Fusion of Martial Arts Unlocked

After returning from the ancestral hall to his own Western Residence, Meng Zhao had Lü Yue station men outside to stand guard. No one was to disturb him.

Then, excitement brimming within him, Meng Zhao sank his consciousness into the Sky-Illuminating Mirror and saw the new interface information.

Name: Meng Zhao

Physique: ????

Energy: 9700

Cultivation: Qi Accumulation into Sea (Opening a Lake-like Dantian)

Martial Arts:

Red Flag Order+

Sun Wheel Seal+

Flying Cloud Steps+

Arhat Young Monk Skill (Minor Mastery)+

Thirteen Arhat Hand Forms (Minor Mastery)+

Plum Blossom Stance Steps (Beginner)+

Fusion Martial Arts: Thirteen Arhat Hand Forms + Sun Wheel Seal (89)

Plum Blossom Stance Steps + Flying Cloud Steps (76)

Some of the information was almost unchanged from before, such as Meng Zhao's cultivation and the progress of certain martial arts.

Several new martial arts had also been added: the Red Flag Order, Sun Wheel Seal, and Flying Cloud Steps.

These three martial arts were the internal art, fist technique, and movement art that Meng Jizu had just broken down and explained to him word by word in the ancestral hall. They represented an upgrade to Meng Zhao's own martial arts system.

After learning what Meng Zhao had studied, Meng Jizu had carefully selected them specifically for him.

The purpose was to keep him from taking detours and allow him to improve himself as comprehensively as possible, without any shortcomings.

At the same time, Meng Zhao had brought back handwritten copies of the manuals for these three martial arts.

Clearly, Meng Jizu had feared that he would not be able to remember everything, so he had allowed him to bring them back for careful study.

If there was anything he did not understand, he could ask Meng Jizu or his Third Uncle, Meng Hongdao, for guidance at any time.

The Red Flag Order in particular was a martial art passed down through the Meng Family. It was immensely powerful, but its hidden dangers were great as well—a ticking time bomb. The deeper one's cultivation, the greater the risk.

Meng Jizu had demanded that Meng Zhao cultivate steadily and never greedily rush ahead for quick gains.

However, none of this was a problem for Meng Zhao. As long as he possessed sufficient energy points, it was as though he had the finest teacher in the world guiding him, while he himself possessed the greatest comprehension. No one else could compare.

The greatest change on the Sky-Illuminating Mirror's interface was the Fusion Martial Arts section.

It had changed from being closed to displaying two sets of martial arts that could be fused.

They were Luohan Fist and the Sun Wheel Seal, as well as Plum Blossom Stance Steps and Flying Cloud Steps.

At this moment, Meng Zhao's entire attention was fixed upon this. His eyes shone brightly, and the prayer beads in his hand spun faster and faster.

For fusion martial arts, in another sense, were an enhancement and optimization of foundational martial arts.

In other words, they gathered the strengths of different martial arts and fused them into an entirely new, stronger, higher-level martial art.

This was something only martial artists blessed with heaven-defying talent could accomplish.

The most famous example today was the Great Yong imperial clan's Ziwei World-Shining Art. It was said that Great Ancestor Beitang Gong had created this divine art from the surviving fragments of the Medieval Great Song Dynasty's Unrivaled Ultimate Skill, the Ziwei Flying Star Record, combined with his own learning.

Beitang Gong had relied on this art to subdue the heroes of the realm and ascend to the throne of the Great Emperor.

So that was it. Eighty-nine and seventy-six refer to the compatibility between the two martial arts that can be fused.

Generally speaking, as long as compatibility exceeds sixty, fusion is possible.

And once compatibility is above sixty, the higher it is, the greater the chance of a successful fusion.

From the information transmitted to him by the Sky-Illuminating Mirror, not every martial art could be fused with another. The Arhat Young Monk Skill and the Red Flag Order, for instance, could not.

There had to be a prerequisite.

That prerequisite was the compatibility—or affinity—between martial arts.

