Samadhi True Fire

Suddenly, Lu Chuan's gaze swept across the area and landed on the moat outside Chaoge City not far away.

The moat was an artificial river excavated for defensive purposes, encircling the entire city.

By Lu Chuan's estimation, the moat was at least thirty meters wide.

Lu Chuan stood up and stared at the moat, feeling eager to try as he said, "Master, teach me the incantations for the Water Escape Technique."

"Hmm?"

Shen Gongbao was taken aback. He followed Lu Chuan's gaze and asked in surprise, "You don't mean to...?"

"Just teach me, Master." Lu Chuan's eyes were bright.

Shen Gongbao gave a soft exclamation and asked, "Have you mastered the Earth Escape?"

He had arrived late and had not seen how Lu Chuan descended, so he had assumed the boy had simply fallen.

Lu Chuan smiled. "Just about. Your disciple has already gained some insight."

He had more or less grasped the essentials of the Earth Escape, which primarily lay in the takeoff when initiating the spell and the landing of the light at the end.

As long as one mastered these two points and possessed sufficient internal energy, flying for an entire day would be no problem at all.

"Not bad, not bad!"

Shen Gongbao nodded with satisfaction. This time, he not only taught Lu Chuan the incantations for the Water Escape but also passed on those for the Fire Escape, Wood Escape, and Metal Escape as well.

He had already realized that while Lu Chuan's natural aptitude was not the absolute best, he possessed genuine talent when it came to learning Daoist arts.

After listening, Lu Chuan first frowned, silently committing the Five Escape Techniques to memory, and then had Shen Gongbao verify them to ensure there were no errors.

This was one aspect of his cautious nature; he knew to have Shen Gongbao double-check his work.

The incantations for Daoist arts were crucial, much like the formulas for solving problems in his past life; if you misremembered a single character, you could forget about successfully casting the spell.

If he were ever to lose a fight and need to use an escape technique to flee, only to find he couldn't cast it because he had memorized the incantation wrong, the situation would be quite embarrassing.

Once he had memorized the incantations, Lu Chuan sat down, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his energy to recover his depleted power.

Shen Gongbao watched Lu Chuan meditating on the ground, then suddenly let out a long breath, a flash of relief crossing his eyes.

Truth be told, when Jiang Ziya had entrusted him with Lu Chuan's tutelage that night, he hadn't been particularly willing.

Consider Shen Gongbao: his talent and aptitude were top-tier, and he was a highly accomplished master who had cultivated on Kunlun Mountain for many years. How could he possibly think much of an ordinary mortal?

As for Lu Chuan, he had seen at a glance that the boy's aptitude was upper-middle—decent, but certainly not the most outstanding material.

However, since Jiang Ziya had made the request, he couldn't easily refuse.

Therefore, his plan at the time had been to take Lu Chuan out for a few years, teach him a few random things, and then send him back, fulfilling his promise to Jiang Ziya.

Yet, Lu Chuan's performance when they encountered the female demon at the dilapidated temple outside Chaoge had taken him by surprise.

He had discovered the demon early on and sent his mount, the Divine Tiger, ahead, but fearing an accident, he had gone himself.

When he arrived, it was just as the demon was trying to seduce Lu Chuan, and Lu Chuan was engaging in banter with her.

He had been quite disappointed to see that.

Thinking Lu Chuan had already fallen into the demon's trap, he prepared to hold back and let the demon teach the boy a lesson.

But what followed was completely beyond his expectations.

He watched as Lu Chuan turned and bolted in the opposite direction of where he had agreed to meet the demon.

Later, when he was caught, Lu Chuan was able to face the demon's hideous true form without changing his expression, chatting and laughing while subtly setting a trap for her.

This temperament, wit, composure, and calmness...

Seeing this, Shen Gongbao's initial thoughts slowly changed, and he passed his best work, the Five Elements True Origin Formula, to Lu Chuan.

It could be said that if Lu Chuan hadn't encountered that demon that night, and if his performance hadn't changed Shen Gongbao's mind...

Then he would never have had the opportunity to learn the Five Elements True Origin Formula, nor would he have received Shen Gongbao's dedicated instruction.

And now, today.

Seeing Lu Chuan's astonishing talent for Daoist arts, Shen Gongbao was overjoyed, feeling very fortunate that he had changed his mind that night.

