Chapter 312: A Mud Bodhisattva Crossing the River, Su Yun Arrives! (Second Update)

【You hold the "Grand Ancestor Sacred Ape Stance" and flip through it carefully.】

【The look in your eyes grows increasingly fervent.】

【The lower three realms of the Martial Path are vividly referred to as the Martial Path's Small Three Barriers, mainly including "Tendon Refining, Bone Casting, and Qi-Blood."】

【Cultivation at this stage primarily focuses on tempering the limbs and internal organs, stretching out the major tendons so that they can exert greater force.】

【The core of it all is merely the two words "Qi-Strength," a contest of the magnitude of force one can strike with and the weight one's innate bone structure can bear.】

【However!】

【When a martial artist of the Small Three Barriers fights, even if their Qi-Strength far exceeds that of an ordinary person, they can still be killed by a mere child or an untrained commoner.】

【This is because martial artists of the Small Three Barriers still possess many fatal flaws, such as the "eyes," "mouth and nose," "lower groin," "temples," and "waist-side heart and liver."】

【Once these flaws are seized by an opponent, in a moment of carelessness, a Small Three Barriers martial artist can stumble and have their "death point" pierced by a pair of scissors in a woman's boudoir, dying at the hands of a frail woman.】

【Sima Pan just sparred with you in an upright and honorable manner, not involving the insidious and vicious moves of the Jianghu, such as "Black Tiger Steals the Heart," "Groin-Kicking Leg," or "Double Wind Fills the Ears."】

【However, street fights in the Jianghu are often filled with the scent of blood; once a blade is drawn, it must see red—there is simply no such thing as a gentleman's duel.】

【Group brawls and alley fights are even more common, seen frequently.】

【But the situation improves upon breaking through the Small Three Barriers.】

【Martial artists who step into the Middle Three Realms rarely encounter the embarrassing predicament of capsizing in a gutter.】

【The reason lies in this!】

【Starting from the first realm of the Middle Three Realms, "Fetal Refining," they begin to strengthen their own weak points.】

【The lower three realms focus on refining the solid, while the middle three realms focus on refining the void.】

【In layman's terms, the lower three realms mainly temper the major tendons and muscles of the limbs, a method of body-tempering aimed at making the meridians flexible and unobstructed.】

【But the Fetal Refining realm requires generating a strand of Qi within the body, like a mud bodhisattva sitting high on a shrine, with Qi sinking into the Lower Dantian, immovable as a mountain.】

【A new atmosphere emerges within the body, beginning to nourish the blood, flesh, tendons, and bones; impurities and stagnation accumulated in the body are all gradually expelled.】

【Once a martial artist senses the existence of this internal Qi, they guide it to flow toward the heart and brain, primarily nourishing these two key parts known as the Qian-Kun Dual Acupoints—the vital hubs of the human body.】

【As the Qi filling these two acupoints increases daily, they will eventually be suddenly opened.】

【Once the Qian-Kun Dual Acupoints are opened, the body's pores can breathe freely; the more Qi absorbed, the greater the force released, growing exponentially.】

【A martial artist in the Fetal Refining realm has the strength of one person sufficient to rival ten who have just entered the Small Three Barriers.】

【After opening the Qian-Kun Dual Acupoints, the utility is even more miraculous.】

【They can even breathe underwater, hiding in the water for an hour or two without feeling stifled.】

【Their five senses are exceptionally sharp, allowing them to perceive subtle changes in natural water vapor and thus accurately predict thunderstorms.】

【Only by using the Qi from the Qian-Kun Dual Acupoints to temper the "eyes, nose, mouth, ears, lower groin, and temples" can one achieve Great Completion in Fetal Refining.】

【A martial artist in the Fetal Refining realm has reduced the weak points of their body's acupoints, far beyond what an ordinary person can injure.】

【Compared to the third realm, they have achieved a qualitative leap.】

【The fourth realm, "Fetal Refining," is undoubtedly the most troublesome hurdle in the Middle Three Realms.】

【You flip through Sima Ting's annotations, which clearly point out that crossing from the third realm to the fourth is like a chasm lying across one's path.】

【Those without talent can only remain trapped in the lower three realms for life.】

【Martial artists who join the Nine Great Surnames and break through the third realm can all receive generous treatment.】

【Even those Green Gang ruffians mixing in the streets, once they step into the Middle Three Realms, can transform and become incense masters, hall masters, or other figures of considerable status.】

