My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Time flies and Jiang Li has been an apprentice for a year.

On this day, Jiang Li knelt in front of the portrait of the ancestor. Uncle Jiu stood in front of him and said, "According to the rules, I have been observing you for a year. After the previous guidance, I found that you have the intention to correct yourself. Today, I will formally teach you the skills. I hope you will practice well in the future and don't be lazy."

Jiang Li excitedly said to Uncle Jiu, "I will obey Master's orders and practice diligently without any laziness."

Then Uncle Jiu took out a yellowed book and handed it to Jiang Li, saying, "This is my Maoshan introductory mental method, 'Shangqing Qi Training Secret'. Although it is an introductory mental method, it is also an authentic Shangqing Taoist method. Read it a few times and then I will guide you in practicing."

Jiang Li heard this but did not rush to read it. Instead, he said to Uncle Jiu, "Master, you said this is the entry-level technique. Are there any advanced techniques?"

Uncle Jiu snorted and said, "I advise you not to be too ambitious. Although the Shangqing Qi Training Technique is not very profound, it is most suitable for beginners."

"It is not only moderate and peaceful, but also not slow to cultivate. The most important thing is that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is thin now, and most other exercises are difficult to get started. If you have achieved success in cultivation in the future, it will not be too late to switch to advanced exercises."

Jiang Li asked embarrassedly, "It's not that I have any objections, I'm just curious whether there are any seniors in Maoshan who directly practice advanced skills. Isn't it redundant for me to change my skills?"

Uncle Jiu said helplessly, "There were some one or two hundred years ago, but in the past hundred years, because the spiritual energy has become increasingly thin, there are no disciples in Maoshan who directly practice advanced skills."

Jiang Li probably understood that those advanced skills required a high level of spiritual energy, and it was now very difficult to practice successfully.

"It seems that I have to use the blood of spiritual beasts to make pills in the future, otherwise I will end up like Uncle Jiu, returning empty-handed from a mountain of treasures." Jiang Li thought.

He stopped asking about advanced techniques and instead sat on a chair and carefully looked through the Shangqing Qigong Sutra. However, what left Jiang Li speechless was that he recognized every word but could not understand their meaning when they were put together.

Jiang Li read it several times and frowned more and more. Uncle Jiu shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying, "You have read enough. I will teach you the method of refining qi."

Jiang Li immediately put down the book and said to Uncle Jiu, "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I find the technique really difficult to understand."

Uncle Jiu first explained the key points to Jiang Li, and after he understood, he asked him to sit cross-legged, and then put his hand on Jiang Li's back and passed a trace of magic power to him.

At this time, Uncle Jiu said, "Relax your mind and feel this strand of magic power. Try to control it and let it circulate in the acupuncture points in your body as I said before."

Jiang Li did not answer, but silently followed his master's instructions. Finally, after many attempts, Jiang Li felt that trace of magic power, and circulated it throughout his body as his master said.

After countless attempts, Jiang Li finally completed his first circulation of Qi. Seeing that Jiang Li was already familiar with Qi training, Uncle Jiu retracted his palm and said, "Remember this route. When you have cultivated enough magical power to be able to circulate Qi on your own, you can be considered a Taoist priest."

Jiang Li heard this and asked curiously, "I have been a Taoist for a year, am I not considered a Taoist priest?"

Uncle Jiu smiled and said, "If you study Taoist scriptures and Taoist rituals but have not cultivated magical powers, you are a Taoist child. After you have cultivated magical powers, you become a Taoist priest. Taoist priests can be divided into one to nine levels according to the strength of their magical powers, and then they are promoted to human teachers."

"Above the Human Master is the Earth Master, and after the Earth Master is the Heaven Master. These realms are divided into nine levels. You may want to change your skills after you have cultivated to the Human Master level one day!"

After hearing this, Jiang Li wanted to ask about the realm above the Heavenly Master, but after thinking about it, he found that asking this question now would only make his master unhappy. After all, he hadn't even cultivated a trace of Qi.

...

Since learning the method of practicing Qi, Jiang Li has added one more thing to his daily work, which is meditation and practice. Unfortunately, after three months, Jiang Li has only been able to cultivate a very weak trace of Qi.

I couldn't even complete one cycle of the Qi, which made me more determined that I must not practice step by step.

Looking at the two huge, fully-feathered chickens in the yard, although it was not the first time he saw them, Jiang Li was still very surprised.

Because these two spirit chickens now have their wings stretched to three meters, and their fiery red feathers are dazzling, but unfortunately they are too heavy to fly, and can only flap a few times at most.

This day was the day when his father came to pick him up as usual. Jiang Li said goodbye to Uncle Jiu and returned to the Jiang family courtyard. After dinner, thinking back on his slow progress in cultivation, Jiang Li made a bold decision.

He persuaded his father to do some experiments on two acres of pumpkin fields, which was naturally to thin out the vines and fruits, so that the plants could provide as much nutrition as possible to a small number of pumpkins.

Then he would select those with round and full bodies, plant them for many years and screen them repeatedly, and finally get a stable and high-yield variety. This certainly could not be accomplished in a few days, but he was only twelve years old now, so it was just the right thing for him to do.

A few months later, the first screening showed results. The individual pumpkins of the plants treated by Jiang Li were obviously larger. Finally, after calculation, the yield per acre increased by about 200 kilograms.

Of course, Jiang Li still stayed in the charity cemetery during this period, and only asked Uncle Jiu for leave to go home when he was needed. There was no need to tell the truth about the reason.

I don't know whether it is the result of careful cultivation or his own credit.

He realized the following year that his method indeed worked, because the output increased by another 100 kilograms to 900 kilograms, a full 300 kilograms higher than before.

In the third year, as expected, the weight increased to one thousand kilograms, and he decided to confront his uncle. He returned home with a few pumpkins and a lot of food supplies.

In the past few years, the Jiang family's business has increased several times. Not only have the number of stores in the town increased, but the daily income can reach about ten dollars.

During this period, he also replaced the earthen walls of the house with brick walls, and the house was also renovated and expanded, making him a proper owner.

Because Jiang Li requested that the price not be lowered when purchasing land, the amount of land held by the Jiang family only increased by a dozen acres.

Unfortunately, Lijia Town is not that big and is far inferior to Renjia Town. After all, Renjia Town has fish shops and Western restaurants. Where there are fish, there are rivers, water transportation, and docks.

Western restaurants can only do business when there is a large flow of people coming and going from the south and the north. This geographical advantage is unmatched by Lijia Town.

Counting the livestock at home, in addition to dozens of breeding chickens raised in the hatchery, there is also a chicken farm that raises 500 hens, more than 20 mules and horses, 30 sheep and five cows.

Because the manure is cleaned regularly and lime is used for disinfection, these animals rarely get sick.

During this period, because foxes and weasels attacked the chicken farm, a magic chicken was transferred back to the farm to keep it under control. With the chicken in its presence, all the snakes, insects, rats and ants on the mountain retreated.

After breakfast, Jiang Li said to his parents solemnly, "Dad, I want to go to the provincial capital to study."

Jiang Kaishan and Wang Chunhua looked at each other and said, "I don't mind if you want to study, but what about your master?"