Urban Martial Saint

”Who is Mister Xi Yi?” Ye Qing asked in surprise. It was the first time he had heard the name. Judging by Old Wang Ba’s expression, this Mister Xi Yi must not be a simple character; otherwise, Old Wang Ba wouldn’t have been so shocked.

However, thinking about it again, those who could reach the deepest part of Beimang Mountain were rarely simple individuals. The Corpse Ghost Dragon, whom Ye Qing knew, was the strongest sorcerer in Nanyang. Someone who could live over three hundred years had already transcended ordinary people. As for this Mister Xi Yi, his strength should not be below that of the Corpse Ghost Dragon.

”Mister Xi Yi is Ancestor Chen Tuan,” Old Wang Ba said. ”Mister Xi Yi is his title, a title granted by the emperor of the time.”

”Ancestor Chen Tuan!” Ye Qing was greatly surprised. He had, of course, heard of this person, who was quite a famous Taoist figure in ancient times and a key player in the development of the Taoist Sect. Some even claimed that Ancestor Chen Tuan had attained immortality. Because of such rumors, many legends about Ancestor Chen Tuan became less credible, with many people thinking he was merely a mythical figure and not a real person.

Now, seeing the situation, was this Ancestor Chen Tuan indeed a living person?

”I never expected Ancestor Chen Tuan to have entered Beimang Mountain!” Old Wang Ba sighed deeply, looking at the Taoist incantation Ye Qing had transcribed into his notebook, and said, ”Moreover, he left Carefree Movement here!”

”What is Carefree Movement?” Ye Qing asked again, curious.

”Carefree Movement is said to be a Qinggong skill created by Ancestor Chen Tuan himself. Legend has it that using this Qinggong, Ancestor Chen Tuan could traverse a cliff over ten thousand zhang as if walking on flat ground; it’s said to be the strongest Qinggong in the world,” Old Wang Ba explained. ”However, this set of Carefree Movement by Ancestor Chen Tuan was not passed down. When Ancestor Chen Tuan passed away, this Carefree Movement also got lost. Who would’ve thought that the ancestor left this Qinggong in Beimang Mountain, and that it would one day reappear in the world!”

Ye Qing recalled the situation where Yin Xianzi used this Qinggong to retreat swiftly and couldn’t help but admit its formidable power, comparable to the Purple Robe Lama’s Crossing the River with a Reed. Now that he knew the origin of this Qinggong, Ye Qing wasn’t too surprised anymore. After all, Ancestor Chen Tuan’s status in Taoism wasn’t much less than that of Patriarch Bodhidharma’s in the Buddhist Sect!

”What kind of person was Ancestor Chen Tuan really?” Ye Qing couldn’t help but ask.

”What kind of person?” Old Wang Ba scratched his head and said, ”How should I put it? Ever since Great Sage Guiguzi’s passing in the Taoist Sect, although talents have emerged continuously, no one has surpassed Guiguzi’s level. Ancestor Chen Tuan can be said to be the closest one to Guiguzi’s level in the past few thousand years. In other words, since Great Sage Guiguzi’s passing, Ancestor Chen Tuan has been the number one in the Taoist Sect!”

Ye Qing was shocked. He didn’t expect Ancestor Chen Tuan’s strength to be so powerful. Being the number one in the Taoist Sect after Guiguzi, what kind of strength must that entail? Not to mention, the Heavenly Master Lin Xuan Yue of the Twelve Green Halls is already a deep and unfathomable character, yet he cannot be considered exceptionally powerful in the thousands of years of the Taoist Sect. Ancestor Chen Tuan’s strength can truly be described as unfathomable!

”Did Ancestor Chen Tuan also enter the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

”He definitely did, and it’s said that Ancestor Chen Tuan didn’t wait for the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates to open; he simply walked in directly. He didn’t use the Seven Keys, nor the Heaven Earth Man Tri-Map!” Old Wang Ba said.

”How is that possible?” Ye Qing was greatly shocked.

”Why wouldn’t it be possible?” Old Wang Ba said. ”The so-called Heaven Earth Man Three Gates is merely a great formation left by Guiguzi. Ancestor Chen Tuan was proficient in all of the Taoist Sect’s great formations, so getting in and out of the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates wasn’t difficult for him.”

Ye Qing asked curiously, ”Then... what did he gain from it?”

”No one knows!” Old Wang Ba shrugged and said, ”Actually, for someone of his level, the things inside the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates might not be of much use to him.”

”Could it really be?” Ye Qing said, ”I heard that inside the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates, there might be methods of the Taoist Sect for prolonging life. When someone reaches Ancestor Chen Tuan’s level, everything external is considered trivial; prolonging life is the most important thing. If Ancestor Chen Tuan entered the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates, wouldn’t he seek ways of prolonging life? Even the Corpse Ghost Dragon is plotting to find longevity methods within the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates!”

”Heh, but it wasn’t the case!” Old Wang Ba said. ”In history, those Taoist high sages all lived long lives. But Ancestor Chen Tuan happened to be the one who lived the shortest! He didn’t even live as long as Heavenly Master Lin Xuan Yue. That guy lived to be about one hundred to one hundred thirty years, didn’t he?”

