Martial Arts Prodigy (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"All right."

"I'll remember this favor I owe you."

Master Ma immediately beamed.

What he had said earlier about not caring did not mean he truly did not care.

It was only because they were both upper ranks of Filial Righteousness Hall that he could not force Xu Xing to acknowledge the favor he owed him.

That would inevitably make him seem far too calculating and profit-driven.

But—

Since Xu Xing was so tactful, he naturally welcomed it with open arms.

Once Xu Xing became a xiucai, he would be considered a rare talent in Filial Righteousness Hall and even Qin Phoenix Mountain. His standing within Filial Righteousness Hall and Qin Phoenix Mountain would likewise rise above Master Ma's in the future.

And that was only Xu Xing's hidden identity.

Out in the open, Xu Xing came from Taste Classics Academy. Fellow students, fellow townsmen, fellow examinees—this web of connections alone ensured that he would never remain an ordinary impoverished scholar. Moreover, after obtaining the xiucai degree, he could either continue along the imperial examination path in Qin Province or enter the Qin Province Military Preparatory Academy and join the New Army as an officer...

More importantly, Xu Xing knew so well how to conduct himself. One look was enough to tell that he was destined to accomplish great things.

The Doctrine of the Mean said: "What Heaven decrees is called nature!"

One's character determined the fate of one's life.

After advancing his martial realm.

Xu Xing gained another Fate.

"You have condensed the bright-yellow Fate [Martial Arts Prodigy]. This Fate is an advanced Fate of the red Fate [Mediocre Martial Talent]. Would you like to replace [Mediocre Martial Talent] with [Martial Arts Prodigy]?"

"Use [Dao Fruit] to solidify it."

Lines of text flowed across the mirror's surface.

"A bright-yellow Fate?"

"A Fate superior to the gray, white, and red Fates from before? Yellow was reserved exclusively for the imperial family, forbidden to commoners. Red, meanwhile, was vermilion robes—the color of officials."

"This bright-yellow Fate... could it be..."

A faint expectation stirred within Xu Xing's heart.

He no longer hesitated and nodded in agreement.

The next instant.

The nearly hundred strands of inner qi stored within his dantian began to be consumed at a frantic rate.

[Mirror Holder: Xu Xing.]

[Dao Fruits: Righteous Thief (Red), Martial Arts Prodigy (Yellow), Literary Brilliance (White), Broad Learning and Strong Memory (White).]

[...]

[Fates: None.]

[Martial Arts Prodigy (Yellow): Your innate meridians are unobstructed. You possess an affinity for earth-element internal arts and advance swiftly along the martial path. Should fate grant you the opportunity, you may ascend to the Innate Realm and become the supreme master of the martial world.]

"A supreme master of the martial world could be considered a match for an emperor..."

"But only if one had the right opportunity could one reach such a realm."

"In the martial world, Innate masters and grandmasters were figures like Dugu Qiubai. Reaching the Truth-Preserving Realm already counted as being a prodigy in martial arts."

"With my aptitude, once I entered the Truth-Preserving Realm, I should have found it difficult to make any further progress on the martial path. But after gaining the [Martial Arts Prodigy] Fate, my aptitude has improved..."

Xu Xing reined in his emotions, searching for flaws in the bright-yellow Fate [Martial Arts Prodigy], doing his utmost to appear unruffled by favor or disgrace, calm and composed.

Ecstatic!

At this moment, he was truly ecstatic.

First, he had reached the Truth-Preserving Realm, making him a capable fighter who had entered the ranks of the martial world.

Second... the [Martial Arts Prodigy] Fate had confirmed his theory. Forcing a breakthrough in the instance world would not leave him with any aftereffects.

It was practically a bug.

"For now, I should advance to the Truth-Preserving Realm first."

"I imagine... it is nearly time for the rescue at Four Bright Mountain as well..."

Xu Xing sat cross-legged atop the haystack and began circulating his cultivation method, compressing the scant inner qi remaining in his body to nurture a strand of natal true qi.

