Seven Forms of Ceasing War, Martial Foundation Establishment

Chen Lingxi was led by the maid to the servants' quarters in the western courtyard.

Though it was still a residence for servants, it was far more spacious and dry than the rear-facing rooms. There was a bed, a table, and a chair; the window lattice was intact, making it difficult for wind and snow to seep in.

After the maid left and Chen Lingxi had settled in, he closed his eyes and focused. Once more, he activated the [Sight-Roaming] divine ability, sinking his consciousness into the divine chamber as he tried to observe Lin Suri.

After merely a few breaths, Chen Lingxi opened his eyes, his consciousness returning to reality.

He furrowed his brow and gave a soft exclamation.

"The Sight-Roaming divine ability can't actually catch Lin Suri's trail this time..."

Chen Lingxi was somewhat puzzled, but then he understood.

"The divine chamber spans three hundred zhang vertically and three hundred zhang across... Sight-Roaming cannot settle upon Lin Suri, most likely because he isn't within the divine chamber's range today."

He gently shook his head.

For the past two nights, Lin Suri had cultivated in the eastern hall of the southern courtyard, breathing and circulating his breath in peculiar postures. His aura flowed around him, and golden light flickered faintly, yet Chen Lingxi had gained nothing from it...

Today, Lin Suri was absent again.

"Continue cultivating."

Chen Lingxi dispelled the many thoughts in his mind. His body once again curved like a bow as he inhaled with three pauses and exhaled with five breaks...

"After resting for three days in a row, I can now complete a full breathing cycle—inhaling with three pauses, exhaling with five breaks, and fully taking in a thread of 'qi.'"

Chen Lingxi did not dare slacken.

After all, this breathing method was his greatest hope.

Thus, the night passed. When dawn faintly broke, the snow had cleared and the clouds parted. A young servant in blue was already waiting outside the room. Upon seeing Chen Lingxi emerge, he led him toward the Martial Practice Court.

The Martial Practice Court stood on the eastern side of the Marquis Residence, enclosed by high walls and gray tiles, its vermilion-lacquered gates thrown wide open.

Beyond the entrance lay a broad stone yard. The accumulated snow had been swept away, revealing bluish-black flagstones. Stone locks, wooden posts, archery targets, and other equipment were arranged throughout the yard, while blades, spears, swords, and halberds gleamed coldly from racks in the corners.

Pavilions stood to the east and west of the courtyard, housing martial arts manuals and quiet chambers for practice. To the north rose a towering two-story main building. Beneath its eaves hung a black plaque with golden lettering, bearing the three words "Martial Hall." The strokes were vigorous, faintly exuding an air of grim slaughter.

Several people were already leading guards through morning practice in the yard. Shouts and the sounds of fists splitting the air intertwined as their blood and vitality steamed, making even the surrounding chill fade by a measure.

Chen Lingxi swept his gaze over them, and his eyes first settled on one man.

The man looked around forty. He was lean and tall, yet broad-boned, with wide shoulders, thick wrists, and knuckles protruding like old bamboo joints. His entire body seemed like an iron frame draped in skin.

He was teaching a boxing art. His punches were exceedingly slow, yet as he sank his waist, his bones began to resound all at once.

It was not a crisp crackling sound, but a deep, droning hum, as though a great bell were tolling beneath the earth!

A silvery-white radiance, like moonlight, faintly surfaced around him. As he threw several punches, ripples actually spread through the air itself, extraordinary beyond measure.

"It's He Duan, an instructor of the western courtyard."

Chen Lingxi had long heard this man's name, so he quietly watched from the side as He Duan led the others in martial practice.

A full quarter of an hour passed.

He Duan withdrew his stance and stood still.

The clothes of the few who had trained with him were soaked through with sweat. They seemed utterly exhausted and sat down one after another to rest.

Yet He Duan's breathing remained even as he declared loudly, "In a few days, Jiang Yuan, the new western-courtyard guest retainer—a man who has perfected Silver Bones—will choose one person from among the western courtyard's disciples and teach them his famed martial art!

"Cultivate diligently these days. If you can receive Jiang Yuan's instruction, it will be a heaven-sent opportunity for you."

The courtyard burst into noisy chatter, and everyone was greatly delighted.

A disciple beside him brought over a silver basin. He Duan washed his hands, and only then did his gaze turn toward Chen Lingxi in the distance.

Chen Lingxi was just about to step forward, but the worshipper had already turned away, clasped his hands behind his back, and entered the main building.

Not long afterward, another young man emerged, carrying several manuals in his arms.

"Chen Lingxi?"

When the man approached, he handed the manuals to Chen Lingxi. "Worshipper He told you to choose one from these three and take it back. Leave the rest on that stone stool."

After speaking, the young man left without another word.

As an official slave of the Baosu Marquis Residence, Chen Lingxi had long grown accustomed to the cold looks of others.

His expression did not change as he looked at the three manuals in his hands.

"[Iron-Sinking Stake], [Wave-Stacking Fist], [Fragmentary Scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War]!"

Chen Lingxi found a quiet spot, opened the prefaces, and read them carefully...

After a long while, he let out a long breath.

"Iron-Sinking Stake is a stance art, used to temper the physique, refine one's blood and vitality, and forge the body into iron through a hundred refinements.

"This stance art has no accompanying boxing method and possesses almost no killing power. It cannot be used for self-defense."

