Chapter 13: The Old Taoist's Shock!

Looking at the children sitting solemnly with closed eyes outside the courtyard, the expressions on the faces of the two Daoists both became uncontrollably bizarre.

——How should this feeling be described?

It was just like discovering a massive pile of rare treasures in a cesspool!

To call it a cesspool might be slightly excessive, but it was not exaggerated at all.

One must know that since the northern Jurchen barbarians swept across the previous dynasty five hundred years ago to claim the Central Plains and establish the Demon Qing, the people of the Central Plains had lived lives barely better than those of pigs and dogs.

To maintain the stability of their rule, the Demon Qing court formulated various restrictions and rules targeting the people of the Central Plains.

Even if there were scholars from the Central Plains who were well-versed in both letters and martial arts, profoundly learned, and willing to bow their heads, passing numerous trials to enter the core of power in the Demon Qing court, they still had to respectfully address the members of the Demon Qing court as master, and on certain grand public occasions, they could only refer to themselves as servants.

It could not be called anything but ludicrous.

And among the many decrees promulgated, the one enforced most strictly, which also caused the most severe backlash, was a decree proposed three hundred years ago by Emperor Yongzheng of the Demon Qing, named 'Weapons into the Storehouse, Horses to the Southern Mountains'.

At that time, the Demon Qing court was at its peak.

Meanwhile, the civilization of the Central Plains grew increasingly weak under its relentless pressure.

The promulgation of this decree could be said to combine the right time, the right place, and the support of the people; it was an iron-blooded method deployed by Emperor Yongzheng to eliminate the many unstable factors within the martial world of the Central Plains.

Before anyone could react, the Demon Qing court suddenly dispatched tens of thousands of elite troops, while simultaneously gathering dozens of top-tier Grandmaster experts directly subordinate to the Demon Qing court.

For a time, the entire Central Plains was engulfed in the flames of war, and life was reduced to misery.

The Demon Qing court frantically confiscated and destroyed the martial arts techniques and secret manuals of various sects, dealing a devastating blow to the martial arts civilization of the Central Plains from that point onward!

——Those stubborn sects unwilling to submit were nearly wiped out in their entirety, while those willing to submit were placed on dog leashes, with strict limits imposed even on the number of disciples they could recruit each year.

The lethality of this decree was so immense that it persisted down to the present day.

Nowadays, aside from a tiny handful of top-tier Central Plains sects with deep foundations that could still hide deep within the mountain forests to prolong their panting existence and enjoy a modicum of privilege from the court.

The entire martial world of the Central Plains had fallen, never to recover.

In contrast to this, after harvesting an unknown number of martial arts manuals and sole remaining copies of techniques, the scions of the Demon Qing court shone brilliantly, with the number of their experts multiplying.

With the decline of one and the growth of the other, it truly drove one to despair.

Of course, these things were not important.

What was important was that, as far as they knew, the only Central Plains sect near the entire Sanhuang County that still possessed a complete martial arts inheritance was their Xuanyang View; aside from that, the rest seemed to be nothing but a few martial arts academies, right?

So, here came the question.

How did this group of children before them set foot upon the path of martial arts?

Could it be that they learned the methods of cultivation at a martial arts academy and then spread them around?

Unlicensed teaching of martial arts was a capital offense!

The minds of the two revolved through thousands of thoughts, and the expressions on their faces became somewhat unpredictable.

With great difficulty regaining his composure, the old Daoist took a deep breath, walked forward to find a child who looked relatively mature, and spoke to inquire, "Child, what are you all doing here?"

Having his cultivation interrupted, the child appeared not very pleased.

However, upon discovering that the person questioning him was an unfamiliar old man wearing Daoist robes, the expression on the child's face turned somewhat restrained again, and he said in a low voice, "We are practicing peerless martial arts; once we master them, we will be invincible throughout the world!"

