Hundred-Day Foundation Building

The days of extreme endurance drifted by just like that.

Through unbearable torment, Su Ziyang trained diligently for three months.

He had also read most of the books Mr. Mengfei had left him.

Now, both his memory and comprehension far surpassed what they had been before.

Su Ziyang discovered that even his strength and endurance were steadily increasing. At the same time, he was brimming with energy. After practicing and going to bed at night, he would often wake up again after just two or three hours.

Su Ziyang did not waste this excellent opportunity and began studying without pause.

Today was the last of the hundred days Mr. Mengfei had set for him.

At midnight, Su Ziyang stood in the living room.

After slowly relaxing his body, Su Ziyang felt his whole being burst into flame like a ball of fire.

Su Ziyang could even smell the scent of sunshine rising from his clothes as his body temperature climbed. It was the same warm smell a quilt had after being aired in the sun.

As Su Ziyang moved through each slow, steady motion, the qi and blood throughout his body were gradually stirred into motion. His whole body felt as though it were bathed in sunlight, indescribably comfortable.

As he practiced, Su Ziyang suddenly felt the warm current in his lower abdomen begin to spin. It then surged straight up his conception vessel to the crown of his head.

The instant the current reached the top of his head, Su Ziyang felt his head buzz.

His vision turned white, and he instantly lost consciousness.

A moment later, a strange fragrance wafted into Su Ziyang's nose, and he slowly regained awareness. He saw that he seemed to be surrounded by clouds, while his body moved through various motions beyond his control. Some were from the Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art Mr. Mengfei had taught him, while others were strange.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Ziyang felt a clear current suddenly appear in his head. Like a murmuring spring stream, it flowed slowly from the crown of his head toward the dantian in his lower abdomen.

Su Ziyang felt as refreshed as if he had drunk an ice-cold cola on a sweltering day.

As the stream flowed, Su Ziyang's body stopped moving. Then he suddenly drew a forceful breath through his nose, and all the clouds around him were sucked into his body.

The instant the mist entered his body, Su Ziyang's eyes flew open, and two brilliant rays shot from them.

For that instant, his gaze seemed to pierce through the wall, allowing him to see the vehicles passing along the street and the people still eating and drinking in the middle of the night.

It lasted only an instant before the divine light withdrew into Su Ziyang's eyes. Only then did he fully come to his senses, returning to an ordinary state.

The difference was that the constant burning in his lower abdomen was gone, along with his abnormally heightened desire.

In its place, there seemed to be a current of qi, neither hot nor cold, gathered within his dantian.

What is this? Su Ziyang still did not understand what had happened to his body, but the tormenting desire had vanished. To his delight, he realized he could finally get a good night's sleep.

But just as the divine light spilled from Su Ziyang's eyes, Old Daoist Master Xiao, who was meditating in the Daoist temple, suddenly opened his eyes and murmured to himself, "The younger generation is to be feared!"

The next morning.

When Su Ziyang arrived at the clinic, he saw someone he had not seen in a long time.

Mr. Mengfei.

Upon seeing Su Ziyang, Mr. Mengfei actually cupped his hands in congratulations. "Congratulations, Doctor Su!"

Su Ziyang thought Mr. Mengfei was teasing him again and hurriedly cupped his hands in return. "Teacher, you're making fun of me again."

After hearing Su Ziyang's words, Mr. Mengfei waved a hand and motioned for him to sit down, then sat down himself.

He then said, "Why are you still calling me teacher?"

Su Ziyang was stunned for a moment, then broke into a delighted smile. "Master!"

With that, he rose to kowtow to Mr. Mengfei.

Mr. Mengfei grabbed Su Ziyang by the arm, stopping him from kneeling. "Get up. I don't like these conventional formalities! Get up, get up!"

Seeing that Mr. Mengfei was serious, Su Ziyang abandoned the formalities and stood up.

Mr. Mengfei had acknowledged Su Ziyang, so master and disciple settled down, and Mr. Mengfei slowly began to tell Su Ziyang about the origins of their lineage.

The Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art had originally been a family cultivation art kept secret from outsiders. It was only through a chance encounter that Mr. Mengfei had been able to learn it.

Mr. Mengfei's master, who was also Su Ziyang's grandmaster, was surnamed Yang.

The art had originally been passed down from generation to generation, but because of the social circumstances at the time, Mr. Yang's grandfather had skipped over Mr. Yang's father and passed it directly to his grandson. Back then, Mr. Yang could only practice it in secret.

Later, Mr. Yang cultivated it extremely well and vowed to help the world and save lives. He worked as an acupuncturist in his local area ever since.

The art should have been passed down again, but Mr. Yang's children both received higher education and went abroad one after the other. Having received Western educations, the two of them scoffed at their family's inherited art.

