I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 54 Attending the Banquet
Zhao Shicheng laughed and said, "Okay, okay, Master will teach you the inner strength and sword skills today."

"The inner strength is the Hunyuan Sutra, and the swordsmanship is the Fengyun Swordsmanship."

"Next, I will teach you the Hunyuan Sutra. The Hunyuan Sutra and the Hunyuan Zhuang Gong have the same origin."

"The higher the level of Hunyuan Zhuang Gong, the faster the progress of practicing Hunyuan Zhenjing. This is also the reason why internal energy can only be practiced after Hunyuan Zhuang Gong reaches the minor success level."

Next, Master Zhao patiently explained to Jia Cong the practice route of the Hunyuan Sutra.

Following Professor Zhao Shicheng's instructions, Jia Cong began to sit cross-legged, with his five hearts facing the sky, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, and began to practice the Hun Yuan Zhen Jing.

After an unknown amount of time, Jia Cong suddenly felt a slight heat in his dantian, and a strand of internal force emerged from his qi and blood.

This internal force is only a tiny bit and very weak.

It's like a flickering spark that may go out at any time.

[Hunyuan Sutra Experience +1]

Next, Jia Cong slowly moved this strand of internal energy according to the route of his exercise.

Perhaps it was because the internal energy was too weak, so it was very difficult to circulate.

It's like a young child dragging a huge rock forward.

After completing a full cycle, Jia Cong was sweating profusely and could no longer continue, so he had to open his eyes.

Zhao Shicheng asked nervously, "Cong'er, have you cultivated your inner strength?"

This internal force is different from standing meditation. The internal force flows through the meridians in the body and cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Yes, Master. But the internal force I cultivated is too weak, only a trace, and it is extremely difficult to move."

Hearing Jia Cong's words, Zhao Shicheng burst into laughter.

While laughing, he did not forget to glance at Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian with contempt.

This made Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian very uncomfortable.

Jia Cong guessed that the time taken by his eldest and second brothers was probably longer than his own.

It may even take several days to grow.

Then, Jia Cong heard Zhao Shicheng say, "Cong'er, you can't be impatient when practicing internal strength. You need to take it slowly."

"Because it's my first time practicing, the meridians in my body are very fragile. I need to use my internal energy to slowly temper them so that they can gradually become stronger."

"So in the initial stage of cultivation, one cycle a day is enough. As the strength of the meridians increases, the number of cycles can be gradually increased."

"Once you feel a tingling sensation in your meridians, stop practicing immediately to prevent damage to your meridians."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Yes, Master, I'll take note of it."

Zhao Shicheng nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Okay, next, I will teach you the Fengyun Sword Technique."

"The Fengyun Sword Technique focuses on being light and agile, on being unpredictable, and on the power of the sword. Just watch carefully."

Next, Zhao Shicheng took a wooden sword and gave it to Jia Cong, asking him to practice swordsmanship with the wooden sword first.

Then Master Zhao began to teach each move one by one.

Jia Cong studied hard.

Half an hour later.

[Wind and Cloud Sword Skill Experience +1]

[Wind and Cloud Sword Technique (Entry): 1/100]

Fengyun Sword Technique, entry level.

Zhao Shicheng was very satisfied to see that Jia Cong could learn and understand things quickly.

He couldn't help but say to Jia Cong: "Cong'er, you have already learned the internal energy and swordsmanship."

"After you go back, you need to practice diligently. These are all hard work that requires years of hard work."

"If you encounter any problems during cultivation, just come and ask me."

"Also, you are not as stupid as your two senior brothers, so you can learn more skills at once." Hearing this, Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian's faces turned green, and their expressions were extremely resentful.

Zhao Shicheng continued, "Next time you come, I will teach you archery, horse riding, and spearmanship."

"Your Jia family is also a descendant of a military family, so how can you not learn horse riding skills?"

Jia Cong instinctively didn't want to learn.

Not to mention horse kung fu, even if he learned boxing, swordsmanship and other martial arts, he did it only for self-defense.

I never thought about fighting on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, swords and guns are brutal and there is a risk of death at any time.

He already has the proficiency panel, wouldn't it be nice to just sit back and take the imperial examination and become an official? Why would he take this risk?
Therefore, since he had no intention of going to the battlefield, what was the point of learning horse riding skills?
But since Master Zhao had said so, he couldn't just refuse.

Think about it again, it is always better to have many skills, and there is actually no harm in learning one.

Especially horse riding skills, even if you don’t go to the battlefield, you can still use it after learning it.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong said, "Yes, Master, next time I come, I will learn horseback riding and archery from you."

Hearing this, Zhao Shicheng nodded with satisfaction.

……

After having lunch at Zhao’s house at noon, the three brothers said goodbye to Master Zhao and left the house.

Outside the Zhao residence, Feng Ziying said with a smile, "Junior brother, someone is hosting a party today. We would like to invite you to be the host at Mingyue Tower. Please come and show us your presence."

Mingyue Tower is the best restaurant in the capital. The prices there are extremely expensive and are simply not affordable for ordinary people.

After hearing this, Jia Cong directly refused and said, "Big Brother, I still have to go back to study, so I won't go with you. Let's talk about it next time when we are free."

Jia Cong is very busy, how could he have the time to attend these banquets?

Feng Ziying smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've also taken care of everything this time. And the one who invited you is not an outsider, but your cousin Xue Pan. He said that I must invite you to the banquet today."

Beside him, Liu Xianglian said calmly, "Since that fool Xue is here, I won't go. I'll leave first."

After saying that, Liu Xianglian left quickly.

Jia Cong couldn't help but reveal a thoughtful look on his face.

It turned out that Liu Xianglian had never liked Xue Pan. No wonder he later beat Xue Pan up because of his harassment.

Feng Ziying, on the other hand, made friends with all kinds of people and was also good friends with Xue Pan.

When Jia Cong heard that it was Xue Pan who was treating him, he hesitated for a while, but finally agreed.

Xue Pan was not a good person, but when he was painting, Xue Pan gave him fifty or sixty taels of silver.

And the medical books he was reading now were all borrowed from the Xue family by Sister Lin.

This era is not like later generations. Not only are books expensive, but aristocratic families will also block all kinds of books.

Some books may not be available for purchase even if you have money.

Whether directly or indirectly, the Xue family had helped him, so it would be bad to offend them too much.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but agree.

Feng Ziying was overjoyed and hurriedly called a carriage. The two of them got in and headed straight for Mingyue Tower.

Soon, they arrived at Mingyue Tower.

It was obvious that Feng Ziying was a regular customer here. When the waiter at the door saw him, he hurried forward, bowed and greeted him, and then led the two of them directly to the third floor.

Entering the private room on the third floor, Jia Cong discovered that there were already three people sitting inside, with a few singing girls serving them.

Jia Cong knew two of these three people.

One is Xue Pan and the other is Jia Baoyu.

The last strange man had a pair of peach blossom eyes and was extremely handsome. He even looked better than the second senior brother Liu Xianglian.

(End of this chapter)