Martial Arts

Biodata

Power Progression

Foundations

Innate Qi

Innate Qi is the physical foundation of Martial Arts, possessed by humans and other carbon-based life forms. Martial artists train and stimulate it so that every part of the body develops and connects through Innate Qi. Its growth consumes psionic energy. 8

• Progress normally depends on arduous practice, aptitude, and willpower rather than visible measurements. Those without psionic vision must judge their progress through feeling alone. 8
• Martial Arts emphasizes turning the intangible into the real: physical transformation, combat experience, and an indomitable belief in oneself. 8
• Lan Yi's use of Cang Hua can bypass much of the normal process by remodeling nerve clusters and Innate Qi with psionic energy. 8 9
• In Artificial Divine Realm 1909, martial artists created by Lan Yi require Cang Hua-supplied psionic energy for sustained cultivation and combat. 11

Mindscapes and Mind Power

A Spirit Cultivation practitioner's Mindscape is the manifestation of their most extreme and resolute will. Mental attacks arise when that will, martial philosophy, and Innate Qi alter the brain and project a domineering intent that can distort reality or influence others. 89

• Mindscapes can make attacks difficult to distinguish from reality, as Huo Yuanjia observes while learning the Spirit Cultivation chapter of Zhu Yan Tramples Mountains. 11
• Individual Mindscapes reflect personal martial arts: Kuang Yimin's Returning Horse Spear becomes a near-guaranteed mental strike, while Sun Lutang and Li Shuwen manifest tiger and flood-dragon imagery. 54
• A Dharma Form is the completed materialization of a martial artist's strongest concept and mindset. 149

Combat Capabilities and Limitations

• Qi Cultivation practitioners can throw crushed masonry with enough force to penetrate flesh through clothing within fifty meters. 14
• Enhanced speed, strength, and resilience allow practitioners to overwhelm ordinary infantry and cross short distances before conventional soldiers can react. 14 34
• Innate Qi does not make a martial artist invulnerable: heavy-machine-gun fire can tear through their bodies and kill them. 15
• In mass warfare, artillery, explosives, poison gas, flamethrowers, and heavy weapons remain serious threats to Qi Cultivation practitioners. 22
• Human-form and Dharma Form practitioners are vastly more dangerous than Qi Cultivation practitioners, but conventional forces can still exploit range, preparation, and specialized Daoist Arts. 38
• Early-stage Martial Arts is generally less suited than Daoist Arts to long-range destruction, such as sinking ironclad ships. Mind power, however, can be more practical for covert killing and direct confrontation. 77

Known Inheritances

Dual Cultivation with Daoist Arts

Martial Arts and Daoist Arts are presented as complementary orthodox paths: Daoist Arts use Destiny Clusters, knowledge, and psionic energy, while Martial Arts uses Innate Qi, training, and will. 8

Their early stages can nevertheless conflict. Daoist Arts relies on reason and understanding, while Martial Arts demands a belief and instinct that cannot be fully replaced by knowledge or forced advancement. Lan Yi finds that attempting to use Daoist Arts knowledge to shortcut Dharma Form cultivation risks creating an unstable, self-destructive external demon. 32

For Lan Yi, the conflict begins to resolve after he reaches Cultivating Heavenly Palace in Daoist Arts and Dharma Form in Martial Arts. At that point, Daoist Arts supplies precise manipulation while Martial Arts supplies broad control over forces such as light, heat, electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak forces. 151

History in Artificial Divine Realm 1909

Before Lan Yi's arrival, prominent martial artists in 1909 had not reached Qi Cultivation. Their traditional techniques could not reliably withstand volleys of gunfire, despite the resolve represented by figures such as Huo Yuanjia and the Jingwu Gymnastics Association. 6 8

Lan Yi publicly redefined the era's understanding of martial arts by creating a five-meter-wide crater with a distant punch, then chose Huo Yuanjia as the first recipient of Bestowing Martial Arts. He used Cang Hua and psionic energy to rebuild Huo's Innate Qi and establish a new cultivation benchmark. 8 9

After Huo Yuanjia entered Spirit Cultivation, Lan Yi expanded the system into a political and military force. Prospective recipients were required to cut off their queues before receiving martial arts, tying cultivation to rebellion against Qing rule and foreign influence. 11 12

The movement later used Golden Men beneath the Thunder Pool Immortal Lotus to cleanse new recruits, support Innate Qi cultivation, and identify whether candidates possessed Destiny Clusters. This enabled rapid production of Qi Cultivation practitioners across Puhai and its surrounding regions. 29

By 1914, the Star Han Empire fielded ten million Human-form Martial Artists and thirty-six Dharma Form Martial Artists. Martial Arts had become central to its warfare, industry, and expansion, operating alongside Daoist Arts and modern technology. 71 100

Fifty years of development in Artificial Divine Realm 1909 produced a rapidly evolving body of Martial Arts philosophy. The empire's strongest practitioners, including Huo Yuanjia, Zhao Jian, and Zhao Sikong, later demonstrated Dharma Forms and instructed others through direct sparring and exposition. 184