Ancient Martial Arts

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Ancient Martial Arts
Original Name	古武 (Gǔwǔ)
Type	Traditional Hesian martial-arts system, encompassing body-training methods and combat methods 8
Status	Extant, but its higher inheritances are heavily fragmented; advanced methods were restricted or converted into bloodline-bound Secret Martial Arts 136
First Appearance	6

History

Ancient Martial Arts are publicly defined as martial arts passed down from the Wu Dynasty roughly eight centuries ago. Unlike modern ring-oriented systems, they retain lineages built around strengthening the body, refining vital energy, and releasing lethal force in real combat. 8

Their deeper origin predates the Wu Dynasty. In the Mythological Era, humans developed the first Ancient Martial Art after a martial artist consumed Demonic Creature flesh and blood, survived, and used vital-energy circulation to obtain a trace of its bloodline. This martial artist founded the Divine Martial Gate, the first Ancient Martial Arts sect. 135

After generations of development, the Divine Martial Gate helped humanity establish the Wu Dynasty and drove most Demonic Creatures out of Hesia. Its stated purpose was to learn the strongest martial arts and eliminate demonic threats, while leaving ordinary humans to govern the state. 135

The Divine Martial Gate later collapsed when its Sect Master underwent Demonic Transformation while attempting to advance from King Rank toward God Rank. Twelve Martial Kings fought him; eight died, and the surviving four subsequently disbanded the sect and initiated the Martial Arts Annihilation Action, destroying or severing widespread inheritances. 135

Following that action, higher-level martial arts were altered into Secret Martial Arts that could only be cultivated by members of the corresponding Bloodline Families. Modern Ancient Martial Arts therefore preserve only incomplete and weakened remnants of their former system. 136

Core Principles

Training and Fighting Methods

Ancient Martial Arts divide martial arts into two complementary categories:

Category	Purpose	Examples
Training methods	Strengthen the body, including physique, strength, speed, flexibility, and reaction time.	Dragon Shape Five Forms; internal-refinement methods; external skills 8 31
Fighting methods	Convert bodily power and vital energy into rapid, destructive combat techniques.	Golden Python Four Forms; Silver Snake Sword 27 61

A complete martial artist requires both. Training methods build the body that produces force, while fighting methods determine how efficiently that force is applied. 8

Martial-Arts Stages

Stage / System	Requirement and Characteristics
Entry / Tongli Stage	Achieved through foundational Tongli martial arts. The practitioner connects bones, joints, muscles, and tendons into a unified chain so the whole body contributes to a strike. 22
Inner Refinement Stage	Develops sensitivity to vital energy—the force within muscle and blood—and enables increasingly precise control of muscle fibers and blood flow. 27
Perfected Circle Realm	Requires Great Accomplishment in both a training method and a fighting method. Practitioners can control each muscle throughout the body and exert force from unusual positions for offense or defense. 49
Arhat Fruit Position	Reached through cultivating four first-rate external skills; it represents an exceptionally durable body. 53
Bodhisattva Fruit Position	A legendary Inner Refinement achievement requiring comprehensive cultivation. 52 71
Buddha Fruit Position	Achieved by attaining both the Arhat and Bodhisattva Fruit Positions. Only three Buddha martial artists are recorded in history before Su Ti's era. 53 75
Extraordinary / Soldier Rank	A limit-breaking state obtained through Extraordinary Martial Arts and Demonic Creature-derived medicinal primers. It temporarily pushes the human body beyond ordinary limits. 52 126
General Rank	A higher rank normally inaccessible to modern Ancient Martial Artists because of incomplete methods and scarce medicinal primers. General Rank combatants can manifest General Armor. 126 132
King Rank / God Rank	Higher ranks known through Hidden World history; the Divine Martial Gate Sect Master attempted to advance from King Rank toward God Rank before his Demonic Transformation. 126 135

Cultivation Systems

Tongli

Tongli is the foundation of Ancient Martial Arts. By linking the body into a single force-generating structure, a practitioner can make even a simple punch or kick carry power far beyond that of an ordinary fighter. 22

• Tongli methods improve strength, speed, explosiveness, and constitution during training. 22
• The Dragon Gate’s Dragon Shape Five Forms is a Tongli martial art. 22
• Its completed effect, Integrated Strength, allows joints, bones, and muscles to act together like a whip or iron chain. 11 12

