Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 158 – 139: Water and Fire

Ancient Courtyard’s back area.

In front of a row of very simple-looking cottages.

Chen Mu stood there, looking inside. He saw each room was not very large, and in the largest room at the center, about seven or eight people were sitting around, among them was the figure of Xu Hongyu.

The whole room, even the entire courtyard, was quiet.

Chen Mu silently approached, looked inside, and saw not only Xu Hongyu but also others—old and young, male and female—all intently observing the Artistic Conception Map hanging on the central wall.

Chen Mu’s gaze first circled around Xu Hongyu, seeing her deeply focused and immersed, so he then directed his sight to the map on the wall. What he saw was a galaxy that seemed to fall from the ninth heaven.

“Kan Water Diagram…”

Chen Mu murmured to himself quietly.

Just peering through the doors and windows allowed him to feel the artistic conception contained in the diagram, the rich essence of the Kan Water way, as if it would pour directly out of the image and drown the entire courtyard.

Compared to it, his own Thunderclap Diagram really seemed like something picked up from the roadside, not worth mentioning in the same breath.

“The gap is so big.”

It took Chen Mu a while to come back to his senses, his head shaking slightly.

He had long known that the artistic conception in the inferior prints he had was far from that of a genuine Superior Grade Eight Phases Diagram, but he hadn’t expected the difference to be so vast, like comparing a child’s first attempts at drawing to the work of a master artist at the peak of his craft.

But upon reflection, he could understand why.

After all, the prints were created by first tracing the original Eight Phases Diagram, then creating the templates for printing, and later adding details according to the original. Even if this

process was conducted by masters skilled in artistic depiction, it was hard to capture even a third of the original’s true charm.

This Kan Water Diagram before him, a genuine Superior Grade work, was supposedly drawn by a true disciple of the legendary painter from a thousand years ago, who copied the original ‘Parent Eight Phases Diagram.’ It could actually be referred to as the ‘Fourth Generation Diagram,’ a term indicating its clear lineage and authenticity.

His Thunderclap Diagram had likely gone through who knows how many reproductions.

Diagrams like this ‘Fourth Generation’ Kan Water Diagram, although not unique in the world, were undeniably precious; after all, the true disciples of that painting sage were few, and even if they produced diagrams daily, the ones surviving through hundreds of years would still be scarce.

Chen Mu pondered briefly, then gathered his thoughts and quietly stared at the Kan Water Diagram, attempting to comprehend it.

After a moment.

He activated the system panel with a thought, glanced at it, and quickly found a new line.

[Martial Arts: Kan Water Artistic Conception (Uncomprehended)]

[Experience: 7 points]

[Eligible Derivation Attempts: 0 times]

“How long has it been?”

Chen Mu was slightly startled, looking at the accumulated experience points.

While he pondered the Thunderclap Diagram, six hours a day would yield him only about a hundred points, and it would take roughly three months to gather ten thousand points.

Just now, his attempt to comprehend the Kan Water Diagram lasted perhaps only a quarter of an hour.

The division of time in this world was similar to that of his previous life’s ancient dynasty, with a day divided into twelve hours, cutting into ninety-six quarters, where one hour comprised eight quarters, gaining seven points per quarter. In one hour, that would be fifty-six points.

If he set aside time for eating, resting, and practicing the Body Tempering Method, and could squeeze about five to six hours a day to ponder the Artistic Conception Map, he could gather nearly three hundred experience points!

The efficiency of comprehending the Kan Water Diagram was almost three times that of the Thunderclap Diagram!

“This is even higher than I expected,”

Chen Mu shook his head. If he had been able to comprehend this Kan Water Diagram a few years earlier, he might have already entered the third step of Artistic Conception by now. Unfortunately, back then he couldn’t even touch anything like the Kan Water Diagram.

With such high efficiency in comprehending the Kan Water Diagram, what about the Separating Fire Map?

Chen Mu pondered.

He was about to turn and head to the neighboring cottage to look for the Separating Fire Map.

But before he could move, he noticed a pretty figure, corners of her eyes shining with a hint of joy, who had approached him silently at some point—it was Xu Hongyu, who had just been inside the room comprehending the Kan Water Diagram.

Chen Mu blinked at the beauty before him.

Xu Hongyu nodded subtly in understanding, and then the two of them quietly walked away from the courtyard, heading to an ancient pine not far outside the courtyard. It was there that Xu Hongyu finally looked at Chen Mu and whispered, “What brings you here?”

Chen Mu, seeing how Xu Hongyu lowered her voice, suddenly felt as if he was back in his previous life, sneaking around in a library, whispering secretively with a junior in a corner.

“Hmm…”

Xu Hongyu’s elegant eyes shone like jade, blinking twice rapidly.

She didn’t understand why men liked doing these things, but if Chen Mu liked acting this way towards her, it also brought a ripple of joy to her heart because she knew these were things one only did for a girl they liked.

Noticing that naive softness, suddenly a bit clumsy in its response, as if trying to learn and adjust to her, Chen Mu’s gaze softened significantly with tenderness and affection. After a brief entanglement, he leaned in close to Xu Hongyu’s ear and said, “I came to see how your training was going. Also, I brought this for you.”

