Chapter 690: Solitary Yang Cannot Give Birth: The Upper Three Martial Realms

Inside the small courtyard, the gate was tightly shut, sealing out the clamor outside, yet it could not muffle the growing breaths within.

Four stunning beauties stood with heads bowed, their cloud-like hair slightly disheveled, cheeks flushed.

“Young Master…” Zhou Yuner stepped forward voluntarily, “Yuner can help ease your burdens.”

As you raised your gaze, you caught her light panting—the full, rounded curves before you seemed even more pronounced than those of Wu Tong.

The moment you entertained this thought, a wave of heat surged from your dantian, stirring the pure yang true qi cultivated by the Yang Fu Jing.

Chen Xiang grabbed Zhou Yuner’s arm; her hair was drenched in sweet sweat. She could no longer hold back: “Yuner, sister is older than you—let me go first, please?”

“Yuner, I can’t let this go—how could I give this up!”

Hu Yunniang’s eyes were dazed with longing: “Young Master, Yunniang has been trained since childhood by the old nurse—still a maiden, yet I know the taste of it.”

Her breath was as fragrant as orchids: “I can help you become familiar with it first…”

“Sister, I got here first!”

Li Xiangjun had already pressed close, warm and fragrant against you, her burning cheek pressed to the back of your hand.

You gazed at the four flushed, enchanting faces—and suddenly snapped to awareness. How could these four courtesans look like this? They were all long-trained pure girls, accustomed to countless nobles and wealthy elites from Bianjing—how could they behave so licentiously?

The four women’s gazes burned fiercely as they crowded around you, their hands growing restless.

Your talent "Calm Within the Chest" has activated, suppressing the demonic fire and yang energy within you.

Your spiritual platform suddenly cleared—

In your heart-sea, the nine swords trembled in unison; you slashed away your evil thoughts with your mental sword.

Your spirit gradually calmed; the Sword of Severing Demons in your mind emitted radiance, moonlight-like sword intent pouring forth from your third eye.

The four women froze, like puppets on strings, as if struck by a paralysis spell—their graceful silhouettes were undeniably exquisite.

Your form moved like a phantom among them; as your sleeves fluttered, the scattered silks fluttered back like butterflies returning to their nests, concealing all springtime hues—each woman’s clothing was already back on.

You couldn’t help but wonder: why had these four women acted so abnormally?

You pressed your fingertips to Zhou Yuner’s pulse—there was an unusual energy lingering near her heart meridian. You closed your eyes slightly, your spiritual sense piercing like a blade into her internal meridians.

Your spiritual sense flowed like a slender stream through her meridians. The scorching energy clustered near her heart meridian was fiercely yang—so intense, even you found it troublesome.

Then you froze.

The energy swirling around their heart chambers was none other than the true essence of the Yang Fu Jing—and it was identical to yours, born of the same source.

There was only one possibility: it came from you.

You checked the other three—same result.

You lowered your head in thought: could it be that these women, unconsciously, had been tainted by the true essence of the Yang Fu Jing?

The Yang Fu Jing is a orthodox Daoist method, not some demonic seduction art—how could it make them lose control? Could it be, as yin-yang theory suggests, that excessive yang, standing alone, had awakened the latent yin energy within them?

The four women, in their time with you, had unconsciously absorbed the primordial spirit energy you emitted.

You pressed two fingers like a blade and extracted the yang essence clinging to their meridians one by one. The four women sighed in relief, gradually slipping into deep sleep.

Hu Yunniang’s long eyelashes trembled slightly; her fingertips still clutched your robe’s hem unconsciously. Zhou Yuner breathed steadily, a faint smile lingering on her lips. Li Xiangjun lay slumped on the table, her black hair cascading like a waterfall.

Only Chen Xiang murmured in her sleep. You leaned close to listen, catching fragments: “…fast… can’t take it… Xiangjun knows she’s wrong.”

There seemed to be both weeping and pleasure in her voice.

Though you had read widely, you still did not understand romantic love, nor could you fathom the tangled hearts of women.

Nor did you understand… this Chen Xiang—had she gone mad? You pressed your hand back to her forehead—no fever, no evil spirits in her spiritual platform.

How strange.

This Chen Xiang was the courtesan of Yuehua Pavilion, pursued by countless men in Bianjing.

She had even mocked you before, speaking coldly to you—she should have been resentful toward you.

Indeed, women’s hearts are as deep as the ocean!

Yet you had seen her several times in the courtyard, quietly replacing your tea cup, even tracing your brush with her slender fingers, trembling as if struck by lightning.

Fortunately, she meant no harm—each gift she sent was thoughtfully crafted. Since you could not unravel the reason, you simply let her be.

Today’s incident was a warning: when cultivating the Yang Fu Jing in future, you must conceal your energy more thoroughly—otherwise, today’s outcome will repeat.

After settling the four women, you sank back into your martial cultivation.

Now you cultivate both Buddhist and demonic arts: the Vajra Indestructible Body refines your sinews, bones, and skin; the Nine You Mysterious Art hammers your dantian and qi sea. Both are peerless supreme arts, pointing directly to the Nine Martial Realms—one external, one internal, mutually reinforcing.

