SFS Chapter 23: After years of wandering on the cliff, I am grateful for your continued support.
Chapter 23: After years of wandering on the cliff, I am grateful for your continued support.
"Thank you, Uncle-Master!"
"Uncle-Master"
Li Ya stood up and bowed. Uncle Xie sat down on his own and poured himself a cup of tea, but his eyes never left Li Ya.
"Not bad, in just these few days, many of your acupoints have been opened up."
"Um?"
Uncle Xie also noticed the abnormality in Li Ya, but Li Ya was not worried at all.
The Heavenly Capital Sword Pill of the Chen Su is hidden deep within the acupoints and acupoints, and it would be impossible to see it without invading it with divine sense.
"Could it be that Li Ya is truly a hidden gem, possessing some kind of special physique? This sharp aura has only been seen in sword cultivators. Could he be a reincarnation of a sword cultivator who has undergone physical transformation?"
If Li Ya knew that his Uncle Xie had such a profound understanding, he would probably be quite surprised; he was far too insightful.
Li Ya did not dodge, but met Xie Shishu's gaze. After a long eye contact, Xie Shishu finally spoke.
Do you know the secret passage?
Hidden orifice? What is a hidden orifice?
Li Ya was stunned on the spot, having never heard of the term "hidden aperture" before.
"Could it be some kind of acupoint?"
Seeing Li Ya's reaction, Uncle Xie understood. How could a poor family have the opportunity to know such things?
"Even a rogue cultivator knows that the three hundred and sixty-five acupoints are interconnected. But what if there are many other acupoints that have not yet been revealed, in addition to these three hundred and sixty-five main acupoints?"
Li Ya was shocked. Such a thing existed. He had never heard a single word about other acupoints existing in the human body.
"If these hidden passages are not opened before the age of twenty, they will be completely closed and there will be no chance to reopen them."
"These hidden techniques are among the secrets passed down through generations of aristocratic families and sects!"
The aristocratic families and sects that donkeys entered—they held this information in their hands.
With such a vast chasm, how can a rogue cultivator ever rise to prominence?
Uncle Xie gently turned the ring on his slender finger, and a scroll appeared in his right hand. He pressed down with his left hand, and an invisible barrier rose up, enveloping Qingmu Pavilion.
The reel is tossed upwards and floats in the air, slowly unfurling.
A picture book appeared in front of Li Ya, densely engraved with diagrams of the human body's meridians and acupoints.
The lines crisscross, the meridians meander like mountains and rivers, and the acupoints are arranged like stars, all in a neat and orderly manner. This is the well-known general diagram of the 365 orthodox acupoints.
She raised her hand and pointed to the diagram, then slowly began to speak.
"For cultivators in the world, the first step in entering the path of cultivation is to open all the meridians, and then to open all the acupoints."
"These 365 orifices are called manifest orifices, also known as true orifices."
"Those who manifest their powers have fixed locations and unchanging trajectories. Mountain spirits and monsters cultivate themselves and transform into human form, and they will also use the opportunity of transformation to create manifest powers."
Li Ya suppressed the excitement in his heart. His Uncle Xie was willing to tell him these things, which was definitely not just empty talk. He probably wanted to pass on the secret techniques.
"Do you know why you can't see the hidden acupoints when you circulate your inner energy?"
Li Ya asked in a deep voice, "Please teach me, Uncle-Master!"
Xie Daoyun narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly, rested her right elbow on her leg, propped her chin up with her palm, and looked up at Li Ya with a slight tilt of her head.
"Lingji, do you think I shouldn't have taught him?"
Senior Brother Lingji really didn't expect this matter to involve qualifications, so he could only bite the bullet and say it.
"The location of the hidden apertures... My uncle is the head of both the Xie and Yunfu families. The Xie family's Hidden Aperture Chart is a family secret, which cannot be passed down to anyone outside the Xie family. The Yunfu sect's Hidden Aperture Chart is also a sect secret, which cannot be passed down to anyone outside the inner sect!"
"If this is passed on to Brother Xiaoya, it would violate the oath of the Great Dao. My master will unleash the Yin Fire and strike him with heavenly lightning, reducing him to ashes!"
"Li Ya, do you think I can pass on my skills to you?" She looked him over with a playful smile, while Li Ya's heart was pounding with anticipation.
"Everything will be decided by my martial uncle, but I secretly wish that he would pass on his skills to me!"
Li Ya bowed deeply.
She stopped smiling, stood up and looked at the diagram in the air. Her height far exceeded that of ordinary female cultivators. Li Ya raised his head slightly and looked at her stunningly beautiful back.
"I'm just kidding."
"The sect's secret manuals cannot be passed on to you, but I can pass on the Xie family's secret manuals to you."
"Auntie!" Lingji's expression changed drastically.
Xie Daoyun gestured for him to be quiet.
"Lingji, I understand your concerns, but we are both considered outcasts of our families. What I owe the Xie family, I have already paid back."
"When I made the Great Vow, I said that it should not be passed on to outsiders, but I did not say that it should not be passed on to those who are not of the Xie family bloodline."
Lingji breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but then a question arose: "But how do you define 'one of us,' Auntie? Please enlighten me."
"I'll take him as my apprentice!"
These words struck them like a thunderclap.
"Li Ya, perhaps you have doubts. You've only offered a secret method for exterminating insects; why should I take it so seriously?"
"Please enlighten me, Martial Uncle!"
Li Ya felt a gust of wind rise from the flat ground in the courtyard.
