Aperture Points

Early the next morning, Lin Yi pushed open the wooden door of his stone house. Before a ray of morning sunlight could shine inside, it was blocked completely by the three figures standing at the entrance.

The old village chief stood at the front, his hands habitually tucked into his sleeves. His wrinkled old face struggled to maintain an expression of "I'm very calm," but the anticipation in his eyes was practically overflowing, shining like two lamps.

Behind him, Biao and Xiao Hu stood side by side, one on the left and one on the right. For once, father and son were both keeping quietly silent.

Biao's thick arms, capable of carrying eighty thousand jin, hung at his sides. His fingers unconsciously rubbed along the seams of his trousers, making him look exactly like a big fool waiting for candy.

Xiao Hu's eyes rolled restlessly, his lips pressed tight. Every so often, he rose onto his toes before lowering himself again. One look was enough to tell that he was holding back a bellyful of words he did not dare say.

Lin Yi was briefly stunned by the sight. He blinked. "...What are you all doing?"

Seeing Lin Yi look toward Biao and Xiao Hu, the village chief explained with a genial smile, "The two of them wanted to come knocking at dawn, shouting about seeing the diagram you drew. I was afraid they would disturb your rest, so I simply said a few words to them."

Lin Yi looked at Biao, standing obediently in the back without daring to make a sound, then at Xiao Hu's embarrassed expression as he swallowed back the words he wanted to say. He understood at once.

The village chief's "simply said a few words" had probably come with a little "loving touch" as well.

Biao noticed Lin Yi's gaze and squeezed his eyes at him, silently mouthing a few words: Don't mention it.

Holding back a laugh, Lin Yi cleared his throat and picked up the beast-hide scroll he had finished drawing the night before from the stone table behind him. He presented it to the village chief with both hands. "Village Chief, I've finished the martial technique diagram."

The village chief extended his withered hands. When his fingertips touched the edge of the beast hide, they actually trembled slightly.

He accepted the scroll with extreme care, as though he were holding a piece of freshly fired porcelain. Even his breathing grew lighter.

The old man slowly unfurled the beast hide in his hands. When the clear markings of the aperture points and the blood-red lines of Divine Markings entered his sight, his gaze stuck to it completely. Inch by inch, he examined every line and every vermilion circle. His mouth hung slightly open, and for quite some time, he made no sound.

Lin Yi stood quietly to one side, waiting until the village chief had taken in the general layout before speaking. "I marked the name of every aperture point on it. I also drew arrows for the order in which the Divine Markings flow. With the mnemonic explanations below, you should be able to try condensing the markings by following the diagram."

After staring at it for quite a while, the village chief raised his head, but a trace of confusion appeared on his face.

"Young Friend Lin, what exactly are these... 'aperture points'?"

Lin Yi froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

He had observed the clansmen's cultivation methods back at the Bluestone Grounds. When they trained, they had no concept of striking specific points at all. They simply picked a roughly suitable area, lifted a stone, and smashed away—wherever it landed, it landed.

Forget the exact locations of aperture points. These people had probably never even heard the term "aperture point."

"Let me explain." Lin Yi picked up a thin branch and squatted down, drawing two parallel lines on the ground. "The meridians of the fleshly body are like river channels, while qi and blood flow through those channels.

"Aperture points, meanwhile, are like reservoirs and sluice gates beside the river channels. They control the volume of water, regulate its flow, and guide its direction."

He pointed to several intersections on the lines. "When qi and blood pass through different aperture points, they produce different effects.

"Beating the fleshly body to stimulate the circulation of qi and blood is, in essence, using external force to activate certain aperture points.

"But before, you did not know their precise locations, so your efficiency was low, and it was easy to inflict hidden injuries. If you know exactly where every aperture point is and what it does, your cultivation speed can increase severalfold."

After hearing this, the village chief's gaze swept back and forth twice between the beast hide and the simple sketch on the ground. The confusion on his face gradually dissolved into a clear look of sudden enlightenment. "So that's how it is... The fleshly body actually contains such exquisite structures.

"For generations, we only knew to hammer ourselves with brute force, yet never understood the crux of it." He let out a long sigh, and his gaze toward Lin Yi grew even more complicated.

"You've only been here a few days, yet you see more deeply than we did after decades of groping in the dark."

Biao, standing nearby, had long since been itching with impatience. The blood-red patterns on that beast hide were like a magnet to him, stirring every fighting instinct in his body into a clamor.

Gathering his courage, he stepped forward and said gruffly, "Um... Village Chief, can you let me take one look?"

The village chief glanced at him, then unceremoniously closed the beast hide and tucked it into his robes. "What are you looking at? You big oaf, all rough hands and clumsy feet. What if you damage it?"

Biao's face instantly reddened. "How much strength could I possibly use? It's not like I'm going to tear it."

"When you cultivated the Blood-Transfusion Method, I was the one who used bluestone to hammer out the direction of your aperture points. How many positions do you even recognize?" The village chief did not so much as lift his eyelids.

"You wouldn't understand this diagram. If you want to see it, wait until Young Friend Lin teaches you hand in hand. Just watch carefully and learn obediently."

Biao was left speechless by the barrage of scolding. His mouth opened and closed twice, yet he could not force out a single word of rebuttal.

Those enormous hands that could tear apart ferocious beasts now hung at his sides, his fingertips rubbing even faster. He looked as aggrieved as a man could possibly look.

The village chief ignored him entirely. Tucking the beast-hide scroll away, he slowly turned and left. After taking two steps, he even looked back to remind Lin Yi, "Young Friend Lin, these people are all clumsy and slow-witted. You must be patient with them."

Once the village chief's figure vanished at the end of the dirt road, Lin Yi could finally hold it in no longer. "Pfft! Hahaha! Brother Biao, I never expected you had this side to you!"

Xiao Hu covered his mouth beside him, his shoulders shaking up and down as he desperately tried not to laugh aloud. He knew that if he made a sound, his father's "loving slap" would land on the back of his head the next second.

Biao's face turned green, then red. Overwhelmed by embarrassment and anger, he stretched out a hand. His palm, broad as a fan, scooped up Lin Yi by the waist, slung him over his shoulder, and strode away.

"Hmph, what the hell do you know, kid? I'm respecting the old and caring for the young—I can't be bothered to lower myself to his level! Enough nonsense. Come on, come on, let's go to the training ground and teach me martial techniques!"

Bounced over Biao's shoulder until his organs seemed to slosh around, Lin Yi cried, "Hey, hey, hey! Put me down! I can walk by myself!"

He struggled twice, driving his qi and blood to activate the Savage Bull Diagram. Forty-five thousand jin of force surged upward—but Biao stood as steady as a mountain, his steps not trembling in the slightest.

Eighty thousand jin against forty-five thousand jin—the gap was right there. After flailing twice, Lin Yi gave up and resigned himself to hanging upside down over Biao's shoulder, watching the road retreat behind him.

Xiao Hu scampered after them, his little face brimming with excitement. "Brother Lin, you're going to teach us martial techniques!"

In the blink of an eye, they reached the Bluestone Grounds. Biao put Lin Yi down, and Lin Yi rubbed his ribs, sore from being squeezed. When he looked up, his entire body froze for a moment.