Chapter 0004: Divine Exercise of Four Symbols
“Little guy, you say your little fairy is attractive. Don’t you think the two of us are attractive?” In Chen Xiang’s mind, a charming voice resounded, this voice belonged to Su Meiyao.
Chen Xiang coughed twice, and, with a dry laugh,said “As long as my wife is good-looking, ha ha... Of course, you two are certainly beautiful. Oh Yeah! Sister Meiyao, hurry up and teach me those Divine Exercises and alchemy.”
“You pervert, what are you trying to say?” Su Meiyao spat and said.
“Nothing…” Chen Xiang grinned while scratching his face, a strange look flashing past his eyes.
In order to prevent Xue Xianxian from being disappointed, Chen Xiang intended to redouble his efforts and cultivate day and night.
A faint trace of aura suddenly flashed from the invisible ring on Chen Xiang’s finger, as both Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao appeared in front of him, both wearing noble and elegant purple robes. Chen Xiang guessed that these clothes were already present inside the ring.
At this time, the afternoon sun was very harsh, but it seemed that the two stunning girls were enjoying that annoyingly bothersome sunlight.
“The Spirit Qi around here is really poor, if you do not rely on dans, then it will be very difficult for you to enter the True Martial Realm!” Su Meiyao, looking up at the hot sun, murmured.
Chen Xiang was somewhat confused at how the two girls were able to enter and exit the ring at will. Additionally, they were also able to hear sounds through the ring.
Chen Xiang entered the small residence with them. The inside was not very large, there was only one hall and four rooms. When compared to the huge Chen Family Estate, this was indeed considered quite small.
In the small hall, Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou were sipping the spirit tea prepared by Chen Xiang. This was from Chen Xiang’s personal collection and he was usually reluctant to drink it.
“The Spirit Qi is really thin here, if you want to quickly elevate your strength, you would have to rely on dans. But before this, you must cultivate out the True Qi flames[1]. Since you have the Yin and Yang Divine Veins, this will not be difficult for you.” Su Meiyao said.
Chen Xiang nodded his head, and said, “Please, sister Meiyao, give me advice.”
“Come, I will teach you the [Tai Chi Divine Exercise] [4] and the [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols].” Su Meiyao said in a charming voice,stroking her hair. That gesture was truly fascinating and charming, and even a bit flirtatious. Due to Chen Xiang’s nearly infinite potential, Su Meiyao wanted his full attention, so she would have a fierce helper later.
Su Meiyao’s delicate hand covered Chen Xiang’s forehead and Chen Xiang’s mind was filled, with many texts and runes revolving around. Each one was obscure and difficult to understand on their own, but, with Su Meiyao’s help, he unconsciously mastered them.
Su Meiyao said “I’m currently using my divine sense to transfer the steps for cultivation to you. I’m not just passing you the divine exercises but also my understanding of them, you just simply have to follow the steps.
Chen Xiang was shocked, he did not think Su Meiyao would be able to use “divine sense.” In order to practice divine sense, one would have to, at least, be at the 6th level of the Mortal Martial Realm. It is condensed by fusing together spiritual power and true force and can be described as a very mysterious invisible and stateless spiritual force.
“Anything about us must be kept confidential and no one is to know about us, including your little wife!” Bai Youyou said with a serious and cold tone.
Su Meiyao continued “I will tell you right now that my senior sister and I have numerous enemies, who could crush you simply by pointing at your head. As such, you have to keep our secrets. Also, we will not come out from the ring unless you are in dire straights.”
Chen Xiang’s heart shuddered, he did not expect that he was harboring such dangerous two individuals. He quickly nodded his head before Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao suddenly disappeared, entering the ring.
[Tai Chi Divine Exercise] and [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols]! Although it was only a small portion of the whole skill, Chen Xiang was still extremely excited, after all, he didn’t know of anyone who had been given the opportunity to practice Divine Skills!
In the world of martial arts, the skills were divided into the general categories of Mortal level, Spirit level, Profound level, Earth level, Heavenly level, Sacred level and finally Divine level. They are further separated into upper and lower grades, dans are similarly ranked but they also contain a middle grade as well as the lower and upper grades.
Heavenly level skills were very rare, and Divine level skills were even rarer. Divine Exercises, are after all, only practiced by legendary gods who have unfathomably formidable and overwhelming strength. They were said to be able to summon lightning to strike the earth and even change things that could be considered as acting against heaven’s will, such as breaking the very fabric of space. The [Tai Chi Divine Exercise] was a foundation building exercise, and was specialized for training the body using Qi cultivation, it is a very profound and powerful martial art Heart Law[2].
The [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols] was divided into four parts, namely Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Turtle Divine Exercises, and these four Divine Exercises were auxiliary in nature and mainly helped in boosting the attack and defense of other martial skills. After practicing and understanding them, they could also be used to demonstrate formidable Martial techniques.
Chen Xiang arrived at the backyard of his house. Surrounded by lush green trees and breathing in the fresh air, he was able to clearly sense all five elements of Spirit Qis that existed between heaven and earth.
Common Spiritual Veins were divided according to attributes, but Chen Xiang’s Yin and Yang Divine Veins represents and contains all of the world’s five elements, so he was able to practice all five elements of True Qis.
