Great Dao Three Fists

After "teaching" Yan Yuanyi, the woman who had long annoyed him, a lesson, He Heng immediately felt refreshed and invigorated. His state of mind improved greatly.

"Hmm, my martial arts can now be considered complete. I've reached the pinnacle of national martial arts. Beyond this point, it's impossible for my martial cultivation to improve in this world. It seems I can only work on my realm of comprehension." As He Heng considered his development in this world, he realized that he had reached a bottleneck.

His national martial arts cultivation had reached the limits of Shatter Void and See God Unbroken. Even with the advanced martial arts knowledge of the Great Heaven World, it was difficult for him to devise a Future Path. There simply was no road ahead; even if there were one, it was not something he could conceive in a short time.

So, with no hope of advancing his cultivation, if he wanted to rapidly increase his strength, he could only work on his martial realm and techniques.

The Great Heaven World possessed many divine arts and supreme techniques that allowed martial artists to fight across realms, but he clearly did not possess those powerful martial arts. Still, there was no strongest martial art in the world, only the strongest person. In the hands of certain people, even the simplest martial art could turn decay into magic and wield World-shattering power. That relied on focus and practice making perfect.

No matter how simple a martial art was, as long as it was cultivated to its peak, its power would not be lacking. Take the Flying Swordsman A Fei, for instance. He knew only one simple sword strike, yet he could still rank among the strongest figures in Little Li Flying Dagger. Though He Heng lacked the pinnacle arts of the Great Heaven World, he believed that, within the same realm, he would never lose to those who possessed such powerful martial arts.

There was no strongest martial art in the world, only the one best suited to oneself. No matter how powerful a supreme art was, it had been created by someone else and did not belong to you. By cultivating such arts, one could never reach the pinnacle and become a true martial Great Grandmaster. Only by creating one's own martial art, one's own methods, and one's own Dao could one unleash the greatest power.

He Heng had already embarked upon this path. In Dragon-Snake Romance, God possessed the supreme art Fire Planting Lotus, Tang Zichen had Dragon-Snake Combination, and Wang Chao had the Heaven Overturning Seal. These were all the essence of their martial arts after their great accomplishment; no one else could ever cultivate them to their ultimate peak. He Heng's current realm naturally could not be considered a great martial accomplishment—his Dao had only just begun—but in terms of realm, he was not inferior to God, Wang Chao, or Tang Zichen. Naturally, he also possessed his own unique techniques.

Suddenly, He Heng sat in a hall in the posture of embracing the core. His gaze blazed like torches, devoid of any emotion. He seemed like an immortal god overlooking the vastness of the mortal world—its worldly bonds, its vicissitudes—without the slightest ripple in his heart. Lonely and cold, he was like the heavens themselves.

In an instant, he threw a punch. It was like an antelope hanging its horns, leaving no trace to follow. No one could tell how he had thrown it. Formless and traceless, it was wondrous beyond description. It was as if Heaven and Earth Opening had given birth to all things, possessing an unimaginable profundity.

This was the Great Dao Formless Fist, one of the Great Dao Three Fists, created by He Heng after walking through danger and experiencing life and death several times, comprehending the natural world and the birth and destruction of all things, achieving Martial Dao Initial Accomplishment!

Great Dao Formless, giving birth to Heaven and Earth!

Boom! A thunderous blast suddenly erupted. A massive Sonic Boom resounded, making the villa where He Heng stood shake several times. It was like the Du Tian Divine Thunder at the opening of Heaven and Earth, shaking the universe and giving birth to the Great Thousand World.

Then He Heng's fist intent changed again, and his expression became indifferent and heartless. If he had seemed like a deity looking down upon the mortal world just now, then at this moment, he had become the heavenly Dao itself—Without Emotion or Desire, without kinship or selfishness. He regarded all living beings as Straw Dogs, looked coldly upon everything in the human world, and allowed worldly affairs to rise and fall and Heaven and Earth to turn. He ruled all things: reincarnation and destruction, the alternation of sun and moon. This was the Great Dao Heartless Fist, one of the Great Dao Three Fists!

Great Dao Heartless, guiding the sun and moon!

He Heng's fist at this moment seemed to be the supreme heavenly Dao, wielding the birth and death of Heaven and Earth, the cycles of reincarnation, and the transformations of the sun and moon. Vast and boundless, it was filled with an infinite overwhelming momentum.

Then He Heng's fist intent changed once more. This time, it was restraint, a Return to Simplicity. His expression returned to normal as he dispersed that heartless intent of Overlooking the Vastness and transformed into the simplest humanity—ordinary and plain, yet a true sublimation. Casting aside all sharpness, avoiding every calamity, nurturing himself, and attaining the true Dao. This was the Great Dao Nameless Fist, one of the Great Dao Three Fists!

Great Dao Nameless, nurturing all things!

The foundation of this punch lay in the word "nurture." It was restrained to the extreme, reaching the state where the ultimate person was nameless. By avoiding the sharpness of Heaven, Earth, and all things, one would suffer neither disaster nor tribulation and could thus nurture oneself to completion.

Zhuangzi once said, "In doing good, avoid seeking fame; in doing evil, avoid punishment. Follow the central path as your guiding thread, and you may preserve your body, fulfill your life, care for your parents, and live out your years."

