Inside the mountain, Pan Long lay amid heaps of shattered rock. Every part of him hurt, inside and out.
The pain was the least of it. More importantly, his strength felt scattered. Gathering his energy and exerting force had become sluggish, like water trying to pass through a pipe that had mostly frozen. A trickle could still get through, but the flow was unbearably slow.
Good grief! Tie Ying's palm strike actually shattered my martial foundation!
In the Nine Provinces World, anyone who studied martial arts began internal training with visualization and breath control, and external training with stances and moves. Once they reached a certain level, they fused the two. Circulating energy, exerting force, and responding with different moves became instinct. At that point, their martial arts had taken shape, and they qualified as a "Martial World expert."
Such people were also said to have reached the Houtian Realm. Its defining mark was the seamless union of energy, strength, and stance, also known as the martial foundation.
Martial artists could take a beating better than warlocks partly because they were tough-skinned and tenacious, and partly because deflecting force, dodging, and defending had become instincts that operated at all times, without a moment's pause.
If someone was hit so hard that even those instinctive reactions slowed or seized up, their martial foundation was said to have been shattered.
The deeper a martial artist's cultivation, the stronger the power protecting their body. Beyond the martial foundation, they could shield themselves with true qi or even form armor from it. But one thing was certain: having that protective qi dispersed would not cause a particularly serious injury. Having their martial foundation shattered, on the other hand, meant they were close to death even if they survived.
From a biological standpoint, the collapse