Chapter 72: Dao Techniques

  After dinner, Lu Min talked with Xie Guanglong for a long time before returning to his room to rest. Liu Xu had a hard life and still had to sort out the materials provided by Xie Guanglong together with Liu Bei, writing until midnight before finishing the draft. Today they rushed on the road all day and drank a lot of wine, everyone was exhausted, Liu Bei fell asleep as soon as he got into bed, and when called again, he had no response.

  Liu Xiu was also tired, but much better than Liu Bei. Lying on the bed to start practicing qigong for less than a minute, he fell asleep. Fortunately, he recovered well and got up on time the next day. Seeing Lu Min and Liu Bei still sleeping, he quietly washed his face and went out of the door, walked onto the city wall, preparing to conduct daily practice.

  The eastern sky had just revealed a faint white, the surrounding mountains were silent, with only a gentle breeze blowing. The city walls were empty, and two soldiers responsible for guarding the night were hiding in the corner, dozing off. As soon as they heard Liu Xiu's footsteps, they subconsciously wanted to get up. When they opened their blurry eyes, they found that it was not the officer coming to inspect, so they relaxed again, let out a big yawn, sat back in the corner, smacked their lips, and closed their eyes.

  Liu Xiuyi smiled apologetically and walked to a place where he wouldn't disturb them, starting his silent practice. There were no wooden stakes to chop here, so he could only practice his fist techniques. His fist practices weren't fast, with almost no wind sounds, except for the occasional footsteps when moving, which didn't disturb others much either.

  Liu Xiuxian finished practicing his fist technique, and facing the eastern horizon where a red glow was rising, he did several breaths of qigong, then slowly exhaled, completing his daily routine.

  "Clap, clap, clap......" A soft applause sounded from behind.

  Liu Xiu did not immediately turn around, but instead hesitated for a moment before slowly turning his body to look at the green-clothed woman who had her arm wrapped around her chest and was leaning against the wall. Her face wore an indescribable smile that seemed curious, disdainful, and... envious.

  Liu Xiu looked around and did not see the middle-aged man who had been shouting in the valley yesterday.

  "My master is not here." The woman straightened up, bowed her head and made a gesture of respect, then pointed to the south slope. Liu Xiu followed her direction and looked over, only to see that on the rocky peak at the top of the mountain, there seemed to be a figure standing, if it wasn't for his good eyesight and the fact that dawn was already breaking, he would have almost missed the dark silhouette.

  Liu Xiu sincerely praised, "Your master's kung fu is great, and you can get to such a high place."

  "This is nothing, my master climbed Mount Tai as if walking on flat ground."

  "Hmm, Liu Xiu was speechless. He thought to himself that she really did get out of breath from being fat. He didn't say much either and looked at the woman, 'May I ask if you have any business here? If not, then I'll take my leave first, my senior brother will probably be getting up soon.'"

  The woman's face sank, her two thin eyebrows rose, and a flash of anger disappeared. Her voice also became somewhat stiff: "My master wants to say a few words to Mr. Liu. If Mr. Liu is willing to grant an audience, please follow me."

  Liu Xiu looked up at the stone house on the mountain top, shrugged his shoulders: "Really sorry, I'll wait for your master to come down, I don't have the skill to go up."

  "You don't have it, I do." The woman raised an eyebrow, revealing a hint of complacency: "What does Liu Jun think?"

  "Who are you?" Liu Xiu looked at the woman's figure with some surprise. She was probably under twenty, about seven feet five inches tall, which was considered tall among ordinary people, but her posture was slender and not particularly robust. Liu Xiu knew that she had climbed up that mountain yesterday, so he believed that her physical skills were not bad, but when it came to carrying himself up to the stone house, he expressed great doubt. He hesitated for a moment, kindly reminding her: "Don't look at me as not fat, I'm actually very heavy."

  "I know." The woman in green finally showed a hint of a smile and nodded: "My master said you have an inner strength, which is heavier than it looks on the surface. However, your skills are still shallow, not even at the entry level, so there's only so much weight to consider. I can definitely take you up with me."

