CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 66 [CLOUD-EXPLORING PALM SKILL] (5.4K)

Zhang Feng put away the secret manual and the letter.

He didn’t inform anyone.

After returning to the nearby inn that evening,

Zhang Feng imitated the way the ’Guest of Honor’ had left a secret message, writing a new ’treasure map’ and jotting down methods for cultivating power, along with a letter to the Guest of Honor.

Zhang Feng wanted to return it to that location to see if he would take it.

(You taught me how to train my internal organs, I reciprocate with my insights on power. I don’t like owing favors.)

After writing this sentence,

Zhang Feng thought for a moment and added another sentence,

(You know I’m in Jun Mountain, can we meet at the South Suburb Square in ten days? Just the two of us.)

Although he’s an official and the other is, in some sense, a ’villain.’

So long as he’s not foolish, he won’t come to meet in person.

But if he has nothing better to do, why not write it down?

’He’s now gathering Five Qis, surely he doesn’t want to be disturbed by outsiders.’

After writing the letter, Zhang Feng slipped it into his pocket,

’But since he’s contacted me and implied "we advance together toward the future?" Could it be that he wants to see me after gathering the Five Qis?

Does he want me to see what being an immortal is?

However, having read his manual, it’s clear there’s no way to become an immortal.

He probably made a mistake during "Visualization Resonance," got caught in an illusion.

That’s not easy to fix, because my visualization is also at a beginner level.’

Zhang Feng speculated while shaking his head.

But from his situation, Zhang Feng realized the importance of ’cultivating the mind.’

This Daoist is likely what is often referred to in cultivation as having fallen into madness.

No matter what you tell him now, he’s unlikely to listen, instead thinking you’re holding him back from becoming an immortal.

Thus, Zhang Feng didn’t mention ’this is false’ in the letter because the more you persuade, the more he believes himself to be right.

As a result, the potential ’pen pal’ relationship might not even materialize.

Thoughts racing in his mind,

Zhang Feng took the finished secret manual on power and the treasure map, heading out at midnight.

He went to the woods again.

Zhang Feng placed the treasure map where he found the "Internal Organ Training.’

He left the manual and letter under a tree half a mile away.

After finishing everything, Zhang Feng chose to return to the inn for rest.

Until three days later.

Nighttime, with heavy snow falling.

Zhang Feng came back again, noticing the manual had been taken, and there was a letter underneath.

(Friend, you are an official, and I am a thief. We needn’t meet, mutual understanding suffices.)

’What mutual understanding?’

Reading the letter on the snowy night, Zhang Feng found himself amused,

’Fine, if we don’t meet, we don’t meet. This old Daoist sounds so poetic.

It seems, although he’s been bewitched by visualization, he’s not stupid enough to think meeting an official is a good idea.’

Zhang Feng strolled back with hands clasped behind him, ’I still need to find people to gather information on you.’

...

Three days passed in a blink, the snow diminished.

In the evening, inside an inn outside the forest.

Zhang Feng stood by the window, gazing at the forest engulfed by black night and white snow down the distance.

’I don’t know where that Daoist is now, nor how his power training is going.

But the internal organ training method he gave me, I’ve memorized it all, committed each step to memory, ensuring continuity.

Soon, I’ll be able to try practicing it.’

Zhang Feng pondered for a bit, recalling the contents of the manual.

For the ’stomach,’ practicing it well could significantly boost digestion and absorption, a major aid to increase one’s power.

The ’lungs’ pertain to the internal capacity to hold air, which can extend the ’explosion time’ of power.

The ’heart’ helps to enhance blood circulation and increase metabolism, contributing to overall enhancement and upping the ’recovery speed’ of power.

Strength, endurance, and blood, all three are complete.

Furthermore, Zhang Feng believed these were just initial effects.

Because the Guest’s manual contained a line,

’If the lungs are trained to be like metal and stone, inhale like a whale swallows water, could this consolidated gust from the lungs be refined into a True Qi Flying Sword by grinding and compressing with lungs of metal and stone?’

Zhang Feng, upon seeing this sentence, was reminded of childhood when he loved to stand far away, then take a deep breath to blow out the candles.

Wasn’t that the embryonic form of the Daoist Sword Pill’s true meaning?

"Old Zhang, dinner’s ready."

Whoosh—

While Zhang Feng was deep in contemplation, the door swung open, a cold, dry wind gusted in, stinging his face, fiercer than a sword pill.

"It’s so cold!" Captain Wang, holding two large cans of food, stomped his feet to keep warm,

"The weather here is damn nasty, walked around downstairs, nearly froze me solid."

"I said I could fetch the food." Zhang Feng glanced at Captain Wang pulling out his chopsticks, "The case has been consolidated today.

What’s the plan next? Should we ask people to continue gathering information tomorrow?"

Zhang Feng spoke, looking at the awful weather outside, "With such heavy snow, it’s tricky."

"Tricky or not, it has to be done." Captain Wang opened the food cans, "We’ve tracked for over a hundred days, can’t just drop it, right? At most, we’ll just take it easy; slow down on the road, and avoid freezing or falling."

"True, we need to find." Zhang Feng looked out the window, thinking to himself, unsure why, he didn’t really want to ’catch’ the Guest of Honor now, but he did want to ’find’ him.

So when speaking, he subconsciously used ’find.’

Fortunately, Captain Wang didn’t notice the subtle word choice and instead focused on getting the meal from the cans.

Zhang Feng glanced at him and began evaluating his own conflicted mindset.

Cultivation is about cultivating the mind, Zhang Feng wanted to understand this mental state clearly, not wanting to become like the Guest of Honor, crazy from visualization.

After several seconds,

Zhang Feng also understood his own mental conflict.

Most likely, the manual had already affected his ’semi-special task force member’ sense of impartiality, hence his reluctance to capture him.

Logically speaking, he should be caught for the chaos and severe negative impact he’s caused; it’s legal and justified.