Chapter Twenty-Four: Going with the Flow

Red Plum tilted her head, listening closely, then shook it and said, "All I hear is the sound of running water—nothing else. Did you imagine it?"
Lu Xin replied, "Maybe I did. Shall we move on?"
With that, he stepped onto his sword and took off. Red Plum followed close behind, and in an instant, both disappeared without a trace.

Ge Qian summoned every last ounce of strength, utterly spent, tossed and tumbled by the relentless waves in the pool.
The water battered him without mercy. Devoid of energy, he could only surrender to its whims. Though his body was as tough as iron, he could not endure such abuse for long.
Desperately, Ge Qian searched for a way to escape. Water, so yielding and formless, obeys no rules—how could it wield such force in motion? Water could be gentle or fierce: it trapped him with softness, then ravaged him with unyielding strength.
How could water, by flowing, generate such power? Even a single drop could, over time, wear through stone.
Ge Qian slipped into a haze of confusion. He obsessed over the problem, forgetting everything else. The water showed no mercy, continuing to tear at him with savage force.
His clothes were shredded. Tiny fissures opened in his skin. Blood welled in his chest, crushed by the pressure.
Yet he felt nothing. Only as his consciousness began to dissolve did a light appear in the depths of his mind.
In the brilliance, there was nothing—nothing but light. Then, suddenly, an ancient voice echoed: "I am the founder of the Mountain-Moving Method—the Wu Sage.
Though my life has ended, my soul dispersed, my will endures for all time. Any fated practitioner of the Mountain-Moving Method may meet me thus.
To train in the Mountain-Moving Method requires neither special physique nor rare spiritual roots. All things under heaven are equal. Whether a cultivator at the Spirit Refining stage or a mere mortal, all are treated the same.
One must proceed step by step, from the very beginning, with steadfast diligence. The essence of the Mountain-Moving Method is unwavering perseverance—a spirit that never yields.
And, above all, enlightenment. Everything depends on oneself. Only what you achieve by your own hand truly belongs to you. That is all I have to say.
For those who train in the Mountain-Moving Method, some may surpass me, others may falter halfway. Remember: all are equal. What matters most is persistence."
The white light faded, and Ge Qian awoke. Through his desperate perseverance and insight, he had inherited the will of the Mountain-Moving Method: to persist to the end.
He laughed. No matter what dangers or hardships he faced, he would persist. Though his strength was spent, he still had mana enough to cast the technique of the Entwining Vines.
Countless vines coiled around him, encasing him as he tumbled through the water.

Ge Qian activated his Heavenly Eye to observe the current. A leaf, drifting from who knows where, landed on the water and floated along, always atop the surface.
Why was this? A leaf is so fragile—a touch could crush it to dust—yet on the water it moved freely, rolling with the waves.
Ge Qian studied the leaf's path intently. The leaf was light; it borrowed the force of the water to move, going wherever the current led.
This, then, was integration—becoming part of the water, drawing on its strength. How, though, could one borrow the power of water? All things in the world are interdependent, generating and overcoming one another.
Just as fish cannot live without water, water can support a boat, and a boat can traverse the water.
That was it—why not regard himself as a little boat, using the current's push to gain strength?
With this realization, he slowly grasped the concept, circulating the Mountain-Moving Method within the cocoon of vines to restore his power. Dark light flickered over his body, and both his wounds and strength gradually recovered.
An hour passed. The vines dissolved into mana and returned within.
He decided to go against the current. Gathering his strength, Ge Qian hurled himself toward a massive wave. The pressure of the water slammed into him, but he quickly adjusted, channeling his power.
Using the push of the water, he reversed the resistance and let the current propel him forward. Instantly, he shot out of the water, spinning through the air.
It was his first time using this newfound mastery of force; he lost control midair and crashed hard onto the shore. Launched high and falling fast, the force only grew, smashing rocks on the riverbank and sending shockwaves that made the water recoil.
An ordinary person would have been shattered, dead on the spot. Even for Ge Qian, practitioner of the Mountain-Moving Method, the impact left him unable to move, gritting his teeth against the pain.
But his face was lit with joy, for through adversity he had created three new techniques of force for the Mountain-Moving Method. Lying still, he muttered to himself, "The first form: Surging Upstream—endure the pressure and burst forth. The second form: Riding the Current—transfer the pressure onto oneself or perhaps elsewhere. The third form: Waves Crashing Ashore—borrow force to deliver a devastating blow."
He carefully recalled all that had just happened, waiting for his strength to return.
Nearby, he found an abandoned demon beast lair. It must have been within the domain of the ancestor Qingyun, who would never allow demon beasts to roam free—surely it had been slain.
Judging by the lingering demonic aura, the beast was at least second rank.
The lair was filthy and foul-smelling, a place no cultivator would willingly remain. But for Ge Qian, it was a perfect place to cultivate.
Deep in the cave, where the demonic aura was thickest, he set down a luminous pearl and used a beast fang to carve out a clean spot.
Sitting cross-legged, he drew in the demonic energy, which was absorbed and refined by his tender shoots. He took out his demon gourd, formed a spell, and the gourd spewed a cloud of demonic energy.
Ge Qian inhaled it all into his dantian without wasting a trace, then swallowed a Purification Pill and began circulating the Mountain-Moving Method.
He commenced the transformation from mortal to transcendent.

This both healed his wounds and advanced his cultivation. To shed the mortal shell and approach the Dharma Body—such was the purpose of this meditation.
This time, he sat for three days. A dark radiance shimmered across his form. With this session, he broke through his bottleneck and entered the realm of Shedding Mortality.
He also understood the true secret of the Mountain-Moving Method: destruction and renewal, breaking the self and mending it anew. Cultivating this method was not like the orthodox Daoist route of seclusion and meditation; rather, it required movement.
Now, in the Shedding Mortality realm, he sensed a shamanic energy circulating through his meridians, tempering muscles, bones, and skin again and again.
Inside and out, a membrane formed over his skin, granting him formidable protection and greatly enhancing his defense.
Ge Qian expelled a breath of turbid air. His body had grown leaner, his skin a healthy bronze. Striding out of the demon lair, he found it now purged of all demonic aura—he had refined it completely.
He soon returned to the waterfall. Seeing no one around, he launched himself into the air like a great bird, hurling toward the plunging stream.
Surging Upstream—with his new cultivation, the power of his three self-created forms was now far greater.
He forced his way into the current, used Riding the Current to channel the water's force into his right fist, then struck the cliff wall with a crash.
The final form: Waves Crashing Ashore—“Bang!” The rock face shattered inch by inch. With a roar, a pit seven feet across opened in the stone.
Ge Qian felt his strength was nearly spent, so he used Riding the Current to leap from the waterfall, flipping in midair to land on the ground.
After a brief rest, he plunged again into the falls. Again and again, seven or eight times, until finally he had carved a cave large enough for a person. Pressed close to the stone, he let the water curtain fall before him; from outside, there was no sign of anything amiss.
He took out the beast fang and quickly began to carve. Without the waterfall's pounding force, digging was much easier. Soon he had hollowed out a stone chamber more than twenty feet across.
Sitting cross-legged, he listened to the thundering water, breathed in the dense spiritual energy, and smiled with satisfaction.
At once he took out his alchemy furnace and spiritual herbs, and began refining Water Spirit Pills.

The Mortal Road to Immortality, Chapter 24: Riding the Current—End of Chapter!