Practical Combat

The Falling Leaf Spear Technique contained only a very brief description of the Unity Realm, calling it the union of body and mind, the union of strength and qi, the union of skill and physique. No longer bound by form, every move and stance possessed tremendous might.

If a Second Blood Forging martial artist could step into the realm where skill and art became one, they could even bridge the gap in physique brought by Blood Forging and contend against certain Third Blood Forging practitioners!

Such a gap was undoubtedly a qualitative transformation.

Wu Ming now had a very clear understanding of the martial path. For instance, advancing from First Blood Forging to Second Blood Forging brought only a modest increase in strength; the greater transformation lay in the toughness of the skin and flesh, granting stronger endurance and resistance.

When both sides wore full armor, a Second Blood Forging martial artist whose skills had reached mastery could generally handle three or four First Blood Forging opponents of equal mastery. Any more than that, and it was often difficult to confront them head-on.

But Third Blood Forging was different.

After Third Blood Forging, Blood Qi tempered the entire body through the meridians. Not only did it further transform the muscles, it also began to seep into the fascia of the limbs, greatly enhancing explosive force and entering an entirely different realm.

Even if ten Second Blood Forging martial artists joined forces, they could not stand against a Third Blood Forging expert. That was why, once one reached Third Blood Forging, their status and position would undergo earth-shaking changes.

Among the major powers, only those at Third Blood Forging could truly gain attention.

But,

If one's skill could reach the Unity Realm, then even at merely Second Blood Forging, one could contend with Third Blood Forging. Yet according to Wu Ming's understanding, even among Third Blood Forging practitioners, very few had cultivated their skills to Unity.

Wu Ming did not dwell on it for long and soon gathered his thoughts. Whether Third Blood Forging or Unity of Skill and Art, both remained far too distant for him. The path of martial arts required one step at a time, tempering oneself as one pressed onward.

He sensed the state of the Blood Qi within his dantian.

After nine consecutive days of training, Wu Ming had cultivated nine strands of Blood Qi, all of which had been drawn into his dantian. The mass of Blood Qi within had grown by nearly a tenth, but Second Blood Forging was still far away.

Based on Wu Ming's senses and rough estimates, given his current meals and training method, even with a soul stronger than ordinary people's and the ability to reduce unnecessary Qi and Blood expenditure through his minute-level perception, it would probably still take at least a year to accumulate enough Blood Qi to meet the standard for Second Blood Forging.

To speed up that progress, he needed to eat better or obtain better nourishment.

But that required money.

A great deal of silver.

Having cultivated Quivering Spear Force and entered the realm of Scattered Hand, I'm already qualified to take on some work for money and improve my meals a little. But before that, I'd better get some more practical combat training... being able to fight and actually fighting are still not quite the same.

Wu Ming considered this inwardly.

The Seven Martial Alliance's martial academy was actually also a suitable place to practice fighting. In the neighboring courtyard was a broad training ground, where many young martial artists entered each day to spar and exchange techniques.

In truth, crossing from Scattered Hand into mastery was difficult through rigid practice alone. What one needed was practical combat experience. Even a Scattered Hand martial artist could find a manual like the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, train for a while, and eventually learn several moves. But being able to use several of its moves, or even all of them, did not mean one had reached the level of mastery.

Mastery.

One had to train until, in actual combat, no matter the circumstances, one's stance never fell apart and one could always flexibly employ every technique. Only then was it true mastery, where everything had been thoroughly integrated.

It was much like cultivating the essence of Quivering Spear Force—training that technique of exerting force until it was understood inside out, until it could be brought forth at any time. The mastery realm was the same: every move and stance had to be trained into one's bones, forged into muscle memory that could be wielded freely in real combat.

"Whew."

Wu Ming let out a breath, walked over to the water vat in the distance, gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and washed his face. After a brief rest, he carried his ox-tendon spear out of the training courtyard and headed toward another courtyard to the north.

