13: Chapter 13 First Attempt at Martial Arts

On the seventh day after nurturing the Noble Spirit, Xuanweizi summoned Lu Mingyuan to the training ground behind the main hall.

It was late autumn. The taiji diagram inlaid with black and white stones in the center of the ground was covered with golden ginkgo leaves. Xuanweizi stood with his hands behind his back before the diagram. The autumn wind stirred his cyan-grey Daoist robe. Although the Devilish Qi on his shoulders was not yet eradicated, the man had regained his usual composed demeanor. Lu Mingyuan stood solemnly to the side, sensing in his heart that what he would learn today was likely not Daoist arts.

"Foundation Establishment is complete, and the Noble Spirit has been initially nurtured. Your Foundation can be considered solid," Xuanweizi spoke slowly. "However, the path of cultivation emphasizes 'Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life.' Nature refers to Heart-Nature and Primordial Spirit; Life refers to the Physical Body and vital energy. Your cultivation of Nature has now found an entry point: tempered by the Classic of Purity and Tranquility, your Primordial Spirit honed by the Eye of Clarity, and your mind anchored by the Noble Spirit. But your cultivation of Life... is still far lacking."

Lu Mingyuan felt a chill in his heart. "This Junior has also been diligently practicing Qi circulation and nurturing his Physical Body these past days..."

"Practicing Qi is practicing Qi; Martial Arts are Martial Arts," Xuanweizi interrupted him. "Ordinary Cultivators mistakenly believe that deep cultivation alone naturally strengthens the Physical Body. Watch closely—"

He bent down, picked up a ginkgo leaf, and flicked it with his finger.

The leaf shot out like a flying dagger. With a *shhh* sound, it embedded itself three zhang away into the trunk of an old pine tree, sinking a full third of its width. The leaf remained intact, yet its edges had disappeared into the bark.

"This is pure physical strength, without borrowing the slightest bit of magic power," Xuanweizi explained. "This poor Daoist controlled the force to a level comparable to an ordinary person, yet managed to embed a fragile leaf into wood. Why? Because I understand how to generate force—power rises from the earth, travels through the waist to the shoulders, reaches the fingertips. The tendons, bones, and muscles of the entire body coordinate like bowstrings to achieve this effect."

Lu Mingyuan watched, his heart deeply shaken. He tried circulating his True Qi; he could also easily embed a leaf into a tree trunk, but that relied on the enhancement of True Qi. Using only the strength of his Physical Body, forget a leaf, even with a dagger, he might not be able to stab that deeply.

"Cultivators often look down on Martial Arts, believing that with Spells and Divine Abilities, who needs fist and foot techniques?" Xuanweizi shook his head. "This is a fallacy. The Physical Body is the precious raft for crossing the world; the Primordial Spirit is the passenger on the raft. If the raft decays, no matter how strong the passenger, they will fall into the water. Moreover, many dangerous places and Secret Realms prohibit magic power. In those times, all you can rely on is this Physical Body."

He paused and looked at Lu Mingyuan. "You bear the Chaotic Dao Foundation and will walk the path of integrating all methods in the future. If you lack a Martial Arts Foundation, it is like a house missing a corner—never achieving Perfection. Therefore, starting today, you will come here to practice Martial Arts during the Wei hour (1-3 PM) every day."

"Yes," Lu Mingyuan replied respectfully.

"This poor Daoist will first teach you the most basic 'Hunyuan Stance,'" Xuanweizi said, walking to the center of the taiji diagram. He planted his feet firmly, not too close nor too far apart, and held his hands loosely in front of his abdomen as if embracing a round ball. "This stance seems simple, but it is the very Foundation of Martial Arts Foundations. Done correctly, it regulates vital energy and blood, strengthens tendons and bones, and connects the Meridians. Done incorrectly, it merely wastes energy and harms the knees, waist, and back."

Lu Mingyuan imitated the posture.

