Primordial Chaos Internal Qi

The next day.

Early in the morning.

Zhou Yi woke from his sleep right on time.

Half a year of stance training had given him an accurate biological clock.

The story had been told too late, and Chen Jinyu was still sound asleep. He quietly left the room.

As the morning sun rose, the first wisp of Purple Mist between Heaven and Earth was the best time to practice the Primordial Chaos Stance.

Zhou Yi had mastered the Primordial Chaos Stance, but that did not mean he had reached the pinnacle of stance training. It only meant he had attained mastery of the realm.

At the peak of stance training, one's qi and blood would be vigorous, and a single arm could wield a thousand jin of force, like a humanoid violent bear.

Currently, Zhou Yi could unleash a thousand jin of force with his legs, but only seven or eight hundred with his arms. That was still thanks to the Great Tablet Breaking Hand strengthening his arm strength.

Stance training was the foundation of martial arts. Chen Xiangyan, the master of the Golden Saber Sect, was already a renowned expert, yet he still persisted in stance training, tempering his sinews and bones and increasing his strength.

"Exhale—inhale—exhale..."

Zhou Yi continued as usual, his abdomen rumbling like a drum with every breath.

His sinews, bones, and muscles slowly grew stronger. Tempered by the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, his internal organs became increasingly resilient.

After a full two hours, Zhou Yi went to the kitchen, where the cook had long since stewed the mutton until tender.

Zhou Yi had only one requirement of the cook: the meat had to be delicious. Ordinary stir-fried dishes could hardly satisfy his stomach.

More than twenty jin of tender stewed mutton and half a tray of steamed buns all went into his belly in one meal, only then replenishing the expenditure from stance training.

The saying that scholars could be poor while martial artists had to be rich was no joke. Zhou Yi's consumption for a single meal was enough for an ordinary family to live on for a month.

After adjusting his body to its best condition, Zhou Yi opened the Primordial Chaos Technique manual that had arrived yesterday together with the bridal dowry.

The Primordial Chaos Technique was divided into external refining through stance training and internal refining through qigong. Only when combined did they form the complete Primordial Chaos Technique.

The opening passage was a general outline explaining the origins of the Primordial Chaos Technique.

"Those who practice martial arts must first stand in a stance. Stance training is the beginning of all things!"

"In ancient times, human bodies were frail while wild beasts were mighty. Some people imitated the sitting, lying, walking, and running forms of beasts to strengthen their bodies. Beast forms came first, then stance training. Thus, the beginning of martial arts lay in tempering the body through stance training..."

"Amid the stampede of countless beasts, the ancestor of Qingcheng comprehended the meaning of Primordial Chaos as one qi and created the Primordial Chaos Stance..."

Zhou Yi had not expected that what his master Chen Hong said about the Primordial Chaos Stance being a secret Daoist transmission was not mere self-praise.

The Primordial Chaos Technique was a Qingcheng Sect cultivation method, an unquestionably orthodox Daoist inheritance.

Zhou Yi continued turning the pages and reached the section on the internal refining mental method of the Primordial Chaos Technique.

"Primordial Chaos is the beginning of all things, both formed and formless. Yin and yang create transformation, while gathering and dispersing give birth to all things..."

"...only then can something arise from nothing, and one qi return to Primordial Chaos."

Zhou Yi read every word carefully. The more than two thousand characters took him a full quarter of an hour to finish.

The Primordial Chaos Technique had been written by Daoist sages of the Qingcheng Sect and was obscure and difficult to understand. Fortunately, there were annotations beside it, along with Chen Xiangyan's cultivation insights.

Otherwise, merely understanding and translating it would have taken Zhou Yi several days.

"Gather the qi and blood of the five organs, correspond it to the five elements, and circulate it through special meridians to condense Primordial Chaos Internal Force... If qi and blood are insufficient, there is a danger of cultivation deviation, exhaustion of qi and blood, and death!"

"No wonder one must temper qi and blood through stance training first. Otherwise, it would be impossible to cultivate the Primordial Chaos Technique!"

"Moreover, once Primordial Chaos Internal Force is cultivated, rapidly strengthening it will still consume qi and blood."

"The Primordial Chaos Stance tempers sinews, bones, and muscles, which happens to increase qi and blood!"

"One increases while the other decreases; one takes the lead while the other assists. It accords with the Great Dao. Truly worthy of an orthodox Daoist inheritance!"

Zhou Yi first made sure he understood everything, then read through it dozens of times until he could recite the entire text without missing a single word. Afterward, he threw the manual into the stove, reducing it to ashes.

