Chapter Eight: The Bestowal of Arms

There is a saying well known among those in the martial world: even a thousand pieces of gold cannot buy a single resounding strike. To achieve that thunderous resonance along the spine in martial arts—a sound so mighty it could bring down a wall—is considered the ultimate fusion of technique and power, worth more than all the riches in the world.

But today, the immortal master Lan Yi, descending from the heavens, redefined what that strike could mean. It was no longer merely a martial accomplishment; his blow sounded like a dragon’s roar, like the booming of a cannon. With a casual punch, thunder seemed to crash from the clear sky. The impact, even at a distance, shattered stone and sent the earth surging. He left a pit five meters wide and over a meter deep, with waves of earth radiating outward, filling the nostrils of all present with the scent of raw earth and metal.

Pebbles and debris clattered down, pattering against the heads of the onlookers, yet none dared so much as flinch. The display was unadulterated might—supernatural power made manifest before their very eyes.

Not just a man—if that fist had struck a locomotive, it would surely have torn it to pieces.

“Is this martial arts?” In Huo Yuanjia’s eyes, a sharp light blazed forth. This martial arts grandmaster felt his world expand in an instant, as if he had grasped some ineffable truth. Martial arts could reach such heights! He realized now that, until this moment, he had been like a frog at the bottom of a well, or a monkey on a mountain—his body and his mind confined by the limits of his understanding.

Yet Lan Yi had shattered those preconceptions with brute force, laying bare the truth to the gathered martial artists from all across the land: martial arts could be so strong as to verge on the miraculous, an art fit for gods walking the earth.

“Of course, this is martial arts,” Lan Yi replied, his voice laced with temptation. He hardly needed to say more; nearly everyone present was breathing heavily, their desire for this opportunity burning within them.

Since the advent of the Combat Space, those spiritual energy cultivators who entered the artificial divine realm for training followed two orthodox paths. The first was the Way of Daoist Arts, the second, Martial Arts.

Daoist Arts were built upon the foundation of the Fate Cluster, structured by knowledge, and powered by spiritual energy. Even a novice cultivator, with sufficient knowledge and resources, could unleash world-shattering techniques—especially in this age where information was as abundant as the air itself.

Martial Arts, by contrast, were founded upon Innate Vitality, fueled by arduous self-cultivation, and honed by an indomitable will. This path was a journey from the intangible to the tangible; those who achieved the unity of self, method, and law could accomplish feats that even Daoist Arts might not easily rival.

Innate Vitality—

Every person, indeed every carbon-based life form, possesses this fundamental physical structure. Martial practice is the process of exercising and stimulating Innate Vitality through special methods, until every part of one’s being is nourished and suffused with it.

However, the growth of Innate Vitality consumes spiritual energy. In worlds where spiritual energy cannot be freely absorbed—such as the main world and the artificial divine realm of 1909—no matter how diligently a martial artist trains, without some stroke of fortune, they will spend their lives merely enhancing their health and strength.

Without spiritual energy perception, martial artists have no way of knowing their own progress; they can only rely on intuition. The requirements for talent are thus harsh, and the demands on willpower even more extreme.

It is, paradoxically, Daoist Arts that do not require talent, for they are concerned with understanding and mastering the world, while Martial Arts demand aptitude—because martial arts disregard reason; belief in oneself is all that matters.

Of course, any competent spiritual cultivator practices both arts, striving to eliminate their weaknesses. Indeed, Daoist Arts and Martial Arts do not conflict; they complement each other.

Lan Yi, clearly, cultivated both systems, though he specialized in Daoist Arts and supplemented with Martial Arts.

From the moment he entered the artificial divine realm, Lan Yi had been strengthening his weak, original body with spiritual energy at every moment, stimulating the rapid and stable spread of Innate Vitality throughout himself.

He possessed a unique advantage: the Fate Cluster known as Azure Radiance. Finer than spider silk, tougher than steel, it could conduct electricity and even substitute for neural clusters. Invisible to the naked eye, strands of Azure Radiance, energized by spiritual power, threaded through his body, releasing electricity to synergize with martial techniques for the cultivation and adaptation of Innate Vitality.

This was the advantage of carrying a built-in spiritual energy reactor from the outset. The crystalline energy generated by Azure Radiance could further replenish his spiritual reserves. With ample Daoist knowledge, Lan Yi grew stronger with every passing moment—even while standing still.

This was why he had tempted Ji Ning and Zhang Shouzheng to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. Had they truly gambled everything and done so, Lan Yi would have been saturated with spiritual energy in an instant—of the highest grade, charged with magnetic storms and lethal energy.

Though the temptation failed, there was no regret. Once he completed his first trial in the artificial divine realm, he would find ways to turn the main world’s space laboratories, particle accelerators, and nuclear plants to his own use.

The two orthodox systems—

Martial Arts Realms: Cultivating Vitality, Cultivating Spirit, Cultivating the Void.

Daoist Arts Realms: Refining Fate Cluster, Building the Celestial Palace, Creating the Star River, Constructing the Golden Bridge.

Though realms do not always equate to combat power, they are useful benchmarks. In truth, spiritual cultivators of the Mountains and Rivers civilization prefer to judge power by the ten energy levels, using the cultivation realms mainly for scholarly discussion. The Oceanic civilization uses a different set of terms, but the systems are broadly equivalent.

Judging by the martial arts realms, none of the martial artists in this world have attained the level of Cultivating Vitality; they are the sort who could be killed by a rifle, let alone Daoist Arts.

But this world is not without its secrets, though that is a tale for another time.

Lan Yi could mass-produce martial artists at the Cultivating Vitality level. While none in this world have reached that realm, in terms of willpower and spirit, figures like the master of the lost track, Huo Yuanjia; the archer Liu the White Ape; the gun king Kuang Yimin; the divine marksman Li Shuwen; the sword immortal Li Jinglin; and the tiger-headed champion Sun Lutang—if given the breakthrough, they could swiftly ascend to Cultivating Spirit.

A top-tier Cultivating Vitality expert possesses a body as resilient as stone, able to punch through concrete walls with ease. A master who has perfected Cultivating Vitality can hurl artificial hills for meters, run as fast as a car, and react with lightning speed.

Those who reach Cultivating Spirit are even more formidable. In the eyes of ordinary people, their powers are indistinguishable from those of immortals.

Should a Cultivating Spirit expert lead troops, they would be nigh-invincible in land warfare of this era. Lan Yi was eager to see, faced with the martial path’s leap forward, whether the foreign powers of this era had the courage to chase after, to stop at nothing in their pursuit.

In this world, Huo Yuanjia was the first to taste the forbidden fruit of the martial path’s advancement.

Amid the envious and jealous stares of the crowd, Lan Yi took over the International Press Club to bestow martial power.

The scene of this bestowal was terrifying to behold.

At Lan Yi’s command, Huo Yuanjia stood naturally as instructed. Suddenly, tens of thousands of strands of Azure Radiance pierced his body. Spiritual energy surged in, transforming the very foundation of martial arts within him: Innate Vitality.