Ask Wudang Chapter 002

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He sat cross-legged on the ground, his five hearts facing the sky, his eyes slightly closed. Then he took a deep breath, emptied his mind, and cleared away distracting thoughts. Immediately after, he drew a semicircle with each hand, one pointing to the sky, the other to the ground, sinking his mind and circulating his True Qi.

Wudang Internal Cultivation, derived from Taoist philosophical thought, centers on the principle of following nature. Therefore, cultivating Wudang Internal Cultivation results in extremely long breaths and a deeper foundation compared to the internal cultivation methods of other martial arts sects. Most importantly, the core principle of Wudang Internal Cultivation is known for its upright and peaceful nature, flowing smoothly and steadily, pure and flawless, with absolutely no risk of qi deviation during practice.

Ye Qingfeng was born with all his meridians open, and his aptitude, root bone, and comprehension were all top-notch. His cultivation speed was ten times that of an ordinary person. Although he was only five years old, his internal power could already rival that of Zhang Cuishan, making him a first-rate martial artist in the jianghu.

At this moment, as he circulated the Pure Yang Wuji skill, the True Qi within his body was immediately activated.

Streams of True Qi rose from his dantian, flowed to his limbs and bones, stimulated his meridians and acupoints, and then completed a cycle before returning to his dantian. After one cycle, Ye Qingfeng immediately felt that the original soft True Qi had transformed into a trace of misty purple qi. Misty purple qi, also known as Pure Yang True Qi. As long as a breath of Pure Yang True Qi is not lost, it refines the five internal organs internally and strengthens the tendons, bones, and skin externally, dispelling evil and supporting righteousness, healing injuries and curing diseases, with astonishing miraculous effects. Compared to the original soft True Qi, this Pure Yang True Qi was undoubtedly much more powerful.

Transforming the True Qi within one’s body into Pure Yang True Qi was the threshold for cultivating the Pure Yang Wuji skill, and it required painstaking effort.

Ye Qingfeng had lived two lives, his vision was extremely far-reaching, and his state of mind far surpassed ordinary people, so he was naturally able to settle down.

In just seven days, he had transformed all of his soft True Qi into Pure Yang True Qi.

After the True Qi transformation was completed, its total volume directly shrunk by more than half, approximately by four-fifths.

However, although the total volume of True Qi shrunk, its quality had undergone a qualitative improvement, with various wondrous mysteries that were difficult to describe in words.

Ye Qingfeng only felt that when the Pure Yang True Qi circulated, it was soft and flowing, circling all the meridians of his body, connecting to the spirit of the five internal organs, circulating without dispersing, moving without stopping. Qi was generated internally, blood was nourished externally, power was unleashed with the movement of the heart, and qi followed the movement of the mind. It expanded and contracted naturally, flowing out without conscious effort, like a rising tide, like a bursting thunder, following its natural course, naturally and spontaneously.

At this point, Ye Qingfeng’s Pure Yang Wuji skill was considered to have entered the introductory stage.

To reach a higher realm, he would undoubtedly need to put in more hard work.

Originally, according to Zhang Sanfeng’s estimation, no matter how talented Ye Qingfeng was, it would take at least half a month to completely transform all his True Qi. Unexpectedly, he still underestimated Ye Qingfeng; such speed truly astonished him.

Next, Zhang Sanfeng imparted several martial arts techniques.

For fist and palm techniques, there were Cotton Palm, Mountain Quaking Palm, and Tiger Claw Hand.

For sword arts, there were Finger-Wrapping Soft Sword, Thirteen Divine Gate Swords, and True Martial Seven Intercept Array.

For Qinggong, it was naturally one of the Wudang Sect’s signature martial arts, Ladder Cloud Step.

The Cotton Palm can be completely considered one of the Wudang Sect’s signature martial arts. Although this martial art uses softness as its method, when applied, it requires a balance of hardness and softness, with yin and yang complementing each other. When using the palm, it flows like moving clouds and flowing water, without stiffness or stagnation. It appears boneless and weak, but in reality, it conceals iron within its cottony softness. As the saying goes, “The rigid breaks easily, the soft endures long.” This palm technique perfectly embodies the Taoist essence of using softness to overcome hardness.

