Five Animal True Form Diagram

Uncle Shui asked, "The Vital Breath at your Baihui acupoint is slightly disordered. Do you feel any discomfort yourself?"

Xie An thought back for a moment. "After returning from Li Family Village last time, I had a nightmare. I dreamed again of what happened in Li Family Village."

Uncle Shui asked, "Was there anything markedly different in the dream from what you experienced?"

Xie An shook his head. "No."

Uncle Shui smiled faintly. "What one thinks of by day, one dreams of by night. This is a normal result of excessive fright. Mingxi need not worry. Rest and recuperate well for a few days, and the Vital Breath in your head should return to normal."

Hearing this, Xie An finally breathed a sigh of relief. "By the way, how do you and Father intend to handle the matter of Li Family Village?"

Uncle Shui paused, then said, "Your father and I have our own plans for this matter. You need not concern yourself with it. Better put more thought into martial arts and strive to enter Dark Force as soon as possible."

There was nothing Xie An could do if Uncle Shui would not tell him.

After bidding Uncle Shui farewell and returning to the West Courtyard, Xie An opened the third form of Taishan Fist.

This time, Xie An did not immediately order an implantation. Instead, he issued Ten Thousand Questions a command.

"Calculate how many units of blood and qi are needed to implant the third form of Taishan Fist, Five Mountains Collapse."

[Deconstructing Five Mountains Collapse requires 0.8 blood and qi units. Implanting Five Mountains Collapse requires 1.0 blood and qi units.]

Together, that came to 1.8 blood and qi units.

That was so much...

Xie An's blood and qi value was only 1.4 at present, leaving him short by 0.4.

Moreover, he needed to reserve at least 0.1 units to be safe, lest Ten Thousand Questions lock his blood and qi to protect the host's safety at the end and cause the implantation to fail.

In other words, he had to cultivate his blood and qi to 1.9 units before he could implant the third form.

Based on past experience, blood and qi value represented a person's vitality, and it increased very slowly.

Fortunately, Xie An was not the sort to bash his head against a wall. He immediately adjusted his strategy.

"I can implant other martial arts in the meantime."

Xie An possessed considerable family wealth. The Xie Residence not only supported several martial arts gangs outside the city, but also maintained several martial arts halls within the city.

Among them, Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall, which was highly renowned in Qingwu County's outer city, had Xie Zhengtang as its true backer.

Getting hold of a few martial arts manuals would not be difficult.

With that in mind, Xie An immediately summoned Qiu Lan. "Have the residence guards go to Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall on Drill Ground Street overnight. Tell them I wish to study martial arts. Have them send over all martial arts below the Three Gates Bone Tempering level from the hall first thing tomorrow morning."

The next morning.

The sky had only just begun to lighten.

A carriage loaded with books swayed into Flower Willow Lane and headed toward the Xie Residence.

A man and a woman sat on the carriage's front board.

The young man was around sixteen or seventeen, dressed in fitted gray martial attire. Broad-shouldered and powerfully built, his eyes flashed like lightning, and he carried an innate air of authority.

He was Chen Bin, the young master of Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall.

Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall was a renowned martial arts hall on the street of martial halls by the Drill Ground entrance in Qingwu County's outer city. It could rank among the top five.

Everyone knew that Chen Lutang, the hall master, had been an outsider when he first arrived. In his early years, he had kicked through thirteen martial arts halls in a row on Drill Ground Street. Only then had he won the martial world's recognition and founded Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall. Thirteen years later, he had made Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall's name ring far and wide.

As Chen Lutang's only son, Chen Bin had reached the Four Barriers Organ Tempering level at merely sixteen years old. Naturally, he possessed an arrogance he could not conceal. "Sister, this young master of the Xie Household is putting on quite the airs. With a single sentence, he wants us to deliver all the martial arts our hall has accumulated over the years right to his door for him to pick through. Ordinary wealthy young masters who come to our hall to study martial arts must undergo tests of their aptitude and perseverance. Who acts like the Xie Household's young master? The moment he opens his mouth, he breaks rules our hall has upheld for years!"

The woman beside him was about twenty, dressed in fitted blue martial attire with a longsword at her waist. Beautiful, upright, and valiant, she carried a few traces of calmness in her eyes. "You refuse to accept this?"

Chen Bin gritted his teeth fiercely. "Of course I refuse to accept it. Although the Xie Household has supported our martial arts hall, a hall has its rules. If we break them so easily, how can we continue to stand on Drill Ground Street? Wouldn't we become a laughingstock among our peers?"

The woman in blue raised an eyebrow and snorted. "Do you know that when Father first came to Qingwu County, although he kicked through thirteen martial arts halls in one breath, not only did he fail to gain the martial world's recognition, but several established martial arts halls even joined forces to kill him? In the end, it was only because Master Xie spoke that the martial world relented and opened a convenient path for Father."

Chen Bin's eyes widened. "Didn't Father establish Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall because he beat the entire Drill Ground Street into submission?"

The woman in blue snorted. "That was merely the story told to outsiders, nothing more than a way to give Father some face. Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall can rank fifth on Drill Ground Street—did you think Father fought his way to that title?"