【The difficulty of this chasm is the same as climbing from the Middle Three Realms to the Upper Three Realms—both are great mountains on the martial path.】

【However, once the fourth realm is successfully broken through, the subsequent path of cultivation is like pushing a boat with the current, achieving success naturally.】

【Therefore, among martial artists, this breakthrough from the third to the fourth realm is vividly called "A Mud Bodhisattva Crossing the River."】

【You ponder slightly; the first step of Fetal Refining is to perceive and capture that subtle Qi within the body.】

【Sima Ting further explains in the annotations that this breath of Qi is called "Innate Qi," the source of life naturally possessed at birth.】

【Some have weak Innate Qi, resulting in being sickly and prone to illness from childhood.】

【Some have strong Innate Qi, making martial arts practice twice as effective with half the effort.】

【You attempt to sense that Qi but gain nothing.】

【Humans eat grains and miscellaneous foods, naturally accumulating various foul Qi within the body; this breath of Qi hides deep within the human body, making its traces difficult to capture.】

【You suddenly recall something.】

【Recently, while chatting with Xie Yuan, you discussed some anecdotes about the Nine Great Surnames of Bianjing, especially the Li family, where Li Shuwan—the one Xie Yuan's mother had scouted as a match for him—resides.】

【It is said that the current Li family has a son who was born with the rare "Innate Body," having opened the Qian-Kun Dual Acupoints at birth and naturally expelling the foul Qi from his body—truly a heaven-sent talent.】

【Such a person learns martial arts faster than their peers; if they do not die young, the Upper Three Realms of the martial path are within easy reach.】

【It is just a pity!】

【This heaven-favored son of the Li family is a simpleton; now fourteen or fifteen years old, his mental capacity is still like that of a three or four-year-old child.】

【You withdraw your thoughts and read the annotations above from the beginning once more, committing them to heart.】

【It also records two methods for sensing Innate Qi: one is "Qi Guidance," where a martial artist of the sixth realm helps you grasp the sense of Qi, practicing seven hours a day for eighty-one days until you are familiar enough to have a chance at mastering Qi refining.】

【Not to mention where you would find a sixth-realm "Finger-Winding" martial artist to cooperate wholeheartedly for eighty-one days.】

【Even the medicinal baths and pastes required for the process—the medicinal ingredients in the several prescriptions recorded are all at sky-high prices.】

【Sure enough, the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts.】

【Only the last method remains to be explored!】

【To grope for it within the "Spirit Ape Embracing Fragrance" recorded in the "Grand Ancestor Sacred Ape Stance."】

【"Spirit Ape Embracing Fragrance" requires walking the stance ten times, quickly entering a state of tranquility when the Qi-Blood is boiling. Afterward, light a stick of incense and, through breath-holding and specific triple exhalation and inhalation, feel the sense of Qi within the body.】

【Once the incense burns out, one must not practice further, otherwise, it will cause hidden dangers to the body.】

【The breathing technique also requires precise control; the breath must sink into the Dantian, and the tendons and bones must exert force section by section.】

【The key to this is extremely complex; you only commit it to memory after studying it repeatedly three times.】

【If relying solely on one's own comprehension, it would be difficult upon difficult; this is all precious experience accumulated over generations.】

【This is precisely why noble clans can remain undiminished for generations—they possess the deep foundation accumulated by their ancestors.】

【Just as you are about to begin practicing "Spirit Ape Embracing Fragrance," your gaze shifts; there is movement outside the courtyard gate.】

【Footsteps crunching on the accumulated snow make a "pop-pop" sound; judging by the sound, there are at least eight or nine people, accompanied by laughter and chatter.】

【You walk out of the room and see the gate of the small courtyard being respectfully pushed open by the accompanying servants.】

【"Young Master Guan, long time no see!"】

【The speaker has just reached adulthood, wearing a two-colored gold hundred-butterfly-piercing-flower bright red arrow-sleeve robe, stepping in small court boots with green satin and powder soles; his entire attire exudes an air of wealth.】

【His appearance can only be considered delicate, but he has wind-catching ears with extremely large earlobes.】

【At this moment!】

【His pair of eyes is scanning this dilapidated small courtyard, seemingly somewhat puzzled.】

【You walk slowly into the courtyard and greet him with a smile: "Young Master Su Yun, I trust you have been well."】

(End of Chapter) CHAPTER 313