Chapter Twelve: Bored to Tears

  Lao Tzu is formless and shapeless, so he can't teach Xuan Qi some detailed and basic things, nor can he point out a specific location of a relatively hard-to-find acupoint. These things can only be learned by himself.

  Fortunately, Xuan Qi had already modified the previous turtle shell energy, and the practice method of "Qì Tūn Shān Hé" was not complicated, barely able to cope with the current situation.

  The morning passed quickly, and the sweat on Xuán Qí's body didn't know how many times it had dried, if not for the mountain spring water that could be drunk on the spot, he would have endured it long ago.

  Xuan Qi came down from the back mountain and saw Grandfather in the main hall. He was about to ask if he had any books or materials on the basics of acupoints and meridians, but instead heard him say:

  "Xiao Qi, I've thought it over and decided to teach you all of our ancestors' skills. Are you willing to learn?"

  "Of course I am willing!" Xuan Qi nodded vigorously, "Grandfather, I was just thinking of telling you about this matter."

  "Come with me."

  Xuan Qing and Xuan Qi walked to the main hall, where they found a portrait hanging on the central wall. The portrait depicted a Taoist priest with an ethereal figure and a majestic appearance.

  Xuan Qing stood still, gazing at the ancestral portrait. After a long while, he let out a sigh and said: "Little Qi, originally I wanted you to completely leave this Jianghu behind, but in the midst of fate, there is a heavenly will. The secret on the turtle shell, my Xuan family's ten or so generations couldn't discover it, yet unexpectedly, at the moment when I'm about to enter the earth, it appeared on your body. You took one step into the foundation-building realm and broke the curse that had been weighing on my Xuan family's descendants for over a decade. The heavy responsibility of my Xuan family's resurgence might just fall onto your shoulders."

  Xuan Qi heard this and was also extremely shocked by the information contained in his grandfather's few words, as if there were some secrets he didn't know about.

  He asked a few questions, but Xuan Qinghe didn't dispel his doubts and avoided talking about it, only saying that the time hadn't come yet and he would be told when the time came.

  Xuan Qing said sternly, "Xiao Qi, the secret skills of Xuan Men emphasize harmony between heaven and man, following the natural order. You must promise me that after learning these things, you will not harm the innocent or do evil, lest I would rather take them to my grave than teach them to you, so as to avoid harming others and yourself, and regretting it for the rest of your life!"

  Xuan Qi nodded heavily and said: "Grandfather, don't you understand me yet? No matter how much of a scoundrel I am, I will never do anything that goes against heaven and reason."

  Xuan Qing and Wen Yan walked a few steps forward, picked up the incense sticks that had been prepared on the table, lit them, and handed them to Xuan Qi: "Offer incense to our ancestors and kowtow."

  Xuan Qi took over and directly knelt down in front of the portrait, saying with great respect: "Ancestor, your disciple Xuan Qi is paying his respects to you!"

  "After you've kowtowed, you'll be a true disciple of the Mystic Sect. From now on, you must strictly follow our sect's rules. I will now recite the rules to you, remember them well!"

  Xuan Qing suddenly changed from his original kind and charitable self, completely becoming a ruthless and impartial black-faced god, speaking in a loud and clear voice.

  "Article 1: Do not deceive your master and destroy your ancestors, be respectful to those who are older than you!"

  Xuan Qi smiled and said: "Grandfather, among our Xuanmen's orthodox seniors, there is only you now, right? Don't worry, I definitely won't commit this taboo."

  "Article 2: Do not be jealous of your fellow disciples, and do not kill each other!"

  Xuan Qi asked: "Do I still have a fellow disciple? It seems like there isn't one."

  "Article 3: Do not commit evil deeds, and shall not kill innocent people indiscriminately!"

  Xuan Qi: "This is also no problem, murder is against the law."

  "Article 4: Do not indulge in lust, lest you fall prey to evil spirits!"

