Chapter 37: The Boxing Manual
Topple mountains?
The black-clad girl frowned slightly and reached out to take that ancient book.
Unexpectedly, Chen Ping'an shifted backward.
At that moment, the girl's body stiffened, rage burning within her, as if she had never been so insulted.
She was Ning Yao, no less. Her parents were great sword immortals above the twelfth floor, and she herself had been hailed as the most top-notch sword embryo since birth. Even after running away from home for so many years, she had only ever lost in sword duels or magical contests. No one had ever insulted her character like this—suggesting she would stoop to sneaky means to flip through, peek at, or take possession of a shabby book?
Ning Yao gripped the hilt of her blade, squinting her strikingly narrow and elongated eyebrows.
Slender eyes, vermilion lips.
That must be the description for this girl.
In truth, if you looked closely, Ning Yao's features were extremely beautiful, but her pervasive aura of valor and determination completely overpowered any trace of feminine charm.
But the straw-sandal youth's next sentence had a remarkable effect, turning decay into magic, almost choking the girl with suppressed frustration.
"Miss Ning, this book came from Gu Can's house. Although I don't think this counts as stealing, I still have to return it to Gu Can later. But since we're friends now, no matter what this book says, I hope that after you've read it, you'll just keep it to yourself."
The girl took a deep breath, slapped the table, and glared. "Read? Go read it yourself. I'm not interested!"
Chen Ping'an's next words left her utterly speechless. "Miss Ning, I don't know how to read. Could you teach me?"
The black-clad girl's mind turned, and she sneered. "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of you? Think about it—Gu Can is obviously someone who inherited a ton of ancestral blessings, even surpassing that natural sword embryo Liu Xianyang. In the thousand years of this town, few can match him. So how mediocre could a family heirloom he kept so carefully hidden be? Aren't you afraid I'll be tempted by the treasure and take this priceless secret manual for myself?"
Under the flickering light of an oil lamp, the straw-sandal youth smiled faintly, offering no explanation.
The girl snorted, shifted her position, and gestured for the youth to sit beside her. But Chen Ping'an across from her didn't budge. She laughed angrily, "I, Ning Yao, could beat a hundred of you with one hand..."
At that point, she started laughing to herself. "What, are you afraid I'll take advantage of you?"
Chen Ping'an sat down beside her, both nervous and tense.
The girl, Ning Yao, was still caught up in the context of her earlier words, sinking deeper and muttering to herself, "Beat a hundred Chen Ping'ans with one hand. Hmm, that saying has a wide range of applications. When I meet someone and spar with them, if they lose to me, I can just say, 'You're only as strong as three thousand Chen Ping'ans, and you dare fight me?' That feels nice. And if I encounter a wild beast or a vicious dragon in a marsh, I'll tell myself, 'This monster is as strong as thirty thousand Chen Ping'ans. Run away!' Ha ha, not bad, not bad..."
Chen Ping'an found it baffling. The black-clad girl sitting shoulder to shoulder with him was suddenly giggling foolishly.
The girl laughed so much that the poor youth, living in a nearly empty house, suddenly felt like a wealthy man.
At that moment, neither the youth nor the girl realized that the joke—"beat a hundred Chen Ping'ans with one hand"—would carry tremendous weight and force in the long years to come.
Especially when the straw-sandal youth was no longer a youth.
More and more so as time went on.
Ning Yao finally snapped out of it, coughed, sat up straight, took the ancient book, quickly flipped through a few pages, then closed it. She tapped the cover twice with a finger, turned to Chen Ping'an, and said calmly, "This is a boxing manual. The boxing art is called 'Topple Mountains.' If we follow the rules of the martial world, you can call it the 'Mountain-Toppling Manual.'"
Chen Ping'an looked at her expectantly. "And then?"
The black-clad girl struggled not to roll her eyes, forcing herself to open a page solemnly. With a slender, verdant finger, she pointed to the preface and read aloud while sliding downward. "In my homeland, there is a tiny insect called the ant. Their entire lives, unlike their kind elsewhere, are spent carrying stones into the water."
"My boxing art distinguishes between life and death, not victory or defeat. It emphasizes spirit and will, not forms. When you master the six stances of this art to perfection, the killing power is immense, often deeply injuring the internal organs..."
"Although the 'Mountain-Toppling Manual' has never ranked among the refined high grades of contemporary boxing manuals, I have always believed that among all the martial arts in the world, this art deserves a place. I hope that fateful individuals will spread and enhance it..."
Ning Yao patiently read the preface to Chen Ping'an sentence by sentence.
The thin booklet contained only six stances of boxing, but the preface was quite lengthy.
After reading the preface, Ning Yao pushed the manual toward Chen Ping'an, patted his shoulder, and said perfunctorily, "Take good care of it. Don't let it get stolen."
