425: Chapter 425 The Righteous Successor, the Baolong Clan

Jiangbei, Tianxin Village.

The warm afternoon sun filtered through the old wooden lattice windows, casting mottled light and shadow on the green brick floor.

A wisp of sandalwood floated in the air, intertwining with the crisp sweetness of fruits and the savory aroma of cooked meat on the offering table.

On the desk directly facing the entrance, three long incense sticks were inserted into a bronze censer, and green smoke curled upwards.

The red candles on the candlestick burned quietly, their flames illuminating an entire wall of ebony ancestral tablets.

The tablets were divided into several rows, stacked layer upon layer, each representing a deceased ancestor.

At the center and highest point was a tablet of noticeably larger size.

Engraved on it in seal script was "The Spirit Tablet of Yunteng, High Ancestor of the Ma Family, Tai Chi Sect Head".

Below it were a host of tablets such as "The Spirit Tablet of the Manifest Ancestor, Revered Father Zhenbang of the Ma Family" and "The Spirit Tablet of the Manifest Father Chengzong", arranged solemnly.

It seemed to silently recount the centuries-long Legacy of this martial arts Family.

After finishing the incense and bowing respectfully, Ma Jianguo turned around and looked at Fang Cheng, who was standing quietly behind him.

"A-Cheng, the reason I chose to impart the Visualization Technique to you today has a deep meaning."

He spoke slowly, his voice sounding exceptionally steady in the solemn ancestral hall.

"Ancient books say that after a person dies, their spirit does not perish; instead, it merges with heaven and earth, transforming into a kind of imprint."

"The ancestors of my Ma Family have practiced martial arts for generations, and their spiritual imprints are exceptionally fierce and powerful. Usually, these imprints lie dormant between heaven and earth, making them difficult to sense."

"But today is different."

A flash of brilliant light crossed Ma Jianguo's eyes:

"The five stars align, Yin and Yang intersect, and the magnetic field fluctuations between heaven and earth are exceptionally strong. This is the best time to comprehend the Dao and cleanse the mind and soul."

"Starting to Cultivate at this time will make it easier for your spirit to resonate with the imprints left by your ancestors. In the dark, they will lend you a helping hand to help you cross the most perilous barrier when entering the door."

"Thank you for your trouble, Master Ma."

Fang Cheng nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.

Although he felt these words sounded profoundly mystical, from the other's expression, he felt the unfeigned sincerity and expectation.

"Sigh."

Hearing this, Ma Jianguo smiled at the corners of his mouth, looking at him with a hint of testing: "Are you still calling me Master Ma now?"

Fang Cheng's heart stirred.

Looking at this old man who had taught him much martial arts knowledge and long possessed the reality of a Master-Disciple relationship, and then looking at the solemn environment around him,

he instantly understood the true meaning behind what Ma Jianguo called the "deep meaning".

After careful consideration, his expression turned solemn. He took half a step back, bent down deeply, bowed with cupped fists:

"Master is above, please accept a bow from your Disciple Fang Cheng."

"Good, very good!"

Ma Jianguo laughed heartily, his voice loud and clear. He didn't mind that Fang Cheng didn't kneel and kowtow to pay respects.

After all, modern young people didn't popularize old-fashioned manners; as long as the intention was there, it was enough.

Allowing Fang Cheng to complete the Master-student initiation ceremony in front of the ancestral tablets, Ma Jianguo personally stepped forward and helped Fang Cheng up.

"I shall receive you into the sect on behalf of all the ancestors. From today onward, you are the orthodox successor of my Ma Family Tai Chi!"

Fang Cheng straightened his back accordingly, looking at the genuine joy on the old man's face before him, and a warm current surged in his heart.

After this solemn ceremony, the relationship between the two quietly transformed from ordinary teachers and students into Master and Disciple sharing honor and disgrace, passing down the Dao and techniques.

"A-Cheng, rest assured."

Ma Jianguo stroked his goatee under his chin, a gratified smile appearing on his face:

"Since you have entered the gates of my Ma Family and inherited the Tai Chi Cultivation Technique, the ancestors will also regard you as Family and take extra care of you."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Fang Cheng's face, and he suddenly paused slightly:

"Huh? Why is your complexion a bit flushed, and your forehead is sweating?"

"Before coming, did you not follow what I said to bathe, change clothes, fast, and purify your heart?"

