Chapter 14: Learning Martial Arts

The old man then explained the visualization in Dao Arts and the meditation in martial arts, their similarities and differences.

What they had in common was that both used the brain’s imagination to construct the world before one’s eyes, to build substances that could not be seen with the naked eye in the real world.

Because whether it was the spiritual power and mental force needed for Dao Arts, or the physical power and Innate Primordial Breath sought internally in martial arts, none could be carefully observed by the practitioners’ own naked eyes. So practitioners had to use visualization and meditation to build those backgrounds in their minds, and then train and cultivate themselves against those backgrounds.

The difference was that Dao Arts visualization worked from the outside in, while martial arts meditation worked from the inside out. Because of this, their cultivation methods were completely different.

Zuo Qingcang’s earlier feeling was that after absorbing the spiritual power from the corpses, he could more directly sense the movement of power inside his body. This was very helpful for martial artists in their meditation. After all, one was pure imagination, while the other involved imagination while sensing the flow of spiritual power, allowing for a better grasp of the body’s structure. The difference in difficulty was obvious.

Situations where food contained spiritual power were very common in ancient times. But now, ordinary food no longer had spiritual power. So when the old man said these Dwarf Spirit corpses were already treasures of heaven and earth, it was not an exaggeration.

After listening to the old man’s explanation, Zuo Qingcang thought to himself: “The source of both powers is spiritual power. One just absorbs spiritual power from nature through the Life Grove, while the other mainly absorbs spiritual power from food through the digestive system and then converts it into one’s own muscle power.

Although the source is spiritual power, the ways they manifest, or the means of combat, are different. One stores it in the Life Grove, waiting to be converted into various energies for use. The other converts and strengthens the Innate Primordial Breath, enhancing one’s physical quality.

As for meditation and visualization…” Hearing about these two methods, the first thing Zuo Qingcang thought of was his previous life’s world, where there were often many masters performing tricks like levitating in mid-air or bending spoons with mental force. They all claimed to have developed such abilities through cultivation like meditation.

But the humans in this world could actually cultivate similar things.

“Being able to affect the inside and outside of the body, is it some kind of field? Like an electromagnetic field?” Thinking this, Zuo Qingcang was not sure. He also felt this guess was meaningless for now. He looked up and said to the old man: “Have you rested enough? Teach me Dao Arts and martial arts now. Which one do you think I should cultivate first?”

The old man pondered for a moment and slowly said: “You have the Innate Primordial Breath, and we obtained the South Saint Sect’s Authentic Transmission Martial Arts in the burial pit. Currently, it seems you have broader prospects in cultivating martial arts. But before that, we must check if you have a Life Grove, and which one it is.”

“You’re right. How do we check the Life Grove?”

“Stand still.” As he said this, the old man pointed a finger at Zuo Qingcang’s forehead. The next moment, a cold, obscure power flowed from the old man’s fingertip, like a waterfall, sweeping over Zuo Qingcang’s entire body.

Zuo Qingcang suppressed his instinct and did not dodge or counterattack. He said: “Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”

“Don’t worry, this method has never been dangerous.” The old man looked quite relaxed: “If you have a Life Grove, even if you’ve never cultivated before, in daily life, you would always unconsciously absorb some spiritual power. I am now trying to find the points in your body where spiritual power is hidden. That is where your Life Grove is.”

About half a minute later, Zuo Qingcang felt as if his whole body had been seen through by the old man. Then the other slowly withdrew his finger.

“How is it? What is my Life Grove?”

Hearing Zuo Qingcang’s question, the old man’s eyes showed a trace of strangeness. He paused for a moment before saying calmly: “Your Life Grove is in your left eye. This Life Grove is called ‘Night Sea.’ However, Night Sea is not among the many recorded Life Grove cultivation methods nowadays. It counts as one of the lost Life Groves. Its cultivation method has been lost. I never expected you to have it.

But at least in this Ancient Tomb, you cannot cultivate Dao Arts. Even outside, finding the cultivation method for Night Sea would be very difficult.”

The old man’s face was calm, but in his heart, he was always surprised and doubtful. However, the changes in his heart were hidden very deeply, and even Zuo Qingcang seemed not to have noticed.

“Temporarily cannot cultivate Dao Arts, huh.” Zuo Qingcang showed no disappointment and said calmly: “Then for the following time, we’ll focus on martial arts. You can just teach me about Dao Arts knowledge every day.”

According to the old man’s earlier words, besides one’s own cultivation in Dao Arts, knowledge of various arrays, Dao Arts, and material properties was also very important. Only with deep enough understanding of Dao Arts knowledge could one better resist this power.

According to Zuo Qingcang’s understanding, in the Qi Training stage, martial arts meant tempering one’s own body, making oneself a monster that surpasses ordinary people physically.

In the stage of cultivating the Life Grove in Dao Arts, it meant absorbing spiritual power, using spiritual power as the driving force, and Dao Arts materials as ammunition, turning oneself into a human-shaped tank, cannon, or bomber.