”Ah?” Ye Qing was surprised and said, ”How long did he live?”

Old Wang Ba said, ”One hundred and nineteen years!”

One hundred and nineteen years, that age is already a very rare longevity for ordinary people. But for someone who has achieved something in the Taoist path, this age is nothing. Not to mention others, even that old Shijia lived to over two hundred years. Ancestor Chen Tuan, claimed to be the one closest to Guiguzi in the later generations, how could he live only one hundred and nineteen years?

”What’s going on?” Ye Qing couldn’t help but ask, ”Didn’t Ancestor Chen Tuan learn the Taoist methods for prolonging life?”

”All the heart methods of the Taoist Sect have life-prolonging effects,” Old Wang Ba said, ”but it seems these cultivation techniques didn’t have much effect on Ancestor Chen Tuan. Many later generations were puzzled by Ancestor Chen Tuan’s passing because, with his strength, he couldn’t have lived only such a short span of life. But he just happened to live only one hundred and nineteen years.”

Old Wang Ba shrugged and said, ”Moreover, after Ancestor Chen Tuan’s passing, he basically left nothing behind.”

”That’s not true,” Ye Qing said, ”He left something behind. Isn’t Carefree Movement left in Beimang Mountain?”

”Carefree Movement is nothing!” Old Wang Ba said, ”Among the cultivation techniques created by Ancestor Chen Tuan, the strongest is called the Sleeper’s Scripture.”

”What’s with the Crystal?” Ye Qing asked.

Old Wang Ba corrected him, saying, ”Not Crystal, the Sleeper’s Scripture! Sleep as in sleeping, scripture as in experience. Ah, how did someone like you get into college anyway?”

”Sleeper’s Scripture?” Ye Qing was even more astonished. Was there such a scripture?

Old Wang Ba said, ”Ancestor Chen Tuan was called the Sleeping Immortal because of this Sleeper’s Scripture.”

Learning from the previous experience, this time Ye Qing understood; Old Wang Ba was talking about the Sleeping Immortal, not a water sprite!

”Can sleeping be considered immortal?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

Old Wang Ba said, ”Humph, of course sleeping alone isn’t immortal. But if you could sleep for three to five years without eating or drinking, and wake up even stronger, would you consider that immortality?”

”Three to five years?” Ye Qing widened his eyes and exclaimed, ”If you don’t eat or drink for three to five years, wouldn’t you starve to death?”

”Nonsense, Bodhidharma faced a wall for so many years and didn’t die. Some of the cultivation techniques in the Taoist and Buddhist sects, when practiced to the deepest levels, can halt human metabolism and all bodily activities, thereby ceasing all consumption. At this time, only the spirit remains, and the body is essentially indistinguishable from death, which constitutes the most profound meditative trance in the Taoist and Buddhist sects!” Old Wang Ba explained.

Ye Qing had heard the stories of Patriarch Bodhidharma before and was already quite shocked. Now, learning that it was possible to do this in the Taoist sect as well, made him less surprised. There are many things in the Buddhist and Taoist sects that modern science cannot explain, so not eating or drinking for a few years might not be considered exceptional!

”These meditative trances were initially meant to keep one’s spirit intact, contemplate the universe, and elevate one’s state of mind. Such trances don’t actually increase one’s strength,” Old Wang Ba explained. ”However, Ancestor Chen Tuan’s Sleeper’s Scripture is different. It allows people to unknowingly enhance their strength even in sleep; it’s truly wondrous.”

Ye Qing asked, ”Then wouldn’t someone who practices the Sleeper’s Scripture just keep sleeping?”

”Gosh, you’re usually pretty smart, how come your mind gets so fogged over these things?” Old Wang Ba said. ”The most valuable aspect of the Sleeper’s Scripture is that it allows people to enhance their strength even while sleeping. Think about it. The normal person should sleep about eight hours a day. That means you spend one third of your life sleeping. But how much time do you actually spend practicing martial arts in a lifetime?”

Ye Qing had a moment of realization as he began to grasp what Old Wang Ba meant.

”I reckon, even for the children of martial arts families, the practice time in a day doesn’t exceed five hours,” Old Wang Ba said. ”But if you use the Sleeper’s Scripture, you can practice for up to eight hours even while sleeping. That means, even if you don’t practice during the day, you still practice two more hours than those who practice at full strength. If you also practice five hours during the day and use the Sleeper’s Scripture, think about how much more martial arts practice you’d get than others?”

Ye Qing took a deep breath, and after Old Wang Ba explained it this way, he finally understood why the Sleeper’s Scripture was considered Ancestor Chen Tuan’s most valuable cultivation technique. This technique is really practical!

”So? You understand the value of the Sleeper’s Scripture now, right?” Old Wang Ba glanced at Ye Qing and said, ”However, Ancestor Chen Tuan did not leave the Sleeper’s Scripture behind. Later generations only knew there was such a cultivation technique, but no one actually saw it. I guess, either Ancestor Chen Tuan left this cultivation technique in a secret place, or it was never passed down. Ah, if this cultivation technique had been passed down, the martial arts world of Huaxia wouldn’t look the way it does now!”