Chapter 170 - 122: Reversed Celestial Spirits

[At three years old, you were erudite, talented, and able to grasp complex concepts from a single example. You successfully conquered your tutor with your demonic talent and brilliance. The tutor was floored and, in a complete reversal, asked to become your disciple. He went on to rank among the top candidates in the imperial examinations the following year!]

[Rebirth evaluation has increased. You have received an additional 5,000 Rebirth Points!]

After successfully rewriting a small part of his destiny, Li Chang’an bid farewell to the reluctant tutor and returned home alone.

Seeing their young master return, the few guards Tian Fugui had hired to protect the estate all came up enthusiastically to greet Li Chang’an.

One of the guards he was familiar with popped a peanut into his mouth and said with a smile, "Young Master, how are your studies coming along? Have you learned the Four Books and Five Classics? We’re still waiting to teach you Martial Arts!"

Li Chang’an nodded and said primly, "Just wait. I’ll be right back!"

That night, Tian Fugui sat in the main hall, looking at Li Chang’an seated nearby. He wore the expression of a teacher about to quiz a student. "It is said, ’Confucius did not speak of anomalies, feats of strength, disorder, or spiritual beings.’ What is the meaning of this?!"

Li Chang’an declared proudly, "A Saint doesn’t need to speak. Just by sitting there quietly, his monstrous power is enough to throw gods and demons into a panic!"

Tian Fugui nodded, putting on a thoughtful air. "Very good," he praised. "Truly my son!"

With that, he flipped through the classic texts again, found a phrase with characters he could more easily recognize, and asked, "’If in the morning you hear the Dao, in the evening you may die content.’ How do you explain this?"

Still with a proud expression, Li Chang’an replied, "If I hear the road to your house in the morning, by evening, you’ll be dead!"

Hearing this, a bewildered expression appeared on Tian Fugui’s face. He scratched his head and said, "Is that what it means?"

Li Chang’an nodded. "Of course that’s what it means. If you don’t believe me, Father, you can go and ask the tutor. You’ll know the truth as soon as you ask him!"

Although Tian Fugui was still a little baffled, seeing how confident Li Chang’an was, he nodded. "I see. In that case, how should one interpret ’Since you have come, make yourself at ease’?"

Li Chang’an said with a perfectly straight face, "The Saint was saying: ’Since you’re here, let’s just bury you here!’"

Tian Fugui was even more bewildered.

’So Saints were all masters of language? Who knew they could be so sharp-tongued?’

He flipped through the book of saintly sayings for a while, but after failing to find another passage where he could recognize all the characters, he stood up and laughed heartily. "Good! Quite good! Exceedingly good! Have Wang Er fetch a few taels of silver from the storehouse and send them to Mr. Zhu to thank him for starting my son’s education!"

Tian Fugui himself was practically illiterate. Although he had studied with a tutor as a child and could recognize a few characters, that was the extent of his knowledge.

To him, all the classics of the Saints and the scholarly jargon were just like foreign music—something to cultivate one’s temperament. Therefore, even if Li Chang’an was spouting utter nonsense, he couldn’t tell the difference.

Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had noticed something was wrong. The tutor himself had already been won over by the principles Li Chang’an espoused, so whatever Li Chang’an said was, by default, correct.

After fooling Tian Fugui, Li Chang’an went out into the courtyard and said to the guards, "Are you all Martial Artists? What layer is your Cultivation at?"

Hearing Li Chang’an’s question, the guards all looked at each other. After a moment, the guard who was more familiar with him spoke up with a wry smile, "Young Master, you must be joking with us. We’re just a bunch of small-time guards. We haven’t even finished Blood Refining. How could we dare to claim we’re at any ’layer’?"

The Martial Artists of this world trained their muscles, bones, and skin externally, and a single breath of qi internally.

The corresponding Realms were divided into nine in total: Blood Refining, Muscle Training, Bone Training, Skin Training, Qi Cultivation, Acquired, Innate, Grandmaster, and Martial Arts Mythology!

Blood Refining, Muscle Training, Bone Training, and Skin Training were all, in fact, forms of external training.

Although those in these Realms were also called Martial Artists, their combat prowess was actually quite average. At best, they could withstand attacks from ordinary weapons and perhaps kill eight or ten common people in a crowd.

True Martial Artists, as recognized by the Jianghu, were those who had begun Qi Cultivation.

The Qi Cultivation Realm had nine layers.

Jianghu People referred to them as the First-Layer of Internal Qi, Second-Layer of Internal Qi, Third-Layer of Internal Qi... and so on.

Only after cultivating this Inner Qi from the first layer to the ninth and polishing their body to the point of Perfection could a Martial Artist enter the Realms where one could cleave mountains and sunder stones, overturn rivers and seas. These were the Realms of Acquired, Innate, and Grandmaster. Only then were they considered experts capable of dominating a region of the Jianghu.

Only by tempering one’s blood, muscles, bones, and skin to Perfection was it possible to generate that first breath of Inner Qi.

And when Li Chang’an asked about the ’layer’ of their Cultivation, he was referring to the layers of Inner Qi.

These men had been reduced to working as guards for a landlord in Tian Family Village, so naturally, they weren’t much to speak of. They might call themselves Martial Artists to outsiders, but in reality, they had just learned a few basic moves at a martial arts hall, making them only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.

Li Chang’an was a little disappointed, but it was unrealistic to expect to find any Martial Arts Secret Manuals in a village.

So, he lowered his expectations and asked, "How does one begin Blood Refining?"

Seeing how eager he was with his very first question, the guards finally found something they could show off about. They all laughed and said, "Young Master, you’re being too hasty! Before Blood Refining, you must first establish the foundation of the Martial Dao. If you start refining your blood without a proper foundation, you’ll end up crippling yourself!"

Li Chang’an raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So how do I establish my foundation?"

The guard who was familiar with Li Chang’an walked up to him.

He reached out to feel Li Chang’an’s shoulders and exclaimed in amazement, "Young Master, your foundation for the Martial Dao is already incredibly strong! You’re a natural-born talent for martial arts. You just need to temper your body a bit with some medicinal herbs, and you should be able to begin practicing!"