Xuanyuan Zhan and Su Xuening lived their lives leisurely, with Su Xuening spending her free time reading medical books and taking care of her pregnancy.
Xuanyuan Zhan would travel back and forth between the capital and the bamboo forest every day. He would spend almost all his days in the palace handling state affairs, and would only return to the bamboo forest to accompany Su Xuening in the evening.
In the evenings, the two would occasionally go to the Magpie Bridge on West Street in Kyoto to eat wontons. Most of the time, Su Xuening was still very obedient and ate, drank, and slept on time.
Xuanyuan Zhan diligently practiced Xuanmen techniques almost every night.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Xuan Yuanzhan had broken through to the third level of the Xuanmen technique, but he found that he seemed to have reached a bottleneck.
In fact, he had already reached the third level seven days ago, but another seven or eight days have passed and he is still stuck on the third level without any progress.
Xuanyuan Zhan was getting anxious. That night, after Su Xuening fell asleep, he secretly left the bamboo forest and headed to Bailong Temple.
When Xuanyuan Zhan arrived, Dao Yi had already fallen asleep.
Suddenly sensing something, Dao Yi abruptly opened his eyes and was startled when he saw Xuan Yuanzhan by the bedside: "You brat, are you trying to scare your master to death?!"
Xuanyuan Zhan stared at Dao Yi's face, then suddenly took out a handkerchief and covered Dao Yi's face with it.
Dao Yi was a little confused by him: "What are you doing?"
Xuan Yuanzhan blinked: "I'm not used to you being so fierce to me with such a face!"
Especially when he was being scolded and swore at, he felt really awkward. Master Daoyi was always kind and gentle. Although he would occasionally tease him playfully, he had never been scolded and swore at him like this before!
How could he possibly get used to this!
Dao Yi was momentarily speechless, both amused and exasperated by Xuan Yuanzhan's words. She pulled the handkerchief off her face, glared at him, and said, "Why are you scaring your master in the middle of the night?"
Thinking of the purpose of his visit, Xuan Yuanzhan said with a wronged expression, "Master, I have encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation of Xuanmen techniques."
Dao Yi was so shocked by his words that he suddenly sat up in bed: "You mean you've reached the third level?"
These words stunned Xuan Yuanzhan: "So the third level is the bottleneck, right?"
Otherwise, how would he know that he had already reached the third level?
"Yes." Dao nodded. "Do you remember what I told you in the woods before? This Xuanmen technique is very different from ordinary techniques. To truly master a Xuanmen technique, one must endure great hardship."
Xuanyuan Zhan was shocked and frowned, saying, "You mean the pain I endured during the first three levels of cultivation wasn't the suffering you described?"
Dao Yi laughed: "You've only just begun! The first three levels are merely the stepping stones to Xuanmen techniques. Only if an ordinary person can cultivate to the third level will they have the opportunity to cultivate the subsequent techniques. If one cannot even endure the pain of the first three levels, or does not have the comprehension to cultivate to the third level, then forget about the subsequent techniques."
"How much suffering will I have to endure later?" That's all Xuan Yuanzhan wants to know right now.
"All I can say is that with each level of cultivation, the pain one has to endure is the sum of the pain from the previous levels," Dao Yi said, with a hint of schadenfreude.
Who told this kid to be so unlikable? This is the only chance he has to see him make a fool of himself!
"Forget it, I don't think I'm suited to cultivate this Xuanmen technique." Xuan Yuanzhan could easily see Dao Yi's gloating, and turned to leave.
"No!" Dao Yi panicked when he saw this and quickly grabbed Xuan Yuanzhan, pulling him to stop him from leaving. "You've already reached the third level. It would be such a waste to give up now. Wouldn't all the hard work you've done be for nothing? Besides, you've already reached the third level in just half a month. You're absolutely gifted. It would be such a pity to give up now!"
"It's not half a month, it's seven days," Xuan Yuanzhan reminded him.
"What?" Dao Yi was a little confused.
Xuanyuan Zhan explained with a wry smile, "I reached the third level after seven days of cultivation, but after another seven or eight days of cultivation, I made no progress at all. That's when I realized I had hit a bottleneck, so I came to find you."
"It only took seven days!"
Dao Yi was utterly shocked. He looked Xuan Yuanzhan up and down several times, making Xuan Yuanzhan feel uneasy: "What's wrong?"
Why are you looking at him like that? He can't take it!
“You should be the fastest cultivator in the Xuanmen to reach the third level. Back then, your ancestor… my senior brother also took more than ten days to reach the third level.”
Dao Yi didn't mention himself. Compared to his senior brother's talent, he was naturally far inferior. Back then, it took him several months to reach the third level of cultivation!
Even so, he was still one of the more talented members of the sect, not to mention his senior brother and this kid, who reached the third level in just a few days or ten days.
One can imagine how many levels this kid will eventually reach by cultivating this esoteric technique!
Xuan Yuanzhan was also stunned. It turned out that it took the ancestor more than ten days to cultivate to the third level.
However, he did not think that his talent was better than that of his ancestor.
"Perhaps it's because I've been practicing the Xuanmen mental techniques since I was a child. Although I haven't formally learned Xuanmen martial arts before, I've already memorized the Xuanmen mental techniques. Also, you've taught me many Xuanmen sword moves before. These may be the reasons why I've been able to advance so quickly in learning martial arts."
He didn't know this before, but after obtaining that Xuanmen secret manual, he realized that the sword moves his master had taught him actually incorporated many Xuanmen sword techniques. He had previously thought that his master had only taught him the White Dragon Temple's kung fu.
In truth, his master had never forgotten the Xuanmen sect. He hadn't explicitly taught him Xuanmen martial arts for fear of bringing trouble upon him. If it weren't for Ning'er's master's guidance, his master probably would never have brought out the Xuanmen manuals again in his lifetime.
"That's possible." Dao Yi couldn't say for sure why.
After all, this kid's situation is indeed different from theirs when they learned Xuanmen techniques. They learned mental cultivation methods, techniques, and even swordsmanship and medical skills all at the same time.
If this kid learns the mental cultivation method first, then the sword techniques, and then practices the martial arts more than ten years later, it might indeed be easier for him.
Even so, to be able to cultivate the Xuanmen technique to the third level within seven days, regardless of the reason, is already incredibly impressive.
This is enough to show that this kid has a strong talent for cultivating Xuanmen martial arts!
"The third level is the bottleneck. If you want to improve further, you need to use some medicine and medical skills. See when it will be convenient for you. Pick a time in the next few days and I will prepare medicine for you to help regulate your body."
Since Xuanyuan Zhan came here, he must have wanted to seriously cultivate this Xuanmen technique. His turning away just now was just teasing his master.
"Then let's start today, since there's no time like the present."
It's been seven or eight days already, and he still hasn't broken through to the third level of the technique. He doesn't want to wait any longer!
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