Chapter 262: Learning Boxing

Chapter 262: Learning Boxing

“Have you read the preface?” Lei Xiaohuan drummed her fingers on the table. “How do you feel?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Like I’m up looking up at the high mountains that seem unreachable.”

Lei Xiaohuan sighed. “It’s true that the mountains are high. That’s why I’m so fascinated by that era, which had so many legendary figures. The Daoist Order at that time might have been a grassroots team and far inferior to the current behemoth today, but I think that the Holy Xuan’s Era had some of the most powerful and influential figures we have seen to date.”

Pei Xiaolou added, “I think that’s why the Holy Xuan invented the Holy Xuan Cards to reminisce about those times.”

“Well, now I’m a little curious about this card game. Teach me how to play it!” Lei Xiaohuan said excitedly.

Pei Xiaolou nodded without hesitation.

Qi Xuansu stifled a laugh, thinking that Pei Xiaolou did not look like the kind of man who would indulge women. He figured that Pei Xiaolou was only so agreeable with his wife because he could not beat her in a fight.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu was reminded of himself. Pei Xiaolou could not beat Lei Xiaohuan in a fight; neither could Qi Xuansu defeat Zhang Yuelu. He still had a long way to go to catch up with Zhang Yuelu.

Qi Xuansu thought of this not because he wanted to attack Zhang Yuelu. It was more so a need to protect himself.

In the Daoist community, it was quite common for Daoist companions to duel each other if they could not resolve conflicts. Since both partners had cultivation, a man’s innate strength over women was not important. Many times, the Daoist men could not win their wives in a fight.

For some reason, the Daoist Order’s Grand Masters did not forbid fighting between companions but only requested that no one be killed.

Due to this kind of competitiveness in cultivation, there were a number of power couples who turned into enemies.

An example would be the love story between a special woman and Elder Chongyang, who was one of the five founders of the Quanzhen Sect. Both of them were geniuses, considered by most to be a match made in heaven.

Back then, Elder Chongyang was focused on the war with the Golden Horde, so he had no time for personal affairs. After defeating the Golden Horde, he went into seclusion to meditate, but a woman provided him comfort. Ultimately, her tenderness and righteousness moved him.

The Martial Arts Practitioner’s spirit and body were one, as if they had no soul. The flow of blood qi in their body produced a strong and imposing aura akin to the towering mountains. It felt different from a Qi Refiner’s aura, which was to unite heaven and man.

Therefore, the fist intention was most commonly described as a strong and impenetrable mountain. It was not as sharp as the sword intention, but it was resilient to attacks.

During the Xiantian Being stage, Martial Arts Practitioners fought against Diviners by mainly relying on their blood qi to restrain the illusions of spells. After the Heavenly Being stage, the Diviner’s spells became less illusory and more palpable, getting closer to reality. Thus, the Martial Arts Practitioner’s blood qi alone could no longer restrain them. Martial Arts Practitioners would have to resist using their fist intention.

How one would condense fist intention lay in the Heavenly Connection Realm of the Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner.

A Guizhen-stage Qi Refiner refined essence and transformed innate qi in the Divine Qi Realm. A Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner condensed the essence and blood qi but did not turn it into innate qi. Instead, this essence and blood qi were used to strengthen their body. Their spirit and soul would become integrated with their body. Unless a Martial Arts Practitioner transitioned to the Earthly Immortal path or the Godly Immortal path, the soul and the body could no longer be separated.

In this case, the Martial Arts Practitioner’s body was equivalent to the soul, and vice versa. Thus, to strengthen the body was to strengthen the soul. The Martial Arts Practitioner would have skipped the process of transforming and refining qi, going directly from refining essence to transforming spirit.

By using their own will to perceive the stars, they achieved unity with the heavens, hence the Heavenly Connection Realm. By condensing the body and spirit with their blood qi and by concentrating the essence of the stars within their spirit, they achieved an indestructible spirit, hence the Divinity Realm. In this process, the fist intention would come naturally.

The fist intention came from blood qi, but it was not so simple as blood qi. Blood qi was the raw material to create fist intention, akin to a powerful elixir. However, there were many variables that would affect the refining of blood qi into fist intention.

According to the Tantai Fist Intention, the key was to imitate the power of the mountains, rivers, seas, and stars. However, beginners should start by mimicking monkeys, insects, tigers, and dragons. Only advanced practitioners could manifest the power of nature.

As Tantai Yun mentioned in the preface, one would need to understand oneself and the world before achieving immortality.

When Qi Xuansu saw this, he suddenly thought of Wu Luo's projection on the day of the flying ship crash.

The clouds, mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, and the ground formed an outline of a female figure in the sky, which exuded an aura of untamed wildness.

This outline would not be visible from another angle. There was also no substance to it and nothing to grasp, much like a mirage.

Wu Luo used the power of heaven and earth to achieve her own power, while Martial Arts Practitioners learned from the forces of nature to cultivate their own strength. Qi Xuansu noticed that Wu Luo’s methods were surprisingly similar to the Martial Arts Practitioner’s fist intention.