A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 30: Master, I’ve Enlightened

It had been several months since the last time he returned from paying taxes. Now it was spring of the following year.

Last winter, Ergouzi paid Agui twenty sheng of grain to take his place in the corvée labor.

The day Agui left, Ergouzi even bought two jin of pork and went to his house for a farewell meal.

Agui's three-year-old grandson didn’t know what was going on—he just knew there was meat to eat.

The little guy was overjoyed munching on chunks of fatty meat and even asked his parents when they could go too.

After the New Year, Ergouzi turned sixteen. Probably because he had been eating well the past two years, he had grown a lot taller—he was now about as tall as an adult.

At sixteen, a man was officially of age to marry and start a family.

By now, he was at least a small landowner, and with his good looks, matchmakers were gathering at the base of Shekou Mountain trying to set him up.

Among the proposed matches were Huang Laocai’s second daughter, Bald Li’s eldest daughter, Cripple Zhang’s sixth child, and Xinghua from the neighboring village...

All were sturdy girls from good families, with thick waists, strong legs, and broad hips—great for working in the fields by day and having kids by night, like the richest, most fertile soil.

Some of them were even girls Ergouzi had admired since he was young.

He used to feel so inferior, like he wasn’t good enough for anyone. He wore pants with a hole in the back and didn’t even dare to speak to people.

Now, the opportunity was right in front of him. All he had to do was nod, and he could enjoy the fattest meat in the village, claim the most fertile land, and till it daily to yield the best crops.

Ergouzi gritted his teeth—and rejected them all.

He was in the prime of youth. If he said he didn’t want to get married, that would be odd either physically or mentally.

But he had no choice. For now, he had to stay single.

Soon, the annual Martial Xiucai exam was coming up, and he had decided to register and try his luck.

This year, he would train with all his might and aim to pass the Martial Xiucai exam.

He didn’t want to be ordered around or whipped by the yamen runners anymore.

Besides, a Martial Xiucai didn’t have to do corvée labor and even got tax breaks.

If he took a wife now, it’d be like a cat guarding a fish—how could he possibly focus on cultivation?

And if he brought a wife home, the secret of his yellow gourd might leak out.

Forget it—better to endure a few more years!

For now, cultivation and the Martial Xiucai exam came first.

Over the past few months, Ergouzi had sold several sheng of Strength Pills in town and used all the silver to buy and consume Peiyuan Gutben Pills.

The amount of spiritual energy needed to progress from the second to the third level of his cultivation method had multiplied several times.

He’d already consumed over 200 Peiyuan Gutben Pills. Last month, his Ren and Du Meridians had finally filled with True Qi.

For the past two or three days, his meridians had been full of True Qi, making him feel bloated and even a bit uncomfortable.

One day, he stewed a pot of pork with a nearly 20-year-old ginseng root.

After eating, he took another Peiyuan Gutben Pill and resumed cultivation as usual.

The combination of ginseng and pill worked wonders, rapidly releasing a huge amount of spiritual energy in his abdomen.

The energy transformed into True Qi and surged through his meridians, growing stronger and denser.

Just as he felt like his meridians would burst, all the True Qi from his Twelve Meridians and Ren and Du Meridians suddenly surged toward his lower abdomen.

“Roar!”

Ergouzi let out a mighty roar, feeling as if his waist and belly were exploding.

Then, all the True Qi in his meridians rushed into his lower abdomen, as if there were a massive void there.

When he turned his focus inward, he discovered a small space about three inches below his navel, between that and the Gate of Life.

Could this be the Dantian mentioned in the books?

The books said the body had three Dantian points—three inches below the navel was the Lower Dantian, the chest held the Middle Dantian, and between the brows, internally intersecting with the Baihui, was the Upper Dantian.

At this moment, a large amount of True Qi was gathered in the Lower Dantian, rotating slowly like a cloud cluster.

After all the True Qi in his meridians entered the Dantian, his channels felt empty again, and the bloated sensation disappeared—his whole body felt much lighter.

Now, when he activated his cultivation method to move True Qi, the Qi in his Dantian would respond to his will and flow back into his meridians.

Also, perhaps because he had developed his Dantian, when he focused his True Qi into a single point, the power was far greater than before.

He picked up a piece of bluestone, gathered True Qi into his fingers, and squeezed—it crumbled to powder.

