Chapter 056: Ancient Qi Cultivation Technique

You cannot wrap fire in paper!

The matter of Wu Zetian's impending ascension to the throne as emperor quickly spread among the common people. Or rather, with the help of interested parties, within just a single day, it had spread throughout the city of Luoyang.

And this news was still sweeping across the entire Tang Empire at an astonishing speed.

For a moment, the whole realm was in an uproar.

Since Li Zhi's death, countless people have been concerned about who the next emperor would be, but no one—whoever they were—expected that the next emperor would be neither Li Zhi's first son nor Wu Zetian's first son.

but Wu Zetian herself.

A woman becoming emperor was simply beyond everyone's imagination.

Opposition surged toward the imperial palace like a tide, and countless people across the realm opposed this matter; few were willing to have a woman ride above their heads.

Although the civil and military officials of the court maintained an eerie silence on the matter, the various prefectures and provinces of the Great Tang all responded to it.

Some agreed, some opposed.

The most vehement opposition came from the Li clan.

Wu Zetian wanted to seize their throne; how could these people let it go? They hastily gathered a group and wanted to go to Wu Zetian to demand an explanation.

But Wu Zetian was not the soft-hearted type.

In the future, for the sake of becoming emperor, she would even lay hands on her own sons, let alone Li Zhi's clansmen. In her eyes, these people were utterly worthless.

Rather, their opposition suited her perfectly.

Wu Zetian immediately gave the order to have all members of the Li clan arrested and confined in the Cold Palace, forbidding any outsiders from contacting them.

If it weren't for her concern about the ministers' opposition, she would have already executed all of these people.

In any case, for Wu Zetian, anyone who opposed her should simply be killed off, but unfortunately, in order to become emperor, she could not always act on her own impulses.

Fortunately, however, Wu Zetian had long since learned to compromise.

Politics, in its essence, is the art of compromise.

But still, as the saying goes, the above has little to do with Wang Bo.

Whether Wu Zetian was ruthless, compromising, or decisive in killing, these were all her own choices. In order to become emperor, she naturally had to put in twelvefold effort.

This also meant that Wu Zetian had no spare time to comfort Wang Bo.

This left Wang Bo both happy and disappointed.

Wang Bo was happy because he had finally escaped this great whirlpool. Since Wu Zetian did not come to him, he was content to take it easy; he really did not want to get involved in such absurd matters.

The sense of loss arose because Wu Zetian's skills were not bad.

In recent days, having grown accustomed to the pleasures of Wu Zetian's attendance, Wang Bo found it hard to stop. After she stopped coming, he was left to keep his empty chamber alone.

This made Wang Bo, who had grown accustomed to nightly revelries, feel rather out of sorts.

As for Liu'er and Yu'er, Wang Bo did not touch them.

It was not because the two had long been touched by Wang Shao'ai—in fact, Wang Bo himself had no virginity complex. The reason he did not touch Liu'er and Yu'er was simply that the two young girls had not yet blossomed.

Wang Bo liked women who were mature and charming.

but rather unripe little apples.

Liu'er and Yu'er were still too young, so Wang Bo couldn't bring himself to make a move.

After much thought, Wang Bo had no choice but to find something to divert his attention: practicing martial arts!

To be honest, Wang Bo originally wanted to go see Hanyue and Yushu, but because of the ancient rule that men and women cannot meet before marriage, he had no choice but to restrain himself and communicate with the two women by handwritten letters.

To be honest, Wang Bo utterly detested this rule.

He himself did not care about such rules, but unfortunately, Yushu and Hanyue cared very much, because in this era, there was a saying: “Meeting before the wedding means not seeing each other after marriage.”

Even the two women, who had come from the world of wind and dust, felt some fear.

So in their correspondence, they kept comforting Wang Bo, saying things like there would be plenty of time ahead, and it was just a matter of a month or so, hoping Wang Bo could wait patiently.

In any case, after the new emperor ascends the throne and grants a general amnesty, they can get married and thus be together openly and honorably.

What else could Wang Bo say to that?

I could only practice martial arts.

And Wang Bo's purpose in practicing martial arts was not to become stronger, but to become weaker—no, that's not quite right. The reason Wang Bo practiced martial arts was probably that he hoped to have one more means at his disposal.

When he becomes a true superman in the future, his every gesture and motion will be able to unleash the power to topple mountains and split the earth.

Therefore, Wang Bo plans to use things like true qi to harm enemies in the future, so that he won't again, when out of control, directly destroy a city and implicate innocent people.

But perhaps because Wang Bo possessed a superhuman body and Spartan bloodline, his martial training went smoothly without a hitch.

On the first day of martial training, Wang Bo used his gradually developing brain to memorize all the meridians and acupoints of the body, gaining a deep understanding of human meridian science.

The next day, Wang Bo began attempting to practice martial arts. Incidentally, the martial art he practiced was called the "Ancient Qi Training Technique," a method of qi cultivation said to have been passed down from antiquity.

The name sounds quite grand, but in reality the effects of this qi cultivation technique are very ordinary.

The only benefit is that there's no need to alter one's breathing.

This is the most important thing.

Wang Bo had come across several martial arts manuals that seemed relatively advanced, all of which were unique copies from the imperial palace or closely guarded secrets, but each of these martial arts manuals came with a matching breathing technique.

To cultivate these martial arts, one must practice this breathing method.

The problem was, Wang Bo was unwilling to change his breathing method. The effects of Ripple Qigong were enough to crush these martial arts manuals, so naturally Wang Bo would not throw away a watermelon for a sesame seed.

After searching far and wide, Wang Bo finally found this so-called ancient qi cultivation technique—a martial arts manual that could condense true qi without altering one's breathing.

Although it is labeled with the name of high antiquity, in truth this is simply a very backward martial arts manual.

In the pre-Qin era, a hundred schools of thought contended, giving birth to many brilliant individuals who created numerous breathing techniques, improved martial arts manuals, and made their cultivation simpler.

Things like the ancient qi-cultivation technique, which lack a complementary breathing method, have long been swept into the trash bin.

Only a freak like Wang Bo, who has no need for breathing techniques, would require the ancient qi cultivation art.

And relying on his superhuman body and Spartan bloodline, Wang Bo found the sensation of qi almost on the second day!

On the third day, Wang Bo successfully condensed true qi.

For an ordinary person to reach this stage, it would be impossible without about a month's time. If they were cultivating an ancient qi-refining technique, it might very well take half a year to reach this step.

But Wang Bo reached this step with ease, which proves just how formidable his body is.