The Beginning of the Martial Ancestor

"The beginning of martial arts should be founded upon the physical body."

"The human body has twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians. While in the womb, fetal breathing relies entirely on the meridians being unobstructed. Yet once one is born and touches the earth, turbid qi rushes into the face and blocks the meridians."

"Thus, the first step in cultivation is to use qi to open the meridians."

"For those of the highest grade, all twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians are open."

"For those of the middle grade, the twelve regular meridians and the Ren and Du Meridians are unobstructed."

"For those of the lowest grade, six regular meridians and the Ren and Du Meridians are unobstructed."

"This realm is called the Meridian Opening Realm. Once it is achieved, one can cleanse the meridians and marrow, sharpen the ears and eyes, strengthen the body, and walk through water without any hindrance."

"After opening the meridians comes filling the Acupoints. The Acupoints are where the meridians connect. There are three hundred and sixty-five regular meridian acupoints and three hundred and fifty-five extraordinary meridian acupoints, for a total of seven hundred and twenty acupoints. Each acupoint contains a heaven and earth, and qi is nurtured and stored within it."

"There are countless Acupoints, and the amount of qi required is vast and boundless. Thirty-six acupoints marks a minor accomplishment, seventy-two a major accomplishment, and one hundred and eight allows entry into the next realm."

"Different Acupoints provide different forms of physical enhancement."

"This realm is called the Qi Nourishing Realm. Once one reaches this realm, the qi within the Acupoints can be released externally to slay enemies."

"After Qi Nourishing comes awakening the blood and tempering the body. This realm requires one to be of a race with a powerful physique, whether demon or barbarian, and consume its essence blood. Using the qi within the body to guide it, one makes one's own blood resist it, awakening new blood. Tempering the body with this new blood makes the physical body no less defensive than a Buddhist vajra."

"This realm is called the Blood Changing Realm. The blood can be changed repeatedly, with nine times being the limit. Changing the blood carries the danger of death, so one must act according to one's limits."

Chen Luo let out a long breath. The enormous stream of information was incredibly complicated, including the locations of the meridians, the methods of circulating them, the acupoints along each meridian, the functions of those acupoints, and so on. Amid this sea of information, Chen Luo finally sorted out a systematic path of cultivation...

A typical martial artist's path!

I'm a handsome and dashing young man, yet I have to take the road of becoming a muscle tyrant too?

Was this the Great Scholar's Literary Heart?

What kind of Great Scholar was this?!

From the information Chen Luo had received, there were only three realms: "Meridian Opening," "Qi Nourishing," and "Blood Changing." Yet no matter how he looked at them, these realms seemed to be laying the foundation.

Chen Luo's gaze turned toward the door in the distance. Perhaps the information about the next realm lay beyond that door.

After absorbing all this information, Chen Luo looked around, unsure how to leave this space. He lifted his leg and felt that the force which had previously blocked his advance had weakened considerably. Thus, he strode forward. But just as he had walked two meters, reaching the spot where the light figure had stood, his vision blurred—

In the real world, Chen Luo slowly opened his eyes...

"Senior Brother, are there any results?" Within the Confucian Temple, Su Liancheng asked an energetic old man. The old man stared fixedly at the place where the wormhole had vanished, as though two streaks of azure light were shooting from his eyes.

"This wormhole should have been formed through the combined efforts of two Edge-of-the-World Gu. Its other end leads to Mingzhou, a thousand li away!" The old man stroked his long beard beneath his chin, then continued, "However, Junior Brother, you blew the wormhole apart, causing Space Turbulence. There are three possible destinations in total."

"The first is to the north, roughly at the border of Suzhou; the second is to the south, at the border of Jingzhou; the last is Zhili, not far from the Central Capital."

"If you want more precise information, this old man will need more clues."

Wei Yan nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Brother Wen. Chen Luo is now the Imperial-Sanctioned Earl of Wan'an, which is enough for the Town Profound Division to take action. I'll draft a document at once and have the Town Profound Division offices in these three regions search for Chen Luo."

Chen Luo opened his eyes, feeling an intense pain stabbing throughout his body. Not far away, Lian Ai lay on the ground in black robes, her face concealed beneath them.

Chen Luo looked around. This seemed to be the bottom of a cliff, with towering precipices rising on either side.

"Master, you're awake!" The Black Cat's voice, Dai Zong, rang out in Chen Luo's mind.

"What happened?"

"Master, the teleportation passage was destroyed earlier, and you and that woman were both thrown here."

Chen Luo struggled to prop himself up and climb to his feet. Fortunately, although his entire body ached, his bones were unharmed.

"What happened to her?"