It didn’t just crack into pieces like before.

Successfully developing the Lower Dantian meant he had reached the third level of the Nameless Cultivation Method.

The Lower Dantian, also called the Qi Sea or Qi Sea Dantian, could store vast amounts of True Qi.

From here, he would need to cultivate all the way to the tenth level to fill the Dantian completely.

As for what came after filling the Dantian at the tenth level, the Nameless Cultivation Method didn’t say, and his master had never mentioned it.

With his strength improved, it was indeed easier to practice that difficult sword technique.

Before, he could barely leap more than a zhang high—now he could jump over two zhang while holding his sword.

But the book required him to leap three zhang into the air, form nine sword flowers, and then unleash the Sunset Glow move.

Usually, he could barely jump two zhang and produce three sword flowers—he’d fall before he even managed the final move.

Still couldn’t do it!

There were many more sword techniques. One required practicing in the rain, where not a single drop should land on his body while executing the moves.

Another required stabbing the right front leg joint of a mosquito flying a zhang away.

Yet another demanded cleaving a five-hundred-jin boulder two zhang away with one strike.

He had made some progress, but he was still far from meeting the standards. It was just so hard.

As the registration for the Martial Xiucai exam drew closer, he grew anxious. In the end, he brought a jin of pork and a jar of aged wine to seek his master’s guidance.

“Master, my arm and sword combined are just over five feet long. I can’t possibly stab a target over a zhang away. How should I practice these moves?”

Ergouzi told his master what troubled him most.

“If you want to rely on brute force to hit a target that far away, of course it’s impossible.”

“You need to cultivate True Qi projection—not brute force…”

Li the Half-Immortal started lecturing again, going on about hard work and diligence.

He had long expected these questions and had answers prepared, just waiting for his disciple to ask.

“When your cultivation reaches a certain level, you can project your True Qi outward. Within ten steps, a mere gesture can wound enemies unseen.”

“A distance of five or six feet only limits your physical body—not your True Qi.”

“Let the intangible flow into the tangible, let the formless enter the formed…”

“Do you understand?”

Li the Half-Immortal’s words were vague and mysterious. Ergouzi barely understood half of it—he nodded, then shook his head.

“Still don’t quite get it. Master, could you demonstrate?”

“Fine, I’ll show you the power of True Qi projection today.”

Ergouzi perked up with excitement. His master was always mysterious and aloof, never showing off in front of others.

Now he had a chance to witness his master’s skills firsthand.

Then he saw Li the Half-Immortal pull in a toothless old beggar from outside, planning to use him to demonstrate.

Ergouzi felt uneasy—using a person for a sword technique demo seemed a bit cruel.

“Master, please show mercy. How about using a chicken or duck instead?”

“At least we can eat it afterward and won’t waste it. If this beggar dies, we’ll have to bury him.”

“Relax. I know what I’m doing.”

Li the Half-Immortal told the beggar to stand two zhang away.

The beggar wasn’t afraid. He stood there grinning foolishly.

“Open your eyes and watch closely!”

Li the Half-Immortal rolled up his sleeves and made a flowing motion with his hands in front of his chest—he truly looked like a master.

Ergouzi widened his eyes and didn’t dare miss a single detail.

But in his perception, there wasn’t even a hint of spiritual energy change around his master.

“Hup!”

Li the Half-Immortal shouted, waved a hand in the air—and the beggar let out a miserable cry and fell back.

“Ow, it hurts!”

“It really hurts…”

“Spare me, Immortal!”

The beggar clutched his belly, rolling on the ground and howling in pain.

Li the Half-Immortal stroked his beard and smiled at Ergouzi.

“Did you see clearly?”

Ergouzi looked confused—he really didn’t understand and could only shake his head.

“Nope, didn’t get it!”

“That’s right. True Qi—unseen by the eye, felt like lightning!”

Li the Half-Immortal basked in his masterly aura. If you could understand it, then what had he been doing all these years?

He helped the beggar up and checked him over.

“I just lightly poked your liver with Qi—no big deal. Rest a few days and you’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t see clearly just now. I’ll give you one more close-range demonstration.”

Li the Half-Immortal turned to Ergouzi and began channeling his Qi again.

“Watch closely!”

