Learn Martial Arts to Break Through

"Wasteful."

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "You're only at the First Dragon Gate. How much qi and blood can you train? At this stage, every session is hard-won, and what you're training isn't even complete. What else could I do? Of course, I'm teaching you the complete martial art."

He looked at Li Ye. "Can you still train?"

Li Ye nodded.

He definitely could. That meal had directly turned into qi and blood; added to yesterday's reserves, it was more than enough.

"Continue."

Xu Yanwu said, "Slow down. Maintain the circulation technique. Fast has its rhythm, and slow has its benefits. Circulate the Dragon Tiger Gate. When you spread your qi and blood this time, try your best to hold it in place."

Li Ye could only circulate his technique again, condensing his qi and blood, pouring it into his spine, then expanding it through his limbs and bones.

Smack!

At that moment, Xu Yanwu stepped behind Li Ye and struck his tailbone with a stick, making him jolt.

"This is the Golden Palace—the refinement. The Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate is essentially a hard-body martial art, and the most refined part of our school's martial arts. Remember every point I strike. Condense your qi and blood into a skin membrane as much as possible. Next point!"

Smack!

Xu Yanwu swung again, this time striking just slightly above the tailbone. Li Ye unconsciously gathered his qi and blood there, trying his utmost to make it linger.

"Hold on for as long as you can. If you truly can't endure it, release it. But remember the points I hit. It's not so intuitive to rely on qi and blood circulation over the body's surface—you only know where they are once I strike them out."

Xu Yanwu swung his stick again, then without pausing, struck all along Li Ye's spine. Though it was an iron rod with a broad striking surface, every blow landed on no more than a tiny point.

That sensation allowed Li Ye to clearly feel where his qi and blood had just gathered. Point by point, place by place, following Xu Yanwu's strikes, he spread his qi and blood outward.

This was not simply forming a layer of outer clothing over his body. Rather, inside and outside his flesh, all of it swelled with condensed qi and blood into a membrane.

The more places Xu Yanwu struck, the more this membrane connected together, until it eventually swelled into a layer both within and without his body.

It was very thin, but Li Ye could feel it.

Smack!

Xu Yanwu struck Li Ye's throat, then his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, temples, and crown, as though water had seeped into every crevice, striking him from head to toe.

Then his stick pointed straight at Li Ye's groin.

Li Ye's pupils constricted at the sudden sight. Before he could react, Xu Yanwu's voice rang out.

"If you want to keep your Life Gate, dodge. Don't worry, I'll stop at the right point. The main thing is to make your qi and blood gather here. This is easiest for men. You know how to get hard, right? This time, use qi and blood instead—eggs and all."

As he spoke, Xu Yanwu flicked the stick upward.

The force of that swing even let out a piercing whistle through the air!

Li Ye's eyes flew wide. Before the stick even reached him, he somehow figured it out without a teacher and forcefully swelled his qi and blood into his groin.

At that moment, however, Xu Yanwu revealed the faintest smile. He did not strike Li Ye's groin at all; the iron rod merely swept past its edge.

He glanced at Li Ye. His face remained expressionless, but the amusement in his eyes was obvious to anyone who was not blind.

"Done, right?" he asked.

Thunder exploded within Li Ye's body. He exhaled white vapor, instinctively retreated two steps, and nodded twice in quick succession.

"My master did the same to me back then. This is a matter of whether you keep your Life Gate or not. If you don't want someone to seize that weakness after you become impervious to blades and spears, you'd best truly complete it. Still, there are benefits—it strengthens your essence and solidifies your body. Even when you're about to die, it'll ensure you're as vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger."

Xu Yanwu spoke as he gave Li Ye another once-over. "Still, you've exceeded my expectations again. Your control over qi and blood isn't merely excellent. I thought you would at most complete the circulation halfway through. It would have been impressive enough if you refined a few points of skin membrane. I never expected you to endure until the entire skin membrane was formed. In this respect, you're a genius among geniuses."

Li Ye felt a little bitter inside. What use was being a genius in this area? He was basically Wang Yuyan—knowing everything without being strong was worth jack shit.

Fortunately, he had obtained authority.

Li Ye shook his head and asked, "Master, is the next step Hundred Refinements? Constantly striking the skin membrane to make it stronger?"

Everywhere else on his body was manageable. Even his fragile eyes—he could just close his eyelids and take the blows, since they were not very heavy anyway.

But that particular area still made him uneasy.

Xu Yanwu looked at Li Ye as though he were an idiot. "Only iron can undergo Hundred Refinements—refine iron a hundred times and it becomes refined iron, forge it a thousand times and it becomes steel. If you put flesh through Hundred Refinements, all you'll get is piss-stream beef balls. Being able to condense a skin membrane is enough. What comes next is a matter of circulating your technique. Practice it without fail every day, let your qi and blood break through again and again, and you'll become stronger."

Li Ye raised his brows. "So I've learned it already?"

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "How slow can learning martial arts be? In the end, it's only a matter of circulating your technique. But there's no such thing as having completely mastered it. The stronger your martial art, the stronger your qi and blood; the stronger your qi and blood, the stronger your martial art. It is endless. Otherwise, why would there be Nine Dragon Gate Leaps?"

He glanced at the empty plates on the stone table and said, "Remember the circulation route. This is the most complete version. Next, I'll teach you some moves, along with the Foundation Building Technique that you'll learn during the martial arts examinations. Your aptitude is ordinary, so this martial art may not progress so quickly. Use the Foundation Building Technique to raise your qi and blood first."

"Master, didn't you say that the First Dragon Gate and Nine Dragon Gate are the same?" Li Ye asked in confusion.

"They are the same for martial arts. They aren't the same for getting into university."

Xu Yanwu said, "You can practice martial arts anytime, but the top Martial Arts Universities will not give you that much time. I'm passing down martial arts to you, but I can't delay your future either. The Foundation Building Technique can first set your qi and blood into Qi Circulation."

"I don't understand. If both set qi and blood into Qi Circulation, and simpler martial arts can do it, then why learn something so difficult?"

Li Ye truly did not understand. Especially since he possessed authority, he did not really need to learn martial arts at all. He could completely set his qi and blood into Qi Circulation first, then take things slowly afterward. Those with high talent could also wait until they reached the Nine Dragon Gate before slowly learning martial arts.

Since they were all roughly the same anyway, having higher qi and blood would definitely give them a higher starting point.

"I already told you: there are no shortcuts in martial arts. If you take the fast road, you'll have to pay it back later. And a martial artist doesn't only have the Dragon Gate Realm."

Xu Yanwu sighed softly. "Since you've learned it, I'll tell you. Nine Dragon Gate Leaps, Break Mortal Shell, Become Martial—reaching the peak of Qi Circulation only makes you the peak of a mortal. It cannot make you a true martial artist."

"There are many ways to raise qi and blood. Martial arts can raise it, Magic Treasures can raise it, and those top-grade ingredients can raise it too. If you merely want to attend a top university, earn a good degree, and find a good job afterward, then of course it's useful."

Xu Yanwu paused, then said, "But the Nine Realms of a Martial Artist do not end with the First Realm. If you want to advance, you must learn martial arts. Only after learning martial arts can you break through."

"The Second Realm is the Break Through Realm: Adamantine Gate, Divine Movement Gate, Qi Meridian Gate, Army Breaker Gate, Five Senses Gate, Soul Stabilizing Gate. Break through all six gates as one, and only then do you enter the Second Realm and Break Mortal Shell, Become Martial."

"If you master my martial art, you can break through three gates in one stroke!"