Spirit-Martial Unity

"Student Xu Yuan, here to learn Spirit-Martial Unity."

GOOGLE Search TWKAN

After handing over the twenty spirit stones of tuition, Xu Yuan watched the woman accept the cloth pouch with a beaming smile, then write his name into the register on the desk.

"Follow me."

Motioning for Xu Yuan to follow, the young woman rose and entered the building behind her.

It was a single-courtyard residence, but spacious inside—about the size of a basketball court from Xu Yuan's previous life. The young woman led him to the side room on the left and knocked on its door.

"Teacher, we took in another student today."

"Let him come in."

A voice echoed from within. The young woman pushed open the door and entered, while Xu Yuan poked his head in from behind her and saw that the room had clearly been converted into a classroom.

More than twenty stools filled the room, nearly all occupied. The teacher was a burly man six or seven chi tall, holding a pointer as his bell-sized eyes turned toward Xu Yuan.

"Come closer."

Gesturing for Xu Yuan to stand beside him, the burly man drew the pointer back into his palm and casually asked, "This new disciple—does anyone in your family hold a post in an immortal sect?"

"No." Xu Yuan shook his head, not quite understanding what he meant. The burly man then flicked the pointer in his hand, signaling for him to move back.

"Move back three rows."

Xu Yuan: "?"

He did as instructed, only to hear the man ask again, "If no one in your family holds a post in an immortal sect, do any of your relatives run businesses in Biyou Market?"

"No." Xu Yuan shook his head again. The burly man waved the pointer once more. "Move back another three rows."

"Since no one in your family holds a post in an immortal sect, nor does anyone operate a business in Biyou Market, you ought to be a diligent sort. But let me ask one more thing: has anyone in your family broken through to the middle stage of Qi Refining?"

"Teacher." Xu Yuan straightened his back. "No one in my family holds a post in an immortal sect, no one runs a business in Biyou Market, and no one has broken through to the middle stage of Qi Refining. To be precise, I, Xu Yuan, am alone here. I know no more than one or two people."

"Mm." Understanding dawned on the burly man's face. He raised his pointer, about to tell Xu Yuan to find a seat in the corner.

Just then, on a whim, he asked, "Mm, since you know some people, who exactly are they?"

"Actually, I wouldn't say I know them." Xu Yuan steadied himself, then pulled a token from his sleeve. "It's merely that an important person asked me to handle something and gave this item into my keeping. We have some connection, that's all."

"What... hm?" The burly man's eyes suddenly widened. He rubbed them hard, and only after confirming that he was not seeing things did his relaxed air vanish. He immediately raised his pointer and called to a student in the first row.

"Ji Bai, get up. Hurry and give your seat to this junior."

Ji Bai: "?"

Ji Bai stared blankly at the burly man. Before he could rise, the man smacked his forehead. "Forget it. Little sister, bring another stool and put it beside my lectern."

"You're too kind, Teacher." Xu Yuan waved from the back and casually found himself a seat. "Cultivators have sharp ears and keen eyes. It makes no difference where I sit. I'll sit here."

"Look at him! Just look at him! See how perceptive this student Xu Yuan is? When there is a classroom in your heart, where can you not listen? Unlike you lot, squabbling over who sits in front and who sits behind."

The burly man clapped his hands in praise. The students below shot Xu Yuan resentful looks. Weren't you the one who insisted on dividing us into ranks and sorting out who came first and who came last? Why blame us for it now?

Still, they had already paid their money and hoped to learn something from him, so the students kept quiet. They were merely curious about what Xu Yuan had produced just now to frighten the instructor so badly.

Once everyone was seated, the lesson began.

Though he was somewhat unreliable as a person, this burly instructor was actually an excellent teacher. Even Xu Yuan, who had only recently arrived, could understand the material. Gradually, he began to grasp what Spirit-Martial Unity was.

So-called Spirit-Martial Unity was the joint deployment of vital blood and spiritual energy—the explosive force released when the two were fused into one. It was not a path of cultivation, but a genuine method for fighting enemies.

Those who practiced this art needed bodies strong enough to begin with. Otherwise, the enhancement provided by their vital blood would be little better than a drop in the bucket.

Beyond that, this method placed extremely high demands on one's control over both spiritual energy and vital blood. If one rashly used both powers, their instability could cause them to recoil and injure the user instead.

Only after mastering all this could one synchronously draw out vital blood and spiritual energy, before finally combining them.

Back in the mine, Xu Yuan had only managed a brief unification of spiritual energy and vital blood by chance, relying on the formidable traits of his Innate Martial Bones. That was why he had been able to withstand several blows from Tu Fang.

Otherwise, no matter how old and frail that old dog had been, no matter how depleted his spiritual energy, with his fourth-level Qi Refining cultivation, crushing two people who had just entered Qi Refining would have been simplicity itself.

Each day's lesson lasted roughly two shichen, for a total of ten days. Aside from the teachings on Spirit-Martial Unity, there was also plenty of instruction on controlling spiritual energy and vital blood.

An hour later, the indoor lesson ended. The burly man called to the students and drove them outside.

Next came the practical lesson.

The burly man stood before everyone, gripping an iron rod that had appeared from who knew where, and addressed them.

"In the art of Spirit-Martial Unity, controlling spiritual energy and vital blood is merely the foundation. Their fusion is only the beginning. If you wish to truly master this art, heh."

The burly man raised the iron rod. In an instant, two clearly distinct streams of power, one red and one white, flowed from his hands and toward the two ends of the rod. Once they filled it, the two powers began to twist and merge, until they became a state where you were in me, and I was in you.

"Only when you can achieve this have you truly entered through the door!"

His expression grew much more solemn as he fiercely swung the iron rod down. Boom! It smashed into the ground, instantly blasting a huge crater into the earth.

"All right." Waving a hand at the envious students before him, the burly man said smugly, "Go practice first."

At the back, Xu Yuan's gaze held some amazement as well. The spiritual energy and vital blood the burly man had released were not particularly powerful, yet their combined might had produced a result where one plus one was greater than two.

If I could reach that level... Xu Yuan indulged the thought briefly, then closed his eyes and began trying to guide the two powers within his body.

Because he had used them once before, Xu Yuan was not like a headless fly. He did his best to seek out the feeling from that time. After a while, he seemed to grasp something. The next moment, as though the scene in the mine were replaying itself, one white and one red stream of energy suddenly surged from his body and entwined around his five fingers.

However, his vital blood and spiritual energy remained two streams as distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers, utterly unable to fuse together. Even so, this alone drew nearly every gaze present.

Even the burly man, who had already taken a seat nearby, suddenly straightened up. Then he muttered inwardly, "Is he here to smash my place up?"