Chapter 11: Authentic Transmission Martial Arts

“The big guy is finally dead.” The Old Man clasped his hands and said to Zuo Qingcang with sincere gratitude, “Young man, if you hadn’t saved me this time, my old life would have been over. I won’t try to thank you enough with words—I’ll remember your kindness.”

“It’s nothing. If it weren’t for you in the tree hollow, I would have been caught by the Yin Woman.” After Zuo Qingcang said this, he walked directly toward the hole where the Corpse Fiend had emerged earlier. “This Corpse Fiend probably followed the rats all the way here. This hole might lead outside. Let’s block it up first.”

The Old Man looked at Zuo Qingcang with admiration. Whether before the fight, during the fight, or after the fight, he always remained calm and composed. Such self-control was truly rare.

The two of them spent a few minutes sealing the hole again, and then pushed a statue on top of it to weigh it down.

The Old Man looked at the sealed hole and said, “Shouldn’t we go check it out? It might lead outside the island…”

“It’s too dangerous. One Corpse Fiend almost killed both of us. If we want to explore what’s inside, we need at least a good rest and proper preparation.”

Zuo Qingcang walked toward the Corpse Fiend’s remains. “We’ll leave here in a bit. You must have your own base around here, right? Take me there, and by the way, tell me about the Dao Arts and Martial Arts cultivation you mentioned earlier. If it can quickly increase my strength, then we can go into the cave later.”

“You’re right. After you’ve practiced a bit, we can go down. I had the same thought before.” The Old Man watched as Zuo Qingcang’s hands rummaged through the piles of rotten flesh, bones, and other remains left by the Corpse Fiend. It looked like he was searching through a pile of vomit. The Old Man frowned and said with some disgust, “Aren’t these just animal carcasses? What’s so interesting?”

Zuo Qingcang didn’t hesitate at all. He carefully inspected the remains on the ground, seemingly completely unbothered by the disgust. In fact, he had encountered countless more disgusting things in the past. For him, this kind of sensory disgust was no obstacle.

“These things might have eaten people. I want to see if there are any clues left inside their bodies.”

The Old Man looked thoughtful, but he felt that even if there were clues, they were probably already digested by the Corpse Fiend. Although Zuo Qingcang’s caution made sense, it was too disgusting and not worth putting himself through. He would never bother with such a messy pile, let alone touch it with his hands.

But after feeling around for a while, a surprised expression flashed across Zuo Qingcang’s face. He pulled out a dark, black piece of skin. The Old Man immediately felt a wave of stench hit him and quickly stepped back.

“What is that? It stinks. What kind of skin is it?”

“This thing is very sturdy. Although there are burn marks on it, they aren’t its own.” Zuo Qingcang examined the strange skin carefully. “It might have been in the Corpse Fiend’s stomach for a long time, never digested.”

Hearing this, the Old Man felt a strong wave of nausea in his chest.

“Come take a look.” Zuo Qingcang beckoned and said, “There seem to be words on it! But I can’t understand them.”

The Old Man frowned and reluctantly took a look, then said in surprise, “There really are words?” This time, he looked more carefully. “These are ancient characters, probably the script of the Cloud People.”

“Cloud People?” Zuo Qingcang was puzzled. In Liu Zhicheng’s memories, there was no recollection of so-called Cloud People.

“They were a powerful race that lived in the south before Western Wei unified the Central Plains. Legend says the South Saint Sect was founded by the Cloud People. It’s said that before Emperor Qi established Western Wei, this race swore allegiance to the Western Wei royal family.” The Old Man took the unknown animal skin and began examining it. “Their writing occasionally survives. I happened to study it when I was learning Dao Arts.”

Upon closer inspection, he realized the animal skin had more than one layer. His eyes lit up, and he eagerly flipped through it.

After about ten minutes, the Old Man let out a long breath. Zuo Qingcang, standing nearby, asked, “So? What exactly is this?”

The Old Man sighed and said, “This is a martial arts manual from the South Saint Sect, recording a martial art called the ‘Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style.'”

“Just martial arts?” Zuo Qingcang asked.

“Just martial arts, but this Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style is the true transmission among the many martial arts of the South Saint Sect.” The Old Man looked at the remains at his feet. “The person who carried this manual must have been an important figure in the South Saint Sect.”

“So, the person who broke in here before us was from the South Saint Sect?” Zuo Qingcang said. “You mentioned Shen Zong earlier—was he also a disciple of the South Saint Sect? What was their purpose in coming here? Grave robbing, rescuing someone? Or searching for something?”

“I don’t know.” The Old Man shook his head, his eyes full of shock. “The South Saint Sect itself is a legendary existence, said to be a sect that has been passed down since the Age of Gods and Demons. Western Wei… Shen Zong… the South Saint Sect—the matters involved here probably hide an unprecedented secret in history.”

But Zuo Qingcang wasn’t interested in so-called secrets. In his previous life, he had encountered too many so-called big secrets, and knowing them often only brought various troubles. Besides, Western Wei was over two thousand years ago; even if there were secrets, they probably didn’t matter much anymore.

Zuo Qingcang checked again but found nothing else. He waved his hand, signaling the Old Man to follow.

“Let’s go. We’re leaving.”

