Qi Refining and Martial Arts (Revised)

To enter the path of cultivation, the first hurdle—aside from breathing exercises—is to generate a strand of true qi within the dantian.

"Master, I feel like our cultivation method seems just like the true qi used in martial arts."

After finishing his midday practice and completing his breathing exercises, Lu Chuan slowly opened his eyes, tilted his head, and asked Shen Gongbao with some confusion.

These breathing exercises were indeed better suited for the morning; the Yang energy between heaven and earth was simply too intense at noon, and he still couldn't quite handle it, feeling some physical discomfort while practicing.

"Similar, but there is a difference!"

Shen Gongbao helped him correct his understanding.

"Please, Master, enlighten me."

"It is said that the methods of martial cultivation originated from our Immortal Path of refining qi, and they can also cultivate martial true qi, but their true qi and ours are fundamentally different."

Shen Gongbao said, "Our true qi is cultivated by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through Immortal Path techniques; it can be used to cast Daoist arts and wield magical artifacts, and it can also be called mana."

"However, martial artists lack the root bones for immortality and cannot absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to convert it into true qi. Their martial true qi is cultivated and strengthened within the body using the Small Heavenly Circuit and Large Heavenly Circuit techniques."

"Therefore, their true qi cannot be used to cast Daoist arts or command the magical artifacts of qi refiners."

"I see." Lu Chuan nodded.

Shen Gongbao said, "Martial artists also have four realms, and the peak of the martial path is basically equivalent to the realm of Refining Void and Combining with the Dao."

"Hm?"

Lu Chuan was incredibly astonished. Could the martial artists of this era really be that powerful?

However, thinking of how some mortal generals in the original Investiture of the Gods could directly clash with immortals, he slowly calmed down.

To be honest, this completely shattered his past perception of the word "immortal," as there were even examples of immortals losing to mortal generals.

A god who could fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth actually losing to a mortal general—if word of that got out, it would completely overturn a person's worldview.

If mortals could defeat immortals, then what was the point of cultivating immortality? They might as well just switch to martial arts.

"Indeed, they are very formidable. As the spirit of heaven and earth and the leader of all things, humans are truly favored by the fortune of heaven and earth, possessing infinite wisdom and astonishing potential."

At this point, a flash of admiration appeared in Shen Gongbao's eyes as he continued, "They cannot attain longevity, nor can they use Daoist arts or magical artifacts, so they took a different path to pioneer and develop the martial way."

"Is the martial way powerful?"

Lu Chuan asked tentatively.

It was better to get this cleared up; otherwise, after all this effort to cultivate immortality, if he were to be beaten to the ground by a martial artist, he would lose all face.

"Martial artists focus on the physical body, pursuing powerful combat prowess and force. If one does not use Daoist arts or magical artifacts and only relies on fists and kicks..."

Shen Gongbao pondered, "Then, at the same level, a qi refiner is no match for those martial artists. After all, our cultivation is for the sake of longevity, and we excel in various Daoist arts and magical instruments, not combat."

Half an hour later.

Lu Chuan finally understood.

Qi refiners seek longevity; martial artists cultivate themselves!

The two paths could only be said to have their own strengths. Qi refiners cultivate to become immortals and achieve eternal life, while martial artists cultivate to acquire powerful martial strength.

The martial path consists of four levels.

But even a powerhouse who reaches the peak of the martial path has a lifespan of at most a short two hundred years.

Qi refiners are different.

As long as one can generate true qi during the stage of Refining Essence into Qi, even if there is no further progress, having true qi in the body makes living for a hundred years no problem at all.

Correspondingly, the first level of the martial path is called the Small Heavenly Circuit.

Because they generate true qi in the dantian and then circulate it through the Small Heavenly Circuit within the body to strengthen it—the so-called Small Heavenly Circuit is what is commonly referred to as circulating the energy along the Ren and Du meridians.

Besides this, they also repeatedly use the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper their tendons, bones, skin, and physical body, making the body exceptionally sturdy and strong.

A phrase from Lu Chuan's past life could summarize this first level of martial cultivation: "Externally refine the tendons, bones, and skin; internally refine a breath of qi."

Therefore, the first level of the martial path is subdivided into five minor realms: Blood Tempering, Tendon Changing, Bone Forging, Skin Refining, and Marrow Cleansing.

Cultivating these five minor realms is known as achieving Small Success in the martial path, at which point the lifespans of both sides are still quite similar.

Next is Refining Qi into Spirit, with a lifespan of three hundred years.

