Chapter 20 Apprentice of the Future

　　“Remember this! Never take that bracelet off—wear it at all times! Do you understand?” The elder spoke sternly, reminding Gu Moxun again and again.

　　The teenager had never imagined the bracelet his parents gave him had such a function; he nodded repeatedly. Before he could even take a proper look at it, the elder continued: “Just now, I checked the internal power and meridians all over your body, and I found that the Qi storage in your lower main meridians is significantly greater than that in your upper main meridians. It seems Mars Academy’s rigidity is beyond saving. Since you first broke through your upper main meridians, you could have reversed the order and started cultivating from there to open your life-and-death acupoints… Did the academy insist you to follow the training manual’s sequence, opening acupoints from the lower body upward?”

　　It was the first time Gu Moxun had heard that the Twelve Life-and-Death Acupoints were divided into upper and lower main meridians. He froze for a moment… When his master asked, he thought of how his martial arts instructor had always made him follow the manual to fill the Qihai Acupoint (a major lower-body acupoint), and nodded!

　　Wei Zhengdao shook his head in helplessness and explained: “This is truly misleading the younger generation! All martial arts in our Alliance originate from a hidden ancient town beyond the world. There, a group of chivalrous warriors practice basic, intermediate, and advanced internal power, along with various extraordinary martial arts skills. Chu Mufan became the ‘Chosen One’ right there…

　　He brought the martial arts manuals to space. Internal power cultivation varies from person to person—there is no rule dictating which life-and-death acupoint to start with. But to create a unified teaching plan, the Alliance forced a fixed sequence for internal power cultivation. That’s why children like you, with unusual meridian flows, struggle to master martial arts…

　　Fortunately, many years ago, I summarized and annotated the martial arts manuals brought by the Chosen One, combining them with knowledge about cosmic energy that I read from the Star Core. I compiled it all into a martial arts book called The Canon of Chivalry. Later, I’ll give you a copy so you can learn to cultivate according to your own meridian flow. Sooner or later, your martial arts will surely advance by leaps and bounds!”

　　"It’s a pity I’ve always been fond of a free-spirited life—so now, it’s just you and me in the Chivalry Hero Pavilion. If more people could learn from my Canon of Chivalry, the world would surely have many more top martial artists! Haha…” Wei Zhengdao laughed heartily. But when he saw Gu Moxun still looking confused, his smile faded instantly. He waved his hand and continued, “Never mind, forget it—we’ll talk about this later. Let’s start with the main meridians first. You should know that the internal energy cultivated by the human body is stored in twelve major acupoints on the body, right?”

　　When Gu Moxun heard his master asking him, he finally snapped out of his daze and nodded quickly.

　　Wei Zhengdao nodded in acknowledgment and went on: “These Twelve Life-and-Death Acupoints are the most vital acupoints in the human body. If you were successfully to open one, it could hold boundless true energy; if you should fail, at best your true energy would dissipate, and at worst, the acupoint could be destroyed and you could die! Their extreme danger is why they’re called the ‘Twelve Life-and-Death Acupoints.’ Once opened, they can store the vital energy of heaven and earth, so they’re also known as ‘Qi Meridians.’ Let me test you—do you know which acupoints these Twelve Life-and-Death Acupoints are?”

　　When Gu Moxun heard the elder quizzing him, he hurried to answer, stammering but concisely: “On the top of the head… Baihui Acupoint; on the neck… Fengfu Acupoint; on the chest… Danzhong Acupoint; on the abdomen… Qihai Acupoint; on the palms… Laogong Acupoints; on the soles of the feet… Yongquan Acupoints; on the elbows… Quchi Acupoints; on the knees… Xiyan Acupoints.”

　　After listening, Wei Zhengdao nodded in satisfaction and said: “Right! Well done! That’s exactly right! The internal power of ordinary martial artists is nurtured in these Life-and-Death Acupoints! They are connected by two main meridians: the upper main meridian is centered on the Baihui Acupoint at the top of the head, and the lower main meridian is centered on the Qihai Acupoint in the abdomen. Four branch meridians connect to these two main meridians...

