Chapter 293 The Secret of a Flowering Dantian

“Bingdi Lotus?” Fang Qiu said and hesitated for a moment.

He did remember coming across a brief description of the Bingdi Lotus in the Scroll of Heaven and Earth Treasures, and thus, he knew that the Earth Treasure indeed ranked 46th.

However, he didn’t have much use for Earth Treasures.

He was seeking Earth Treasures earlier to settle the cost of his Apprentice Plan, but now, he did not lack money and he didn’t like using Earth Treasures to forcefully increase his strength.

In other words, he was not interested in Earth Treasures at all.

Hence, he didn’t agree to Elder Yi’s request immediately.

He hesitated for a moment before he looked at Elder Yi and said, “I’d like to ask you a question before I give you my answer.”

“Please go ahead,” Elder Yi immediately nodded and said, “I’ll tell you whatever I know.”

“Very well,” Fang Qiu said with a nod. Then, he looked at Elder Yi and asked, “Have you heard of a flowering Dantian?”

He sounded very calm.

A flowering Dantian?

Most people wouldn’t even know what this meant, including martial arts practitioners and Martial Superiors. The only people who would know what these words meant were those who had an understanding of the guru!

Elder Yi froze in shock at Fang Qiu’s words.

Fang Qiu clocked Elder Yi’s reaction and immediately knew that Elder Yi knew something about the flowering Dantian.

He had posed the question so calmly because he wanted to test Elder Yi’s reaction. They could continue their conversation if Elder Yi knew what he was looking for but if not, there was no point in taking this any further.

“Please tell me all you know about the guru flowering Dantian and I will help you!” Fang Qiu said and went straight to the point.

As soon as he spoke, Elder Yi’s expression changed.

He looked at Fang Qiu in shock before he smiled wryly and said, “I should have known that you’re a man with unfathomable limits.”

He speculated that since the mysterious man wanted to find out more about the flowering Dantian, this meant that the mysterious man was not far off from possessing a flowering Dantian himself. In other words, the mysterious man’s strength was at least at Guru Realm!

He was a Guru Realm master!

He had not seen a Guru Realm master in 100 years and to him and all the other ordinary martial arts practitioners and Martial Superiors, Guru Realm masters were the stuff of legends.

Elder Yi did not dare to reveal his knowledge of Fang Qiu’s true strength despite his shock.

He paused for a moment before he said, “You might not be able to find the answer you seek if you had asked anyone else this question, but I am one of the few who actually know about a flowering Dantian!”

He sounded very sure of himself.

Fang Qiu nodded and felt a little excited.

“Does the fact that I managed to achieve such a lofty status within the Jiangjing Wulin despite only being a grade-one cultivation not surprise you?” Elder Yi asked.

Then, he sighed and answered his own question before Fang Qiu could even react, “My ancestors were all martial arts practitioners and one of my ancestors was lucky enough to have attained Guru Realm. This is why the Yi family is so highly regarded and well-known in Jiangjing.”

Now, it all made sense.

Fang Qiu nodded.

Since Elder Yi had an ancestor who was a guru, the lofty status he enjoyed no longer surprised Fang Qiu.

“We have also looked into the matter of a flowering Dantian,” Elder Yi said solemnly. “Most people assume that a guru is the most powerful cultivation that is also the pinnacle of the martial way, but they are not aware that there are varying strengths within Guru Level.”

“How so?” Fang Qiu asked.

“Based on the research conducted by my ancestors, I know that the Guru Realm is categorized as First Flower, Second Flower, Third Flower, and even a cultivation that surpasses Third Flower level. However, this level is so hard to attain that no one knows exactly what lies beyond Third Flower level,” Elder Yi said.

“Did you ancestor manage to possess a flowering Dantian?” Fang Qiu asked.

“No,” Elder Yi said as he shook his head and said regretfully, “He passed away at a ripe old age of 120. If he had a flowering Dantian, he might even live until he was 150 years old.”

Fang Qiu nodded his head.

Besides the intense fighting involved, the most powerful effect of cultivating the martial way was to strengthen one’s body and extend one’s lifespan. If one managed to possess a flowering Dantian, it would be easy to live up to 150 years of age.

“If you’re willing to help me, I could let you have a look at my ancestor’s research papers as a reward. Would that work for you?” Elder Yi asked solemnly as he looked at Fang Qiu.

Fang Qiu was thrilled.

This was a rare opportunity!

If he could obtain the fruits of Elder Yi’s ancestor’s labor, there wouldn’t be any need for him to continue fumbling in the dark. He might even be able to carve out a path for himself.

“Very well,” Fang Qiu responded. “However, I would like to look at his records first.”

“Very well,” Edler Yi said with a nod. “This way, please.”

Then, he led Fang Qiu into the pavilion.

They arrived at a study after walking around the pavilion for a while.

Fang Qiu sat on the guest seat and waited patiently after he entered the study while Elder Yi went to retrieve a carved wooden box.

He walked up to Fang Qiu and opened the box.

Inside was a regular book bound with leather that seemed like a ledger.

The book looked very simple and ancient but it was very well preserved.

“This are the records that you’re looking for,” Elder Yi said.

Fang Qiu did not stand on ceremony. Instead, he reached into the box and retrieved the book, then he took a closer look at it.

Elder Yi sat in the corner and waited patiently for Fang Qiu to finish browsing through the book.

Soon, Fang Qiu finished looking through the records.

After browsing through the book, he realized that Elder Yi’s ancestor had tried all sorts of methods after attaining Guru Realm but his Dantian still failed to bear flowers and ultimately passed away with regrets.

However, he had also written down a hypothesis after all his attempts ended in failure.

