People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 125, A Month Passes By, Xu Qing Achieves Enlightenment (Extra Chapter Late at Night, Let's See How Many People Are Reading.)
Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

This past month has been the most intense period of infighting in the Korean court. As Han Yu spread the news, the phrase "The Crown Prince is ill, you should encourage him" quickly spread in Xinzheng.

Everyone in the Korean court knew about it, and everything was just as Han Yu had predicted. Ji Wuye didn't react, but the Crown Prince of Han couldn't sit still anymore.

In order to secure his position, Crown Prince Han, who had always only known how to indulge in pleasure, took the initiative to request to handle government affairs. King An of Han was happy to cultivate him and handed the matter over to him.

During this period, Zhang Kaidi's condition gradually improved, and he began to take charge of court affairs again. The first thing he did after taking over was to negotiate peace with the Qin state.

After half a month of negotiations, the two sides finally agreed that the State of Han would cede five cities to the State of Qin in exchange for the Qin army withdrawing its troops.

Before the entire nation of South Korea could breathe a sigh of relief, Crown Prince Han ran into trouble again. However, due to Han Yu's underhanded sabotage, Crown Prince Han accomplished nothing and caused a great deal of chaos.

King An of Han was furious. He not only reprimanded the man but also ordered him to stay at home and study.

Ji Wuye naturally knew that Han Yu was the one causing trouble, so he began to attack Han Yu, making a big deal out of Han Yu's limp.

The two sides have been fighting fiercely for the past month, with many people being dragged into the conflict and becoming victims. However, Zhang Kaidi and Xu Qing, as the other two forces in the court, were not only unaffected by the struggle, but actually benefited from it.

Because of his meritorious service in negotiating with the Qin state, Zhang Kaidi's five upright officials were all given important positions and promoted.

Xu Qing also took the opportunity to promote his close associates to important positions through Chao Nu Yao or Hu Meiren.

In the mountains outside Xinzheng City.

By the end of September, South Korea had entered late autumn. The leaves on the trees outside the city were beginning to turn yellow, and leaves were falling in the wind.

Layers of white frost covered the fallen leaves, and the withering of all things had begun. A cold wind blew, and a sense of sorrow welled up in people's hearts.

He Guanzi and Xu Qing sat cross-legged on two rocks. He Guanzi was looking at Xu Qing with a solemn expression as he used the techniques of "Ten Thousand Rivers Autumn Water" and "Heart Like Still Water".

The internal energy around Xu Qing created a continuous flow of air, which swirled up the fallen leaves on the ground, forming a withered, yellow wooden dragon.

Xu Qing made hand seals continuously, and the wooden dragon headed towards the withered tree beside him. However, the wooden dragon did not attack the withered tree directly, but instead began to rotate around it. But just as it climbed halfway up, it suddenly dispersed, and the leaves fell down with a rustling sound.

He Guanzi watched Xu Qing control the wooden dragon, his eyes gleaming.

It has only been a month since Xu Qing began learning the two martial arts techniques, "Autumn Waters of Ten Thousand Rivers" and "Heart Like Still Water".

Xu Qing is not only able to control the airflow within a foot around him, but he has also begun to try to use both together and connect them, which is quite surprising.

It's important to understand that even the elite disciples of the Heavenly Sect would need at least one or two years to master just one of the two techniques. And to be able to manipulate airflow within a foot at will, years of honing one's skills are simply impossible.

But Xu Qing accomplished this in just one month. Even knowing Xu Qing's extraordinary talent, He Guanzi couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

Xu Qing opened her eyes, revealing a look of disappointment.

For the past month, he has been practicing the techniques of "Ten Thousand Rivers Autumn Water" and "Heart Like Still Water." Although he can now mobilize the airflow within a foot to fight off enemies, he cannot do it as easily as He Guanzi.

"Teacher, I have no problem using Wan Chuan Qiu Shui and Xin Ruo Zhi Shui on their own each time, but once I use them together, I always feel that something is wrong when I am controlling my Qi, which makes it impossible to perform smoothly."

Xu Qing told He Guanzi about his problem, and He Guanzi didn't know how to describe this strange feeling.

“The two techniques, ‘Autumn Waters of Ten Thousand Rivers’ and ‘Heart Like Still Water,’ are complementary, one being restraint and the other being release. However, it is not easy to use them together and achieve mastery,” He Guanzi said, looking at Xu Qing.

The problem Xu Qing encountered was something that every disciple of the Daoist Tianzong sect would encounter; it was not a big problem.

