The Basics! (Please Vote!)

Late at night.

The Green Flood Dragon Army's camp lay silent. Almost all the soldiers were asleep; only the Martial Repository still glowed with candlelight.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Someone knocked at the door.

Master Jingzhi set down the book in his hands and smiled. "You still knock when you come to see me?"

The door opened.

True Person Muxuan walked in, still dressed in a green robe, his long hair loose over his shoulders.

He glanced at the book on the table. "I knew you'd still be awake."

"I slept fitfully for a whole day and night yesterday. Today, I just can't seem to fall asleep." Master Jingzhi looked at True Person Muxuan. "Did you need something?"

"You passed the Free and Easy Wandering movement technique to Zhou Hao?" True Person Muxuan frowned. "If you were going to teach it to him, why stay up all night copying it out? You could've taught it to him bit by bit."

Seeing True Person Muxuan frown because he had stayed up all night, Master Jingzhi felt a warmth in his heart.

Still, he looked completely unconcerned. "He'll be going out to sea in a couple of days. With my body, who knows how long I'll last? Since I was going to pass it on, I might as well give him the whole thing at once."

"Back then, I asked you to teach it to Li Zhan, and you refused." True Person Muxuan looked at Master Jingzhi, whose pale face was tinged with a hint of blue. "Now you've so readily passed it to someone you've only met once. Aren't you worried?"

"Some people put you at ease after a single meeting. Others could spend a whole lifetime with you, and you might still not know what kind of person they are. Compared to Zhou Hao, I don't like Li Zhan."

Master Jingzhi shook his head. "He's cold and selfish, with affections as thin as paper, yet he wants to claim Yueying's good fortune? He doesn't deserve it."

"Li Zhan is just obsessed with cultivation and a little withdrawn..." True Person Muxuan's voice grew quieter and quieter, until all that remained was a sigh. "If you won't teach him, then you won't."

"You should be careful around him, too." Master Jingzhi's tone turned grave. "A ten-year-old child watched his parents die before his eyes and wasn't moved in the slightest. I knew then that he was a wolf—a wolf that could never be tamed."

"You're worrying about me now? I adopted him just to put my own mind at ease. I don't expect anything from him, so it's no cause for concern." True Person Muxuan smiled and shook his head.

"Since you've passed a secret art to Zhou Hao, are you thinking of taking him as your disciple? If you don't want to ask him yourself, I can talk to him. Taking a reincarnated immortal as your disciple would surely do the name of True Person Yushu proud."

...True Person Yushu?

There was no True Person Yushu anymore. There was only Master Jingzhi.

Master Jingzhi stared blankly for a moment, then told True Person Muxuan with certainty, "Zhou Hao isn't a reincarnated immortal."

"He isn't? He had divine sense as soon as he entered the Xiantian realm. Have you ever heard of a monster like that who wasn't a reincarnated immortal?" True Person Muxuan asked.

"Maybe he had some other fortuitous encounter, but he's definitely not a reincarnated immortal."

Remembering what had happened the day he'd taught Zhou Hao, a smile appeared on Master Jingzhi's face.

"What's so great about reincarnated immortals, anyway? Every sect and school treats them like treasures."

"If they couldn't overcome their tribulation in their past life, what makes them think they can do it in this one? What a joke!"

"If you ask me, the other sects should follow the Upper Sect's example and refuse to accept reincarnated immortals from outside as core disciples. That's the wisest choice."

"The Upper Sect won't take reincarnated immortals from other sects and factions as core disciples?" True Person Muxuan looked at Master Jingzhi in surprise.

When he saw that Master Jingzhi wasn't answering, he immediately realized, "Right, I shouldn't have asked."

Master Jingzhi fell silent.

He had once sworn an oath to the Heavenly Dao. He couldn't reveal anything about the Upper Sect to outsiders—not even its name. He had to refer to it as the "Upper Sect."

Fortunately, what he'd just said wasn't a secret and wouldn't expose anything about the Upper Sect, so he wouldn't be punished by the blood oath sworn to the Heavenly Dao.

"You still haven't told me whether you plan to take him as your disciple," True Person Muxuan asked again.

He wanted his younger brother to take a disciple before his lifespan ran out.

Perhaps that would bring him some comfort, so he wouldn't truly end up "growing old alone."

"I have no plans to take him as my disciple." Master Jingzhi shook his head. "Even the Jade Dragon Sect is too small for him. He should have a much broader sky."

