Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 87: The Path of Cultivation: One Step at a Time

Returning to the small courtyard at the County School, the festive atmosphere of the New Year seemed to be blocked out by the courtyard walls, quickly dissipating.

The wind blew through the bare branches of the locust tree, making a low, moaning sound, and it felt even colder than before the New Year.

Su Ming put his traveling bag back in the room, changed out of his new clothes, and put on the old, faded scholar's robe again. He felt like a drop of hot oil that had dripped into cold water—briefly boiling, then rapidly cooling, merging back into the whole.

He sat at his desk and spread out his books, but his mind wandered.

"Master, are you still studying that jade slip?" Su Ming asked softly in his heart.

It was quiet inside the ring, with no response.

Ever since before the New Year, his master had almost completely disappeared. Su Ming knew the old man was expending immense mental effort to decipher that damaged cultivation method and didn't dare disturb him lightly.

He sighed and forced himself to pull his attention back to the books.

The days passed one by one.

Life at the County School was monotonous and routine. He rose at the rooster's crow at dawn to recite the classics; listened to the teacher's lectures and studied policy discussions during the day; and reviewed his books by oil lamp or meditated in the courtyard at night.Su Ming's Aura Concealment Art had become almost instinctive. Walking among crowds, he was like a drop of water merging into a river, utterly inconspicuous. Yet, his five senses had become increasingly sharp through meditation. In the deep quiet of the night, he could even hear the faint sound of crickets rubbing their wings in the corner and distinguish the scent of distiller's grains wafting from a distant tavern carried on the wind.

This clear perception of the outside world gave him a more wondrous understanding of his own existence.

One night, Su Ming sat cross-legged in the courtyard as usual.

The moonlight was cold, casting his long, slender shadow on the ground.

His mind was serene. The tiny spark of light within his Dantian was being gently nurtured, and his entire being was in an ethereal state.

Right then, an extremely hoarse voice, as if its owner hadn't had a drink of water in centuries, exploded in his mind.

"Got it! I finally got it!"

The voice carried a mix of ecstatic relief and a long-suppressed fury.

Su Ming's spirit shook, nearly jolting him out of his meditative state.

"Master!" he exclaimed in delight.

"Ahem..." Lin Yu quickly adjusted his tone, restoring that air of a transcendent master's calm and composure, as if the guy who had just cursed didn't exist at all. "Disciple, your master... has gained some insights during my seclusion."

Lin Yu's Soul Body drifted around inside the ring, like an unlucky fellow who'd just won the lottery but couldn't tell anyone.

He was going crazy.

For over a month, he felt he wasn't researching a cultivation method but conducting an inhumane archaeological excavation. The fragmented Thick Earth Art was practically a quantum mechanics thesis written in oracle bone script, and on top of that, it had been burned, waterlogged, and finally gnawed on by a dog.

It was topsy-turvy and logically chaotic.

He'd wanted to give up countless times, but remembering that Su Ming, his only seedling, was counting on him and that his own future pension was still uncertain, he could only grit his teeth and continue.

He mixed together the knowledge about Yin and evil soul power he'd scraped from the Wailing Woman Lantern's memories, the pitiful smattering of cultivation concepts he'd gleaned from novels in his mind, and the other, completely un-practicable Greenwood Longevity Art inside the ring as a reference.

Mixing the three together was like a big pot of stew. His daily work was picking out the edible parts from this chaotic mess and then reassembling them into a dish that could be swallowed.

Just moments ago, while deducing the most basic principle of the five elements' mutual overcoming—"wood overcomes earth"—a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

He imagined the heavy, condensed power of the Thick Earth Art as the earth, and the generative, growing energy of the Greenwood Longevity Art as a seed. How does a seed break through the soil? It needs the earth to bear it, but it also needs its own ability to break through and establish itself anew.

seemingly unrelated cultivation method paths miraculously connected in his mind, forming the most

Thick Earth Art as the foundation, taking its "virtuous bearing of all things" steadiness and inclusiveness; then used the Greenwood Longevity Art as the guide, taking its "endless vitality" vigor and resilience. The two combined actually formed a brand new, albeit elementary, yet extremely solid method for drawing

just a super-simplified, streamlined version, it was usable!

Su Ming's voice

tone steady, betraying

All methods return to the same origin; the

two and deduced a brand new foundational cultivation method for you. The first three layers of this method are balanced and peaceful, steady and sure-footed, most suitable for a beginner like

his master in his mind had now

it impossible to practice—in the hands of the old master, they

earth-shattering skill was

dousing cold water, "you must remember clearly, what your master has deduced is only the first three layers, only reaching the early stage of Qi Refining. Its greatest function is to allow you to safely step onto the path of cultivation and temper a body and meridians capable

a more profound inheritance, you can

first teaching you how to shift gears and step on the gas, ensuring you don't drive the car into a ditch. As for whether you want

your grace of rebirth!" Su Ming was so excited he was about to

"The path of cultivation is one

Master!" Su Ming immediately sat up straight and

master deduced avoids all dangerous points, but it demands extreme precision regarding the locations of certain key acupoints." Lin Yu's voice grew serious. "A minute deviation leads to a massive error. In a mild case, spiritual energy goes astray;

separated by a layer. I cannot guide you with spiritual sense

Ming's heart immediately

should

said unhurriedly, "Your master does know the names of those acupoints, such as 'Qihai', 'Guanyuan', 'Shenque'... But

unfamiliar terms,

moment, and then a thought

Your disciple might have

me about it."

up as he said, "There is a Medical Officer Chen in our County School! He manages the school's pharmacy and is also responsible for treating sick students. A medical practitioner must be well-versed

the ring, Lin Yu nodded

to actively seek solutions instead of waiting for me to spoon-feed him. The self-cultivation of a

knowledge has always been passed down secretly. As a scholar solely focused on the imperial exams, rashly

preservation methods to regulate my family's health as a pretext to sound

Yu

tidied himself up neatly, then took a small package of dried bamboo shoots brought from home and knocked on the courtyard gate of the Medical Officer's residence in

the door, looking

Su, you're here so early. Are you

"I've come to pay a visit to Medical Officer Chen.

medicine boy led

was filled with a strong aroma of medicinal herbs, which smelled bitter just by itself. Various medicinal materials were drying in

with a goatee and a thin, clean-shaven face, was sitting in the front hall,

County School's Medical

Su Ming

Officer Chen lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, recognized him as the most famous Top Scorer Su in the school, and forced a professional smile onto

see this old man?" His voice was neither hurried nor slow, carrying a calmness cultivated from years

shoots by the table. "These are some mountain products from my student's home, a token of my respect. I've come to

the dried bamboo shoots but said nothing, only replying, "Speak

chose his words and began, "Medical Officer, sir, your student has long been studying at the school and often feels lacking in energy. I've heard that in the medical arts, there are health preservation methods like massaging acupoints and regulating qi and blood that can sharpen one's hearing and vision and invigorate the spirit. Your student is quite interested in this and wishes to learn some basic methods for my parents at home, to fulfill my

flawlessly, stating his purpose while raising the banner of "filial

scale in his hand and

is not achieved overnight. The acupoint massage you mentioned does exist. For example, for a headache, one can press the 'temple'; for stomach discomfort, one can moxibustion 'Zusanli'; for a restless mind, one can rub the 'Neiguan'

a few of the most common acupoints

quietly, waiting for

there was

promising scholar with a bright future. Your main focus should be the sages' texts and scholarly honor in the examination halls. The medical arts are vast and profound, as boundless as the sea. One cannot even find the entrance without devoting a lifetime of effort. This old man advises