Limits and Horizons (continued)

Four years became five days, a reduction so drastic it was enough to drive future generations to despair. Xilai Lai's worldview was severely shattered. It was like two people playing an online competitive game: he was thinking of competing in micro-management skills, but Si Ming was competing with him in hacking skills.

In the past Xilai had heard rumors that the leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance had extremely high martial arts skills. He could deduce the incomplete parts of someone's martial arts just by watching them perform it once. At the time, he didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a boastful trick that people in the martial arts world were good at, an exaggeration. He didn't even have the idea of competing with him, because he had the inheritance of the Nirvana Heart Seal and had obtained the martial arts insights of seven generations of eminent monks. In terms of insight alone, even the Grandmaster of Glazed Temple could not match him.

But now he finally knew that those rumors were true, not exaggerated, and could even be considered humble. The martial arts realm of this leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance had indeed reached a transcendent level, like that of Buddha, which people could only look up to.

"Five li ahead is Glazed Temple," Xilai said, pointing to the distant buildings.

With their cultivation levels, Si Ming and Hongdou could see clearly. Hundreds of Buddhist temples stood solemnly, resplendent in gold and jade, with incense burning brightly, like a Buddhist kingdom on earth. They possessed an awe-inspiring and inviolable aura. Even from afar, they felt as if their inner demons were suppressed, and no evil thoughts could arise.

With 200,000 resident monks, plus the local worshippers and tenants, Glazed Temple is comparable in size to a large city, befitting a regional hegemon. No wonder it is known as a sacred place of martial arts, far surpassing ordinary martial arts sects. If they so desired, they could easily raise an army to contend for supremacy with the feudal lords.

As they approached the gate of Glazed Temple, a sudden commotion erupted. A massive mount had overturned its rider and was now rampaging through the crowd.

"Watch out! The mare's gone berserk! Everyone, get back somewhere safe!"

The mare is a unique mount in the Southern Martial World. It is similar in size to an elephant, looks like a horse, and is about as fast as a mule. It is docile and easy to tame, but easily frightened, so it is not suitable for the battlefield. People use it to transport supplies and large goods.

However, even the most docile animal can become ruthless when it goes berserk, just like an honest person getting angry. Given the size and weight of a mammoth, even a skilled fighter would lose half his life if he crashed into it. The people nearby quickly scrambled to escape.

In the chaos, a child accidentally fell to the ground. His mother noticed something was wrong and tried to turn around to help him, but she was bumped into by the oncoming crowd and fell to the ground herself, where she was trampled several times.

Seeing the maddened mammoth rushing towards where the child had fallen, intending to crush him into a pulp, a figure swooped down from the sky, pressing one hand down on the mammoth's massive head. With a resounding crash, the colossal creature was forced to the ground, its forelegs buckling, unable to rise.

The one who made the move was naturally Si Ming. He wanted to test the power of the "Brahma Sea Asura Art," so he suppressed his own strength and only used the level of an ordinary body-refining martial artist to resist.

The frenzied mammoth, unwilling to be suppressed, roared and tried to get up, spittle flying from its mouth, its forelimbs pressing down on the ground until it began to sink. Finally, it resisted the immense force coming from its head and slowly rose up.

"Absolutely not. This Asura Divine Power is all talk and no action; it can't even be suppressed with one hand."

As Si Ming spoke, he stretched out his other hand and pressed both hands down, causing Ma to collapse completely to the ground, foaming at the mouth and trembling as if in spasm.

Xilai walked over and said, "This is because you have just mastered the martial arts and your body has not yet adapted. The Asura Divine Power has not been fully activated. According to my estimate, it should be able to increase by about two times."

The Asura Divine Power is a special force unleashed after mastering the "Brahma Sea Asura Art," also known as "Asura Power."

Asura is short for Asura. In Buddhism, Asura is one of the six realms of existence. They are powerful gods or demigods in the Desire Realm. Asura are easily angered, warlike, and brave. They have fought many fierce battles with the Devas. However, Asura also follow Buddhist teachings and are one of the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Law God in Buddhism.

