A Thought Opens Heaven and Earth

In Da Qing 281, the Qing He Gang formed a feud with the roving bandit force, the White Poplar Gang.

You went into battle and cut down thirteen men in a row, but your body gained many wounds as well, blood streaming everywhere—if the Iron Body Technique had still been at Perfection, your injuries would have been half as severe.

After one year, the Iron Body Technique's mastery had been dispersed down to Minor Accomplishment. Your Iron Body Technique cultivation had fallen to 50%, and in another year, the dispersal would be complete.

"There are two kinds of bonuses from Martial Arts." Yun Shou summarized based on the martial arts memories in his mind and the simulation's contents.

The first was that once you practiced a Martial Art, regardless of its mastery level, the speed at which your Martial Cultivation improved remained the same. Your Foundation would be influenced by that Martial Art and become a little stronger than normal.

The second was mastery level. A Third-rate Martial Artist could also reach "Martial Skill Perfection," while a Grandmaster of a generation could merely be at "Martial Arts Initiation." Depending on the level of mastery, different Martial Arts gained different additional enhancements, such as greater strength or increased agility.

In Da Qing 282, you completely dispersed your cultivation. Though you were still a Second-rate Martial Artist and possessed 141% Foundation, around 17% of it—roughly 24%—had turned into Iron Body Technique sediment. It was destined that only the remaining 83%, or 117%, of attribute-free Foundation could allow you to reach First-Rate through a new cultivation art.

Of each year's increase, only 0.83% Foundation could improve permanently. The remaining 0.17% would become fixed strength belonging to the Second-Rate Iron Body Technique.

Your combat power fell to rock bottom, equivalent only to an ordinary Second-rate Martial Artist. Within the Green Thousand Gang, your rank as the "Seventh Seat" had fallen to the "Fifteenth Seat" over these two years.

"When the water is shallow, turtles abound. A fart-sized gang managed to set up more than ten seats." Yun Shou was speechless.

In Da Qing 283, Zhu Baowen leisurely asked you, "Do you regret dispersing your cultivation?"

I'm only stacking lifespan and increasing my Foundation anyway. You answered without hesitation, "Not in the slightest. I believe in Master Zhu!"

Zhu Baowen laughed heartily and pressed a finger to your brow, imparting to you a text called the "Primordial Chaos Art."

The "Primordial Chaos Art" was a Martial Art that could not be used to train or advance Martial Cultivation, yet its function was a supreme support—it could dissolve sedimented Foundation! It allowed Foundation fixed in place by dispersing cultivation to continue improving!

This was an unimaginable divine art. The Iron Body Technique was merely a common commodity, nothing top-tier, while the "Primordial Chaos Art" allowed you to cast off old cultivation arts without leaving any sediment behind and switch to stronger Martial Arts at no cost!

You bowed deeply toward the direction Zhu Baowen had departed in. He waved a hand, then vanished from the end of your sight in the blink of an eye.

After that, you never saw him again in the Hun Yuan Sheng Mie Children's Martial Arts Hall, nor anywhere in all of Qingcheng.

When you thought of the enemy army reaching the city walls five years later, you went numb.

Fortunately, you still had a full five years. Qing Kingdom and Wu Kingdom had not even begun declaring war yet, leaving you plenty of room to maneuver.

In Da Qing 284, you used the "Primordial Chaos Art" to erase every trace of the Iron Body Technique. Now, all 100%—143%—of your Foundation was pure Foundation that could improve without limit, while you had become the most basic Second-rate Martial Artist, with no cultivation art attributes or mastery-level bonuses whatsoever.

You requested permission from Gang Leader Xu Ruohai to learn his excellent Martial Art, the "Water Dragon Skill."

Xu Ruohai said, "So this is why you dispersed your cultivation, brat? Fine. Since you want it so badly, I'll give it to you!"

Xu Ruohai was inwardly delighted, because your dispersal of cultivation was equivalent to crippling your own potential. You had almost no chance of threatening him anymore, so showing greater generosity would make it easier for him to win people's hearts.

