Lord of the Desert

Chapter 366 Martial Arts
November 3rd, early morning.

Duanli City had just experienced its second heavy snowfall, but the area north of Tingshan Pass had already been covered in white blankets.

In a three-courtyard house outside Longqiu Town, Duan Tiannan sat facing south and told Gu Hong and others, as well as a guest who came from afar, about his understanding of cultivation.

"Tao is the abode of heaven and earth; the two principles are the abode of all living things."

He said leisurely, taking a bite of the pancake with green onions in it.

"To translate the above into common words, human existence is based on the combination of two elements, which can be called spirit and flesh, mind and body, or spirit and body."

"What the former leaves behind after death is called a soul, and what the latter leaves behind after death is called a corpse."

"These two are intertwined and mutually based. Each has some functions and cannot exist independently. The so-called martial arts, in my understanding, is the method to grow and cultivate these two."

Although these words were only the beginning, Hong Fan already found them novel - the Yanliu Kung Fu he practiced only focused on the body and Qi, with almost no record of the spirit.

"I have practiced for more than 20 years and I think I have learned some basics of martial arts. Please listen to them for now."

Duan Tiannan dipped the bread into the sauce and his words became increasingly solemn.

“One is self-strengthening, two is internal and external integration, three is transformation of external into internal, and four is the unity of man and nature.”

"Let me dismantle it piece by piece."

"In the Strength Realm, a warrior's training is to strengthen the body first. By strengthening the body and taking nourishing medicine, the blood and qi (vitality) are transformed into true qi, which can penetrate the twelve main meridians and open up the eight extraordinary meridians.

This is the yang of the two yin and yang.

At the same time, the strengthening of the body, the tempering of battle and pain also make the spirit grow naturally.

This is the yin of the two yin and yang.

But when they reach the peak realm, almost all warriors will encounter the first bottleneck - their spiritual training lags far behind their physical training, and they must make up for it.

This class is divided into two stages.

The first stage is to train the mind to develop senses, or "inspiration". At this point, the warrior can sense the innate spiritual energy, which corresponds to the "internal and external senses" I mentioned above. "

Duan Tiannan said this and glanced at Hong Fan.

"This is also your current realm, brother."

Hong Fan nodded heavily.

The other party's narrative explains some martial arts phenomena from the underlying logic.

For example, why can't a martial artist who has penetrated the whole body sense the fluctuation of innate spiritual energy? What is the essential difference between the peak of perfection and the communication between heaven and man?

Take Hong Fan himself as an example. After his destiny star came into place, he possessed "inspiration", so later he entered the state of communication between heaven and man effortlessly.

“The process of communication between heaven and man and the innate is what I call the second stage of remedial lessons.”

Seeing that he understood, Duan Tiannan continued.

"If the previous stage is likened to opening the eyes of the spirit, this stage is to let it grow hands and feet."

"In this way, the process of absorbing the innate spiritual energy turns from passive to active. The warrior can force the innate spiritual energy to mix with the true energy and obtain the true essence - that is what I have summarized as 'transforming the external into the internal'. This is called ascending the ladder to heaven."

This summary gave Hong Fan an epiphany.

"If the two levels of the power realm and the energy realm are actually the embodiment of spiritual growth and the balance of the two yin and yang, then the 'enlightenment' and 'understanding' of the innate fire spirit energy recorded in the martial arts of my clan are actually meaningless?"

He immediately asked the question based on what he had learned.

“For me, there really is no feeling.”

Duan Tiannan replied.

"I was mature at a young age. Not only was I strong, but I also saw the world more clearly than others. Now I think it was because I was born with a strong spirit and inspiration."

"Based on my foundation at that time, if I practiced water or wood instead of metal, it would not be a problem."

"Brother Hong, what do you think about this question, Brother Tian?"

As he spoke, he looked at the fourth person in the hall.

This man had phoenix eyes and thin lips, and was wearing a pure black silk robe. He looked to be around fifty years old and had visited unexpectedly yesterday.

Although Hong Fan did not know his name or identity, he could tell that he was a skilled martial artist just by looking at his delicate and even skin and his weak and long breathing.

"What Chisha said is of course meaningful; it's just that you, Mr. Duan, are too talented and don't understand it."

Mr. Tian replied.

"Spiritual energy is just like any other mundane thing. It can be controlled by force or by skill."

"The so-called 'understanding' of a specific spiritual energy is similar to the technique of exerting force when punching; just because you, Mr. Duan, have 'brute force', it doesn't mean that everyone is like that."

He joked, and from the tone of his voice, it was obvious that he had already passed the innate threshold.

With the help of two martial arts masters, Hong Fan suddenly became enlightened.

But a doubt immediately arose in his heart - since the essence of driving spiritual energy is a strong spirit, and attribute affinity is only secondary, then after possessing a life star that can naturally generate and control true energy, why is "I" still stuck below the ladder? So after almost three years, is it still it, and am I still me?

At this moment, Hong Fan seemed to have returned to the night after activating the Dragon Soul Tree in the twenty-seventh year of Zhenghe, and recalled the same feeling.

He did not ask this question out loud, but kept it deep in his heart.

"After entering the Qi realm, the path of a warrior is to practice the word 'internalization'."

Duan Tiannan was unaware of Hong Fan's mood and just continued to explain.

