Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 318 Am I a top-tier cultivation genius?

"Qi sensation" is an insurmountable barrier for internal force martial artists in the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the martial arts of Chen Zhan and later generations, the advantages and disadvantages of this are also obvious.

Martial arts training cultivates one's skills entirely within oneself, encompassing muscles, bones, skin, internal organs, and marrow, leading to greater control over oneself. However, its potential is clearly not as high as that of internal energy martial arts.

In his view, if one cultivates boxing to the level of Dan Jin, one can probably defeat top-tier innate masters like Xuan Kong, Xuan He, and Zhuan Lun Wang. Dan Jin can at least suppress them.

However, reaching the level of the Soul-Slaying Dharma King who has activated his demonic armor, or the Profound Realm like Fang Sheng, is not enough.

If one's physical body cannot break through the limits of qi and blood like he did, it cannot withstand the power of heaven and earth.

Tongxuan has begun to control heaven and earth, and his power has reached several levels.

However, the drawback of internal skills is that they are difficult to master.

The sensation of Qi is a mysterious and profound thing, entirely dependent on an individual's innate constitution and talent.

Some people can sense the energy vortex in their dantian after just one day of meditation, while others practice diligently for ten years but still have no clue and can't even get close to the threshold.

Without the sensation of Qi, one cannot guide Qi to circulate throughout the body. The meridians are like dried-up riverbeds, unable to generate even the most basic internal strength, and unable to even enter the Acquired Realm, let alone the Innate or Profound Realms.

Chen Zhan closed the book and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.

He was considering whether or not to give it a try.

Changing allegiance is out of the question; he has already paved a successful path for himself. Changing his martial arts style at this age would be tantamount to crippling himself.

But it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

No rush, let's take a look at the subsequent cultivation techniques. The basic cultivation techniques we have are only at the Acquired Realm, and we don't have any methods to advance to the Innate Realm.

Chen Zhan pushed the basic cultivation manual aside, reached into the pile of cultivation manuals on the table and searched for them, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

The martial arts manuals collected by the Eastern Depot are indeed quite comprehensive.
Most of the well-known sword techniques, palm techniques, and even the secret martial arts techniques that major sects hold dear are all here.

The Songshan School's "Frosty Ice Technique" and "Great Songyang Divine Palm," the Beggars' Sect's "Fragment of the Dragon Subduing Palm Manual," the Taishan Sword Sect's "How to Reach Mount Tai," the Huashan Sword Sect's "Three Green Peaks of Mount Tai," and the Hengshan School's "Returning Wind and Falling Wild Geese Sword"...

They even copied the Poison Manual of the Tang Clan in Sichuan, which shows how ruthless the Eastern Depot has been infiltrating the martial arts world and collecting secret manuals over the years.

I randomly picked up a blue-covered booklet. The cover read "Wudang Secret Transmission: Taiji Xuan Gong". The ink was ancient and simple, clearly an early copy.

Chen Zhan flipped through the pages, his eyes quickly scanning the book, and he immediately understood the situation.

This "Tai Chi Profound Skill" is the core internal skill of the Wudang lineage. It has a complete system of techniques, including all the methods from the initial stage to the ultimate stage of the innate realm. It can be called the foundation of the Wudang school.

However, it is clearly stated at the end of the book that if one wants to break through to the Tongxuan Realm with this skill, one must supplement it with the Wudang's long-lost "Nine Heavens True Scripture". Otherwise, one's internal strength will reach its limit when it reaches the Innate Extreme Realm and it will be difficult to make any further progress.

However, even the Wudang School itself cannot find any trace of the "Nine Heavens True Scripture" now, so the "Tai Chi Profound Skill" can only be considered half of a legendary skill.

If the Acquired Realm is the beginning of spontaneous Qi perception and the generation of internal force through the circulation of Qi throughout the body, then breaking through to the Innate Realm is an insurmountable threshold.

The internal energy of a martial artist who has acquired martial arts skills only circulates in the dantian and meridians, like water trapped in a ditch. However, the innate realm requires accumulating a massive amount of internal energy and forcibly opening up the Ren and Du meridians with overwhelming force, widening the "ditch" of internal energy into a "river".