Buddhist scriptures say that Asura are ugly, Asura are beautiful. Therefore, people often confuse Asuras with Rakshasas, because Rakshasas are also described as "extremely ugly males and extremely beautiful females." However, there are significant differences between the two.

Rakshasa are evil spirits, while Asuras are evil gods. They are on different levels. The former are low-level soldiers, while the latter are mid- to high-level generals. Moreover, Rakshasa eat human flesh and blood and commit countless evils, while Asura enjoy the blessings of Celestial Person. The Asura Path is one of the three good realms in the six realms. However, their minds are not firm and they are easily defiled and commit various evil deeds. When their blessings as Celestial Person and humans end, they will fall into the human, animal, hungry ghost, or even hell realms due to the power of their evil karma.

The Asura King often fought against the Devas, led by Śakra. Because the Asura had beautiful women but no delicious food, while Śakra had delicious food but lacked beautiful women, the two gods were jealous of each other and often fought. This is why people call the battlefield "Asura Field"—the old saying that food and sex are human nature is really very true. People fight for food and beautiful women.

Si Ming sensed the Asura Divine Power within his body, which was roughly equivalent to 30% of his strength before cultivation. If it could be increased by two times, the complete Asura Divine Power would only be slightly weaker than his original strength. No wonder Xilai his Asura form, was able to repel him with a single strike at Dragon Gate Temple.

Si Ming suddenly realized something. Since the "Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability" and the "Brahma Sea Asura Art" were equally renowned, their power shouldn't be too different. Didn't this mean that if he mastered the former as well, he could triple his power?

If he were to master every martial art that could increase his strength, wouldn't he be able to destroy a planet with a single punch?

But that's not actually the case. He practiced so many martial arts, and although his strength did increase, the increase was very small, far less than the Asura Divine Power.

"Child, child, are you alright?"

Ignoring her own injuries, the woman rushed forward and hugged her child tightly. She examined him closely, confirming that only his knee was scraped, and then wept with joy, exclaiming, "Thank goodness! Thank Buddha for protecting my child! May he be safe and sound!"

Xilai shook his head and pointed at Si Ming, saying, "It's not Buddha who's protecting your child, but this young hero."

"I know, I was just too excited. Thank you so much for saving my life, young hero," the woman said, then tugged at her child. "Child, quickly kowtow to your benefactor."

The child seemed very well-mannered, respectfully kowtowing three times to Si Ming and saying in a childish voice, "Thank you for saving my life, benefactor."

"Hmm, it's nothing, just something I did on the spur of the moment, don't worry about it." Si Ming was deep in thought and answered absentmindedly.

After the mother and son left, Xilai sighed and said, "If one seeks me through appearance or sound, that person walks Evil Dao and cannot see the Tathagata. The Buddha will not protect anyone. If one day, a Buddhist believer is rescued and instead of thanking the savior, thanks the Buddha for sending someone to rescue him, then Buddhism will be completely finished."

Xilai was quite worried about the situation of the major Buddhist School in the Southern Martial World. He also wanted to reform their doctrines and rules, such as instead of renting out grain and collecting rent, they should grow their own land, or completely exempt them from rent and taxes and have the temples buy grain at a uniform price. However, he knew that this approach would inevitably affect the interests of many people. With the Monster Race still in the picture, he could not tolerate internal strife and could only put such thoughts aside for the time being.

Pulling himself back to reality, Xilai noticed that Si Ming was still lost in thought, so he asked, "What's wrong, Alliance Leader? Could it be that there's something wrong with the Brahma Sea Asura Art?" If there is a problem, then it's normal.

Si Ming slapped his forehead. There was a Grandmaster right in front of him, so why bother with studying in isolation? He then explained his question.

