Chapter 128: Superhuman Strength in Fires
Chapter 128: Superhuman Strength in Fires
“The Ghost Gate Art is also called the ‘Inner Ghost Gate’. It is a special acupoint beyond the 720 acupoints discovered by chance by the founding ancestor of our Huanzang Style. This acupoint is called the ‘Esoteric Energy Pore’. The ancestor initially thought it was a fatal point. During a fight against an exhausted and dying enemy who had lost too much blood, he experimentally pressed this acupoint. Something strange happened…”
“Something strange?”
“Yes, something that even Ancestor Genzo found strange.”
Kume Nansho chuckled darkly and continued, “The almost dead enemy suddenly roared, crawled up from the ground, vigorous and strong, and began fighting fiercely with Ancestor Genzo again. Every move was unbelievably fierce.”
“Ancestor Genzo was extremely shocked. He had already fought bitterly for some time and used up a lot of strength. Who knew that the already doomed enemy recovered his fighting power? He already thought this battle might last half a day and was feeling increasingly weary, but unexpectedly, the enemy ‘thudded’ to the ground and died.”
“That man died from excessive blood loss. Yet, if it hadn’t been for the severe blood loss, the outcome of that fight would have been unpredictable. Naturally, the ancestor pondered over this. He began to spend effort researching this ‘Esoteric Energy Pore’ and finally drew an interesting conclusion.”
“What interesting conclusion?”
“Nishizuka, have you heard the saying ‘superhuman strength at a fire scene’? It’s said that humans can unleash their body’s potential under extreme circumstances…”
Kume Nansho chuckled darkly. “Even when humans think they are using their full strength, it usually isn’t their ‘true full strength’. The muscles naturally hold back, making humans perceive a much-reduced effort as ‘full strength’.”
“…However, once plunged into a crisis like a fire, the brain lifts these controls, allowing the exertion of strength greater than usual: moving heavy loads, rescuing people from a fire site, or even jumping over obstacles that normally couldn’t be cleared.”
“This is an instinctive defense. The brain locks away the full power to protect the joints and muscles of the body itself. The phrase ‘limits’ literally means boundaries. If subjected to excessive load, the muscles and bones can only break.”
“Teacher, such a claim isn’t scientific.”
Fang Jing had heard similar statements before. However, so far, such claims lacked solid scientific backing.
People’s psychology affecting their physical state was an undeniable fact, yes. But the story of fire scene strength deliberately exaggerated this factor, seeming too subjective.
“Do you think scientific theories can explain all the problems we encounter?”
Kume Nansho offered no explanation, merely smiled slightly and said something that made Fang Jing’s expression shift.
It was true. Based on Fang Jing’s own experiences recently, many things couldn’t be explained by rigid theories.
Kume Nansho continued, “The essence of the Esoteric Energy Pore is something similar. In modern medicine, there’s also a phenomenon known as the ‘dying flashback’. It manifests as sudden activity before death: physiological indicators surge, the patient regains sudden consciousness, and can even get out of bed and walk. But after a while, the patient collapses and moves towards true death.”
Hearing Kume Nansho’s words, Fang Jing’s expression did change. Kume Nansho’s talk of ‘dying flashback’ wasn’t baseless; medicine offered multiple explanations, yet none accurately described the phenomenon.
“Ancestor Genzo combined the ‘dying flashback’ with the phenomenon induced by the Esoteric Energy Pore. He believed that in the process of approaching death, under the right conditions, the body releases its ultimate potential limit. The Esoteric Energy Pore is the source of human Essence Qi. Once opened, the remaining Essence Qi surges through the body, causing the body’s potential to be fully unleashed all at once – but only for a brief time.”
Kume Nansho said seriously, “The Ghost Gate Art is the method to open the Esoteric Energy Pore. That’s precisely why it’s called the ‘Inner Ghost Gate’…”
The Inner Ghost Gate, meaning the technique related to opening the “Esoteric Energy Pore”. After generations of research by followers of the Huanzang Style after Ancestor Genzo, their studies into the “Esoteric Energy Pore” finally reached a significant height.
“The Ghost Gate Art is the secret method to fully open the Esoteric Energy Pore. It was a secret technique passed only to a few elite individuals in each generation. Because learning the ‘Ghost Gate Art’ carried immense risk…”
Opening the human body’s “Inner Ghost Gate” was naturally highly dangerous. Especially when activating the “Ghost Gate”, the Esoteric Energy Pore would explosively release the body’s Essence Qi.
According to the research of Huanzang Style predecessors through generations, the Esoteric Energy Pore is normally closed. It only opens during the near-death state. Once opened, if not quickly closed, all the body’s “Essence Qi” would leak into the outside world. Before long, death from exhaustion of life force would follow.
“Three times. Normally, even a healthy adult at full strength, using the ‘Ghost Gate Art’ to open the Esoteric Energy Pore, can only use it three times in a lifetime. More than three times, and death from exhaustion becomes possible…”
“I listened so far thinking this ‘Ghost Gate Art’ was something incredible. But looking at it now, it can only be used three times in a lifetime. That seems way too little.”
“You think this is an anger gauge in a fighting game? Something you can unleash whenever you feel like?”
Kume Nansho snorted coldly.
“Activating the ‘Ghost Gate Art’ is a skill that unlocks human potential. The more physically strong the person, the greater the potential ability unleashed…”
If someone is weak, the power unleashed will naturally be limited. The stronger a person physically, the greater the potential they can unlock.
