Chapter 686: The Prerequisite to Becoming Heavenly Martial
After everyone had sat down, the old man slowly opened his eyes.
They were very ordinary eyes, but beneath their gaze, the crowd felt as if they could not hide anything, as if there were no secrets. Everything seemed as though it would be seen through and understood by those eyes.
"You, why have you come?"
The old man asked a question, causing the crowd's eyes to freeze. Why had they come? Naturally, to increase their strength, to see this legendary, powerful existence.
"For martial arts," one person replied. On the Nine Heavens Continent, who was not pursuing martial arts? A powerful martial artist could do anything, penetrate heaven and earth, and control the fate of others.
"Are you all the same?" The venerable's eyes swept across the crowd. The few people present all nodded. They had all come for martial arts.
"Very well. Since you have all come for martial arts, then tell me, what is martial arts?"
The venerable's calm words trembled into the minds of the crowd, causing their bodies to shudder. What is... martial arts?
Martial arts experts were respected, standing above others, capable of turning clouds into rain with a flip of their hand. But what was martial arts? Few of them ever thought about it. Thus, the crowd fell into a silence.
"Can no one tell me?" The venerable asked again, making the faces of the crowd stiffen slightly. Such a simple question, yet they did not know how to answer or where to begin.
Many lowered their heads, feeling ashamed.
"If you don't even understand martial arts, how can you talk about pursuing it?" The venerable sighed, making the crowd even more ashamed. They loudly proclaimed their pursuit of martial arts and climbing its peak, but when asked what martial arts was, no one could answer.
"Martial arts, I roughly divide it into several stages: cultivating martial techniques and skills, tempering the body, and unearthing one's own power; using that unearthed power to break through one's limits; observing and borrowing the power of heaven and earth; utilizing the power of heaven and earth; then, controlling the power of heaven and earth, comprehending its essence, making the power of heaven and earth serve me; and finally... finally, you don't need to consider that."
The old man spoke slowly, then asked, "This is my view of martial arts. What do you think?"
First step: one's own power. Second step: borrowing and utilizing the power of heaven and earth. Third step: controlling the power of heaven and earth.
It was very vivid, easy for everyone to understand. And indeed, it seemed to be true. From relying on one's own strength when weak, to borrowing momentum and using external forces, to becoming familiar with and controlling them.
Step by step, one ascends to heaven. Those who could truly control the power of heaven and earth for their own use—what kind of experts would they be? Even a venerable probably could not achieve control.
"My words, do you understand?" The old man asked again, making the crowd's hearts tighten.
"Right now, when we cultivate, we circulate techniques, absorb the primal energy of heaven and earth. This is borrowing the power of heaven and earth. We study martial arts divine abilities, attack methods, and comprehend will. All of these rely on borrowing and utilizing the power of heaven and earth. Whoever can borrow and utilize more of heaven and earth's power, read the natural power of heaven and earth, and comprehend will, is stronger," someone replied.
The venerable nodded slightly. "That can be roughly said. The natural power of heaven and earth makes your divine abilities and attacks stronger, makes your willpower stronger, and brings you closer to heaven and earth. Only in this way can your cultivation continuously advance."
Lin Feng kept nodding. He understood this point more deeply. Whether in sword dao or the power of Buddha and demon, one's own power always had limits. Only by borrowing from the outside, from the natural power of heaven and earth, could one make the sword unleash formidable might, and make the power of will stronger and more terrifying.
"Having understood this, tell me, how do you increase your cultivation?"
"By having enough true essence power. When your realm is reached, it naturally increases?" someone answered.
"Then what is 'realm'?" The venerable asked, and the crowd was stunned again. What was realm?
"And how do you raise your realm?" The venerable asked again.
"Realm should be a kind of comprehension. The deeper the comprehension, the higher the realm," someone replied.
"Realm is the most frequently used yet indescribable, illusory thing for martial artists. In a certain sense, realm is equated with cultivation level. When the realm is reached, cultivation will eventually cross into that realm. We are constantly using our realm—the realm of cultivation, the realm of martial arts divine abilities."
"The improvement of realm is like this water and this stone."
As the venerable spoke, he waved his hand. In the void, a scene appeared of a drop of water continuously dripping onto a stone.
"Your realm is like this stone, motionless. Your cultivation is like this water. The improvement of realm is like the process of dripping water wearing through the stone—when conditions are ripe, success is achieved. To make dripping water wear through the stone, there are many methods. You can change the flow rate of the water, so that more drops fall on the boulder at the same time. You can also make the water sharper, so that the force of each drop hitting the stone is stronger. If you want the dripping water to wear through the stone faster, you must also make the water fall on the same spot every time, so that in the shortest time, conditions are ripe and success is achieved."
As the venerable's words fell, a sound rang out. The drop of water pierced into the stone.
"Do you understand?" The venerable waved his hand, and the drop of water and the stone disappeared.
"Having more drops of water fall on the boulder in the same time is diligence. Making the water sharper and increasing the impact force is technique and comprehension. Dripping water wearing through the stone, falling on the same spot every time, is faith, focus, and persistence—unwavering, consistent effort."
Lin Feng spoke slowly. The venerable raised his head, looked at Lin Feng, and smiled, nodding. "Yes. To raise your realm, you rely on diligence, on hard work, on talent, on technique, and on a persistent heart for martial arts."
"You are all geniuses of the Snow Domain. The Heavenly Martial Realm is not far from you. As long as you have the right methods—to think, to comprehend, to strive—the Heavenly Martial Realm will be very close to you. Heavenly Martial, as the name implies, the realm to be reached is the Unity of Heaven and Man. Only an expert who achieves Unity of Heaven and Man can comprehend the power of heaven and earth and attain the position of Heavenly Martial."
To step into Heavenly Martial, one must first enter the state of Unity of Heaven and Man!
The eyes of the crowd trembled. Heavenly Martial actually had such a harsh prerequisite. Unity of Heaven and Man was necessary to set foot in it.
"After entering the Heavenly Martial Realm, you must pay more attention to your control over the power of heaven and earth. You need to cultivate powerful divine abilities. You need to continuously comprehend the power of will—the will of flame, the will of the sword, or the will of the heavens. At the same level of Heavenly Martial Realm, one who has comprehended a powerful will can easily defeat another who has not."
"In the Heavenly Martial Realm, you must perfect your will, step into the realm of essence, and become an essence expert. Essence is quite distant for you. It begins to allow you to glimpse and control a thread of heaven and earth's power. Only an essence expert can become a venerable."
Unity of Heaven and Man to enter Heavenly Martial; essence experts to become venerables. How terrifying.
"One more point: even with Unity of Heaven and Man, if you have obsessions in your heart that you cannot let go, if there is dust and filth in your heart, you still cannot advance to Heavenly Martial. To become a Heavenly Martial expert, you must have Unity of Heaven and Man, a mind free of distractions, man united with heaven, heaven united with will. Only then can you complete the transformation from the Mysterious Martial Realm to the Heavenly Martial Realm."
Heavenly Martial—only through Unity of Heaven and Man, aligning with the power of heaven and earth, can one step into the Heavenly Martial Realm.