The Beacon of Kyushu

Two days later, Wuliu Mountain.

At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and the bright light shone obliquely into Wanghai Hall. In the sun, an old man with gray hair and only one arm sat on a chair in the main hall. He had a dignified, resolute, yet peaceful face. Opposite him, there were eighteen wooden tables neatly arranged in three horizontal and six vertical rows, and eighteen Khitan young men with different looks sat behind the tables. These young men had just learned a new mental formula under the guidance of the old man, and were asked to write it down on the spot. Some of these people had excellent memories, and they could write down their mental formulas quickly without adding any punctuation. Some of them had poor memories, and they could not write a single word for a long time while holding the wolf howl in their hands.

The old man stared at the young people, and couldn't help but sigh, "Time flies, and the years have passed. The former disciples of Wanghai Hall have grown from children to teenagers, and from teenagers to young people. The ancient pines and cypresses beside the hall and behind the house have also grown a lot taller. Only the green mountains remain unchanged, standing tall for thousands of years, watching the changes in the world with a smile. "

Although most of these Khitan young men have reached adulthood, they are still children in the eyes of their parents and masters no matter how old they are, and they always need their guidance and cultivation. Among them, the young man in the second column of the first row finished writing first, and stood up and said, "Master, I have written down all the mental methods I have memorized, and I hope you will review them."

The old man smiled and nodded, walked to the young man, picked up the manuscript from the table in front of him, and read it carefully. Soon, he finished reading the manuscript, pointed to a line of text, and said: "The heart method says that the internal force should flow from the Shaoyang meridian to the arms, but you mistakenly wrote Shaoyang as Yangming. Although there is only one wrong word in the whole article, because of this word, every word in the whole article is correct. Isn't it a mistake of a millimeter, a mistake of a thousand miles?"

The Khitan youth heard this and explained, "Master, it's not that I didn't know that the mental method was about the Shaoyang Meridian and I wrote it wrong, but I did it on purpose. Think about it, this mental method emphasizes the utmost strength. If the internal force is poured into the arms from the Shaoyang Meridian, the internal force will inevitably be more feminine. How can it exert its strength? Only by pouring it into the arms from the Yangming Meridian can the greatest power be exerted. Am I wrong to change it?"

The old man shook his head and said, "It is true that this method emphasizes strength and ferocity, but too much strength is easy to break. Only by achieving the balance of yin and yang can one be invincible. Being so strong and ferocious like you is just a result of youthful vigor and bravery, and it will not last long!"

The Khitan young man raised his neck and said unconvincedly: "Master, among all the fellow disciples sitting here, I have been in the hall the longest. Others may not know what happened in the past, but I know it. When Senior Brother Xiao Tallin was still learning in the hall, he talked about this mental method with us junior brothers. According to him, when he was reciting this mental method, he also changed Shaoyang to Yangming. At that time, Master not only did not criticize him, but praised him for his wonderful modification. Why do I think that I am young and hot-tempered and brave and aggressive? This is too unfair!"

The old man frowned, his eyes slightly filled with anger, "The saints once said that we should teach students in accordance with their aptitude. Your Senior Brother Xiao is born with extraordinary courage and strength. If we follow the original method, we will not be able to fully exert his advantages. Only by changing to Yangming can we achieve the effect of one force defeating ten wisdoms, and kill the powerful enemy in an instant. However, your physical strength is far inferior to his. If you also infuse internal energy from Yangming, you will never be able to last more than three rounds in front of the powerful enemy."

The Khitan young man snorted and was about to retort, but the young man closest to him pulled his sleeve, signaling him not to contradict his master. He knew very well that with the old man's martial arts and prestige, not to mention in a corner of Liao, even in the world, there were few if any. If he kept contradicting his master and really angered him, he would be expelled from the hall even if he didn't die. He had no choice but to sit down angrily, but his eyes were unwilling to look at the old man again.

Not long after, the other Khitan young men also finished writing. The old man smiled with satisfaction, reviewed the papers one by one, and nodded from time to time: "Well, not a single word is missing, the handwriting is meaningful, and it is well written!" The disciples who were praised were naturally all excited, and those who were not praised, seeing that they at least did not make the master angry, also secretly felt lucky to have escaped.

Soon, the old man read through the mental skills that the eighteen young men had memorized, then slowly sat back in his chair and said, "Yelü Xinhou, Yelü Pengyun, Xiao Zhiyong, and Xiao Anguo, the four of you have been studying martial arts in my Wanghai Hall for five years. Although you are not as invincible as your senior brother Xiao Tallin, your martial arts and character are also top-notch. How about I write a letter to recommend you to serve as officials in the court? What do you think?"

The four of them stood up excitedly, their mouths wide open, and they all bowed to the ground at the same time, saying, "Disciples thank you, Master!"

The old man nodded, and was about to say something else, when he heard the young Khitan man snort in dissatisfaction, "Hmph! Master, you are bullying me because I am poor and don't have money to honor you every month, so you exclude me like this! Otherwise, why is it that other junior brothers can enter the court as officials after only three to five years of study, but I have been in the hall for a full ten years, and my martial arts are far better than those of my fellow disciples, but I have not been favored by the master yet!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" The old man pointed at Xiao Gaochi and said angrily, "In the past, I was just a bandit in the Liao Dynasty. In order to help my junior brother, I handed over all my men and horses, and I was left alone. I thought that I had violated the law of the country and would be executed by the emperor, so I was always worried. This matter soon reached the emperor's ears. Not only did he not order me to be executed for my past crimes, but he persuaded his uncle Yelu Daoyin to accept me as his disciple, and then took over the entire Wanghai Hall after your master passed away. Later, I left the Liao Dynasty temporarily to protect my junior brother. After I returned, he sent many royal clan members to the hall one after another, which was undoubtedly a great trust in me. Therefore, anyone can be unfaithful to His Majesty and fail to fulfill their duties to the Liao Dynasty, but I, Mu Liao, cannot! If a disciple like you who is so whimsical and young and energetic is recommended to His Majesty by me, and some mistakes are made in the future military, how can I explain to His Majesty!"

Xiao Gaochi's ears seemed to have been irritated by these words. He rolled his eyes and still looked unconvinced. Seeing how angry he was, Mu Liao raised his palm to teach him a lesson, but saw many people respectfully walking in from the gate. The leader was a burly man with a pair of eyes that were very scary. The man walked behind Xiao Gaochi and gently pressed his palm on his shoulder. Xiao Gaochi felt as if a thousand-pound mountain was pressing on his shoulder, pressing him so hard that he kept grimacing.

"Who... who!" Xiao Gaochi shouted angrily, and turned his head with great effort to look behind him. He saw that the person who was holding him down was not someone else, but the Liao general Xiao Talin, whom both the master and the apprentice had mentioned many times. Behind Xiao Talin, there were Yelusha, Yelushing, and a few Liao soldiers. Although these soldiers were of low rank, there were indeed a few nominal disciples who had received some instruction from Mu Liao. They might not be as good as the generals, but they were very different from ordinary soldiers.

No matter how arrogant Xiao Gaochi was, he lost his temper in front of so many people and forced a fake smile, "Xiao... Senior Brother Xiao, Lawyer Brother Ye, Lawyer Sister Ye, what brings you here? Junior Brother Xiao Gaochi didn't know you were coming and didn't go to greet you. Please forgive me, please forgive me."

Xiao Tallin looked at his angry master, then at his hypocritical junior brother, and asked, "Master, what happened just now? Did my junior brother make you angry?" (End of this chapter)