The principle behind He Heng's punch was precisely this. It was not meant for attack, but for nurturing and protecting himself.

Great Dao Formless, giving birth to Heaven and Earth. Great Dao Heartless, guiding the sun and moon. Great Dao Nameless, nurturing all things.

These three lines came from the renowned Qingjing Jing of Taishang Laojun. They were its opening three lines and also the foundation of the entire text. He Heng had transformed them into three punches, the culmination of his own martial arts combined with the Daoist teachings of this world.

"I believe that, in my hands, these three punches are enough to contend with any powerful martial art in the Great Heaven World!" He Heng spoke with absolute confidence. This did not mean that he truly considered himself equal to those senior masters who had created countless divine arts in the Great Heaven World. In truth, compared with such figures, He Heng was vastly inferior. But by contend, he meant contending against the contemporary inheritors of those martial arts. Though such arts were powerful, how many people at lower realms could bring out even one ten-thousandth of their mysteries? Moreover, they used techniques created by their predecessors. No matter how suitable those arts were for them, they could never unleash one hundred percent of their power. He Heng's Great Dao Three Fists, however, had been created by himself and could display one hundred and twenty percent of their power. Compared this way, He Heng did not believe he would be inferior to anyone of the same realm who possessed peerless martial arts.

But this was not his goal. He Heng's goal was that, given time, the Great Dao Three Fists would truly live up to their names. With one punch, Heaven and Earth would open, the sun and moon would turn, and all things would be nurtured! They would become the strongest martial arts of the Great Heaven World.

This goal was arduous and far-reaching, but He Heng was already walking the path toward it.

"My life has limits, but knowledge has none. I only hope that within my lifetime, I can travel farther upon this long Great Dao Path. I seek immortality not for eternity, nor for imperishability, but only to draw closer to the ultimate Great Dao."

He Heng sighed with emotion, but determination shone in his eyes. It was the conviction of one seeking the Dao!

After a moment, He Heng withdrew from that state and continued in a deep voice, "My martial Dao, in terms of techniques, minute control, and Artistic Conception, has reached a peak after creating the Great Dao Three Fists. I cannot make much progress in a short time. Only the accumulation of long years may bring transformation. Therefore, it is impossible to raise my combat power through these aspects for now."

At this point, He Heng paused before continuing, "Whether in cultivation, techniques, or other aspects, I have now fallen into a bottleneck and find it difficult to improve. So I can only seek solutions through fist intent and realm."

"In terms of fist intent, I have already comprehended the Feather Ascension Shattering intent that transcends worldly life, severs worldly bonds, and forgets the mortal world. It is a fist like the loneliness of snow, possessing the intent of being bound by nothing. Yet it has not truly been brought to perfection."

"As for realm, although I have touched upon the Human Law Realm, I have never truly entered that domain. If I can perfectly transcend the realm of techniques and enter the Human Law Realm, the third grade of Law, my combat power will surely rise greatly. That realm is exceedingly profound. It cannot be summed up merely by the Dao of Utmost Sincerity being able to foresee events; rather, it is perfect control over one's own mind."

At this, He Heng furrowed his brow and said uncertainly, "Based on what I have comprehended so far, the so-called Human Law Realm should be like this. Its profundity lies in the word 'human.' Human, as in Heaven, Earth, and humanity, refers to the mind of the True Self—the perfect mastery of one's own mind. One is neither delighted by External Objects nor saddened by oneself, completely freed from the restraints of all External Objects and unaffected by anything else."

"Many novels say that when masters contend, flaws and disturbances in the mind can greatly affect combat power. But for experts who have comprehended the Human Law Realm, this simply does not apply. They can perfectly grasp their own minds, leaving no flaws behind. External Objects cannot shake their hearts, so they cannot be influenced at all. At every moment, they can exert their full strength.

"The claim that an expert may lose control of their mind and suffer a decline in combat power simply does not hold true. Figures at the level of Pure Yang True Immortals often remain Existing in the World for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Yet even at the moment of their extinction, their power remains at its strongest state. No changes in worldly affairs, not even their own life or death, can affect their strength!

"This is the true Human Law Realm: perfect mastery over one's own mind. One does not fear the vastness of Heaven and Earth, nor disdain the weakness of ants. At every moment, one remains in perfect control. Otherwise, how could one replace the heart of Heaven with one's own heart and achieve Unity of Heaven and Man? Without such a state of mind, one would only lose everything beneath the vast Heaven, Earth, and cosmos."

He Heng longed for everything the Human Law Realm represented, for that was the realm true experts needed to possess. Transcending the mundane, never allowing any External Object to shake one's original heart or one's Dao. As the years flowed on, every moment would be a moment of peak strength.

"But achieving this realm is truly difficult. I have only initially touched this domain. To truly enter it, I need more accumulation and comprehension, as well as worthy opponents to spur me onward. Only between Life and Death can I undergo the ultimate sublimation and touch that realm." He Heng's expression turned stern. "And if I am to cultivate that overwhelming momentum, I must also temper and nurture it between Life and Death, forming an invincible intent. My Fist Technique must be as magnificent as mountains and rivers, as the cycle of sun and moon. All of this requires enough opponents."

"And in this world, who can be my opponent?"

Who can be my opponent? At that moment, He Heng deeply felt a loneliness—the loneliness of invincibility.