  Xuan Qi was stunned for a moment and asked: "Grandfather, what is the standard of being lecherous? What is called 'lustful demon evil'?"

  Xuan Qing didn't answer him and continued singing:

  "The fifth article: Do not be disloyal or unfilial, and do not lack benevolence or righteousness!"

  ……

  The rules and regulations of the Xuanmen Orthodox School are not many, a total of nine articles. After listening to them once, Xuān Qí remembered them all. He could understand and accept other rules, but he didn't quite understand the fourth one.

  However, Xuan Qing did not elaborate on Sun Er's question and instead asked Xuan Qi to recite the nine door rules in front of him.

  After the ceremony was over, Xuán Qīng gave Xuán Jì a box of books, all thread-bound and in good condition, not many years old.

  "These books are the most basic things, you first finish reading all of them, if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime."

  "Hmm!" Xuan Qi nodded.

  "Right, your school hasn't started the holiday yet, and it's not a good idea to stay at home all the time, which will affect your studies. Pack up and take Old Li's car to school tomorrow afternoon. You're about to take the college entrance exam, so you should focus on your studies now. These books can be read after the exam."

  "Grandpa, I've asked for leave from school over there, don't worry."

  "No, studying is important, listen to Grandpa, it's settled."

  "Okay. But today is Friday, tomorrow and Sunday are holidays, I'll go back to school on Monday."

  Xuan Qi found it impossible to dissuade Grandfather, so he could only use this method to buy some time.

  Xuan Qing nodded and walked away with his hands behind his back in a slow and deliberate pace.

  This old man had an almost obsessive stubbornness towards Xuan Qi's studies, and when Xuan Qi refused to continue reading in the past, he was chased by him with a rattan stick for half of the village.

  However, in Xuan Qi's memory, his grandfather had at most only three months of life left. Could he grasp the secret to prolonging one's life that Lao Ding spoke of within such a short period of time?

  Xuan Qi asked: "Old Turtle, when can I learn the secret of prolonging life that you mentioned?"

  "It depends on your understanding and ability, if you're quick it'll take a few days, if you're slow it'll take several years, some people will never be able to do it in their lifetime."

  "Three months, let's set a time limit, if I still can't grasp it within three months, then..."

  "What are you doing?" asked Lao Ding curiously.

  "I'll just kill myself!"

  Xuan Qi said these few words with an unusually firm determination.

  "Old turtle, you may not know that I've already died once, and I no longer care about life and death. If you think I'm joking, then just wait and see."

  Silence for ten seconds.

  "You're ruthless!"

  Xuan Qi sighed and said: "Alas, old turtle, I have no choice either. In this world, my only relative is my grandfather. I hope you can understand."

  "You little scamp, you're threatening me now! If it weren't for your filial piety, I wouldn't have let you get away with this. Just this once, don't think it's a precedent! Otherwise, I won't bother about your life or death!"

  "Hmm!"

  "This matter I alone cannot accomplish, mainly it depends on you. If you don't make an effort, no matter how great my abilities are, I will be powerless."

  "Don't worry about this, I will definitely go all out."

  Up to this point, the two of them had finished negotiating and reached a consensus.

  "Old Turtle, my grandfather wants me to go back to school and study, will it affect what we are going to do?"

  "School? You mean a school, right? That's no problem, we have a lot of things to prepare for, and we can take care of that along the way. Besides, time isn't as pressing as you think it is. I'll teach you how to set up a spiritual energy barrier, which will use spiritual energy to flush out the dead energy in your grandfather's body, strengthening his physique and prolonging his life. This is also a way to extend one's lifespan, so our time won't be so limited."

  Xuan Qi was overjoyed: "Really? That's great! How did you arrange the spiritual energy seal array?"

  "This is simple, with your current ability, you can barely cope. However, the arrangement requires five-colored spirit stones, which means you have to find them yourself. This kind of spirit stone is abundant in the Smoke Wave Cave Heaven, but unfortunately, due to your lack of strength, you wasted a great opportunity to gain benefits."

