Chapter 21: Lightning Five Whips, do you know?
Early morning is the busiest time of the day in Guanjiangkou.

The rising sun has not yet had time to release its heat, allowing people to stroll on the streets feeling the cool breeze.

Street vendors are hawking all kinds of goods in various ways, and the air is filled with the aroma of steamed buns, sesame cakes and other breakfasts...

Under the bluestone bridge in the east of the city, Yang Ling imitated Xuan Du and sat cross-legged in front of the stall.

Suddenly, all the noisy sounds fell silent, replaced by the sound of flowing water and birds singing.

There are weeping willows planted on both sides of the bridge, and the willow branches sway in the wind.

Yang Ling did not explain much about the bloody smell on his body, but simply talked about his trip to Meishan yesterday.

Xuan Du didn't care about it. He just thought that he was going to collect herbs with his companions and killed a few monsters who blocked the way.

If he knew that Yang Ling had killed three demon fairies in the Xuanxian realm alone, he would probably be shocked.

After all, in his eyes, although Yang Ling's fate was special and difficult for him to understand, he was still just a mortal who was roughly proficient in the method of refining Qi.

That's why he became interested in Yang Ling.

If Yang Ling was a Golden Immortal or something like that, he would be just like everyone else in the eyes of Master Xuandu.

"So why did you come to see me today?"

Xuan Du looked at Yang Ling, trying to get some clues from his expression.

If it were someone else, he would be able to know the other person's past and future lives with just one glance.

But when facing Yang Ling, he could only guess what the other person was thinking by observing the changes in his expression.

For Xuan Du, this feeling was wonderful.

It’s like going back to the time before I became your apprentice.

At that time, he could only observe the world with his eyes and try to guess other people's thoughts with his heart.

"This time I came to ask the great master for advice on how to practice."

As Yang Ling spoke, he stood up, bowed solemnly, and said, "Master, please give me some advice."

"Oh?"

Xuan Du raised his eyebrows slightly, "So, you have already started practicing the Yin-Yang Qi Refining Technique?"

“That’s right.” Yang Ling nodded and said seriously, “I have already gotten a glimpse of the way, but there are still some things I don’t understand. I would like to ask the great wizard to correct me.”

"Then I'm going to test you."

Xuan Du said with a smile.

The "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique" he gave away was actually a castrated version of the "Tai Shang Qing Jing Jing" of the human teaching method.

The contents were obscure and difficult to understand. Even for him, it took him three days to get the hang of it.

You must know that as the first human ancestor created by Nuwa herself, he was born with sharp eyes and ears, and a smart mind.

From this we can see how profound and obscure the "Tai Shang Qing Jing Jing" is.

But now, this mortal named Yang Ling in front of him claimed that he had gained some understanding after only one day!

This was really hard for him to believe.

"What do you want to test? Please feel free to do so, Archmage."

Yang Ling seemed very confident.

When he decided to come to Xuan Du in the morning, he carefully studied the "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique" engraved in his mind.

With the blessing of more than 1500 points of [Enlightenment] attribute, the speed at which he comprehended the martial arts could no longer be measured by common sense.

What's more, the true essence of "The Art of Yin-Yang Refining Qi" has been castrated, so it doesn't take much effort for him to comprehend it.

Not only that, he also combined it with Tai Chi and "created" a whole set of boxing techniques, making up for the shortcoming of "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique" which only had the method of refining Qi but no means of strengthening the body.

This time, he planned to use Tai Chi to win Xuan Du's favor and establish a relationship with him, so that he could use his identity to intimidate those with ulterior motives in the future.

Therefore, when faced with the challenge posed by Xuan Du, he was not worried. Instead, he felt that this was an opportunity to demonstrate his Tai Chi.

"Since you have already had a glimpse of the path, do you know..." Xuan Du paused for a moment before asking softly, "What is the path of tranquility?"

Hearing this question, Yang Ling showed a hint of surprise, because this was not the content of "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique".

