Martial Artist

Biodata

Power Progression

Qualification and Promotion

• Martial aptitude is ranked from D to A, with each grade divided into low, middle, and high tiers. Grade C aptitude is generally the minimum required to receive martial training, while Grade B practitioners are considered prodigies. 1
• Li Family recruits are given one month to cultivate qi and blood; failures return to menial labor. 1
• The Primordial Unity Stance is a common foundational art for beginners. It has nine movements and progresses through entry, proficiency, minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, and perfection. 2
• Reaching First Blood-Qi Transformation grants a Li Family servant formal Martial Artist status. 8

Li Family Privileges

Cultivation

Blood Qi

Blood Qi is the basis of a Martial Artist’s physical cultivation.

• In the First Blood-Qi Transformation, newly condensed Blood Qi strengthens the body but cannot be retained indefinitely. 8 19
• A Blood Pool Acupoint, opened at the Qi-Blood Second Transformation, stores Blood Qi for later use. 19
• Stored Blood Qi can reinforce fists, legs, and martial techniques. 19
• Blood Pool Acupoints differ between individuals. An Acupoint-Finding Secret Art uses breathing and visualization methods to locate them. 25
• Superior secret arts may locate multiple Blood Pool Acupoints, creating a much greater capacity for Blood Qi. 25

Martial Techniques

A Martial Artist’s combat ability depends on practiced martial arts as well as cultivation realm.

• Primordial Unity Stance — foundational stance art; mastery grants Unified Force, integrating the body’s strength into a single attack. 4
• Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique — saber art available through the Medicine Escort Team and the Martial Repository Pavilion. 12
• Charging Bull Step — movement technique that improves speed and mobility. 5
• Iron Cloth Shirt / Iron Garment Art — hard-body arts that improve physical defense through specialized cultivation and medicinal baths. 12 15
• Flowing Cloud Qi Arrow Art — archery art whose full power requires Qi-Blood Third Transformation and Blood Qi-infused arrows. 23

Resources and Physical Cost

• Martial cultivation requires substantial food, medicine, and physical energy; even a newly advanced Martial Artist can become dangerously hungry after producing Blood Qi. 8
• Blood-Strengthening Soup and its concentrated form, Blood-Strength Powder, accelerate Blood-Qi cultivation. 8 9
• Limited access to medicine slows advancement: many Li Family Martial Artists must stretch one bottle of Blood-Strength Powder over one and a half to two months. 10
• Exotic beast meat, bones, and Blood-Strengthening Pills are valuable cultivation resources, particularly for hard-body arts and Hunting Team members. 35 38

Li Family Service Roles

Medicine Escort Team

• Members receive a monthly discount on Blood-Strength Powder and one free low-grade martial skill. 12
• The team is divided into four squads; the Third Squad is led by Luo Shan, a Blood-Qi Third Transformation Martial Artist. 12 19
• Escort work can be dangerous: the Third Medicinal Escort Squad was used in a battle at One-Line Sky against bandits that included Second and Third Transformation Martial Artists. 23

Hunting Team

• Membership is capped at fifteen, and the team mobilizes immediately when exotic-beast intelligence is received. 36
• Seventy percent of a hunted beast belongs to the Li Estate. Of the remaining thirty percent, half is distributed among members and half is sold for the team’s public reward fund. 36
• The Tower of Ten Thousand Beasts contains a Beast Pavilion for mental cultivation, cold storage for exotic-beast meat, a martial arts repository, and an alchemy repository. 36
• The team’s casualty rate is severe: of fifteen previous members, eight died, three were severely injured, one was crippled, and three were lightly injured. 36

Hunting Team Iron Laws

1. Do not kill fellow members.
2. Do not conceal captured prey.
3. Do not privately sell team supplies.
4. Do not privately teach team martial arts.
5. Obey the captain’s orders during hunts.

Violating any of these rules is punishable by death. 36