An incense stick of time later.

Lu Chuan stood up, looking refreshed; his internal energy was still shallow, so it didn't take long to recover.

He lowered his head and stared at the moat.

"The Jie Sect is most proficient in this Water Escape Technique, while my Exposition Sect is more skilled in the Earth Escape."

Shen Gongbao smiled. "However, you must remember that the Five Elements Escape Techniques also follow the principles of mutual generation and restraint. If an opponent uses Earth Escape, you should use Wood Escape to pursue or flee; the effect is exceptionally good."

"This disciple will remember it."

Lu Chuan nodded earnestly, committing the words to heart.

"Very well, then you shall practice the Water Escape Technique!" Shen Gongbao laughed. "With your master here, you may practice with complete peace of mind..."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan, who had just been about to cast the spell, immediately rolled his eyes. The ghost would be the only one to believe your words; didn't you just say a moment ago that falling down twice was normal?

Whoosh!

He then focused his mind and steadied his breathing before suddenly forming a sword-finger gesture and pointing it toward the moat. A streak of true energy shot from his fingertip into the river, splashing water over a man's height into the air.

The moment the spray erupted, Lu Chuan's left hand darted into the water, clenched into a fist, and retracted, while his right hand formed a seal and his lips moved in a silent incantation.

"Escape!"

As he finished the chant, Lu Chuan let out a low shout, flicked his clenched left hand upward, and the water droplets scattered.

Sshh!

Lu Chuan's figure instantly transformed into a crystalline, pale blue streak of water-light, lifting off the ground and soaring toward the city.

"He learned it on the first try?!"

Shen Gongbao was stunned, knowing he hadn't even provided a demonstration. He then became overjoyed and said, "Good, good, good! My good disciple, your master is coming..."

Before his voice had even faded, he twisted his body and took flight as a streak of earthy-yellow escape light.

He was right; the members of the Exposition Sect were indeed quite adept at Earth Escape, but that did not mean they were incapable of other escape techniques.

These Five Elements Daoist Arts, including the Five Elements Escape Technique, were the foundation of the Mystic Gate's Daoist arts. Before entering the sect, one had to learn the Five Elements Escape Technique and master at least one of them.

But looking at Lu Chuan's talent...

It seemed he would have no problem with all five types, though they still required practice.

In the following days, Shen Gongbao urged Lu Chuan to practice the Five Elements Escape Technique for another three days until he had thoroughly mastered all five.

Three days later.

After Lu Chuan finished absorbing the morning mist and circulating his energy through the minor heavenly cycle for half an hour, he practiced his swordsmanship for another half hour.

In the courtyard.

Lu Chuan sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, resting with his practice sword laid across his knees.

"Disciple, your swordsmanship has reached a level of three-tenths proficiency, and the Five Elements Escape Technique is now complete."

Shen Gongbao stood before him with his hands behind his back and said, "I believe it is time to teach you a new Daoist art."

"A new Daoist art?"

Lu Chuan perked up at once and asked with a smile, "Master, what art is it?"

Shen Gongbao replied, "Samadhi True Fire!"

"Samadhi True Fire?" Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan could not help but be moved on the spot.

Seeing the change in his expression, Shen Gongbao asked, "What is the matter?"

"Nothing, Master!"

Lu Chuan hurriedly shook his head, but in his heart, he could not help but think of that monkey from thousands of years in the future.

That monkey possessed vast supernatural powers and great magic after completing his training, yet there was one time he nearly lost his life at the hands of his own nephew.

And that time, the spell his nephew used was precisely the Samadhi True Fire.

What was shown on television was that the monkey was nearly burned to death by the true fire, but Lu Chuan, having read the original text, knew that the monkey was nearly suffocated by the smoke, not burned by the fire.

The monkey knew the Fire Avoidance Formula and had survived forty-nine days in the Eight Trigrams Furnace without being burned to death; although the Samadhi True Fire was a secret art of the Daoist school, it was not yet at the level where it could burn him to death.

In reality, it was because his eyes had been damaged while in the Eight Trigrams Furnace that he developed a weakness to smoke.

However, since the Samadhi True Fire was a Daoist art, many members of both the Exposition Sect and the Jie Sect could use it, including third-generation Exposition Sect disciples like Yang Jian and the others.