Huangxiu

Chapter 4 Guidance
The main hall of Mingwu Hall.

The white marble floor is spotless.

On the north wall hangs a painting that is two meters long and one meter wide. It depicts the rising sun breaking through dark clouds and illuminating the mountains and rivers.

There is an armchair below the painting.

There is a row of chairs on each side of this armchair, with a total of seven chairs from north to south. Apart from these, there is nothing else, making the room seem even more empty.

Twelve luminous pearls are embedded in the caisson, and the bright and soft pearl light gathers together and fills the hall.

Chu Qingfeng sat in the armchair in the north and looked at Chu Zhiyuan: "How is your father's health?"

"Father is well."

His inner vision allows him to see not only himself, but also other people's internal organs through physical contact, so he knows Chu Minghou's physical condition clearly.

Chu Minghou looked frail and could be blown down by a gust of wind, but there was a vibrant vitality in his body.

He couldn't help but glance at the picture on the north wall.

The illusion I just saw was this picture. I felt as if I had entered the painting, but the reality was so clear that it didn’t seem like an illusion.

Could this picture contain the secrets of the Grand Master?

Chu Qingfeng nodded: "Minghou is a blessed man. If he had not been born into an imperial family, he would not have lived past one year old."

Chu Zhiyuan raised his eyebrows.

Of course, people in the mansion would not discuss Chu Minghou's weak health. He has always been surprised by Chu Minghou's physical condition.

He is obviously born weak and no magical medicine is effective for him. Where does the vitality in his body come from? If he has this vitality, why doesn't he make his body stronger?
"Minghou was born weak and could hardly survive. My brother went to Baichuan Cave alone to look for elixirs and unexpectedly came across a heavenly fruit."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly.

There are four great caves and four secret places in the Dajing Dynasty, all guarded by the Grand Master of the Grand Master's Mansion. There are rare treasures and fruits in the caves, and there are rare birds and beasts in the secret places.

I didn’t expect that my father had actually eaten the magical fruit in the cave.

"The Heavenly Spirit Fruit is something you can only encounter but not seek for. It only appears once every few hundred years."

"It can reverse one's innate destiny. No matter how weak a person is, if he takes it, he can live a hundred years. If nothing unexpected happens, you and your sister should have good aptitude."

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly realized.

No wonder this body has such excellent aptitude. I originally thought it was inherited from my royal grandfather Chu Qingquan, but it turns out it was because of the Tianling Fruit.

"Don't waste this God-given opportunity," Chu Qingfeng said slowly, "Practice well."

"Yes." Chu Zhiyuan nodded seriously.

"There is one more thing. If you want to become a Grandmaster, you must remember this. Be careful when using external objects. Magic pills and elixirs can be used to cleanse your hair and marrow, but they cannot be used to improve your cultivation. Once you use external objects to improve your cultivation, you will never be able to become a Grandmaster."

Chu Zhiyuan was stunned.

"Why are there so few Grandmasters in this world? First, it's because there are many barriers to becoming a Grandmaster. Talent and luck are both indispensable. But the most important thing is this: Yin and Yang are interdependent, and advantages and disadvantages are interdependent. People in the world only see the wonders of elixirs but don't know their disadvantages... Of course, there are some people who know, but we can just pretend they don't know."

"Thank you for your advice, uncle!"

Most people like to take shortcuts and seek quick success.

The Grandmaster is already strong enough in this world. Rather than giving up shortcuts for the illusory Grandmaster and possibly dying halfway, it is better to become a Grandmaster as soon as possible.

You must know that after the age of sixty, you will no longer be able to see the Grandmaster's Door, and the possibility of becoming a Grandmaster is gone.

Since I have super senses, I naturally want to strive to become a grandmaster.

Then you can’t use elixirs to improve your cultivation.

"You have a strong foundation and a pure aura. You have never used elixirs to improve your cultivation. This is rare."

"Uncle's Dharma Eyes, there is really no magic pill."

