Free Web NovelChapter 214: Chapter 163: The Third Realm
Yu Fei had a vague sense that the upper echelons aimed to create a peaceful, stable, and lawful environment for ordinary people. This was to increase the general population, which in turn would create a fertile ground for the advancement of martial arts.
As for intelligence on the world of Extraordinary Beings, anything beyond the basics of martial arts was intentionally suppressed. This stemmed from the pride of the Extraordinary Beings; in the eyes of the higher-ups, ordinary people were of no help against the enemies and wars faced by Martial Artists. Releasing such information would only risk causing widespread panic.
The Martial Artists of the Martial Arts Administration Bureau, as well as the unaffiliated ones in society, were essentially those who had been weeded out from the true world of Extraordinary Beings.
When he got home, only his dad was there to greet him. Yu Wei was at school, and his mom, it seemed, was busy with a facial appointment.
According to his dad, Yu Fei was beyond their ability to discipline or teach now. He had displayed superhuman strength in the great battle last year, and now he was even admitted to Shenhan University. A kid this amazing naturally belonged to the nation. Their own knowledge and abilities were completely useless to him now; all that mattered was that Yu Fei remembered to visit home often.
Yu Fei felt understood, but also a little sad. The path of martial arts was a path of evolution. The constant leaps in one’s level of existence would inevitably lead to disparities in one’s level of thinking.
But his parents were enjoying their current lives, and that was enough.
After returning, he found time to meet with Du Changyuan and Gao Yunxiang. Mr. Du reported on the martial arts hall’s profits. The Vitality Elixir, combined with other revenue, had brought in about eighty million. But this money was of little significance to Yu Fei. Martial arts cultivation required merit points, and Yu Fei had learned on his trip that the merit points from the "Ping Tianxia" platform were in fact universally accepted.
They weren’t just usable on the platform; major military academies and chambers of commerce recognized them as well.
Money couldn’t be exchanged for merit points, but each merit point could be redeemed for one thousand yuan. Mundane resources were of little use to Martial Artists; from the second realm onward, they were completely useless for cultivation, serving only for material pleasure.
After the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition, Yu Fei’s points were converted into 32,000 merit points. He spent eight thousand to redeem the Void Wind Shadow Sword and the Dragon and Phoenix Unity Pendant, leaving him with about 24,000—enough for his cultivation needs in the short term.
Gao Yunxiang had successfully broken through the Breaking Blood Gate and entered the second realm. He was overjoyed, and Yu Fei heard he had even thrown a seven-day banquet to celebrate.
"Yu Fei, I never thought I’d have the chance to become a second-realm Martial Artist in this lifetime. You’re my great benefactor!"
At a dinner after his return, Gao Yunxiang was getting tipsy, but he made a solemn promise to Yu Fei.
"Yu Fei, you’re destined for great things. Your martial path will be prosperous, and your name will be known across the land. But rest assured, here in our Tianning, if anyone dares to harm your family, I promise you, it will only happen over my dead body!"
"Mr. Gao, you’re drunk..."
He could see that Gao Yunxiang was getting carried away in his drunken state. Though the sentiment was sincere, the future was unpredictable. Yu Fei didn’t mind, though. It was good to have someone looking after his parents when he wasn’t around.
In reality, Yu Fei was unaware that after he achieved an S-rank in the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition, his parents and relatives would automatically receive varying levels of protection. This was standard procedure.
When he said goodbye to his teacher, his teacher’s wife, Su Yue, gave him half a kilogram of Cloud Whale Fat. He had used it before during his blood refinement period; it could increase the speed at which one absorbed the world’s primordial energy.
Yu Fei looked up the exchange price for Cloud Whale Fat on "Ping Tianxia." A standard 100-gram portion was worth a staggering 3,000 merit points and was typically used by Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists.
He was speechless. Su Yue was truly wealthy. That half a kilogram of Cloud Whale Fat would cost 15,000 merit points, nearly half of all the points he had earned in the positioning competition.
After returning home, Yu Fei resumed his previous routine. He practiced the Void Wind Shadow Sword in the early morning, cultivated the Pure Yang True Body at sunrise, worked on his fundamental cultivation technique, the Taiwei Profound Origin Pillar, in the afternoon, and continued to guide Li Mengyao and Du Mingxuan in their practice at night.
The only thing different was the brilliant ruby glittering in the distance.
’This is most likely Martial Saint Honglian’s doing,’ Yu Fei mused. Ever since she had appeared on Guye Ridge, she had followed him to Base 105 before briefly disappearing.
