The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-94

"It's nothing. I didn't have anything to do so I came." Lady Qing grinned. She immediately took out the book and handed it to Teng Qingshan. "There you go!"

Teng Qingshan took it, feeling the slight warmth on the book. He glanced at the book and saw that there were five words—Vigor of the Reckless Bull!

He finally got the book!

With the last three levels of the "Vigor of the Reckless Bull" in his possession, he would improve again.

"Yes." Lady Qing hastily said, "I won't disturb your morning training. I will be heading back now." Before Teng Qingshan could say anything, Lady Qing had run away. Her sleeves fluttered along with the cold wind. Just watching her run was an enjoyment.

Teng Qingshan smiled and placed the cultivation manual in his bosom before he turned and continued practicing his spear art on the school grounds.

Shouts sounded in the school grounds as the Black Armored Soldiers practiced diligently. However, many Centurions and Lieutenants saw Teng Qingshan and Lady Qing together.

"Hey, did you see that? Brother Qingshan was with Lady Qing. It looks like they are very close."

"Haha, Brother Qingshan is young and heroic. They are perfect together. I think the most beautiful lady in Gui Yuan Sect will soon be a part of the Black Armored Army."

...

The Centurions laughed as they chatted. In Gui Yuan Sect, many guys pursued Zhuge Qing and these guys were either the core disciples or Black Armored Soldiers. These two forces secretly competed against each other as well. Both sides were waiting to find out who was able to marry the most beautiful lady.

"Be quiet! This is the school grounds, not the mountains!" A roar rang out.

The few Centurions turned and saw that the person that spoke was Lieutenant Bai Qi.

The Centurions exchanged glances, snickered a few times, and became silent.

Lieutenant Bai Qi cast an indifferent glance at Teng Qingshan and sneered as he thought to himself, "He's just a poor fellow. How dare he, a newly joined member, seduce Qingqing! I must find a chance to educate you on your lowly status!" Lieutenant Bai Qi was one of the guys that pursued Lady Qing.

As the warriors had inner strength, they had a longer lifespan. Therefore, many of them were still single when they were over thirty-years-old.

For example, Commander Guan and Commander Zang Feng were both single. Lieutenant Bai Qi was also single.

The weather during this morning training was very nice.

However, soon, the wind blew and the sky became gloomy. When Teng Qingshan and the other Black Armored Soldiers were eating lunch, feathery snow began falling.

"This timely snow is an omen for a prosperous year ahead! It's a good thing to have snow before the Yearly Sacrifice." Teng Qingshan felt the cold snowflakes that landed in his palm and felt very joyous. Immediately, he cast a glance at Teng Qinghu and thought to himself, "What is cousin thinking? Something seems to be going on his mind."

Teng Qinghu lowered his head as he walked. He had been very quiet.

"Cousin!" Teng Qingshan shouted.

"Eh?" Teng Qinghu was startled. He looked towards Teng Qingshan and asked, "What's wrong? Qingshan?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, but there's something wrong with you. You were very happy two days ago, but it seems like something is weighing on your mind right now. I can tell you are annoyed by your expression! What is the matter? Can't you tell me? Don't keep it a secret." Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

Teng Qinghu hesitated slightly and gritted his teeth as he asked, "Qingshan, do you like Lady Qing?

"Eh?" Teng Qingshan froze and thought to himself. "What? Did he just ask me if I like Qingqing?"

Teng Qinghu wiped his face and said, "Mm. Actually, it's nothing. I won't keep it a secret. Somehow, I fell in love with Lady Qing after I saw her. I know I am not a good match for her! And so, I only thought about it and kept it a secret! However, when I saw that Lady Qing had come to see you by herself, I guessed Lady Qing like you, so I was genuinely happy for you, but also slightly sad."

"However, Qingshan!" Teng Qinghu said hastily, "Don't mind me. I don't have the ability to marry such a spectacular lady.

Teng Qingshan was shocked.