Hearing this, the corners of Fang Cheng's mouth twitched slightly.

He couldn't possibly say that he still had a large chunk of undigested monster flesh hidden in his stomach, and that thing was releasing a massive amount of thermal energy all the time, right?

Fortunately, he had prepared beforehand and immediately explained:

"Perhaps my Qigong Cultivation recently reached a bottleneck, and the True Qi in my Dantian is overly abundant, causing my Qi and blood to rise slightly."

Hearing this, Ma Jianguo nodded thoughtfully.

Although he had never experienced the feeling of "overly abundant True Qi", he still put on the airs of a Grandmaster who understood everything:

"This is a normal phenomenon after the True Yuan initially casts the tripod. Your Foundation is not yet stable enough, and the True Qi in your Dantian is abundant, often overflowing outward and counter-impacting your Physical Body."

"If you feel too hot and unbearable, you can usually hit sandbags and wooden stakes to actively consume some True Qi, which can alleviate the symptoms."

"Of course, if you can forcibly endure it with your willpower and let Qi and blood repeatedly temper your tendons, bones, skin, and membranes, it will be of great benefit to your body."

As he spoke, he patted Fang Cheng on the shoulder, his tone carrying encouragement:

"The path of Martial Arts is exceptionally perilous, and Qigong Cultivation is even more like walking on thin ice. However, I believe that with your talent, these minor problems can be easily overcome."

"The Visualization Technique I am going to teach you today is a superior method to control True Qi with the spirit. If you can successfully enter the door and Cultivate it together with the Breathing Technique, it will definitely have miraculous effects in stabilizing your Realm and sorting out the abnormalities in your body."

"Disciple understands, thank you for your guidance, Master."

Fang Cheng bowed and replied.

"Hehe."

Ma Jianguo was in a quite pleasant mood, looking with eyes full of affection at the peerlessly talented and well-behaved, sensible Disciple before him:

"A-Cheng, given the degree of your True Qi abundance now, perhaps in a few years, you will be able to touch the Realm of 'Internal Scenery External Manifestation' just like Senior Li in his youth..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of something, raised his eyebrows, and immediately shouted loudly towards the outside of the house:

"You brat, why does taking a bath feel like falling into a latrine? Hurry up and come over, the auspicious time is about to arrive!"

"Coming, coming!"

A noisy and boisterous response came from the yard.

Ma Donghe shuffled in slippers, shirtless, with only a bath towel wrapped around his waist, rushing in with billows of steam still rising from his body.

"Old man, what are you urging for? You locked me in the cave for more than a week, and mushrooms are almost growing on my body. Shouldn't I scrub properly?"

Ma Jianguo glared at him:

"You have no proper form, why don't you go put on your clothes quickly?"

Fang Cheng sized up Ma Donghe.

Haven't seen him for a long time, this guy's physique seemed a bit more refined than before, and his originally slightly bloated muscles became even more solid.

His eyes were also exceptionally bright, and brilliant light faintly flashed in the depths of his pupils.

He chuckled, ignoring his father's scolding, leaned next to Fang Cheng, and lowered his voice to say:

"A-Cheng, why do I feel like you look more like his biological son than I do?"

Fang Cheng smiled slightly and did not answer.

"Cough!"

Ma Jianguo coughed heavily, interrupting their whispering.

After Ma Donghe put on his clothes, the worship ceremony officially began.

Ma Jianguo's expression was solemn, holding three lit long incense sticks, and walked to the incense table.

First, he bowed deeply three times toward the ancestral tablets, and then inserted the incense into the censer.

He poured three cups of rice wine, raised them above his head with both hands, muttered words, and said literary-style:

"Ancestors of the Ma Family above, your unworthy descendant Jianguo, today bring my Disciples under my sect, Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe, to offer sacrifices and report."

"Fang Cheng is endowed with extraordinary talent and a firm Heart-Nature; he is truly a fine talent to inherit our Ma Family martial arts. Today he will first try the Visualization Technique; this method is perilous, like walking on thin ice."

"I earnestly implore the ancestors in heaven to have spirit, to protect this Disciple of mine so that his spiritual platform remains clear and undefiled by external demons, and lend him a helping hand to safely cross this barrier."

"Jianguo is here to kowtow and thank the ancestors for their grace."

After speaking, he poured a cup of wine on the ground, and respectfully placed the other two cups on the incense table.

