"Born between heaven and earth, we can cultivate the great Dao! Boy, you're a Martial Warrior of the First Realm now. Have you decided what kind of man you want to become?"
"Stay with my master, protect the village..."
"What else? Watch that little girl grow prettier and prettier?"
"Hehehe... Master, why bring that up? Hehehe..."
Master Ming slapped Lü Bufan so hard his head spun. "We're talking serious business! You've been lucky, brat. Us old fellows and Granny Yu racked our brains hunting down Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to cleanse your sinews and marrow... Now your aptitude is good enough to cultivate spiritual power and Daoist arts as well!"
Lü Bufan fell silent for a moment, then respectfully knelt and kowtowed to his master, Master Ming...
"I understand. All this time, you and my other masters have given me a new lease on life... I'll remember it, and I'll listen to all of you from now on!"
"Mm... At least you're dutiful... I nearly cracked my skull thinking before I came up with a good solution! Cultivate both! Temper your own Martial Warrior physique while keeping every last bit of your acquired Gang Qi contained within your body! Unite it into a seamless whole without letting a trace leak out...
"Then cultivate the True Essence of Daoist arts and follow the path of the Qi Refiners! Become a great cultivator of the mortal world! In the future... perhaps you can bring glory to Two Realms Village, contend with the Immortal Sect, and win honor for the Human Race!"
On the great rock at the village entrance, Old Skeleton lay beside the older of the two big black dogs... After Master Ming finished spouting that bullshit, Old Skeleton spat in disgust! Then he rolled over, too lazy to listen anymore...
Another, younger big black dog lay beside the Land God Temple on the ground, silent and indolent as ever... He only twitched his tail while Master Ming was sweet-talking Lü Bufan.
Huang Jiu had returned to Two Realms Village after helping Meng Lian'er's parents escape safely three days earlier. Now he sat on a rooftop, staring dumbfounded at the deaf Han Wu...
...Boss Ming... really has no shame!
Du Yuan, fully recovered and finally free of his vat, planted both hands on the ground and sprang onto the roof. He transmitted his voice to the one-armed Huang Jiu and the deaf Han Wu. "That's disgusting... Isn't Boss Ming just hoodwinking a fool?"
Huang Jiu glanced toward the village entrance with a complicated expression and said softly, "You're all mad enough yourselves! He was born an ordinary mortal child, after all, yet you dared let Old Skeleton and Big Black put him through all that."
Du Yuan lowered his voice. "Cultivating the Martial Dao and Daoist arts together! Has that old blind man gone mad? A few heaven-blessed prodigies have tried it throughout history... Not one successfully mastered both! They all ended up covered in dust and shame, or simply died with their Dao extinguished..."
Inside the house, Master Ming continued explaining to Lü Bufan. "In today's mortal world, cultivation is divided into two paths, internal and external! A Martial Warrior's acquired Gang Qi and a cultivator's innate spiritual qi!"
"They're also called practicing martial arts and cultivating truth! What does cultivating truth mean? Cultivating that breath of innate True Essence, seeking the clear truth of your own self between heaven and earth!"
"For a Martial Warrior's Gang Qi, the First Realm is sinew sinking, the Second Realm bone stabilization, the Third Realm qi containment, the Fourth Realm blood spring, and the Fifth Realm marrow radiance. At the Sixth Realm... you've crossed the threshold into true mastery and reached the Wilderness Realm. Your acquired Gang Qi lets you tread through the air, or project it a hundred paces to kill enemies and smash city walls!"
"The Seventh Realm is sea stepping, and the Eighth Realm is the realm that damned cripple and the deaf man have reached... the Sky Stepping Realm! You can ride the wind far afield and transform your Gang Qi at will! As for Ninth Realm Martial Warriors..."
Master Ming sighed. "For ten thousand years, the mortal world has revered the Immortal Sect's Daoist arts, and the Martial Dao has languished. Today, there are only a handful of Ninth Realm Martial Warriors in the mortal world... Two in the dynasties beneath the Immortal Sect's mountains, and one overseas. The rest..."
