Chen Zhang pushed the door open, stepping aside to gesture for Xu Wuyi to enter. "Martial Artist Xu, please. I won’t disturb you. Please contact me anytime if you need anything."
"Thank you." Xu Wuyi walked into the room.
The door closed softly behind him.
This was a Meditation Room of about fifty square meters, simply furnished.
A row of bookshelves lined one wall, neatly filled with books and scrolls. In the center of the room was a dark gray carpet with two meditation cushions on it.
A woman was standing by the window, her back to the door.
She wore the instructor’s uniform of Black Stone Academy—primarily dark blue, with a tailored fit that accentuated her long, slender figure. Her long hair was pulled back into a simple bun, revealing a fair neck.
Hearing footsteps, she turned around.
She looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with delicate features and a scholarly air about her. But her eyes were calm and profound, like a deep, still pool, without a single ripple.
According to the information he had, Instructor Fang Fu was actually around thirty-five years old this year.
She was also a graduate of Black Stone Academy. Having advanced to the Innate realm at the age of twenty-eight, she had returned to Black Stone to teach. She was once considered a genius-level figure.
"Martial Artist Xu Wuyi?" she asked, her voice as calm as her gaze.
"I am. Are you Instructor Fang Fu?" Xu Wuyi confirmed.
The woman nodded and walked over to the cushions, gesturing for Xu Wuyi to sit. "I am Fang Fu, a disciple of Grandmaster Liang Sixian. My master has already informed me of your situation. Welcome to Black Stone Academy."
The two sat facing each other on the cushions.
Fang Fu didn’t bother with pleasantries, cutting straight to the point. "My master said that your Heart Image is ’Heavy Water,’ possessing the dual traits of ’heaviness’ and ’pliancy,’ which shares common ground with my ’Static Water.’ She hopes we can exchange insights and learn from each other."
Xu Wuyi could sense that Fang Fu’s personality, much like the Cultivation Technique she practiced, was calm, direct, and disliked affectation.
"That is precisely what I was hoping for," he said. "My ’Heavy Water’ image was formed not long ago, and there is still much I don’t understand. I would be grateful for your guidance, Instructor Fang."
Fang Fu shook her head slightly. "I wouldn’t dare presume to guide you. In the cultivation of Martial Arts, everyone has their own path. My ’Static Water’ emphasizes ’stillness’ and ’inclusiveness,’ while your ’Heavy Water’ emphasizes ’weight’ and ’sinking.’ Our directions are different, but at their core, both are rooted in an understanding of the way of ’water.’"
She paused, then asked, "May I experience the Mental Realm of your Heart Image?"
Xu Wuyi nodded. "Please."
He closed his eyes. In his sea of consciousness, the vast, dark-gold marsh rippled gently.
He restrained the Power of his Heart Image, releasing just a trace of it, limited to a one-meter radius around him. The air grew viscous, the gravity subtly increased, and the carpet beneath his cushion sank slightly.
Fang Fu sat quietly, her gaze focused.
A few seconds later, she let out a soft "Hm?"
"Your ’heaviness’ isn’t just weight on a physical level," she said slowly. "It also carries the weight of ’will,’ a sedimentation of the ’heart.’"
Xu Wuyi opened his eyes, a little surprised.
Fang Fu’s perception was sharp. His Heavy Water image was indeed infused with his own will; its "sinking" quality was not just a physical sinking, but a settling of his state of mind.
"You’re right, Instructor Fang," Xu Wuyi admitted. "When I condensed my Heart Image, I incorporated my understanding of concepts like ’steadiness’ and ’resolve.’"
A flash of approval appeared in Fang Fu’s eyes. "That’s the correct way. Heart Image—you cultivate the ’heart,’ and it manifests as the ’image.’ If you merely imitate the Rules, you will ultimately be on an inferior path."
She stood up and walked to the center of the Meditation Room.
"The core of my ’Static Water’ lies in ’stillness,’" Fang Fu said, raising her right hand.
Above her palm, the air shimmered, and a patch of faint blue light, like water, silently appeared.
It wasn’t real water but a manifestation of the Power of Heart Image. The watery light was calm and rippleless, clear and transparent, as if it could reflect all things, yet it was also unfathomably deep.
Xu Wuyi could feel a special kind of "stillness" contained within that watery light.
It wasn’t a dead silence, but a profound, inclusive stillness in which all things returned to one.
"’Static Water does not contend, thus it incurs no blame,’" Fang Fu said softly. "This is the core tenet of the Heart Method passed down in my Still Water, Deep Flow lineage. ’Not contending’ isn’t weakness; it is refusing to be entangled with external things, to keep one’s original heart pure and whole."
She looked at Xu Wuyi. "And all of this, in the end, points in one direction: inward-looking, condensing, returning to the origin. That is my understanding."
Xu Wuyi was shaken.
Fang Fu’s words were like a key, unlocking something in his mind.
He seemed to have found a new line of thought for the problem of balancing his Heavy Water and Golden Crow.
"Instructor Fang," he began, his tone serious, "my ’Heavy Water’ image is based on ’weight’ and characterized by ’sinking.’ But recently, I’ve realized that excessive ’sinking’ might suppress the ’liveliness’ of my Heart Fire. I wonder, how does the ’Static Water’ lineage balance ’stillness’ and ’motion’?"
Fang Fu retracted the watery light in her palm and sat down again.
"I once asked my master that same question," she recalled. "At the time, she said that ’stillness’ isn’t the absence of motion, but rather ’stillness within motion, and motion within stillness.’"
"Look at the rivers, lakes, and oceans. They may be calm on the surface, but underneath, fierce currents surge. True ’stillness’ is the harmony that comes after accommodating all ’motion.’"
She paused, offering an example. "It’s like this Meditation Room. We are sitting here now, seemingly still, but our heartbeats, our breathing, the circulation of our Qi and Blood—they are all in constant motion. Yet this ’motion’ doesn’t disrupt the ’stillness’ of the room. Instead, it forms a cohesive whole."
Xu Wuyi was lost in thought.
Fang Fu continued, "For your ’Heavy Water,’ ’weight’ is its trait, and ’sinking’ is its manifestation. But the very essence of water is its ability to ’flow.’ You can make your ’Heavy Water’ flow as well, creating ’liveliness’ within the ’sinking.’"
"How can I do that?" Xu Wuyi asked.
"That is something you must comprehend for yourself," Fang Fu said, shaking her head. "Everyone’s Heart Image is unique; my method might not be suitable for you. However, I can show you the flow of ’Static Water.’"
She raised her hand again. This time, a fist-sized ball of water condensed in her palm.
The water sphere rotated slowly, its surface as smooth as a mirror, but Xu Wuyi could perceive that the currents within were moving in complex patterns.
"’External Calm and Internal Movement,’ motion and stillness as one," Fang Fu said. "This is my path. You need to walk your own."
Xu Wuyi stared at the sphere of water, and the dark-gold marsh in his sea of consciousness rippled faintly.
He vaguely grasped something, but he couldn’t quite put it into words.
He understood that while both involved combining motion and stillness, Fang Fu was merely merging them within the water currents. He, on the other hand, had to merge two entirely different Heart Images—the difficulty was on a completely different level.
"Thank you, Instructor Fang," he said solemnly. "Today’s exchange has been incredibly enlightening."
Fang Fu dispersed the sphere of water, her expression as calm as ever. "There’s no need for thanks. My master asked me to exchange ideas with you also in the hope that I might gain something from your ’Heavy Water.’ Your ’heaviness’ is helpful for me to understand the depths of ’stillness.’"
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