"Head straight, neck aligned, chin slightly tucked. Shoulders relaxed, elbows lowered. Chest slightly concave, back straight," Xuanweizi circled him, occasionally reaching out to adjust his posture. "Waist relaxed, hips seated as if sitting, knees slightly bent but not past the toes. Soles firmly planted on the ground, like a tree taking root."

With each adjustment, Lu Mingyuan felt different sensations of soreness, numbness, swelling, and heat in various parts of his body. After standing for only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, his legs began to tremble slightly, and sweat appeared on his temples.

"How does it feel?" Xuanweizi asked.

"Legs are sore, waist and back feel tight, but... breathing seems smoother," Lu Mingyuan carefully observed.

"That's the vital energy and blood beginning to circulate," Xuanweizi nodded. "Keep standing. Pay close attention to the changes in your body. When you stop trembling, that's when you'll have entered the gate."

Lu Mingyuan gritted his teeth and persevered. After another incense stick's worth of time, the trembling in his legs intensified, and his knees ached as if pricked by needles. He thought about using True Qi to ease the discomfort, but Xuanweizi shouted, "No using magic power! Endure it with your Physical Body alone!"

He had no choice but to disperse his True Qi and rely purely on willpower. Sweat slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the blue bricks and splashing into tiny droplets. Just as he felt he could no longer hold on, his body suddenly relaxed.

The feeling was strange—not that he wasn't tired anymore, but his body had adapted to this tiredness. The trembling gradually ceased, his breathing became deep and long, and warm currents flowed into the originally sore areas. Even more wondrous, under the vision of the Eye of Clarity, he could "see" the circulation speed of his vital energy and blood increase by ten percent. Those fine capillaries opened up one after another, distributing the vital energy and blood to all parts of his body like branching river channels.

"Alright, you may Move now," Xuanweizi's voice came.

Lu Mingyuan slowly withdrew from the stance, feeling a pleasant comfort throughout his body. Though fatigued, there was a sense of Transparent clarity.

"This is only the beginning," Xuanweizi handed him a cloth towel. "The Hunyuan Stance requires a hundred-day Foundation Establishment period. Stand for a full hour every day without interruption. After a hundred days, I will teach you the fist technique."

Lu Mingyuan wiped his sweat. "This Junior will remember."

In the following days, Lu Mingyuan's life added another routine. Every day during the Wei hour, without fail, he went to the training ground to practice the stance. It was difficult at first. Each day after finishing, he felt drained and needed to meditate and regulate his breath for a long time to recover. But after ten days, he could easily stand for a full hour. Moreover, while in the stance, his mind was clear and bright, often entering a wondrous state of "neither fully asleep nor fully awake."

On this day, as he was standing in the stance and entering stillness, he suddenly had a sensation.

The Chaotic Dao Foundation in his Dantian slowly rotated, sending a strand of pure True Qi into his Meridians. When that True Qi reached his legs, it actually resonated with the vital energy and blood stimulated by the stance. The True Qi seeped between his tendons, bones, and muscles like lubricating oil. His originally stiff joints became supple, and his fatigued muscle groups regained vitality.

Even stranger, the Noble Spirit also began to circulate on its own at this moment. That pure, upright, and steadfast aura acted like a support frame, propping up his skeletal structure, allowing him to maintain a perfect posture without effort.

Dao Foundation, True Qi, Noble Spirit, vital energy and blood—these four actually began their first truly coordinated operation within this simple act of standing in the stance.

Understanding dawned in Lu Mingyuan's heart: This might be the true meaning of "Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life." The cultivation of Nature and the cultivation of Life were not two parallel lines; they could promote and nourish each other.

A hundred days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the hundredth day of stance practice ended, Lu Mingyuan withdrew from the stance and stood up. He felt his entire body light as a swallow, every movement filled with a sense of power. He tried jumping straight up from his spot and easily leaped seven chi high, landing without a sound. Looking inward at his body, his tendons and bones were dense, his vital energy and blood abundant, and his Meridians had widened by more than thirty percent compared to a hundred days ago.

"Not bad," Xuanweizi, who had arrived at the edge of the ground unnoticed, said. "The Hunyuan Stance has achieved Minor Achievement. Starting today, I will teach you the 'Hunyuan Fist.'"