"Then how should this disciple solve this problem?" Xu Qing asked.

The Autumn Waters of Ten Thousand Rivers and the Still Waters of the Heart are his only means of fighting enemies at present. He also hopes to learn the Taoist Heavenly Sect's techniques after mastering these two skills.

“It’s very simple, just understand!” He Guanzi said.

"Enlightenment!? Teacher, couldn't you explain it in a simpler way?" Xu Qing looked helplessly at He Guanzi. His teacher liked to give him riddles to guess; he was truly an old riddle master.

“You have already mastered both techniques. If you want to advance further and reach a higher level, you must comprehend their mysteries yourself,” He Guanzi said.

It wasn't that he didn't want to teach Xu Qing, but rather that the Heavenly Sect's martial arts had always been like this. The Heavenly Sect's martial arts were all extensions of Daoist principles; as long as one had some talent and was willing to put in the effort, they could easily learn them.

However, to fully master it and reach a higher level, one needs to comprehend its underlying principles.

Conversely, if one directly grasps the underlying principles, one can master them completely in a very short time simply by studying and practicing diligently.

"I'll figure it out myself? Could you give me some hints?" Xu Qing asked ingratiatingly.

"Do you remember what I told you about Du Wanjuan before? Du Wanjuan said: Yin and Yang are the correct forms of Qi; Heaven and Earth are the correct forms of shape, one Yin and one Yang."

He Guanzi began to preach to Xu Qing again. He could give Xu Qing guidance, but in the end, Xu Qing still had to figure it out himself. To make it easier for Xu Qing to understand, he even used withered leaves as an example.

"You are looking at the leaves. The withered leaves fall and turn into mud, but they do not disappear. Instead, they turn into nutrients to nourish the tree trunk."

"The tree trunk lies dormant all winter, absorbing nutrients from the fallen leaves, and revives in the spring, transforming into new leaves once more as time goes by."

As Xu Qing listened to He Guanzi's explanation, he began to ponder the relationship between the Yin and Yang energies of Du Wanzhong, the autumn waters of Wanchuan, and the stillness of the heart.

"The vast autumn waters and the still heart are like water, one releasing and the other withdrawing, similar to yin and yang, both complementing each other."

The book Liezi states that the way of heaven and earth is the change of yin and yang.

"New leaves and withered leaves, life and death, the transformation of life and death, are inextricably linked."

Xu Qing recalled a large number of scriptures he had studied. Listening to He Guanzi's explanation, Xu Qing constantly verified these scriptures and connected them with the imagery of "ten thousand rivers in autumn" and "a heart as still as water."

"The phrase 'Ten Thousand Rivers Flowing in Autumn' comes from Zhuangzi and teaches people to correctly understand external things, while 'A Mind Like Still Water' teaches how to guard one's true nature, uphold one's integrity, and remain unmoved by external things."

"Internal and external, movement and stillness, life and death. Ultimately, they all come down to Yin and Yang."

"Yin and Yang? In my past life, I think my teacher taught Tai Chi in PE class. How did we learn it back then? What did Liezi say about it?"

As Xu Qing recalled the scene, images floated into his mind, and verses of scripture constantly surrounded each image.

Gradually, Xu Qing began to understand and fell into a state of ethereal clarity.

Two streams of air rose from the ground and surrounded Xu Qing, their wind pressure spreading outwards and swirling up the withered leaves on the ground.

He Guanzi stopped speaking as he watched Xu Qing enter a state of enlightenment.

"Now it's up to you. If you can overcome this hurdle and comprehend the principles of internal and external control, you will have mastered both techniques."

"By combining contraction and expansion, the two are integrated."

Before He Guanzi could finish speaking, he stared wide-eyed at Xu Qing, a look of astonishment flashing across his face.

At this moment, the two opposing vortexes around Xu Qing gradually began to merge, and the wind pressure spread outwards. The internal force within Xu Qing gradually transformed into two yin-yang fish, one black and one white.

"How could this be?" He Guanzi said in astonishment.

Shouldn't Xu Qing have been comprehending the inner principles of the two cultivation methods? How did he suddenly skip several realms and directly comprehend the Dao of Yin and Yang?
Is there any justice in this world? Who cultivates Taoism without even learning the basics, and goes straight for the fundamental principles?

This is more complete, but one more chapter is still needed. However, we're almost at 1800 chapters, and I can't possibly repay the kindness of my godfathers.

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(End of this chapter)