The Old Man, holding the martial arts manual in his hands, was stunned for a moment before quickly catching up. “Aren’t you curious at all? This is superior martial arts from the South Saint Sect. Even an ordinary person, after practicing it, could rise to the top and achieve greatness.”

“Of course I like power, and I won’t miss any chance to become stronger.” Zuo Qingcang said calmly. “But this isn’t the place to talk. Only after you take me to your base and we confirm it’s safe will it be time to study this thing. Besides, it’s in our hands—we can look at it anytime.”

The Old Man was taken aback by Zuo Qingcang’s words, then forcibly suppressed the impulse to immediately flip through and study the “Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style.” He was once again amazed by Zuo Qingcang’s calmness and self-control. He believed that anyone else who obtained a South Saint Sect manual couldn’t possibly remain so calm—it was a manual that could stir up a bloody storm in the martial world.

Then, the two of them passed through the rock crevice again, left the Sacrificial Chamber, and entered the Corridor, heading back the way they came.

Along the way, after discussing Dao Arts, the Old Man also explained the concept of Martial Arts to Zuo Qingcang. It was completely different from the Martial Arts Zuo Qingcang had known in his previous life.

“Martial Arts is a technique that stimulates the power within one’s bloodline.” The Old Man said. “Every person’s body holds the power of ancient humans. Martial Arts, by continuously breaking limits and stimulating potential, awakens this power in one’s bloodline. It’s divided into three major stages: Qi Training, Spirit Refining, and Void Training, each with many smaller stages. I won’t go into details now—you’ll find out later.”

Zuo Qingcang asked doubtfully, “But when I practiced martial arts before, why was there no such concept? It was just training in fist and foot techniques.” Here, he was referring to the martial arts Liu Zhicheng practiced in the Northern Garrison Army.

“That means what you practiced before was the martial arts of ordinary people.” The Old Man sighed. “What I’m talking about is the Authentic Transmission Martial Arts, the supreme secret methods that most people cannot practice. Ordinary people training in fist and foot only improve their physical bodies to a limited extent. Only those with Innate Primordial Breath can practice Authentic Transmission Martial Arts and gain extraordinary physical strength.”

Zuo Qingcang asked, “Then what is Innate Primordial Breath? Can you be sure I have it?”

“Of course you do. All those who cultivate Dao Arts can see Innate Primordial Breath, and I can see it too.” The Old Man pointed to Zuo Qingcang’s chest. “Your Innate Primordial Breath is right here. In my perception, it’s as obvious as a torch.”

When the Old Man said “see,” it didn’t mean he could actually see it with his eyes. Just like when we say someone looks bright, it doesn’t mean they’re actually glowing. What the Old Man perceived was more like radiation, a kind of heat—similar to how we can sometimes feel sunlight without looking at it—and based on his experience and knowledge, he constructed an image of the sunlight in his mind.

This kind of visual-like experience, through which cultivators perceive Spiritual Power, Innate Primordial Breath, and various natural forces, is called Spiritual Energy Vision. Its principle basically involves using electromagnetic waves emitted by the brain to sense, combined with one’s meditation and knowledge, using imagination to construct a scene in the consciousness that humans can accept and experience.

For example, Innate Primordial Breath, when examined through the spiritual eye, appears as a mixture of red light and flames, emitting far more heat energy than ordinary flesh—this is Spiritual Power.

But so-called Innate Primordial Breath isn’t actual “breath.” It refers to a special kind of physical power. Under Zuo Qingcang’s questioning and the Old Man’s explanation, he discovered that so-called Innate Primordial Breath is something similar to perfect muscle.

In his previous life, Zuo Qingcang had heard of this knowledge: the human body has two types of muscles—red muscles, good for endurance, and white muscles, good for explosive power. But there’s also a third type, pink muscle, or perfect muscle, which combines the characteristics of both, possessing both explosive power and endurance.

However, until Zuo Qingcang left Earth, he didn’t know of anyone who had figured out how to train pink muscle.

And so-called Innate Primordial Breath is an even higher-level existence than pink muscle. It only exists in some humans of this world—maybe in the arms, maybe on the back, or maybe in the chest like Zuo Qingcang—any part of the body.

And Authentic Transmission Martial Arts, according to the Old Man, is about using special methods to train and stimulate Innate Primordial Breath, eventually allowing it to grow and penetrate every part of the body, granting strength far beyond that of ordinary humans in both explosive power and endurance. And this is the main content of all Authentic Transmission Martial Arts in the Qi Training stage.

However, this world doesn’t have the profound research and theories on physical structure and muscle principles that Zuo Qingcang had in his previous life. In the perception of Martial Artists and Taoist Priests, Innate Primordial Breath is a physical force stronger than ordinary muscle power. Those with strong Innate Primordial Breath release more Spiritual Power at all times and appear brighter in Spiritual Energy Vision.

Only now, after listening, Zuo Qingcang suspected it might be some kind of atavistic phenomenon stimulated by high-intensity exercise, and so-called Innate Primordial Breath might be a type of muscle even more remarkable than pink muscle. Even if not, it’s some altered physical structure.

But all of this was just Zuo Qingcang’s habitual speculation; he didn’t share it with the Old Man.

The two walked one after the other along the Corridor, passing through the tree hollow he had emerged from earlier. After about twenty minutes, a section of the Corridor with a crack down the middle, revealing a huge gap, appeared before them.