This step alone stumps 90% of those who have mastered the skills after birth. Many people cultivate diligently for decades, but their internal strength is insufficient, and they never manage to overcome this hurdle in their entire lives.

However, opening up the Ren and Du meridians is only a prerequisite. The key to advancing to the Innate Realm is to condense the internal energy after opening into a thread and carefully rush it into the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head to complete the connection between the inside and outside.

This step requires not brute force, but extremely precise control.

Excessive internal energy can shatter the brain, while insufficient internal energy will prevent the opening of acupoints. A slight mishap can lead to disordered meridians, loss of consciousness, and a state of madness and insanity, which is even more tragic than death.

Once successful, the internal energy can break free from the constraints of the physical body and be released to injure the enemy; it can break wood and shatter stones with a flick of the finger.

Even a true master of innate talent could become a dominant force in the martial arts world.

Chen Zhan closed the book, a knowing glint in his eyes.

The method to break through to the Innate Realm is more dangerous than he imagined. It requires both accumulating internal strength and precise control. No wonder Innate Realm masters are so rare in the martial arts world.

After reading several more books, I found that only the Wudang School's martial arts techniques were the most balanced and harmonious.

Chen Zhan spread the pages of "Tai Chi Profound Skill" on his lap, found a flat futon in the corner of the stone room, sat cross-legged, and adjusted his breathing to be long and steady.

He already possessed unparalleled control over his physical body and internal energy; he only needed to calm his mind and try to guide the energy into his body according to the instructions of the technique.

He closed his eyes, focused his mind, cleared his mind of distractions, and sank his consciousness into his dantian. Following the introductory method of "Tai Chi Profound Skill," he guided his qi with his intention, slowly circulating it along the meridian diagram.

The booklet states that those who wish to enter the realm of the acquired path must first practice the Small Heavenly Circuit, which takes half an hour to complete one cycle. The Great Heavenly Circuit requires passing through the Baihui acupoint. Before entering the realm of the innate, forcibly circulating the energy will only damage the meridians and should never be done.

The only sound in the stone chamber was the crackling of the candlelight, and Chen Zhan's breathing gradually synchronized with the rhythm of his internal energy cultivation.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the first cycle of the Small Heavenly Circuit was completed. He felt a faint, almost imperceptible warm current flowing through his meridians, but he had not yet reached the threshold of Qi sensation. So he continued to follow the method and circulate the Small Heavenly Circuit for the second time.

Another half hour passed, and after an hour, the second cycle of the Small Heavenly Circuit was just coming to an end when Chen Zhan suddenly felt a strange tingling sensation in his dantian.

He focused all his consciousness into his dantian, and saw a wisp of energy, completely different from his own abundant blood and qi, rising from the depths of his dantian.

The aura was clear and lingering, distinctly different from the domineering and powerful qi and blood, and it was slowly growing stronger as it circulated through the meridians. Chen Zhan's heart stirred slightly; this was the internal energy that martial artists in this world dreamed of.

But then he realized something was wrong.

The annotations in the book "Tai Chi Profound Skill" clearly state that even the most talented disciples of the Wudang School, who are rare to find in a century, need three full days of arduous training to activate their first wisp of internal energy.

Only then could he barely gather a perceptible amount of internal energy in his dantian.

However, he only circulated his internal energy twice, taking a full hour, and he had already generated internal energy, which was still growing.

Moreover, it is not as thin as "a wisp".

"Could it be... that I am a top-tier cultivation genius?"

Chen Zhan was at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated.

He was already used to the method of tempering his body with qi and blood, which was slow, but he did not expect that internal energy cultivation would be much easier than tempering his flesh and bones.

Chen Zhan focused his consciousness on that wisp of internal energy, carefully experiencing its serene and enduring qualities.

Compared to one's own surging blood and qi, which flow like rivers and seas, internal energy is more like a clear mountain stream. Although it is not loud, it can seep into the limbs and bones along the meridians, carrying a gentle and nourishing power.

It can also enhance hand-to-hand combat skills, allowing one to transition into swordsmanship, making swordsmanship faster, sharper, or more unpredictable.

The application of internal energy is indeed more flexible than that of qi and blood.

However, its power is somewhat underwhelming.
He has now cultivated a wisp of internal energy, making him a master of the acquired realm, but this amount of internal energy, when channeled into his fists and feet, can only amplify his power by about 30% to 40%.

