The line of text written on the green jade slip was the Great Yin Nurturing Art. There was also a line of smaller characters, and then nothing more.
Xu Ying walked toward the green jade slip, intending to look closer, but the old servant Zhou Buyi stopped him.
"Young Master Xu, to decipher the green jade slip, you must first study the Scripture of Tuoyu. Otherwise, you won't understand the contents of the jade slip."
Zhou Buyi's expression was ambiguous: "Those who can contemplate the green jade slip here are all elders of the Zhou family. Their cultivation reaches the heavens, their knowledge spans the sky, and they've studied the Scripture of Tuoyu for decades—only then can they barely comprehend a small portion of the jade slip's content. Young Master Xu, you've just arrived and already want to read the jade slip? Isn't that rather presumptuous?"
Xu Ying smiled: "Buyi, when did you gain the authority to tell me what I should and shouldn't read? If you had the ability, Zhou Qiyun should have asked you to decipher the scripture. If you don't, step aside and don't dictate to those who can."
Zhou Buyi flushed with shame and anger but didn't dare explode. He retreated to the side, thinking: "This country bumpkin doesn't know how to behave."
Xu Ying stepped forward. Then the Great Bell's voice came: "A-Ying, this thing is called a jade slip—a special kind of jade bamboo. In extremely ancient times, qi refiners used this jade-like bamboo to record their insights, which is why it's also called a jade slip Dao text. However, jade bamboo is exceedingly rare and valuable—not something ordinary qi refiners could obtain. What's recorded here might be far more precious than the Scripture of Tuoyu!"
Xu Ying was puzzled: "Jade bamboo? Can bamboo be made of jade? Can jade grow from the earth?"
The Great Bell spoke as if this were perfectly natural: "Is it strange for jade to grow from the earth, but not for wood? Some creatures even grow gold and iron inside their bodies—purer than what you can refine!"
Xu Ying thought carefully and concluded that jade growing from the earth actually made sense.
He approached the jade slip Dao text and looked up to examine the tiny characters.
There were eight characters in total, also in archaic script, but written differently from what he had seen before. Within the strokes seemed to hide many wondrous meanings.
When he made out the first character, he understood its meaning. Yet at the same moment he recognized it, he lost the ability to express that meaning in language.
He couldn't use any language he knew to describe or depict this character's significance.
Forced to express it, he could barely use the word "great" to approximate it.
The moment he understood the character "great," strange sounds filled his ears, making his body involuntarily perform corresponding movements!
He stood firm, one palm to the left, one to the right, middle two fingers curled, upper body twisting backward, his waist nearly completing a full rotation until his bones cracked audibly!
After completing this movement, Xu Ying felt his origin qi and the waters of the Heavenly River surge along his spine, evaporating into rain that cleansed his Hidden Realm, washing through all his organs!
He saw the second character. If he had to force it into known language, it could be called "yin."
The strange sounds in his ears changed instantly, as if someone were chanting mysterious scriptures, producing rustling sounds within his bone marrow.
Xu Ying's body moved of its own accord—legs crouching, one palm forward, one palm back, neck guiding forward. He felt cool qi flowing through his marrow, bones clattering throughout his entire body.
All the strength finally gathered at the black-iron barrier gate at the tailbone, settling there!
He saw the third character, "origin," and the sounds changed again. Xu Ying followed with the third movement—one foot forward, one foot back, hands pressing the ground, head straining upward.
Within his body, water rose from heaven, fire rose from earth. Water and fire tempered each other, refining all his acupoints!
Finally, water and fire converged near his dantian!
The jade slip Dao text contained eight characters in total. Xu Ying read from beginning to end, hearing a different Dao sound for each character. After reading all eight—organs, tailbone, dantian, spine, throat, beneath the tongue, tongue, and between the eyebrows, inside and out—wondrous things happened!
Xu Ying felt washed clean from inside out, more comfortable than great sun tempering or thunder sound tempering!
The eight archaic characters on the jade slip could be approximated as great, yin, origin, nurture, one, yang, eternal, and true.
But their profound meaning could only be grasped by reading the characters and simultaneously hearing the Dao sounds that embodied their significance.
Even more peculiar, the eight characters seemed to correspond to the eight stages of qi gathering, barrier breaking, dual tempering, second barrier breaking, layered towers, jade pool, divine bridge, and ascension!
After one practice, Xu Ying felt his physical body, soul, spirit sense, origin qi, and blood—all were comfortable. Every thought in his mind was smooth and distinct, no longer muddled as before.
