pappabearbooks Chapter 459 - 424: Investigating the Celestial Shrine, the Spirit Officer Eight Immortals, and Meeting the Old Celestial King!
Chapter 459 - 424: Investigating the Celestial Shrine, the Spirit Officer Eight Immortals, and Meeting the Old Celestial King!
However, this technique is indeed quite suitable for me.Weituo Mountain Carrying Skill is a Basic True Skill; if one emphasizes defense, it would be overshadowed by Treasure Appearance Golden Venerable Skill.
Internal body enhancement type would be crushed by Brahma Heaven Subjugating Prison’s effects.
Therefore, focusing on power enhancement is just right for me.
Soon, Shaolin Iron Crotch will break its limit, and this technique will perfectly fill into the Four Doors Combined Training.
As I continue my travels, I might actually learn a lot of good Hard Skills from Wudang and Shaolin.
By then, I’ll have many Horizontal Training Skills on hand for daily cultivation adjustments.
After Breaking Two, my body’s endurance still can’t support the "Five Doors Combined Training."
Once Brahma Heaven Subjugating breaks through to proficiency, it should be about right.
Sobered up, I listened to Brother Gang’s explanations while practicing the "Erlang Mountain-Carrying" posture.
Li Weigang’s voice slowly transmitted:
"The cultivation of this technique has three important stages: Skillful, Mastery, and Perfection.
Upon reaching Skillful, you can achieve "lifting heavy as if light," easily bearing thousands of pounds with your arms. Of course, given your foundation, you might achieve even more.
After Mastery, it’s called "carrying a hundred tripods." At this point, your palm force gathers the "Mountain-Carrying" power that crushes targets with a hundred tons of pressure—splitting rock walls or flipping the ground with ease.
Ah, I am at this level now... after working hard at the proficiency stage before.
At Perfection, you’re akin to Weituo alive, capable of carrying mountains. Beyond the elevation of power, when utilizing a Hard Fist Skill, your aura field can crush like Mount Tai.
The Heart Spirit of the weak and timid would be heavily pressured, lightly losing the courage to confront you, severely destroying their Heart Spirit, forcing a terrified escape, affecting their Martial Arts intent."
Meng Chuan nodded repeatedly, practicing along, and thought to himself:
"Zen Sect is indeed a holy land for Horizontal Training, truly impressive. To create a cultivation technique with Weituo’s Mountain-Carrying momentum, such talent; why couldn’t I think of it..."
This method of Weituo Mountain Carrying, although a Basic True Skill, its strength is undeniable.
There are various other methods for power augmentation.
But after its perfection, it enhances the aura field, which is relatively rare in Martial Arts.
Especially now that he has comprehended the "Intention Prelude," when triggered, his Fist Stance can materialize from an illusion, altering reality.
Thus, he can also gain Martial Arts Momentum reinforcement from this technique to further enhance the power of Intention.
Meng Chuan returned to his senses and continued practicing with Brother Gang.
After mastering the Weituo Breathing Technique, followed by three full circulations, he quickly entered the basics.
With two stronger True Skill Horizontal Trainings already mastered, the cultivation of Weituo Mountain Carrying Skill wasn’t as difficult as Brother Gang said.
Seeing Meng Chuan mastering it so fast, Li Weigang sighed.
When I was at the basics, I practiced for over half a month; this kid less than an hour...
It can only be said, truly worthy of Innate Horizontal Training Holy Body...
Before leaving, Meng Chuan copied a piece of Treasure Appearance Golden Venerable Skill for Brother Gang.
This technique, Master Dong has already provided to the United University’s Hidden Martial Pavilion, for public use.
And now I hold the original containing True Martial Arts essence, considered the new generation inheritor of Treasure Appearance Golden Venerable.
I have the right to provide it to Brother Gang, without any wrongdoing.
This handwritten version contains many of my insights, helpful for Brother Gang’s cultivation.
Li Weigang, after reviewing it, felt quite touched.
"Thank you, Xiaomeng, this horizontal training martial arts is very valuable; I’ll study it thoroughly once I break two."