They couldn't even defeat a master of external martial arts who had cultivated to the level of Ming Jin.

Chen Zhan didn't think too much about it. He immediately accelerated the rhythm of his internal energy circulation.

The book "Tai Chi Xuan Gong" states that beginners in Qi perception have weak and narrow meridians. It takes several hours to circulate one small cycle of Qi, and after one or two cycles, their meridians will feel sore and swollen, forcing them to stop and rest.

However, Chen Zhan's internal energy flowed through it like a clear stream flowing into a great river, without any stagnation. In the beginning, he completed a small cycle in less than half an hour, which was several times faster than the speed recorded in the book.

This will allow one's internal energy to begin to develop, and as it gradually grows stronger, the speed will increase even further.

As the circulation of Qi in the body accelerates, the internal energy within the dantian also grows rapidly, gradually gathering from a wisp of light into a stream of Qi as thick as a finger, circulating endlessly in the meridians.

Chen Zhan finally understood the reason why his cultivation speed was different from that of ordinary people.

He follows the path of Qi and Blood Martial Arts, and although he cannot cultivate internal energy, he has already honed his physical body to its limit.

Years of tempering one's Qi and blood not only make one's muscles, bones, and internal organs as strong as iron, but also thoroughly cleanse the body of impurities and filth, and broaden and open up the meridians and acupoints to a degree that is unimaginable to ordinary people.

When ordinary people cultivate internal energy, their meridians are like narrow, winding paths. When internal energy flows, it constantly impacts the walls of these meridians. After one or two cycles, the meridians will swell and become unbearably sore, forcing them to stop and regulate their breathing.

However, his meridians are like broad, open roads, where his internal energy surges without encountering the slightest obstacle. Naturally, he can circulate his internal energy day and night without ceasing, and the speed at which his internal energy grows far exceeds that of ordinary people.

In the past, when he was training his Qi and blood, his meridians had undergone countless tears and reconstructions. Just one trip to Japan destroyed most of his meridians. After being reconstructed, they not only expanded like great rivers, but were also incredibly stable.

And there's another point,
His control over his divine will is exquisite; he can control even a vast amount of vital energy. Controlling this wisp of pure internal energy is a hundred times easier than controlling raging vital energy.

With his mind completely calmed, Chen Zhan had no more distractions. He let the candlelight flicker beside him, completely ignoring the passage of time.

He focused intently on channeling his internal energy, following the methods of the "Tai Chi Profound Skill" to circulate it day and night.

The food and water in the stone chamber had not been touched. His body had been tempered by blood and qi, so not eating for several days had no effect on him.

Internal energy surged through the open meridians, and the speed of the microcosmic orbit increased, gradually shortening from one cycle in half an hour to the time it takes to burn half an incense stick.

In just three days, the barely perceptible internal energy in his dantian had condensed into a babbling brook, flowing smoothly through his meridians.

Feeling the internal energy within his dantian, a thought popped into Chen Zhan's mind.

Perhaps he doesn't need to accumulate internal energy step by step and slowly break through to the Innate Realm.

The two core conditions for breaking through innate limitations are: first, internal force must flow through the Ren and Du meridians; second, internal force must be guided into the Baihui acupoint with precise control to complete the connection between the internal and external.

But neither of these things seemed to be difficult for him.

Once the thought arises, there's absolutely no need for hesitation.

Chen Zhan focused his mind, his will enveloping the internal energy within his dantian, flowing steadily and methodically into the Du meridian, ascending along the spine and heading straight for the Baihui acupoint at the top of his head.

Throughout the entire process, he showed no signs of tension. His control over his divine will far surpassed that of a master in the Profound Realm, almost to the point of solidification.

It can precisely control the direction and strength of every strand of internal force, so that it will not shatter the acupoints due to being too strong, nor will it be unable to break through the barrier due to being too weak.

Everything went smoothly as expected.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, that wisp of internal energy steadily penetrated the Baihui acupoint at the top of the head, and a clear and cool aura instantly emanated from the acupoint, faintly connecting with the energy of heaven and earth.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Zhan twitched his fingertips slightly, and a wisp of pale white internal energy burst out of his body.

(End of this chapter)