He wanted to laugh at himself by saying that it was not that he didn't want to use elixirs to improve his cultivation, but that there were no elixirs available even if he wanted to, so there was nothing he could do.

Before I even uttered the words, I realized that they contained resentment and should not be spoken aloud.

The elixirs that improve one's cultivation level are not ordinary elixirs. They all come from the imperial court and are controlled by the imperial court. They cannot be bought outside.

The support of the royal palace comes from two parts: one is the taxes and special products of the fiefdom, and the other is the salary corresponding to the title issued by the court.

This part of the salary includes elixir.

The organization of the prince's palace has its own standards. The number of guards does not matter, but there is a quota for guards, and each guard is given elixirs.

The palace has plenty of silver, but silver cannot buy good elixirs, and the elixirs allocated do not include those that can improve one's cultivation.

The only way to get this elixir is to exchange it from the imperial court for merit. Since Prince Qing's mansion was sealed, he had no chance to make merit, so naturally he couldn't get this elixir.

"In your generation, besides you, there are still the Tenth and Thirteenth families. The rest..."

He shook his head.

It is indeed as my royal brother said, the Chu family is getting weaker with each generation. If this continues, the country will be handed over to others.

The princes of Chu Minghou's generation were no longer ambitious and were eager for quick success and instant benefits. The princes of Chu Zhiyuan's generation were even more eager for quick success and instant benefits and had no patience. Most of them were using elixirs to improve their cultivation.

Mingwu Hall has top-notch martial arts and guidance from grand masters, but there is a ban: no one is allowed to take elixirs that improve cultivation, only those that improve aptitude and physique.

But once you enter the innate realm, you are no longer within the scope of this ban.

You can resist it for a while, but not for a lifetime. If you insist on taking shortcuts and taking elixirs to improve your cultivation, it is useless to use force.

"...Uncle, I want to find a footwork to practice first."

"The secret manual is in the west hall, and the miscellaneous books are in the east hall. Find what you want to practice. If you don't understand, ask me. Don't practice blindly... You have guards here, so you should focus on the Little Purple Yang Art. The Little Purple Yang Art is the foundation. Only when you enter the Xiantian realm can you start to take on tasks."

These princes were eager to take on the task immediately.

If you accept the mission, you can make achievements, and if you make achievements, you can exchange them for elixirs to speed up your practice.

Not only can they take the panacea themselves, but they can also reward their subordinates to win their hearts.

You have a palace and family, you can't be alone guarding them all day long.

Even if you don't miss the palace and your family, you still need trusted guards to protect you. Your personal energy is limited, and you can't be tense all the time.

If you want to win over powerful guards, you need elixirs. As long as the court controls the four great caves and the four secret places, it will control the top elixirs, and there will be no worries about no one making meritorious deeds in exchange for them. Therefore, even if these princes and princes become masters or even great masters, they still have to work for the court.

"Yes, I will also choose a breakthrough technique."

"Go."

"Thank you, uncle."

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his fists and thanked him solemnly, then left the main hall.

The people in the martial arts training ground were bathed in golden light, standing still like twelve stakes, with a faint purple mist between their breaths.

……

As soon as he entered the west hall, he saw rows and rows of bookshelves filling the entire hall.

There are fourteen rows of bookshelves, each row is thirty meters long and three meters high, with five layers in total.

Every row of bookshelves is packed to the brim with an astonishing number of books collected.

The air is filled with the refreshing scent of books.

He stood in the center of the hall, his eyes shining.

The biggest regret since awakening is that most of the books in the palace are about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, songs and various travel notes, and there are very few books related to martial arts.

In his view, cultivation is not only about knowing the facts, but also about knowing the reasons behind them.

Knowing the significance and mystery of each meridian circulation has completely different effects from blindly moving internal energy.

What's more, all the practice after the acquired realm requires comprehension, rather than simply moving internal energy.

The more solid your martial arts foundation is, the wider the road ahead will be.

The martial arts books in Mingwu Hall are priceless treasures, and now I feel like I am sitting in a treasure mountain.