Xilai was somewhat puzzled after hearing this. Given the martial arts level the Alliance Leader had demonstrated, he shouldn't be unaware of such a question. However, he still answered truthfully, "Alliance Leader, you've misunderstood. The human body has its limits in cultivation. For example, if I first practice Iron Sand Palm, greatly increasing the strength of my arms, and then practice Mighty Vajra Palm, I'll find that my palm strength only increases slightly, far less than the increase from practicing Vajra Palm alone. This is because, as both are palm martial arts, their cultivation of the palms overlaps to some extent. Numerically speaking, if practicing Iron Sand Palm alone increases strength by 70%, and practicing Vajra Palm alone increases it by 100%, then practicing both Iron Sand Palm and Vajra Palm simultaneously will definitely result in a strength increase of less than 170%. However, if one cultivates both Vajra Palm and Vajra Leg, there will be no overlap in cultivation."

Si Ming suddenly realized. "So that's how it is. Now I understand. The significance of martial arts training lies in stimulating the body's potential. If the potential stimulated by two martial arts overlaps, the effect will be reduced. In that case, the effect of practicing both the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability and the Brahma Sea Asura Art may not be as cumulative as I expected."

"Cultivate both the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability and the Brahma Sea Asura Art!"

Xilai exclaimed in surprise, then realized that with the terrifying comprehension displayed by this alliance leader, it was indeed possible for him to do so.

No one had done this before, firstly because the two Cultivation Method conflicted: the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability was for subduing demonic nature, while the Brahma Sea Asura Art was for stimulating it; secondly, it was too inefficient. One Vajra Demon-Subduing Power was enough to give one an advantage in strength, and the Asura Divine Power made little difference. Rather than continuing to enhance one's advantage, it was better to address one's weakness by cultivating another supreme technique of the same level, which would bring far more significant improvement than having two divine powers.

However, these problems were not a concern for the leader. Since he could master the Brahma Sea Asura Art in five days, it shouldn't take him much longer to cultivate the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability, so there was no need to worry about efficiency.

"Ha, this humble monk is quite looking forward to it. What will happen when the Vajra Demon-Subduing Power merges with the Asura Divine Power... Alliance Leader, please rest assured, these two ultimate techniques will not overlap. This is because the 'Brahma Sea Asura Art' does not cultivate the physical body, but rather the bloodline. This ultimate technique itself is the martial art of the Asura race, unlike our Human Race. The Asura place more emphasis on the development of bloodline power. If you don't believe me, Alliance Leader, you can make a small incision and squeeze out a drop of blood. You will then find that our blood is different from that of ordinary people, containing more essence and energy, and also possessing a fierce and malevolent intent."

Si Ming quickly tested it and found it to be true. If someone were injured and needed a blood transfusion in the future, his blood probably wouldn't be usable. No wonder Xilai's body was still thin. Under normal circumstances, people who have undergone body tempering will not only become stronger, but their bodies will also be full of muscles.

Even the blood is different now, am I still human?

The thought had barely surfaced when Si Ming dismissed it. Why dwell on this issue? He could have worried about it when he was cultivating the "Supreme Plain Decay True Scripture of the Primordial Essence). His cells had mutated due to nuclear radiation, so what was the difference in blood compared to that? Not to mention that his right hand had been invaded by Metal Cells, making him less than a carbon-based organism.

"The Asura Divine Power resides in the bloodline, not the physical body. This is why I also practice the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability Golden Bell Cover, there would be no need to worry about physical defense, as the Vajra Demon-Subduing Power is hidden within the muscles and bones. Of course, if the Alliance Leader has practiced related external martial arts, the effect of the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability will be diminished," Xilai reminded him.

Si Ming thought for a moment. Although the Jade-Clad Dharma Body was also a form of external martial arts, it followed a completely different path of technological mutation, enhancing cellular quality. This was entirely different from the path of ordinary martial arts, which involved training, strengthening, and stimulating potential. The two had no overlap. If he had to find something, it would be the martial arts he had practiced in the past, as well as body-refining methods like the Hundred Birds Frolics, that might have affected the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability.

If we broaden our thinking, since the martial arts of Asuras differ in focus from those of humans, what about the martial arts of other races? For example, the martial arts of Demon Race, Devil Race, and Monster Race —could they bypass the overlapping aspects and continue to improve?

The so-called limit is actually a limitation of perspective. If you can only see so far, you will naturally think that the path you can take is limited.