Chapter 24: The Enemies Met
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I’m in the intermediate stage of the Body Consolidation realm. I have been practicing for five to six years, but I’m still in the entry realm,” Wang Yuan answered, slightly upset.
The first realm for ancient martial arts practitioners was the Body Consolidation realm. Talented people could cross the Body Consolidation realm within three to four years. But Wang Yuan had been practicing for five to six years, yet still remained at the intermediate stage of the Body Consolidation realm.
Because of this, his master no longer spent much effort on him. His family clan initially paid good money to get his master to accept him as a disciple; however, he disappointed everyone by not showing much achievement in the ancient martial arts.
“How many realms are there among ancient martial arts practitioners? Do you mind sharing with me?” Mo Wen asked curiously.
He had no idea exactly what the Body Consolidation realm was. The martial arts system that he knew of was obviously different from the ancient martial arts system on Earth. However, he believed that even though the division of the systems were different, the Way of Practice was similar. All the techniques led to the same purpose; no matter which path one took, he would eventually reach the same goal.
“You don’t know?”
Wang Yuan stared at Mo Wen, a little startled. Based on Mo Wen’s performance, his ancient martial arts cultivation was most likely above his; how could he not know about the Realm System in the ancient martial arts? It was like an eloquent English speaker not recognizing the English alphabet.
Mo Wen nodded, but didn’t offer any explanation.
Wang Yuan looked at Mo Wen strangely, but he didn’t ask much.
“The practice of the ancient martial arts starts with the Body Consolidation realm, which begins with training the body and storing up Essence. The second realm is the Regulated Breathing. When your cultivation is deeper and your body is full of Essence, your Inner Qi will have slight changes. For example, your breathing; your Inner Qi starts to breathe automatically. At that realm, even if you are not actively meditating to recuperate your Inner Qi, it will slowly recover automatically through breathing.
He continued, “The third realm is the Soothing Pulse realm. When your core has accumulated enough Inner Qi, it will start to charge your Twelve Primary Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, unblocking and merging the Large Vital Energy Circle and Small Vital Energy Circle. When the process is completed, your Inner Qi will not be bounded to your core. It will start to fill the whole body.
“The fourth realm is the Sea of Qi realm. I don’t know much about this realm, since my master is an ancient martial arts practitioner in the intermediate stage of Soothing Pulse realm. It is said that if you have successfully completed the Sea of Qi realm, you are a grandmaster that can leap on roofs, walk on walls, and attack your enemy from ten feet away.”
A glimpse of yearning flashed past Wang Yuan’s eyes. An ancient martial arts practitioner at the Sea of Qi realm was definitely beyond the realm of the common man; he could be called a top martial arts master. It would be like Ximen Chuixue; a frigid flash from his blade and someone would be killed from a hundred steps away.
However, with his potential, it was unlikely he’d ever reach that realm in his lifetime.
Mo Wen frowned.
“Is there any other realm beyond that?”
Based on his memory of the other world, the so-called Sea of Qi realm was most likely achieved by the ancient martial arts practitioners that were capable of releasing their Inner Qi. After the Large Vital Energy Circle and Small Vital Energy Circle had been unblocked, one could form a Sea of Qi in his core; his body would be uninhibited and the flow of Inner Qi would be endless. He could control and release his Inner Qi by will and attack people effortlessly.
However, being able to release the Inner Qi wasn’t the last thing about the practice; there would be more realms beyond that. In fact, his level of cultivation before was way beyond the realm where he could release his Inner Qi.
“Of course there are more,” Wang Yuan rolled his eyes, “but the realms after that are no different from legends. They are not realms that we can achieve. According to my master, after the Sea of Qi realm, there are the Qi Nucleation realm, the Embryonic Breathing realm, and the legendary Golden Elixir realm.
“Do you know about the Golden Elixir? The Path of Golden Elixir, commonly mentioned in Taoism, refers to the Golden Elixir realm itself. It’s an illusory realm, and it’s the pinnacle of ancient martial arts. In this world, there are most likely no ancient martial arts practitioners at the Golden Elixir realm.”
Wang Yuan sighed. All these realms were out of reach for him. Currently, the issue he cared most about was whether or not he could break through the Regulated Breathing realm within five years to become a true ancient martial arts practitioner. Only ancient martial arts practitioners that had broken through to the Regulated Breathing realm could be considered inducted into the system.
