Medicine Master Disciple’s Cultivation Notes

Chapter 101: The Kind-Hearted Senior Brother Yang

Li Qiuchen said, puzzled, "We are Chu people. If we don't pledge loyalty to Great Chu, who else would we pledge it to?"

Senior Brother Yang gave a cold snort, "Have you gotten so used to being a servant that you need someone standing on top of your head at all times?"

"Only after cultivating my Elixir Viscera did I learn that the quality of the Elixir Viscera varies by grade, from the first grade to the ninth, and the difference in effectiveness between them is not even in the same conversation. In the county school we can only cultivate a first-grade Elixir Viscera. If you want to obtain a higher-level cultivation method, you must attach yourself to the authorities and work for them."

"That is nothing less than a collar fastened around our necks. If you don't put in work and effort for the authorities, you will never be able to match the officials' hunting dogs. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"As for the Dao Methods, the cultivation manuals stored in the county school's Hongwen Hall have all been edited and reworked. Practicing them won't cause serious problems, but the spirit of advancement that the ancients possessed has been stripped out. As long as you practice within the prescribed boundaries, you will never be able to break through the ceiling the authorities have set for you. In other words, we are like rats in a cage, forever to be toyed with and manipulated at someone else's pleasure."

"I see now!"

Li Qiuchen's face was a picture of shock, "My view of things was so narrow before. If you hadn't pointed this out, Senior Brother, I would have had no idea these hidden constraints existed."

Senior Brother Yang nodded with satisfaction and said, "These words of mine are only for behind closed doors. If they got out, the teachers would certainly see them as heterodox and rebellious. It's good that you can understand. But this isn't the teachers' fault either. They were raised with these ideas from childhood, and traditional ways of thinking are not easy to overturn."

"And the research I am doing right now aims precisely at breaking through the limitations the authorities have placed on us. If the authorities won't bestow a second-grade Elixir Viscera upon us, we cultivate it ourselves. If the cultivation methods have been cut and altered, we restore what was removed. In short, we walk our own path, free from the restrictions of others.""Senior Brother is absolutely right!"

Li Qiuchen nodded firmly, "Then what can I do to help?"

"There's no rush."

Senior Brother Yang smiled and said, "You're still a person of ordinary flesh and blood right now. What use could you be to me yet? I have thirty-six volumes of cultivation methods here, all transcribed from superior texts in the Hongwen Hall. Three of them have already been restored to their complete form, and you're welcome to pick any one of them. Once you've made real progress in your cultivation, you'll be able to help me then."

As he spoke, he swept a wide sleeve across the table, and dozens of jade slips appeared.

Among them, three jade slips emitted a faint glow that distinguished them from all the rest.

Li Qiuchen looked at the jade slips with undisguised interest, picked one up and examined it from all angles but couldn't make out anything particular about it.

Senior Brother Yang reminded him, "This is an immortal arts technique. Information has been inscribed within the jade slip. You only need to reach out with your spiritual sense to read the contents. All of these methods are top-tier selections, but how well they suit you varies from person to person. If you're unsure how to choose, I can offer some guidance."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Li Qiuchen thought for a moment, then asked quietly, "Senior Brother Yang, since I don't yet have an Elixir Viscera, would practicing these methods be problematic?"

"The ancient truth seekers also lacked the Elixir Viscera, and it didn't prevent them from cultivating. It simply meant the pace was slower."

Senior Brother Yang smiled and said, "I checked your foundation just now. Even without the Elixir Viscera, you have a spiritual root."

"What?"

"What's wrong? Why so surprised?"

Nothing. It's just that something suddenly felt itchy inside his body.

Li Qiuchen said with a dazed expression, "What is a spiritual root? Could I actually have one?"

Senior Brother Yang nodded, "Before the concept of the Elixir Viscera came into use, the ancient cultivation sects all selected disciples who possessed spiritual roots and had them practice methods corresponding to the attribute of their root. The results were equally efficient."

"Take Zeng Mingming as an example. He has a fire spiritual root. Practicing fire-aligned methods suits him perfectly. In just a few days of cultivation he already shows signs of entering the qi refinement stage."

"Then what kind of spiritual root does Senior Brother see in me?"

"You, hmm..."

Senior Brother Yang considered for a moment, "I think you likely have a wood spiritual root. You might want to try a wood-aligned method. As it happens, one of the three restored volumes I've completed is a wood-aligned method."

He singled out one jade slip and passed it to Li Qiuchen.

Li Qiuchen accepted it and was about to examine the contents when his peripheral vision caught Senior Brother Yang watching him. He closed his eyes and began to strain his mind in concentrated effort.

"Junior brother, do you not know how to use your spiritual sense?"

Li Qiuchen was already sweating from the effort. At those words he gave a dry laugh and said, "I apologize for making Senior Brother laugh. I thought I knew how."

Senior Brother Yang sighed and said, "Then you'd better start from the most fundamental level. I have an introductory qi guidance formula here. Take it home and read it carefully. If anything is unclear, you're welcome to come and ask me."

"Many thanks, Senior Brother!"

Li Qiuchen took it and looked it over. Well, well. An old friend.

This Senior Brother Yang truly was an extraordinarily good person.

Xu Qing came back.

This time he arrived stripped to the waist, kneeling at the county school gate with both hands raised holding a bundle of thorny branches, going through the full performance with great thoroughness.

The snow on the ground had not yet melted, and a cold north wind was howling. His face had gone iron grey and he was trembling visibly.

Though of course there was also some degree of performance involved.

He was, after all, a great practitioner in the qi refinement stage.

At temperatures of negative ten or more, he was not going to suffer any real physical harm.

Master Qin kept his expression stiff and unmoved. Even when several other teachers put in good words on Xu Qing's behalf, he showed no sign of relenting.

But he didn't send Xu Qing away either.

He let him kneel at the gate in the cold for a full night. Only the next morning when the sun had risen and Xu Qing was nearly frozen solid did a padded jacket get sent out, and the gate was opened to let him back in.

Meng Ping was not so fortunate.

Not that his family background was any less substantial. It was genuinely a matter of luck.

He had also wanted to come and kneel alongside Xu Qing, but his mother flatly refused to allow it, reportedly going berserk at home and smashing his father's most prized antique jar, declaring absolutely that her precious son would not be subjected to such an ordeal.

His father had no recourse and sent another three thousand taels to the county school, exhausting every polite argument available, hoping to ask Master Qin to make an exception.

Both the man and the silver were thrown out together.

The county school did accept money, but not every kind of money.

After his return, Xu Qing kept a very low profile. He had no choice, the cold had left him in a daze, and it would take at least ten days to half a month to fully recover.

He was keeping quiet, but someone else was not.

Zeng Mingming's tail was in the air.

He was now telling anyone who would listen that he had already drawn qi into his body and could even breathe fire from his mouth. This drew gasps of astonishment from everyone around him.

He had absolutely no concept of keeping a secret, and Liu Huai'an was so frightened by it that he was constantly on edge, terrified of what might happen if Master Qin started asking questions.

You were supposed to practice quietly on the side! Who told you to come back here and show off?

But Zeng Mingming's way of thinking operated on an entirely different track: if I can't show off, what was the point of learning it?

That said, he wasn't completely foolish either. He didn't go so far as to stage a personal fire-breathing demonstration in the middle of class.

He didn't perform, and so Master Qin didn't ask too many questions.

With Master Qin not asking, Li Qiuchen had a reasonably clear picture of the situation in his own mind.

The county school's inner hall was a place that valued proper conduct and correct behavior.

But proper conduct and correct behavior did not place any strict limits on a student's initiative to learn and improve on their own.

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