Chen Ping'an nodded and carefully reached out with both hands to hold the ancient manual.
Ning Yao couldn't help but want to laugh. As if a book lying on the table could sprout legs and run away! Or were you afraid it might trip?
Chen Ping'an vigorously rubbed his right hand on his lapel before opening the pages. He looked at each character in the preface, then at the illustrations and text, utterly bewildered.
Ning Yao sat sideways, her elbow resting on the table, watching his profile, and teased, "Do you feel like you've struck it rich? Planning to chop wood with a golden axe and eat with a golden bowl?"
The youth didn't look up, carefully studying the pictures and the cryptic text, and said bluntly, "Actually, from the look in your eyes earlier, I knew this boxing manual wasn't very good. But that's fine. For me, it's already good enough."
Ning Yao raised an eyebrow and said directly, "I've seen or heard of things that are truly excellent. But beyond that, I can only tell good from bad. As for how good the good things are or how bad the bad things are... that's hard to say."
Chen Ping'an looked up. "So this 'Mountain-Toppling Manual' falls into the category of 'good, but not too good,' right?"
Ning Yao said irritably, "I don't know how to describe just how awful this lousy manual really is!"
The straw-sandal youth blinked, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Clearly, he had already figured it out and was just joking with her.
Ning Yao pushed her blade out of its sheath a fraction, threatening, "Do you want to get cut?"
Chen Ping'an looked down at the green-sheathed longsword at her waist and said sincerely, "It's very beautiful."
Ning Yao accepted the compliment graciously. "The blades and swords I, Ning Yao, personally pick are naturally top-notch!"
Chen Ping'an looked at her with a mix of envy and admiration for her confidence. Even though she was the same age as him and in an unfamiliar land, no matter the circumstances, she was like a rising sun, unstoppable. He could sense this from the cautious way Daoist Lu dealt with her, given his keen perception.
Unable to hold back, Chen Ping'an said, "If only sunlight could be exchanged for copper coins!"
Ning Yao was puzzled. "Chen Ping'an, are you obsessed with money?"
Chen Ping'an quickly changed the subject, flipping to the first boxing illustration. "Miss Ning, could you read the text under this picture for me?"
Ning Yao thought for a moment and didn't refuse, but asked, "Do you know why I judged this boxing manual was no good at the first glance?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "I'm curious too."
The girl smiled, shifted to sit cross-legged on the bench facing him, pointed at the open manual, and patiently explained, "Martial arts secret manuals and cultivators' qi refinement methods generally have three types of recording. The first type is like this 'Mountain-Toppling Manual'—written on ordinary paper. How long it can last depends on luck. Apart from war and disasters, over long years, moisture and insect damage will gradually ruin it. Right?"
Chen Ping'an realized and nodded.
The girl continued, "So in this method of recording with physical materials, there's an unwritten rule: the rarity of the material should match the value of the content. It's like how you wouldn't use an elm wood box to store a national jade seal."
Chen Ping'an pondered.
Ning Yao hesitated, then spoke plainly. "The next type avoids written words entirely, relying on oral transmission and personal demonstration. These are often the closely guarded secrets of sects and schools, rarely shown to outsiders, or with strict rules like 'transmit to males, not females.' Even many so-called direct disciples or inner disciples may not receive the full transmission. That's what 'true transmission' means."
Ning Yao sighed. "As for the final type, it's only perceptible by intuition, impossible to explain. You can't even speak of it, and if you try, you can't. For example, the two forces that entered this town—Cai Jinjian from Cloudy Mist Mountain. Her sect has the 'Observing the Sea of Clouds.' That sea of clouds and mist, especially the radiant clouds, are imbued with spiritual energy. Your Eastern Treasured Vial Continent cultivators call them 'celestial wonders.' Sometimes they can spontaneously transform to resemble past patriarchs. Those with the right opportunity can meet and converse with them. And at the peak of Zhengyang Mountain, the dense sword aura is said to produce sword spirits of the founding ancestors, manifesting sword paths. Whether you can see them depends solely on fortune, not status or cultivation level."
Ning Yao concluded, "Of course, these three types have no absolute hierarchy. The first type would be different if the text were inscribed on jade discs or on the Bamboo Sea Blessed Land, one of the seventy-two blessed lands, which produces the mysterious 'script-erasing bamboo.' Besides that, there are countless other strange items. If you travel far enough, you'll always encounter surprises. The vast world is full of wonders. In the future, you should try to travel—not necessarily hoping to leave the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent or this world, but at least strive to reach the borders of the Great Li Dynasty's territory."
Chen Ping'an hummed in agreement, clearly more focused on the manual. He pointed at a character. "Miss Ning, what's this one?"
The girl was exasperated. "Scram!"