The comprehension of the Kan Water Diagram seemed to have made some progress; Chen Mu had vaguely caught a hint of the moist qi. For a moment, he felt relieved that Xu Hongyu had cultivated the Kan Water Artistic Conception; had she practiced the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception, she might have indeed turned into a piece of jade stone.

“You’ve managed it.”

Xu Hongyu looked at the embroidered pouch that Chen Mu placed in her hands and knew it contained the Bone Tempering Pill. Thus, her eyes—still clear—blinked and showed even more joy.

“Yes.”

Chen Mu nodded slightly, “Just now, I felt your Qi-Blood had almost solidified, it should take only a few months for you to step into the Bone Tempering Realm.”

At Xu Hongyu’s age, having reached Tendon Changing Perfection, Bone Tempering wouldn’t be difficult, and from the close contact just now, he had felt the robustness of her Qi-Blood, which also nearly met the standard.

“It’s good that you will achieve Bone Tempering. Whether I can or not isn’t so important.”

Xu Hongyu didn’t care about the Bone Tempering Pill in the embroidered pouch; she only looked at Chen Mu and softly spoke.

“Nonsense.”

Chen Mu lightly pinched Xu Hongyu’s nose and said, “You must not only reach Bone Tempering, but also the Five Viscera. When we both grow old, I definitely won’t allow you to go before me.”

Hearing these words, Xu Hongyu looked somewhat dreamily at Chen Mu, and the moisture in the air seemed to grow even denser.

Chen Mu touched Xu Hongyu’s head, saying, “Did you hear that?”

He knew that for a woman like Xu Hongyu, it was hard to be emotionally moved, but once past that initial part, she would be even more devoted than usual women, even to the point of neglecting Martial Arts.

“…Yes.”

Xu Hongyu gently nodded and carefully stored away the Bone Tempering Pill.

Chen Mu then briefly recounted some recent events to Xu Hongyu, who was somewhat shocked by the news, feeling a colder inclination towards the He Family.

After talking for a while, they returned to the previous courtyard, and Chen Mu escorted Xu Hongyu to the main hall where the Kan Water Diagram was placed, then he walked alone to the neighboring room. He passed through each room and soon found the Separating Fire Map stored by the Yu Family.

In the room where the Separating Fire Map was stored.

It was spotlessly clean.

No one was there.

The descendants of the Yu Family mainly learned the Kan Water Sect’s swordsmanship from the Martial Arts Institute; only a very few truly talented in other Sects would practice different techniques.

Among the Yu Family, the Separating Fire Sect was the least practiced, as Kan Water and Separating Fire contradicted each other. With almost the entire family practicing the Kan Water Sect, naturally, very few would practice Separating Fire unless they were rebellious by nature.

The quality of the Separating Fire Map was much inferior compared to the Kan Water Diagram.

In Chen Mu’s view, it seemed to be another replica; however, it appeared to be slightly higher in quality than the Thunderclap Diagram he had, but just slightly. It did not have as an obvious quality disparity as the superior-grade Kan Water Diagram.

Looking at the Separating Fire Map, Chen Mu fell into a brief contemplation.

For him at this moment, practicing the Separating Fire Map was actually most appropriate, as wind, thunder, and fire were the closest Three Phases. However, due to its lower quality than the Kan Water Diagram, its efficiency couldn’t compare.

But now, he had a superior-grade Flame Jade bed at his disposal. Using this as his couch would position him in an environment very close to Separating Fire, which should significantly aid his comprehension of the Separating Fire Map—even if he did not know whether the system panel would provide any feedback.

After some thought.

Chen Mu decided to first test the effect of the Separating Fire Map, so he found an old man from the Yu Family who guarded the courtyard. He did not take it directly but proposed to temporarily exchange the Thunderclap Diagram for the Separating Fire Map.

“There’s no need for that. Apart from the Kan Water Diagram, you can take any other diagram you wish to comprehend.”

The old man from the Yu Family was very gentle towards Chen Mu.

On one hand, news about Chen Mu had already reached here; on the other hand, Yu Jiujiang had himself ordered that all resources needed for Chen Mu’s cultivation be provided by the Yu Family in full.

“Thank you, senior.”

Chen Mu performed a bow.

Given such an attitude from the Yu Family, he felt somewhat uneasy about just taking things. Since the Thunderclap Diagram had nearly no use for him anymore, he took it out and hung it in the wall of an empty room.

This Thunderclap Diagram was also originally the property of the Yu Family, and after a roundabout journey, it had finally returned here.

He stowed the Separating Fire Map away.

Chen Mu made his way back to his own courtyard; his bedroom there was still being repaired.

The Flame Jade bed was not in his bedroom but placed in the inner room of his training silent chamber. Chen Mu didn’t pay much attention to the repairs of his bedroom and went straight to the training silent chamber, walking all the way to the inner room.

He lit a lamp.

The pitch-black inner room was illuminated, revealing the Flame Jade that was horizontally placed in the center, entirely reddish in color.

At this moment, it was perhaps not quite right to call it a bed, as it wasn’t cut; its surface was not smooth. However, Chen Mu did not intend to lie on it for rest or sleep; he merely intended to use it to comprehend the Separating Fire Map.

He set down the lamp, walked over, and sat cross-legged on the Flame Jade, placing the Separating Fire Map in front of him.