Inner Refinement

Inner Refinement develops control over vital energy rather than merely increasing visible muscle or strength. Its fighting methods use this control to change how individual muscles, blood, and limbs generate force. 27

• Inner Refinement fighting methods can alter the body during a technique, such as swelling an arm to perform the King Python Hand. 27
• Deeper refinement improves bodily sensitivity and control rather than simply adding physical attributes. 27
• The Dragon Gate preserves Golden Snake Molting, Bodhisattva Practice, and the incomplete Toad Fishing Skill as internal-refinement methods. 31

External Skills

External skills temper the body’s surface and structure. The Dragon Gate’s first-rate external arts include Copper Skin Skill, Iron Bone Skill, Steel Tendon Skill, and Adamantine Silk Kasaya Skill. 52 56

External Skill	Primary Effect
Copper Skin Skill	Hardens the skin against strikes and weapons. 33
Iron Bone Skill	Strengthens bones for both defense and stronger offensive force transmission. 53 65
Steel Tendon Skill	Emphasizes flesh and tendon defense. 53
Adamantine Silk Kasaya Skill	Provides defense strong enough to resist blades and hidden weapons when sufficiently cultivated. 61 62

Extraordinary Martial Arts

Extraordinary Martial Arts were created to break human limits by using Demonic Creature flesh and blood as medicinal primers. Their training and combat methods circulate vital energy and blood to draw out a Demonic Creature-derived power. 52 106

• A medicinal primer is mandatory; even the Crimson Martial Arts Modifier cannot advance a technique that lacks its required material. 52
• Activating an Extraordinary Martial Art creates a temporary extraordinary state rather than permanently maintaining the transformed body. 52 142
• Practitioners who successfully cultivate an Extraordinary Martial Art lose fertility, a cost attributed to becoming partially non-human. 52
• Cultivating two incompatible Extraordinary Martial Arts normally causes fatal bloodline conflict and genetic collapse. 106 127
• Prolonged use can influence a practitioner’s temperament and physiology toward the nature of the Demonic Creature whose bloodline they carry. 106

Known Traditions and Lineages

Tradition / Sect	Associated Martial Arts	Notes
Divine Martial Gate	Original Ancient Martial Arts	The first Ancient Martial Arts sect and ancestor of later schools; it helped establish the Wu Dynasty before its destruction. 67 135
Dragon Gate	Dragon Shape Five Forms; Golden Python Four Forms; Golden Python Transformation Dragon Technique	Preserves Tongli, fighting, internal-refinement, external, and limit-breaking methods. 22 25 52
Silver Ring Gate	Silver Snake Sword; Silver Dragon Sword Art	Its Silver Snake Sword is a Qian Dynasty assassination sword art built around concealed aura and hidden weapons. 61 62
Iron Crane Gate	Iron Beak Flying Crane	A former branch of the Southern Saint Sect. 60 93
Giant Elephant Gate	Giant Elephant Eight Forms; Demonic Elephant Transformation	A former branch of the Southern Saint Sect. 60 108
Star Luo Gate	Stars Scattered Across the Sky	A former branch of the Southern Saint Sect. 60 108
Demon Ape / Violent Ape Gate	Long Arm Agile Ape Staff; Violent Ape Transformation	A former branch of the Southern Saint Sect. 60 108

Modern Status and Regulation

Ancient Martial Arts are expensive and tightly controlled. Even comparatively ordinary manuals such as Body Tempering Art, Black Tiger Fist, and Fang Wolf Saber cost hundreds of thousands to millions of Hesia Yuan on the dark web, while stronger inheritances are generally retained by sects. 6

Most sects preserve their manuals in restricted Transmission Rooms and prioritize internal refinement over external arts, treating their accumulated heritage as the foundation of the sect. 31

The Martial Arts Committee regulates the Ancient Martial Arts world as a largely neutral state body. It does not normally intervene in martial artists’ internal grievances, but it prohibits Ancient Martial Artists from harming ordinary people or publicly displaying extraordinary power in ways that threaten social order. 56 57 77

Challenges between sects are considered legitimate, and a sect’s reputation is treated as inseparable from its material interests. Disciples are expected to defend their sect when it is challenged, even at severe personal risk. 24 59