"Houtian Martial Artists were divided into nine stages because there were nine key acupoints obstructing the smooth flow of their meridians."
"As vital energy grew stronger, breaking through each acupoint checkpoint would open one meridian, raising one's strength by a stage and increasing one's power by a hundred jin."
"Once all nine checkpoints were opened and the nine meridians connected, forming a circulation throughout the body, one would reach the peak of a Houtian Martial Artist. After that, by comprehending the Power of Heaven and Earth and transforming vital energy into Xiantian True Qi, one would be considered to have entered the realm of a Xiantian Martial Artist."
Shen Zhui pondered inwardly and began circulating the Bloodburn he had cultivated for three years.
The Bloodburn was bestowed by the imperial court. It was named so because when circulated, it sent the blood and qi in the body boiling, making practitioners feel as though their blood were burning.
The first three parts each corresponded to the early, middle, and late stages of a Houtian Martial Artist.
Once all three parts had been mastered, one could reach Peak Houtian, comprehend the Power of Heaven and Earth, and become a Xiantian Martial Artist.
The first three parts of the Bloodburn were the most basic cultivation art issued by the imperial court. They were intended to cultivate the strength of the most ordinary martial artists, and their greatest advantage was that they produced results quickly!
When the first acupoint checkpoint was broken through, the vital energy in the body would also break through the small meridians surrounding it, forcibly expanding the meridians' capacity and allowing a greater amount of vital energy to accumulate. Layer upon layer of additional vital energy would then crash toward the next acupoint with an overbearing, fierce momentum.
"Compared with the secret arts of other aristocratic clans and great clans, the Bloodburn progresses extremely quickly during the early stages of cultivation. It may even allow someone to break through the limitations of their innate talent. But its shortcomings are obvious as well: the further one cultivates, the greater its might—and the more small meridians it damages."
Thus, breaking through to become a Xiantian Martial Artist was also more difficult than it was for disciples of ordinary aristocratic clans.
However, the advantages and disadvantages of this cultivation art had been explained clearly when Shen Zhui entered the Martial Arts Department three years ago. Naturally, he had no reason to complain.
Techniques could not be passed on lightly. At the time, he had been penniless and of low status. If he had not cultivated the Bloodburn, he would never have been able to set foot on the martial path. Perhaps he would still be an ordinary pauper to this day.
"I've now begun cultivating the third part of the Bloodburn and broken through the seventh acupoint checkpoint. If I can reach the Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm, I'll be able to take on cases of a higher grade and accumulate more Merit Points."
Shen Zhui took a small bottle containing Lesser Vitality Pills from his robes, poured out one pill, swallowed it, and began circulating his cultivation art.
"Thump-thump! Thump-thump!"
All sounds had fallen silent around him. Once Shen Zhui focused completely on circulating his cultivation art, the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
Vital energy slowly flowed through the first seven acupoints, gathering and condensing.
Under Shen Zhui's control, it surged toward the eighth acupoint!
"Break!"
"Rumble~"
All the vital energy slammed into the eighth checkpoint, yet it seemed to have struck an invisible shackle that was utterly indestructible.
"As expected, I still need the help of pills." Shen Zhui smiled faintly.
He picked up Lesser Vitality Pills one after another and fed them into his mouth, strengthening the vital energy within him.
"Boom, boom, boom~!"
Inside his mind, it was as though waves were pounding against rocks, crashing again and again against that invisible barrier.
Yet no matter how many times Shen Zhui attacked, the eighth checkpoint remained as solid as a rock, blocking his breakthrough.
"This eighth acupoint is truly difficult to open." Shen Zhui was secretly startled.
He had already attacked it more than a hundred times and consumed twenty Lesser Vitality Pills!
He could even feel faint threads of pain, but he still had not broken through!
"Whoosh~"
A round, lustrous pill appeared in his hand, its surface a dark green.
The Great Return Pill!
It had been refined from dozens of precious medicinal herbs and was worth five hundred taels! Shen Zhui had originally planned to save it for the ninth checkpoint, but with the eighth checkpoint refusing to break through, he could no longer hold back.
He swallowed it in one gulp. A massive surge of vital energy instantly poured into his body, flowing mightily through the seven acupoints before converging with the vital energy stalled before the eighth checkpoint.
"Boom, boom~"
Amid unbearable pain, Shen Zhui controlled this flood of vital energy and sent it crashing forward...
"Crack, crack~"
At last, a hairline fissure appeared in the eighth checkpoint.
Once there was a fissure, things became easier.
Again and again, Shen Zhui bound the vital energy and sent it surging against the checkpoint barrier...
Finally!
"The eighth checkpoint is broken! Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm... I'm one step closer to becoming a Xiantian Martial Artist!"
Shen Zhui sighed with emotion. Cultivating the Bloodburn itself was not difficult; the difficult part was the pain produced when attacking the checkpoints.
Moreover, the further back the checkpoint, the pain increased by multiples.
His assault on the eighth checkpoint this time had nearly caused him to faint from the pain at the very moment he broke through.
"If the eighth checkpoint is already this painful, then the ninth checkpoint and the breakthrough to Xiantian... I can't even imagine it."
