"Pegasus Meteor Finger!" Jiang Jie was brimming with confidence.
Internal energy was the foundation.
The stronger the internal energy, the more powerful the martial arts.
In the end, Jiang Jie successfully took down nine little monks, entered the Child Hall, and saw eighteen little monks.
"Villain, do you wish to challenge the Eighteen Children Formation? This is the Child Hall's ultimate defense. Succeed, and you can challenge the other areas of Shaolin Temple! Take this!" The eighteen little monks, all five or six years old, shouted in unison and surrounded Jiang Jie.
Ten seconds later.
Jiang Jie died!
"Host, you've really let this go to your head. You actually thought you could challenge the Eighteen Children Formation? This is a simplified version of Shaolin's Eighteen Bronze Men Formation. Eighteen little monks at the Houtian Second and Third Layers, fighting together in formation-even second-rate experts at the Houtian Fourth or Fifth Layer can't beat them. Young man, you're still too young, too simple. You need more practice!" The AI Xiao Feng conjured a swimming pool in front of the Child Hall. At that moment, she emerged from her bath, a beauty so languid and delicate that a maid had to help her up. It was quite a sight.
"All right, stop putting me down." After reviving, Jiang Jie hurriedly asked, "Xiao Feng, what martial arts should I learn now? I already have an internal cultivation art, a lightness skill, and a finger technique. Should I learn defensive martial arts next? Something like Golden Bell Shield or Iron Shirt?"
Xiao Feng curled her lip and shook her head, her face full of disdain. "Golden Bell Shield is all right. If you cultivated it to the thirteenth stage, it would count as very good by any standard before the thirtieth century, practically invincible within Xiantian. Iron Shirt is much worse. Houtian-level martial arts-utter trash. The Black Tortoise Longevity Art has endless wondrous uses. Once you reach the fourth layer and can project your internal energy outward, you can form 'Black Tortoise Armor' and a 'Black Tortoise Shield,' both stronger than Golden Bell Shield! For now, though, you could learn the Taiji Divine Art."
Taijiquan?
Jiang Jie knew that the current Twenty-Four-Form Taijiquan was a simplified version of Taijiquan, useful only for strengthening the body and improving health. But the original Taijiquan had been terrifying, astonishingly powerful. Ranked alongside Baguazhang and Xingyiquan, it was a martial art that could truly kill!
"Taijiquan endured for thousands of years. By the thirty-fifth century, Wudang had united all Daoist sects and clans into a single entity, standing alongside Shaolin. Countless martial arts masters and grandmasters studied Taijiquan, reaching the pinnacle and even surpassing the legendary earthly immortal Zhang Sanfeng. Taijiquan, Taiji Sword, and other arts were integrated into the Taiji Divine Art."
Xiao Feng said seriously, "Like the Black Tortoise Longevity Art, the Taiji Divine Art can take you from an ordinary martial artist through Houtian and Xiantian, and even beyond Xiantian. Once you cultivate the Taiji Divine Art to its limit, there are also stronger martial arts derived from it, such as the Nine Heavens True Scripture. But that's not something you should be thinking about now. Besides that, you can also learn the Five Animal Frolics and Ten Brocades."
Five Animal Frolics?
Ten Brocades?
Those didn't seem to be martial arts?
Xiao Feng explained, "The Five Animal Frolics and Ten Brocades are both extremely ancient health-preserving, qi-guiding arts-in other words, the earliest recorded internal cultivation arts. These two arts have endured for thousands of years without fading, and can rightly be called classics. Practicing them regularly can promote the growth of internal energy and speed up your cultivation of the Black Tortoise Longevity Art. Reaching the Houtian Second Layer would originally take a week, but with these arts, it might only take five days."
Then she pointed a finger and transmitted the cultivation methods for all three arts into Jiang Jie's mind.
The Five Animal Frolics and Ten Brocades were both very simple. They did not even require any special circulation of internal energy. Moving his arms and legs, sitting quietly, and breathing deeply were enough.
