Chapter 388 - 146: Cultivating Key Disciples
Yang Jing quickly returned to the Inner Sect Disciple living area halfway up Lingxi Peak. From a distance, he saw a youth in gray servant disciple attire squatting at the gate of Qing No. 4 Courtyard.
The youth was holding a food box, idly scuffing the ground with the tip of his foot out of boredom. When he saw Yang Jing approaching, he quickly stood up, a somewhat reserved smile appearing on his face.
"Senior Brother Yang, this is the lunch you ordered." The servant disciple presented the food box with both hands, his tone respectful.
Yang Jing took the food box, which was warm to the touch. He nodded at the servant disciple and thanked him.
The servant disciple, flattered by the gesture, quickly bowed before turning and hurrying away.
Back in the courtyard, Yang Jing placed the food box on the stone table and opened the lid. Inside were two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup.
The most eye-catching item was a large bowl of braised Exotic Beast Meat. The chunks of meat had a glossy, reddish-brown color and smelled incredible, weighing a full two pounds.
He picked up his chopsticks and began to feast. The tender Exotic Beast Meat melted in his mouth. A stream of pure energy slid down his throat and into his stomach, transforming into warm currents that slowly spread through his limbs and bones. The feeling left him comfortably warm and inexpressibly content.
In just a few moments, Yang Jing had eaten everything, not even leaving a drop of soup.
He wiped his mouth and, without lingering in the courtyard, strode toward the training room area of Lingxi Peak.
Arriving at the nearby Training Room building, Yang Jing went straight to the Affairs Department. The Steward wasn’t in today; only two servant disciple managers were there. He took out his Inner Sect Disciple Token and said in a low voice, "I’d like to rent a Level C Training Room for two hours."
The manager checked for available training rooms, quickly completed the registration, and deducted four hundred contribution points from his account.
Level C Training Rooms cost two hundred contribution points per hour, so two hours was exactly four hundred.
Yang Jing took the key and walked toward the assigned Training Room.
Pushing open the stone door of the Training Room, he was met with a rich, musky, and exotic aroma. It was several times stronger than what he remembered from the Level D training room he had used before.
This fragrance came from the burning of a special Exotic Beast Musk Aroma crafted by the sect. It could attract and gather the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, greatly benefiting the cultivation of disciples who used Inner Strength or Inner Qi.
The Training Room wasn’t large, but it was immaculate. The walls were inlaid with soundproofing Profound Iron, the floor was paved with non-slip bluestone slabs, and a meditation cushion sat in the corner.
Yang Jing closed the door behind him, walked to the cushion, and sat down cross-legged. He took a deep breath, then drew the blue-covered first volume of the *Mountain-Breaking Seal* from his robes and carefully opened it.
His eyes fell upon the pages, taking in the lines of profound text. Everything was recorded in extreme detail, from cultivation essentials and technique diagrams to the pathways for circulating Inner Qi.
After about fifteen minutes, Yang Jing had gone through the first volume of the *Mountain-Breaking Seal* several times and had formed a clear understanding of it in his mind.
The manual’s description of Inner Qi, in particular, made his heart burn with excitement.
Once one cultivated Inner Qi, it was incredibly tough and could adhere to the body’s surface to form a protective barrier. Even when facing sharp weapons head-on, one would not be at a disadvantage thanks to the Inner Qi’s protection.
He carefully put the manual away inside his robes and slowly rose to his feet. Standing firm in the center of the Training Room, he took a deep breath and assumed the training stance described in the manual.
The *Mountain-Breaking Seal* and the *Mountain-Shattering Fist* were from the same lineage, both following a path of overwhelming power and ferocity.
In the beginning stages, it was rooted in punching techniques.
Yang Jing sank into his stance, clenched his fists, and slowly threw a punch. It seemed slow, but its power was contained within.
The wind from his fist whistled, carrying a heavy, condensed momentum, as if a mountain was gathering power beneath his knuckles, ready to erupt.
Unlike the straightforward, forward-rushing nature of the *Mountain-Shattering Fist*, the *Mountain-Breaking Seal*’s punching techniques focused more on accumulating momentum. Each punch seemed to gather the might of a mountain, which would then be unleashed with immense power when the technique reached completion.
What was even more brilliant was that this martial art was not limited to a single type of technique.
As one’s cultivation deepened, fists, palms, fingers, arms, and legs could all be used to form the ’seal’.
A palm strike would become a seal that could overturn rivers and seas.
A finger strike would become a seal that could pierce metal and stone.
A leg sweep would become a seal that could scatter an army of thousands. Every move carried the power to shake mountains and shatter peaks.
Yang Jing became more and more engrossed in his practice. His fists and feet moved with the force of a pouncing tiger, stirring the air in the Training Room into a whistling frenzy.
His movements grew faster and more fluid. With every punch, he could feel the power surging through his body, subtly resonating with the force of the *Mountain-Shattering Fist* until they merged into one.
As he continued to practice the techniques of the *Mountain-Breaking Seal*, Yang Jing faintly sensed that the rich, musky aroma in the Training Room was mixed with minuscule, almost imperceptible threads of energy.
That was the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. An ordinary Martial Artist would need days, or even longer, of cultivation to barely sense its presence, yet Yang Jing had keenly detected it after only half an hour of practice.
Of course, this wasn’t because his talent was far beyond ordinary. It was because the Exotic Beast Aroma in the Level C Training Room greatly stimulated the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, making it much easier to perceive.
A thought struck Yang Jing. He quickly focused his mind and, following the method from the manual, guided the threads of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi toward his body.
But as soon as the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi touched his skin, it was as if it hit an invisible barrier. The energy could only drift along the surface, unable to penetrate in the slightest. It felt as though all the pores of his body were clogged by a thin layer of impurities.
He knew this was a necessary step in cultivation.
For Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to enter the body and be refined into Inner Qi, one must first clear the pores and expel the impurities that obstruct its entry. This was the beginning of Washing Marrow.