Chapter Eight: The Five Poisons Heart Sutra

Elder Qian led Chen Xuan as they walked off into the distance, leaving a group of disciples standing there utterly bewildered.

Just like that, it was settled?

Did Fang Dao really die for nothing?

They exchanged uneasy glances.

Liu Dashan stroked the black mole on his chin, thinking to himself, Damn it, I’ve lived over forty years and never seen anyone so shameless. And old man Qian Dacai is just as shameless—his own disciple dies and he just lets it slide?

Unbeknownst to them, Qian Dacai himself was quietly puzzled.

Damn it, wasn’t I supposed to avenge my loyal disciple?

How come not only did I not get revenge, I ended up taking in the enemy as my new student?

Scratching his head, he could only keep walking forward in silence.

Along the way, Chen Xuan carefully read Qian Dacai’s expressions, fearing he might regret his decision. Hastily, he showered him with praise and flattery.

Qian Dacai’s expression brightened again, a secret delight growing within him.

I really am a genius.

One worthless disciple dead, and another prodigy taken in—excellent. From now on, this kid will bring honor to the sect and boost my standing among the other elders.

The two traveled on, each lost in their own thoughts, until they soon arrived at Qian Dacai’s small courtyard.

“My loyal disciple, I shall now explain the essentials of the Centipede Palm to you.”

Qian Dacai smiled warmly.

“Master, do you have any internal energy cultivation methods you can teach your disciple?”

Suddenly, Chen Xuan asked shyly.

“Internal cultivation methods?”

Qian Dacai’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Good, you know to cultivate internal energy—that’s much smarter than Fang Dao. Listen well: the Centipede Palm I teach you is a rather formidable poisonous palm technique. When activated, if your internal energy is insufficient, you’ll only end up hurting yourself. To master it fully, you need strong internal power to support it. At the very least, you must cultivate Centipede True Qi; only then will this skill be truly complete.”

“Centipede True Qi?”

Chen Xuan had never heard of such Qi before and was puzzled. “Is this some kind of internal energy technique that goes hand-in-hand with the Centipede Palm?”

“What do you mean by ‘go hand-in-hand’?”

Qian Dacai shook his head gently. “Let me tell you this: most palm, fist, and leg techniques circulating in the martial world are not purely external skills. Take the Centipede Palm as an example—its early stage is external skill, but once you reach the ‘Entering the Hall’ realm, true Qi appears and it automatically transforms into an internal skill. The Qi cultivated at this stage is what we call Centipede True Qi. Similarly, Shaolin’s Arhat Fist at the ‘Entering the Hall’ level produces Arhat True Qi, and the Tiger Subduing Fist produces Tiger Subduing True Qi. However, not all fist or palm techniques generate true Qi. Those that are purely external skill won’t produce any true Qi no matter how much you train. Only internal fist and palm techniques have true Qi.”

Chen Xuan roughly understood.

So that’s how it is.

If categorized this way, martial arts broadly fall into three types:

One is pure internal cultivation methods, like the Nine Yang Divine Skill, which focus solely on cultivating true Qi without any specific fighting moves.

The second is purely external martial arts, like Iron Shirt, which can be trained endlessly without producing any true Qi.

The third type, like what Qian Dacai mentioned, is internal fist and palm techniques—external in the early stages, but automatically becoming internal in the later stages.

“Then, after cultivating the Centipede Palm, can one still practice other internal energy methods?”

Chen Xuan asked, “Wouldn’t there be a conflict between two different types of true Qi?”

From the novels and films of his previous life, he knew that once two different true Qis mixed in the body, it would cause excruciating pain.

“Don’t worry about that,” Qian Dacai explained. “As long as you cultivate true Qi of the same attribute, there won’t be any conflict. Currently, there are about a dozen known true Qi attributes in the martial world. I’ll tell you the most important ones: Yang, Yin, Poisonous, Icy, Overbearing, Fiery, Pure, Righteous, Soft, Healing, and even Non-Attribute.