The Hunyuan Fist consisted of thirty-six forms, corresponding to the "number of Heavenly Stars." The Moves were ancient and simple, essentially the basic applications of fist, palm, elbow, and knee, coordinated with footwork and body techniques. But when Xuanweizi demonstrated, Lu Mingyuan saw something extraordinary—each Move subtly aligned with the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. Punches shot out like meteors chasing the moon, palm strikes flowed like a great river eastward, elbow strikes crashed like collapsing mountain peaks, knee strikes erupted like earth fire.

"Watch closely," Xuanweizi slowly began. "First form, Chaos Begins."

His arms moved as if embracing a round ball, slowly separating to the sides. The movement was extremely slow, yet carried a heavy sense of splitting heaven and earth. Lu Mingyuan saw clearly under the vision of the Eye of Clarity—as this form unfolded, the vital energy and blood around Xuanweizi surged like rivers, his tendons and bones resonated in unison. The air within a three-zhang radius flowed accordingly, forming a visible vortex.

"Second form, Yin and Yang Divide."

One arm up, one down; one forward, one back, as if delineating Yin and Yang. The vital energy and blood split accordingly, one stream rising to the Baihui point at the crown of the head, another sinking to the Yongquan points on the soles of the feet, connecting the whole person to heaven and earth.

"Third form, Five Elements Cycle..."

Xuanweizi demonstrated form after form. Lu Mingyuan watched, utterly captivated. This wasn't merely a fist technique; it was clearly using the body as a brush to write a great Dao essay between heaven and earth!

After the demonstration, Xuanweizi withdrew his stance. "This fist technique was created by this poor Daoist through comprehending the Hunyuan Great Dao. Each form corresponds to a Law of heaven and earth. With your Chaotic Dao Foundation, practicing this fist technique will yield twice the result with half the effort. But remember—the fist technique is merely a vessel. What's important is to comprehend the 'principles' contained within."

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath and began to imitate.

The first time, the Moves were awkward, losing focus on one thing while attending to another. The second time, slightly smoother, but the circulation of vital energy and blood was not smooth. On the third time, he simply closed his eyes, stopped thinking about the Moves, and instead focused on feeling the rhythm of his body.

The Chaotic Dao Foundation accelerated its rotation on its own, delivering True Qi to every needed part. The Noble Spirit stood firm like a pillar in a torrent, stabilizing his body's balance. The Foundation laid by a hundred days of stance practice now showed—tendons and bones were supple, vital energy and blood abundant, every movement could be executed properly.

When he reached the eighteenth form, "Wind and Thunder Interact," an anomaly suddenly occurred.

His fist shot out like wind, his palm moved like thunder. The vital energy and blood throughout his body boiled, actually forming a faint layer of white-gold radiance on his body's surface. Even stranger, where his fist wind passed, the air emitted light *crackling* sounds, as if electric sparks flickered.

"Oh?" Surprise flashed in Xuanweizi's eyes. "You've already stirred the 'True Intent of Wind and Thunder' this quickly?"

Lu Mingyuan withdrew his stance, also finding it unbelievable. "This Junior only felt... this form should be performed this way."

"This is the wonder of the Chaotic Dao Foundation," Xuanweizi stroked his beard and smiled. "Your body aligns with the Dao. Even without knowing the deeper meaning, your body naturally knows what to do. Practice well. This fist technique will be enough for you to ponder for three years."

The setting sun cast its rays westward. On the training ground, a figure moved and turned.

Lu Mingyuan practiced the Hunyuan Fist over and over, gaining new insights with each repetition. He felt his Physical Body growing stronger, his vital energy and blood expanding. More importantly—that exhilarating feeling of "Nature and Life merging."

Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life was indispensable.

He suddenly understood: this was not merely a cultivation method; it was the completeness of life itself.

When the evening bell sounded, Lu Mingyuan withdrew his fists and stood still, steam rising from his entire body, yet his eyes were clear and bright.

The gate to Martial Arts had opened today.