"Senior, did you really not know a single thing about martial arts? Did you know nothing about meridians or acupuncture points?"
With Xu Xiao cutting through the tangled mess and arranging things, Duan Yu began explaining the classic to him word by word, sentence by sentence.
But less than a quarter of an hour after he began, he discovered a major problem.
Xu Xiao, who seemed to possess wondrous abilities, was a complete martial arts idiot.
Not only did he know nothing about acupuncture points and meridians, but he could not even understand the basic instructions and essentials written in traditional characters. He also seemed never to have read the works Duan Yu quoted to explain them.
How... how was he supposed to teach him?
Hearing Duan Yu's question, Xu Xiao rubbed his nose in embarrassment.
He had thought that having a teacher willing to teach him would let him master martial arts quickly, but when they actually got started, he discovered it was far too difficult.
Because he had transmigrated with a cheat, he could understand the writing and language directly, but the contents of a martial arts manual were not as simple as mere words.
The Chinese written language was vast and profound, and the sentences written here wound through twists and turns, leaving him to comprehend them for himself.
That was to say nothing of the body's twelve primary meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, its meridian points, extra points, ashi points, and so on.
As soon as Duan Yu began, he told him things like:
"Gather Qi at the Tanzhong point, disperse Qi at the Dantian;
"Cultivate gathering and dispersal together, until they become a seamless whole;
"The sea receives a hundred streams, uniting rivers great and small;"
He even said that it began at Shaoshang and ended at Zhongfu, forming the lung meridian of hand taiyin.
Xu Xiao could not understand a thing! Good heavens.
Watching Xu Xiao rub his nose and smile awkwardly, Duan Yu felt his head swell to the size of a bucket.
He had never imagined that someone would prepare to cultivate such a profound martial arts classic without even knowing the most basic acupuncture points and meridians.
It truly was... a wild flight of fancy!
"Senior, since you don't understand acupuncture points and meridians, how did you cultivate your abilities?"
Duan Yu, youthful at heart, spoke whatever was on his mind. He had thought Xu Xiao was a recluse who cultivated in the mountains, only to discover that he was a complete outsider.
"Ah, it's a long story. My abilities aren't martial arts, but inborn powers. I don't need to know about acupuncture points or meridians."
Xu Xiao could hardly say outright that he had gained his powers by touching a crystal, so he could only pass them off as something he had been born with.
Superpowers and martial arts were entirely different things. One required a physical mutation, while the other required diligent study after birth.
"An Inhuman from birth?" Duan Yu was taken in by this explanation.
A few legends still circulated among the people at this time, about immortals who lived for hundreds of years and children born with knowledge, among other things. The only things that could be said for certain were that Xu Xiao really could fly, and that he really could not read or recognize meridians and acupuncture points.
"Please don't look down on me, Young Master Duan. I ask that you teach me everything, starting with the very basics." Xu Xiao cupped his fists in salute and bowed deeply.
He was the one who needed Duan Yu now, so he was simply showing him deference.
There was no shame in obediently paying his respects.
Xu Xiao was a pragmatist who did not care about empty formalities. As far as he was concerned, as long as he stood to gain something, even his bottom line could be adjusted within certain limits.
"No, no, no! I can't possibly accept such a grand salute from you, Senior." Duan Yu hurriedly reached out to help him up.
"Why call me Senior? That sounds too distant. My surname is Xu, and I'm a few years older than you. Just call me Brother Xu." Xu Xiao knew how to draw people closer.
Not only that, Xu Xiao also began painting a tempting picture:
"As long as you're sincerely willing to teach me from the beginning, Young Master Duan, I can first make a trip to the Wuliang Sword Sect and rescue Miss Zhong, whom you can't stop thinking about."
"Really?" At the mention of Zhong Ling, Duan Yu perked up.
For a lovestruck young man who cherished affection and loyalty, Zhong Ling's capture had remained a major worry hanging over his heart.
