Chapter 55: Chapter 37: Strategy_2
Translator: 549690339
This is the limit.
Although there are no “Martial Arts Scriptures” circulating in this world, after Condensing Spirit and Unifying Dao, the lifespan of Four-Realm Warriors generally reaches 150 years. If one avoids conflicts and does not sustain any hidden injuries, one could even live up to 200 years.
If one were to cultivate the Longevity Jue, which focuses on nurturing health and extending life…
There is no data on this at present, but Xu Yang estimates that there should be hope to live to 300 years, or at least 250 years at the very least.
That is to say, apart from the three Grandmasters, the four Holy Monks, the Evil King of Heavenly Blade, and other illustrious figures known to the world, there might be many old undying masters hidden in the shadows, past grandmasters.
This is a force that cannot be ignored, especially regarding the Taoism,
Buddhism, and Confucianism, which have long heritages and profound depth. It is only logical that they possess profound techniques and secret methods for extending life and nourishing vitality, and that several old undying grandmasters are hidden within their ranks.
But it doesn’t matter. They may live long, but Xu Yang will live even longer. With the help of “Martial Arts Scripture” and various skill traits, after breaking through the Martial Path’s Fourth Realm, his lifespan has increased to 500 years.
Now, at only 26 years old, with a lifespan of 500 years, he could outlive all those old undying people, even the youngest among the contemporary grandmasters, Song Que, who won’t live to half his age. As long as he wishes, he could simply outlast all of these individuals.
It just doesn’t hold much significance because, after all, new talents will emerge in every generation. Even if this group of people dies, new grandmasters will rise to prominence.
This is what has been achieved through “Condensing Spirit and Unifying Dao.”
On the other hand, the deciphering of Longevity Jue is also nearing completion.
Longevity Jue, a Taoist Treasure Book, is one of the four great unique texts of the Martial World. It is said to have been written by Guang Chengzi, the teacher of the ancient emperor Xuanyuan Huangdi.
At first glance, the book appears to be ordinary, but in reality, it is crafted from mysterious golden silk, impervious to water and fire and resistant to damage from swords and knives.
The text within consists of oracle bone script, totaling more than 7,400 different characters, profound and difficult to interpret. It also contains seven detailed charts of the human body’s meridians, equally complex.
Through the ages, those who have obtained this book have not been lacking in Heaven Reaching wisdom, knowledgeable of the past and present, but none have ever managed to fully decipher it. They have only left their own insights in the blank spaces of the book, densely packed, expressing their individual opinions, which only makes it more puzzling for others.
As a result, to this day, it hasn’t been heard that anyone has managed to cultivate this remarkable technique. It is not a matter of talent or comprehension; it is simply that they do not understand it and don’t know how to practice it.
But this isn’t much of a problem for Xu Yang.
Back in the Great Zhou world, during the time when he was a slave of the Lu Family, Xu Yang repeatedly sneaked into the Lu Family’s library, stealing books to practice his “reading” skill.
At that time, he did not recognize the ancient text, and reading was a matter of guesswork. Over time, this led to the development of the “deciphering” trait.
Later, as his strength grew and his reading accumulated, the deciphering trait progressively upgraded, evolving from “learning by analogy” to “inferring other things from one fact,” all incorporating a decoding effect.
As long as the text did not contain high-level powers or extraordinary might, he could decipher it, and naturally, this also applied to Longevity Jue woven from oracle bone script.
Now, the deciphering work is almost complete, and what follows is the start of cultivation.
However, Xu Yang encountered a problem here.
That is how to integrate the Longevity Jue into the Martial Arts Scripture.
The Martial Arts Scripture is the foundation of his Martial Path, possessing extraordinary might and tremendous potential. It is impossible to abandon it; even if he were to cultivate the Longevity Jue, he would need to incorporate it into the Martial Arts Scripture system and merge the two into one.
The prerequisite for incorporating it into the Martial Arts Scripture system is that he must first learn and master the Longevity Jue. How can he integrate it without even knowing it?