Upon listening to Wang Yuan’s introduction, a glimpse of deep contemplation flashed across Mo Wen’s eyes. The division of the realms for ancient martial arts practitioners on Earth was very similar to the ones in his other world; there were many similarities. Even though the names were different, all of them led to the same outcome.
His realm in the other world would most likely be equivalent to the Embryonic Breathing realm for ancient martial arts practitioners. It was only when he had broken through this realm did he dare to venture into the mysterious foggy mountains.
In his world, there were warriors everywhere; everyone at the Embryonic Breathing realm were grandmasters. However, the Embryonic Breathing realm was not the pinnacle; above it was still the Golden Elixir realm. When Mo Wen was in the barren mountains, he had met a warrior at the Golden Elixir realm before.
That person’s demeanor conveyed a strength that could destroy him; indeed, he had received quite a shock.
Luckily, that person meant him no harm, or else he wouldn’t have made it out of the barren mountain alive.
After an hour, Mo Wen flipped over and got down from the pull-up bar. The night had descended; Mo Wen had done pull-ups for one and a half hours.
Wang Yuan had not been able to keep up and let go of the bar forty minutes prior. He sat on the side bench and stared at Mo Wen like he was staring at a freak; his lips were twitching. Doing pull-ups continuously for one and a half hours like it was nothing, without flushing or panting? He was definitely not human!
In Wang Yuan’s mind, Mo Wen was already an ancient martial arts practitioner at the Regulated Breathing realm; a normal ancient martial arts practitioner at the Body Consolidation realm couldn’t have lasted for so long.
An ancient martial arts practitioner at the Regulated Breathing realm.
Wang Yuan was jealous of Mo Wen just thinking about it; he had no clue as to when he would be able to break through and enter this realm too. One at the Regulated Breathing realm was considered inducted into the ancient martial arts; he would experience drastic improvement in all aspects, and he could even mobilize his Inner Qi to his palms and use it to attack people. Any of his palm attacks could split rocks.
“Let’s go. Let’s eat at the dining hall.”
Mo Wen exercised his body strengthened with running Qi and blood. Then he called out for Wang Yuan and left for the dining hall first.
It was dinner time.
“Ah. Wait for me,” Wang Yuan shouted, quickly running to catch up to him.
Usually, Mo Wen didn’t socialize much with people, even with his classmates. He knew their faces and names, but he couldn’t really have a conversation with them. He only talked to Wang Yuan because they did pull-ups together.
The two of them entered the dining hall and noticed that it was already full. Everyone underwent intense training everyday, so naturally, they had a huge demand for food, too. Many people were hungry earlier, and they had been waiting for dinner at the dining hall.
After Mo Wen and Wang Yuan had collected their meals, they chose to sit at a remote corner as usual.
The dining time was ample with a full fifteen minutes, so they could eat slowly. Only during special training would they been asked to finish a meal within a few minutes.
“Young Master Cheng, are we really doing this? It is considered a serious disciplinary offence.”
Ten or so people were gathered around a long table. One of them, who was slender but scrawny, asked this in a low voice.
Beside him was a teenager with a lazy demeanor. His looks were quite attractive, but his face was pale and his eye bags, deep. It seemed like all his energy had been sucked out of him; he seemed frail.
For his face to be this tired, he was either suffering from a serious illness or he was indulging in excessive sexual activities.
This person was no other than Cheng Hao, the rich and powerful young master who didn’t sit right with Mo Wen. He and Mo Wen were assigned to be in the same military region for training, but they were not in the same battalion. Therefore, even after a week of military training, Mo Wen had not noticed him.
“What are you afraid of? If anything happens, I will take responsibility for it. You guys go ahead and do it. As long as he doesn’t die, it’s fine.”
A glimpse of malice flashed past Cheng Hao’s eyes. He stared mercilessly at the table afar, where Mo Wen was seated for dinner; his lips twitched to form a cruel smile.
Mo Wen was merely a commoner compared to him. He had to be sick of living to have the audacity to offend him.
Even though Cheng Hao was surprised that Mo Wen had been admitted by Hua Xia University, he only thought of Mo Wen as being lucky and didn’t pay much attention to him. Even if Mo Wen had any connection, he didn’t care. Mo Wen was merely a commoner; even if he had some tricks up his sleeve, how elaborate could they be? Cheng Hao was not afraid of him.