Passing through the round stone archway, he saw another broad expanse before him. This ground had been divided into seven or eight sections—some were bare earth, some were wooden fighting platforms, some were paved entirely with blue bricks, and there was even a shallow pond.

A few scattered groups of people stood around each of the separated areas.

"Good!"

A cheer suddenly rang out.

Wu Ming glanced over and saw two young martial artists fighting on the nearest field. One wielded a broadsword and used strength to crush finesse, forcibly pinning down the other's sword before sweeping out with his leg and knocking him to the ground.

Among the few onlookers nearby, someone noticed Wu Ming approaching and immediately turned to him with a smile.

"Wu Ming? You came too? Planning to get some practice in yourself?"

The speaker was Chen Gui.

Over the past seven or eight days, Wu Ming and Chen Gui had interacted many times and become considerably more familiar. There was less politeness between them now.

Given Chen Gui's family circumstances, as the son of a wealthy household in the city, he had not originally needed to enter the Seven Martial Alliance's Outer Hall. But he had three elder brothers, all with greater martial talent than his. He possessed only "lower-upper" aptitude. Though he never lacked food or clothing at home, he held little status, and in the future he would not even inherit the family business—at most, he would inherit a single shopfront.

Chen Gui was young, and naturally unwilling to settle for that. He had therefore left home on his own initiative and joined the Seven Martial Alliance, wanting to rely on his own ability to gather a group of followers, temper his martial skills, and carve out a family fortune by his own merits, so his family could see what he was capable of.

"I'll watch first."

Wu Ming walked to one side, greeted Chen Gui, then watched the two men sparring ahead.

Chen Gui took the initiative to come over, grinning as he said, "I told you long ago, martial arts can't be trained as dead moves. Moves are dead, but people are alive. You have to go through real combat to develop true skill. Otherwise, no matter how well you train your form, once you start fighting for real, you might find yourself lacking a little here and a little there. Come on, come on, go get a set of leather armor. I'll practice with you today."

Among the batch of young martial artists who had recently joined the Seven Martial Alliance, Chen Gui had come to know quite a few people. But if there was one he valued most, Wu Ming undoubtedly ranked first. On one hand, Wu Ming's "middle-lower" aptitude might not qualify him for the Inner Hall, but in the Outer Hall, it was outstanding. Reaching Second Blood Forging would basically not be difficult for him, and even if his comprehension were poor, his skills would one day reach the level of mastery.

Of course,

If that were all, Chen Gui would not have valued him so highly. After all, he came from a wealthy family, and both his father's and grandfather's generations had been Third Blood Forging experts. One of his own elder brothers was even in the Seven Martial Alliance's Inner Hall. The main reason was that after interacting with Wu Ming many times, he had discovered that Wu Ming not only had decent martial aptitude, but also possessed unique insights into business.

Several days earlier, while they had been eating together, Wu Ming had casually mentioned things like "productive capacity," "supply and demand," and "the market," leaving Chen Gui astonished. Though he himself had only a vague understanding of such concepts, he had been born into a wealthy household and exposed to all kinds of business from childhood. Wu Ming, meanwhile, came from a poor commoner's family and had grasped these things on his own. That was truly rare. If Wu Ming could become his right-hand man in the future, he would certainly help him build a great enterprise.

After all, in this world, only those who possessed both martial strength and a shrewd mind could earn money while standing tall.

"Fine, then let's practice."

Seeing that Chen Gui's enthusiasm was hard to refuse, and since he himself truly intended to train in practical combat, Wu Ming immediately went to borrow a set of leather armor and put it on. The armor was covered in blade marks and sword scars, practically a severely battle-damaged version, but it was not torn and still offered protection.

With blades and swords left unsharpened, and a set of leather armor over one's body, even if one made a misstep and failed to dodge in time, a martial artist's powerful physique meant they would generally suffer only superficial injuries.