Afterward, he led Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe to pay respects and offer incense in turn.

When the ceremony ended, the three of them withdrew from the ancestral hall and sat down by the stone table in the courtyard to catch up and chat.

"Donghe, how do you feel about this closed-door Cultivation? Do you have confidence in passing the re-examination?"

Fang Cheng looked at Ma Donghe, whose temperament had obviously changed, and asked with concern.

"I feel alright myself, it's just so damn torturous."

Ma Donghe gulped down a large mouthful of herbal tea and complained:

"There was nothing to eat or drink in that cave, it was as cold as an ice cellar, and as soon as night fell, it was pitch black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. If I hadn't relied on the Visualization Technique to hold on, I would have gone crazy long ago."

Ma Jianguo snorted:

"This is my Ma Family's ancestral Cultivation Technique, cutting off food and water, isolating the five senses, forcing the potential of the body and spirit in an extreme state, and forcibly stealing a thread of vitality from heaven and earth."

"This method has high risks and great rewards, and it is a huge test for Heart-Nature and the Physical Body. A slight carelessness will lead to Qi Deviation. If you weren't my, Ma Jianguo's son, I wouldn't be at ease letting you practice it."

Hearing Ma Jianguo's words, Fang Cheng thought of his experience of diving deep into the trench to hold his breath and practice Meditation back on Yongan Island.

The two indeed shared the same ingenious effect.

"Then have you entered the door of the Visualization Technique now?"

Fang Cheng immediately asked Ma Donghe again, quite curious about his progress.

"Enter the door? I wish."

Ma Donghe curled his lips: "The old man said, I just touched a threshold. Going in for confinement to hone Heart-Nature, the focus is still refining True Qi and guiding its circulation."

Ma Jianguo's expression remained unchanged, and he calmly said:

"With your current cultivation base, first lay a solid Foundation for Qigong, and be able to steadily achieve True Qi emission before talking about anything else."

Fang Cheng's eyes shone, looking at Ma Donghe somewhat unexpectedly:

"You can also achieve True Qi emission?"

Hearing this, Ma Donghe immediately shrank back warily:

"What do you want to do? I won't fight a monster like you; that tiny bit of True Qi I have isn't even enough for you to scatter with a single punch."

Looking at his son's worthless appearance, Ma Jianguo was both exasperated and amused, so he simply ignored him.

Instead, he looked at Fang Cheng, entering the theme of today's worship ceremony.

"A-Cheng, next I will impart the true Visualization Technique to you. Every word I say, you must remember firmly."

Seeing Fang Cheng nod solemnly to indicate his understanding, his expression turned solemn, and then he slowly recounted:

"The so-called Visualization Technique has a fundamental difference from ordinary sitting Meditation."

"Meditation seeks the word 'stillness'; it is to gather all thoughts and return the mind and spirit to oneness."

"As for the Visualization Technique, what it seeks is the word 'action'; it is on the basis of entering stillness, using a powerful spiritual willpower in one's own spiritual world, to create from nothing and open up an 'Internal Scenery'."

"Open up Internal Scenery?"

Fang Cheng's heart stirred slightly, and he couldn't help muttering in a low voice.

"Not bad."

Ma Jianguo nodded slightly:

"The Cultivation of the Visualization Technique, simply put, is the process of creating and perfecting your own Internal Scenery."

"As for this process, it can roughly be divided into three steps."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then officially began to explain:

"The first step is called 'Establishing the Intent'; this is the most crucial and fundamental step."

"You must establish an eternal and unchanging core in your empty spiritual world; it can be a mountain, a sea, a tripod, or even a wisp of flame."

"But no matter what it is, it must be the ultimate embodiment of your spiritual willpower, the location of your 'Dao', and the central hub commanding the circulation of True Qi throughout the body."

"For us Martial Artists, it can be summarized with the simplest word, and that is 'Martial Intent'."

"If the intent cannot be established, the spirit scatters; lightly, all previous efforts are wasted, and heavily, mental disorder and Qi Deviation occur."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng immediately thought of the wisp of Flame of Spirituality burning in the darkness within his mind.

Ma Jianguo put down his teacup and continued:

"The second step is 'Shaping the Realm'."

"After establishing the intent, you must use this as the core concept to continuously enrich your Internal Scenery."

"Visualize the sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, mountains, rivers, grass, and trees, adding Laws and details to this spiritual world of yours."