  Liu Xiu's mind suddenly buzzed with a loud noise, what does this mean, could it be that he knows I'm practicing the Qi Gong?

  "Mr. Liu? You... are you alright?" The woman saw Liu Xiu's astonished expression, and the smile on her face grew thicker, the coldness in her tone dissolving somewhat, replaced by a hint of playfulness.

  Liu Xiu was shocked and his curiosity suddenly overcame his fear of the Yellow Turbans. He nodded repeatedly without saying a word. The woman couldn't help but laugh and walked forward, taking Liu Xiu's hand in hers: "Let's go."

  Liu Xiu didn't have time to feel embarrassed, and followed the woman as she walked forward. For some reason, he felt his footsteps becoming much lighter, and as they walked faster, the steep slope of the city wall wasn't so laborious anymore. He had wanted to ask the woman how she did it, but when he turned his head to look at her, her lips were trembling, seemingly reciting something rapidly in silence, completely ignoring him. He could only shut his mouth and focus on climbing the mountain.

  The slope became steeper and Liu Xiu felt a bit laborious, but his feet were still light and agile. However, the area between his chest and abdomen seemed to be heating up, and with each breath, it became more substantial. The gentle breathing he was used to during practice also became urgent and rougher by several degrees.

  They climbed higher and higher, feeling the mountain wind whizzing past them, feeling the stairs beneath their feet receding, Liu Xiu suddenly felt a thrill of excitement, the power in his chest and abdomen growing more and more intense, making him want to let out a loud whoop, but that surge of energy although it reached his throat, somehow couldn't be expressed, this unexpressed feeling made him feel even more stifled.

  "Uncomfortable?" a thick voice sounded in front of him.

  Liu Xiu's eyes widened as he looked around, his heart racing with a sudden jolt of fear. He didn't know when he had climbed to the top of that stone hut, surrounded by deep valleys on all sides, making him dizzy and chilled to the bone. The middle-aged man stood at one corner of the stone hut, his hands behind his back, his heels already at the edge, yet he was as steady as a mountain, his expression calm and composed.

  Liu Xiu steadied his footsteps and quickly calmed himself down. In his previous life, he had climbed mountains and even ascended the Oriental Pearl Tower, which was known as the third-highest in Asia and fifth-highest in the world. To cultivate his mind, he had also lived in a thousand-foot tower on Mount Hua for several months, so this feeling of standing at the edge of the precipice and overlooking all the other mountains was not unfamiliar to him.

  "Kindness." The middle-aged man nodded in approval: "I'm sorry to have asked Mr. Liu to come, and I hope Mr. Liu will forgive me."

  "Heh heh, since you're a cultivator, I suppose you don't bother with worldly etiquette." Liu Xiu took a deep breath and tried to appear composed. He didn't dare stand at the edge like the middle-aged man, but he also clasped his hands behind his back, trying not to look down and instead gazed around, pretending to appreciate the view. In a light tone, he said, "In that case, let's keep things simple. You invited me to this precipice, I wonder what guidance you have for me."

  The middle-aged man paused, smiled silently, and then said straightforwardly: "I have something unclear, Liu Jun is also a cultivator, why do you have prejudices against the people of my Taoist school?" He looked at Liu Xiu and said before he asked: "I accidentally heard your comments on Gong Sha Taizhen's father and son yesterday. Please forgive me, it was not intentional to eavesdrop on others' conversations, but just coincidental. Of course, your residence is only two rooms away from mine, and I can also hear you clearly when you practice Tu Na."

  Liu Xiu was stunned, staring at the middle-aged man, unable to utter a word. If he happened to overhear his conversation with Liu He, it could be understood, but how did he manage to hear him practicing qigong through two rooms? It was a bit too mysterious. Coupled with the clear whistle that pierced through 500 steps on the mountain yesterday, Liu Xiu began to suspect whether this middle-aged man in front of him was really some kind of immortal.

  His mouth was a little dry, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked with difficulty: "Is there really such a thing as Taoist magic? And who are you?"

  The middle-aged man seemed to have anticipated his surprised expression and did not answer his next question, but just nodded: "There is no such thing as Taoist magic, do you think that with your current cultivation, you can come up so easily?"