The art of refining qi through yin and yang is mainly based on the harmony of yin and yang and their interdependence, and its concept is to mobilize the interaction of the two qi of yin and yang to create all things in the world. It seems to have nothing to do with the word "purity".

Isn't this question a bit irrelevant?
Yang Ling was about to raise his doubts when his mind suddenly moved and he thought of the deleted parts in "The Art of Yin-Yang Refining Qi".

If this "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique" really has any connection with the way of tranquility, then it is related to the deleted parts.

It seems that he has to start from the deleted parts, and think about it again in the context to see if he can find some connections.

Thinking of this, he sat down cross-legged again, closed his eyes slightly, and quickly replayed the contents of the book "Yin Yang Qi Refining Technique" in his mind.

He soon discovered that although a lot of content had been deleted from the book "The Art of Yin and Yang Refining Qi", in addition to the Yin and Yang principles, some other content was still retained.

It’s just that when normal people try to comprehend this technique, they will be attracted by the yin and yang principles contained therein and ignore everything else.

Only by understanding the principles of yin and yang and then digging deeper into the mysteries contained therein can one make discoveries.

At this moment, Yang Ling discovered the mystery hidden in it and naturally entered a state of enlightenment where he forgot both himself and the world.

What he didn't know was that after seeing him enter the state of enlightenment with his own eyes, Master Xuandu's gaze immediately froze.

Because Yang Ling was naturally calm at this moment, a mysterious Taoist aura flowed naturally around his body.

Xuan Du was very familiar with this rhyme.

Because this is exactly the way to purity and tranquility that his master, the Sage Taiqing, realized.

Before today, the only two people who had comprehended the way of tranquility were the master and his disciple.

And now, there is one more person.

If Xuan Du had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that someone could actually comprehend the way to tranquility from the Yin-Yang Qi Refining Technique.

This is equivalent to finding out the method to prove the Goldbach conjecture from elementary school textbooks.

I can only say it is outrageous!
……

After a moment, Yang Ling slowly opened his eyes.

He looked up at the blue sky, then looked down at the soil beneath him, and slowly said, "The so-called way of tranquility has both clarity and turbidity, both movement and stillness.

The sky is clear and the earth is turbid, the sky moves and the earth is still; yang is clear and yin is turbid, yang moves and yin is still…the clear is the source of the turbid, the moving is the basis of the stillness.

People can always be quiet, and the world will return.

The human spirit likes clarity, but the heart disturbs it; the human heart likes tranquility, but desires pull it.

Let go of desires and the mind will naturally be calm; clear your mind and the spirit will naturally be pure.

In this way, the six desires will naturally cease to arise, and the three corpses will all be destroyed."

After saying this, he looked at Xuan Du and said calmly: "Master, do I understand correctly?"

Xuan Du did not answer, but just stared at Yang Ling quietly for a long time, and then said seriously: "Daoyou is indeed an extraordinary person. I underestimated you just now."

Yang Ling's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Why did this great wizard suddenly become so polite?
Could it be that I went too far?
It seems I have to be more cautious in the future.

He smiled and said a few polite words, his face regaining some of the smoothness typical of a worldly businessman.

"You just said you had questions about cultivation that you wanted to ask me. Why don't you tell me now so that we can discuss it together?"

Discuss?

Yang Ling was wondering what he had just done to cause such a drastic change in the attitude of this saint's disciple?

You have to know that until a moment ago, Xuan Du had always treated him as an ordinary person.

But now, this great wizard seemed to have regarded him as a fellow practitioner. Even if he didn't treat him as a peer or an equal, he at least attached great importance to him.

Originally, Yang Ling was going to use Tai Chi to ask Xuan Du for advice, but now he was a little scared.

What if Xuandu becomes suspicious of him after watching Tai Chi?
Looking at the great master Xuandu who was ready to listen attentively, Yang Ling pondered for a moment and slowly said:

"I learned a technique from the Yin-Yang Qi Refining Technique, called the Lightning Five Whips..."

……

(End of this chapter)