The [Tai Chi Divine Exercise], although it was a profound Heart Law, Su Meiyao had transferred her understanding of it, so he quickly mastered it. He operated the [Tai Chi Divine Exercise], and the Tai Chi Yin Yang diagram in his dantian started rotating immediately. This made the Spirit Qi around him violently surge into his body.
The absorption rate of Spirit Qi for any High-Grade Spiritual Vein was extremely fast, as for a Divine Vein, the speed was unimaginable! At this time, Chen Xiang sat cross-legged at the cave entrance and operated the [Tai Chi Divine Exercise], Spirit Qi entered his body, and immediately started purifying him. The Spirit Qi transformed into a pure white stream, spreading through his body within his bones, muscles, and meridians, making his body sturdier.
To become a formidable martial artist, one must purify the body, both internally and externally. Chen Xiang was now strengthening his internal body, and his internal body is generating a powerful Qi stream containing formidable force, this is known as True Qi[3].
Chen Xiang unconsciously entered into a state of cultivation, with Spirit Qi madly surging into his body. If somebody saw this scene, they wouldn’t believe their eyes.
The Divine Skills of the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger specialized in attacking while the Vermillion Bird Divine Skill mainly specialized in fire and the Black Tortoise Divine Skill specialized in defense.
Practicing True Qi up to the Large Success Stage, would create a form in the dantian, and, as Chen Xiang further practices the [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols], he will be able to later create an Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise, the four divine beasts, in his dantian.
This means that Chen Xiang alone must cultivate the same amount as four people. Although it would be very laborious, his grasp of power will be far above others at the same level.
As he simply started operating the [Tai Chi Divine Exercise], refining Spirit Qi into polished True Qi, a large amount of external Spirit Qi surged into his body! True Qi was flowing inside the large and small meridians of his body, making his meridians much more sturdy.
Morning came and pleasant sunlight entered the backyard and warmed Chen Xiang’s body. He opened his eyes, which, for a moment, seemed to glow with electricity, and a wind arose around his body, dispersing the white morning mist. His body was covered with a layer of black filth meaning that he had entered into the 4th level of the Mortal Martial Realm!
From the 4th level to the 6th level of the Mortal Martial Realm, it was considered to be the start of a new stage. Now Chen Xiang had reached the 4th level, the Opening Vein stage! This stage had previously been unreachable for him.
Chen Xiang, again, closed his eyes, attentively watching the Tai Chi Yin and Yang Diagram, within his dantian, he discovered that there were five True Qi whirlpools, each separating into four directions with a clear core! Ordinary people would only one True Qi whirlpool but he currently has five! One could not even imagine how vivid his True Qi was.
With this degree of vibrant True Qi, his strength was comparable to someone in the 5th level of the Mortal Martial Realm.
“I’ve finally entered the 4th level of the Mortal Martial Realm, now Dad doesn’t have to beg those old men for herbs!” Chen Xiang was rejoicing due to his breakthrough.
When he thought about Xue Xianxian, who had entered the 6th level of the Mortal Martial Realm at the tender age of fifteen, he immediately calmed himself down. Thinking about that Yao Family’s talented young alchemist hitting on his fiancée, Chen Xiang’s heart became resolute. He had a desire to cultivate himself more strenuously, before going to the Yao Family and challenging that ‘so called’ genius alchemy master.
“Start cultivating the [Azure Dragon Divine Exercise]!” Su Meiyao said. Since her divine sense was restored to a certain degree, she was able to clearly sense the things going on outside.
The [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols], technically speaking, was only one Divine Exercise, but, in practice, was a comprehensive guide for Boxing, Palm techniques, kicking techniques, Qigong and many others martial arts. After mastering the Divine Exercise, the prowess displayed is dependent solely on the individual.
The Azure Dragon was centered around the True Qi of wood and contained both wind and lighting attributes. As such, cultivating the [Azure Dragon Divine Exercise] will allow the user to cast martial skills that contain either wind or lightning force.
After taking a shower, Chen Xiang had a quick meal before coming back to his backyard to cultivate the [Azure Dragon Divine Exercise].
The [Tai Chi Divine Exercise] and [Divine Exercise of Four Symbols] were already integrated into his soul, so no matter how profound and mysterious they were, he was able to understand it.
After half a day, Chen Xiang was operating the True Qi within his body according to the [Azure Dragon Divine Exercise]. Soon, he saw his body start to overflow with a soft azure aura. Sometimes lightning would flash within this azure aura and, from time to time, gusts of wind blew out from Chen Xiang’s body.
Chen Xiang had now grasped how to release the power of lighting and wind derived from Wood Attributed True Qi. However, for him, this level was insufficient, he wanted to be able to transform the Wood True Qi into a fearsome wind and lighting to be used with other martial skills from the [Azure Dragon Divine Exercise].
Chen Xiang made the True Qi of Wood, inside his body, flow into his meridians. Cycling through his body, again and again, the True Qi moved erratically, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Occasionally it was similar to a large river, yet at other times, it flowed gently, like a small mountain stream.
Notes:
[1]: a type of fire made of True Qi used for alchemical purposes (add more if needed TL)
[2]: here Heart Law(心法) can be interpreted as sutra
[3]: Qi generated by the internal body
[4]: An [Exercise] is basically a cultivation practice which strengthens you