Chapter 532: Chapter 257: The Perplexity of the Dan Ding
Sun Siwen agreed to practice martial arts, so the next steps became much simpler.
Lu Yuan began to tailor a Cleansing Marrow plan according to his body, and then started to implement it.
Because his best friend had never practiced martial arts and was indeed old in age, it wasn’t realistic to forcefully infuse him with Inner Strength like in the novels, directly expelling all impurities from his body.
It could be done, but it’s highly likely that the impurities within his friend’s body wouldn’t be expelled yet, and he would start to transform, being unable to endure the infusion and dying from his body exploding.
Therefore, after understanding these situations, Lu Yuan had no choice but to take it one step at a time.
First, remove some of the impurities and toxins from the body, improve part of the physical condition, and remove some more after the body adapts to it.
After repeating this cycle five or six times and spending about a month, the Cleansing Marrow would be almost successful.
As for practicing martial arts, he could first start with some basic techniques and practice feeling them. There was no need to rush to take Divine Medicine and hastily increase Inner Strength.
Before increasing Cultivation, it’s more important to let this friend read some Daoist classics first and understand the truths and falsehoods in practicing martial arts, and the various uses of meditation.
Lu Yuan couldn’t rest assured letting Sun Siwen hastily advance in his realm without fully understanding these things.
Even if he was mentally strong enough, not comprehending this path still carried the risk of failing to control his Inner Strength, causing his body to explode and die.
So for the first two years of martial arts training, Lu Yuan wouldn’t let Sun Siwen take Divine Medicine — this was his foundation-building period.
Without a solid foundation, forget about building a tower ten thousand feet tall and leaping to the realm of Inborn.
However, even so, while busy with Cleansing Marrow and adapting to martial arts practice, Sun Siwen also had to find time to study Daoist classics.
With all these schedules arranged, Sun Siwen, who was originally burdened with a large number of affairs in the country, had even less time.
After only two or three days, his friend came to Lu Yuan with dark circles under his eyes and a tired face to complain of his hardships.
Having no choice, Lu Yuan had Sun Siwen transfer a large number of affairs to Cui Changqing, letting the Left Prime Minister handle them.
However, as a result, Cui Changqing became the de facto Prime Minister, solely controlling the national affairs and ranking just below one person and above ten thousand others.
Fortunately, Cui Changqing had no sons of his own and only had Sun Siwen as a son-in-law. At the same time, he was an upright man with a close friendship and trust with Lu Yuan.
Entrusting him with such extensive power, there was no need to worry about him harboring any other thoughts.
Moreover, after hearing that his son-in-law was practicing martial arts and being cultivated as a future Inborn Grandmaster, Cui Changqing, who understood the importance of this, couldn’t help but raise both his hands and feet in agreement.
That’s an Inborn Grandmaster!
Looking at the revered status of the Inborn Grandmasters in Yue Country and their final outcomes, five of them became monarchs of a country, one usurped the throne and became the Heavenly Son, and the others were all awarded the title of Martial Marquis, commanding great power in their territories.
Frankly, regarding power and glory, Inborn Grandmasters really have the upper hand over pure literati Prime Ministers.
If his son-in-law could become an Inborn Grandmaster while remaining a learned scholar, perhaps a golden age for the literati in Great Chu may truly arrive, given Cui Changqing’s understanding of his son-in-law.
Besides, having one more Inborn Grandmaster in Chu State would be a great thing for solidifying the foundation and enhancing the strength of the country.
With so many benefits, what did it matter if he himself had to suffer and endure some hardships?
It was all worth it as long as his son-in-law could become even better and Great Chu could become even stronger.
Cui Changqing, who was nearly sixty years old, had a very clear understanding of this matter.
He was fully prepared to burn his last bit of old bones.
However, although Cui Changqing was prepared, the court was still caught off guard by the sudden withdrawal of the original Right Prime Minister.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Sun Siwen still held the Right Prime Minister’s position, frequently entered the Royal Palace, and met with the Heavenly Son, and that his father-in-law still held the position of Left Prime Minister with power still in their family’s hands, everyone in the court would have thought that Sun Siwen had offended the Heavenly Son and was thus neglected, right?
Yet even so, although the officials knew that Sun Siwen still enjoyed the Heavenly Son’s favor and remained in his heart, it was inevitable that all sorts of rumors and controversies stirred up a great deal of unrest both inside and outside the court.
Fortunately, Sun Siwen had a methodical approach to handing over his various duties, and Cui Changqing, a veteran who had weathered many changes in the court, took over quite skillfully; hence, no chaos arose in the administration.
Combined with Lu Yuan’s continued favor, the storm finally subsided gradually.
On the other hand, Lan Cai’er was somewhat discontented with her husband’s daily togetherness with another man, neglecting her.
However, this displeasure vanished instantly after Lu Yuan disclosed his plans for their eldest son, Lu He.
This was the guaranteed Shortcut to Heaven for becoming an Inborn Grandmaster!
Being an Inborn Grandmaster herself, Lan Cai’er naturally knew how precious this opportunity was.
Back then, she had exhausted the accumulation of the Five Poisons Sect for a thousand years and carried the aspirations of a million Miao People to finally breakthrough to the Inborn realm.
Even Li Xiong had consumed the entire Qiang Tribe and slaughtered his way through Xichuan, sacrificing a whole tribe and a whole county, with millions of people dying before he broke through the Inborn realm.