Chapter 5 Martial Artist and Inner Core Skill
Time flies when you are focused on your tasks.
Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye, and Wang Sheng, as usual, was practicing the Eight Pieces of Brocade.
With the aid of the Tiger Bone Ointment, his progress in the Eight Pieces of Brocade had increased rapidly.
"Chrysanthemum Planting: Breakthrough +1 (39%)
Eight Pieces of Brocade: Breakthrough +1 (88%)"
During the past half month, Wang Sheng had also been planting chrysanthemums, producing dried ones.
Thus, the progress bar for chrysanthemum planting had also increased significantly, making it nearly sufficient to meet the delivery requirements.
Chrysanthemum planting was just one of the activities he dedicated part of his energy to.
His real focus was the Eight Pieces of Brocade.
Even though the progress bar grew slowly after breakthroughs, with half a month of continuous practice, the progress bar for the Eight Pieces of Brocade had still increased rapidly—it had reached 88% and he believed that a few more days could bring another breakthrough.
But that wasn't the point—Wang Sheng felt his Qi-Blood was almost ready to burst forth, indicating that the formation of the first Qi Blood Power was imminent.
This sensation of exploding Qi-Blood didn't mean his blood would literally explode out of his body, as that would be lethal.
In this half month, with the help of the Tiger Bone Ointment, Wang Sheng had experienced over thirty instances of "Qi-Blood boiling over, sounding like drums," bringing his Qi-Blood to its peak.
"Just one more time, just once is enough!"
Wang Sheng knew that if his Qi-Blood could be stimulated just one more time, he would definitely be able to condense the first streak of Qi Blood Power and become a true Martial Artist.
He continued to practice the Eight Pieces of Brocade. His body became more and more active, and his Qi-Blood began to boil again.
Thump!
The sound was like a grand bell.
Following that sound was a vibration in Wang Sheng's body, as if it were distorting the air around.
Wang Sheng's heart was like a fully powered pump, mobilizing all the blood in his body to gather, roll, and boil.
During this process, it seemed as though a mist of blood arose in his heart, and Wang Sheng felt his body gradually weakening.
However, he had anticipated this, and quickly drank a prepared cup of Tiger Bone Ointment Water, gaining a huge boost of energy—the boiling of his Qi-Blood not only didn't stop but grew even more intense.
Wang Sheng gulped down another bowl, and by the fifth bowl, his body's thirst had subsided significantly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart kept beating, and with a sufficient infusion of energy, the condensation of the blood mist in his heart accelerated.
A few minutes later, Wang Sheng suddenly felt as though his body was rejuvenated.
He also sensed a somewhat vague, intangible force inside him.
This force was difficult to control, but one thing was clear.
Wang Sheng clenched his fist; he wasn't sure about other things, but his strength had definitely increased by a lot.
He looked at the nearby stone mill, which was not small and weighed about 200 kilograms. Normally, he could never move it.
But now—
The minimum requirement for a Martial Artist was an arm strength of 500 kilograms.
He tried lifting it with one arm.
It wasn't too easy, but he could indeed lift it without feeling overwhelmed.
Indeed, the strength of 500 kilograms was not an exaggeration.
This strength was merely the physical power of his body. If he could utilize the Qi-Blood Power within him, his strength would be even more formidable.
Of course, this involved the matter of Cultivation Technique.
Only with a true Martial Artist Skills could one control one's own Qi-Blood.
The Eight Pieces of Brocade could increase Qi-Blood, but couldn't control it.
Wang Sheng had considered this issue a long time ago and had found a solution.
Inner Core Skill!
This was actually the path Wang Sheng truly wanted to follow.
This was the law to immortality!
It was only because this path initially required harvesting a great medicine from the human body that he needed to enhance himself through the Eight-section Brocade.
As for the method to control Qi-Blood, it was actually the process of the first realm of Inner Core Skill, the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment.
Hundred Days Foundation Establishment required one to control the Qi within the body, search for disease spots or deficiencies within, and then to remediate them, ultimately achieving a flawless body. Only then would the Foundation Establishment process be considered complete.
Although Wang Sheng did not believe in his previous life that Inner Core Skills could achieve immortality, he had still learned much about them out of a need for health preservation.
Using that "Qi," once one's Primordial Qi reached a certain level, it could naturally burst through the Qi pathways.
In Wang Sheng's previous life, there were many theories about what "Qi" exactly was, but he believed that the most reliable theory was Life Energy. Even though Life Energy was invisible, the human body could feel it.
A strong body possessed strong Life Energy, a weak body, weak Life Energy.
Transferred to this world, this could be considered as Qi-Blood Power.
Apart from wanting to achieve a Martial Artist's level in Qi-Blood Power by practicing the Eight-section Brocade, Wang Sheng also had another reason, which was to lay groundwork for practicing Inner Core Skill.
With sufficient Qi-Blood Power in the body, he could proceed with the second step of the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment, the Qi Rushing to the Disease.
Simply put, this step involved a comprehensive repair of his body.
Allowing him to truly transform.
And what Wang Sheng wanted were the techniques of Qi movement in this process, which were the methods of operating his own Qi-Blood Power.
Otherwise, the Qi-Blood Power that had just accumulated in his body could only be observed, not utilized.
Having treasures yet being unable to use them, such a situation was not just ordinary suffering.
Therefore, the next thing Wang Sheng needed to do—
Was to make the progress bar of the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment visible.
Wang Sheng had seen several Foundation Establishment Mantras; the most important part of the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment, just like the Eight-section Brocade, was the movements.
And what he believed most in his previous life was the various movement-centric health-preserving methods.
He was a man of action, and now that he had just met the requirements of a Martial Artist, he immediately began to try.
"Upright and still in the Golden Dan position, like a towering unmoving form. Calm, serene, soulfully focused..."
As he recited the mantra, Wang Sheng's body also began to move.
The first step was to entirely relax, putting his body in a naturally relaxed state... The second step, eyes slightly closed... The third step, tongue touching the roof of the mouth, sealing the Heavenly Pool acupoint to prevent spirit leakage... The fourth step, breathe naturally, deep, long, even, fine, subtle... The fifth step, hands forming the Tai Chi Formulas...
Having done all this, Wang Sheng quietly sensed the inside of his body.
After meditating, one should practice Listening Breath and observe the light.
This was originally an extremely profound concept.
But Wang Sheng had not thought to achieve it immediately; he only wanted to learn the method of Qi movement.
He did not know how much time had passed when he seemed to see the inside of his body; his heart was beating ceaselessly, and within the ventricle, there seemed to be a small snake coiled.
When his "gaze" lingered on the small snake, it appeared to be startled and turned into a great dragon that lunged at him.
Boom!
Wang Sheng's mind roared, and he abruptly woke from the experience.
At the same time, a progress bar appeared.
"Inner Core Skill (Hundred Days Foundation Establishment): 3 (68%)"
He had indeed achieved what he wanted, but what had just happened... that must have been his Qi-Blood Power?
How could it have startled his "spirit"?