Chapter 9  : Internal Skill Confusion

“Not bad, there are four people with elementary realm knife techniques.”

An old man strode in and took his seat.

He was Tao Jinglu, one of the clan elders.

“Uncle.”

Tao Ye took the lead to greet him.

Her grandfather was the head of the village, thus she knew the clan elders.

“Hello uncle.”

After Tao Ye, the three saluted at the same time..

“Tao Ye, you lived up to your grandfather’s expectations! At the tender age of thirteen, you have achieved the elementary realm in the Gale Knife Technique, you are almost catching up with your sister, Tao Jin.”

After Tao Jinglu praised Tao Ye first, he then looked at Tao Qingfeng. “Are you Tao Qingfeng?”

“Yes uncle.”

Tao Qingfeng nodded as a response.

Although he was young, he spoke with a confident tone. Tao Ye couldn’t help but take another look at him.

This was the confidence one had when they grew up in an environment full of praises.

“You have great potential…”

Tao Jinglu obviously knew about the talents of this young man.

The clan elders highly valued young talents.

The future prosperity of the Tao Village would all depend on these young geniuses.

“And you are?”

Tao Jinglu looked at the other person Xu Ning did not know.

“Uncle, I am Tao Qingping.”

Tao Qingping looked about the same age as Xu Ning, but his talents were incomparable to Tao Ye and Tao Qingfeng. He looked a little nervous in front of the clan elder Tao Jinglu.

“Oh…”

Tao Jinglu nodded. He obviously did not pay attention to Tao Qingping.

He then looked at Xu Ning. “What is your name?”

Tao Jinglu did not recognize Xu Ning at all.

“Uncle, my name is Xu Ning.”

Xu Ning responded.

“Xu Ning?”

Tao Jinglu was obviously surprised.

There were few outsiders in the Tao Village, and even fewer that had reached the elementary realm in the Gale Knife Technique.

Xu Ning’s situation was rare.

“Outsider…” Tao Jinglu rolled his eyes and thought for a moment. “Whose family are you from?”

“My brother-in-law is Tao Yunchuan.”

Xu Ning responded truthfully.

“Tao Yunchuan…”

Tao Jinglu began to think. It was obvious that he was not familiar with this name either.

Tao Jinglu paused for a moment, then asked, “How old are you? Do you practice spear techniques or knife techniques?”

“Seventeen, I practice the Gale Knife Technique.”

Xu Ning answered truthfully.

“Seventeen…”

Tao Jinglu’s expression remained blank. “Not bad…”

He thought that Xu Ning was only in the elementary realm of the Gale Knife Technique.

The young people in the Tao Village started martial arts training as early as 12 years old, so being in the elementary realm as a 17-year-old was nothing outstanding.

Xu Ning knew that Tao Jinglu had misjudged his abilities.

But after thinking about it, Xu Ning did not explain further.

That would seem too vainglorious.

Afterwards, Tao Jinglu stopped asking questions. He waved his hand and said, “Okay, enough small talk, you guys have been waiting long enough. I will now teach you internal skills.”

As soon as Tao Jinglu said this, the four people’s eyes lit up at the same time.

The same was true for Tao Ye. Although she was the Clan Head’s granddaughter, her grandfather never privately taught her internal skills in advance, so she was also full of expectations.

Under their excited gazes, Tao Jinglu got up and walked to the compartment behind the lobby.

After a while, Tao Jinglu walked out.

He was holding a few booklets and a few pieces of paper in his hands.

“These are the internal skills your heart so desires!”

Tao Jinglu smiled before handing the booklets to the four people.

Xu Ning took it and glanced at it.

Three words. The words “Spring Breeze Tactic” were printed on the cover.

“So this is an internal skill…”

A look of expectation appeared in Xu Ning’s eyes.

He slowly opened the cover page and quickly glanced at a few pages.

The Spring Breeze Tactic booklet was composed of words and some pictures of the human body—the cultivation technique was quite detailed.

Although it was difficult for ordinary people to become literate in this era, the Tao Village was a big village, where children began to learn how to read from a young age.

Although Xu Ning was not in the Tao Village when he was a child, after staying here for three years, he had learned the basics from Guo Ye.

Guo Ye gave Xu Ning’s predecessor a lot of help.

“Uncle.”

