Imperial Cultivation

Mingwu Hall, the main hall.

Taiwan Novel Network → 𝐭 𝐰 𝐤 𝐚 𝐧 . 𝐜 𝐨 𝐦

The white jade stone floor was spotless.

Hanging on the north wall was a painting two zhang long and one zhang wide, depicting the rising sun piercing through dark clouds, illuminating mountains and rivers.

Beneath the painting was a grand master chair.

On either side of this grand master chair were rows of chairs, seven in total from north to south. Apart from these, there was nothing else. The emptiness only accentuated the spaciousness.

Twelve night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the caisson ceiling, their bright and gentle light gathering together to fill the hall.

Chu Qingfeng sat in the grand master chair facing north, and sized up Chu Zhiyuan: "How is your father's health?"

"Father is well."

His inner vision could not only observe himself, but also clearly see the internal organs of others through physical contact, so he was completely aware of Chu Minghou's physical condition.

Chu Minghou appeared frail and weak, as if a gust of wind could knock him over, but within his body was a vigorous vitality.

He couldn't help but glance at the painting on the north wall.

The illusion he had just seen was from this painting. He felt as if he had entered the painting, but the sensation was extremely clear, unlike an illusion.

Could this painting contain the secrets of a Grandmaster?

Chu Qingfeng nodded: "Minghou is a fortunate man. If he hadn't been born into the royal family, he wouldn't have lived past one year old."

Clearly, he was congenitally weak, and spiritual medicines were ineffective. Where did that vigorous vitality within him come from? If he had this vigorous vitality, why didn't it make his body stronger?

"When Minghou was born, he was weak and unlikely to live. Royal Brother went alone into the Baichuan Grotto-heaven to search for spiritual medicine, and unexpectedly encountered a Celestial Spirit Fruit."

Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded.

The Great Jing Dynasty had four grotto-heavens and four secret realms, all guarded by the Grandmasters of the Grandmaster's Mansion. Within the grotto-heavens were rare treasures and exotic fruits, and within the secret realms were rare birds and strange beasts.

He didn't expect that his father had actually consumed a spiritual fruit from a grotto-heaven.

"Celestial Spirit Fruits are rare and hard to come by, appearing only once every few centuries."

"It can reverse innate deficiencies. Anyone, no matter how weak, can live to be a hundred years old after consuming it. If nothing unexpected happens, your and your sister's aptitudes should be very good."

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly understood.

No wonder this body's aptitude was extremely good. He originally thought it was inherited from his royal grandfather, Chu Qingquan, but it turned out to be because of the Celestial Spirit Fruit.

"Don't waste this heaven-sent opportunity," Chu Qingfeng slowly said, "Practice your skills diligently."

"Yes," Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly.

"There is also one thing. If you want to become a Grandmaster, you must remember this: Use external aids sparingly... Spiritual pills and medicines can be used for cleansing the marrow and transforming the body, but they cannot be used to improve cultivation. Once you use external aids to improve your cultivation, you will cut off the path to becoming a Grandmaster."

Chu Zhiyuan was stunned.

"Why are there so few Grandmasters in this world? One reason is that the Grandmaster's realm has many obstacles, requiring both talent and luck. More importantly, it's this point: All things in heaven and earth have yin and yang, with both advantages and disadvantages. People only see the wonders of spiritual pills, but they don't know the disadvantages... Of course, some people know, but they pretend not to know."

"Thank you for your guidance, Grand Uncle!"

Most people like to take shortcuts and are eager for quick success.

A Grandmaster is already strong enough in this world. Rather than abandoning shortcuts for the sake of an ethereal Grandmaster realm, and possibly dying halfway, it's better to become a Grandmaster as soon as possible.

One must know that after the age of sixty, one will no longer see the door to becoming a Grandmaster, cutting off the possibility of becoming a Grandmaster.

He had super-senses, so he naturally had to strive to become a Grandmaster.

Then he couldn't use spiritual pills to improve his cultivation.

"Your foundation is deep and your aura is pure, which means you haven't used spiritual pills to improve your cultivation. That's rare."

"Grand Uncle has discerning eyes. I indeed haven't used spiritual pills."

He wanted to say self-deprecatingly that it wasn't that he didn't want to use spiritual pills to improve his cultivation, it was that he wanted to but didn't have any spiritual pills to use, there was no way.