He announced that anyone who, like you, intended to disperse their cultivation and start anew would be personally granted the Water Dragon Skill—though this did not apply to new gang members who had no Martial Arts in the first place.

But there was probably no second person willing to follow in your footsteps, dispersing their cultivation just to seek a new art. Though the Water Dragon Skill was a little stronger than the Iron Body Technique, it was not much stronger. It was absolutely not worth sacrificing Foundation for.

Upon reaching Initiation in the Water Dragon Skill, you discovered that your skin had become smoother, as though your affinity with water had risen considerably.

In Da Qing 285, through your persuasion and a certain amount of financial support, quite a few acquaintances secretly left the Qing He Gang and relocated to towns deeper within the interior.

Old Man Wang was even among them. Under the open protection of you, then a "Qing He Gang member," he lived more than a full decade longer than his original fate. His death back then must have been due to an accident or illness.

Three months later, war broke out.

In Da Qing 286, you once again heard tales from the front lines of that peerless fierce general who possessed "Dragon Elephant Power."

You walked along the shores of Green Lake. Over these past days, the people in every fishing village had noticeably dwindled, forcibly conscripted and sent to the front. Even the Qing He Gang had grown somewhat quieter, with thirty members enlisting.

The Qing He Gang counted as a semi-official force, so naturally it had to contribute something during a national war.

With the Water Dragon Skill at Minor Accomplishment, you discovered that your Internal Force had gained a supple quality.

In Da Qing 287, your Martial Cultivation, which had stagnated for several years due to dispersing your cultivation, began advancing again. On this day, you finally completed Blood Replacement and Muscle Condensation. Only External Qi Projection remained before you became a First-rate Martial Artist.

One month later, at the Grandmaster Assembly held by the Daoist Sect, the Grandmasters from Wu Kingdom who had come at the invitation were lured into a trap and slaughtered—six dead and three wounded.

The Qing Kingdom army's morale surged, and in the blink of an eye, it counterattacked and seized another prefecture.

You knew that Wu Kingdom's Supreme Grandmaster was about to emerge. Seizing an opportunity, you directly took flight far away, leaving the Qing He Gang with your silver and distancing yourself from Qingcheng.

Counting the simulations, after several decades across four lifetimes, you were finally about to walk out of this tiny patch of heaven and earth!

A broader world, a broader Jianghu, awaited you right before your eyes!

Yun Shou let out a breath. "At last, I'm finally leaving the newbie village. Then again, a Second-rate Martial Artist has already reached the strength standard for walking the Jianghu."

Other than traveling merchants, most ordinary people would spend their entire lives living in the same region, their range of movement never exceeding a hundred li in any direction.

As for Third-rate Martial Artists, traveling this land alone still carried considerable danger. Mountain bandits, robbers, and the illnesses and disasters brought by wind and rain could all snuff out their lives.

Most Third-rate Martial Artists were roughly positioned as "guards." Either they watched over the homes and estates of wealthy families, or they escorted trade caravans—and even then, it was usually group escort work.

Second-rate Martial Artists, possessing the strange power known as "Internal Force," experienced not merely a great rise in strength. Internal Force could even allow them to "force toxins out of the body" and "temporarily replenish stamina."

Internal Force was amazing, wasn't it?

Many sects and martial arts schools required their disciples to reach the Second-rate level before permitting them to leave and gain experience.

As for First-rate Martial Artists, they were already "martial arts experts" renowned throughout a region, even "Jianghu heroes." Their Internal Force transformed into Force Qi that could be projected outward; they could leave no trace upon snow and cross rivers by walking on water. Many famous First-rate Martial Artists only attained that level in their thirties or forties, becoming Renowned Figures of a region!

"Martial Masters can shake an entire city with their name. They can kill with Force Qi from a hundred paces away, impossible to guard against, and can already contend with organized armies."

"Grandmasters can establish sects and make their names known under heaven. They walk on level ground amid forests of spears and rain of arrows, and with a casual backhand can collapse houses and shatter buildings."

"Beyond that are Supreme Grandmasters, whom even city walls cannot stop, and existences even higher, like Zhu Baowen..."