Chapter 10: Mountain Heart Scripture
After the earlier confrontation, Xiang Yu decided to pause his training to prepare lunch. As his hands moved methodically through the familiar motions of cutting vegetables and seasoning meat, his mind kept returning to the morning's unsettling events. The image of Gu Wuqing's knife aimed at his unprotected back haunted him. A cold realization settled in his stomach, if not for Li Yao's timely intervention, he would have been nothing more than a cooling corpse by now.
"I need to get stronger, and quickly," he thought grimly, his knife slicing through an innocent radish with unnecessary force. His survival strategy had proven woefully inadequate. Avoiding trouble clearly wasn't enough in this brutal cultivation world where even polite rejections could trigger murderous intent.
The aroma of simmering broth soon filled the kitchen, drawing both Elder Guo and Li Yao to the communal dining area. The three settled into their usual places, savoring the meal in comfortable silence until the dishes were cleared. It was Elder Guo who finally broke the peaceful atmosphere, his penetrating gaze fixed on Li Yao.
"Little girl, you've hidden well," he remarked, stroking his long beard thoughtfully.
Li Yao's lips curved into a playful smile as she responded, "I'm sure Master already knew this." Her tone was light, almost teasing, as if they were sharing some private joke.
Elder Guo merely scoffed, his pride evidently pricked. "Of course I did! I'm your master, after all." The defensive edge in his voice wasn't lost on either disciple.
Li Yao maintained her innocent smile, but inwardly she thought with smug satisfaction, "Hmph! You only see what I allow you to see, old man."
At that precise moment, Elder Guo's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did you think of something rude just now?" he asked sharply, causing Li Yao to stiffen momentarily.
A flicker of alarm crossed her delicate features before she quickly composed herself. Could the master actually read minds?
"What are you talking about?" she replied with exaggerated innocence that was so transparent it caused Xiang Yu to roll his eyes.
"You're acting too suspicious," he thought, watching her poor attempt at feigning confusion.
Unwilling to engage further with his cheeky disciple, Elder Guo simply waved a dismissive hand. "Run a few laps around the mountain," he commanded.
Li Yao rose immediately, offering a respectful salute. "Yes, Master!" she chirped before vanishing in a blur of motion.
Elder Guo watched her departure with a complicated expression. This girl was truly difficult to read—she was likely concealing far more than she revealed. He sighed heavily, resignation evident in his weathered features. What could he do? Everyone harbored their own secrets in this world of cultivation. His gaze then drifted toward Xiang Yu, lingering there meaningfully.
"Don't blame your master for not standing up for you earlier," he said suddenly.
Xiang Yu was startled by the unexpected statement. He quickly bowed, lowering his head respectfully. "Disciple wouldn't dare!"
Elder Guo regarded him silently for several heartbeats before continuing, "I can always intervene when the elder generation bullies you. But when it's among fellow disciples..." He paused, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "There is nothing I can do. The only solution is for you to grow stronger so you cannot be bullied."
Xiang Yu bowed deeper, genuine understanding in his voice. "Disciple understands."
Elder Guo nodded approvingly at his response. At least this lazy disciple of his was starting to understand how the cultivation world worked. Then, with a casual gesture, he reached into his sleeve and withdrew a weathered scroll, tossing it across the table. "Take this!"
Xiang Yu caught it deftly, unrolling it with careful hands to reveal ancient characters etched across the parchment.
"This is the Mountain Heart Scripture," Elder Guo explained, his voice carrying unusual solemnity. "It's a body refining method—the finest body refining technique of our entire sect. With this, you should be able to cultivate up to the twelfth level of Body Refining."
Xiang Yu's eyes widened with genuine shock. In the cultivation world, each realm was typically divided into ten levels. A technique that could push beyond these conventional boundaries, allowing cultivation to the twelfth level of Body Refining, was truly extraordinary. When cultivators advanced to the Qi Gathering stage, they generally stopped increasing their physical strength, focusing instead on refining spiritual energy. Someone who had broken through higher levels in body refining would therefore possess a significant advantage in battles against peers of the same realm.