"Once a gentleman gives his word, even a team of four horses cannot take it back."
Xu Xiao cupped his fists solemnly. "As long as you're willing to spend a little more time teaching me martial arts, whether it's rescuing someone or anything else, I, Xu, agree to it all."
"All right, all right." Seeing Xu Xiao speak so solemnly, Duan Yu could only choose to believe him.
To put it plainly, Xu Xiao's inborn powers were more formidable than those of any martial arts expert he had ever encountered. There was no way he could escape.
His only misgiving was his concern for Zhong Ling's safety. Since Xu Xiao had given his word, what else could he do?
It was only a matter of teaching, after all. Duan Yu could only spend more time on it and soldier through.
However, there was another problem to face. Duan Yu could read and understand the Northern Darkness Divine Art, but he had never practiced martial arts himself.
When he explained this concern to Xu Xiao, Xu Xiao directly asked him to learn the martial art himself first and then personally teach Xu Xiao.
This originally went against Duan Yu's principles, but under the persuasion of Xu Xiao's glib tongue, he could only agree.
As Xu Xiao put it, knowing martial arts and choosing not to use them was different from not knowing them at all.
Duan Yu was learning the Northern Darkness Divine Art to teach him. Whether Duan Yu himself wanted to continue practicing diligently afterward was his own business.
Moreover, martial arts were not just for killing. Using them to escape and heal injuries was also an ability whose benefits outweighed its drawbacks.
Once all these reasons had been laid out, even someone as quick-witted as Duan Yu was persuaded by Xu Xiao and agreed to cultivate the Northern Darkness Divine Art while teaching him.
Xu Xiao was quite satisfied with this.
One more person learning the Northern Darkness Divine Art was no problem for him at all. In any case, he was not from this world.
No matter what divine art or classic it was, when all was said and done, it was only a method. Someone had to know how to practice it properly.
Duan Yu was the male protagonist of this world and the person originally destined to inherit the Northern Darkness Divine Art.
Even if he relied on himself to feel his way through cultivation, he could master the Northern Darkness Divine Art step by step. It went so smoothly that he did not make a single mistake along the way.
Watching him, Xu Xiao could not help but marvel that the story's male protagonist really was badass.
When it came to practicing martial arts on one's own, aside from the first-rate experts of the martial world, only a male protagonist favored by destiny could do it.
Countless wandering heroes of the martial world died from cultivation deviations and other mishaps while practicing. One could only say that comparisons between people were enough to make one die of envy.
There were no passing years in cultivation; time flew like a white colt glimpsed through a crack.
With Duan Yu's personal guidance, Xu Xiao made rapid progress in just three days, from learning about meridians and acupuncture points to understanding the profound Daoist meaning in every sentence of the cultivation annotations.
In three days, Duan Yu had learned the first sixteen steps of the thirty-six diagrams, while Xu Xiao had also begun trying to learn the first step and had only just grasped the basics.
For a complete martial arts novice, this speed was already exceptionally fast.
But on the morning of the fourth day, Xu Xiao instructed Duan Yu to stay in the cave and study the Northern Darkness Divine Art, while he himself headed outside.
There was no other reason: Duan Yu had sincerely taught him martial arts, so Xu Xiao was also preparing to help him rescue Zhong Ling.
Of course, the main reason was that Xu Xiao needed to obtain the antidote to the Seven-Day Gut-Severing Powder for Duan Yu. Otherwise, in another two days, the poison would take effect and his teacher would drop dead.
By then, Xu Xiao's practice of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, which he had only just managed to begin, would come to a halt.
With every day of delay, Xu Xiao's body grew a little weaker. He desperately needed internal force to nourish it.
After cultivating internal force, Duan Yu had also used it to ease Xu Xiao's condition somewhat. It had indeed done a good job of nourishing his withered body.
This only strengthened Xu Xiao's resolve to practice martial arts.