Yuwen Tong told him that he needed to be prudent, so of course Ling Zhang didn’t dare to take it lightly.
“Now that you happen to have the time, you should give it a shot.” Yuwen Tong made a suggestion.
Ling Zhang had been itching to try it after hearing Yuwen Tong’s explanation. Though still unaware of the reason why people of the Millennium Pavilion had given him this secret manual of internal energy, he believed that it would be such a waste if he put away this gift unheeded when it could be very helpful. As a result, he inclined his head. “All right.”
Although Yuwen Tong had found it difficult to continue after reading one third of the manual, helping Ling Zhang lay a foundation was within his capabilities.
Back then when they had been in Tanyang, Yuwen Tong had already unblocked and expanded Ling Zhang’s meridians (each of a set of pathways in the body along which vital energy is said to flow), and Ling Zhang had had some first-hand experience of internal energy and knew how it worked. Added to this the secret manual and Yuwen Tong’s assistance, he soon got the hang of it and also learned how to circulate Qi inside his body.
Yuwen Tong, who had found Ling Zhang’s comprehension extraordinary back in Tanyang, was secretly amazed once again by how quick Ling Zhang had got the hang of it. ‘If Ling Zhang had started cultivating according to this mental cultivation method of internal energy a few years earlier, his current internal energy would definitely have been no less powerful than mine,’ he thought.
At this moment, Ling Zhang was immersed in the comfortable and curious feeling of warm power slowly circulating through his meridians. In fact, the pithy formula of this mental cultivation method of internal energy was somewhat difficult to understand, but with Yuwen Tong explaining those terms to him one by one, this was no longer a problem.
Ling Zhang’s Dantian was slightly burning. This feeling was far stronger than what he had felt back in Tanyang when a small amount of prototypical internal energy had first come into being in him. If at that time it had merely been a small patch of vapor that could only be faintly felt, now it had grown considerably, condensed into water and converged into a trickle, which was circulating constantly through the network of meridians inside him following the route described by the mental method. Because his meridians had been unblocked previously, this trickle flowed smoothly without any hindrance and eventually converged in his Dantian. Finally, he distinctly felt what that small stream of internal energy was like. It seemed to be some kind of ever-growing power, which was making his Dantian burning and at the same time making him feel full of energy, and his mind was clearer than before as well.
As Yuwen Tong saw that Ling Zhang was oozing a completely different aura and his complexion was growing ruddy, he came to appreciate that this time Ling Zhang had succeeded.
Since this was the first time that Ling Zhang had entered this kind of mysterious state of internal energy cultivation, it was a golden opportunity for him to get a better grasp of this cultivation method, so Yuwen Tong had everybody else leave the main courtyard house and forbade anybody to approach lest any interruptions come to Ling Zhang.
Moreover, this time Ling Zhang spent the whole night meditating and comprehending. It was not until the crack of dawn that he slowly came around from the fascinating mysterious state. His eyes, when he opened them, seemed even brighter than the first light of day, sparkling and brimming with radiating vigor. His temperament was also subtly different now. Even his skin seemed to be more brilliant than before, glowing like a pearl that had just been rid of the layer of dust concealing its luster.
After a careful recollection of what he comprehended the night before, Ling Zhang gave a happy smile. Finally, he could count himself as a practitioner of martial arts now.
In fact, he had barely felt the passing of time when his mind was in that mysterious state the night before. It was not until he saw daylight that he came to realize that he had been sitting here for a full night.
Yuwen Tong, who had been on the side all along, saw the qualitative change of Ling Zhang when Ling Zhang opened his eyes, thoughts surging in his mind.
“I did it!”
Ling Zhang excitedly jumped from the bed, but unexpectedly, this jump was far higher than usual. Taken aback, he failed to control his strength and was about to hit himself against the desk and cabinet on the opposite side. Fortunately, Yuwen Tong, who had been watching him all along, quickly leaped forward and held Ling Zhang in his arms. Thus, Ling Zhang ended up jumping right into Yuwen Tong’s embrace.
“What’s going on? I was nearly scared to death.” Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief after being caught by Yuwen Tong.
During that jump, his body felt as thought it had become significantly lighter. In the normal course of events, he could only jump a few paces far, but now since his body was considerably lighter, that jump was far longer than expected.
Yuwen Tong holding him first consoled him and then put his hand on Ling Zhang’s wrist. Feeling his pulse, he observed, “You achieved a lot last night. Of course internal energy would bring a lot of changes in your body. You feel you can control your body a lot more easily now, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” replied Ling Zhang.
“That’s what I figured. Gradually you’ll get used to it. And you need to learn how to control you body and strength more precisely,” commented Yuwen Tong.
So Ling Zhang, who had just woken from the state of internal energy cultivation, first adapted himself to his body. He was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of his body. Now his every punch was accompanied by a big whoosh of air, which was an unmistakable indication that his strength was more than one level higher than before.
“There is a set of palm technique complementary to this mental cultivation method of internal energy. You’ll be ready to learn them after you finish the first chapter of this manual, so we’re in no hurry to find you an external martial art to practice. This set of palm technique and this mental cultivation method of internal energy are supplementary to each other. Master them and you’ll be powerful enough to handle most kung fu experts in Jianghu (the martial arts world). After that, if you want to learn another martial art – a swordcraft, for example – with internal energy, you’ll be getting twice the result with half the effort during the learning process, which means you’ll master it very easily.”
Yuwen Tong told Ling Zhang about his cultivation prospects. He had already made a plan for him and Ling Zhang raised no objection. Haste makes waste. Since Yuwen Tong said that the set of palm technique complementary to this cultivation method of internal energy would be powerful enough for him to use to protect himself, he believed it was his best choice. And he was in no hurry to learn a swordcraft, too.
