Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 34 Feng Hou Qi Men: External and Internal Applications

It's the same mountain path we took to get here, with steps connecting the front and back of the mountain.

But unlike before, only Lü Qian was walking slowly along the mountain path, his face covered.

"hiss--"

"I didn't realize that although the Grand Tutor is a bit small in stature, he is quick and ruthless in his actions."

Lu Qian poked around his eyes with both hands, then let out an even more forceful inhalation, "Hiss—"

"Oh my god, it's definitely going to turn purple now, maybe even blackish purple."

He judged the extent of the damage caused by Zhou Meng's two punches based on the pain he felt in his face.

The familiar pain made Lü Qian immediately realize the seriousness of the problem. "My great-grandfather's strength is almost the same as my great-grandfather's, but having dark circles under his eyes doesn't mean I'm a national treasure."

Lu Qian withdrew his fingers, recalling the scene in the cave just now.

Lu Qian, looking curious, bent down and whispered in Zhou Meng's ear, "Grand Tutor, since you and Senior Zhou Sheng are brothers, do you have a nickname, 'Little Monkey'?"

After asking that question, Lü Qian didn't see, due to his angle, that Zhou Meng's smiling expression suddenly changed, becoming chilling.

Lu Qian took two quick steps forward and leaned in front of Zhou Meng. "Grand Tutor, why aren't you saying anything?"

Before he could see the expression on Zhou Meng's face clearly, the kerosene lamp suddenly flickered violently.

Zhou Meng tossed the kerosene lamp high into the air and slammed his fists into Lü Qian's eye sockets.

"Aww—"

Caught off guard, Lü Qian was hit by two punches in the face. He immediately covered his eyes and jumped to the side, his screams echoing in the cave.

"You big-headed devil, you monkey!"

Zhou Meng reached out and caught the kerosene lamp falling from mid-air again, calmed the flickering flame, and then looked at Lü Qian beside him.

"Hey, now Lu boy looks like a panda boy!"

"Grand Tutor, you acted too quickly; I didn't even have time to react."

Lu Qian rubbed his eye sockets, and the warm sensation on his skin told him that his eye sockets were probably purplish again.

"Keep practicing diligently from now on."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng carried the kerosene lamp and swayed as he walked towards the cave entrance.

"Wait for my Grand Tutor!"

"Keep up!"

……

After leaving the cave, Zhou Meng returned to his room and told Lü Qian to go to the dining hall and bring him a meal as well.

With his eyes turning purple, Lü Qian had no choice but to run along the mountain path towards the front of the mountain.

He hurried to the canteen and could see through the windows that it was full of Wudang disciples.

"Well, I guess I can't escape the title of 'panda' now."

Lü Qian sighed helplessly and could only step out from behind the cover and stride quickly toward the canteen door.

"Xiaoqian, what's wrong with you?"

As Lü Qian stepped through the canteen gate, he was met by Daoist Yunlong, who looked at Lü Qian's purple eye sockets with a solemn expression.

In his opinion, it was probably that thief who spread forbidden techniques who came looking for Lü Qian again and beat him up.

Thinking of this, Master Yunlong gestured to Lü Qian with his eyes, asking if it was the thief from this morning.

"Master, you're overthinking it. The injury on my face wasn't from being beaten."

Seeing the worried look in Master Yunlong's eyes and feeling the increasing gazes on him, Lü Qian forced himself to speak.

"The Grand Tutor saw that I was doing well in my cultivation and personally guided me in my practice, but I didn't expect that I would lose my way in circulating my Qi just now, which is why my face is swollen."

He pointed to his eye sockets and used the same excuse he had used years ago.

Master Yunlong's lips twitched as he watched Lü Qian spouting lies with a straight face. "Alright, as long as nothing's wrong."

As he spoke, he patted Lü Qian on the shoulder, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Lü Qian was not injured. "You go ahead and eat. I still need to contact someone to fix up your place."

After saying that, Master Yunlong walked out of the dining hall without looking back.

Greetings, fellow disciples!

Lu Qian greeted everyone in a generous and open manner, meeting their gazes.

It's impossible to sneak in and get food these days, so it's better to act normal. As long as you're not embarrassed, no one else will be.

Lü Qian, in a fit of despair, walked towards the canteen window, leaving his fellow apprentices dumbfounded.