“The characteristic of the Xiantian stage is ‘Qi is contrary to Xiantian’, that is, possessing true essence.

To sum up the Six Combinations, it is nothing more than using the new tool of True Essence to open up all the collateral meridians, making the meridian system of the whole body innate and integrated.

On the other hand, all kinds of visualization, induction, and the driving of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth also play a role in training the spirit. "

"The Yuan magnetic stage is the process of the meridian and five internal organs system being completely connected and becoming innate, with two characteristics: 'five internal organs storing spirit' and 'floating in the air'.

The five internal organs are the place where essence and energy are transformed and the foundation of the physical body. People absorb vitality from the outside world, which circulates through the five internal organs and is transformed into blood and energy. The blood and energy sink to the dantian and brew as true qi, which is the basis for the growth of the two yin and yang.

The so-called five gates of Yuanci are to use the true essence to refine the five organs and make them innate; in this way, each organ will have the function of Dantian and can produce true essence - this is 'the five organs store the spirit'. "

“Once a warrior breaks through the first level of Yuan magnetic energy, it means that at least one of his organs has been separated from the acquired one and has become essentially the same as the innate spiritual energy, with no hindrance in connection.

At this point, the innate spiritual energy perceived by the warrior changes from virtual to real and becomes touchable like air.

The so-called 'flying in the air' is to rely on the partially innate body to interact with the innate spiritual energy, which is similar to swimming in the innate spiritual energy.

In this way, the warrior is not bound by the Yuan magnetic field, and can borrow power from anywhere, without any conventional flaws, and can be respected as a master without leakage. "

Duan Tiannan finished speaking the long paragraph in one breath. Seeing that Hong Fan and Gu Yixin were fascinated by it, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Compared to Xiantian, the difference between Yuanci and Xiantian in terms of physique and destructive power is actually not that big, except for the fact that the amount of true energy has increased several times. In terms of direct combat, Gu Laodi can hold out for a long time against some inferior Yuanci."

"What really separates the two is flying."

"Come as you please, leave as you please, ignore the terrain and encirclement, so that a Yuanci master can defeat thousands of troops alone, enough to be the pillar of the family."

He asked while speaking.

"But there is a way to counter Lingkong Xudu. Do you have any ideas?"

This question was only asked to Hong Fan, and it was probably stated in the Buzhi Vajra Sutra.

"Since 'Void Passing' relies on the interaction between the innate body and the innate spiritual energy, how about destroying this interaction?"

Hong Fan thought for a moment and answered.

"Master Hong is a genius in the world. He really gets things done at once!"

Mr. Tian couldn't help but praise.

"This method is called 'Hun Tian'. It is recorded in most martial arts manuals. It is to release true energy continuously, in large quantities, and in a disorderly manner, making the innate spiritual energy environment violent - for example, a vortex in the lake and a storm in the atmosphere - of course, this method does not distinguish between friend and foe."

"When a Yuanci warrior uses the Hun Tian Jue, the energy consumption is ten times that of a normal battle. The affected area ranges from tens to hundreds of meters in radius. Once combined with two or three Xiantian, it is enough to surround and kill opponents of the same combat power in a short period of time."

Hong Fan finally understood why Duan Tiannan and Tang Shaoyou always chose to fight in a place far away from the camps of both sides - not to avoid accidental injuries, but to provide safety.

"This Hun Tian Jue was used by Feng Mubai when he was chasing me four years ago."

Duan Tiannan took over the conversation.

“Oh, that old fellow is the best among the heirs of the noble families. His physique is far superior to that of ordinary people. At that time, his true energy was almost three times that of mine. When I break through to the fifth level of Yuanci, I estimate that my true energy will only be half of his.”

"That time I was beaten to a pulp. Fortunately, Feng Mubai had gotten used to flying after so many years. Using his legs reduced his combat power by two points, so I was able to jump off the cliff and survive..."

When talking about the defeat a few years ago, he was actually very interested in it and didn't seem discouraged at all.

After expressing his feelings, Duan Tiannan returned to the topic.

“From the perspective of cultivation, Yuanci is very different from what it was before.”

“From the Inner Vision Realm to the Innate Realm, warriors focus on the meridians, similar to clearing the meridians one by one; once they reach the Yuan Magnetic Realm, the target turns to the internal organs - these are three-dimensional flesh and blood, and the rituals and training are difficult and time-consuming, and there are too few resources that can help.

This results in the warriors' training speed in the Yuanci realm being drastically different from before.

Don’t think that the top three and top five in the list of Tianjiao often have one level of progress per year in the Xiantian stage. When they reach the Yuanci level, five years is already very fast. Tang Laojian was once the third-ranked Xiazha on the Tianjiao list. Now he is over a hundred years old and is still stuck in the fourth level of Yuanci. So he gets angry when he sees me!"

Duan Tiannan laughed triumphantly.

Mr. Tian was moved by the look on his face and couldn't help but sigh.

Hong Fan also sighed.

He clearly remembered that the person sitting opposite him had rushed from the peak of the innate realm to the fourth level of Yuanci in just over twenty years, and he did it all by deducing the technique himself - it was simply horrifying to think about it now.

Among the four, only Gu Yixin, who was stuck under the Yuan magnetic field, had clear eyes and didn't care at all.

(End of this chapter)