"Don't tell me you're thinking of..." True Person Muxuan looked astonished. "That's a chance to enter the Upper Sect's outer sect trials. Even within the sect, only our master and the other Primordial Spirit Daoists are qualified to recommend someone."

"A little fellow who barely knows the stages of cultivation took only a few days to cultivate the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to the Xiantian realm."

"His soul is so powerful that he can manifest divine sense, and he's even reached the realm of True Meaning of the Dao."

"In two more days, he'll have the Free and Easy Wandering technique down..."

Master Jingzhi smiled at True Person Muxuan.

"With a monster like that, don't you want to see just how far he'll go?"

Junior Sister.

Perhaps he could accomplish what we failed to do back then.

...At dawn, the sky had just begun to lighten.

In the courtyard.

Iron Pillar, Shitou, and four other children around six or seven years old were already lined up, each crouching with both hands held out in front of them as they stood in horse stance.

Minute by minute, sweat appeared on Iron Pillar and the others' foreheads, and their legs began to tremble.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn.

"Thump."

The first little girl couldn't hold on any longer and sat down. Like a chain reaction, the other five children soon toppled over, too.

"Uncle Zhou Hao, I've seen our dads train their strength by lifting stone locks. Is standing still like this training, too?"

Iron Pillar sat on the ground rubbing his aching knees and looked at Zhou Hao, who had remained silent the whole time.

When Zhou Hao had returned last night, Xiangcao told him that Iron Pillar and the other little ones had enrolled in a school in Jade Dragon City and started classes. He'd agreed to teach them martial arts and lay a foundation.

The children had been so excited that they barely slept. They hadn't expected that instead of teaching them some peerless divine art, Uncle Zhou Hao would make them stand there like this.

"Of course it's training." Zhou Hao smiled. For six- and seven-year-olds to hold a horse stance for that long on their first try was no small feat.

At least every one of them was tough and able to endure hardship.

"The horse stance is the foundation of all foundations. Done properly, it not only steadies your lower body and strengthens your legs, but more importantly, it builds living power, not dead strength."

Zhou Hao shook his head. "The way you were standing just now, without moving at all, wasn't training, of course. If you do that for too long, it won't help you; it'll only hurt your bodies. Watch how I crouch."

As he spoke, Zhou Hao dropped into a horse stance.

Iron Pillar and the others saw that while Zhou Hao crouched, he didn't remain motionless. Instead, his body rose and fell slightly, as if there really were a horse beneath him.

"In horse stance, the most important part is the 'horse.' You have to make it look like you're riding a horse. Only then have you learned the basics."

Seeing how closely the children were watching him, Zhou Hao continued, "You've all ridden Black Cunning Beasts. When a Black Cunning Beast gallops, you can feel that rising and falling force beneath you. In a fight, you can use that force to multiply the power behind your weapon. But since that force doesn't come from you, you can't truly master it."

"If you can produce that same rising and falling force while standing in horse stance on flat ground, it'll be as if you've drawn the Black Cunning Beast's strength into your own body. It can stimulate your muscles and build strength.

"When you practice your punches, it'll also be easier to master how to 'draw power from the ground.' Then, even if you throw the same punch as someone else, yours will hit harder..."

The children only half understood, but they knew Uncle Zhou Hao wouldn't lie to them, so they listened closely and committed every word to memory.

"Come on, try crouching again." After finishing the demonstration, Zhou Hao stood up and let Iron Pillar and the others have another go.

"When you crouch, relax as you sink. Let the five toes of each foot spread out. Then your knees will loosen, your thighs will relax, and your waist will sink. Your belly will bulge. When you rise, tighten up. Dig all five toes into the ground. As soon as your toes grip, your knees will straighten naturally. Once your knees straighten, your thighs will tense. Then, follow the motion to lift your waist and draw in your stomach. That's the rising force."

"Zhuzi, don't make the rise and fall too big. At most, your toes should shift by an inch."

Just as expected, after their first, mistaken attempt, Iron Pillar and the others followed Zhou Hao's demonstration and tried the correct posture. They immediately noticed the difference.

The soreness and strain weren't as intense as before. Instead, once they had mastered the rising and falling motion, the children felt their waists and legs growing warmer and stronger.

This time, all six children held the stance for nearly half an hour. Even the frailest little girl seemed to find it easier and easier.