Before the words left his mouth, he already realized that these words contained resentment and were not suitable to be spoken.

Spiritual pills that improved cultivation were not ordinary spiritual pills. They all came from the imperial court and were controlled by the imperial court. They couldn't be bought outside.

The supplies of the Prince's Mansion came from two parts: one was the tax revenue and special products from the fief, and the other was the salary corresponding to the title issued by the imperial court.

This part of the salary included spiritual pills.

The organization of the princes' mansions had its own specifications. The number of guards didn't matter, but there was a quota for bodyguards, and spiritual pills were allocated to each bodyguard.

The Prince's Mansion had plenty of silver, but silver couldn't buy good spiritual pills. The allocated spiritual pills didn't include those that improved cultivation.

To obtain this kind of spiritual pill, one could only exchange it from the imperial court with meritorious service. Qing Prince's Mansion was sealed, so there was no chance to perform meritorious service, and naturally, they couldn't obtain this kind of spiritual pill.

"Among your generation, besides you, there are also those from the Tenth Family and the Thirteenth Family. As for the rest..."

He shook his head.

Indeed, as Royal Brother said, the Chu clan was becoming weaker with each generation. If this continued, the country and the people would be handed over to others.

The princes of Chu Minghou's generation were already disappointing, eager for quick success and instant benefits. The young masters of Chu Zhiyuan's generation were even more eager for quick success and instant benefits, lacking patience, and most of them were using spiritual pills to improve their cultivation.

Mingwu Hall had top-notch martial arts and the guidance of a Grandmaster, but there was a ban: the consumption of spiritual pills that improved cultivation was prohibited. Only those that improved aptitude and foundation could be consumed.

But once one stepped into the Innate Realm, one was no longer within the scope of this ban.

It could be forbidden for a while, but not for a lifetime. Forcing them not to take shortcuts and consume spiritual pills to improve their cultivation was useless.

"... Grand Uncle, I want to find a footwork technique to practice first."

"The secret manuals are in the west side hall, and miscellaneous books are in the east side hall. You can find what you want to practice yourself. If you don't understand anything, ask me. Don't practice blindly or forcefully... You have guards around you, so the thing you should put the most effort into is the Little Purple Sun Formula. The Little Purple Sun Formula is the foundation. Only after entering the Innate Realm can you begin to take on errands."

These young masters couldn't wait to take on errands immediately.

Once they took on errands, they could perform meritorious service, and once they performed meritorious service, they could exchange it for spiritual pills to accelerate their cultivation.

Elixirs and miraculous medicines were not only for their own consumption but also to be bestowed upon their subordinates to win their hearts.

They all had royal residences and families; they couldn't possibly guard the place day and night by themselves.

Even if they didn't care about the royal residence or family and only thought of themselves, they still needed trusted guards. A person's energy was limited; they couldn't constantly be on high alert.

To win over powerful guards, one needed elixirs and miraculous medicines.

As long as the imperial court controlled the Four Great Heavens and Four Great Secret Lands, it would control the top-tier elixirs and would not have to worry about anyone rendering meritorious service in exchange for them. Therefore, even if these princes and sons of nobility became Grandmasters or even Great Grandmasters, they would still have to serve the imperial court.

"Yes, I will also choose a Breakthrough Manual."

"Go."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his fist solemnly in gratitude and withdrew from the main hall.

The crowd on the training grounds was bathed in golden light, as still as twelve stakes, with faint wisps of purple Qi swirling between their breaths.

…

As soon as he entered the West Side Hall, he was greeted by rows upon rows of bookshelves filling the entire hall.

Fourteen rows of bookshelves, each thirty meters long and three meters high, with five shelves each.

Every row of bookshelves was packed full, containing an astonishing number of books.

A refreshing scholarly fragrance permeated the air.

He stood in the center of the hall, his eyes shining.

His greatest regret since awakening was that the royal residence's collection of books mainly consisted of qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, lyrics, and various travelogues and miscellaneous books, with very few related to martial arts.

In his opinion, cultivation was not just about knowing what to do but also about knowing why.

Understanding the meaning and mysteries of each meridian's path was completely different from blindly circulating internal energy.