These past days, you have advanced both arts to the Sixth Martial Realm—and now face the second great chasm: the Upper Three Realms.

You shed your upper garment, revealing your muscular frame. As the Vajra Indestructible Body Divine Art activated, your skin shimmered with a gilded luster; intricate Sanskrit characters flickered faintly within your muscle fibers. Behind you, a wrathful Vajra spirit slowly coalesced, holding a demon-subduing club, solemn and majestic.

With each breath, the golden light receded, replaced by a chilling demonic aura. The crimson patterns of the Blood River True Interpretation writhed like living things across your skin, intertwining with lingering Buddhist light into an eerie violet-gold hue.

Two utterly opposing forces merged perfectly within your dantian—without the slightest obstruction.

All you need do is condense true yuan through both arts within your dantian—and you will ascend to the Upper Three Realms.

The Lower Three Realms focus on solidifying the body, aptly called the Three Minor Gates, primarily involving “sinew training, bone casting, and blood-qi.”

This stage primarily refines the limbs and internal organs, stretching the major sinews to unleash greater power.

At its core, it is simply the two words: “strength and power”—a contest of force output and skeletal endurance.

For ordinary people willing to endure hardship, the Lower Three Realms can be achieved within a lifetime. Yet talent varies—some accomplish it in months or a few years; others struggle for thirty springs.

The sons of the Nine Surnames are especially blessed: from the womb, they are nourished with grand medicines; as children, martial masters use primordial true qi to untangle their meridians; by adulthood, most stand at the threshold of the Third Realm.

To noble families, this is ordinary.

Yet!

Warriors of the Lower Three Realms remain mortal flesh. Their eyelids are as thin as cicada wings; the temples are mere skin away from the skull; the groin is especially vulnerable. Even a skilled warrior of the Lower Three Realms can be killed instantly if a courtesan stabs a golden hairpin into the “Yifeng” point behind the ear.

The Middle Three Realms focus on refining the intangible, emphasizing “capturing qi as if catching a dragon.”

The primordial qi within the human body is the source of life. Some are born with qi as faint as a thread, prone to illness and early death; others are like the rising sun, advancing in martial arts at breakneck speed. Yet this primordial qi, as years pass, becomes tainted by the turbid qi of food and drink, sinking deep into the organs, hard to find.

In simple terms!

The “Lower Three Realms” primarily train the sinews and muscles of the limbs—this is body-refining, aiming to make the meridians supple and unobstructed.

The “Middle Three Realms” capture that primordial qi, like a clay Buddha seated on a divine altar, sinking qi into the dantian, unmoving as a mountain.

From then on, qi flows ceaselessly, nourishing the body: sinews and bones drink in dew, impurities melt like snow. Each full cycle of qi circulation adds strength—this is the true meaning of “washing sinews, replacing marrow, shedding the old body.”

Warriors of the Middle Three Realms nourish their entire body from within; their flesh has few weaknesses and rarely suffers the humiliation of being killed by ordinary people.

Ordinary blades and swords cannot scratch them; common poisons dissolve upon ingestion; even if submerged in a river for three days, they can breathe through their pores.

Their internal blood and qi surge like a great river, emitting roars like thunder or leopard cries.

Corresponding to the three realms: “Sinew Nurturing,” “Spring Accumulation,” “Finger Coiling.”

This means the body is perfected, and every acupoint can release true qi.

The Upper Three Realms are different—they are a chasm. Many sons of the Nine Surnames in the Middle Three Realms can reach them simply by having a martial master unblock their meridians and spending money.

The Lower Three Realms refine tangible things—sinews, bones, skin; the Middle Three Realms nurture the intangible, formless primordial qi; the Upper Three Realms require condensing true yuan and forging the mysterious, profound martial intent.

First: within the dantian, compress and refine the primordial qi into true yuan—hammering and tempering the primordial qi until, like clouds condensing into dew, a qi sea opens within the dantian, transforming all true qi into purer martial true yuan.

True yuan flows like mercury, heavy and dense through the meridians. When activated, it floods every limb and organ, granting strength to lift tripods, movements capable of splitting mountains and cracking rocks. More mysteriously, true yuan can be projected outward into form—warriors of the Upper Three Realms can fly with their bare bodies!

Second: “Martial Intent.”

This is the hardest barrier: you must embed the martial intent into your true yuan, flesh, sinews, and skin.

Martial intent can connect with the energies of heaven and earth. Those who perfect this realm, when they strike, summon heavenly and earthly qi to follow—no matter how many spiritual arts you wield, I will break them all with sheer force.

The Upper Three Realms are divided into three levels:

Snow Mountain Realm: true yuan is like snow atop a peak, condensed solely within the dantian.

Ocean Gazing Realm: the qi sea surges like tides, true yuan rushing like waves;

Mystic Pearl Realm: all rivers converge into the sea, forming an indestructible martial pearl within the dantian.

As you pondered, your true qi had gathered, compressed, and already begun to form true yuan.

The most crucial part, however, is the martial intent.

At that moment, your gaze shifted slightly.

The four women shuddered, slowly awakening—the peach hue in their eyes vanished instantly.

It was already afternoon; the four had just woken.

You had already dressed, watching them.

(End of Chapter)