Tao Ye happily flipped through the pages of the Spring Breeze Tactic. She seemed to realize something and asked, “Was this always the method of how the Spring Breeze Tactic was passed onto the villagers?”

“It has always been like this.”

Tao Jinglu nodded.

Tao Ye frowned slightly. “I remember my grandfather said that internal skills are the foundation of martial arts. What if someone obtains this internal skill booklet and leaks the skill?”

Xu Ning overheard their conversation and thought that Tao Ye’s concerns made sense.

For example, once he obtained this booklet, if he wanted to teach it to others outside the Tao Village, no one could stop him.

Tao Jinglu laughed and explained, “Internal skill is a budo, but it is not a precious resource.”

“Outside the village, regardless who it is, as long as they have the mind to practice martial arts, it is easy to obtain internal skills. In Kangyun County, you can even buy it with taels.”

“Um…”

Tao Ye was obviously surprised.

“However, if internal skill cultivation techniques are so wildly available, why does the village still impose restrictions on us, with us not being able to be exposed to internal skills if we don’t reach the elementary realm of the Gale Knife Technique?”

Tao Ye asked again.

Tao Jinglu replied, “You are not allowed to learn internal skills in advance, because we are afraid that you will be lost in the pursuit of strength. Moreover, for beginners in martial arts, internal skills are not as practical as external skills.”

“For a newcomer who has no fundamentals in martial arts, the immediate gain in combat power from practicing an external skill to an elementary realm is greater than that of practicing an internal skill. The difference in combat power between internal and external skills is small in the early stages, but it becomes obvious in the later stages.”

“Also, the difficulty of practicing internal skills are much higher than that of external skills. If a person can’t even achieve the elementary realm in external skills, then their talent and perseverance are not enough to start the path of internal skill.”

“These are the reasons why the village asked you to practice external skills first, then internal skills.”

Tao Ye nodded thoughtfully after hearing this.

Tao Jinglu’s words cleared up Tao Ye’s confusion, and at the same time made them understand the difference between internal skills and external skills.

“Are there any other questions?”

Tao Jinglu seemed rather patient with the younger generation.

“Uncle, I have another question.”

It was Tao Qingfeng who spoke this time.

“Go ahead.”

Tao Jinglu waved his hand.

“I heard that there are many types of internal skills. For example, the internal skill of our Tao Village is the Spring Breeze Tactic, while the internal skill of the Song Village next door is the Wind and Thunder Book. What’s the difference?”

Tao Qingfeng also had a curious look on his immature face.

“Kiddo, you know quite a lot. You even know that the Song Village’s internal skill is the Wind and Thunder Book.”

Tao Jinglu smiled, pointed to Tao Qingfeng and explained, “Yes, there are many internal skills in the world, and their essence is to break through the nine levels of mortal realms in martial arts.”

“The difference between the various skills is mainly reflected in the different ways of stimulating an individual’s physical potential. The Spring Breeze Tactic of the Tao Village, is stable in terms of cultivation and breakthrough methods, thus providing protection for individuals. Practitioners of the Spring Breeze Tactic seldom suffer serious injuries because of cultivation, but the disadvantage is that its speed of cultivation is relatively slow.”

“The Wind and Thunder Book of the Song Village has a relatively more domineering way of stimulating the potential of the physical body. It allows for them to break through their potential faster, but is also more likely to injure the practitioner. Last year, a young man in the Song Village was eager to break through and almost lost his life. Although he was later rescued, he was crippled for life.”

“Generally speaking, there are no good or bad cultivation techniques, the cultivation styles are all different. The internal skills that are passed down are all tried and tested. You don’t have to worry about the pros and cons of the cultivation techniques. No matter what the cultivation technique is, after breaking through the realms, the strength gained are all similar.”

“Is that so…”

Xu Ning finally understood the essence of internal skills.

This was a bit like textbooks from his previous life. Although the compilation was different, there was no difference in essence.

“Then if warriors of the same realm fight one another, where does the difference come from?”

Tao Qingfeng continued to ask.

“There are many factors affecting strength…” Tao Jinglu said, “Some warriors have just entered their realm, some have reached their peak; some have experienced battles, some grew up with a silver spoon; some have average external skills, some even have multiple external skills that are at intermediate or even satisfactory realm… These are the factors that determine the victory or defeat of warriors.”

“Oh…”

Tao Qingfeng thought for a while and bowed. “Thank you, uncle!”

“What about you two? Any questions?”magic