“Master! I have brought him in.” said Lu Hu politely.
The hair of the two elders were graying white. Xuan Luo felt unease: They are the Masters of Wu Dang? Why are they so old? And why does one of them have a bird’s nest on his head?
Obviously, Xuan Luo kept those thoughts to himself. Seeing how Lu Hu was being so respectful, those two must have a lot of status in Wu Dang.
Xuan Luo felt a bit confused. He still doesn’t know who the two elders were. He doesn’t know how to acknowledge them. At that moment, he is only standing behind Lu Hu; gazing at the two elders.
“Young man, you want to join Wu Dang?” asked the old man with the bird’s nest on his head. Looking at Xuan Luo’s youthful face, he immediately stepped out and got straight to the point.
“Umm..I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you, ye ye?!” Xuan Luo was trying to be polite. His head was down, but he secretly took a peep at the old man.
“Oh my goodness, Little Lu (Lu Hu). You didn’t introduce us!? You haven’t done a proper job!” The old man looked a bit agitated.
Lu Hu immediately smartened up and explained to Xuan Luo, “This is my Master. He is also the Zhang Men of our Clan. The man next to him is our Zhang Lao. We call himTian Yu Zi Zhang Lao.”
After the introduction, Xuan Luo quickly said, “Zhang Men. Zhang Lao.” (In Chinese, you’re supposed to say the name of the person to show that you have acknowledged them. It’s the right and polite thing to do)
Although Xuan Luo was very polite, it didn’t seem to have any effects on the Zhang Men. On the other hand, Tian Yu Zi was the total opposite. He looked at Xuan Luo as if he had found a treasure. He placed his face extremely close to Xuan Luo; there was only about a thread of a distance between them.
Xuan Luo was not expecting this. Slowly, he tried to back away. He was afraid the old man would do something.
But the old man’s glance remained equally powerful and he pressed forward.
By now, Xuan Luo’s bow had already reached a 90 degrees angle. Yet, Tian Yu Zi was still pushing. He bent down his waist because he wanted to look at Xuan Luo’s face; as if he were a fortune teller.
It was physically and mentally tiring for Xuan Luo to hold this position, since it tested the strength of his lower back and he had to deal with this odd behaviour from Tian Yu Zi.
But what choice does he have? Under the mercy of someone, one must bow down. Their position just looked rather comical.
Zhang Men sees this and loudly coughs, “Umm.. you two were not separated from before, right? This looks like a grandfather grandchild type of relationship!?”
Lu Hu instantly burst into laughter. Tian Yu Zi and Xuan Luo immediately tried to stand upright.
However, Xuan Luo was very quick because his back was killing him. Tian Yu Zi was a tad bit slower, and as a result, their lips touched!
Xuan Luo makes a vomiting sound. The moment he realized what had happened, he quickly grabbed his neck and tried to puke.
After a bit, he looked angrily at Tian Yu Zi, “You bird nest man! That was my first kiss!” Xuan Luo exploded.
He knows he doesn’t have the power to do anything at Wu Dang, but at least he can use his mouth.
Strangely, Tian Yu Zi didn’t seem to mind the kiss. He looked totally fine and stood where he was. Then he used his tongue to touch his lips; as if he wanted the kiss to linger.
“Master… I’m going to go now!” Lu Hu held in his laughter and quickly said to Zhang Men.
Tian Yu Zi’s misbehaviour is the topic of many disciples. As an elder, he definitely did not act like a dictator. Instead, he is very warm and easy to get along with. Thus, he is well liked within the Clan.
Once Lu Hu exited the Main Hall, he could no longer hide in his laughter. He roared and started rolling on the ground; holding his belly with his two hands.
Zhang Men ignored what had happened. “Your bones have wonderful energy and your flexibility is quite good. Your face is okay too (Usually, Chinese people like to “read” people’s faces as it could kind of tell their fortune/luck)…. I suppose you are a good Martial Arts material. Have you practiced Martial Arts before?”
“I’ve practiced for a few years.” Hearing someone praise him, Xuan Luo could not hide his pride.
“Not bad. You must have trained well in order to be so flexible. I think you might be suitable for our Clan’s Martial Arts. This is Wu Dang’s simplest xin fa. Try it, and see if you can create some internal energy.”
Zhang Men took out a book and threw it at Xuan Luo.
Xuan Luo caught the book and opened it to take a look. The book was thin and there weren’t many words. Within a few minutes, Xuan Luo had finished reading the entire thing. He closed his eyes and thought about it. Then he sat down, cross legged and followed what the book had said.
Time pa.s.sed by, minute by minute. Zhang Men started to frown. This was the easiest xin fa, it shouldn’t be taking so long. Xuan Luo should have woken up by now. How come it doesn’t seem to be affecting him at all?
