102: Chapter 99 Discussing Hidden Strength (Part 2)

"As for how to cultivate Dark Power, it requires time for slow polishing and realization.

With your Aptitude, your kung fu will naturally enter the next Realm.

You cannot rush it; the transition from Visible Power to Dark Power cannot be hurried. This is a qualitative leap for a martial artist.

Little do they know, many who practice boxing and martial arts spend their entire lives merely spinning their wheels at the level of Visible Power.

Dark Power is the result of the perfect presentation of the Internal Three Harmonies. When the heart and intent are connected, linking the deep-seated power within the body, that is the essence of Dark Power. Therefore, to practice Dark Power, you must understand yourself.

Both Daoism and Buddhism have their own sayings on this. Chapter 33 of the 'Dao De Jing' states: 'Those who know others are wise; those who know themselves are enlightened.' The Buddhist saying, 'The Bodhi tree is not a tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand,' follows the same principle."

Listening to what the Daoist Priest said, Li Changsheng nodded in understanding.

The power of the mind cannot be ignored; just as the Eight Brocades and Internal Alchemy Meditation have methods to use the spirit to excavate deep-seated power, emphasizing the concentration of intent.

Seeming to fear that Li Changsheng still did not quite understand, the Daoist Priest pointed at Li Changsheng and continued:

"You have practiced Xingyi, while I specialize in Taiji. I know a little about Xingyi, and its essence is much the same, so let me talk about Xingyi.

Our Xia Kingdom's Internal Martial Arts all emphasize the combination of form, spirit, and intent, such as Taiji and Xingyi Fist.

When kung fu reaches a very high Realm, every hand raised and every palm struck is light and airy, yet soft with underlying hardness, from which even ghosts cannot escape.

The power released is like an electric shock, which is truly remarkable. Such experts are rare because most people only know how to train their strength, not their intent."

The Daoist Priest paused and continued.

"As for how to train and how to excavate it, Internal Martial Arts are actually correct, but this still remains on the surface. Deeper individual circumstances differ.

You must use your heart to find the method that touches you most deeply. As for me, what I have realized is piety!

I have practiced martial arts my whole life. According to my Revered Master, I was half a martial arts fanatic before, but after stepping into Dark Power, I became a true martial arts fanatic, facing the martial Dao with a pious mindset.

My heart is like that of an innocent child, returning to the beginning.

But now, I am old, that piety is gone, and my martial Dao has also slackened."

Martial arts fanatic, piety, heart like an innocent child, realization.

Hearing this, Li Changsheng could not help but ponder for a while.

The Daoist Priest looked at Li Changsheng and smiled faintly, "You need not rush this matter. My Disciple began to seek realization at twenty-eight, and to this day, he has gained nothing. Instead, because of the eagerness in his heart, he has gone further and further astray, falling into the wrong path."

"You can compare the power of combined heart and intent to a kind of mental stimulation, a kind of emotion that deeply affects you.

When the human body is in an extreme state, it often accidentally triggers this power.

You are a young man, and I assume you have some understanding of fitness. When you imagine your biceps becoming extremely congested and swollen, until they fill the entire room—this is the shallow application of heart and intent at the level of Visible Power, and this can already increase muscle strength by thirty to fifty percent. If you use Integrated Force, this power will be even greater."

Li Changsheng already understood this, and according to some scientific data, it was indeed the case.

"The story of the Han Dynasty general Li Guang hunting and shooting an arrow 'mistaking a rock for a tiger' is a classic case of a person instantly combining heart and intent during a crisis to break through their energy limits.

At the time, he thought it was a fierce tiger and, in his urgency, drew his bow and fired; the arrow pierced the giant rock. But after he realized it wasn't a tiger, he could never achieve that level again.

There are many such cases. For instance, during that tragic great earthquake in our country, a mother, despite having broken fingers, forcibly lifted over a hundred catties of falling debris just to protect her child.

Or perhaps during the War of Resistance, countless ancestors fought against the multi-national coalition forces in the North. Under such tight supply conditions, many people were still wearing summer clothes yet forcibly persisted in the resistance for a long time, driving those well-equipped, well-supplied multi-national coalition forces into a panicked retreat.

The gap in the combat loss ratio between the two sides remained small; this is also the power of combined heart and intent. Do you understand now?

Outsiders cannot help you with this; you must find the deep-seated power that originates from within yourself, your own source of emotion!"

The Daoist Priest said a lot, and Li Changsheng gradually understood that Dark Power is actually the power of excavating the body's potential.

He remembered a research report that once stated that the human body has 639 muscles. If these 639 muscles coordinate to contract in a certain direction, they could exert 25 tons of force, allowing a person to pull 6 trucks with a load of 4 tons each.

This is a level of power that can only be reached under various extreme conditions, but it also means that the potential of the human body is immense.

Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult for the human body to perfectly unleash these deep-seated forces. Perhaps if your dopamine secretion is a little higher and your adrenaline secretion is more vigorous, you can burst out with stronger power in a short time, but this is still not the limit. Of course, Li Changsheng felt that he might not necessarily reach such extreme conditions.

A martial artist who has mastered Visible Power already understands how to exert force and how to utilize themselves better than the vast majority of people, and Dark Power is about knowing how to use that deep-seated switch to reach a level of effortless control.

"No wonder the old man said he couldn't easily use the power of Dark Power, and that he could only do it when he was young. So that was the problem."

Li Changsheng thought it made sense. After all, at the old man's advanced age, if his adrenaline or dopamine suddenly secreted excessively, he would probably be attending his own funeral on the spot.

Li Changsheng thought to himself: "Once this chasm is crossed, martial arts will become true kung fu. Is this mastering true Chinese Martial Arts?"

At this moment, the Daoist Priest suddenly sighed and said with some emotion: "I could have demonstrated Dark Power for you directly, but in boxing, one fears the young and strong. My kung fu has dropped by more than half by today.

The eruption of Dark Power can only be applied to fists and feet; any more would be a waste of effort and would injure myself."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Changsheng with envy in his eyes. He had seen Li Changsheng's test videos and had also heard about Li Changsheng's fighting process from his Disciple.

It is no exaggeration to say that even now, even if he used his Dark Power, he would be no match.

It is not to say that mastering Dark Power allows one to suppress Visible Power; if Dark Power is used well, it is a killing move, but if used poorly and it misses, it becomes a major blunder, and defeat is only a matter of time.

Moreover, Li Changsheng's stamina and Internal Martial Arts are extremely profound. In the battle with his Disciple, he was still calm and composed, which was obviously just a small test of his skills.

If they were really fighting to the death, his Disciple would undoubtedly die within three moves!

As for himself...

The Daoist Priest shook his head. He dared not think about it, and he would not fight. At his advanced age, why bother with the fighting and killing of young people?

If he won, it was meaningless; it would only be called bullying the young. If he lost, it was even more meaningless.

This is also the reason why many of the older generation of Traditional Martial Arts practitioners are reluctant to fight and kill anymore, even looking back a hundred years.

At that time, elderly martial arts Great Masters who founded sects would not easily resort to force; they would always let their chief Disciple step forward.