Internal strength, light skills, footwork, boxing, palm techniques, knife techniques, sword techniques, spear techniques, stick techniques, etc. are placed on different levels according to their exquisiteness and power.

The top layer has the strongest power or the greatest potential, followed by the next layer, and so on, until the fifth layer at the bottom.

There is also an independent bookshelf, which is the inheritance of the ancient sects: Taiqing Yuanzong, Jianglong Sect, Yuxujian Sect, Leiyin Temple, Daxueshan, and Wuya Sect, a total of six major sects.

He slowly closed his eyes, his breathing slowing and his senses dilating.

All the information within twenty feet rushed into his mind.

This information includes the name, appearance, location, unique smell, and different materials of each secret book.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and walked to the independent bookshelf. He casually pulled out a yellowed silk volume from the top shelf. On the cover of the thin booklet were four large characters written in a flamboyant style: "A short distance away, yet a world away."

It is the extraordinary achievement of the Wuya Sect.

Then he pulled out an even older silk book from the top layer, which had the "Great Avalanche Sword Technique" written on it.

It is the extraordinary achievement of the Great Snow Mountain Sect.

He quickly flipped through the two thin booklets, put them back and took out another one, a small booklet with a golden cover, with five large characters "Jade Lock and Golden Gate Secret" on it.

……

In the evening, the sound of bang bang bells rang out, and the palace gates were about to be locked.

Chu Zhiyuan left the west hall with a feeling of unfulfilled desire.

The martial arts training ground outside the Mingwu Palace was shrouded in twilight and was empty.

The princes and the crown prince practiced martial arts in the Mingwu Hall in the morning and forenoon. In the afternoon, they returned to their homes to play or attend other classes.

Or you can stay till night like him.

Chu Zhiyuan left Mingwu Palace and walked in the empty palace, feeling inexplicably lonely.

I felt so lonely as if I was the only one left in the world, floating like duckweed, lonely and helpless.

Past life experiences came flooding back.

I wonder if some of my friends are still working, if they are married with children, or if they have not yet paid off their mortgages.

Fortunately, my parents have passed away, so I don’t have to suffer the pain of seeing my children die young.

Unfortunately, I can no longer drink and chat with friends, and I can no longer shout and curse my unscrupulous boss when I am drunk.

In the dream, I didn’t know that I was a guest.

Over the past two years, he has often had a sense of trance and unreality, which may be the sequelae of reincarnation.

……

After leaving the Nangong Gate, Guo Chi and eight palace guards escorted him back to Prince Qing's Palace.

As soon as he entered the mansion, the internal steward Feng Xi came to greet him and said that the prince and the princess had been waiting for a long time.

During dinner, Chu Minghou, Bai Ningshuang and Chu Yi asked a lot of questions.

He answered them one by one, saying that the princes and princes were friendly, that his Thirteenth Uncle was caring, that the atmosphere in Mingwu Palace was excellent, that they were all practicing martial arts seriously, and that they all wanted to quickly step onto the Xiantian stage and take up their duties, so there was no time for intrigue or any mess.

These words made them feel relieved and smile.

Chu Minghou smiled and said, "I told you, in the palace, under the watchful eyes of the Emperor, the little guys won't do anything reckless."

Bai Ningshuang snorted and said, "I'm just afraid they're not that afraid of the emperor."

These princes and sons of the royal family have been spoiled since childhood, so how can they have any reverence? What's more, they may not be able to understand the difference between their grandfather and the emperor, and they just think that their grandfather is not the emperor.

Chu Yi shook his head in disappointment, causing Chu Zhiyuan to glance at him sideways, and then he quickly laughed again.

She originally wanted to watch a good show and see how her elder brother dealt with these princes and emperors, killing people everywhere and being so powerful, but in the end, they were so well-behaved, which was really disappointing.

When I returned to Tingtao Courtyard, the lights were already on.

The whole yard was brightly lit as if it were daytime.

He had just changed into a loose green robe when Zou Fang came in and reported that Feng Xi wanted to see him.

(End of this chapter)