"Throughout my life, Xie Daoyun was second to none."
"Back then, when they sent me to the Yunfu Sect to participate in the outer sect selection, I was just there to make up the numbers, but no one expected that I, the one who was just there to make up the numbers, would actually pass."
"Three members of the Xie family passed the test and became outer disciples, but the elders in the family still do not favor me and instead allocate cultivation resources to my two cousins."
"As for me, I just want to go back and be a tool for that marriage alliance after I reach the fifth level of Qi Refining."
"But the result was that my two cousins perished in the sect's grand examination, while I won first place and became a disciple of Master Zeng."
"Even so, they didn't change their minds. They just kept asking me to mentor the Xie family's children. Master Zeng didn't want me to be dragged down by this, so he spent a lot of money to help me..."
"Buy my freedom!"
"And you, if you were doing well at home, why did you come back to find me?"
"A home is a home when it treats us like family!"
He remained silent, lost in thought.
"I am now at the eighth level of Qi Refining. I can't even build a spiritual palace on my own. So, I need to have my own team to fight for the position of true successor."
"What I need is a team that is absolutely loyal to me!"
"Your cultivation speed is fast enough, your background is clean, and most importantly, you are willing to risk your head for another servant, showing your loyalty."
At this point, Li Ya fully understood that his senior uncle probably knew everything about the tricks he had played in Beitian.
Coming here today is both a warning and a life-saving measure.
In this great era of vying for immortality, the only bargaining chip I can afford to give up is my life.
But how can one's life be the same no matter who they give it to? At least Uncle Xie is truly willing to offer a real price.
Li Ya made a decisive move and bowed deeply.
"Ya was orphaned at a young age and wandered for over a decade. The steward, however, did not abandon him and offered to become his disciple!"
Lingji was taken aback for a moment, then looked at her aunt.
She had a big smile on her face.
……
"The human body is a microcosm, with its inner and outer parts forming the universe."
"The 365 visible orifices form the exterior, constructing the mortal body's circulation; the 1,000 hidden orifices form the interior. These hidden orifices are concealed in the muscles, hidden in the fascia, lying in the bone crevices, and sinking into the layers of the internal organs. They are formless, without location, neither visible nor exposed, and cannot be found by ordinary true qi probing. Hence, they are called hidden orifices."
"The manifest orifices are identical for everyone, with no difference in location. The hidden orifices are innate and dormant, which everyone possesses, but the number varies depending on one's constitution, endowment, and innate constitution."
Xie Daoyun proceeded slowly and deliberately, dissecting the intricacies of the matter.
"When heaven and earth give birth to humankind, at the moment of conception, the innate primordial energy is abundant, and all the hidden orifices in the body are slightly open, communicating with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and flowing freely."
"Therefore, when a baby is first born, it is closest to the Way of Heaven and is the most spiritual. But as it grows older, the impurities of the mortal world invade the body, the seven emotions and six desires disturb the flow of Qi, and the food and drink acquired later in life clog the muscles and tissues. As a result, countless innate hidden orifices will gradually become sealed and closed layer by layer."
"After the age of twenty, all the hidden orifices close up completely, and there is no possibility of them opening again."
"The reason why the direct disciples of aristocratic families and sects can crush rogue cultivators at the same level is that they know the approximate location of the hidden acupoints and the method of connecting them. They are at the same level, have the same cultivation method, and their true qi far surpasses that of rogue cultivators."
Li Ya was deeply moved and couldn't help but ask.
"Master, is the number of hidden points recorded in this diagram complete?"
Xie Daoyun's fingertips shone brightly, outlining countless tiny lights on the Xie family map.
"The Xie family's illustrated manual records 216 hidden openings, while this general illustrated manual records 342 hidden openings, of which 181 overlap."
She then sighed.
"It is said that there is a map of the spiritual apertures of heaven and earth in Baiyujing, which records 1,081 spiritual apertures, and only the successive generation of Daoists can view it."
"Today I am passing on the Xie family genealogy to you. You must swear an oath not to pass it on recklessly or to teach it privately!"
"Your disciple will remember this!" Li Ya said solemnly, making a loud vow.
"Today, I, your disciple, have received the Hidden Aperture Diagram from my master. I swear by the Great Dao that I will strictly guard this secret transmission for the rest of my life and never pass it on to anyone else. If I break this oath, may I be eternally condemned to the Netherworld and never be reborn, and may Heaven and Earth bear witness!"
"good!"
Xie Daoyun immediately pointed a finger at his brow, and a wisp of warm Daoist energy flowed into his spiritual platform.
In an instant, a vast amount of information unfolded in his mind: two hundred and sixteen hidden acupoint diagrams, location methods, and key techniques were all engraved into his soul.
Xie Daoyun's gentle voice rang in my mind; it turned out that her cold tone was just an act.
"With hidden passages and interconnected points, there are no shortcuts; only steady and slow movements..."
"First cleanse the turbid, then guide the qi to flow through the subtle..."
Li Ya was deeply engrossed in the mysteries and could not extricate himself from them.
I don't know how much time passed before I finally opened my eyes.
Master has left, leaving only Senior Brother Lingji in the courtyard to brew and enjoy tea.
"Auntie is gone!"
Seeing Li Ya awaken, Senior Brother Lingji couldn't help but joke.
"Ya was orphaned at a young age and has been wandering for over a decade... Hey, stop hitting me! You, with your mere second-level cultivation, dare to fight me..."