Even the Dao images within his Hidden Realm had become far more stable!
"Is the Great Yin Nurturing Art really just these eight characters?"
Xu Ying was puzzled: "This technique seems far too simple!"
Compared to the eight characters of the Great Yin Nurturing Art, the Scripture of Tuoyu was enormously thick.
The Scripture of Tuoyu was the ancient qi refiner Tuoyu's interpretation of the Great Yin Nurturing Art, divided into eight stages, each with lengthy annotations. These annotations used many complex terms, and explaining those complex terms required even more complex terms!
But in the end, Tuoyu's annotations and the annotations of annotations were all her understanding of these eight characters, containing her comprehension of the Dao—which was why they were obscure and had stumped the Zhou family's brightest minds.
In Xu Ying's view, however, what Tuoyu had expressed hadn't exceeded the eight characters of the Great Yin Nurturing Art.
"Moreover, Senior Tuoyu's understanding seems somewhat flawed. She grasped the essence of great, yin, origin, and nurture, but her comprehension of one, yang, eternal, and true was insufficient."
Xu Ying thought: "Perhaps this is why practicing the Scripture of Tuoyu transforms one into a woman."
He stood before the thirteen white-haired Zhou family elders who were poring over texts, practicing the Great Yin Nurturing Art again and again with bizarre postures. This drew the attention of all the Zhou family's talented members.
"Who is this?" asked a white-haired youth of the Zhou family to old servant Zhou Buyi.
Zhou Buyi quickly bowed: "Young Master Youyou, this is a young genius from the countryside. Do you remember that Xu Ying who caused such a stir recently?"
The white-haired youth Zhou Youyou was surprised: "The criminal who practices yao techniques? I heard many people died trying to catch him."
Zhou Buyi nodded: "He looks down on the Scripture of Tuoyu and wants to decipher the jade slip."
Zhou Youyou shook his head: "Nonsense. Country people really have no perspective. They吹捧 a fraud to extraordinary heights."
Suddenly, a voice came from outside: "Which one is Xu Ying?"
The voice was powerful, making everyone in the hall's eardrums ring. Xu Ying turned to look and saw several young men and women stride in with purpose.
The leading man wore white and red garments, looking agitated. The moment he entered the hall, he shouted: "I heard the Ancestor captured the criminal Xu Ying and brought him here to decipher the scripture. Which one is Xu Ying? Step forward quickly!"
Xu Ying stepped forward: "I am Xu Ying."
The man in white and red looked him up and down: "So you killed Zhou Yang and Zhou Yihang?"
Old servant Zhou Buyi stepped forward, coughing: "Young Master Fan, Young Master Xu was invited by the Ancestor to decipher the celestial scripture. Please don't cause trouble."
This was Zhou Fan of the Zhou family's inner household, who sneered: "Uncle Yi, do you know how many of our family he killed? The entire Lingling garrison was wiped out! Second Brother Zhou Yang, Uncle Zhou Yihang—all perished at his hands! The Yongzhou Prefecture's elite suffered heavy casualties, so many died because of him! Even Zhou Zheng is dead!"
Zhou Buyi said: "Young Master Fan, please understand. The Ancestor ordered me to look after Young Master Xu. I cannot let you kill him to vent your anger."
Zhou Fan laughed in fury: "I never said I'd kill him—just teach him a lesson! Uncle Yi, you won't even allow that?"
Zhou Buyi turned to Xu Ying with a sigh: "Young Master Xu, you see—it's not that I won't look after you, but that the anger of many is hard to quell. Young Master Xu, just take a small loss and let them vent. With me here, your life won't be in danger—at most you'll be slightly injured."
His wrinkled face showed a smile: "Fortunately, our Zhou family may lack in many things, but healing is second to none. As long as you're not dead, we can save anyone."
Zhou Fan strode toward Xu Ying. Before arriving, his right hand was already raised, slapping toward Xu Ying's face: "I slap you for Brother Yang—is that too much?"
Xu Ying shrugged, raised his hand. In an instant, his palm filled with blood, becoming as large as a palm-leaf fan. His slap produced thunder, arriving first and striking Zhou Fan's face with full force!
"Pa!"
Sound waves exploded, blood flew, and Zhou Fan's head was slapped nearly half a turn.
In that moment, he saw his own buttocks. The next, his body spun wildly through the air, flipping and tumbling before crashing into a pillar four zhang away with a thud.
Zhou Fan was actually impressive—he leaped up, still full of vitality.
The instant he leaped, a sword beam pointed at his brow, pinning him against the pillar.