“For example, the true Qi of our Five Poisons Sect is of the Poisonous attribute. If you train well in our sect’s skills, you naturally won’t have to worry about different true Qis clashing.”

“What if I secretly learn skills from another sect?”

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Secretly learn skills from another sect?”

Qian Dacai twitched his eyelid, glanced at Chen Xuan, and smiled. “Good lad, ambitious! I thought the same when I was young. But let me tell you: internal cultivation isn’t easy. The worst thing is to be ‘skilled but not broad.’ If you haven’t mastered your own sect’s internal energy principles and go learn another sect’s internal energy, you’ll only end up deranged. But if you have mastered your own path, learning another sect’s internal energy requires special elixirs to harmonize the different true Qis.”

“Elixirs?”

Chen Xuan’s eyes gleamed. “There are such medicines?”

“Yes, but they are extraordinarily rare and expensive. Usually it costs tens of thousands of taels of silver for a single pill, and they are hard to find even at that price.”

Qian Dacai sighed.

“Are there any cultivation methods that can harmonize different true Qis?”

Chen Xuan asked.

In his memory, methods like the Muscle/Tendon Change Classic, Northern Darkness Divine Skill, and Qi Absorption Technique all had such effects. He wondered if this world had similar ones.

“There are, but those are profound secrets. Not only you, even our sect leader has never seen them. Mostly, only some supreme ancestral sects and ancient families possess such manuals,” Qian Dacai said.

“For example?”

“The Shaolin Muscle/Tendon Change Classic,” Qian Dacai replied.

Chen Xuan nodded silently.

Just as he had guessed.

Martial arts in this world share many similarities with his previous life; at least Iron Shirt, Arhat Fist, and the Muscle/Tendon Change Classic all exist.

“Alright, enough chatter. I have here an internal cultivation manual and a Centipede Palm manual— which one do you want?”

Qian Dacai looked at Chen Xuan with a smile.

Chen Xuan pondered.

At present, the Five Poisons Sect’s internal energy and skills are all of the poisonous type.

But the internal energy he yearned for was more like the Nine Yang Divine Skill.

Should he really practice these unorthodox arts?

“Can I choose both?”

Chen Xuan asked.

“No. Remember, mastery is better than breadth!”

Qian Dacai’s expression darkened. “If you choose internal cultivation, focus solely on that. Once you have mastered it, then you can train other skills. This way, your progress will be twice as effective.”

He believed Chen Xuan was a promising talent and shouldn’t be taught recklessly like Fang Dao. Step by step, lay a solid foundation—maybe this disciple could truly raise his prestige.

Chen Xuan stroked his chin, feeling that made sense.

With the strongest internal energy, even a single Black Tiger Heart Grab would be formidable.

Besides, he had his own secret advantages. What harm could there be in mastering everything?

“Alright, I choose the internal cultivation manual!”

Chen Xuan said.

He still didn’t pick both, deciding to improve his internal strength first.

“You’re a teachable child!”

Qian Dacai chuckled. “Come closer and listen.”

Chen Xuan leaned in gently.

Qian Dacai began to explain in detail by his ear.

A whole day passed before Chen Xuan finally grasped the basics of the body’s acupuncture points and meridians. Yet, despite several attempts to guide the Qi, he still failed to sense it, which left him deeply frustrated.

But internal cultivation was like this—like grinding in water. One must never be impatient or restless, or else one might suffer a serious setback.

“The Five Poisons Heart Sutra—just the name sounds dubious,” Chen Xuan muttered inwardly.

Indeed.

What Qian Dacai was teaching him was precisely the first two levels of the Five Poisons Sect’s core internal manual, the Five Poisons Heart Sutra.

Its highest attainable level was only “Crude,” and to progress further, supplementary techniques would be required.

Within most sects, the transmission of divine martial arts is guarded with extreme caution. Only when a disciple reaches a certain level will they be given access to the next stage, all to prevent rebellion or defection.