"Pa!" He smacked Teng Qinghu's head and scolded as he laughed, "Cousin, is your brain made of paste! Who told you I like Lady Qing?"

"Why wouldn't you like such a great girl?" Teng Qinghu asked back.

"She is a great person, but that doesn't mean everyone will fall in love with her." Teng Qingshan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He immediately stared at Teng Qinghu and said, "Cousin, listen to me carefully. I have no interest in this girl. Marry her if you can. As for me… hmph, she's not my type."

Hearing this, Teng Qinghu blinked and went blank.

"Alright, let's start walking back. Don't stand here like an idiot." Teng Qingshan placed his arms on Qinghu's shoulder. With their arms around each other's shoulders, the two brothers walked amidst the heavy snow and headed back into the house.

"Me in love with Lady Qing?" Teng Qingshan couldn't help but laugh as he thought about it.

Whenever Teng Qingshan saw Lady Qing, it would remind him of his sister Qingyu. He only viewed Lady Qing as a sister. Moreover, he had lived for 29 years in his previous life and 16 more in this life. He no longer had the mindset and temperament of a young man. After experiencing so much, his heart was already as hard as a rock. It's very hard for him to have feelings for someone. In regards to girls with such innocent romance, Teng Qingshan only intended to appreciate distantly but not touch blasphemously.

Marriage?

Teng Qingshan would only worry about this if his parents requested that he marry someone. Unless he met someone that truly made his heart flutter, he would never marry.

...

The snowfall became heavier. During the afternoon, a great amount of snow accumulated in Teng Qingshan's courtyard.

Teng Qingshan sat cross-legged on the snowy ground. A layer of snow accumulated on his body.

The green-maned snow-treading horse glanced at Teng Qingshan, who was cultivating and continued munching the dried grass.

"The cultivation of the inner strength is actually just a process that clears up a meridian channel! As more and more meridian channels cleared up, the cultivation speed would become quicker. Some people might spend ten to over a hundred years and still wouldn't be able to clear up the most difficult Ren and Du meridians. However, the eight extraordinary meridians, the twelve standard meridians, and many tiny and narrow meridian channels are all cleared up. And so, the cultivation of inner strength is easier for me."

Teng Qingshan felt at ease.

The cultivation of inner strength was a piece of cake for him.

In the modern world, the most troublesome thing about the construction of traffic was the building of highways. The construction of highway required great manpower and resources. However, when the highway was built, transportation would be easier, which would help improve the economy. The opening and clearing up of the meridians were similar to the process of highway construction.

This was the most troublesome step.

As for Teng Qingshan, he had already "constructed all the highways and already started transporting the goods," meaning that he had already opened and cleared up his meridians and could quickly and easily transfer his inner strength to every area of his body.

"The eighth stage!" Teng Qingshan began performing the mnemonic chant and mental cultivation method for the eighth stage.

His inner strength flowed in his body. Inner strength spiraled in every meridian and his entire body felt numb.

"Now that I have cultivated to the eighth stage, the refinement of the Spiritual Qi of the Heaven and Earth became over a hundred times faster than when I was trying to refine and generate inner strength with the Xing Yi Martial Art. If I were to use up all my inner strength, I will be able to replenish it fully within several hours." Teng Qingshan sighed and thought to himself, "In my previous life, all experts viewed inner strength as something extremely precious and no one dared to waste any inner strength. The inner strength was generated through the refinement of the essence and blood. However, the inner strength is not that precious in this world!"

Soon…

Teng Qingshan attained the ninth stage of the "Vigor of the Reckless Bull"!

His inner strength inundated and flowed in the eight extraordinary meridians. Clearing up the Ren and Du meridians were the most challenging step of the ninth stage.

The numbness is getting stronger! I didn't know that by stimulating the meridians and acupuncture points with my inner strength, I will be able to strengthen the meridian channels. Teng Qingshan did according to the cultivation manuals. The stimulation of the acupuncture points was done by circulating the acupuncture points with inner strength. The inner strength must rub the acupuncture points very softly so that it wouldn't cause any damage.