"Reporting to my lord, she should have been injured by Space Turbulence." Zhong Kui's voice sounded at that moment. "At the critical moment, the Spirit of the Secret Realm intervened and annihilated part of the secret realm's space to resist the turbulence. That was why my lord escaped injury!"

Chen Luo laboriously stood up. He looked at the rubble by his feet, then at the still-unconscious Lian Ai, wondering whether he should go over and finish her off. However, to be cautious, Chen Luo picked up a suitably sized stone and hurled it viciously at Lian Ai.

Just as the stone was one meter from Lian Ai, a streak of white light suddenly emerged from her body and sliced the stone in half.

Holy crap, passive defense!

As expected of the Xianxia World—she even had protective treasures on her.

Trying to finish her off was indeed impossible. Better to play it safe!

"Let's escape first..." Chen Luo made up his mind and once again studied the surroundings. To leave the cliff, he first had to choose the right direction. In his previous life, Chen Luo had been something of an outdoor hiking enthusiast, so he had plenty of experience.

He picked up a branch, carefully examined its patterns, then placed one end on the ground and held the other in his hand, making the branch stand perpendicular to the ground at a ninety-degree angle.

Chen Luo took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and silently chanted in his heart, "Exit, exit!"

Then he released his grip. The branch fell, and the end he had been holding toppled toward the right side of Chen Luo.

"This way." Chen Luo was certain.

That's right, Chen Luo's experience was: leave it to fate!

Chen Luo cautiously walked more than thirty meters before turning around and seeing that Lian Ai was still lying in the same place without moving.

Hopefully she's dead... A thought flashed through Chen Luo's mind, but he still broke into a mad sprint!

The sky gradually darkened. Chen Luo no longer knew how far he had fled. At that moment, his mouth was parched and his stomach was growling with hunger. His heart gradually sank. He could hold out for one more day at most. If he failed to find food and water after a day, then even before Lian Ai caught up with him, he would have no strength left to move and would be trapped to death beneath this cliff.

Looking at the Black Cat lying beside him, Chen Luo sighed. It wasn't that he hadn't considered sending Dai Zong and Zhong Kui to seek help first, but the Book Spirit couldn't leave its master by too great a distance—not for now, at least. Ultimately, Chen Luo was simply too weak.

"Let's try the cultivation method recorded in the Great Scholar's Literary Heart!"

Now that he was far from Lian Ai, Chen Luo finally pulled himself together and decided to try cultivating martial arts. As for the fourth kind of qi mentioned by the Great Scholar's image, he had already thought of it: Red Dust Qi.

"First, give rise to a sense of qi within the body."

Chen Luo sank his mind inward and sensed the ball of Seven-Colored Mist the size of a basketball within him.

"Draw forth internal qi and drive it through the meridians."

Chen Luo's consciousness pulled out a thread of Red Dust Qi. Following the locations of the meridians explained in the Great Scholar's Literary Heart, he found one and poured the Seven-Colored Mist into it.

Chen Luo's entire body shuddered. As soon as the Red Dust Qi entered the meridian, it seemed to encounter layer upon layer of obstacles. Every inch it advanced consumed a portion of it, while a corresponding location within his body began to throb with pain.

"It works!" Yet Chen Luo ignored the pain. He realized that Red Dust Qi could truly merge with this path—it really was the fourth kind of qi mentioned by the Great Scholar's image!

Chen Luo focused his mind more deeply, continuously extracting Red Dust Qi from the basketball-sized mass of mist and pouring it into the meridian.

The Hand Greater Yin Lung Meridian—open!

The Hand Reverting Yin Pericardium Meridian—open!

The Hand Lesser Yin Heart Meridian—open!

The Hand Yang Brightness Large Intestine Meridian—open!

The Hand Lesser Yang Triple Burner Meridian—open!

The Hand Greater Yang Small Intestine Meridian—open!

Chen Luo opened his eyes once more. Without realizing it, an entire night had passed, and he had opened six meridians.

Chen Luo sensed Red Dust Qi circulating through these six meridians. A vigorous vitality had appeared within his body, and he no longer felt tired or hungry.

"It really works!"

Chen Luo was overjoyed, but at that moment, an unpleasant odor also emanated from his body. Some black material had surfaced on his skin.

"Cleansing the meridians and marrow. It forced out the impurities blocking the meridians!"

"Let's keep moving. It would be great if I could find a water source."

Chen Luo took off his shirt, gave himself a rough wipe, and continued onward.

Just as Chen Luo had opened all six meridians, Lian Ai, who had remained unconscious the entire time, lightly trembled her long eyelashes. Then, a pair of beautiful eyes opened...

The spring tide rose level with the sea.

I bet China will win.

Germany is playing France tonight, and the national team is playing Syria. It'll be another sleepless night.

(Crying) Don't complain about why I didn't finish her off. It was explained in the story: I was worried that she might have other protective treasures...