24 The Enemies Me (1/2)
”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.