"Could it be that Junior Brother Lü got hit in the head by the Grand Tutor?"

"Possibly!"

……

Lu Qian swiftly took the two packed meals from Huogong Daoren and slipped out of the dining hall without looking back.

"Phew, now I'm even more famous."

He walked along the mountain path, carrying two portions of food in his hands, swaying unsteadily in the mountain breeze as he headed towards Zhou Meng's residence on the back mountain.

"Speaking of which, is Feng Hou Qi Men really used in the way Grandmaster Hong Yin and his acquaintances did?"

Lu Qian looked down at the stone steps, pondering the correct usage of Feng Hou Qi Men as he walked.

"No, just now I tried to release my internal Qi to create my own territory. Within eight feet of me, I could say I could command the wind and rain and be omnipotent."

Recalling his feelings when he first activated the Feng Hou Qi Men Formation, Lü Qian pondered.

"But all of this depends on the changes in my own Qi. On the surface, it appears to be the external Qimen formation that is being activated, but in reality, it is my own body that is moving."

"I act on behalf of Heaven with my own heart, and follow Heaven's will with my own intentions. Within that eight-foot space, my Qi pattern surpasses the pattern bestowed by Heaven and Earth themselves."

"If we understand it this way, as one's cultivation increases, the scope of Qimen will become larger and larger, eventually covering the entire universe. Within the scope of Qimen, I am heaven and earth, I am the rule-maker."

"But that's absolutely impossible!"

Lu Qian's gaze gradually sharpened, and he rejected this usage.

"Leaving aside how vast the world is, and how insignificant a human body is in the face of such a vast universe, just this level of cultivation, which is comparable to the size of the entire world, is something I cannot accomplish!"

If one were to allow the Qi within their body to cover the entire universe, that person's cultivation level would have to be even higher. I doubt even Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng could accomplish that.

Moreover, in the original work, Wang Ye used it in this way, which ultimately caused him a lot of problems.

While pondering the matter, Lü Qian rejected this approach of releasing Qi externally.

"If I'm not mistaken, during the Qimen Dunjia technique just now, especially at the moment I withdrew my Qi, was the environment of heaven and earth repelling me?"

As someone who has awakened the Dual Hands, Lü Qian has a very subtle control over his life and body. Just now, he was confident that he felt the pressure from the external environment, which, although slight, could not be ignored.

Recalling the Daoist canon he had once read, Lü Qian made some guesses.

The Book of Length and Shortness states: "There are laws and no laws; one should act according to the times. When it is time to stop, one should stop; when it is time to act, one should act. One's actions should not miss the opportune moment, and one's path will be bright."

"Humans are born between heaven and earth and are nourished by them. All things have rhythms, and heaven and earth also have their own rhythms. As beings living between heaven and earth, human beings' own rhythms must also conform to the rhythms of heaven and earth."

"Using Feng Hou Qi Men to manipulate one's own destiny is tantamount to going off track from heaven and earth. When the Qi Men is put away, the unreasonable destiny of a person will be impacted by the external environment. This is also the reason for Wang Ye's strange illness in the original work."

As Lü Qian thought this through, his mind became increasingly clear. "Since external application doesn't work, let's try internal application!"

"But how should we do that?"

After rejecting the external application of Feng Hou Qi Men, he determined the direction of internal application, but he had no specific ideas on how to do it.

Thinking of this, Lü Qian couldn't help but sigh, "It's a pity that I haven't specialized in the art of sorcery, and I'm at a loss for direction."

"Want to become a warlock? Okay, I'll teach you."

"Grand Tutor? Oh, I've already arrived?"

Just as Lü Qian finished his reflection, Zhou Meng's voice rang in his ears. He quickly turned around, looked at his surroundings, and realized that he had arrived at Zhou Meng's residence.

In the lush forest, a small wooden cabin stood, and Zhou Meng was standing at the door, smiling at Lü Qian.

"Grand Tutor, why didn't you remind me?"

Zhou Meng stood at the door and waved to Lü Qian, "You just arrived too."

"Alright, in the end, I don't know if it was luck or destiny that allowed you, a novice Taoist who has only been practicing for a few years, to learn Feng Hou Qi Men."

As he spoke, Zhou Meng sighed again, "Does that mean the less you know, the more proficient you'll become?"