In the study.
Jiang Ning slowly walked along the bookshelves set on the floor, his gaze swiftly sweeping across the titles of the books displayed upon them.
One row, two rows, three rows.
After he had finished examining all three rows of bookshelves, he had gained a general understanding of the collection in Wang Jin's study.
Within these three rows were books on governance and statecraft, various classics and essential texts, books tested in the imperial examinations, medical arts and herbalism, as well as an entire row of Martial Dao books.
He had also briefly looked through those books on the Martial Dao. They were basically all unranked Martial Dao manuals, with only a few low-grade Martial Dao techniques placed on the top shelf.
He had casually pulled one out and skimmed through it earlier. Learning it would certainly be somewhat helpful to him.
But Jiang Ning knew that his cultivation path should focus on specialization rather than greedily accumulating too much.
For him, trying to swallow too much would only leave him unable to digest any of it.
In his hands, the truly wondrous and mysterious part of any technique came only after it had been pushed to perfection and broken past its limits.
Not only would its effects be further enhanced, but it would also grant him some extraordinary trait.
Just like that skill—after Literacy broke past its limit, not only did his thoughts move more swiftly and his spiritual power grow stronger, but most crucially, it had granted him the trait of Photographic Memory.
This trait had also helped him greatly.
Therefore, he would not give up grinding experience for the skill of Literacy. Moreover, grinding Literacy experience did not conflict in the slightest with his martial arts and boxing practice.
After all, a person's body could only endure so much!
If one practiced excessively, even the most potent tonics would not prevent the body from collapsing.
Besides, reading opened the mind and clarified reason.
Most crucially, it brightened the spirit.
Spirit referred to the spirit among essence, qi, and spirit. It was also spiritual power, and also the soul.
Mastering the meanings of the classics and expanding one's knowledge could increase spiritual power and strengthen the soul. That was the law of this world.
Great masters of the Confucian Dao could send their yin souls out of their bodies to roam freely through heaven and earth, traveling Kunlun in the morning and Changwu by dusk.
They could even use their souls to command the powers of heaven and earth. Their strength was not to be underestimated either.
This was also what the lords of the court relied upon.
At the same time, many books mentioned the importance of the spirit. It was a path that had to be cultivated once one walked far enough along the Martial Dao.
Yet few Martial Dao experts chose this path to strengthen their souls, because achieving anything through literary study likewise required exceptional talent and decades of bitter study beneath the cold lamp.
Jiang Ning knew that if not for his powerful panel, he would likewise have been unable to balance literary study alongside everything else.
Now that he was able to pursue literary study, he would not abandon it.
As long as he kept breaking past the limits of the Literacy skill, he would sooner or later reach the realm of the yin soul. That would also be of immense help to his growth in the Martial Dao.
But for him, his time and energy each day were limited. Specializing in one or two techniques and skills was his best choice.
Only in this way could he maximize his experience gain, bring his skills to perfection sooner, and then break past their limits.
Every time any technique broke past its limit, it would bring tremendous changes. Among them, the traits were what Jiang Ning valued most.
All manner of thoughts whirled through his mind when his gaze suddenly sharpened.
[Complete Luoshui County Intelligence Records]
[Great Xia Rebellion Summary]
At the same time, beside those two dossiers, he spotted a particularly eye-catching fragment.
The next moment.
He crossed the distance in three strides and arrived at the desk, his gaze falling directly on that fragment. His intuition told him that this fragment was anything but ordinary.
[Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique]
Upon seeing the five words on the fragment, his gaze immediately moved downward.
There were only a few hundred words on the fragment.
Yet Jiang Ning spent the time it took to drink a cup of tea reading those few hundred words.
After a long while.
Huff—
He slowly exhaled and set down the fragment in his hand.
A golden elixir swallowed into the belly; my fate is mine, not Heaven's!
"What lofty intent! What profound method of strengthening the body from within!"
"What a pity!"
"What a pity it is only a fragment."
Jiang Ning shook his head inwardly.
After reading this fragment, he also understood what kind of technique the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique was.
As far as he knew, the Martial Dao system included realms of skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, as well as the realm of internal strengthening, where one nurtured the five viscera and six bowels to produce inner breath.
The Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique was a Daoist method of internal strengthening.
If practiced over a long period, this method could prolong one's life and delay aging.
If mastered, it could even generate inner breath, granting enduring stamina and Endless Vitality.
If this technique were cultivated to perfection, one could condense an inner elixir within the dantian, achieving the intent described by the words: a golden elixir swallowed into the belly; my fate is mine, not Heaven's.
Afterward, one could absorb the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, completing the transformation from skin, flesh, tendons, and bones to internal strengthening in only a few short months.
This was a cultivation method of certain Daoist branches: cultivate one's nature first, then cultivate one's life.
"What a pity that it only records the method of breathing and qi circulation. At most, this can only count as the introductory level. No wonder Wang Jin casually left this fragment on the desk."
After memorizing every word on the fragment, Jiang Ning placed it back on Wang Jin's desk.
[Skill]: Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique (Not Initiated 0/100)
"One hundred points?"
Jiang Ning's gaze suddenly froze as he looked at his panel.
Merely reaching the introductory level required one hundred experience points. Could this Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique truly be so extraordinary?
A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.
It was probably because this was a high-level technique. In that case, I definitely cannot let this technique slip away.
With the panel, perhaps the fragment would not prevent this technique from breaking further upward.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Ning felt that his guess was highly likely to be true.
Breaking past limits could shatter convention and produce something from nothing.
Let alone merely completing a fragment.
Comparing the two, completing a fragment was not even on the same level of difficulty.
Wang Jin had managed to find this fragment just to prolong his life and regulate his bodily functions. Since a fragment existed, that was enough to show that a complete record of the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique existed somewhere in the world.
Breaking past limits, on the other hand, was different. It shattered the understanding of ordinary people.
Then his gaze fell upon the two dossiers before him.
He picked up one of the dossiers and scanned it.
[Great Xia Rebellion Summary]
In early January of the 839th year of the Xia Calendar, a rebellion broke out in Wave Mountain County. The rebel army breached the county seat and swept through three counties before being suppressed by the Black-Armored Army, which arrived belatedly.
In early January of the 839th year of the Xia Calendar, White Mountain Village was slaughtered by the rebel army, which swept through two towns before being scattered by the Stone Mountain County garrison.
Mid-January of the 839th year of the Xia Calendar.
Jiang Ning read through each entry, growing increasingly astonished the further he went.
Because several of the incidents recorded here had occurred within Zeshan Prefecture.
Zeshan Prefecture had many waters and many mountains, hence its name.
After a long while, Jiang Ning finished reading the dossier and slowly withdrew his gaze. He immediately understood why Great Xia had a Martial Saint stationed there and had established the Inspection Office.
In the previous year alone, six rebellions of varying scale had occurred in Zeshan Prefecture.
And that was only one prefecture, while Great Xia had nine prefectures. In terms of the number of rebellions, Zeshan Prefecture ranked only in the lower middle among the nine.
One could imagine how many rebellions had occurred throughout all of Great Xia in the previous year.
(End of Chapter)
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