"Time to eat." Sister-in-law Zhamu came over from the front courtyard and spoke to the people still practicing.

"All right, that's enough for today," Zhou Hao said. "For the next month, stand for an hour each morning and evening. After that, I'll teach a set of boxing techniques to whoever does the best."

"Yes!" Iron Pillar and the others stood and clasped their fists toward Zhou Hao like little adults.

"Go eat." Zhou Hao smiled and waved them off.

Over the past few days of cultivation, Zhou Hao had discovered that although the Wilderness World's qi-refining and body-refining techniques could produce inner force and divine strength, and entering the Xiantian realm brought all kinds of extraordinary abilities, they were less effective at building a foundation—especially when it came to precisely controlling the force of the body—than the Internal Martial Arts he had practiced under his master before transmigrating.

And based on Zhou Hao's own experience, his ability to break through into the Xiantian realm at such a pace during his first cultivation, and to master various techniques and forms so quickly, also stemmed from the foundation he had built through martial arts as a child.

The soldiers in the Jade Dragon Army under his command were already Xiantian Lifeforms, so they didn't need this kind of basic training. Iron Pillar and the others were still young, with fragile meridians. It was too early for them to practice qi-refining techniques, so Internal Martial Arts were just the thing for laying their foundation.

As for the God-Devil Body Refining technique, Zhou Hao had a plan for that, too.

He intended to teach the children a simple Daoist Visualization Technique. Once their souls had grown stronger, they could practice the technique, and it would surely make their progress twice as fast with half the effort.

If he could find a few more promising children to cultivate the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, the Iron Ox Tribe would have a safeguard in the years to come.

After all, he couldn't stay here for his entire life.

"Brother Zhou Hao, why don't you come eat with us?" Sister-in-law Zhamu said.

"Sure." Zhou Hao nodded, then casually asked, "Sister-in-law, where's Xiangcao? How come I haven't seen her?"

Usually, whenever he stepped outside, he could see Xiangcao. Today, he'd been doing morning exercises with the little ones for quite a while and still hadn't seen her.

Was she still angry about last night?

He remembered how, at Zhu Da Tavern the previous night, Yang Yun had deliberately used the alcohol as an excuse to tease him about Xiangcao.

Seeing Xiangcao's sweet, bashful face, Zhou Hao felt confused, too.

Did he like Xiangcao?

He did like her.

But that fondness felt more like the affection he had for family, for a younger sister.

It was the feeling of being so used to having someone by his side—ordinary yet warm, always bringing a little warmth to his heart without him even noticing.

Yet compared to love, this affection seemed to lack something.

Zhou Hao had never been in love, either in his previous life or this one. He didn't know what it felt like to truly like someone, to love someone.

"Xiangcao's still in her room. She hasn't come out this morning."

A smile lurked in Sister-in-law Zhamu's eyes. "What, you can't stand being away from her for a little while? Why don't you go call her?"

"..."

Just then, the door to a room on the other side of the courtyard opened, and Xiangcao stepped out.

"Sister-in-law, what are you talking about?" Xiangcao's cheeks were red. "Go see if the little ones have finished eating. They'll be late for school."

"All right, all right. You two talk, you two talk." Sister-in-law Zhamu laughed and hurried away.

"I..." Zhou Hao opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

Xiangcao spoke first. "I've broken through into the Xiantian realm in qi cultivation."

"Xiantian?" Zhou Hao froze.

Xiangcao waved her hand, and a strand of true essence shot out. The door behind her slammed shut with a bang.

"So you really did." Zhou Hao came to his senses.

But when he thought about it, it wasn't surprising. After Xiangcao practiced the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, the Power of Taiyang and Power of Taiyin she drew in each time were limited, but it was, after all, the foremost God-Devil Body Refining technique, and it greatly enhanced the body.

The requirements to break through from the Post-Heaven realm to become an Xiantian Lifeform weren't especially high. Reaching the Microcosmic realm was enough.

Xiangcao was one of the Iron Ox Tribe's best archers. Her archery had long since reached the Microcosmic realm.

"I want to join the Jade Dragon Army," Xiangcao said solemnly.

"Why?" Zhou Hao asked.

Why...? I don't want the distance between us to grow ever wider!

Xiangcao thought to herself.

Love really is hard to explain. Sigh. I'll keep writing. The third update should be around eight o'clock. Brothers, it's the first day of the month—please show your support!