body is constantly tempered, becoming stronger with each step.

The Eastern path of cultivation emphasizes holistic development, avoiding any glaring weaknesses.

The higher a practitioner's cultivation, the fewer flaws they possess, until eventually, they have none at all.

Whether it is the orthodox Profound Gate or the heterodox paths, all roads lead to the same destination in the end!

I hope my brother-in-law has some good news, Zhou Yan sighed softly.

"The things you're looking for? I truly don't have them."

Jin Mantang looked at Zhou Yan with a wry smile. "Those are internal martial arts manuals. Ordinary families aren't even allowed to catch a glimpse of them; those who possess them treat them like precious treasures. And you want Buddhist internal martial arts on top of that? Even if I had them, I wouldn't dare sell them to you..."

"One is Daoist, the other is Buddhist—both are behemoths. They aren't forces that rogue cultivators like us can afford to offend..."

"Even if someone were to stumble upon them by chance, they would hide them deep away. Who would dare speak of them lightly..."

"..."

Zhou Yan grimaced upon hearing this.

He had underestimated the importance of internal martial arts. Jin Mantang was willing to trade in cultivation methods, yet his attitude toward internal martial arts was so guarded; clearly, they were no ordinary manuals.

"Brother Jin, my apologies. I was presumptuous," Zhou Yan said with a slight nod.

Jin Mantang let out a sigh of relief and looked at Zhou Yan. "Brother Zhou, to be honest with you, cultivation methods are difficult to start, come with many drawbacks, and progress slowly. To those wealthy families, they are like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat, but a pity to discard..."

"But internal martial arts are different. For people like us, obtaining them is truly a task of extreme difficulty..."

By the end, Jin Mantang sighed helplessly.

Don't let his status fool you; while he might seem unreachable to ordinary folk, he couldn't even dream of currying favor with the truly powerful families. Even when those families recruit retainers, they only take disciples from prestigious sects.

Rogue cultivators like them can only struggle in the lower and middle rungs of society.

Zhou Yan frowned; he realized he still lacked a deep understanding of many things in this world.

"Brother Jin, do you know of any family in Shen City with the surname Yue?" Zhou Yan asked suddenly.

"Surname Yue?"

Jin Mantang muttered to himself, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "I know all the major families in Shen City, and there are no major families with the surname Yue."

Zhou Yan's brow furrowed, and he spoke truthfully. "That's strange. Brother Jin, I previously took a job to exorcise a demon for a wealthy family named Yue in the inner city. I was dealing with a Locust Tree Spirit that had hundreds of years of cultivation.

By the way, that family is extremely wealthy; a single courtyard occupied nearly half a street in the inner city. It couldn't possibly be a small family..."

Jin Mantang's eyes widened, his expression one of disbelief. "A courtyard occupying nearly half a street? What kind of family is that? Wait, the surname Yue... could it be..."

As he spoke, his expression grew even more shocked; he nearly jumped out of his seat.

Seeing this, Zhou Yan quickly asked, "Brother Jin, have you remembered something?"

Jin Mantang swallowed hard, his voice dropping instinctively. "Brother, if I'm not mistaken, that family wouldn't have needed to invite you to exorcise a demon. Such a noble, prestigious clan has enough family fortune and ancestral artifacts to suppress any evil spirit. A Locust Tree Spirit with only a few hundred years of cultivation wouldn't dare cause trouble there."

"A noble, prestigious clan? Brother Jin, what kind of family deserves such a title?" Zhou Yan was also quite startled.

Jin Mantang's expression was complex as he spoke. "The six great families of the world: Yang, Li, Zhao, Xia, Yue, and Liu. These families have been passed down for thousands of years. They have deep foundations and are the true noble, prestigious clans."

"A thousand-year-old clan!"

Zhou Yan was truly astonished now.

He had never imagined that there were still thousand-year-old aristocratic families left in this world.

In his previous life, the great clans and noble houses had long since been nearly wiped out; even the Kong family, known as the descendants of the Sage, was nothing more than an empty shell.

Yet these six great families were clearly different; they were true clans with a thousand-year heritage, their strength unfathomable.

Jin Mantang looked at Zhou Yan, his eyes reflecting a mix of envy and pity.

Although he did not know why the Yue family had a connection with Zhou Yan, as small fries, their instinct was to avoid getting involved in the affairs of such big shots.

Because one wrong step could easily turn them into cannon fodder.

The powerful had their own ways of doing things, and the insignificant had their own survival skills.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world; the more one gains, the more one will eventually have to pay with their life.

Zhou Yan understood this point as well. He snapped back to his senses and bowed to Jin Mantang.

Jin Mantang nodded, acknowledging the gesture.

Afterward, neither of them spoke of the topic again, acting as if it had never been mentioned.