　　You first opened the Baihui Acupoint, so the internal energy stored in your Qihai Acupoint is naturally a bit less than that of ordinary people. If you still follow the normal sequence and start opening acupoints from the lower main meridian, you’ll definitely get only half the result with twice the effort! No wonder you’ve put in years of hard work without much progress! But this isn’t entirely a bad thing. Just now, I checked the Qi storage in your acupoints all over your body, and it’s quite abundant. Every time you failed to open an acupoint, you didn’t rush for quick success. So, all your acupoints are still intact, and the internal power contained in your Qihai Acupoint is also full. You’ve actually laid a solid foundation! That’s all thanks to your diligent practice over these years!

　　I’ve already unblocked all the acupoints in your body and connected the true energy you’ve cultivated in each Life-and-Death Acupoint over the years! Now, I’ll first teach you a set of profound formulas. From now on, you must ponder them often and gain deep insights into them! These formulas will be beneficial for both your internal power cultivation and your use of the vital energy of heaven and earth.”

　　At the mention of how marvelous these profound formulas were, Gu Moxun nodded hastily. The elder then began to recite them slowly, enunciating each word clearly:

　　“……

　　The vital energy of heaven and earth sinks deep like an ocean, and gathers in the major acupoints to break through life-and-death barriers!

　　Vital energy arises and fades in a single thought, stirring the flow of essence to walk against the ordinary path!

　　Qihai and Danzhong serve as the core bridges, Baihui and Fengfu soar to awaken celestial wisdom,

　　Quchi and Xiyan can shatter the mainland, Yongquan surges to carry one a thousand mile,

　　Laogong holds the origin of ten thousand techniques, and the Twelve Major Acupoints hold the secrets of heaven!

　　Main meridians and branch meridians connect via bridges, and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels link through intent.

　　Vital energy flows like gossamer threads in intertwined patterns, and Meridian pulses carry energy in Zongheng crisscrossing ways!

　　When intertwined patterns and Zongheng crisscrossing merge as one, break open the acupoints to draw forth heaven’s secrets!

　　......

　　Did you hear it clearly? Have you memorized it?” The elder recited the formulas three times in a row. After the final recitation, he looked at Gu Moxun—who was nodding repeatedly—and asked!

　　Gu Moxun was not eloquent, but he had a good memory. After the elder recited the formulas three times, he remembered them word for word. However, as a student raised on Mars, he had never learned classical Chinese—these lines might as well have been couplets to him. He recognized every single character, yet when they were strung together, their meaning was completely lost on him. So, he nodded, then shook his head.

　　His reaction made Wei Zhengdao momentarily exasperated. The elder scolded him, but when the teenager later recited the profound formulas verbatim, Wei Zhengdao realized he had wronged the boy again. He changed the subject and asked, “Xiao Xun, how much do you know about human civilization before the apocalyptic era?”

　　Caught off guard by the sudden question, Gu Moxun fumbled for an answer, “N-not… much. I only know… that before the apocalyptic era… humans… liked to… fight each other. There were… three… large-scale… World Wars. The last… World War… almost destroyed… all human civilization… on Earth. We… escaped… to space… right after… that war… Master.”

　　After listening, Wei Zhengdao looked up at the ceiling. It was a long time before he spoke slowly: “It seems you don’t know much about the apocalyptic era. But that’s understandable—after all, ever since humanity moved into space, we’ve rarely spoken of the Apocalypse’s history. For our first lesson today, I want you to understand the Apocalypse, to learn about that dark era. Only then will you cherish the hard-won peace we have now. Disasters often lurk within crises; I hope you can learn from the past to judge the present!”

　　The elder’s slightly clouded eyes fixed on the teenager, his gaze growing dim—as if he were recalling his own childhood experiences during the Earth’s Apocalyptic era...

　　Having endured so much hardship in his life, he paused, then continued, “It’s true. The Third World War plunged countless countries into chaos, leaving them powerless to fend off the conspiracy plotted by evil forces—and that marked the beginning of the great Apocalypse catastrophe. That apocalyptic virus shattered human civilization in the blink of an eye! The entire Earth became a living hell everywhere!”

　　The elder was among the few humans still alive who had witnessed that great catastrophe. Even now, as he recalled it, his cloudy eyes were filled with terror…

　　“What happened… afterwards?” Gu Moxun was utterly fascinated by the story of the Apocalypse. Seeing the elder lost in thought, he grew anxious and spoke up to ask!