From the twelfth day onward, young men and women began appearing on the wooden ship's deck, practicing fists and swords.
Although Wei Daocheng had said that inside and outside were no different, and that the ship's spatial array could not block the Primordial Chaos Qi, the youths all agreed that training outside would be more effective.
Yang Ning had not begun yet. Instead, he had Deep Blue calculate Divine Forms for an entire night, finally pinning down the cultivation logic of the Body Refinement Realm.
First Level, Breathing Realm: through a basic Breathing Technique, one improved physical fitness and prepared for cultivation.
Second Level, Stance Realm: through Divine Forms, one guided and activated the qi and blood. At this stage, one was still an ordinary martial man and relied heavily on conventional weapons.
Third Level, Body Tempering Realm: once one's stances had been trained to the utmost, one could sense qi and blood. Guiding qi and blood in conjunction with medicine could temper the tendons, bones, and skin. Martial artists at this stage had bronze skin and iron bones; when they tensed their muscles, they no longer feared blades or swords.
Fourth Level, Viscera Realm: one guided qi and blood to hammer the five viscera. From then on, one's appetite and digestion greatly increased. A Viscera Realm martial artist could eat an entire cow in one meal, while their strength began soaring rapidly. A martial artist at the peak of the Viscera Realm could drag back a maddened elephant with one arm. Fourth Level cultivators were also called Dragon Elephant Warriors.
Fifth Level, Hundred Transformations Realm: qi and blood tempered every limb and bone. From then on, one became deft of hand and nimble of foot. Even without ever practicing concealed weapons, one could hit the mark every time. Hundred Transformations martial artists could manipulate minute muscles to alter their appearance. When qi coursed through both arms, they possessed boundless strength; when it coursed through both legs, they could walk like the wind and travel a thousand li a day. Fifth Level cultivators were also called Thousand Mile Martial Kings.
Sixth Level, Return to One Realm: qi and blood became perfectly rounded and obedient, able to gather into a single point in an instant. A single finger could pierce steel. This was called the Martial Dao Saint Realm, or Martial Saint for short. Because martial artists at this stage often used spears or swords to bring out the Return to One Realm's greatest power, all kinds of Spear Gods and Sword Saints emerged as well.
Seventh Level, Jade Bone Realm: qi and blood vibrated with the sound of thunder, their quality rising dramatically. One began cultivating the bone marrow. From then on, blood was like mercury and bones like jade, and one's strength increased once more.
Eighth Level, Five Senses Realm: qi and blood flowed through the blood into the brain, strengthening the five senses. From then on, one could see a thousand li away, hear in all directions, and taste ten thousand flavors with the tongue. One no longer feared being poisoned, could hear the wind, hear the flow of qi and blood within an enemy's body, and anticipate the enemy's moves. Since the Seventh and Eighth Levels were often cultivated together, martial artists of both realms were called Martial Dao Grandmasters.
The Taiheng Sect instructed its disciples that once they were given Divine Forms, they only needed to practice them. There was no need to delve deeply into the principles behind them. If they could comprehend them on their own, then they could do so; if not, they simply needed to practice more.
Yang Ning came from the modern world and had been educated in dialectical materialism from childhood. He was accustomed to not only knowing that something was so, but also knowing why it was so. Once he had sorted out this cultivation logic, the path of cultivation immediately seemed much clearer.
Cultivation looked complicated, but when broken down, it was quite simple: activate, sense, and strengthen qi and blood, then use qi and blood to strengthen the internal organs and bones, and finally strengthen the brain.
As for Divine Forms, they were merely methods created because humans could not directly control qi and blood, allowing them to control it indirectly.
So what was the core of all cultivation?
Yang Ning grasped it without even needing to think.
It was qi and blood!
Everything had to be strengthened through the circulation of qi and blood, so what determined the strengthening effect?
Naturally, it was also the strength of one's qi and blood. The stronger the qi and blood, the better the strengthening effect. The greater one's control over qi and blood, the more precise the strengthening. The more areas qi and blood strengthened, the better the overall result.
And what factors affected the strength of qi and blood?
First: the body. The stronger the body, the stronger the qi and blood.
Second: the Breathing Technique. The stronger the Breathing Technique, the better it drew in spiritual qi, and the stronger the qi and blood became.
And what factors affected one's control over qi and blood?
First: mental will. The stronger one's will, the greater one's control over qi and blood.