This corresponds to the second level of the martial path, called the Large Heavenly Circuit, where the cultivation involves circulating true qi along the Large Heavenly Circuit route throughout the entire body and the acupuncture points of the limbs and bones.

At this stage, after qi refiners strengthen their essence, qi, and spirit, they must cultivate a Primordial Spirit, while martial artists temper their five viscera and six bowels. Thus, the second level of the martial path is subdivided into two minor realms: the Five Extremes and the Six Harmonies, which possess the divine strength of five to six tripods, respectively.

Those who master the Five Extremes and Six Harmonies achieve Great Success in the martial path.

In this current era, tripods are divided into small and large; a small tripod weighs about five hundred catties, and a large tripod weighs a thousand catties.

Five to six tripods refer to the large tripods, meaning a force of five to six thousand catties. Who could withstand a punch like that?

However, their lifespan is only one hundred and twenty years. The different paths of cultivation cause the gap in lifespan to widen to more than double at this stage.

The third stage for qi refiners is Refining Spirit into Void, with a lifespan of six hundred years.

The third stage of the Martial Path is known as the Xiantian Realm. Because one must, like a Qi Refiner, reverse the acquired to return to the innate and cultivate Xiantian True Qi, the lifespan at this stage is one hundred and eighty years.

The fourth stage of the Qi Refiner, Refining Void and Combining with the Dao, grants a lifespan of one thousand years.

This stage of the Martial Path is known as the Peak of the Martial Path.

It requires the condensation of Xiantian True Qi into a more refined and powerful Xiantian True Essence; those martial artists capable of condensing this True Essence have already broken through the third Xiantian stage.

They are known as the powerhouses at the Peak of the Martial Path.

Because they have reached the ultimate limit and the very end of the Martial Path at this stage, with no further path to tread, these martial artists can be crowned with the title of the strongest humans.

Regrettably, while there are millions of martial artists in the world, those who can reach the peak are few and far between.

The entire body of a Peak Martial artist is tempered to a terrifying degree, and with the pure Xiantian True Essence within, they are like humanoid weapons of metal, possessing almost no flaws.

Their protective True Qi is so strong that even sharp arrows cannot pierce it, and even if they were to pierce through, they might not necessarily cause any damage to their physical bodies.

With vast True Essence, blood and Qi like a dragon, a formidable physique, palms that can sever rivers, and feet that can crack the earth...

This is the powerhouse at the Peak of the Martial Path, yet their lifespan is a mere two hundred years.

If they were to live out their natural lives, a Qi Refiner of the same level would have five times the lifespan of a martial artist.

Such is the martial artist.

Even with powerful force and a strong physique, they are ultimately no match for the passage of time; unable to achieve immortality, they can only become a handful of loess after many years.

Qi Refiners are different. Compared to martial artists who single-mindedly pursue only physical power, it is true that Qi Refiners live longer, but they also have much more to do.

They must cultivate truth and refine Qi, cultivate their Primordial Spirit, study Daoist arts, practice martial skills, draw talismans, refine pills, cast divination, observe Feng Shui, and subdue demons and monsters...

To be a Qi Refiner, one must know at least some martial arts for self-defense; otherwise, how could one subdue demons and monsters?

However, what they practice is merely martial skill, not the Martial Path.

Martial skill and the Martial Path differ by only one word, yet the meanings they represent are vastly different—a chasm as wide as heaven and earth.

The cultivation of Qi Refiners focuses more on the Primordial Spirit and the soul; if one cultivates a Yang Spirit, they can remain undying even if they discard their physical body.

"But Master, this disciple has heard that many military generals also possess strange arts," Lu Chuan suddenly said. "Should they be considered martial artists or Qi Refiners?"

He remembered that in the Investiture of the Gods, there were some military generals who possessed strange arts.

Since they were military generals, they should not belong to the Qi Refiners, but if they were considered martial artists, they possessed strange arts and could use magical artifacts, which was somewhat confusing.

"This is the last type of special martial artist I wanted to tell you about."

Shen Gongbao said in a deep voice, "Some people possess Immortal Roots and can cultivate Immortal Path methods to produce magic power and use strange arts and magical treasures, but their aptitude is limited, making it difficult to achieve great success on the Immortal Path.

The threshold for the Martial Path is very low, so they can switch to cultivating the Martial Path, allowing them to use strange arts while possessing the combat power of a martial artist. You must be careful if you encounter them in the future."

"So that's how it is, I understand!"

After hearing this, Lu Chuan suddenly realized. He paused, then suddenly looked up at Shen Gongbao, his eyes exceptionally bright. "Then Master, look at this disciple carefully—am I the kind of prodigy with extraordinary talent and exceptional bone structure?"