On Shrek Square, Yu Xiaogang couldn't make sense of what was written above either, but everyone was looking at him. At a time like this, he naturally had to maintain his image as the Grandmaster.
He immediately said indignantly, "I knew this brat was just putting on a show of mystery! Spouting all that mumbo jumbo. How could something like a dantian possibly exist? And those acupoints-even I have never heard of them. They must be fake."
Flender hastily seized the chance to climb down and nodded in agreement. "Exactly! He's just putting on a show of mystery! I don't think he has any real skill at all. He's just fooling people with words they can't understand!"
But no sooner had the two finished speaking than Ye Lingtian appeared in the sky screen, returning to the western side courtyard with clean bedding in his arms. One look was enough for him to see Qian Renxue's predicament: she had frozen in place, her face flushed red.
He set the bedding down and walked over. Glancing at the cultivation manual lying open, he chuckled. "Can't understand it?"
Qian Renxue clutched the page, the tips of her ears growing hot. She lowered her head and answered softly, "Please forgive my dullness..."
"It's all right." Ye Lingtian smiled and shook his head. "It's normal not to recognize them. When I first encountered a cultivation method, I only learned about these things under my master's instruction."
"Here." After handing Qian Renxue a diagram of the body's acupoints, Ye Lingtian cautioned her, "Until you've memorized the entire diagram, don't start cultivating. It's easy for something to go wrong."
"Mm." Qian Renxue nodded awkwardly, her face burning with shame. Not knowing even such basic things was truly embarrassing.
Fortunately, Ye Lingtian didn't laugh at her. Instead, he taught her patiently, easing much of the shame in her heart.
Meanwhile, every faction on the Douluo Continent quickly had someone copy down the acupoint diagram, intending to have people try cultivating with it later.
"Then what is the dantian?" Qian Renxue asked again.
"The dantian is the foundation of every cultivator," Ye Lingtian said solemnly. "It's where a cultivator stores magical power. Once something goes wrong with it, the least that can happen is a loss of strength. At worst, the cultivator will be crippled."
"Is it that serious?" Qian Renxue found it hard to believe. In her world, Soul Power was stored in Soul Rings and rarely in the body itself. There was no such thing as a dantian.
"Why would I lie to you?" Ye Lingtian shrugged. "All right, you'll understand when you actually begin cultivating. Go and get your room in order first."
"If you have any questions along the way, you can come find me at the Sword Hut. I'm usually there." After pointing Qian Renxue in the right direction, Ye Lingtian left.
"Yes, young master." Qian Renxue nodded. Watching his slender back as he turned and walked away, she tightened her grip on the warm cultivation manual.
The sight sent a stir through the people of the Douluo Continent.
Ning Rongrong covered her face and snickered, her cheeks flushed crimson. If someone treated her like that, she was afraid she would fall for him on the spot.
In Spirit Hall's Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu's face was so black it could have dripped ink. He gritted his teeth and cursed, "Insolent brat! How dare he lay his hands on my granddaughter!"
Yet for all his cursing, more than half the fury that had driven him to want to grind Ye Lingtian's bones to dust had faded. Ye Lingtian had plainly been explaining the cultivation method and genuinely helping his granddaughter, not deliberately humiliating her.
Only Yu Xiaogang stood in the square with his face flushed red. His words accusing Ye Lingtian of putting on a show of mystery were still hanging in the air, yet Ye Lingtian had turned around and explained everything. Hadn't he just been slapped in the face again?
He could only brace himself and snort. "Nothing but crooked tricks. What's there to be proud of?"
But no one was paying attention to Yu Xiaogang now. They were all looking at the acupoint diagrams they had just copied down.
Anyone could tell how important this was. It was the foundation of cultivation in another world. If they didn't learn it, they might be left behind by the times.
As the sun sank in the west, Qian Renxue finished arranging her bedding in the western side courtyard and began memorizing the acupoint diagram.
But how could something so obscure and difficult be easy to memorize? After only half an hour, her head was throbbing, her mind filled with thoughts of which acupoint was where.
She simply closed the book and went out for some air. Following the mountain path, she found herself at the edge of a pine forest halfway up Sword-Seeking Peak.
Before she drew close, she heard clear, ringing sword cries drifting toward her on the wind. Qian Renxue lightened her steps and looked up, instantly freezing in place.
A youth in green robes stood in the clearing at the center of the sword forest. The setting sun's golden light fell on the plain jade hairpin atop his head, and as his longsword rose and fell, the pines across the mountain rustled in unison in answer.
Each streak of pale blue-green sword intent swept through the air, and even the drifting mist swirled with the wind of his blade. Though Qian Renxue stood a hundred paces away, she could feel the sharp Sword Qi cutting faintly against her cheeks.
She had lived for over twenty years and had even met Sword Douluo Chen Xin, but never before had the sheer force of a sword struck her heart so hard.
Chen Xin, watching the sky screen, also froze in place, transfixed. Nothing drew a sword cultivator's attention more than a fellow practitioner.
She was so absorbed that her toe accidentally dislodged a small stone by the mountain path. It clattered onto the bluestone paving, breaking the forest's silence.
Ye Lingtian withdrew his sword and turned around. Seeing Qian Renxue hiding behind a tree, he raised an eyebrow. "Did you come across something you didn't understand?"
Qian Renxue's cheeks warmed, and she quickly shook her head. "No, no. I was tired from memorizing, so I came out for some air. I didn't expect to disturb your sword practice, young master."
Ye Lingtian waved a hand. "I wouldn't call it a disturbance. My cultivation reached a bottleneck long ago. I'm only practicing so I don't get rusty."
"What do you mean by a bottleneck?" Qian Renxue asked. In their world, a bottleneck usually meant it was time to hunt for a Soul Ring. She hadn't expected the same term to exist in this world.
Had anyone else asked that question, Ye Lingtian would certainly have wondered how someone could not even know what a bottleneck was.
But it was different coming from Qian Renxue. After all, they weren't from the same world, so it was normal for her not to know.
Ye Lingtian wasn't surprised by her question and readily explained, "A bottleneck is when your current cultivation has reached its limit. Even after gathering enough power, you still can't break through the barrier to the next realm. You have to find a chance to force that door open before you can continue forward."
"On the path of immortal cultivation, we start with body tempering, then move on to Qi refining, foundation establishment, golden core and nascent soul, climbing upward one step at a time. All cultivators risk their lives to overcome trials, seize treasures and increase their strength, but in the end, their ultimate goal comes down to just two words."
He paused. The mountain wind swept past them, carrying the ringing of his sword, and his clear, mellow voice fell on Qian Renxue's ears like a stone shattering the heavens: "Eternal life."
"Eternal life?"
Qian Renxue stood there, utterly stunned. She repeated the words instinctively, her breath catching for a moment.
She had lived on the Douluo Continent for over twenty years and was accustomed to seeing people grow old, fall ill and die when their lifespans ran out. Even the most powerful Peerless Douluo could barely live past two hundred.
The fingertips clutching her clothes turned white without her noticing. Her head buzzed, and for a long time, she couldn't recover from the shock.