Mid-afternoon.
Shen Ying escorted Lu Zheng and the Liu sisters to the edge of Peach Blossom Plain.
“Dear sister, come visit and chat whenever you’re free.”
“As long as you don’t find me bothersome, Qingyan would love to,” Liu Qingyan replied.
“Peach Blossom Manor has been quiet for too long, Qingquan brings some liveliness,” Shen Ying said, watching them board the carriage. “By the way, I’m usually at the manor and don’t go out, except on the last and first days of the month. Don’t come then.”
“Noted, farewell, Sister Shen!” Liu Qingyan said.
…
“I never imagined such a serene and elegant Peach Blossom Manor deep within the plain. I don’t recall anyone in town mentioning it,” Lu Zheng said, casually flipping through *The Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing*.
“It’s not in the densest part of the grove, you have to turn southeast toward the mountain’s base. Most visitors don’t venture that far,” Liu Qingyan explained.
“Makes sense.”
Unlike the modern world, where scenic areas had clear paths and dangerous creatures were cleared out, in the Dajing Dynasty, even a popular spot like Peach Blossom Plain was only safe in its outer few acres. Venturing deeper meant overgrown weeds, no paths, and who knew what venomous creatures or beasts lurked in the southeastern mountains.
Back at the county town’s doorstep, Lu Zheng gave the remaining preserved plums to Liu Qingquan, bid the sisters farewell, and returned home.
He popped back to the modern world, checked his phone—nobody looking for him—and immediately returned to study the martial arts manual he’d acquired.
*The Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing*.
It comprised eighteen basic movements, serving both as a cultivation method and a combat technique.
For cultivation, each pose was held while trembling specific muscles, tempering them from the outside in—muscles, blood, organs, bones—enhancing physique and vital energy.
In combat, each movement formed the basis for attack or defense, optimized to channel the vital energy cultivated through the *Eighteen Forms*.
Fortunately, having practiced the *Midday-Midnight Meditation Breathing Technique*, Lu Zheng, though with difficulty, could understand this martial method without barriers.
He also noticed differences between the two.
The *Midday-Midnight Meditation Breathing Technique*, a Taoist breathing method, cultivated true qi, slowly improving meridians with limited physical enhancement but excellent for longevity. True qi leaned toward spiritual energy, with various mystical uses as the foundation for spells, according to the texts.
*The Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing*, a martial method, was far superior for boosting physical strength and primarily enhanced vital energy intensity—or rather, blood energy!
Blood like a furnace, energy like smoke, fierce and explosive, unmatched in combat!
He wasn’t sure if this world’s martial arts had other types, but this was the nature of the *Eighteen Forms*.
Luckily, true qi and blood energy cultivation didn’t conflict, so Lu Zheng could practice both simultaneously.
With the light of fortune at his disposal, he quartered worries about limited focus or energy were moot. Quite delightful, really.
No hesitation—practice began!
…
*The Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing*, as the name suggested, required imagining a mountain borne on the body for each movement—shoulders, back, or arms—mobilizing specific muscles and force to resist this imaginary weight.
By dinner, Lu Zheng could perform three movements, trembling muscles and exerting force, though far from mastery. Still, it met the baseline for enhancement via the light of fortune.
Others might take years to reach proficiency, but with the light of fortune, Lu Zheng could achieve it in days.
After dinner, he continued, mastering seven movements’ basics by bedtime.
The next day, he stayed in, practicing.
By evening, in the backyard, he completed all eighteen forms, sweating lightly and panting heavily.
“No wonder it’s a martial method, boosting blood energy is exhausting!”
Lunch—a whole hen and four bowls of rice—left him hungry again by now.
“Young Master, dinner’s ready!”
…
Two fish and five large steamed buns later, Lu Zheng patted his stomach and returned to his room.
“Enhance!”
*Buzz!*
The jade seal quivered, consuming the last three strands of fortune’s light.
A surge of dense blood energy materialized within him.
His muscles trembled, transforming meridians, marrow, and organs from the outside in.
“Bloody hell…”
On his bed, Lu Zheng shook like chaff, his body tingling intensely.
This was his first time feeling such a profound transformation.
Normally, one would train these movements for years to build physique and generate combat-ready blood energy. Lu Zheng skipped this, as the light of fortune created blood energy directly, but his body needed time to adapt.
His prior overall physique enhancements made this bearable, or he might’ve passed out from the intensity.
“Cross!”
Struggling, he mentally activated the jade seal, returning to the modern world.
“Ahh!”
…
The next morning, he woke feeling powerful despite lingering soreness.
In front of the mirror, six-pack abs and sleek lines—irresistible to anyone.
Back in the ancient world, he threw punches in the backyard, loosening up, then practiced sabre forms, completing his morning workout.
Nodding in satisfaction, he understood why some got addicted to training; the feeling of growing stronger was exhilarating.
“It’s been half a month since I got the *Midday-Midnight Meditation Breathing Technique*, and my fortune’s light is spent. Time to visit Baiyun Temple again.”
“Who knows if I’ll get what I want this time.”
After breakfast in the ancient world, he returned to the modern one.
Showered, dressed, and out the door.
A bright sunny day, Lu Zheng messaged Du Lin, got confirmation, and took a taxi to Wanren Ancient Sword Hall.
