The Tao Advances One Foot, the Demon Advances Ten

"My spirit can only Night Roam, yet even my visualization is already this intense. If I reach the stage of Object Manipulation, then when I visualize the Asura Hell, won't those demons appear directly as Yin Spirits?" Hong Yi rose and walked to the window. He pulled out the arrow and saw that the louse on its tip had been driven deep into the wooden lattice, dead beyond any doubt.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"The first time, I got through it so easily. Why was the second time ten times more intense? My spirit has grown stronger, yet I couldn't get through it? What's going on? Could it be... the stronger the spirit, the stronger the demons? That's it."

Countless fireworks soared into the sky, seeming to herald the Great Gan Dynasty's true golden age reaching its peak.

Hong Yi had gained some experience. He knew that the hazy, dazed feeling in his mind meant he had injured his spirit. At that moment, he dropped the bow in his hand. With the bowstring's restraint gone, his fists felt sharp and swift, as though they could fly.

He had spent the past few days busy with martial training and hadn't tried projecting his spirit from his body. Besides, all those days of drawing the bow and building strength had also nourished his spirit. He decided to practice the visualization method from the Amitabha Sutra again.

After buying the bow from Guan Shi Shop, Hong Yi had shut himself away to train. Every day, he did nothing but sit quietly to steady his mind, contemplate the Amitabha Sutra, and draw the bow to build strength using the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist method.

The New Year marking the Great Gan Dynasty's sixtieth year had finally arrived.

The Tao advances one foot, the demon advances ten!

"How could I fail to withstand even the first stage and injure my spirit?"

These days spent shut away, practicing archery, hadn't gone to waste.

But today, Marquis Wuwen Hong Xuanji wasn't at the mansion. The emperor had summoned him to watch the grand spectacle of the prosperous age from Five Phoenix Tower. It was an immense honor.

The Ox Demon Great Strength Fist was the world's most exquisite martial art for training the flesh, tendons, and membranes. Naturally, it included a special bow-drawing stance. As you drew the bow, it twisted all the muscles and tendons in your body together, gathering their strength in your hands, then making them tremble and vibrate with the bowstring's release.

Once he saw clearly, Hong Yi sprang up from the bed, grabbed the bow beside him, nocked a wooden arrow, and drew the Chestnut-Wood Ox-Horn Silk Bow to a full moon. With a twang, the arrow shot straight out.

Clang!

At the final stage of cultivation, the demons in your visualization would take solid form, appearing to eat your flesh and drink your blood! The stronger your spirit, the stronger the demons you visualized—because those demons were formed from your own thoughts.

"Both sides!"

With their pillar of support absent, the various branches of the household didn't gather together to celebrate the New Year and sit up through the night. Instead, they split off: the main residence of the first branch was one group, Yunting Studio of the second branch another, and Lanting Studio of the third branch yet another.

But Hong Yi didn't stop. He twisted his waist sharply, let out a thunderous roar, and drew the bow once in every direction—above and below, left and right, all around him. The tremendous force in his arms pulled the chestnut-wood bow with a series of crackles, as though its dried wood were about to burst apart.

After drawing and releasing the bow again and again without arrows, the fine bow finally couldn't withstand Hong Yi's strain. In an instant, its string snapped and its body broke.

Yet he sank into thought.

What's more, the bow-drawing movements in the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist actually incorporated a visualization method that involved the spirit.

The chicken stewing in the pot over the brazier gave off a delicious aroma. It was ready.

This was a set of exercises for honing accuracy, focus, and inner strength.

The Marquis Wuwen's Mansion was lively too.

Today, the feeling of a cool breeze brushing his body was ten times stronger than the first time!

Visualization could train the spirit, but if you failed to hold on, it could also badly injure it.

The bow-drawing technique from the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist could be turned into a striking fist technique: Ox Demon Chaotic Arrow Style.

Each time you drew the bow, it was as if you fiercely twisted, wrung, and shook the muscles and tendons throughout your body.

Whenever Hong Yi drew the bow, he first sat quietly to steady his spirit and focused it in his eyes. Then he opened them and studied an object hundreds of paces away, letting his spirit reach it. He would spend half the day watching birds in a tree, then watch the stars at night. Finally, he would sit in meditation and visualize his spirit piercing an arrow, assaulting a fortified city and fighting powerful enemies.

