abnabooks Chapter 16 Breakthrough
Chapter 16 Breakthrough
Meng Chen was isolated.
That's not surprising. Gao Yuan comes from a good family, has made rapid progress, and is highly respected in the martial arts school. Even Master Du treats him with great favor.
Even though such a person didn't say anything harsh to Meng Chen, everyone wasn't stupid. Even those who were focused on martial arts and weren't close to Gao Yuan kept their distance from Meng Chen.
Newcomers to the martial arts school, unaware of the situation, would exchange a few words with Meng Chen, but after a couple of days, they would stop talking to him altogether.
Qi Yun, on the other hand, would occasionally exchange a few words with Meng Chen, and would even secretly share his insights on breaking through the barrier.
This person is indeed as Gong Ziming said; he is not inherently bad, it's just that everyone has their own ambitions.
Meng Chen was isolated by everyone in the martial arts school. He practiced alone and ate alone every day, which made him quite leisurely.
However, now that he has a murder case on his hands, owes a debt to Old Chen and his grandson, and has also angered the son of the clerk, he can be considered to have more troubles than worries.
Of course, this also made Meng Chen realize that he must break through the barrier as soon as possible!
Therefore, after Gong Ziming left, Meng Chen worked even harder to practice. Every day before dawn, he would get up and practice Bahequan three times before starting to build up his strength.
When everyone lay down to listen to Du Ren's appreciation of women's pleasures that evening, Meng Chen continued practicing horse stance until his legs could no longer endure it.
Time flies, and it's already early August.
The yin-yang symbol remained unchanged. However, Meng Chen had already sensed that, through his day and night training, a kind of energy seemed to be forming within his body.
This energy is closely related to one's vital energy and spirit. Even if one works until exhaustion every day and is physically and mentally fatigued, this energy will only weaken slightly and will return to its original state after a night's rest.
Meng Chen knew that he had reached the point where his Qi and blood were full, and if he wanted to push his Qi and blood upwards further, he would have to break through the barrier.
Just as he was thinking of asking Master Du for advice, he saw Master Du leading Gao Yuan to the inner courtyard.
"Do you know what Senior Brother Gao was doing in the inner courtyard?" At lunchtime, Qi Yun sat down next to Meng Chen again.
Meng Chen shook his head upon hearing this.
"He's preparing to attempt the third trial in a few days, but Master Du advised him to wait a bit longer." Qi Yun's voice was low, his face serious. "Senior Brother Gao is different from us. He's eaten beef since he was a child, treating it like a staple food. Now he takes pills every day, and even takes a medicinal bath when he gets home at night. How can we compare to him?"
Seeing that Meng Chen was only focused on eating, Qi Yun whispered again, "Haven't you noticed how little anyone talks to you these days? Think about Old Gong, he's all talk and no action. We're just commoners, don't dream of becoming the next Yan Long. We need to follow the lead of others! Go and lower your head, I'll put in a good word for you. We can both follow Senior Brother Gao, and in a few years, we might even be able to build a fortune. Isn't that better than farming?"
Meng Chen felt that Qi Yun's words made sense, but wasn't it precisely because he couldn't bring himself to kowtow that he killed the villain and thought of coming out to make a living?
Suddenly, Meng Chen remembered the story of Qingyu's mother and felt that no matter how bitter or difficult things were, they could never be as hard as that afternoon when Yan Bao took away his land.
Seeing that Meng Chen remained silent, Qi Yun sighed and said in a low voice, sounding wronged, "Actually, you look down on me just like Lao Gong, thinking I'm spineless, right?"
"We're all peasants, no one looks down on anyone else," Meng Chen said.
Qi Yun remained silent for a long time, then patted Meng Chen on the shoulder and left without looking back.
Several days have passed in the blink of an eye, and it is now August 8th.
Meng Chen felt that the time to break through the barrier had come and could not be delayed any longer.
After finding Master Du, Meng Chen explained the situation, and Du Zhong gave him some more instructions and promised to protect the Dharma.
Having received the promise, Meng Chen began preparations. These preparations, in reality, involved exhausting his own strength.
This challenge of activating the Qi and blood is neither particularly difficult nor easy.
The first step is to nourish the Qi and blood, strengthen the original Qi, and then, when the Qi and blood are full, to exhaust the body to the point of near collapse of mind, guard the original mind, and observe the dissipating fire of Qi and blood in the body.
Then, one should concentrate one's will and unleash one's primordial energy, as if igniting one's blood. If successful, the outward manifestation will be the rising of blood energy above the head.
After noon, Meng Chen stopped practicing the Returning to Origin Technique and instead desperately threw stone locks and pushed stone mills.
Despite the scorching sun and the profuse sweat, Meng Chen never stopped for a moment.
By evening, Meng Chen's face was flushed, his body was radiating heat, and his limbs were sore and swollen. He couldn't even lift his arms, let alone take a step. He was so exhausted that his mind went blank.
"Relax and guard your spirit," Du Zhong suddenly said.
At this moment, Meng Chen felt like someone who had been harvesting wheat day and night for a month. He couldn't straighten his back, lift his hands, or stretch his legs. He didn't even have the strength to think, let alone calm his mind. All he wanted to do was sleep.
"Junior Brother Meng, you can't back down now! If you fall asleep, you'll need to recover for at least several days!" Du Ren stepped forward, hands on his hips, and shouted, "You've only paid for two months! Think about how much money you have left!"
Du Ren's cruel words startled Meng Chen, who suddenly realized that he had no land at home, was in debt to Old Chen, and Yan Long was not yet back. He was no longer sleepy.
I closed my eyes and focused my mind. I don't know how much time passed, but in a daze, I finally felt a surge of energy within my body.
This extremely subtle aura is the primordial energy. Although Meng Chen's body and mind are on the verge of collapse, this energy is full of vitality and flows continuously.
In an instant, this primordial energy encountered the remaining scattered blood and qi in his body, instantly igniting the latter. Meng Chen felt excruciating pain all over his body, but the strength he had lost seemed to return somewhat.
"It's done." Du Ren smiled with relief when he saw steam rising from Meng Chen's head.
"Everyone, watch carefully!" Du Zhong took the opportunity to instruct, "The outward sign of passing the first test is that the steam rising from the top of the head is tinged with blood red, called 'blood and qi smoke.' Some people have dense smoke, some have faint smoke, just like two people of the same age, one can eat one bowl of rice, and some can eat three bowls of rice. Therefore, even among those who are passing the same test, there are differences."
At this moment, Meng Chen was completely unaware of what was happening outside. He only felt that his fatigue had lessened and his body was slightly warm, as if a small spring had sprouted inside him, slowly gushing out clear water to nourish his tired body.
After a moment of contemplation, the yin-yang symbol underwent a change!
The yang fish became slightly brighter, while the yin fish remained the same, which only made the yin fish appear even dimmer.
Before long, although Meng Chen was still extremely weak and the soreness in his limbs had not subsided, the feeling of fatigue gradually disappeared and his strength slowly returned.
Opening his eyes, he saw smiles on the faces of the Du father and son, clearly showing their great satisfaction.
Surrounded by a group of people, Qi Yun, who was smiling, saw Gao Yuan's expressionless face and withdrew his smile.
After nearly two months at the Du Family Martial Arts School, Meng Chen finally broke through the first barrier in martial arts, and did not follow in Gong Ziming's footsteps.