Technique: Primordial Chaos Technique

Proficiency: (+)

Description: A mundane qi-refining method. After reaching great mastery, there is a certain chance of Qi Induction into Body.

"The Primordial Chaos Technique is not ranked either... It seems I underestimated the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture. Xiahou the Swordsman could roam the world unchallenged, while the Golden Saber Sect only occupied a single county. The difference in their cultivation methods alone is enormous."

Zhou Yi cast aside his distracting thoughts, sat cross-legged, and placed his hands together over his Dantian.

He consumed 1 point of Origin.

Primordial Chaos Technique Proficiency: (Beginner)

He consumed 2 points of Origin.

He consumed 4 points of Origin.

Primordial Chaos Technique Proficiency: (Mastery)

Zhou Yi filled the Primordial Chaos Technique's proficiency in one go. Instantly, countless experiences regarding its cultivation flooded into his mind.

The cultivation experience analyzed and enlightened by Origin made Zhou Yi feel as though he had cultivated the Primordial Chaos Technique for countless years. It had already become instinctive.

"Primordial Chaos is the beginning of the five elements, both formed and formless..."

Zhou Yi silently recited the formula and effortlessly mobilized the qi and blood within his body. Following the circulation route of the Primordial Chaos Technique, he continuously compressed and condensed it until it vaguely became a wisp of barely perceptible Pure Energy.

Pure Energy was the seed of the Primordial Chaos Technique's Internal Qi. In the future, as he continued adding qi and blood to strengthen it, he would be able to display all kinds of wondrous uses.

"With the Primordial Chaos Technique at mastery, my understanding of condensing Internal Qi does not lose to its creator. There is no need to worry about cultivation speed. The only issue is the excessive consumption of qi and blood..."

"But that won't stump me!"

With a thought from Zhou Yi, 1 point of Origin dissipated, turning into silver threads that nourished his internal organs and restored his qi and blood.

Origin was purer energy condensed by the Gateway to Myriad Wonders after absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. One point of Origin was enough to restore qi and blood several times.

Naturally, Zhou Yi would not let such an opportunity pass. He immediately circulated the Primordial Chaos Technique and continuously strengthened his Internal Force.

After the 1 point of Origin was fully consumed, Zhou Yi sensed that the Internal Qi in his Dantian had already grown to the size of a thumb.

With a thought from Zhou Yi, Primordial Chaos Internal Force flooded into his palm.

He lightly slapped the blue-brick wall with his palm, leaving behind a palm print half an inch deep, as though it had been carved into the wall.

The Great Tablet Breaking Hand alone could produce such destructive force, but it could not achieve such precise control over Internal Force.

If the strength of the Great Tablet Breaking Hand were combined with Internal Force, a single palm strike could shatter a wall. It was several times stronger than pure body tempering.

Among the martial artists and bandits of the jianghu, anyone who cultivated Internal Force could already be called an expert.

"Unfortunately, there is too little Internal Qi. Forget releasing it beyond the body—it can only cover one palm!"

"The next step is to break through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, connect the inner and outer heavens and earth, and achieve unity with Primordial Chaos. Only then can it be considered true mastery."

According to the records in the Primordial Chaos Technique manual, the founding patriarch of the Qingcheng Sect had taken three months at the fastest to open a single meridian.

Zhou Yi sensed the Eight Extraordinary Meridians within his body. Every one of them was tightly blocked. He controlled a wisp of Internal Qi to strike at them for a quarter of an hour, only clearing a small segment of one meridian before it was exhausted.

This speed already delighted Zhou Yi immensely. Without the Primordial Chaos Technique at mastery, it would have been impossible to achieve such speed.

"As my Internal Force grows deeper in the future, breaking through the meridians will become easy."

With the Primordial Chaos Technique at mastery, the speed and efficiency at which qi and blood transformed into Internal Force had reached the highest level.

Origin replenished qi and blood, allowing Internal Force to grow rapidly.

As Internal Force grew deeper, the speed of breaking through meridians increased.

"A perfect cycle. Perhaps in just a few years, I can open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and reach the peak of the Acquired Realm."

With Origin's assistance and the Primordial Chaos Technique at mastery, Zhou Yi's few years of cultivation would surpass several decades of effort from others. The speed was not slow at all.

"And there is also the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture, the only technique that can be assigned a rank..."

Zhou Yi opened the attribute panel and looked again at the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture. Sure enough, the symbol for increasing proficiency had appeared.

Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture (+)!