Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 71: Entering... the Ranks?

Shen Shuibi began to explain to Li Qi what she intended to do.

"Spring sees the beginning of Wood's reign, Liver qi begins to arise. Liver qi is swift, like a rapid wind." She began her habitual recitation from texts.

This meant that in spring, the Wood qi becomes dominant, and in the human body, Liver qi begins to manifest. The characteristic of Liver qi is its impulsiveness, as swift as a changing wind.

"Li Qi, your Liver qi is vigorous because you frequently use Great Forest Wood qi, making your life force abundant. But this isn't entirely good. Overly vigorous life force can easily induce tumors, just as trees grow forks, this is due to an excess of life force."

"However, your cultivation is still shallow, far from reaching that stage. Later, you can slowly accumulate the qi of the four seasons to naturally harmonize it, so I didn't say much. But now, this seems to have turned into a good thing."

Shen Shuibi continued: "That which can both exist and perish in the hidden darkness are the divining stalks, the turtle, and the dragon. The turtle is born in water, activated by fire, thus becoming a prophet for all things, a verification of fortune and misfortune. This is the wondrous origin of the dragon and the turtle."

Li Qi understood this passage. That which lies hidden in the darkness, capable of both existing and perishing, are the old turtle and the dragon.

The turtle is born in water, and when divining, its shell is roasted with fire. The harmony of water and fire allows it to become a seer of all things, a confirmation of fortune and misfortune.

"Therefore, the principle is interconnected. Water, gathered in plants and trees, allows their roots to reach an appropriate depth, their flowers to bloom in appropriate numbers, and their fruits to yield an appropriate weight. This is because the interior of plants and trees contain an appropriate amount of water," Shen Shuibi elaborated.

"The Earth is the fundamental origin of all things, the root and source of all life. With its own body as the earth, and trees planted within it, it gathers water and draws from its kind." At this point, Shen Shuibi grew slightly excited."I will use the Wood qi in your liver as a guide, combined with your Kidney qi and Lung qi. Water qi gives rise to Great Wood, thus the Kidney is the ultimate Yin; ultimate Yin holds abundant water. The Lung is the greater Yin; lesser Yin is the winter pulse. Therefore, its root is in the Kidney, and its extremity is in the Lung. The Lung belongs to Metal, and Metal generates Water. Water qi tempers Metal. In this way, three of your five internal organs can be strengthened by Water qi."

"This way, your body will be robust, your internal qi abundant, and your martial arts will be able to directly enter Ninth-Rank!" Shen Shuibi said happily, pleased that Li Qi could quickly reach Ninth-Rank.

As for Li Qi himself... he was utterly bewildered.

Did he understand?

It seemed... he understood?

But then again, he also seemed to not understand.

Never mind. Shen Shuibi was a Fifth-Rank expert; she definitely knew more than he did. And she neither lied nor treated him with anything but sincerity, so listening was the right thing to do.

"Then what do I need to do?" Li Qi asked directly.

"You don't need to do anything. Sit down, and leave the rest to me!" Shen Shuibi was very efficient. She walked directly to Li Qi, took his hand, and led him to a flat piece of ground nearby.

Two hours later.

Li Qi stared blankly at his hands.

His internal qi was abundant, no longer measurable in "strands" but rather in "streams."

Ninth-Rank martial arts, achieved?

Just like that?

What happened to entering the ranks being incredibly difficult?

Li Qi stood up and channeled his Carp Flowing Intent, throwing a punch.

The wind howled! Kidney qi pumped out, Liver qi boiled, Lung qi distilled, converging into internal qi that surged into his fist.

This single punch actually unleashed the might of thunder!

The punch's force converged into a single stream, and the fist itself directly struck a large tree, breaking the tree, which was wide enough for one person to embrace, clean in half at the waist. His hand was completely unharmed, though his heart was pounding slightly, but not severely. He could sustain this level of combat for about five or six minutes.

"Hmm... there are still some minor deficiencies. A normal Ninth-Rank martial artist tempers all five internal organs. Right now, you've only strengthened three, so there are still some shortcomings, but you can make up for them later."

"I've arranged everything. It's spring now. When summer arrives, the ancient texts say: 'Summer sees the beginning of Fire's reign, Heart qi begins to grow, reaching into the meridians.' This means that in summer, the Fire qi becomes dominant, and Heart qi begins to grow and strengthen. At that time, when you sacrifice to the Heavenly Spirits of the four seasons, you should switch to Vermilion Bird!"

"At that time, by using the three qi of the Southern Heavens and the Fire of the Fire Official Yinghuo, we can stimulate the growth of Heart qi, completing the tempering of the heart. With four organs formed, the final spleen only needs some exercise. The four elements nourish the earth, achieving the 'completion of crossing,' and you will naturally become a complete Ninth-Rank!"

Shen Shuibi spoke, smiling as always, looking like a cute fluffy rabbit.

But Li Qi's face was numb.

What was there to say?

Old Lady Wang, in her entire life, practiced for at least fifty years, yet never managed to enter the ranks.

However, Shen Shuibi simply pondered for a moment and, using those thirty strands of pure water qi and his recently accumulated Great Forest Wood qi, effortlessly propelled his martial arts cultivation to Ninth-Rank, albeit a flawed Ninth-Rank.

He didn't know what to say.

When shock reaches its peak, one becomes completely numb. Li Qi felt he couldn't make any other expression.

It turned out that when an emotion reaches its extreme, a person goes directly numb, completely devoid of any other sensation.

What was this called?

This reminded Li Qi of a story.

It was about drawing a line for 1 dollar.

Knowing where to draw the line was 9,999 dollars.

A Fifth-Rank expert, truly living up to her reputation.

Cultivation, indeed, was different for different people. With guidance from a renowned master, it wasn't just twice the results with half the effort; it was a super multiplier.

Li Qi couldn't help but sigh.

What others sought their entire lives, he achieved in just one month of cultivation.

The gap between people was truly greater than that between humans and dogs.

He didn't ask Shen Shuibi how she did it because he knew he wouldn't understand.

Shen Shuibi explained only the very superficial principles, like explaining relativity to an elementary school student, you could bring up things like the twin paradox or length contraction and time dilation, giving a rough explanation of the principles.

But when it came to the rigorous proofs and specific implementations, no matter how much you explained, if the listener's level wasn't there, they couldn't understand.

Although he had experienced Shen Shuibi's vast knowledge many times, each time she left Li Qi deeply impressed.

Yes, Shen Shuibi was innocent and lovely, somewhat goofy and endearing.

But she was definitely not foolish. On the contrary, she possessed extremely profound knowledge and a nimble way of thinking; she was simply pure in personality.

Li Qi took a deep breath, calmed his internal qi, and felt his current strength.

After reaching Ninth-Rank, the biggest difference was that his organs had become tougher.

His internal organs had been tempered, giving him extended stamina. For instance, his Lesser Yin Lung, tempered by water qi, could likely hold his breath for an hour without issue now.

His Greater Yin Kidney, after tempering, had also greatly strengthened his metabolic system. According to Shen Shuibi, ordinary toxins would no longer affect him, and the soreness after strenuous exercise would quickly disappear.

And as the liver governs blood, he now had abundant qi and blood, and his physical strength was more than ten times what it used to be.

All in all, the threshold of Ninth-Rank had been crossed so simply.

Li Qi remained frozen in place, speechless.

...