Chapter 39: Chapter 36 Martial Artists of Our Kind
“In my youth, I once came across a small insect. The villagers said it was a…”
She encountered two “mountains,” and Su Xiaoxiao’s dream of being a talent suffered another blow. She puffed up her cheeks and gazed expectantly at Zhao Rong.
Zhao Rong smiled, his fingers brushing over the dry yellow pages; he considered the characters somewhat rigid yet vigorous and read aloud softly:
“In my youth, I once came across a small insect. The villagers called it a scale insect.”
“The scale insect is known for its ability to carry burdens. Whenever it encountered objects, it would pick them up and lift its head to carry them. The heavier its load, the more it struggled without stopping. Some people pity it and remove its load. If it could move, it would pick up objects as before. It also likes to climb high, exhausting all its strength. Until it falls to the ground and dies.”
“I observed that this insect’s life was all about carrying heavy loads uphill. If it didn’t die from falling, it would cycle back and forth until its strength was exhausted.”
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“The villagers laughed at its insatiable greed; encountering opportunities it would not avoid, and foolishly aspiring for a higher position, courting its own destruction.”
“But I beg to differ.”
“We martial artists, climbing the great path, are like the scale insect, aspiring high and moving forward, the heavier our burden becomes, the more we load, and if we fail, our heads will shatter and bodies be crushed; if we succeed, we’ll challenge the heavens with our fists!”
“Moved, I wrote the ‘Mountain Carrying Volume.’ These mere five forms are imbued with all my divine intentions. In terms of techniques, they might not compare to the top fist manuals of today, but if we talk about the spirit of the fist, they are undoubtedly the peak of what our group can achieve, in this I firmly believe…”
Having finished the preface, Zhao Rong flipped to the subsequent pages, which contained illustrations and descriptions of the five forms of the fist technique. He took a deep breath, then looked up at Liu Sanbian.
At the campfire, the brooding man was staring blankly at the fist manual called ‘Mountain Carrying Volume’ in Zhao Rong’s hands.
“He was my master. He had traveled to the Great Wei. Back then, I was still young, and I met him next to a tavern. He was ragged and poor but longed for the aroma of the alcohol, cajoling me to buy him liquor, promising to teach me how to fight, to become a martial artist as notorious as the Kunpeng that can change the color of the heavens. I asked him what a Kunpeng martial artist was, what changing the color of the heavens entailed. He pointed at the sky above, where a black cloud had been brewing all day, ‘With one punch, I command it to rain, and it rains; I command it to clear, and it clears’…”
“I know this one!” The little fox demon at the side, who had been holding back for a long time, raised her hand to answer excitedly. “Isn’t it like right after your master’s words fell, thunder roared, and the rain poured down as if it cost nothing? Or maybe the clouds suddenly broke and a ray of sunlight pierced through, shining on him as if laying down a layer of gold, making him look like a divine being, then the clouds faded, and the sky turned clear?”
Zhao Rong raised an eyebrow. What kind of déjà vu from cheap novels of the main character meeting his master was this? But he didn’t bother to complain; he didn’t even notice that it was the shy little fox demon speaking to Liu Sanbian for the first time. He was curious and looked at Liu Sanbian together with Su Xiaoxiao.
Liu Sanbian blinked, seeing both the large and small curious eyes, he sighed with a bitter smile and shook his head.
“No, it wasn’t like that. Then the tavern’s landlady came out with a broom, chased him from the street head to the tail while scolding, telling him not to fool kids at her doorstep any longer, that he was the seventh one already, and no fools would fall for that…”
“But in the end, I was that fool.”
“Later, after I entered the ranks of martial artists, he left me with a few sets of breathing techniques and walked away, telling me to find him in the north on Kunpeng Continent after I reached the third grade as a martial artist, otherwise just… ‘You’re an eyesore, stupid kid, don’t bother me’.”
“It’s my inadequacy; over all these years, I’ve only reached the sixth grade as a martial artist, disappointing my master’s high expectations.” After saying this, he inverted his now-empty wine jug, wishing in vain for a drink.
Zhao Rong’s mouth twitched. Why did it feel like meeting a sketchy drunkard who cheated children out of their pocket money, probably not even as high in martial arts as Liu Sanbian? What? A ragged, casual, hidden great master? Ha, I don’t buy it, there aren’t so many whimsically great masters for you to meet.
“Brother Sanbian, what is the division of grades in martial arts?”
“It’s the realms that a martial cultivator has to go through after reaching the Fu Yao Realm.” Liu Sanbian pondered briefly, then decided to explain in detail to Zhao Rong, who was new to the path.
“Human cultivators face two major realms, first is Ascending, and second is Fu Yao. As for what follows, martial cultivators split paths with sword cultivators and Daoist cultivators. Sword cultivators and Daoist cultivators then go through four and a half realms together: Vast Realm, Heavenly Will Realm, Golden Core, half-step Nascent Soul, and Nascent Soul, where the half-step Nascent Soul counts as half a realm, whereas martial cultivators must climb through nine grades, of which the eighth and ninth grades correspond to the Vast Realm, the sixth and seventh to the Heavenly Will Realm, the fourth and fifth to the Golden Core, the third grade to the half-step Nascent Soul, and the first and second grades akin to the Nascent Soul.”
