Chapter 25: The Matriarch of Mount Li Bestowed the True Canon
Word Number:393
Author:闲穿径竹
Translator:
Release Time:2025-06-26
Liu Chengyuan dropped to his knees, bowing low in solemn devotion. Li Quan, taken aback by such earnestness, quickly stooped to lift him. “My dear fellow”, he said with a faint smile, “I am but a vagrant of the hills, a wayfarer content to drift where the wind takes me. I have never entertained the notion of taking on a disciple. Indeed, I belong to no grand order, nor do I lay claim to any profound mastery of the martial arts. There is little sense in founding a school upon such modest talents as mine. “Yet, take heart. Though I cannot offer you formal tutelage, I shall at least share with you certain methods of breath and spirit, the means by which one may cultivate strength from within.” Liu Chengyuan bowed once more, his voice steady with gratitude. Li Quan helped Liu Chengyuan to his feet and said, “In my younger years, while wandering through Tiger’s Mouth Cliff in the Song Mountains, I chanced upon a copy of the Esoteric Scripture of Yin Talismans. I transcribed it, and pored over it thousands of times, yet its true meaning eluded me. Some years later, during my travels, I found myself at Mount Li, where I encountered an old woman—her hair coiled high in a simple knot, her garments tattered, leaning on a weathered staff. She muttered to herself, ‘Fire is born of wood; calamity arises when restraint is lacking. I was taken aback, for these very words appear in the Esoteric Scripture of Yin Talismans. Struck by curiosity, I asked how she had come by such knowledge.” “The Esoteric Scripture of Yin Talismans?” Liu Chengyuan mused in silence. “Isn’t that a military treatise penned by Jiang Taigong? What has it to do with martial arts?” Yet he held his tongue, listening intently. The old woman did not so much as lift her head but continued speaking as if to herself. “This young man,” she murmured, “his cheekbones run true to the Gate of Life, his Fate Gate aligns perfectly with the Sun Horn. His blood and marrow remain full, his heart’s shadow unshaken. A man of virtue, drawn to the path of wisdom; bold in spirit, yet keen of mind. By all accounts, he is fit to be my disciple! “And yet… when he reaches the age of forty-five, I