Only then would he rise and draw the bow.

Hong Yi finally couldn't bear it. A moan of pleasure escaped him, and he collapsed onto the bed. It was a long time before he woke, drenched in cold sweat and still dazed.

On Five Phoenix Tower in the imperial palace, the emperor, the empress, his many consorts, and the princes watched the lights spread across the city.

With Hong Yi's current level of concentration, he still couldn't withstand it. He was on the verge of losing himself in the sensation.

Hong Yi knew that by drawing the bow until it broke, he had firmly reached the Martial Student stage and entered the Martial Disciple realm of tendon training.

After bathing, Hong Yi drank a bowl of soup and felt indescribably comfortable all over.

Yujing was the greatest city in the world, and its New Year customs were unlike those elsewhere: what mattered was making merry. From New Year's Eve through the fifteenth day, dragon lanterns and fireworks filled every night, enough to show foreign envoys the Celestial Dynasty's might, prosperity, and flourishing wealth.

After shooting without an arrow to his left, Hong Yi flipped around, transferred the bow to his left hand, drew the string with his right, and mimed a shot to the right.

The bow-drawing movements of the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist became the striking fist technique, Ox Demon Chaotic Arrow Style. With each opening of the bow, it was as though he fiercely twisted, wrung, and shook the muscles and tendons throughout his body.

In fact, he was silently circulating his thoughts, directing his spirit to his eyes. Then he abruptly opened them and looked toward a louse hanging from the table-side window by a fine thread.

This louse was alive, swinging back and forth in the air. It was smaller than a grain of rice, and the lamplight was dim. Even someone with keen eyesight would have struggled to see it clearly.

Hong Yi knew he was fully invigorated, his body growing stronger and his spirit well-nourished. So he sat still and began practicing the visualization method from the Amitabha Sutra.

Yet to Hong Yi, it looked as large as a fist. He could make out the plates on its body and even see its six legs flex as it sprang violently.

A louse smaller than a grain of rice hung from a thread. To ordinary eyes, it was almost impossible to see in the dim light.

"Although it was only within ten paces, it still showed what I've achieved. These days of training haven't been wasted."

All over Yujing, firecrackers had been going off since nightfall, one after another without pause, and they continued until midnight!

This series of rapid shots made the bowstring crack and snap, the sound seeming to slice through the air.

Hong Yi was soaked through, drenched in sweat. Every vein stood out, and great knots of muscle swelled, pressing against one another.

After punching in every direction, Hong Yi finally felt his strength give out. He immediately went back inside to avoid the cold wind. He would wait until his breathing settled, then heat water for a bath.

Hong Yi prepared to hold firm through it, but the sensation didn't fade as he endured it. Instead, it grew more and more intense!

After shooting that arrow, Hong Yi rested the bow across his knees and silently gathered his spirit. When his energy and strength were full, he picked up the bow and walked outside. He gazed up at the starry sky, but didn't nock an arrow. He merely drew the bow and released it without a shot.

Sure enough, once the images entered his mind, one phantom after another came surging in.

First came the same feeling as before: cool breezes brushed his body, and a clear qi seemed to rise from every pore, making him feel light enough to float among the immortals.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes lightly closed, body straight and still. He seemed to have entered a state of calm.

With the stars of the sky held in his thoughts, countless rays of light shot toward him again, penetrating his mind inch by inch.

The stronger the spirit, the stronger the demons!

"Although I've only been practicing for a few days, I've already made progress."

With his eyes closed, he steadied his mind and held the starry sky in his thoughts. Endless rays of light shot toward him again, sinking inch by inch into his brain.

The slightest effort to visualize brought one phantom after another in its wake.

The first to arrive was that same sensation of a cool breeze washing over him. A clear qi streamed from every pore, making him feel as though he were floating among the immortals.

Visualization the Amitabha image, Hong Yi fell into a deep sleep. The next day, he woke refreshed and clear-headed.

This time, Hong Yi hadn't managed to hold on. His spirit was injured.

But luckily, visualizing the Amitabha image could repair his spirit.