"Patriarch, Shen Yan's Qi and blood are robust. I think he isn't far from breaking through to Flesh Refining."
Shen Zhen nodded slightly, a hint of a smile finally appearing on his face. "The boy is honest and handles things reliably, but he still needs more tempering."
The next morning, Chen Tie practiced the Supple Bone Palm in his courtyard. The Qi and blood within him circulated with his movements, flowing constantly through his body.
Chen Tie had barely noticed it before, but now that his strength had improved, he had begun to form a vague conjecture. After all, he was no longer a complete newbie.
The outer city's five wards had twenty-five martial arts halls of various sizes, and countless people practiced martial arts.
Yet almost all of them primarily cultivated a single cultivation art, supplementing it with a few martial skills for self-defense at most. He seemed to have heard very little about anyone cultivating several cultivation arts.
At this thought, Chen Tie decided he needed to ask Master Mo about it.
Chen Tie headed toward the martial arts hall with his younger sister. What he saw and heard along the way made him shake his head inwardly.
These were already troubled times, and with the Five Great Aristocratic Families of the inner city manipulating things behind the scenes, the outer city had descended into greater chaos.
Rising prices were inevitable, but supplies were now scarce, and nobody dared accept banknotes anymore. Those banknotes that could not be exchanged for supplies had become wastepaper.
Even silver's purchasing power had fallen sharply. Only gold retained its original purchasing power, but where would ordinary people get gold?
Most people no longer held anything that could serve as a general equivalent.
As a result, purchases sometimes reverted to the primitive practice of bartering goods for goods.
Chen Tie arrived at the inner courtyard and left his sister with Mo Fang.
"Big Sister Mo!"
Chen Xi bounded over and threw her arms around Mo Fang.
"Junior Sister Mo, is Master Mo here today?"
Mo Fang affectionately pinched Chen Xi's little face as she replied, "Father is feeding the birds in the inner courtyard. If you need him, Junior Brother Chen, you can go in and find him."
"Sorry for the trouble, Junior Sister."
Chen Tie cupped his hands and left.
In the inner courtyard's pavilion, Mo Hong held birdseed between his fingers, teasing the little bird in its cage with soft, gentle sounds.
"Your disciple greets you, Master Mo," Chen Tie said, stepping forward and cupping his hands.
Mo Hong raised his head slightly, his expression softening a little. Though this disciple is young, he's steady and knows his manners.
"Why aren't you practicing properly? Did you need something from me?"
Chen Tie asked with a respectful expression.
"Master Mo, this disciple has a question."
"With so many martial arts halls in the city, why do martial artists generally cultivate only one cultivation art, supplementing it with a few martial skills at most?"
At this, Mo Hong paused in feeding the bird and turned to look at Chen Tie, surprise on his face.
"That's a good question. Hardly any disciples ask it. You've asked the right person, too. The other martial arts halls don't know as much as I do."
"Sit." Mo Hong pointed casually.
Chen Tie cupped his hands and sat in a chair to one side, leaning slightly forward.
Mo Hong stroked his little mustache, seemingly sorting through a thousand tangled thoughts. "If you asked ordinary martial artists, you'd only get ordinary answers. For instance, a person's capabilities are limited, and mastering even one cultivation art is already good enough. Learning one well is all you need, just like being a carpenter or a blacksmith. A person's time is limited, too. Mastering one art and cultivating it to its pinnacle is already fraught with countless difficulties, let alone cultivating two or even more at once."
Mo Hong stopped there.
Chen Tie nodded slightly. The meaning was clear: learning too much left one a jack of all trades and master of none, making it worse than learning just one. But that did not resolve his question.
"Master Mo, may I ask what you think?"
Mo Hong smiled. "All right, all right. You're an interesting lad. Actually, the common explanation I just gave isn't wrong."
"Most people have limited talent and effort to spare, so they really are only suited to specializing in one cultivation art. But that explanation doesn't apply to everyone."