He hadn’t seen her at Cyan Deer Manor and thought that was the end of it. He never expected that after returning to Tianning County, she would reappear. Every day she would be somewhere, sometimes near, sometimes far, occasionally loitering in his line of sight. She even appeared on his balcony at home sometimes, which was incredibly grating.
The worst part was that Yu Fei had to pretend not to notice, which was agonizing.
In early May, Yu Fei finally completed his cultivation of the second realm and stepped into the third. The essence qi of his five viscera overflowed, and the function of his six bowels reached completion, giving rise to a spontaneous feeling of effortless perfection.
The completion of the six bowels meant a Martial Artist’s resistance to external elements was greatly enhanced, their sustained combat and recovery capabilities grew stronger, and, more importantly, their digestive abilities were significantly boosted. This led to better absorption of various ingredients and elixirs, resulting in more abundant Qi Blood.
Take his Formless Sword Qi, for example. Before the completion of his six bowels, he could unleash about a hundred streams of Sword Qi at once. Now, that number had nearly doubled.
More importantly, after entering the third realm, his strength had increased considerably. He could now barely wield [Zhan Ming] with both hands and swing it a bit.
Zhan Ming’s own weight was equivalent to nearly five tons. Yu Fei had the Aurora Martial Arts Hall renovated, adding a small training room on the first floor specifically for familiarizing himself with the greatsword, [Zhan Ming].
He didn’t need to contact Shen Tuli for a third-realm cultivation technique; he could request a fundamental cultivation technique himself through the "Ping Tianxia" system.
Yu Fei briefly reviewed the introduction to third-realm cultivation techniques. The third martial realm was also known as the Treasure Body Realm. All cultivation in this realm was in preparation for a Martial Artist to break through to the Inner Qi Realm.
At the same time, cultivation in the third realm was highly resource-dependent. Ordinary Martial Artists required large quantities of elixirs to supplement their Qi Blood for daily practice. They had to condense acupoints, bridge meridians, and connect them throughout the body, all in preparation for opening the Heaven and Earth Bridge and drawing in the world’s primordial energy.
Third-realm cultivation techniques were divided into three grades: superior, medium, and inferior.
The inferior-grade techniques only required condensing the 125 major acupoints and the twelve primary meridians. This method lowered a Martial Artist’s chances of breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm. Even if they succeeded by a stroke of luck, they would be stuck at the Inner Qi Realm for life, with no hope of further advancement.
The late Zhao Zeyang had cultivated such a technique.
The medium-grade, third-realm techniques required condensing the 361 major acupoints, the twelve primary meridians, and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. This was the orthodox method of cultivation. It didn’t sacrifice a Martial Artist’s potential, allowing for a normal breakthrough. This was the type of technique Yan Sea had cultivated in the third realm, and it was the choice of the vast majority of Martial Artists.
As for the description of the superior-grade techniques, it was rather more outrageous.
Superior-grade techniques had greatly expanded upon the foundations of traditional martial arts.
In terms of acupoints, in addition to the 361 major ones, there were 1,024 extrameridian points and 7,281 theoretically derived "miracle" acupoints. These seven-thousand-plus theoretical acupoints were all derived through modern medical martial arts, combined with theories such as holographic acupoint theory and the biological magnetic field hypothesis.
As for the meridians, beyond the twelve primary meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, there were also the twelve divergent meridians, the fifteen collateral vessels, and the twelve sinew channels. Furthermore, it also included the derivatively expanded 36 Circulation Hidden Meridians and 108 micro-circulatory meridians.
The technique’s introduction explained that earlier cultivation methods didn’t include these derivative acupoints and meridians. After completing their cultivation, prodigies would choose to continuously reinforce the acupoints and meridians they had already condensed to increase their strength. In reality, the return on this effort was not very high.
With the continuous development of martial arts theory, new, systematic sets of acupoints and meridians were constantly being identified, and the upper limit of a Martial Artist’s potential was also constantly being raised.
Even among those who cultivated superior-grade techniques, the differences could be worlds apart.
In the superior-grade techniques, there was no specific requirement for the number of acupoints and meridians a Martial Artist could ultimately condense. It only stated that one should proceed according to their capabilities.
In truth, the human body naturally possesses all acupoints and meridians. Condensing acupoints and unblocking meridians didn’t require a Martial Artist to create them from nothing. Rather, it was a process of using Qi Blood to strengthen and temper the nodal pathways for qi circulation. The ultimate number of pathways that could be strengthened depended on the Martial Artist’s own capacity.