"Alright, if there’s anything unclear, Brother Gang, just call me, don’t be shy!"
"No problem!"
After bidding farewell to Li Weigang, Meng Chuan glanced at the panel for the newly learned martial arts:
"Weituo Mountain Carrying Skill: Basics (2%) pending Limit Breaking."
"Limit Breaking Trait: Mountain-Carrying Power (Intermediate)"
"Just entered basics and gained some proficiency. Seems I’m close to the "lifting heavy as if light" realm, or my strength far exceeds the descriptions of its proficiency range, hence the cultivation isn’t difficult."
After all, it’s a Basic True Skill, one of the easier ones among True Skills to cultivate.
Plus, his foundation in horizontal training is solid, making the cultivation indeed easier.
Meng Chuan headed towards Anren Street’s Dingxian Shrine, pondering:
"Once the Crotch Skill breaks its limit, I’ll start practicing. This is my first cultivation of horizontal training martial arts focusing on power.
The enhancement effect on body strength should be quite noticeable."
Moreover, he can liberate his body through "Flower of Flesh," enhancing power increases by percentage on the base.
Practicing Weituo Mountain Carrying is equivalent to working hard with triple yield.
Liberated enhancement effects are stronger, simply invincible.
Lastly, the "Mountain-Carrying Power" Limit Breaking Trait also sounds good.
Presumably, after Limit Breaking, power-related enhancements will further increase.
Going to extreme routes is also quite satisfying.
Again, if I can further enhance some aspects like horizontal training talent and comprehension, that would be even better...
...
Spent some time on Cultivation Techniques, arriving at Dingxian Shrine’s entrance, Meng Chuan checked his watch.
It’s already six in the afternoon.
He is now located at Dingxian Shrine’s outer entrance.
Originally called "Eight Immortals Temple Cultural Composite Plaza."
With the martial shrine reforms, vendors and fortune tellers around the plaza have disappeared.
Ignoring horizontal training matters for now, Meng Chuan stepped into the plaza and surveyed around.
The tourists of old days are nowhere to be seen, leaving him alone wandering, somewhat lonely and desolate.
After all, this place is famous for incense and divination, praying for good fortune from the Eight Immortals.
Now with the martial shrine reforms, these have also come to an end.
Meng Chuan sighed inwardly, as if flipping to a new Chapter in a history book.
The old era’s incense belief is ultimately swallowed by the tide of the new era.
After walking through the plaza, it leads to the inner site of Dingxian Shrine.
Originally it was divided into the front, middle, and rear halls, along with two crossing courtyards to the east and west.
Later, with the reform of the Qi Blood Martial Arts Era, the Eight Immortals Nunnery was upgraded from a Daoist Temple to a School Palace, and the two crossing courtyards were used as student dormitories.
Except for the front hall, which was left for tourists to enter the palace and pay homage.
The middle and rear halls were also transformed into Martial Arts teaching areas.
At the forefront of the front hall was the Spirit Officer Hall, where Wang Lingguan was enshrined.
He is the foremost guardian deity of Daoism, titled "Impartial Law Enforcer General Wang."
In most Daoist temples, he is enshrined at the front entrance to seek peace and protection.
Meng Chuan entered the hall and took a look around.
The Spirit Officer was absent, leaving only the gilded pedestal with cloud-patterned Eight Trigrams, standing starkly.
With the reform of martial temples, neither temples nor Daoist abbeys could have deities or Buddhas present.
Although Meng Chuan was not yet clear whether the other seven immortals, aside from Lü Zu, had truly been tainted by demons.
But seeing the situation now, let alone the Eight Immortals, the whole temple had been converted into a martial shrine.
Even finding a home for the Howling Celestial Dog required removal...
Meng Chuan understood in his heart:
"Perhaps this is the meaning of the martial shrine, where only Martial Arts remnants may exist, with no presence of incense faith."