Chen Bin looked confused. "Wasn't that the case?"

The woman in blue said, "Father's martial arts are certainly profound, but there are still several people on Drill Ground Street stronger than him. You cannot fight your way to a reputation. Master Xie was the one who spoke and set that ranking."

Chen Bin was utterly shocked.

His father had fought and risked his life in the martial world for half his life, yet that could not compare to a few words from Xie Zhengtang?

The woman in blue continued, "Do you think the top five martial arts halls on Drill Ground Street all fought their way into those positions? How naive! Every martial arts hall has patrons and wealthy backers supporting it. The martial world has never been only about fighting and killing; it is also about human relations and worldly wisdom."

Chen Bin's mouth hung open, his entire worldview shattered to pieces.

Very soon, Chen Bin argued stubbornly, "But the young master of the Xie Household still cannot directly break our hall's rules..."

The woman in blue said, "Rules are dead; people are alive. Do you know that twenty percent of the annual taxes collected in Qingwu County's outer city come from the Xie Household? Do you know that the military funds the Xie Household donates to the garrison every year amount to tens of thousands of taels? That Xie Mingxi is the Xie Household's legitimate eldest son, and sooner or later he will inherit the family business. The young master of the Xie Household you refuse to accept could send our martial arts hall into eternal damnation with a single sentence."

Chen Bin lowered his head and fell silent.

The woman in blue patted Chen Bin's shoulder. "I, Chen Mo, was just as ignorant and reckless as you once were. I thought force could settle everything. Now that I have gradually grown up, I understand. When we meet the young master of the Xie Household later, mind your attitude."

Chen Bin nearly crushed his teeth as he forced out three words. "I understand."

Before long, the carriage arrived at the Xie Residence gates. Chen Mo pointed at the gatehouse and plaque made of golden-thread nanmu. "The timber used for this gatehouse is small-leaf zhennan from Lingnan, the finest among golden-thread nanmu. One wooden pillar alone could cover our martial arts hall's expenses for ten years. That plaque was personally inscribed by the county magistrate. What do you have to compare with Xie Mingxi? Some people are born at a starting point that is the finish line we can never touch in our entire lives."

Chen Bin lowered his head again in shame.

Chen Mo said no more. She jumped down from the carriage and explained their purpose to the gatekeeper. After receiving permission to enter, the two of them dragged three large wooden chests from the carriage and carried them to the entrance of the West Courtyard, where they knocked on the door.

Qiu Lan opened the door and said, "Young Master is in a medicinal bath. Wait here."

After leaving those words behind, Qiu Lan departed.

The frost and dew of early morning were heavy, and the chill cut deep.

Chen Mo and Chen Bin simply stood there upright and waited.

After waiting a full hour, Chen Bin finally could not help muttering, "Xie Mingxi sure puts on airs."

Chen Mo rebuked him softly, "Shut up."

Another hour passed before Qiu Lan emerged again. "Young Master is letting you in."

Only then did the two carry the three large wooden chests through the West Courtyard gates. After passing the screen wall, they went through the hanging-flower gate and entered the central courtyard.

The moment they entered, they saw a strikingly poised young man standing straight at the entrance of the main house opposite the courtyard. He wore a blue cloud-brocade robe, its collar and cuffs trimmed with gold thread. A Buddhist pendant and a scented sachet hung from his belt, while cloud-and-swallow patterns were embroidered in gold thread along the robe's hem. Paired with cloud-patterned boots, he exuded an indescribable air of nobility.

After carrying the three large chests to the center of the courtyard and setting them down, Chen Mo first cupped her hands. "Last night, I heard that Young Master Mingxi wished to review Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall's martial arts. I prepared them overnight and delivered them first thing this morning, fearing I might delay Young Master's affairs."

Xie An nodded slightly. "You are?"

Chen Mo bowed again. "I am Chen Mo, an instructor of Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall. My father is Chen Lutang, and this is my younger brother, Chen Bin."

After saying that, Chen Mo tugged Chen Bin's sleeve. The latter reluctantly cupped his hands. "Greetings, Young Master Mingxi."

"Carry the chests into the hall." Xie An spoke one sentence, then entered the reception hall first. After taking the seat of honor, Qiu Lan served hot tea.

Chen Mo and Chen Bin carried the three heavy wooden chests before Xie An and opened their lids. Inside were martial arts manuals packed densely together, most of them books, with some bamboo slips among them.

Xie An casually picked up a martial art called Three-Hook Fist and flipped through it. Finding it ordinary, he set it down and picked up another manual to read.

Chen Mo and her brother stood in the center of the reception hall and waited. During that time, Chen Bin was clearly growing impatient and wanted to leave, but Chen Mo held him back.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed. Xie An finally finished going through all the martial arts.

Most of the martial arts did not satisfy Xie An.

Though he could implant martial arts freely, the process consumed a great deal of blood and qi. He still needed to choose martial arts with promising potential.

At last, Xie An took out a martial art called Five Animal True Form Diagram and looked up at Chen Mo and Chen Bin before him. "Why does this Five Animal True Form Diagram have no cultivation method? Where is the remaining portion?"