The Mountain Quaking Palm, on the other hand, is a purely masculine palm technique. Its moves are simple, and its force is penetrating. When cultivated to mastery, a palm strike can split mountains. There are no special tricks to cultivating this technique; even a foolish person, as long as they practice diligently, can master it.

As for Tiger Claw Hand, it is a grappling technique. Although this martial art is not considered profound, it is more exquisite than the widely circulated Great Grappling and Small Grappling techniques in the martial arts world. If practiced to a high level, it can also defeat enemies.

In fact, this martial art has a branch called Tiger Claw Annihilation Hand.

Tiger Claw Annihilation Hand was created by Yu Lianzhou based on the Tiger Claw Hand. Its moves target the opponent’s kidney area, making it extremely insidious and vicious.

Because he created this martial art, Yu Lianzhou was criticized by Zhang Sanfeng.

From this, it can be seen that the Tiger Claw Hand martial art still has some merit.

Among the sword arts, the Finger-Wrapping Soft Sword has a total of seventy-two forms. When drawing the sword, it relies entirely on profound internal energy to bend the blade, making it as soft and pliable as a ribbon, unpredictable and elusive. This makes the sword moves constantly changing, leaving the enemy unable to block.

In Ye Qingfeng’s opinion, this sword art had truly reached the “Soft Sword Impermanence” realm among Dugu Qiubai’s five sword realms.

And the Thirteen Divine Gate Swords, this sword art is equally exquisite. It consists of a total of thirteen swords, each with several variations, but no matter how the sword moves change, they will eventually strike the opponent’s Shenmen acupoint, making it a non-lethal sword.

As for the True Martial Seven Intercept Array, there’s no need to elaborate; it’s the treasure of the Wudang Sect.

The True Martial Seven Intercept Array, as the name suggests, is a formation, but at the same time, it is also seven sword techniques.

Back then, shortly after Zhang Sanfeng entered the Dao, he saw the Serpent and Turtle generals before Emperor Zhenwu’s seat and thought that these two creatures, a turtle and a snake, perfectly combined the two most important and spiritual qualities. A surge of inspiration struck him, so he went to the banks of the Han River to observe the mountain formations of the Serpent and Turtle mountains.

Like this, for seven days and seven nights, without sleep, drink, or food, at dawn on the seventh day, as the morning sun rose and ten thousand rays of light spilled across the earth, he finally comprehended an earth-shattering martial art. However, this martial art was too profound for one person to perfectly perform, so he divided it into seven parts, and thus the True Martial Seven Intercept Array came into being.

As the treasure of the Wudang Sect, the power of the True Martial Seven Intercept Array is self-evident.

If one person uses this martial art, it is already subtle and profound, with endless variations. If two people work together, their offense and defense are complete, and their power greatly increases. If three people use it together, its power is twice as strong as two people using it. Four people are equivalent to eight masters, five people are equivalent to sixteen masters, six people are equivalent to thirty-two masters, and seven people are equivalent to sixty-four masters. Its power is astonishing and earth-shattering.

And as Zhang Sanfeng’s last disciple, how could Zhang Sanfeng not impart this unique skill to him?

Finally, there is the Ladder Cloud Step Qinggong. This Qinggong is one of the Wudang Sect’s signature martial arts. This technique emphasizes lightness and agility of the body, not relying on varied footwork to confuse opponents. Its essence is light body movements, moving up, down, forward, and backward freely, making it an absolute masterpiece among Qinggong techniques.

As the saying goes, “The master leads the way, but cultivation depends on the individual.”

Having received Zhang Sanfeng’s meticulous guidance, Ye Qingfeng naturally did not disappoint his expectations, progressing gradually and diligently cultivating without cease.

Of course, while cultivating martial arts, Ye Qingfeng also did not neglect his study of Taoist classics.

After all, consolidating one’s state of mind was also extremely important.

Only by advancing both cultivation and state of mind simultaneously could one truly walk the righteous path of martial arts.

Time flew by like a white steed galloping past a crack, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

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