By then, Mr. Yang was nearly eighty.

He had never imagined that what he had worked so hard to pass down would once again be in danger of dying out.

Because of his age, Mr. Yang no longer practiced acupuncture on others. One of his hobbies was brush calligraphy, and although Mr. Mengfei was young at the time, he wrote an excellent hand. The two met at a calligraphy club and became fast friends despite the difference in their ages.

Later, Mr. Yang discovered that Mr. Mengfei was exceptionally gifted, so he secretly passed the art on to him.

After listening to Mr. Mengfei's account, Su Ziyang roughly understood the origins of their lineage. He had not expected his master to have acquired his skills through such a coincidence.

"I'm telling you about the origins of our lineage because I hope you'll tell those who come after you. When you have disciples of your own, you must pass it on too. That's what inheritance means! You understand, don't you?"

Su Ziyang quickly nodded to show that he understood.

"Master, now that you've explained the origins of our lineage, I still have a few questions!"

As Su Ziyang began to ask, Mr. Mengfei interrupted him. "I know what you want to ask! Listen while I explain."

"Actually, this art didn't have a name. I asked your grandmaster, and he said that when his grandfather passed it to him, it really didn't have one. As for the name Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art, I came up with it myself!"

"I once consulted a great many books, including unique copies, rare editions, and collectors' volumes, as well as some more recent modern books. Perhaps this art really was passed down in secret from generation to generation! I couldn't find any record establishing its origins!"

"But I discovered that this art comes very close to the level of the Dao. Although its movements look simple, it allows a person to sense and draw upon the qi in the human body as quickly as possible. If I'm not mistaken, you should have noticed something different on the second or third day!"

Hearing this, Su Ziyang nodded. He had indeed felt a cool sensation on his second day of practice.

"To verify my conjecture, I also practiced different arts, including famous ones like the Eight Pieces of Brocade, the Five Animal Frolics, and the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, as well as some lesser-known arts circulating in society, such as the True Qi Circulation Method, the Soaring Crane Standing Practice, the Vajra Art, and the Lotus Art, among others! I found that none of them worked as well as this one!"

As Su Ziyang listened to Mr. Mengfei list arts he had never even heard of, his head swelled. Heaven knew how many experiments Mr. Mengfei had conducted and how much effort he had put in.

"Xiao Su, I won't worry about upsetting you. To tell you the truth, I took in several disciples before you. Your aptitude is the worst, but it's also the best!"

Those words left Su Ziyang bewildered. I'm the worst and also the best?! What kind of sense does that make?

"Let me ask you a question!" Mr. Mengfei said.

"Please go ahead, Master," Su Ziyang answered respectfully.

"You've read The Legend of the Condor Heroes, haven't you? What do you think of Guo Jing? Is he clever or foolish? Is his comprehension good?" Mr. Mengfei asked seriously.

Su Ziyang considered for a moment. "I don't think his comprehension is very good. For example, it took Guo Jing a long time to learn the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms. He was far behind some of the other characters!"

Mr. Mengfei nodded. "Then why did his martial arts become so formidable later on?"

Su Ziyang thought it over, then shook his head to indicate that he did not know.

"Because he obeyed! He never slacked off or doubted when his master told him to do something. If once wasn't enough, he did it twice. As the saying goes, nothing in the world is difficult for one who puts his heart into it!"

Su Ziyang nodded.

"The reason I no longer keep in touch with my previous disciples isn't that they weren't clever, but that they were too clever! You must have had some extremely unpleasant experiences while practicing. By now you should understand that this was my test for you. I took in four disciples before, but of all of you, only you managed to keep practicing for the hundred days I required! The others either failed to persevere or broke the prohibition while practicing! They can't succeed anymore! I call these hundred days Hundred-Day Foundation Building!"

"When practicing the Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art, a person gets only one chance at Hundred-Day Foundation Building. If they fail once, they'll never succeed for the rest of their lives! Nor will they attain any greater achievements!"

Hearing this, Su Ziyang thought, That was close!

But when he thought about how so many others had failed while he had actually succeeded, a sense of pride welled up in his heart.

Seeing the pride on Su Ziyang's face, Mr. Mengfei paused for a moment, then continued, "You want to study medicine, right? My understanding of traditional Chinese medicine differs from most people's. I believe in starting with the fundamentals. If you're a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, yet you don't even understand what qi is or feel it, how can you explain to others what central qi, yang qi, or qi deficiency means? So you have to thoroughly understand the human body before you can better experience it! Understand?"

Only then did Su Ziyang come to a sudden realization!

"Since you did everything exactly as I said and have reached a certain realm and level, it's finally time for you to truly begin studying medicine!"