Hearing the child's reply, the Daoist turned his head to glance at his disciple, and for a moment, both of them looked at each other in blank dismay.

After a long while, the old Daoist finally continued to inquire, "Can you tell me who taught you your peerless martial arts?"

It was not that he wanted to report them to the court.

He was merely curious as to where a martial arts master could have come from in this mountain village where birds did not even defecate.

Hearing this question, the child's eyebrows immediately furrowed, and the expression on his face became somewhat guarded as he spoke, "Why are you asking this? Is it not allowed for us to figure it out ourselves?"

The old Daoist knew he might have been misunderstood, but at the moment, he was disinclined to explain things to a child of a few years old.

Standing up, he scanned the main gate of the Li family, then scanned Li Chang'an who was situated at the very top of the steps, walking straight forward to inquire, "Little friend, are the adults of your family at home?"

Li Chang'an had noticed the two Daoists long ago, only he had been observing them in secret all along; seeing them step forward now, and not looking as though they harbored enmity, he smiled and said, "The adults of my family are not in. Daoist Master, do you have business with them?"

Seeing that his thoughts were clear and his speech extraordinary, the old Daoist was quite astonished in his heart, so he asked a couple more questions, saying, "Was this 'divine art' you cultivate bestowed upon you by the adults of your family?"

Li Chang'an shook his head, saying calmly, "The method of breathing in and out internal energy was learned by this boy from you, Daoist Master, and the technique I am teaching now was created afterward based on the method of internal energy circulation!"

The old Daoist: "..."

His face turned a bit dark, feeling that he was being played for a monkey by the child before him.

If this were placed three hundred years ago during the peak of the Central Plains martial arts, creating a technique of one's own might not have been a fool's dream.

But nowadays, the very roots of the Central Plains martial arts techniques had been nearly dug up by the Demon Qing court; let alone creating a technique, it was already extraordinary for the various major sects to possess a single complete chapter of a cultivation technique.

Under such circumstances, creating a technique of one's own?

One would not dare to boast like this even while dreaming!

To take ten thousand steps back, even if there truly were such a heaven-sent genius in this world, it could not possibly be a child whose hair had not even fully grown!

The old Daoist had ten thousand criticisms he wanted to voice in his heart, but he opened his mouth only to find himself not knowing where to begin; after remaining silent for a good long while, he let out a chuckle and said, "You child are rather interesting, not afraid of blowing a cowhide right through the sky. Remember to tell the adults of your family when they return that recently is a tumultuous time, tell him not to make such a grand display!"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the tender children of varying sizes behind him, facing the morning light with faces full of vigor, and not knowing what he thought of, he let out a heavy sigh.

The old Daoist's mood seemed very low, and he simply did not take Li Chang'an's words just now seriously.

This was not strange.

Replaced by any normal person, no one would believe the nonsensical words of a child.

Li Chang'an pursed his lips and continued, "Daoist Master, I saw you three years ago!"

Hearing these words, the old Daoist's originally smiling face suddenly turned grim, a bit of sharpness flashing through his eyes as he stared at Li Chang'an and said, "Little friend, what else do you know?"

His figure did not look grand; on the contrary, he even possessed a somewhat sickly state, but the aura radiating at this very moment gave Li Chang'an a suffocating sensation as if facing the majesty of heaven.

Was this a true martial arts expert?

It really was completely different from the feeling of facing the three Han brothers!

"Please do not misunderstand!" Pressing down the fervor in his heart, Li Chang'an took a deep breath, facing the pressure to repeat once more, "Three years ago, you passed by the gate of this boy's house. This boy once caught a glimpse of your back from afar, and my heart suddenly became divinely inspired, gaining some comprehension; afterward, by blundering into it by accident, I groped out this method of cultivation!"

"So that is how it is, little friend's memory is truly good..." The old Daoist still subconsciously ignored those nonsensical words of his, and only after a good long while did his eyes suddenly widen, saying in disbelief, "Wait, what did you just say?"