A smile of appreciation spread across Xiang Yu's face as he bowed deeply. "Disciple thanks Master." The significance of this gift wasn't lost on him—the Mountain Heart Technique shared its name with their peak, marking it as a core technique of tremendous value. Had he gone to the Scripture Pavilion instead, he would almost certainly have received only a trash technique deemed suitable for outer disciples.
Elder Guo merely waved dismissively before vanishing, leaving Xiang Yu alone with his precious new scroll. He clutched it tightly, determination hardening in his eyes. Now that he finally had a scripture, it was time to begin true cultivation—time to ensure he would never again be at the mercy of those who wished him harm.
...
Xiang Yu returned to his familiar training grounds, but this time his practice knife remained sheathed at his side. Instead, he found himself performing a series of slow, deliberate movements that felt entirely foreign to his body. His arms traced graceful arcs through the air while his legs shifted through various stances, each position flowing into the next with painstaking precision.
He couldn't help the heat of embarrassment creeping up his neck as he executed these strange forms. The movements reminded him vividly of elderly people practicing tai chi in city parks during his previous life—gentle, flowing exercises that had always seemed somewhat comical from an outsider's perspective. Now he was the one performing these seemingly ridiculous postures, and the self-consciousness was almost overwhelming.
"I look absolutely ridiculous," he thought, imagining how he must appear to anyone who might be watching. For a brief moment, he glanced around nervously, grateful that no one seemed to be observing his awkward attempts at following the Mountain Heart Scripture's instructions.
Despite the embarrassment burning in his chest, Xiang Yu refused to abandon his training. His jaw clenched with determination as he forced himself to continue the prescribed movements. "When I become invincible," he promised himself, "this temporary embarrassment won't matter at all." The thought provided just enough motivation to push through his discomfort.
By evening, as Xiang Yu prepared dinner for the small pavilion, he noticed an unusual heaviness in his limbs. His muscles protested with a deep, penetrating soreness that seemed to reach his very bones. Even after days of swinging his practice knife from dawn until midnight, he had never experienced this level of fatigue. The Mountain Heart Scripture clearly targeted different muscle groups, pushing his body in ways his knife practice never had.
Despite the exhaustion weighing down his movements, Xiang Yu stubbornly resumed his practice after the evening meal. He continued the unfamiliar forms until the familiar translucent blue screen materialized before his eyes:
[Calculating Settlement]
[Calculation Complete]
[Mountain Heart Scripture: (0/100)]
[Basic Knife Technique: Minor Success (12/200) (+6/200)]
[Experience Points Doubled]
[Basic Knife Technique: Minor Success (12/200) → (24/200)]
[Next Settlement: 23:59:59]
Xiang Yu studied the notification without disappointment. He had anticipated that cultivating a scripture would prove significantly more challenging than mastering a basic technique, so the lack of progress with the Mountain Heart Scripture didn't surprise him.
What did surprise him, however, was the unexpected advancement in his knife technique. Six additional points gained despite only practicing briefly that morning? The increase made little sense until a realization dawned on him—the morning's confrontation must have contributed to his experience. Actual combat, it seemed, provided significantly greater returns than mere practice.
"So fighting accelerates growth," he mused, pondering this discovery. For a brief moment, he considered the implications before firmly shaking his head. "No, I'm not going to deliberately seek out conflicts just to improve faster." Such behavior would directly contradict his survival strategy and likely lead to an early grave.
Exhaustion finally claiming victory over determination, Xiang Yu retreated to his humble dwelling. As he settled onto his bed of dried leaves, a resolute thought formed in his mind: tomorrow he would approach the scripture with even greater dedication, pushing through both physical discomfort and embarrassment to extract every possible benefit from Elder Guo's generous gift.