Lü Bufan said softly, "They probably refused to be driven and enslaved by the Immortal Sect and went adventuring in the Wild Spirit Land instead?"
Master Ming smiled. "Clever!"
The next day, beside the little lake outside the village, Lü Bufan stood dejectedly on the shore. The demure Meng Lian'er sat on a rock nearby...
"For cultivators, the first realm is qi joining, the second spirit nurturing, the third heart stabilization, the fourth intent retention, and the fifth the formation of a golden core... Only then do you become a Qi Refiner. The sixth is jade containment, the seventh golden bridge, and in the eighth, four seas, the nascent soul forms... Then there's the ninth realm, reached by only a scant few supreme cultivators in the world! The Heavenly Pass Realm..."
Meng Lian'er smiled. "What's wrong? You started cultivating a little late, but surely you haven't lost heart?"
"Miss Lian'er, you're from a cultivation clan. What realm are you in now?"
Meng Lian'er lowered her head. "My constitution is a little unusual. Mother says I'll probably languish in the spirit nurturing realm for a long time..."
Lü Bufan said quietly, "I've only just become a First Realm Martial Warrior... My masters say my foundations are too poor..."
"Diligence can make up for clumsiness! I see how hard you cultivate every day..."
"You mean running all over the village hugging that big stone ball? It's so embarrassing..."
"It isn't embarrassing. Martial Warriors cultivate in all sorts of strange ways. I've heard some even go into the mountains and live among wild beasts like savages!"
"...The kind without trousers?"
In the distance, Master Ming shuddered at those words... "That blockhead! He's an absolute wooden club when it comes to courting girls..."
The cripple on the ground nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly! That girl has an immaculate body, something you hardly see once in a century... Marrying her would be an enormous opportunity to nourish spiritual qi! Even eighth-realm cultivators would be tempted..."
Master Ming sneered. "Eighth realm? Even those True Immortals in the Upper Realm are drooling over her, aren't they? That child is a rare manifestation of auspicious fortune in this world... All the more reason for those damned immortals to covet her."
Suddenly, Granny Yu appeared in the distance.
"Brat! Stay away from my Lian'er... A toad hoping to feast on swan flesh, are you? If you've got time for this, go play with your big stone ball!"
Lü Bufan was instantly routed, throwing away helmet and armor as he fled...
The days passed like that, one after another, and the big black dog became two.
One lay atop the great rock and never came down, while the other was just as lazy... Only, he visited Lü Bufan every day and cadged some meat at Master Ming's house along the way.
A year passed in the blink of an eye. The climate deep in the southern borderlands' mountains was warm and mild. Even the changing heat and cold seemed scarcely noticeable.
Before he knew it, Lü Bufan was fourteen, yet he remained a First Realm Martial Warrior.
Every day, he still ran all over the village carrying the largest stone ball, or went to the lakeshore to practice a simple fist routine.
Meng Lian'er often sat quietly beside the lake, resting her chin in her hands as she watched him.
Occasionally, Lü Bufan still went hunting with Mute, who continued helping him by pounding his body.
These seemed to be the happiest days Lü Bufan could ever dream of... Except that his cultivation progressed even more slowly than those old softshell turtles in the lake.
In the village, four old fellows sat on a rooftop.
Huang Jiu said to Master Ming, "Can you keep suppressing him? Don't let it backfire!"
Master Ming turned to Du Yuan. "Has he noticed anything strange about that stone ball?"
Du Yuan nudged the foolish-looking deaf man beside him and asked loudly, "How heavy is the stone ball now? Has that little brat noticed?"
Han Wu shook his head. "Over three hundred jin, I think? Doesn't seem like he's noticed anything. The brat even carries it to the latrine every day."
Master Ming smiled. "Don't underestimate that boy. I reckon he's known for ages. He's just willing to play the fool along with us!"