In the hall, the Zhou family disciples surged forward, shouting: "Insolent!" "Scoundrel!" "Drop the sword!"
Four zhang behind the sword beam, Xu Ying stood there, speaking calmly: "Whether it's excessive depends on strength. Before me, do you have excessive strength?"
He scanned the Zhou family members' expressions: "I never quite understood before. Zhou Yang was already a magistrate—the highest official in our area. He had everything: a dozen beautiful wives, vast fields, endless gold and silver, delicious food. Eight bearers carried his sedan chair, and beautiful women awaited at home. We farmers and vegetable sellers had nothing. Many couldn't afford wives, ending their family lines. Many couldn't build houses, sleeping in dirt huts and straw sheds. Our families were so poor we didn't know where the next meal would come from. Why was Magistrate Zhou still so greedy, taking from us starving people? When we couldn't afford rice, why did he seize our remaining grain?"
He smiled: "Seeing you, I understand now. He needed to feed you all. You wear fine silks, eat rich foods, ride handsome horses, surrounded by countless servants—behind each of you was a Zhou magistrate worshipping you like deities!"
Yuan Qi's tail slapped the ground: "Big rat, big rat, don't eat my millet! That's exactly what you fat rats are! A-Ying, am I right?"
Xu Ying clapped: "The Ox family truly is a scholarly household—that was very learned."
Yuan Qi laughed: "You finally admit my learning surpasses yours!"
The Zhou family members' faces turned ashen.
Old servant Zhou Buyi trembled with rage, pointing at Xu Ying: "Lies—these are all lies against my Zhou family! Today you dare say these things, tomorrow I can't imagine what you'll do!"
Yuan Qi said in surprise: "You're the Zhou family's servant, why do you speak like the master? What we personally experienced becomes lies in your mouth. Do you have the authority of heaven, your words becoming law?"
Zhou Buyi's hands began to shake as he cursed: "Little snake yao, how dare you spout such nonsense! My Zhou family carries out imperial commands, spreads imperial grace. To question the Zhou family is to question the emperor, to question imperial authority! You're rebelling!"
Yuan Qi was furious: "You're allowed to be local emperors, but I'm not allowed to rebel?"
Xu Ying coughed to interrupt them, his sword beam lightly tapping Zhou Fan's face: "This time I'll let you off. Next time won't happen again. If you want to spar, you're welcome anytime. If you want revenge for Zhou Yang and his son, then we'll follow the rules of vendetta."
He withdrew the sword beam, his gaze cold: "But remember clearly—my grudge against Zhou Yang and his son is a blood debt. To avenge them, bring your lives!"
Zhou Fan stared at the sword point. The moment the beam vanished, he roared. Explosive sounds came from within his body as his right arm muscles grew wildly. As his arm rose and fell, a flesh-and-feather wing five or six zhang long formed!
The sinews on the wing were angular like rock, filled with unimaginable explosive power!
As his arm swept down, crimson-golden feathers burst from within the wing, growing wildly until they covered it entirely!
Those golden feathers were exquisitely sharp, as if master craftsmen had polished each one from the finest steel—detailed, full of feather texture!
This was a Nuo art that had comprehended the image of the Great Dao!
Zhou Fan raised his arm and swept it down. His arm transformed into a wing of flesh and golden feathers, several zhang long, happening in an instant!
The moment his arm fell, the wing-blade was already above Xu Ying's head: "Avenging Brother Yang—what can you do about it? This is the Zhou family!"
From Xu Ying's shoulder, a brilliant sword beam met the tip of the wing-blade head-on, slicing forward like splitting bamboo. It drew a beautiful arc of light, from the blade's tip to Zhou Fan's brow in an instant, piercing through his body with a clang and striking the pillar behind.
That bronze pillar was carved with dragons and phoenixes, extremely ancient, with a green luster.
Now a thin bloodline appeared on it.
Xu Ying was somewhat surprised that his realm-breaking sword hadn't harmed the bronze pillar at all, proving the Scholar Flower Palace was indeed a treasure ground.
"The Zhou family's healing is second to none. Can he still be saved?" Xu Ying tilted his head to ask Zhou Buyi.
Before the bronze pillar, Zhou Fan's brow bore a bloodline. The realm-breaking sword had already split his brain, cleaving open his Mud Pill Secret Treasury.
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*The Great Yin Nurturing Art's three postures were inspired by the Five Animal Frolics, the Mawangdui Daoyin Chart, and Marrow Washing Art. May everyone be healthy on May First!*