"Wave-Stacking Fist, meanwhile, is a technique purely for rousing blood and vitality... I have not even entered the gate of martial arts yet. This boxing art is wholly unsuitable for me.

"It seems He Duan never took me seriously."

Chen Lingxi shook his head, his gaze finally falling upon the fragmentary scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War.

"This seems to be a rather mixed boxing art. It can temper the physique and bones, and it can kill enemies as well. Moreover, it is incomplete.

"Yet even so, even though it appears so mixed, it is the most suitable of these three martial manuals for me..."

Of the three arts, it appeared that he had room to choose, but in truth, Chen Lingxi could only choose the fragmentary scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War.

Having selected his art, Chen Lingxi did not linger in the Martial Hall. He returned to the servants' quarters with the young servant.

Inside the room, Chen Lingxi opened the fragmentary scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War and read it carefully.

A full four hours passed. Aside from going to the servants' dining hall at noon to eat a bowl of tooth-grinding millet mixed with coarse rice and boiled cabbage, Chen Lingxi remained in the servants' quarters, reading and contemplating the Seven Forms of Ceasing War.

Though the Seven Forms of Ceasing War was called a boxing art, it was in truth a general outline for entering the martial path.

Not until the blazing sun sank toward the western mountains did Chen Lingxi finally exhale a breath of turbid air.

"Learning martial arts is actually this difficult!"

He had thought that cultivating martial arts meant what it did on television in his previous life—throwing punches and kicks, one move at a time, with meticulous form. But he had never imagined that an ordinary person needed so much merely to cross the threshold of martial arts!

"The martial path of the Great Li Dynasty, and indeed the world at large, is divided into seven realms."

"Iron Body, Copper Crimson, Silver Bones, Golden Body, Jade Qi, Nine Transformations, and Profound Entry!"

"Taking Iron Body, the entry realm, as an example: before one may practice martial arts, one must first spend a hundred days tempering oneself to establish a foundation. External training must be paired with nourishing food, advancing step by step each day, laying the groundwork for later cultivation of martial manuals and preventing lifelong injuries that would make Silver Bones and Golden Body impossible to attain!"

"Once the hundred days of foundation establishment are complete and one can smoothly cultivate martial manuals, one may [strike] and [temper] the body during training!

"At first, one uses wooden mallets to strike and temper the body. After reaching Iron Body, one switches to iron-sand bags."

Chen Lingxi's thoughts churned.

"Simply cultivating with all one's strength is not enough. One also needs copious food. If conditions allow, one may take body-tempering medicinal formulas and add medicinal baths to invigorate the blood, disperse stasis, and strengthen the sinews and bones."

This manual of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War even included a body-tempering prescription!

"Cortex lycii, safflower, dragonbone grass... and even mica!"

He could not help sighing. "One dose of this medicine would likely cost several qian of silver. If I took one dose every day, then in a mere year, it would consume one or two hundred taels!"

As an official slave, Chen Lingxi received no monthly allowance.

In other words, he could not afford even a single dose of medicine!

"The book says the martial path is a gold-devouring undertaking. It requires vast quantities of meat to replenish blood and vitality, along with all sorts of medicines and medicinal baths. Otherwise, one will surely damage the body's foundation... As an official slave, I can only eat coarse rice and cabbage each day, and I do not see meat once in a month.

"If so, does that mean I cannot practice martial arts?"

Chen Lingxi's brow furrowed even deeper.

He pondered carefully, then suddenly raised his brows.

"I have only been practicing the breathing method I obtained from Lin Suri for four days!"

"Yet in these four days, though I have eaten only two bowls of coarse rice and cabbage each day, my belly no longer feels as hollow and bloated as before.

"Instead, I often feel a warm current rising from my dantian, drifting through my limbs and bones. My skin and bones, too, often feel hot."

Chen Lingxi had long noticed these changes.

Especially each morning after he finished cultivating, his sinews and bones felt light and vigorous, his eyes clear as though freshly washed, and even his five senses had become much sharper.

"And my strength..."

Chen Lingxi rose to his feet and tried moving the square elmwood table in the room.

In the past, battered by daily labor, Chen Lingxi could grit his teeth and exhaust all his strength only to shift it a few inches.

Now, with a light pull of one hand, the table's corner moved two or three inches!

The heavy weight pressed into his palm, yet rather than feeling strained, he felt a nimble ease, as though wielding it with room to spare.

This sensation...

He suddenly recalled the description in the preface of the <Fragmentary Scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War>—

"When mortals learn martial arts, they must first nourish the stomach with coarse food and plain fare, supplementing this with stance training and striking. After a hundred days, their blood and vitality will gradually flourish, their strength will be like that of a horse, and their joints will ring. Only then may the foundation be considered initially established."

Strength like a horse; the quiet force growing between his sinews and bones; the fullness of his essence, qi, and spirit—it all faintly matched the signs of "foundation establishment complete" described in the book.

Chen Lingxi's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Could it be..."

He lowered his head, raised his hand, and opened the fragmentary scroll of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War!

The fragmentary scroll was old, its edges damaged in places, but the ink remained remarkably clear.

He turned to the illustrated general outline, his gaze falling on the nine variations of the first form, [Mountain-Winding Stance]!

"Whether I have completed martial foundation establishment or not, one test will tell!"