He stretched out a finger and gently tapped the beggar’s shoulder. The beggar shivered and staggered back several steps before falling.

Ergouzi still didn’t get it. He felt so dumb.

“Your cultivation isn’t enough. These deep techniques are hard to understand at your level. Go back and train slowly.”

“Remember—when your cultivation is strong enough to project True Qi, you’ll naturally be able to do it.”

“As for the Martial Xiucai exam… you’re still too weak. Better wait a while…”

Li the Half-Immortal comforted Ergouzi sincerely.

In that moment, Ergouzi suddenly felt a window open in his heart—he was struck by a flash of insight.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master. I’ve got it!”

He bowed in gratitude, then stood holding his sword, lost in thought.

He could already circulate True Qi freely throughout his meridians.

His master said projecting True Qi meant breaking through the limits of the physical body.

But True Qi was confined by the meridians—breaking through wasn’t easy.

Unless… through the acupoints...

Acupoints were openings along the meridians, a bridge between man and heaven.

He had to try.

He began channeling True Qi from his Dantian through his meridians, searching for a breakthrough point.

There were six meridians in the arm: Lung, Pericardium, Heart, Large Intestine, Triple Burner, and Small Intestine.

The three yang channels ran along the back and outer arm—not ideal.

He chose the Laogong point on the Pericardium meridian.

A massive amount of True Qi gathered in his right arm’s Pericardium channel—so much that the meridian felt like it might burst.

But the Laogong point seemed to have a thin membrane blocking the Qi from escaping.

Ergouzi kept pushing harder, surging True Qi toward the Laogong point.

“Disciple!”

“Disciple! Ergouzi!”

Li the Half-Immortal saw his disciple standing still, clothes fluttering with no wind, and blood-sweat seeping from his right arm.

He called out several times—Ergouzi didn’t respond at all.

Li the Half-Immortal had no idea what this foolish disciple had realized.

He thought back—he hadn’t really said anything meaningful, just made up random nonsense.

Could there really be wisdom hidden in those words?

He tugged his beard and pondered for a while, but couldn’t find anything of value in what he had said.

Just then, blood seeped from Ergouzi’s sword hand,

and his massive sword began to glow faintly.

The light started dimly, then turned into bright patches, which expanded and merged.

Finally, the once dull, black sword transformed into a dazzling light blade.

Li the Half-Immortal and the old beggar stayed by his side, witnessing the entire process, deeply shocked.

Then Ergouzi raised the heavy sword with one hand and thrust it forward.

Before him stood a wall—the strike hit it squarely, and the energy blast collapsed half the wall.

“Boom!”

With a loud crash, half of Li the Half-Immortal’s earthen house crumbled. Ergouzi’s sword had only the hilt left.

He stared at the sword hilt and the ruined house, dazed and unsure what to do.

He didn’t expect the strike to be so powerful—it wasn’t like his master’s at all.

Had he misunderstood something?

“Was that… immortal magic?”

The beggar trembled, lips quivering. He had never seen anything so wondrous—only immortal arts came to mind.

“You really are an immortal! I can’t accept your money!”

The beggar was so shaken he knelt and kowtowed furiously, pulling ten copper coins from his pocket to return to Li the Half-Immortal.

“What immortal magic? Just some tricks between master and disciple.”

“Here’s your fifty copper coins—take them and go. If you dare blab, I’ll make sure you never reincarnate!”

Li the Half-Immortal, usually acting all divine,

seemed afraid now. He didn’t dare admit he was an immortal. Instead, he stuffed a string of coins into the beggar’s hand and scared him off.

“Master, does that count as projecting True Qi?”

With only the two of them left, Ergouzi asked hesitantly, holding just the sword hilt.

“Sigh, you’re hopeless!”

“That’s not how you project True Qi!”

Li the Half-Immortal looked at his collapsed house, heart aching.

“You’re like a wild ox—where’s the grace of a true cultivator?”

“You have to learn to control your strength, to use it with precision.”

Even though he didn’t know what Ergouzi had done, he had to keep up the act—and even throw in some criticism to keep the bluff going.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master! I’ve got it now!”

Ergouzi’s face lit up with joy. He bowed again, as if he had another breakthrough.

Seeing his disciple’s expression, Li the Half-Immortal once again questioned himself.

What the h**l did he just realize?

How come I don’t even know?