Moreover, cultivation after the Acquired Realm required comprehension rather than simply circulating internal energy.

The more solid the foundation of martial arts, the wider the path ahead.

These martial arts books in the Mingwu Hall were invaluable treasures; he was now as if he were in a treasure mountain.

Internal energy cultivation methods, lightness skills, footwork, fist techniques, palm techniques, saber techniques, sword techniques, spear techniques, staff techniques, and so on were placed on different shelves according to their sophistication and power.

The top shelf contained the most powerful or potentially greatest, followed by the next level down, and so on, down to the bottom fifth shelf.

There was also an independent bookshelf containing the inheritances of ancient sects: Taiqing Yuan Sect, Dragon Subduing Sect, Yuxu Sword Sect, Leiyin Temple, Great Snow Mountain, and Wuyai Sect, a total of six major sects.

He slowly closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and spread his senses.

All the information within twenty zhang rushed into his mind.

This information included the name, appearance, location, unique scent, and different materials of each secret manual.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and came to the independent bookshelf, casually drawing a yellowed silk book from the top shelf. The cover of the thin booklet had four bold characters: "Horizon Within Reach."

It was the Wuyai Sect's wondrous technique.

Then, he drew an even older silk book from the top shelf, which read "Great Snow Avalanche Sword Art."

It was the Great Snow Mountain Sect's wondrous technique.

He quickly flipped through the two thin booklets and put them back before drawing another one, a small booklet with a golden cover, with the five characters "Jade Lock Golden Gate Manual."

…

As evening approached, the sound of clanging bells rang, signaling that the palace gates were about to be locked.

Chu Zhiyuan reluctantly withdrew from the West Side Hall.

The training ground outside the Mingwu Hall was shrouded in twilight, empty and deserted.

The princes and sons of nobility trained in the Mingwu Hall in the morning and forenoon, and in the afternoon, they returned to their respective homes to play or attend other teachings.

They could also stay until the evening like him.

Chu Zhiyuan left the Mingwu Hall and walked between the empty palaces, inexplicably feeling lonely.

Lonely, as if only he was left in the world, drifting like duckweed, alone and helpless.

Experiences from his previous life flooded his mind.

He wondered if his friends were still at work, whether they were married and had children, and whether they had paid off their mortgages.

Fortunately, his parents had already passed away, sparing them the pain of white-haired people sending off black-haired people.

It was a pity that he could no longer drink and laugh with his friends, nor could he shout drunkenly and scold unscrupulous bosses.

In dreams, one does not know oneself as a guest.

For the past two years, he often had a sense of trance, a sense of unreality, which might be a sequela of reincarnation.

…

After leaving the South Palace Gate, Guo Chi and eight guards escorted him back to the Qing Royal Residence.

As soon as he entered the gate, the chief steward Feng Xi greeted him, saying that the Prince, Princess Consort, and Princess had been waiting for a long time.

During the evening meal, Chu Minghou, Bai Ning霜, and Chu Yi questioned him thoroughly.

He answered them one by one, saying that the princes and sons of nobility were friendly, that Thirteenth Uncle was taking care of him, that the atmosphere in the Mingwu Hall was excellent, that they were all practicing diligently, and that they all wanted to step into the Acquired Realm and accept missions as soon as possible. There was no infighting or messy affairs.

These words relieved their worries and brought smiles to their faces.

Chu Minghou laughed and said, "I told you, in the palace, under Father Emperor's nose, the little fellows won't mess around."

Bai Ning霜 snorted and said, "I'm just afraid they're not that afraid of the Emperor."

These princes and sons of nobility had been pampered since childhood, so there was no reverence to speak of. Moreover, they might not be able to understand the difference between their grandfather and the Emperor, only thinking that their grandfather didn't become the Emperor.

Chu Yi shook her head in disappointment, eliciting a glare from Chu Zhiyuan, and hurriedly smiled playfully again.

She had originally wanted to see a good show, to see how her elder brother would deal with these princes and sons of nobility, killing them on all sides and being awe-inspiring, but they were so well-behaved that it was truly disappointing.

When he returned to Listening Wave Courtyard, the lanterns were already lit.

The entire courtyard was brightly lit, as bright as day.

As soon as he changed into a loose green robe, Zou Fang came in to report that Feng Xi was requesting an audience.