Second: Divine Forms. The more refined the Divine Forms, the greater one's control over qi and blood!
And what factors affected the areas strengthened by qi and blood?
First: Divine Forms. The areas involved in Divine Forms would receive focused strengthening from qi and blood.
Second: qi and blood. The stronger the qi and blood, the more even areas that Divine Forms could not train would be strengthened indirectly.
"In summary, I really can't just throw away the Breathing Technique after getting started. I need to persevere. And is Sleep Stillness really the limit of the Breathing Technique?" Yang Ning knew that in books he had read in his previous life, meditation had many realms: Initial Stillness, Entering Stillness, Constant Stillness, Fetal Breathing, Sitting into Oblivion, and more. By that standard, Sleep Stillness was only Initial Stillness!
Because the Breathing Technique involved only breathing, it looked as though it involved meditation, but that was merely because one needed a quiet environment to focus wholeheartedly on breathing. Having personally created a Breathing Technique before, Yang Ning knew that it did not involve the mind at all. It did not require one to reach a half-asleep, half-awake mental state devoid of methods and thoughts.
So there were still higher realms beyond Sleep Stillness. Yang Ning did not dare hope for Saint Manifestation, but Constant Stillness, Fetal Breathing, and Sitting into Oblivion were theories that had existed even on Earth. There was no reason they should become impossible in a world of cultivation.
"The cultivation methods of this world were obtained through archaeology, but dragons are born powerful and have no need to linger too long in weakness. It is entirely possible that methods for the beginner stages were lost. Humans, meanwhile, are accustomed to imitating their ancestors and do not dare rashly alter the inheritances left behind by them. Naturally, they have never thought to cast off the old and bring forth the new. This is my opportunity."
Yang Ning had also lived in this world's feudal dynasties and knew very well how conservative the interest groups here were. Forget the Curved Shaft Plow—even after hundreds of thousands of years, iron hoes had not become widespread in the fields.
So it was possible that the Breathing Technique was not the limit of cultivation.
As long as the Breathing Technique continued to improve, it could strengthen not only qi and blood, but also the mind, killing two birds with one stone.
"As for Divine Forms, strength doesn't matter. What matters is precision and comprehensiveness. The stronger the control over qi and blood, the better; the more comprehensive the training, the better. So I need to modify it in that direction! These Divine Forms seem limited by the limits of the human body, but I don't need to consider that!"
Limited by thought, Divine Forms were already difficult to cultivate, yet they still remained within the limits of humanity—meaning the limits of thought.
For example, there were some muscles that could not be trained no matter what posture one used.
Some Divine Forms considered finding someone to assist with cultivation, such as having someone beat one with a stick, but in Yang Ning's eyes, that was still not enough!
He knew two cultivation methods that could comprehensively strengthen every organ in the body.
The first was Electric Current Stimulation, and the second was gravity!
Therefore, the Divine Forms he created could be bolder. They would not only strengthen muscles, but also the five viscera and six bowels, even beginning to strengthen the brain before reaching the Body Refinement Eighth Level.
Ordinary people would definitely not dare do this. It was simply too dangerous. But Yang Ning had the Spirit Realm. He could determine the safe threshold inside it before trying it outside!
"By that calculation, my cultivation prospects are still very bright!"
Although the Spirit Realm could not yet replicate spiritual qi, each stage had its own work to do. At the very least, within the Body Refinement Realm, even without any backing and even if he could only use the most widespread cultivation techniques, the Spirit Realm could still help him lay a foundation far beyond others.
The Taiheng Sect ranked among the top two of the Ten Great Immortal Sects. Only by surpassing ordinary people within the Taiheng Sect could he surpass ordinary people throughout the Taiheng Realm.
The chance of becoming immortal in this world was so low that being merely a genius was not enough. One had to be a monster to have even the faintest possibility of becoming immortal!
Yang Ning finally opened his eyes and let out a long breath!
"You finished reading so quickly?" Ning Rong looked at the already-awake Yang Ning with astonishment, then glanced at Xun Hu beside him, who was still lost in chaos. Suddenly, she realized that the little companion at her side might not be merely a prodigy.
Perhaps he could also be a thigh to cling to in cultivation!
Yang Ning smiled and nodded. "Not bad. Alright, let's order first."
He had spent the entire afternoon filing parts with a rasp. He was starving already!
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