According to the secret manual, once the acupuncture point is damaged, the inner strength would flow very slowly whenever it passes through this acupuncture point.

"Acupuncture point?" I understand the principle. The meridian channels are the highways and the acupuncture points are the huge bridges! If the bridge is damaged, the speed of the transportation would naturally be damaged." Teng Qingshan could sense that more and more inner strength was accumulating in his body.

The great amount of inner strength surged towards the Dantian. The Dantian was like a bottomless hole, unceasingly absorbing the inner strength.

After a while, Teng Qingshan felt that his Dantian swelled and he couldn't store anymore inner strength.

"Eh? It's full?" Teng Qingshan sighed and said, "According to the "Vigor of the Reckless Bull", the Dantian is extremely small during the beginning of the cultivation of inner strength. As time pass, the Dantian would grow bigger and bigger. Eventually, the Dantian will reach a limit and no longer expand. However, I am still far from reaching the limit of the Dantian."

There was a limit to how big the Dantian could grow and there was a limit to how much inner strength one could store. It was impossible to have an infinite amount of inner strength.

Because of that, warriors would eventually use up all the inner strength when they engage in combat.

However, as one cultivate, the Dantian would gradually enlarge. It's just like a person's stomach. The stomach would enlarge as one consume more and more food. Of course, there was a limit! Once the limit was reached, no matter how much one cultivate, the size of the Dantian would no longer expand.

...

On this snowy ground in the courtyard, Teng Qingshan could be seen seated cross-legged, looking like a snowman.

Whew!

Teng Qingshan stood up and the snow fell off his body.

"The ninth stage? That was easy. I have now reached the ninth stage. Actually, I considered the mnemonic chant to generate inner strength during the ninth stage as the most precious component of this cultivation!" Suddenly struck by a thought, Teng Qingshan pushed forth the inner strength in his Dantian in and out of the eight extraordinary meridians, merged the separated flows of inner strength, and sent it surging towards the meridians in his right arm.

"Ah!"

Teng Qingshan felt an intense pain in his meridian channels. It was so painful that his facial expression changed and he hastily dispersed the inner strength away from the narrow and tiny meridian channels in his arm.

"Chichi!"

A great amount of inner strength burst forth and hit the snowy grounds, leaving many tiny holes on the ground.

"That was close." Teng Qingshan said with a horrified expression.

Earlier, eight gushes of inner strength surged out of the eight extraordinary meridians and merged in Teng Qingshan's arm. However, the amount of inner strength in the eight extraordinary meridians was far greater than the capacity of the meridian channels in his arm. The amount of flowing inner strength was so great that it almost tore a meridian channel in Teng Qingshan's right arm. Fortunately, Teng Qingshan had cleared up all his meridians, and so, he was able to disperse the great amount of inner strength through the multiple tiny and narrow meridian channels nearby.

"My eight extraordinary meridians are too wide. Although a great amount of inner strength can flow out of the eight extraordinary meridians, the meridians in the arm are few in number and smaller, meaning that I won't be able to put the great amount of inner strength into use immediately. It's like having a great amount of ammunition but unable to use all the ammunition immediately because the gun muzzles are too small and too few in number. What a pity!" Teng Qingshan thought and smiled helplessly.

When he was practicing the sixth stage, the amount of inner strength was not that great and it was bearable for the meridians in Teng Qingshan's arm. However, it was different this time.

"It seems like the "Vigor of the Reckless Bull"was right. I must spend more time expanding and enlarging my meridians as well as nurturing my meridians." Teng Qingshan thought to himself.

...

Since then, Teng Qingshan remained in the Black Armored Army and lived leisurely. Besides practicing spear art, he would also take the soldiers out for horse ride training. The rest of the time was spent practicing the "Vigor of the Reckless Bull"and nurturing his meridians. As time passed, his meridians gradually expanded and grew stronger.