Thirty-six strands of inner qi could be transformed into a single strand of natal true qi.

In the instance world, he had forcibly broken through with Master Ma's inner force. He had already learned how to compress inner energy and produce a wisp of natal true qi within his dantian.

And now, his aptitude had improved drastically.

All hundred meridians were unblocked, allowing him to directly skip past the body-tempering stage of inner cultivation.

Refining natal true qi was far easier than it had been in the instance world.

Experience!

Aptitude!

He lacked neither.

An hour later.

A wisp of natal true qi finally emerged within Xu Xing's dantian.

He had effortlessly entered the True Preservation realm!

"What?"

"He's reached the True Preservation realm?"

Several hours later, daylight had fully broken. As usual, Chang Ji observed Xu Xing, afraid that Xu Xing would abandon him and leave first. Yet during today's observation, he discovered that Xu Xing's skin was crystalline as jade, much fairer than before. His eyes were bright and spirited as well, utterly unlike his usual deathly, listless appearance.

True Preservation!

Only by crossing beyond Body Tempering and reaching True Preservation could one possess such a bearing.

Natal true qi was exceptionally nourishing to the human body.

"His aptitude...?"

"It is said that several centuries ago, a great Confucian scholar compiling a Daoist canon was thrown into a prison cell. Before that, he had never cultivated any martial art, and he was already fifty-seven years old. His martial roots were utterly mediocre. Yet his thoughts were clear and unobstructed; once one path opened, every principle under heaven and earth held no more secrets in his eyes..."

"In merely thirty-six days, he became one of the few innate masters beneath heaven."

"Could it be... that Xu Xing is like that great scholar?"

The more Chang Ji thought about it, the more alarmed he became.

Still, he felt that he could not be wrong.

Xu Xing had attained such accomplishments in mathematics at such a young age—his genius was evident. And taken to its profound heights, mathematics calculated heaven, calculated earth, calculated people—there was nothing it could not calculate.

To chart heaven and lay out earth was but an easy task.

The supreme principles between heaven and earth were hidden within the path of mathematics.

"I must befriend him!"

Chang Ji swallowed, thinking to himself.

"Lord Xu..."

"You, you've broken through to True Preservation?"

He moved closer to the iron bars, trying his best to assume a humble posture as he spoke in a low voice.

"Nonsense, how could that be..."

"You... how did you know?"

"So that's it."

Xu Xing was initially surprised. Then he glanced at his own body and instantly understood.

Because of Zhao Yunniang's "seed-preserving" arrangement, he bathed once every few days. He was nothing like an ordinary prisoner, with no layer of grime concealing his skin.

That was why, the moment he broke through, it became so conspicuous.

Of course, perhaps it was also related to the changes in his aptitude and his having broken through on his own.

At least in the instance world, his breakthrough had not been this conspicuous.

"Just as I thought!"

Chang Ji let out a long breath. He gestured for Xu Xing to come closer, then whispered, "I have a secret art here for concealing one's appearance. Lord Xu may learn it."

With that, he began reciting the cultivation formula.

Though Xu Xing had some suspicions about Chang Ji's sudden respectful behavior, this was not the time for excessive caution. Chang Ji was now in the same boat as him. It was one thing for Chang Ji alone to see his "great transformation," but if the guards of the imperial prison noticed his abnormal state, the consequences would be endless.

A quarter of an hour later.

Xu Xing's appearance began to change.

Though his features remained the same as before, his skin had visibly darkened somewhat, returning him to roughly his original appearance.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about this secret art.

It was called the "Face-Changing Technique."

It had only one effect: using true qi to stimulate the skin, causing certain hormones within the body to be secreted more rapidly, thereby making one's appearance slightly different from before.

True qi could improve the body.

It could also worsen it.

The Face-Changing Technique was the optimal method for altering the body that the Chang Clan had arrived at after years of testing. With this technique, there was no need to worry that excessive true qi stimulation of the skin would damage the body.