Pan Xuan had tailored the path of the Martial Dao for the Witch Clan all those years ago.
It consisted of four realms: Body Refining, Qi Refining, Will Refining, and Dao Refining.
The Witch Clan had long since thoroughly comprehended the first three realms.
Body Refining tempered flesh, skin, sinews, and bones with blood energy, bringing the physical body to Sagehood.
Qi Refining circulated qi throughout the body, connecting it with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Will Refining forged weapons from will; wherever intent reached, the spirit followed the heart.
Only this final realm remained.
Dao Refining had always been like viewing flowers through mist, separated by a thin veil that made its true face difficult to glimpse.
Dao Refining, as its name suggested, meant refining the "Dao" into oneself.
Body Refining refined the physical body, and Qi Refining refined spiritual energy.
Will Refining refined the will, while Dao Refining required taking the laws of heaven and earth themselves.
And refining them into a strand of one's own intrinsic Great Dao, united with oneself, so that every movement became a manifestation of the Dao.
Once this realm was attained, the body itself would be law, and every punch and kick would be the Great Dao. There would no longer be any need to seek externally from heaven and earth, for I am heaven and earth; I am the Dao.
This was precisely the supreme aspect in which the Martial Dao surpassed the path of the Primordial Spirit.
It was also a realm the Twelve Ancestral Witches had only become qualified to touch after their physical bodies and Primordial Spirits reached parity.
From that day onward, Pan Xuan and the Twelve Ancestral Witches entered seclusion in Great Luo Heaven to work through their deductions.
It was a protracted exploration