Chen Tie's eyes lit up. He held his breath and focused, afraid of missing anything important.
"The most fundamental reason is actually that a person's Qi and blood are limited!"
Chen Tie looked utterly baffled.
Mo Hong continued, "The vast majority of martial artists specialize in just one cultivation art not because they don't want to learn more, but because they lack sufficient Qi and blood. Every cultivation art has its own attribute, and the Qi and blood it cultivates carry the corresponding attribute in some unseen way!"
"Most cultivation arts in this world fall within the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. For example, the Fierce Tiger Fist I cultivate carries the grim, killing Qi of geng metal. It's a metal-attribute cultivation art, so the Qi and blood it cultivates naturally carry a keen edge. That's why most of those practicing it are male disciples."
"Take the White Crane Martial Arts Hall next door. The flow of its cultivation art's Qi is long and sustained, corresponding to water's suppleness, vitality, and far-reaching depth. Its practitioners mostly have graceful bearing, so the majority are female disciples. The Qi and blood it cultivates inherently nourish the blood vessels, promote the circulation of Qi and blood, and clear the mind and calm the spirit."
"Even if my White Crane Fist and Fierce Tiger Fist were at the same realm, using the Qi and blood cultivated through Fierce Tiger Fist to power White Crane Fist would certainly diminish its power."
"The human body only has so much Qi and blood. If you use half to practice Fierce Tiger Fist and the other half to practice White Crane Fist, neither of your two arts will be as strong as someone else's single art."
Understanding dawned on Chen Tie.
So the most fundamental reason was actually Qi and blood. The human body had limited Qi and blood, leaving one unable to practice multiple cultivation arts, not to mention lacking the time.
But Chen Tie felt conflicted. With Proficiency at his disposal, practicing cultivation arts was no problem. The difficulty lay in Qi and blood.
Being able to practice multiple cultivation arts should certainly make him stronger.
"Elder Mo, is there any way to solve this problem with Qi and blood?"
Mo Hong was rather surprised. He had thought this disciple would give up after hearing all this, but he had not abandoned the idea.
"I know you're thinking of cultivating several arts together. You aren't the first person to think that, nor will you be the last."
After a brief silence, Mo Hong still spoke. "At present, there is only one method, and it has been verified."
"Setting aside the issue of cultivation time, the biggest obstacle to cultivating multiple arts is insufficient Qi and blood. In that case, if a person has enough Qi and blood, it becomes possible. So, in the past, people developed many cultivation arts that could greatly increase a person's Qi and blood. These arts aren't especially difficult to cultivate, but they consume tremendous resources. Only great Lineages or major powers can support them. With sufficient resources, they can even double one's Qi and blood. Ordinary people don't have that kind of capital."
"People throughout history have tried it, and this method works. By continually increasing their Qi and blood, they could learn more cultivation arts. But as time passed, martial artists discovered that the gains did not outweigh the losses. Even with so much Qi and blood devoted to cultivating multiple arts, the results still fell short of putting all that Qi and blood into specializing in one. So nowadays, even with these arts that enhance Qi and blood, martial artists use them to specialize in a single cultivation art."
By this point, Mo Hong's meaning was clear. Increasing Qi and blood allowed one to cultivate multiple arts, but it was still less powerful than specializing in one.
After hearing this, Chen Tie knitted his brows.
Doubling my Qi and blood and practicing two cultivation arts still wouldn't match specializing in one with twice the Qi and blood?
No, quantitative change brings qualitative change!
If doubling it isn't enough, then triple it, quadruple it, or even increase it five- or sixfold. As long as the quantity is great enough, there will certainly be unimaginable changes.
Besides, most cultivation arts are divided among the five elemental attributes. If I could gather all five elements within myself, perhaps they would generate endlessly.
"This disciple understands. Thank you for your instruction, Master Mo!"
Chen Tie cupped his hands and took his leave.