Quasi-Martial Artist

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Quasi-Martial Artist
Original	准武者
Occupation/Role	External-training martial arts practitioner who has cultivated Jing Li but has not opened the Mysterious Gate Aperture
Status	Active cultivation classification
First Appearance	Chapter 7 — “Mastering Internal Strength” 7

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
First Realm — Internal Strength	7	The practitioner has initially cultivated Jing Li, becoming a Quasi-Martial Artist.
Second Realm — Flowing Strength	7 19	Jing Li travels in a connected chain from the feet through the body to the hands, producing much greater striking force.
Third Realm — Smooth Strength	7 48	Jing Li can be released and withdrawn at will, allowing precise control and safer sparring. This is the limit of the foundational Galloping Horse Strength.
Fourth Realm	75	Strength can be projected beyond the body to injure opponents at a distance.
Fifth Realm — Penetrating Strength	7 63	Jing Li can penetrate through flesh and pores to damage internal organs. Fifth Realm practitioners can also transmit strength to others to aid their comprehension.
Sixth Realm — Aura Strength	7 25	The pinnacle of external training. Jing Li becomes nearly tangible and forms protective Aura Strength capable of resisting blades, bullets, water, fire, and small firearms.

Overview

A Quasi-Martial Artist is a practitioner who has cultivated Jing Li through external-training martial arts but has not yet opened the Mysterious Gate Aperture—the sealed Dantian required to absorb Spiritual Qi and nurture Internal Family True Qi. Those who form Internal Family True Qi are classified as Martial Artists rather than Quasi-Martial Artists. 7 92

Quasi-Martial Artists cultivate lower-tier martial arts. Their six Jing Li realms form the foundation of martial cultivation, while middle- and upper-tier martial arts generally require the True Qi of a Martial Artist. 13

Cultivation

External Training

Quasi-Martial Artists temper their flesh, muscles, tendons, bones, blood, and qi through external-training methods. Foundational arts such as Galloping Horse Strength can establish Jing Li, but their growth ceiling is limited; Galloping Horse Strength cannot advance a practitioner beyond the Third Realm. 7 48

• Lower-tier ranked martial arts are the standard techniques of the Six Realms of Jing Li. 13
• Nutrition, medicinal oils, massages, and specialized training methods can substantially accelerate progress. 9 16 78
• Daily training consumes considerable energy; even a First Realm Quasi-Martial Artist requires significantly more food than an ordinary person. 9

Limits of the Physical Body

Sixth Realm practitioners possess more than 30,000 jin of strength. At 50,000 jin, a practitioner may attempt to force open the Mysterious Gate Aperture, though doing so generally creates only a miniature Dantian and yields low-grade True Qi. 107

Exceptional practitioners can strengthen their foundations by cultivating several compatible external-training arts concurrently.

• Cultivating techniques such as Golden Bell Shield, Iron Shirt, and Thirteen Grand Protectors' Horizontal Training together can raise strength beyond 70,000 jin. 107
• The normal upper limit for a Quasi-Martial Artist is 100,000 jin. Those who reach it are described as extreme, limit, or ultimate Quasi-Martial Artists. 107 135 138
• Absorbing source qi can shatter the shackles restricting the Physical Body, allowing a Quasi-Martial Artist to exceed ordinary limits. 151

Abilities & Limitations

Jing Li Manipulation

Jing Li provides Quasi-Martial Artists with physical power far beyond that of ordinary people.

• Flowing Strength can turn a punch into a force comparable to a millstone. 7 19
• Fifth Realm strikes can carry more than 10,000 jin of force and collapse walls on impact. 75
• Third Realm practitioners can exchange moves with Fourth Realm opponents, but a Fifth Realm practitioner can incapacitate a Third Realm opponent in a single move by injuring their internal organs. 63
• Jing Li is finite; once exhausted, only physical strength remains. 7

Aura Strength

At the Sixth Realm, condensed Aura Strength protects the body and represents the highest achievement of external training. 7

• Can resist ordinary blades, small firearms, water, and fire. 7 25
• Can be projected only a short distance—roughly two or three meters—before dissipating. 110
• Unlike True Qi, it cannot sustain long-range attacks. 110

Combat Risks

The First and Second Realms allow Jing Li to be unleashed but not withdrawn. A Flowing Strength practitioner may seriously injure or kill an opponent unintentionally if they cannot control their strike. 7 18

Spirit Artifacts

A powerful spirit artifact can allow a Sixth Realm Quasi-Martial Artist to contend with a newly advanced Innate Realm Martial Artist, despite the normal gap created by True Qi. 124

Distinction from Martial Artists

Classification	Core Power	Dantian	Combat Characteristics
Quasi-Martial Artist	Jing Li / Internal Strength	Sealed	Six external-training realms; Aura Strength is the highest level. 7 92
Martial Artist	Internal Family True Qi	Opened through the Mysterious Gate Aperture	True Qi can be projected at least a dozen meters and enables techniques such as compressed-air attacks. 92 110 159

A Martial Artist’s True Qi greatly surpasses Jing Li. Qin Fen assesses that an Internal Family True Qi practitioner could defeat him in a single move when he was still a Quasi-Martial Artist. 87

Distinction from Altered Humans

Altered Humans may possess raw strength comparable to or greater than that of Quasi-Martial Artists, but they are not practitioners of the Six Realms of Jing Li. Their power comes from fused Alien bloodlines rather than cultivation. 75

• Altered Humans cannot gather strength instinctively like Third Realm Quasi-Martial Artists. 75
• They cannot project strength like Fourth Realm practitioners or inject Jing Li into an opponent like Fifth Realm practitioners. 75
• Attempting to cultivate Internal Strength causes an Altered Human’s Alien bloodline to consume it, permanently cutting off their martial path. 75

Known Practitioners

• Qin Fen — Became a Quasi-Martial Artist upon cultivating Internal Strength; later reached Flowing Strength, Smooth Strength, and ultimately the limit of the Quasi-Martial Artist realm. 7 19 48 135
• Zhou Wu — Fifth Realm Quasi-Martial Artist and External Training Master capable of transmitting strength to students. 7
• Wang Lei — Sixth Realm Quasi-Martial Artist whose Aura Strength makes him impervious to blades, bullets, water, and fire. 25
• Hong Peng — An ultimate Quasi-Martial Artist before age twenty and a core disciple of the Hong Clan. 138