“When we were in Tanyang, didn’t you say that you wanted to improve your reflexes? Now you’ve learned the rudiments of internal energy, and your five senses are far sharper than those of common people. Both your hearing and sight are many levels higher than before. What you need to learn is how to better control your body and have it keep pace with your reflexes. This’ll take time as well. Just finish the first chapter and lay a solid foundation. After that I myself will help you train.”
Ling Zhang nodded repeatedly while hearing this, believing that there was nothing he should be worried about if Yuwen Tong would help him with the training.
“Are you hungry? If you are, we may go and grab a bite first, and then we’ll go to the drill ground and I’ll help you develop a better control of your body.”
Ling Zhang shook his head, eyes brimming with energy and vitality. “I’m not hungry. Actually I feel that I have inexhaustible energy. Let’s go to the drill ground right now.”
Yuwen Tong, seeing the yearning and expectant look on his face, didn’t have the heart to refuse and agreed.
The two of them walked to the drill ground. Wang Dashan and the other twenty-three men, as usual, had got up very early and were practicing martial formations. Even Xie Shi was also present. These two days, Xie Shi had been instructing Yang Liuzi and the other eleven in martial formations for Ling Zhang.
“Young Master, Marshal.”
All the twenty-four security guards, seeing Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong walk over, greeted them.
In the ordinary course of things, they only saw Ling Zhang come to the drill ground to practice kung fu at this hour; seldom had they seen Yuwen Tong show up as well. As a result, they all couldn’t help but pause, wondering whether their young master and the Marshal were adding something new to their training.
“You guys may continue. We can manage ourselves.”
Ling Zhang, seeing the mixture of nervousness and anticipation on their faces, was secretly somewhat amused, but this time he was here to be instructed by Yuwen Tong rather than instruct them. However, even so, he still observed how the training of his twenty-four security guards was going. When his eye fell on Liu Yi, he briefly paused. The day before, he allowed Liu Yi a day’s leave to attend to his own business, but a lot happened the day before, so he had not yet found the time to ask Liu Yi about it.
Liu Yi perceived Ling Zhang’s gaze and walked up to him of his own accord. “Young Master.”
He also looked back at Ling Zhang and suddenly felt that Ling Zhang looked different somehow, as if about him was an air of something that hadn’t always been there before. Involuntarily, a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Of course Ling Zhang noticed the confused expression of Liu Yi. He just had never expected that Liu Yi would be so observant as to become conscious of his change so quick when none of the others had perceived it.
“Did you get your business handled yesterday?” Ling Zhang inquired of him.
Liu Yi nodded and replied, “Thank you for allowing me a day’s leave, Young Master. I’ve already finished the task that kung fu expert entrusted me with. I took a load off my mind.”
The day before, Ling Zhang gave him permission to go out but didn’t ask him anything, granting him enough discretion and also showing him enough respect, which he appreciated very much and would always bear in mind. He couldn’t disclose to his young master what he had promised that kung fu expert he would keep secret, but it was no hindrance to him being loyal to his young master.
“I’m glad to hear that. If there’s nothing else, you may go back to your training,” said Ling Zhang. Wang Dashan and the others had developed a very high level of proficiency in the first six arrays of the trap-and-kill formation. Ling Zhang planned to spare some time to teach them the seventh in the next few days.
Liu Yi gave a bob of his head but then still failed to keep from asking in a puzzled tone of voice, “You seem somewhat different now, Young Master.”
Ling Zhang smiled, “Really?”
After saying this, he didn’t give any explanation but abruptly launched an attack on Liu Yi. His fist materialized before Liu Yi, accompanied by a big whoosh of air. With a sudden change of expression in his eyes, Liu Yi quickly raised his arms in an effort to parry the blow. A muffled bang was heard and his arms briefly trembled. He even felt faint numbness in them.
“Young Master?” At first Liu Yi was dismayed and then he looked at Ling Zhang with a mixture of surprise and delight in his eyes. “You…”
Others also noticed it and gathered around, fairly surprised. Ling Zhang practiced kung fu with them every day, and they knew very well how much power his punches held, but the punch he just threw was manifestly of a different level from that of those he did the day before!
“I’ve started cultivating internal energy.”
Seeing the astonishment and confusion on the faces of the security guards, Ling Zhang merely gave a simple explanation, but thoughts were surging in his mind as well. He had sparred with Liu Yi many times before, but this time he felt that his strength was really far removed from what it had been previously. The reacting force from Liu Yi’s arms had given him a distinct feeling of how powerful that punch of his had been. At the same time, he’d also come to a new perception of Liu Yi’s kung fu skills. Just now, Liu Yi had firmly deflected that punch without the slightest sway of his body, which had been a definite proof that Liu Yi’s kung fu was far better than he had imagined. ‘No wonder on that day Yuwen Tong said that Liu Yi’s kung fu was not as it seemed,’ thought Ling Zhang.
All security guards were surprised to hear Ling Zhang’s explanation but also felt happy for him. “You just got started, Young Master?”
“But you’ve already made such great progress. You’re going to become a master of internal energy very soon, Young Master, aren’t you?”
Looking at their expectant faces, Ling Zhang replied honestly, “This is just the beginning, and I have no idea how far I can get either. You’ve got to keep this to yourselves. Don’t tell anyone else about it.”
All these security guards, who had been with Ling Zhang all the way from Tanyang to the capital city and had a sense of propriety, immediately promised that they wouldn’t breathe a word.