As for the stages above, the old man only knew the names, not the specific meanings.

“Alright, then let’s start with this ‘Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style’.” The old man then took out the secret manual from his chest and began teaching Zuo Qingcang this Authentic Transmission Martial Art.

During the teaching, Zuo Qingcang learned that the old man originally also had the Innate Primordial Breath and could cultivate Authentic Transmission Martial Arts. But martial arts were different from Dao Arts. As one grew older, one’s level would inevitably decline.

Only when martial arts reached the Void Training stage, and the bloodline power within the body was completely awakened, could physical power be maintained continuously without disappearing over time.

The old man, because his martial arts had only ever reached the Qi Training realm, at his current age, his strength, endurance, and explosiveness had declined severely. Now he could only compare to ordinary young people. Although this would be incredible on Earth, in this world it was quite ordinary.

Even so, the old man was well-versed in both martial arts and Dao Arts, with extensive knowledge. And the manual recording the Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style used very simple and easy-to-understand words for convenient transmission. So under the old man’s guidance, Zuo Qingcang quickly learned the first form of the Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style, the Water-Splitting Form.

The old man pointed out all the key points, essentials, and difficulties one by one, making Zuo Qingcang understand them clearly. Then he told him to sleep first and cultivate martial arts with the best mental state.

Speaking of which, this Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style had a total of forty-nine forms. Each form had to be paired with a unique set of breathing and meditation methods. Only by combining all three and practicing them simultaneously could the greatest effect be achieved. These forty-nine forms also divided the human body into forty-nine parts. Each form practiced one of these parts.

Zuo Qingcang’s Innate Primordial Breath was in his chest. So the first form he practiced was the Water-Splitting Form, which exercised the chest area. When the Innate Primordial Breath there was strong enough, he would then exercise the stomach, waist, back, shoulders, etc., gradually spreading the Innate Primordial Breath throughout.

This sounded like putting together a puzzle. Through the cultivation of the forty-nine forms of the Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style, the Innate Primordial Breath would eventually spread throughout the whole body, breaking through the Qi Training realm.

After a series of exhausting efforts, Zuo Qingcang slept for five hours before waking up. This was only possible because he used the deep sleep method trained in his previous life. In this deep sleep, the cells of the cerebral cortex were in a state of full rest, which greatly helped in eliminating fatigue and restoring energy.

This was why Zuo Qingcang, having slept only five hours, woke up feeling refreshed and energetic.

Then he began the cultivation of the Water-Splitting Form. Zuo Qingcang moved while imagining the spiritual power in his blood flowing to the location of the Innate Primordial Breath in his chest. Then, following a special movement path, it nourished and pushed the Innate Primordial Breath. The external movements of the body played a supporting role.

This required high levels of imagination and concentration regarding the body. Because people cannot see their own muscles and blood, and the Innate Primordial Breath is the power in the muscles, while spiritual power is provided by the blood, so everything had to rely purely on Zuo Qingcang’s imagination.

However, because Zuo Qingcang had eaten the Dwarf Spirit corpses, which contained spiritual power not found in ordinary food, the spiritual power in his blood greatly increased. It even allowed him to feel it, which greatly helped his meditation.

As for concentration, Zuo Qingcang, having been thoroughly trained in his previous life, did not lack it. In fact, his concentration was even above that of the old man before him and Liu Zhicheng from before.

Ordinary people cannot concentrate for long periods, or even all day, in a single day. Humans need relaxation time during the day, often longer than the time they spend focused on work.

But some special individuals, after undergoing cruel training, can elevate their concentration, or the duration of their mental focus, to an unprecedented and extreme degree.

Zuo Qingcang was one of the best among them. It was not even just pure concentration.

It was the tenacity to lie in wait in the rainforest for years before killing a target. It was the endurance to stay in a swamp for three days and nights without eating or drinking. It was the iron will to stay in pitch-black solitary confinement for several months.

So for ordinary people, being able to eat, sleep, and not suffer mental breakdown in a monster-surrounded, dark and unfamiliar tomb chamber was already remarkable.

But Zuo Qingcang not only ate well and slept deeply, he also felt no decadence in his spirit. Instead, using the nutrients and spiritual power contained in the Dwarf Spirit corpses, he diligently cultivated the South Saint Sect’s Authentic Transmission Martial Arts, the Northern Peng Hanging Heaven Style. He was preparing for eventually leaving the Ancient Tomb.

The air occasionally made popping and cracking sounds. That was the sound of Zuo Qingcang’s hands swinging and stirring the air.

The old man watched the young man, sweating profusely, cultivating martial arts as if tireless. He could even clearly feel the ball of Innate Primordial Breath in the other’s chest, burning like a blazing fire. Nourished by spiritual power, it was continuously growing strong and vigorous, like a furnace constantly being fed fuel, emitting light and heat.