Passing through the Spirit Officer Hall, it was originally the main place in the Eight Immortals Nunnery where statues of the Eight Immortals were enshrined for tourists to offer incense and prayers ——
The Eight Immortals Hall.
Its arrangement remained grand and solemn.
However, it was just like what he saw earlier in the Spirit Officer Hall.
The Eight Immortals were absent, leaving only eight large pedestals.
With the loss of objects for worship, the thick incense aroma in Meng Chuan’s memory was entirely gone.
The Daoist and Buddhism factions are the orthodox representatives of ancient martial arts, the largest transmission of Martial Arts from ancient times to present.
They laid a good foundation at the start of the Qi Blood Martial Arts heyday.
But the sacred land of Quanzhen Dao in ancient times has now fallen to this.
Meng Chuan could not help but feel a bit sentimental about the past.
Here and there, there were other tourists from afar.
These people hadn’t seen the latest online announcement and were left with an empty trip.
With nothing inside but desolation, they left, puzzled.
As Meng Chuan lingered, some tourists returning from deeper within kindly reminded:
"Brother, don’t go further; the Eight Immortals Nunnery suddenly became some kind of shrine, and there’s nothing inside.
The school at the very end also doesn’t allow entry, a wasted trip, truly unfortunate."
Meng Chuan gave them a smile, then in their eyes, transformed into a breeze and disappeared.
"Jeez... Is this a powerful martial artist or... did the Dao Ancestor manifest?"
...
Meng Chuan walked past the range of the front hall, the last of which was the Doumu Hall.
Nothing much to see, still empty.
Standing outside the middle hall, now the Dingxian Martial Arts Academy.
He smelled the air, where the aura representing Martial Arts had distinctly thickened.
Meng Chuan first made a round outside the gate, strolling leisurely.
To see if he could evoke the inexplicable intention that emerged last night.
After a while, seeing no reaction at all.
He returned to the academy’s gate, preparing to enter.
Standing in the gatehouse, under the enhancement of Qi Observation Skill, Meng Chuan sensed the aura more clearly.
But under perception, there was much a sense of decline.
There was no shortage of youthful Martial Arts aura, but it was too weak.
"Inside the nunnery, there is a lack of succession, the root cause of the Eight Immortals being demon-tainted originates here."
The Immortals became gods through incense offerings, facing the erosion of Celestial Demons.
Besides the boost from incense faith, it also needed to rely on Martial Arts fortune to sustain jointly.
Meng Chuan smelled that apart from an aura as blazing as the sun in the sky, the rest were even lower than himself.
And the owner of that aura was none other than Wuyang Daojun.
Inside the academy, it mostly relied on him alone to support it laboriously.
"The old Daojun also isn’t having it easy, dragging along the entire School Palace by himself..."
The Daoist School’s method has its traits of a high threshold and slow results.
In addition, the Eight Immortals Nunnery was inherently smaller and shallower in foundation compared to places like Wudang and Celestial Master Mansion.
Failing to keep up with the times of Qi Blood Martial Arts, its decline was foreseeable.
Even the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea mural at the entrance of the School Palace had been dismantled, leaving only mottled gray walls.
Although feeling sorry for the changes of the Dingxian Shrine, it was the choice of the era.
In the end, Meng Chuan lamented:
"In this world, nothing is truly perfect; without the inception of the Qi Blood Martial Arts era, perhaps humanity would have been wiped out by Celestial Demons long ago.
The world would change hands, and there’d be no talk of issues like demon-tainted temples..."
At the gatehouse, he knocked on the glass, interrupting:
"Hello, I’m a student from the Northern United University, here to find Wuyang Daojun at your academy."
Just coming in wanting to see the academy’s caretaker, the Six Limit Celestial King.
The gatekeeper was startled, unsure whether this young man was joking.
He, dressed in a shabby Daoist robe, got up from the reclining chair and took a closer look at the other’s face.
Seeing Meng Chuan’s features, his originally slack expression suddenly turned solemn.
He had seen this person on television, and just recalled that this lad was the "Number One Martial Arts Genius" in the entire city of Yong’an.