"This process is extremely lengthy, requiring grinding effort, and must be continuously refined and shaped in coordination with the Breathing Technique."

"The more perfect and real the Internal Scenery is, the more stable your spirit will be, and the more exquisite your control over your own True Qi will be."

"Sigh."

Ma Donghe suddenly sighed at this moment, interrupting from the side:

"My dad told me to visualize a stove, but I was so hungry in the cave that thinking about it turned it into a barbecue skewer stove, almost starving myself to death from craving."

"Shut up!"

Ma Jianguo glared at his unpromising son, watching him shrink his head.

Only then did he turn back to Fang Cheng, teaching a more profound method:

"As for the third step, it is called 'True Self'."

"When your Internal Scenery reaches Major Achievement, you can visualize a 'self' within it that merges with the core and can command the Internal Scenery."

"This 'True Self' is the absolute Dominator of your spiritual world, the condensation of your lifelong spiritual willpower, and the Incarnation of your martial arts philosophy."

"When you reach this step, you can truly be considered to have practiced the 'Visualization Technique' to the Realm of perfection. In the future, whether Cultivating or fighting the enemy, with a single thought, the 'True Self' can deduce all Laws in the Internal Scenery."

"In the end, it can even manifest into the external world, which is reaching the Realm of 'Internal Scenery External Manifestation', and your strength will undergo earth-shattering changes."

The theoretical system taught by Ma Jianguo could be described as complete, orderly, and logically rigorous.

It gave Fang Cheng a sense of sudden enlightenment.

The Meditation method he had pondered before was more like a wild path relying on instinct, encountering problems and solving them with violent means.

And Ma Jianguo had painted a clear map leading to a higher Realm for him.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng couldn't help asking:

"Master, since you said the Visualization Technique is extremely perilous, why can Donghe practice it now..."

"This brat is an exception."

Ma Jianguo sighed helplessly:

"His grandfather, which is my dad, went crazy when he was a few years old, taking him to that cave for closed-door Cultivation every day, under the nice-sounding name of 'cultivating from a young age'."

"This kid, I don't know if he was endowed with extraordinary talent or just had the foolish Luck of the foolish, actually got used to it."

"Later my dad passed away, and with no one to manage this kid, he fished for three days and dried the nets for two days, completely wasting his kung fu."

"Now, I'm just letting him pick up what he threw away again."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng suddenly remembered that Ma Donghe had once mentioned that the Special Investigation Team had a psychological test named "Abyss Echo".

Ma Donghe claimed that inside, he slapped a ghost shadow that looked like his grandfather right back.

Thinking about it now, the "closed-door Cultivation" of these grandfather and grandson back then was probably full of stories.

Ma Jianguo shook his head and instead began to talk about the origin of the Visualization Technique.

"The 'Intent' of my Ma Family's Visualization Technique is the 'Thunder-Fire Tripod Cauldron', originating from an ancestor five hundred years ago."

"He was originally a Taoist boy on Wudang Mountain, with mediocre talent, only obsessed with Qigong."

"Yet after decades of bitter Cultivation, his Stance Training and Breathing Technique had both reached perfection, but solely on the 'Establishing the Intent' of the Visualization Technique, he could never enter the door."

"In the end, helpless, he had to descend the mountain to return to secular life, marry and have children, and return to his hometown to end his remaining years."

"However, on a stormy night of lightning and thunder, he saw heavenly lightning split the mountain and trigger the earth fire, and suddenly had a realization in his heart."

"So in the mountain behind the village, imitating the might of heaven and earth's thunder and fire, he exhausted his Family fortune and excavated a 'water prison' that channeled the underground Yin spring."

"He imprisoned himself within it, and in the extreme stillness and utter darkness, comprehended the trace of vitality when the thunder and fire suddenly appeared."

"Months later, he broke out of isolation, successfully establishing the Martial Intent of the 'Thunder-Fire Tripod Cauldron', and even a few years later, strode into the supreme Realm of 'Internal Scenery External Manifestation' in one fell swoop."

"Afterward, he walked the Jianghu, acted chivalrously for justice, and created the Ma Family Tai Chi sect. He was summoned by the emperor of the reigning dynasty and appointed as the Imperial Bodyguard Commander. Because of this, our Ma Family ranks among the Four Great Dragon-Protecting Families."

(End of Chapter)