For example, flowers and champagne together represented celebration. The symbolism was excellent, and people could easily accept and understand it.

But flowers with cow dung, or flowers with mosquitoes and flies, were not so easily connected. Even if one forcibly mashed them together, the result would only be a mess.

Likewise, the requirements for compatibility were even higher when it came to martial arts.

A martial art with rigid, forceful techniques and ancient, unadorned moves was difficult to blend with one that leaned toward nimbleness and softness.

There were certainly quite a few martial arts that combined hardness and softness, but that did not mean any rigid martial art could be fused and derived with any yielding one.

The Sky-Illuminating Mirror was not a god. It could not conjure an overwhelmingly powerful divine art out of thin air for Meng Zhao to cultivate.

Its role was like that of an exceptionally capable teacher, able to guide a genius into becoming a powerhouse, but utterly unable to teach a weak-boned, dim-witted fool into becoming one just the same.

Or it could be compared to a chef, capable of cooking fine ingredients and seasonings into a delicacy, yet no matter how skilled, unable to turn stones and bark into something delicious.

This was its limitation, yet it also made it seem all the more real.

That means the Arhat Young Monk Skill and the Red Flag Order cannot be fused because their compatibility is below sixty.

But what if I find another martial art in the future, one that brings the compatibility of three martial arts up to the passing line, and then fuse and upgrade them?

This question lodged itself deeply in Meng Zhao's mind.

As for whether it could be realized, that would depend on whether he could find such a profound and exquisite internal cultivation method.

He was filled with anticipation.

After all, the Red Flag Order and the Arhat Young Monk Skill represented the trunk of his martial arts, their foundation, and his future.

Only with deeper roots and a stronger trunk could his future become broader.

If he could optimize and derive the Red Flag Order divine art, then wielding its might, surpassing Meng Shentong would not be empty talk.

Returning to the matter at hand, Meng Zhao suppressed his somewhat agitated excitement and considered it carefully.

The reason Luohan Fist and the Sun Wheel Seal, as well as Plum Blossom Stance Steps and Flying Cloud Steps, possessed such high compatibility was actually related to the complexity of both.

Whether Luohan Fist or Plum Blossom Stance Steps, both belonged to the foundations of their respective categories of martial arts, before emphasizing a particular trait.

For instance, besides containing basic fist techniques, cultivation methods, and force-exertion methods, Luohan Fist's defining trait was its fierce power and majestic force.

This aligned closely with the methods of the Sun Wheel Seal, which was why their compatibility was so high.

Beyond involving the cultivation of basic footwork and lightness techniques, Plum Blossom Stance Steps emphasized tempering the lower body. Its defining characteristic lay in its endlessly shifting variations—lively without descending into disorder.

Flying Cloud Steps, meanwhile, emphasized lightness and agility. The two did not conflict.

Or, to put it another way, the Sun Wheel Seal and Flying Cloud Steps were further improvements upon foundational martial arts. It was easier for them to fuse with and transform the traits of foundational martial arts, optimizing themselves.

It was equivalent to absorbing the essence and casting away the dross.

As for exactly what degree this could reach, and how far the fusion and optimization could advance, that still depended on the power of the Sky-Illuminating Mirror.

Once he understood all this, Meng Zhao became increasingly convinced that fusion martial arts were a shortcut for increasing his strength, even a shortcut toward the peak of martial arts—a shortcut that others could not catch even if they whipped their horses to death.

Whether it was the foundation for attaining the Dao or arts of protection and slaughter, he could use this to reach a level others could never attain.

As for his current direction of improvement, Meng Zhao had already made his plans.

The Red Flag Order would naturally take priority. It would be his foremost improvement and his primary cultivation method for some time to come.

The fusion methods would likewise be built around the Red Flag Order, Sun Wheel Seal, and Flying Cloud Steps.

This would not only bring the Sky-Illuminating Mirror's abilities into play, but also steadily strengthen himself, rather than behaving like a bear breaking corn—snapping off one ear only to throw away the last.