Choice

What met Wu Ming's eyes was row upon row of wooden shelves, each lined with scrolls of Martial Path manuals. Signs hung from every shelf, with characters such as "Fist Techniques," "Palm Techniques," and "Blade Techniques" written in red brushstrokes, clearly dividing the different arts into distinct categories.

Before the many shelves lay a somewhat thinner booklet. Its yellowish-brown pages seemed to be made of leather, exceptionally tough and difficult to destroy. Several words were written on its cover: "Martial Arts Essentials."

Though this world revered martial prowess above all else, in villages like Wu Village, children would generally follow the village elders to learn reading and writing from the age of three or four. Most children loafed about and played tricks, but Wu Ming had studied earnestly. Though the village elders were not particularly learned, after studying with them for long enough, he could at least recognize all the basic characters.

"Martial Arts Essentials..."

Wu Ming stepped forward, picked up the leather-bound booklet, and carefully began reading after opening it.

—Humans are born frail, and thus must cultivate the Martial Path to contend against Demons. The so-called Martial Path is a method of strengthening the body and building one's own power. The essence of the human body lies in the blood. By condensing Blood Qi, one can stimulate the tendons, bones, skin, and flesh, causing each to transform.

Thus, every Martial Path in this world takes the condensation of Blood Qi as its foundation.

The contents of Martial Arts Essentials were written mostly in plain, straightforward language and were very easy to understand. Wu Ming already knew most of the earlier portions, including the foundation of Martial Path cultivation, the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance, which was also recorded within.

Skipping past the things he had long since known, Wu Ming turned directly to the section he needed.

—When Blood Qi is first condensed, it gathers in the dantian and travels through the meridians to stimulate the entire body. The physique will naturally grow stronger, reaching a full state after no more than a month. To further improve the physique afterward, the Blood Qi must undergo a second condensation.

To condense Blood Qi a second time, the foremost priority is "nourishing the blood"—in other words, replenishment. Meat must not be lacking from the three daily meals. Draw nourishment from meat to replenish one's blood essence, then practice various fist and kicking techniques to invigorate the whole body. This will naturally condense blood essence into Blood Qi. Gather and strengthen the Blood Qi until the dantian is full, then enter a state of stillness in body and mind. Guide the Blood Qi and gather it at a single point, and it will naturally transform. This is the Second Blood Forging...

As he read the many descriptions in Martial Arts Essentials, Wu Ming finally understood.

No wonder Wu Qu had never taught him the path of the Martial Path after Blood Forging. It turned out that after completing the First Blood Forging, the process leading to the Second Blood Forging had no specific cultivation method at all. It was entirely a process of accumulation and nourishment.

During this process, aside from eating one's fill of meat and drawing nourishment from it to replenish the body, the only requirement was to invigorate the entire body, allowing the absorbed nutrients to be fully transformed into Blood Qi. As for how to invigorate the body, that too was extremely flexible.

Any kind of fist and kicking technique—even blade, sword, or spear arts—would have the same effect of invigorating the body when practiced.

"In other words, at this stage, aside from accumulating and nourishing Blood Qi, the most important thing is to pair it with the practice of fist and kicking techniques. On one hand, they invigorate Blood Qi and aid its condensation. On the other, fist and kicking techniques are themselves a part of one's strength."

A thoughtful look appeared on Wu Ming's face.

In truth, everyone's physique and innate bones differed, so the directions of techniques suited to different people also differed. Some were more suited to fist techniques, some to leg techniques, while blade, spear, sword, and other arts could all be learned.

Take clan head Wu Qu, for example. Though Wu Ming had never seen him make a move, he knew that Wu Qu used a blade.

"I wonder whether Martial Arts Essentials has any introductions to suitable techniques."

Wu Ming continued reading and soon found that the latter half of Martial Arts Essentials did indeed teach one how to choose a technique. It was actually very simple: circulate Blood Qi and send it into the four limbs.

If the arms felt more unobstructed, fist techniques were more suitable. If the legs felt more unobstructed, then leg techniques were more suitable as the core.

"I'll give it a try."

After reading the explanation in Martial Arts Essentials, Wu Ming immediately gathered his thoughts. With a shift of his mind, the Blood Qi in his dantian was stirred, then surged through the meridians of his body toward his four limbs.

"Hmm, my arms seem slightly more unobstructed, but the difference is tiny."

Feeling the different sensations brought by the surging Blood Qi in his limbs, Wu Ming quickly judged that his arms were probably a little more unobstructed. Yet the gap was exceedingly small; only with his fine-grained perception could he barely distinguish it.

With such a minute difference, there was not much distinction in practicing any kind of technique. Martial Arts Essentials also recorded that modern martial arts, whether fist or leg techniques, were fairly comprehensive. Once practiced to a deep level, they would train the shoulders, waist, hips, and even every part of the body.

"Given my situation, among unarmed arts, fist techniques suit me best. As for weapons..."

A faint gleam flashed through Wu Ming's eyes. He had long since had an answer in his heart.

A spear!

They said it took a year to train with a blade, ten years to train with a spear. Among the many weapons, spear techniques were among the hardest to begin learning, but they were also among the handiest for dealing with Demons. Compared to blades and swords, spears were long weapons, with a far greater range in both attack and defense!

"Whether blade, sword, fist, or kicking techniques, once cultivated to a profound realm, the difficulty of practice is not all that different. The only difference lies in the beginner stage. It just so happens that I have strong control over my body and strong perception, so any technique should not be difficult for me to pick up."

Wu Ming's understanding was clear.

Once Martial Path techniques were cultivated to a profound level, their difficulty and intensity were much the same. As a long weapon, the spear held greater advantages against Demons. Its sole flaw was that it was harder to begin with, but he was confident that his abilities could make up for that. Taking everything into account, if he were choosing a weapon, spear techniques were naturally the most suitable choice.

At once,

Wu Ming closed Martial Arts Essentials, which he had read to the final page, and returned it to its original place. Then he looked toward the rows of wooden shelves and quickly made his way to the row devoted to spear techniques.

The shelves here also held booklets of manuals, likewise made from some kind of leather, old yet tough. Wu Ming also keenly noticed that the shelves in the spear technique row had noticeably more dust than those in the other rows.

Clearly,

Compared to the simpler fist, kicking, blade, and sword arts, spear techniques, which were harder to begin learning, were not particularly well regarded among the many martial practitioners. From the traces left behind, it was obvious that fewer people chose to practice spear techniques.

Wu Ming looked over the various spear techniques on the shelves, unable for the moment to tell which were good or bad. Besides, in his judgment, Martial Path techniques that could be casually placed in the outer hall for everyone to practice were probably not very different from one another.

He closed his eyes and randomly selected one.

"Falling Leaf Spear Technique."

Wu Ming glanced at the name of the spear technique on the cover, then opened it and began carefully examining and reading it.