Of course, the price he had paid was worth it.
With every stage a Houtian Martial Artist advanced, his physical strength increased by a hundred jin.
Upon reaching the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm, one could attain a maximum strength of nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.
At the same time, each stage allowed one to condense a strand of Essence of Vital Energy. Essence of Vital Energy could be attached to weapons or used to strengthen one's limbs, erupting into additional power for a short time.
Assuming one completed the third part of the Bloodburn, it would also yield nine hundred and ninety-nine jin of strength. This was the ultimate shackle limiting Houtian Martial Artists.
However, when breaking through the acupoints, the Bloodburn forcibly opened some of the small meridians.
This allowed martial artists who cultivated the Bloodburn to possess greater combat strength. They could condense eighteen strands of Essence of Vital Energy!
"I'm at the Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm now. I'll probably be able to condense sixteen strands of Sword Qi soon. Although my strength is somewhat inferior to that of a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist, I've also cultivated the Ruler Technique to the Great Accomplishment Realm. Killing a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist shouldn't be difficult. As for Peak Houtian, that might be challenging."
"Still, I can try taking on a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm murder case."
Shen Zhui pondered carefully for a while.
The blade techniques, sword techniques, and other weapon arts learned by Houtian Martial Artists were generally divided into four realms: entry, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and perfection.
The first realm: the weapon must not harm the body before one could enter the realm.
For example, when using a whip against an enemy, if one missed the enemy and injured oneself instead, then using a weapon would be worse than fighting barehanded. The most basic condition for the entry realm was that the weapon could not become a burden.
Aside from relatively rare weapons such as whips and flying sky hammers, the entry realm could be mastered in as little as several days or as much as several months.
The second realm: wielding the weapon as naturally as one's own arm—this was Minor Accomplishment.
When one could use a weapon as easily as waving one's arm, and the techniques displayed a little of their true power, one could be considered to have achieved something.
Reaching this realm generally required years of arduous practice. Even those with limited comprehension might spend more than a decade and still only be considered to have reached Minor Accomplishment.
The third realm: Unity of Man and Weapon, with the grand Momentum already formed!
When weapon and wielder could communicate heart to heart, and both physical strength and technique reached an extremely profound and precise level, becoming one, a type of Momentum would form.
For example, the "Dripping Water Cannot Pierce" of swordsmanship, in which water could not splash through the space around one's body.
The endless shadows of a whip in whip techniques, the overlapping blade-light of blade techniques, and so on.
All of them gave people an extremely powerful sense of oppression!
This was Sword Momentum and Blade Momentum! It was impossible to reach without the Major Accomplishment Realm.
To reach this realm, arduous practice was secondary; comprehension was more important.
The fourth realm: Unity of Heaven and Man, with technique perfected.
This realm first required a martial artist to possess perfect control over their own strength.
If one threw a hundred punches, every punch had to carry exactly the same force, without the slightest deviation. Next, when one swung a blade, every slash had to land in the exact same spot, again without the slightest deviation.
Finally, and most importantly, one's strength and technique had to accord with the cycles of the Heavenly Dao. This realm had already brought technique close to the Dao.
It was difficult enough for Houtian Martial Artists to achieve perfect control over their strength, much less Unity of Heaven and Man. Thus, among Houtian Martial Artists, only the founders of techniques or geniuses with extraordinary comprehension could reach this realm.
"Unity of Man and Weapon, forming Momentum. With the system's Enlightenment Time, one day is worth a year of someone else's arduous practice, and I've trained for three years."
"I wonder what it really takes to achieve Unity of Heaven and Man..."
The next day, at the county office.
Inside a quiet Secret Chamber, Shen Zhui placed his waist tablet into a groove carved with mysterious patterns. An array of images resembling water screens then appeared before him.
The words on them were clearly visible, and each case even included images of the criminals.
"Establish Dao Laws to Oversee the Realm, Abolish Heretical Sacrifices to Seal All Gods. The Dao Laws and divine arts of this world are miraculous. I wonder how they achieved them..."
Even though he had seen it many times, Shen Zhui still could not help sighing in amazement.
Why could the Martial Arts Department capture people with perfect accuracy every time, and why were they always outside the city?
Because three feet above one's head, divine spirits watched!
Every city had a spell formation, and every city worshiped a deity.
Any case that occurred within a city could not escape the supervision of Divine Law!
Even outside the cities, beyond the range covered by Divine Law, sacrifices were carried out every few years to Summon Deity and expand the scope of supervision and patrol.
As long as something harmful to Heaven and reason or contrary to Zhou Dynasty Law occurred, no matter how much time had passed, the offender's information would be presented clearly and unmistakably.
It truly achieved the saying that three feet above one's head, divine spirits watched! No one dared to violate the law recklessly!
Of course, the more time that passed, the greater the price of such a manifestation. It was impossible for there to be no omissions at all.
"People say that three feet above one's head, divine spirits watch, but those powerful clans and great families probably have ways to avoid this surveillance. To render these methods useless, one can only rely on human investigation. And wherever humans investigate, there will be an opportunity to exploit."
After sighing for a while, Shen Zhui shook his head and began searching.
"Let's look for case files concerning Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artists."
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