Elder Yi’s ancestor failed at getting his Dantian to bear flowers?

Could it be because all internal qi will revert to original qi after attaining Guru Realm and be condensed, resulting in a lack of internal Qi?

By reverting to original Qi, this meant that all one’s internal Qi will be concentrated in the Dantian.

This was a classic sign of a martial artist attaining Guru Realm!

The author wondered if internal Qi reverting to original Qi was like water becoming ice; once it was condensed to its maximum limits, would it be bear flowers?

The most important factor for one’s internal Qi to be condensed to its maximum point was for one to have sufficient internal Qi in the first place!

It didn’t matter whether a martial artist had enough internal Qi since he could attain Guru Realm as long as his internal Qi reverted to original energy that was condensed in his Dantian. However, this would mean that this was as far as he could go because it wouldn’t have excess internal Qi for his Dantian to bear flowers.

In other words, one would need to have sufficient internal Qi to be condensed within one’s Dantian but one would also require excess internal Qi in order for one’s Dantian to bear flowers.

Elder Yi’s ancestor who had penned these notes down had failed to get his Dantian to bear flowers because of his lack of internal Qi.

Fang Qiu thought that this hypothesis made a lot of sense.

Moreover, after penning down his hypothesis, Elder Yi’s ancestor had even recorded his miraculous encounter with a master who had a flowering Dantian toward the end of his life.

He had run his hypothesis through this master and this master had agreed with his hypothesis.

The expert had even told him that the process was like how a martial arts practitioner advanced to Martial Superior. The strength of a martial arts practitioner’s internal Qi was closely related to how much his meridians would expand as he progressed from grade to grade.

If one’s meridians were not wide enough, it would not be able to contain enough internal Qi. This meant that even if the martial artist were to successfully advance to Guru Realm, it would definitely not have a flowering Dantian.

Moreover, the master with a flowering Dantian had even told Elder Yi’s ancestor that he had only managed to grow one flower within his Dantian and he was not able to grow anymore because his meridians were not wide enough and also because he didn’t have enough excess internal Qi.

Finally, the expert with a flowering Dantian even speculated that one would need to have meridians that were wide enough in order to progress even further on the martial way.

In order words, one would need to have a solid foundation when one stepped onto the martial way. Otherwise, this gap could not be bridged as the martial artist progressed along the martial way. Even if the martial artist later found a way to progress further, he would only be able to look on and exclaim in excitement but he would not be able to utilize this method himself.

This was because it was impossible to re-open one’s meridians!

After he finished reading the book, Fang Qiu closed his eyes and let out a soft exclamation to himself.

He understood the basics of a flowering Dantian after reading the book and drew on whatever information he had gleaned to perform a self-assessment. Then, he realized that he would be able to create one flower in his Dantian based on his current situation but it would be very hard to bear two flowers, and impossible to bear three, let alone progressing even further than that.

“I wouldn’t be able to help the old master even if I managed to bear two flowers in my Dantian. Based on his actions previously, he must be holding a big secret, so I wouldn’t be able to help him even if I managed to bear two flowers in my Dantian. Moreover, I would not be able to progress any further after bearing those flowers. Would there be any point continuing down the martial way if I would have to live with only two flowers in my Dantian for the rest of my life?”

“I would have to continue progressing on the martial way since I have chosen to tread down this path, regardless of how difficult or how much suffering I’d have to go through.”

“I would have to finish whatever I’ve started even if I have to kneel all the way to the finishing line!”

Fang Qiu quickly came up with a daring plan at that though.

He wanted to re-open his meridians!

This was the only way for him to cultivate its level to its maximum potential and for him to expand his meridians to their widest point to reach the point that no one else has managed to go before!

Although the ancestor didn’t think that re-opening one’s meridians was possible, Fang Qiu believed that it could be done because he had discovered the hidden potential in his internal force.

“If I managed to control my internal force its the extreme, then progress to a newly advanced Martial Superior, would I be able to re-expand my meridians as I progress along each grade until I reach Guru Realm, and until my Dantian flowers?”

This was only an assumption but Fang Qiu believed that it could work.

If he were to compare his current strength to a high-rise building, then he had only constructed a simple model of his building. What he was preparing to do was to broaden, deepen, and strengthen his foundations, then start from the very first level and further reinforce each level until he had a sturdy model that would be able to become a perfect and hardy building.

He immediately had an urge to test out his theory.

However, the time was now ripe.

He resisted the urge and opened his eyes before he returned Elder Yi’s ancestor’s notes to him.

“Senior,” Elder Yi hesitated for a moment before he said, “I would have to repay you for the method of concealing my weaknesses you taught me the last time.”

“Uh… actually, my ancestor also left behind a word in addition to these notes,” Elder Yi said with a sigh.

“These words were from the expert with a flowering Dantian. This is a very serious matter, and thus, there are no recordings of it,” he added.

“What did he say?” Fang Qiu asked in confusion.

“The master told my ancestor that he would have to re-open his meridians if he wanted his Dantian to bear flowers but this was a very risky process. If anything went wrong, one could sustain serious injuries or even lose one’s entire cultivation. Heaven and Earth Treasures also have the ability to reinforce one’s meridians and prevent one’s meridians from harm in addition to containing a shred of the Qi of sky and earth!” Elder Yi said.

Fang Qiu shook after he heard those words.

Did the Heaven and Earth Treasures possess such an amazing ability?

“Truthfully, I’m getting old, so it would be extremely difficult for me to open a meridian but I haven’t given up on my hope to advance to grade-three Martial Superior. This is why I’m so insistent on obtaining the Earth Treasure,” Elder Yi said.

“I will need this to prevent my cultivation from being lost and my meridians from being destroyed,” he added.