These two arts were quite interesting. Practiced over time, they could make the body very flexible and bring one's mental state to its best. They were indeed useful.
The Taiji Art was much more complicated. After reaching a higher level, further progress would even require insight. The gaming pod expended energy to open up internal energy circulation pathways for Jiang Jie, and he slowly began practicing.
"The Taiji Divine Art is very special. It combines internal cultivation, fist techniques, sword techniques, saber techniques, palm techniques, finger techniques, defense, and more into a single whole. It takes time and insight. Getting started is easy, but attaining mastery is very difficult.
"Host, you currently lack a defensive cultivation art. The Taiji Art can make up for that," the AI Xiao Feng said. She told Jiang Jie that as his mastery of the Black Tortoise Longevity Art and Taiji Art deepened, he would need less and less sleep. Eventually, he would not need sleep at all-or rather, he would be sleeping at all times. It was quite wondrous.
After briefly familiarizing himself with them, Jiang Jie left the gaming pod. Its energy reserves were low, so it was not suitable to keep it running for long periods for now.
Jiang Jie tried seated meditation.
Seated meditation was an extremely ancient method of preserving health and strengthening the body, practiced in both Daoism and Buddhism. Like the horse stance, it was a foundation of martial cultivation.
Jiang Jie sat cross-legged, with his palms, soles, and the crown of his head facing upward, and soon entered a state in which he forgot both himself and the world.
Of course, this was only a shallow state, far inferior to what eminent monks and great Buddhist practitioners achieved.
Before long, Jiang Jie felt tired. Then he practiced the Five Animal Frolics and Ten Brocades for a while, and they felt quite good.
Finally, he practiced Taijiquan for half an hour, then went to sleep.
He slept very soundly.
After breakfast, Jiang Jie discussed the novel with Princess Calia and Don Quixote for a while. Only then did he suddenly remember that today was Instructor Roand's teaching day, and he hurried toward the Assassins' Order's base.
"Nicholas! You're late again! Someone as undisciplined, disrespectful of his elders, content to scrape by, lazy, and dawdling as you doesn't deserve to join the Lordaeron Royal Assassins! You should get lost while you can! No matter how much talent you have, you'll squander it!"
The moment he reached the base, Jiang Jie heard a shrill, grating voice. It belonged to the talented young man named Ivan Coleman.
At that moment, he held two expensive-looking daggers and wore a tight-fitting black outfit, giving him quite the rogue look.
Clothes made the man, just as gold leaf made the Buddha.
Compared with Jiang Jie in his casual clothes, young Ivan did indeed look more like a professional rogue.
"Boring."
Jiang Jie could not be bothered with him. He walked straight up to Instructor Roand, then bowed slightly in greeting. "Good morning, Teacher Roand. I'm very sorry. I was discussing important matters with Her Highness the princess, so I arrived late. Please accept my apologies."
The necessary courtesies still had to be observed. Maintaining a good relationship with his teacher was important.
"Her Highness the princess? Hmm, I see." Neither warm nor cold, Roand nodded. "Actual combat is the best test. Now, the two of you will fight. Let me see how much you've learned!"
With a lift of his hand, he tossed two pairs of daggers toward Jiang Jie and Ivan.
Jiang Jie reached out and caught them. Taking a closer look, he found they were a pair of very ordinary wooden daggers, probably prepared specifically out of concern that the two might misjudge their strength and accidentally hurt each other.
"Heh heh, Nicholas, just wait until I beat you into the ground and make you cry for mercy! Let me tell you, I spar with a novice rogue every day, and even he says I've got an excellent grasp of things! He thinks I'm a genius at being a rogue! A real genius! Not a fake genius like you, with talent but no hard work!" Ivan sneered.
But the instant he finished speaking, Jiang Jie had already rushed up to him, holding a dagger across his neck.
"Too much nonsense... you lost!"