“So, Brother Sanbian’s sixth grade in martial arts corresponds to the Heavenly Will Realm?”
“Exactly.” Liu Sanbian sighed. “We martial artists indeed have it hard, not only do we experience bodily constraints when ascending grades, burning vitality and blood, our lifespans cannot match other cultivators. Moreover, it’s tougher for us to advance, needing to break through two grades to match one realm of others, and no sloppiness is allowed.”
“However, within the same realm, we martial artists, as long as we get close to other cultivators, are invincible!”
“The nine grades of martial arts, each grade a step, each step a solid foundation, without any shortcuts and no room for tricks. Like the scale insect, the farther you go, the heavier it gets; you must not slack or lighten the load, otherwise, you’ll ruin the foundation of the martial path, shattering your chance to break through the ninth grade or ever appreciate the higher realm that follows!”
Liu Sanbian spoke with soaring spirits, wishing his wine jug would instantly refill so he could drink heartily.
“Brother Zhao, do you know what marvel lies beyond the nine grades of martial arts?”
“Please go on, Brother Sanbian!”
“Once a First Grade Martial Artist breaks through, he enters the Kunpeng Realm. In this realm, a Martial Artist possesses blood and Qi as vast as the sea, meridians within the body like great rivers, and dantian that can contain hundreds of rivers. A single punch can change the color of the sky, and a single palm strike can halt the flow of the Great River!”
“Brother Zhao, do you know of the Kunpeng Holy Corpse in Western Fu Yao Continent that has borne the weight of Kuntu for tens of thousands of years?”
“Of course, it was slain by my Zhao ancestors.”
“I have heard that in North Kunpeng Continent, descendants of the Kunpeng still exist. They are now still used as convicts, serving as the largest transcontinental ferries for the Human Clan. Every year, they migrate southward from North Kunpeng Continent, passing through Western Fu Yao Continent and Tunan Continent, reaching Southern Tranquility State. They can travel to and fro between the two poles of the Xuanhuang Realm within a year. Their leaping flight spans three thousand miles, and their soaring up ninety thousand miles covers the sky and sun, akin to the night. Such exotic beasts, we Martial Artists can compare with them; the vast blood and Qi of Kunpeng, a body spanning a thousand miles, and a tremendous force—all condensed into a nine-foot body of a Seventh Grade Martial Artist!”
“This is the pinnacle of the Martial Arts path in the Xuanhuang Cultivation World.”
The usually somber man’s face now shone with flowing light, his voice ringing with vigor.
Zhao Rong stared at Liu Sanbian, feeling that he was very different at this moment.
————
“Gui, are Martial Artists of the Kunpeng Realm really that formidable?”
“Yeah, they are formidable.”
“Hey, tell me about it.”
“Hmm, I don’t have much impression of the ones in the Xuanhuang Realm. Let me tell you about one from beyond our realm that is a bit stronger than the Kunpeng Realm. I once witnessed a Martial Artist and a demon tearing apart an edge of the Vermilion Bird Constellation’s plane. I watched as the shards of the broken small world sparkled in the desolate void, then ground into particles of essence by the walls of laws…”
“Stop, stop, don’t go off topic. In the end, who won?”
“That Martial Artist.”
“Sss, indeed powerful.”
“Yes, indeed. But later, he was slain by me.”
“… ”
“Heh, I still don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me remind you. Our agreement was for the Vast Realm. Even if you merely become a Martial Artist and enter the grades, you cannot become a Sword Master of Fu Shi. A Sword Master of Fu Shi must be a Sword Cultivator, even without a Lifebound Flying Sword, you still must follow the path of Sword Cultivation.”
“Hmm, I understand. So, for Martial Artists, the Seventh Realm is Kunpeng. What about Sword Cultivators and Daoist Cultivators?”
“For Sword Cultivators, the Seventh Realm is Tranquility.”
“For Daoist Cultivators, the Seventh Realm is Taiyi.”
“Huh? Aren’t those the names of the three southern states?”
“Right, those were renamed by Jiang Taiching back in the day. Southern Tranquility State, North Kunpeng Continent, and East Taiyi Continent, corresponding respectively to the Seventh Realm of Sword Cultivation, Martial Cultivation, and Daoist Cultivation. The remaining Western Fu Yao Continent corresponds to the Fu Yao Realm, encompassing all three.”
“And what about Tunan Continent, including Wangque Continent and the lesser three continents?”
“These four continent names are unrelated to the cultivation realms; they have other origins.”
“Hmm, what about above the Seventh Realm, are there any other realms?”
“Young Master Zhao, why do you need to know all this? Are you planning to practice in your dreams tonight, to fully enjoy it?”
“… “