And there are precisely two requirements to cultivate the Longevity Jue. First, one must not possess any Inner Strength cultivation, as it would cause conflicts with the cultivation technique and make it impossible to master. Second, the practitioner needs to cultivate with “unintended intention”, necessitating the study of Taoist classics to comprehend the unintentional intention of the natural world.
He could meet the latter requirement, since after all, he had a lifetime’s worth of accumulation in Great Zhou and had already become a Grandmaster who had mastered the essence of the Three Teaching Sects. But the former… Did it mean he must abandon his martial arts?
Clearly, Xu Yang wouldn’t do that.
Therefore, there was only one method left.
That was to learn without practicing; to only study the principles and structural system of the cultivation technique without engaging in actual practice. After mastering this, he could then integrate it into his Martial Arts Scripture.
The difficulty of having the theory without practice was imaginable; it was perhaps ten to a hundred times harder than directly cultivating the Longevity Jue.
But that was not a problem. The Longevity Jue was not an essential cultivation technique for Xu Yang—his foundation was in the Martial Arts Scripture. As long as it was beneficial to his Martial Arts Scripture, it didn’t matter if it took extra effort, as he had plenty of time.
Not to mention, he had a cheat!
As the Founder of Martial Scripture, he could greatly enhance the cultivation effects of his Martial Arts Scripture and also possessed the trait of “integrating insights”, allowing him to absorb various martial arts, remove the chaff and keep the grain, and continuously enhance the power and potentiality of the Martial Arts Scripture system.
This was just one of his abilities—there were second, third, fourth, fifth…
Teacher (Imparting knowledge generously, mutual learning, leading by example, spreading martial arts all over, everyone becoming as powerful as dragons)
The Teacher skill comprised five major traits.
Imparting knowledge generously could greatly enhance the effect of “teaching”.
Mutual learning meant mutual benefit—while teaching disciples, one could also improve and gain insights.
Leading by example was self-explanatory; being a great role model could inspire disciples and enhance their cultivation.
Spreading martial arts all over was Imparting knowledge generously + Mutual learning on a grand scale, enhancing the effects and accompanying the mutual benefit and insight feedback—essentially, all the Martial Artists in the world were Xu Yang’s disciples, receiving his guidance and offering back a portion of their insights.
Everyone becoming as powerful as dragons enhanced the disciples’ talents, comprehension, and cultivation effects, making all of Xu Yang’s followers as remarkable as dragons, all of them prodigies.
Combining these five traits with the legacy and potentiality of the Great Zhou Martial Scriptures, the efficiency of power development goes without saying. Xu Yang’s ability to grow the Security Hall to this extent in just sixteen years was inseparable from the help of these skill traits.
Not only for developing power, but they also greatly assisted in martial cultivation—each disciple was akin to a cultivation accessory, and the more disciples there were, the faster the cultivation, growing exponentially like a snowball, which was why Xu Yang could catch up with a hundred years of toil in Great Zhou in just sixteen years.
Therefore, Xu Yang didn’t need to worry about integrating the Longevity Jue at all. As long as he disseminated it, his speed in comprehending the principles of the Longevity Jue would increase significantly, and it wouldn’t be long before he could incorporate it into his Martial Arts Scripture.
Not just the Longevity Jue, but also the Ice Mysterious Power contributed by Yuwen Huaji, along with various other top-notch martial arts in this world, could all be integrated into the Martial Arts Scripture system through the method of “spreading martial arts all over”.
Although spreading martial arts all over would touch upon various interests and face resistance, creating many enemies, Xu Yang didn’t care. No matter the number, he would just kill them off.
Moreover, he didn’t intend to achieve it overnight, making everyone capable of cultivation—that was unrealistic. The correct approach was to first harvest a wave of leeks, then incite a competition in martial arts, akin to an arms race, forcing them to cultivate. If they didn’t cultivate, they would die….