Huang Jiu curled his lip. "One First Realm Martial Warrior cultivating, and a whole bunch of Eighth Realm patriarchs fretting over him... Get on with what you should be doing. Lift the suppression and let him learn the Second Realm fist routine! Calculate all you like, can you outcalculate fate?"
Master Ming nodded. "That's true enough. Too much is as bad as too little... Then let's begin! Let him break through. Tomorrow, the deaf man will teach him the body-tempering fist routine... Though what actually suits him best..."
"Ah-ba! Ah... ah-ba!"
The village's mute monk suddenly appeared in the courtyard and made a few ah-ba sounds at the four old cripples on the roof.
Du Yuan said helplessly, "Deaf man, translate..."
The deaf Han Wu nodded solemnly... "Mm, all right! Mute says he'll pass his Flawless Golden Body Method on to the little brat... But he won't teach the Buddhist Sect's killing and demon-subduing techniques in it. They entangle you in karma... Not good."
Master Ming paused, then smiled. "That's perfect! Tell Mute... thank you!"
The deaf man nodded and shouted down, "Ah-ba... Thanks!"
"Ah... ah... ba..."
Mute swayed away.
Huang Jiu slapped his forehead with his three fingers... "Ah! What is this supposed to be... Why does it feel so awkward?"
"What did you say? Speak up..."
The next day, Lü Bufan raced to the lakeshore with the great stone ball raised overhead, looking like a dung beetle that had gained sentience.
Meng Lian'er was washing several medicinal cauldrons beside the lake. She turned and smiled at him.
In just one year, the girl had shed much of her childish awkwardness and grown ever more beautiful.
Lü Bufan hastily set down the great stone ball, greeted her with a chuckle, and began a fist routine he had long since mastered to perfection, one that looked like a farmer's crude moves...
Suddenly, Lü Bufan felt as though every punch he threw today could mobilize every last bit of the pitiful little Gang Qi within him!
Lü Bufan faltered for a moment, then felt that unless he finished the routine, he would become a pent-up volcano, unbearably stifled!
So Lü Bufan concentrated fully and began throwing punches... One punch, three punches, twelve punches, Thirty-Six Fists!
When he reached the thirty-fifth punch of this routine, which the deaf man had named Thirty-Six Fists like a halfwit... dense acquired Gang Qi wreathed Lü Bufan's fist! A faint white radiance flickered...
"Phew..." Lü Bufan calmed his mind and steadied his breath. All the spirit he had accumulated through two years of cultivation gathered now, becoming one final punch that he threw with unwavering precision!
A crack exploded through the air!
Then a faint, elusive sound of something breaking seemed to echo within Lü Bufan's Martial Warrior body!
Old Skeleton curled his lip disdainfully atop the great rock at the village entrance, while Master Ming smiled faintly in the courtyard...
Lü Bufan had become a Martial Warrior of the Second Realm, the Bone-Setting Realm!
The cripple Du Yuan climbed onto the roof and bellowed in his cracked-gong voice, "Little brat, why haven't you hauled yourself back yet? Time to learn a new fist routine... And carry that big stone ball back with you! We're adding weight!"
Still basking in the joy of his breakthrough, Lü Bufan's face filled with sorrow at those words... I've already broken through to become a Second Realm Martial Warrior! Why do I still have to carry that big stone ball? Am I going to be stuck with it for the rest of my life?
If I really leave Two Realms Village to roam the martial world someday, will I have to bring the big stone ball along? Won't people give me a nickname then... the Dung Beetle Hero?
Watching Lü Bufan lift the great stone ball again and trudge back dejectedly, Meng Lian'er burst out laughing beside the lake... She called to him from afar...
"Brother Bufan! Congratulations... I'll come with Big Black tonight to celebrate!"
Lü Bufan's eyes lit up... "Remember to bring me some tasty dried fruit!"
"Mm! Well... You've handled that stone ball until it's nice and round. Not bad!"
Lü Bufan blushed and fled in disarray with the great stone ball raised overhead...
Meng Lian'er giggled happily, her beautiful eyes curving into two heart-stirring crescents...