In fact, Xuan Luo was also very anxious. He did try to follow the book’s instructions, but for some odd reason, he couldn’t feel the slightest nei li. He couldn’t control the nei li from before either.
Unconsciously, he started to think about the xin fa from the ragged book (the book from Part 1, Chapter 1).
As Xuan Luo repeated the spell from the inside, the nei li from his core started to spread out and went all over his body. The nei li became thicker as it went through his veins. He doesn’t know why either. But after practicing the nei li for a couple of days, he felt that something wanted to explode inside him.
Bang*
All of a sudden, Xuan Luo’s core felt like it exploded. All the nei li from the veins totally went back inside the core. All the overflowing nei li had disappeared.
The feeling was great though. Xuan Luo felt much fresher. The feeling could not be described in words.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Xuan Luo’s internal ability has changed. Compared to before, it was like Heaven and Earth. Zhang Men and Tian Yu Zi were still watching.
When Xuan Luo woke up, Zhang Men was slightly excited, “How was it?”
Xuan Luo looked down. “Well, I followed the xin fa from the book. But I didn’t experience anything. However, this book made my heart feel much calmer.”
Zhang Men was a bit disappointed. The book was clearly Wu Dang’s entry level xin fa. Even if someone has satisfactory qualities, they would feel a little nei li within them. Yet, Xuan Luo had sat there for an hour and didn’t experience anything. Logically, this should not have happened.
Zhang Men can’t figure out why and just left it. “I guess your body isn’t suitable after all. Nei li has to complement gong fa, but from what you said, you didn’t experience any nei li.” Zhang Men sighed.
In Jiang hu, there are many who have succeeded. But when it comes to practicing, only those who can create nei li from within are considered true Wu zhe. For those who practices but are unable to create nei li, they are called Wu xiu. Although there is only a word different, the difference between the two is incomparable.
Nei li is not as simple as it seems. The thing is, the core constantly goes through changes. During the process, the amount of nei li it can store is limited. Sometimes, a bit nei li can change the whole battle; from defeat to victory. That’s the reason why a lot of people want to join a Clan. It’s not only about practicing a suitable Martial Arts, but more so on learning the nei gong xin fa from that Clan.
Even if it’s the simplest nei gong xin fa, if one is able to practice nei li, it will take them much further.
A lot of influential powers around Jiang hu have their own nei gong xin fa and martial art styles. However, compared to a Clan, they’re not very proper/traditional. Although, that is not absolute. But in general, that’s the difference between a Clan and an influential power.
“It seems like your natural abilities are lacking, but I don’t know why? You have practiced Martial Arts before and your physical conditions look great. You’re definitely suitable for Martial Arts. This is such a pity.” Zhang Men sighed. Originally, he thought Xuan Luo would definitely pa.s.s the evaluation; sadly, Xuan Luo could not feel the slightest difference. It was ridiculous that he could not feel a thing.
But what Zhang Men doesn’t know is that Xuan Luo has already practiced a type of xin fa. That’s the reason why Xuan Luo could not unleash another xin fa. Xin fa is not the same as Martial Arts style. A person can only practice one xin fa his entire life. If one were to want to learn a new xin fa, he would have to get rid of all his powers from before. That’s the only way anyone can learn a new xin fa.
There are some in Jiang hu who would find a random book (unknown sources) to practice xin fa. However, if they find that their xin fa is too weak, they will not hesitate one bit to get rid of their powers the moment they find a better xin fa.
But there’s a down side to getting rid of your powers. During that time, the body is the most fragile. The veins are all damaged from the violent act of self destruction. Those who are mildly affected will heal in a few days, but those who are severely injured will never be able to practice xin fa again.
Seeing this situation, Tian Yu Zi quickly added. “Forget it. You can’t practice nei li but you can still become a very good Martial Artist! I think this young lad is suitable for me. Shi xiong, let me have him!”
“No, I don’t want to!” Xuan Luo looked angrily at the old man. It wasn’t that he wanted to disrespect Tian Yu Zi, but he hasn’t forgotten what had happened.
“It doesn’t matter what you want! Shi xiong, this boy is mines!” With that, Tian Yu Zi dragged Xuan Luo with him and headed towards his residence.
Xuan Luo’s rejection remained ignored. Zhang Men smiled at Tian Yu Zi’s action and didn’t say a word.
Xuan Luo tried to escape from Tian Yu Zi’s grasp, but realized that he could not use any of his strength regardless how hard he tried. Tian Yu Zi was too strong. He felt like a fish that was about to be slaughtered. It was a terrible feeling. The only thing Xuan Luo could do was glare at Tian Yu Zi…