  "Ling stone?" Xuan Qi was stunned, "What is a ling stone?"

  The old man sighed and said, "It's just a stone that contains the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Oh, I forgot, you're an idiot who doesn't understand anything. Mortals call it jade, now do you get it?"

  Xuan Qi nodded: "So it's jade, why didn't you say so earlier? But which five colors are you referring to when you mention the Five-Colored Spiritual Stone?"

  "The Five-Colored Spirit Stone doesn't refer to colors, but rather attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. You'd better hurry up and find it, I'll naturally tell you when the time comes."

  This is the countryside, and it's not easy for Xuán Qí to find jade stones. Fortunately, he remembers that there is an antique market in the north of the county town, where he should be able to find what he needs.

  Time waits for no man, Xuan Qi hastily took a cold shower, changed his clothes, bid farewell to his grandfather, and then hitched a ride with Old Li, who ran transportation in the village, into the county town.

  After parting with Old Li, the first thing he did was to go to the county town's department store and buy a shoulder bag. Then he went to the bank and withdrew 50,000 yuan in cash, which he stuffed into his bag. Jade is a collectible item, and its price can be high or low. Xuan Qi couldn't tell how much money it would take to buy what he needed, so he prepared first.

  He now has about 56,000 yuan, including the remaining money he borrowed from Liang Zimo. It should be enough.

  Xiangling City's antique street has been around for some years. Located at the intersection of two provinces and three cities, it attracts a large crowd and is very lively.

  There's a saying that goes "gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times". In recent years, with the rapid economic development, people have more disposable income. The number of wealthy individuals has increased dramatically. Additionally, due to the sluggish stock market, many people have turned their attention to collectibles such as antiques and jade stones, leading to an unprecedented boom in the antique market.

  It is precisely because of this that the Qinghua porcelain vase before Xuan Qi can be sold at a high price of 800,000.

  At this moment at noon, it's just lunchtime, and the crowd on Antique Street has also become sparse. The bustling ones are the various restaurants at both ends of Antique Street.

  Xuan Qi wore a backpack and had the appearance of a student, hastily strolling from the street.

  This is called an antique street, but it's actually just a mix of stalls and street vendors. The higher-end ones have a storefront, but inside it's dark and gloomy because the sunlight can't shine in due to the orientation.

  There are also exceptionally many things here, dazzling and eye-catching, making it hard for people to take them all in.

  Xuan Qi's purpose was clear, he wanted to buy jade, so all the way, the coins, commemorative propaganda paintings and portraits, miniature books, ancient books, calligraphy and wood carvings were ignored, and he directly filtered them out.

  Finally saw a jade stall, the owner was a middle-aged man in his 40s, who was crouching on the side eating fast food.

  "Hey, young brother, buying jade?" He said hastily as he stood up when Xuan Qi came in front of his stall.

  Xuan Qi smiled and said: "Just take a look."

  Seeing him say that, the stall owner squatted down again, probably seeing that Xuan Qi had no desire to buy anything, and didn't bother to pay attention to him anymore.

  Xuan Qi looked around at the street stalls and Lao Ding spoke up: "All junk, don't look anymore, let's change places."

  Xuan Qi whispered: "Haven't even taken a closer look yet, and you can already tell?"

  "Jade is not seen with the eyes, but with your heavenly eye."

  "Heavenly Eye?"

  "Stupid, it's ancestral wisdom!"

  Xuan Qi retorted: "Huh, if you didn't say it, how would I know? In the same place, why bother with so many messy names? It's really boring!"

  "Haha, you've described it quite vividly. Those people are afraid of their writings being spread around, so they deliberately make them obscure and use terms that only they can understand. The ancestral aperture has other names like heavenly eye, mysterious gate, upper dan Tian, and of course, even more exaggerated ones, which I won't mention."

  Xuan Qi thought, indeed annoying enough.

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