“A fighter at the peak of their physical fitness could even gain a doubling of strength in a limit state.”
Doubling of strength – that meant power was increased by two times.
Fang Jing was also surprised. The ultimate limit of the “Ghost Gate Art” was actually doubling strength?
“In every aspect, the ‘Ghost Gate Art’ rivals techniques like immortal arts. It can be called the supreme essence within the secret arts of the Huanzang Style.”
“Then, where exactly is the Esoteric Energy Pore in the Ghost Gate Art? And what method is needed to open it?”
“Heh, that’s right. That’s the origin of its status as a non-disclosed secret. The ‘Esoteric Energy Pore’ is not an ordinary acupoint. An ordinary person, if they didn’t understand its meaning, couldn’t locate the exact position of the Esoteric Energy Pore even if they spent a lifetime trying.”
Because the Esoteric Energy Pore isn’t any one of the 720 acupoints in the human body, nor is it among the 108 vital ones.
“Precisely. The Esoteric Energy Pore isn’t among the 720 acupoints, nor is it outside them. It is a special acupoint. In ancient Chinese medicine, it was called the ‘Wandering Acupoint’. The Esoteric Energy Pore freely moves among the 720 acupoints of the human body…”
To open this acupoint required a special method; at the very least, one had to catch the elusive Esoteric Energy Pore as it constantly flowed and shifted among the body’s acupoints.
“So, mastering the ‘Ghost Gate Art’ is naturally not that simple. I will teach you the relevant knowledge, but how you learn this secret art will depend on you.”
(The true ‘solution’ method of the Ghost Gate Art naturally couldn’t be given to this kid so readily. Never mind it requiring personal comprehension, now also wasn’t the right time…)
Even so, though he couldn’t impart the authentic “solution,” Kume Nansho still passed the Ghost Gate Art on to him.
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“The ‘Eight Arts’ of the Huanzang Style – although not fully mastered, I’ve roughly learned most of them—”
The eight arts of the Huanzang Style were fundamentally incomplete.
Therefore, Fang Jing couldn’t master them all. But at least he had learned most of the boxing and martial techniques Kume Nansho had taught him so far.
“The Seven Arts”, “Earth”, “Fire”, “Wind”, “Water”, “Dragon”, “Snake”, and “Sky”, had all been formally initiated into one after another.
The “Earth Division” was completely raised to the “Advanced Level”.
(Earth Division: Ear to the Ground, Advanced Level, Achieved.)
The Fire Division’s technique wasn’t fully understood, as the skills of this division were lost.
The Fire Division’s technique wasn’t displayed in the skill column.
On the other hand, the “Wind Division”, because the transmitted moves were incomplete, only had a partial technique known as “Wind Body Guard”.
The Water Division’s “Torrent · Hundred Strikes” had naturally been trained by him to the extreme.
The Dragon Division’s “Cloud Dragon Willow” was also learned by Fang Jing to an Advanced Level; the remaining “Snake Division’s” Tangling Flow technique also came into his grasp.
The Sky Division’s “Heavenly Hand Skill” was also in a lost state, so there was no way to learn it. His boxing and martial techniques of the Huanzang Style were only at a half-baked level.
“Additionally, there’s the ‘Ghost Gate Art’. Although the teacher passed the Ghost Division’s ‘Ghost Gate Art’ to me, the key ‘solution’ method wasn’t really taught. Instead, I’m supposed to realize it on my own.”
This was truly baffling. Even though he wanted me to realize it myself, he didn’t give any hints. Anyone else would probably have a headache over this for a long time.
But Teacher Kume Nansho didn’t know one thing: he could use the Growth Value to strengthen his skills.
Once the Ghost Gate Art was acquired, he upgraded it straight to the top level. Yet, even after the Demonic Division secret art reached the Advanced Level, nothing particularly special seemed to show.
He didn’t even feel any changes within himself.
“No, I shouldn’t say that. At least who I am now…”
He sat cross-legged on the grassy ground, tightly closed his eyes, focused his spirit on himself—as if meditating. He could feel his body like a holographic image: hands, feet, torso, chest, the muscles on his back and waist fully emerged in his mind.
Fascia, bones, internal organs, lungs, blood vessels, nerves—all could be perceived bit by bit.
This was an amazing skill he had recently mastered. Kume Nansho and other predecessors of the Huanzang Style probably couldn’t observe the changes within their own bodies as intuitively as he could. Thanks to this, Fang Jing could also see through the distribution of the 720 acupoints in the human body.
“But relying solely on this still isn’t enough to fully capture the position of the ‘Esoteric Energy Pore’.”
Indeed, finding the Esoteric Energy Pore wasn’t possible right now.
The Esoteric Energy Pore wasn’t located in any specific corner of the body. Instead, it moved freely among all the acupoints like flowing water.
“The Esoteric Energy Pore is the vital life spring of the human body. To command it, one must understand the Ghost Gate Art.”
The Ghost Gate Art is a manipulation technique similar to qigong. It originated from Tang Dynasty theories of immortal arts, traveled overseas to this country, and was absorbed by predecessors of the Huanzang Style.
Within the Ghost Gate Art, it’s believed the human body resembles the earth. The hidden channels and acupoints gather water, store wind, run dragons over plains, array stars across the heavens. Within this lie the constant changes of the Five Elements and the waxing and waning of vital energy.
The Esoteric Energy Pore is like the source spring of a dragon vein. Once found, one must use the method transmitted in the Ghost Gate Art to lock onto it. Only by focusing the will to clear the blocked pathways can the body’s potential be released.