Chapter 44: The Boundary of Martial Arts

  (The third update is sent, hoping book friends will collect more!)

  "The three realms of body refinement are the triple boundaries of martial arts cultivation. The first boundary is the realm of physical foundation, as the name suggests, it is the boundary that lays the foundation for the body, and also the foundation of martial arts cultivation, which is extremely important for a martial artist. In this county competition, most of the participants were martial artists at this boundary."

  "The second stage is the Refining Body Realm. At this level, a martial artist's foundation in the martial way has already been somewhat established. However, the path of martial arts is one of continuous refinement and progress. Having a foundation means that it must be constantly strengthened, which is what refining the body is all about. In your team, Tong Gang and Zhao Long are both at this level.

  Mo Gu Yun clearly had a deep understanding of the Luoyang City team, which wasn't surprising, given that they had even brought down his own Gu Yun City. He couldn't help but want to learn more about them."

  "The third layer is the Breaking Body Realm. Whether you believe it or not, a person's body has its limits. When your physical training reaches its limit, you must find another way to break through. The one who protects you, He Tong Leng, and the Beastmaster who attacks you, are both strong practitioners of the Breaking Body Realm." Mo Gu Yun said.

  "The Broken Body Realm is the first hurdle in martial arts training, and this realm can only be overcome through continuous practice, making oneself stronger with each passing day. There are no shortcuts to this process. Many warriors have been stuck at this stage for their entire lives due to their innate abilities, and as a result, they can never progress further on the path of martial arts." Mo Gu Yun said in a melancholic tone, seemingly having experienced the torment of being stuck at this bottleneck himself.

  "When you break through this bottleneck, the path of martial arts enters a whole new realm. From outside to inside, breaking the body and refining the spirit. Only after entering the realm of refining the spirit can one truly be called a warrior."

  "Upon entering the Refining Spirit Realm, a martial artist can absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth for their own use. The more abundant the primordial energy within one's body, the greater the power that can be unleashed in battle. Therefore, the primordial energy of heaven and earth is the foundation of a martial artist's cultivation. And every subsequent advancement requires a strong foundation of primordial energy."

  "In the realm of refining one's spirit, a warrior can materialize their will into physical form, be it a sword or a flying needle, and can harm others from afar. A highly cultivated individual can even kill someone from a thousand miles away without being seen. Just like this!" Mo Gu Yun suddenly condensed his gaze, transformed his palm into a knife, and slashed at Qin Cang's neck. As the palm-knife descended, Qin Cang distinctly felt a cold gust of wind cutting through the air, bringing with it an aura of death, causing the hairs on his body to stand on end."

  Mo Gu Yun certainly couldn't kill Qin Guang. With a pause of the knife, only a "hiss" sound was heard, and several strands of Qin Guang's hair were cut off alive. Qin Guang swallowed his saliva, touched his own neck with his hand, and a cold sweat slid down his cheek. If it had gone down a few more points, his head would have been moved to a new home.

  "See?!" Mo Gu Yun laughed and said.

  "Hmm, as expected, it's impressive." Qin Huan picked up the broken hair strand, holding it in his hand, and his mind was stirred with a hint of longing for that realm.

  "Is the Refining Spirit Realm also divided into different levels?" Qin Lang asked with great interest.

  "En, you're right. The Refining Spirit Realm is also divided into three different realms. The first realm is the Condensing Spirit Phase. For a martial artist, the 'spirit' can be said to be their second life. As long as the spirit exists, the person exists; when the spirit is destroyed, the person dies. The stronger the spirit, the stronger the martial artist's cultivation will be. And each person's spirit is different, condensing the spirit determines a martial artist's future development path. However, what this spirit specifically looks like, I'm unable to describe for you, only when you break through the Refining Body Realm yourself can you feel it."

  "The Refining Spirit Realm also has three levels. After condensing the spirit, one must refine the spirit. This is similar to refining the body, it's a continuous process of tempering and strengthening, I won't elaborate on this point."

  "What I want to emphasize to you is the stage of transforming into a divine being. This is the last realm of the Refining Spirit Realm, and also the most important one. In fact, this has been a problem that I have been thinking about for a long time but couldn't figure out. Transforming into a divine being means to transform the 'divine' away, but what I don't understand is, if we want to transform the divine, why do we need to condense the divine?" By the end of his words, Mo Gu Yun seemed to be asking himself.

  Qin Lang was completely absorbed in the story, he had never known that martial arts cultivation could be such a wonderful journey. The three realms of body refinement and the three realms of spiritual refinement, absorbing the heaven and earth's primordial energy to use for oneself. As for what that so-called 'divine' thing was, Qin Lang didn't even bother to care about it. Martial arts cultivation was something that could be understood but not explained in words. When one cultivated to a certain level, they would naturally understand. And what were heaven and earth's primordial energy? Qin Lang thought of the golden aura within his body, he had never understood what that thing was. He only knew that it helped him a lot during battles and recovered his physical strength extremely quickly. Was that the so-called heaven and earth's primordial energy? But didn't Mo Du Yun say that one could only absorb heaven and earth's primordial energy after entering the spiritual refinement realm?

  At the time when Qin Lang was about to enter the Non-Phase, Mo Gu Yun also fell into deep thought. After a while, Mo Gu Yun came back to his senses and saw that Qin Lang was also in a contemplative state, thinking he was pondering over his martial arts cultivation, so he didn't disturb him.

  After a while, Mo Gu Yun saw Qin Cang still immersed in thought and wondered if this kid had gained some insight. Suddenly, he saw the white foam flowing from Qin Cang's mouth, and Mo Gu Yun almost vomited blood.

  This stinky kid, I thought you had finally woken up, but who knew you were still thinking about sex and drooling all over the place. You're going to drive me crazy one of these days.

  "Qin Lang!" Mo Gu Yun's loud shout was like a thunderclap, causing the entire study to shake three times. Qin Lang suddenly jumped up, thinking it was an earthquake. When he came back to his senses, he found Mo Gu Yun staring at him with wide, angry eyes, and his buttocks tightened again.

  "You little stinker." Mo Gu Yun took a deep breath, calming himself down, and couldn't help but have some doubts about his initial judgment. Was this guy worthy of his trust?

  "Cough, Young Master!" Qin Lang coughed and changed the subject: "I wonder what kind of realm is above the Three Realms of Refining the Soul?"

  "Is that so? Such a realm is too far away for you now. When your cultivation reaches the Nascent Soul stage, you will naturally understand."

  "What boundary is the young master of that county in?" Qin Lang asked curiously, but then felt that his question was a bit too abrupt.

  "Hehe, no problem." Mo Gu Yun smiled and said, "I am currently in the second stage of the Refining Spirit Realm, Refining Spirit Period."

  "Tsks tsks tsks!" Qin Lin let out a series of tongue clicks. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he asked: "Young Master Jun, how is that demonic beast classified again?"

  "Hehe, I knew you'd ask that question." Mo Gu Yun smiled and said: "Yao beasts are different from human warriors. Some ordinary insects, birds, and animals can't be considered yao beasts. For example, rabbits are just primitive animals. But creatures like jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards can be called first-level yao beasts. However, animals can also cultivate. A rabbit that cultivates to become a first-level yao beast can fight with a tiger."

  "When a demon beast breaks through the third level, it enters the spiritual wisdom period. This means that the demon beast has gained a hint of spiritual wisdom and has its own consciousness, which is the first watershed for demon beasts. The one that drove the beast tide to attack us that day was a five-level spirit wisdom demon beast. Its intelligence is no less than that of ordinary humans. And when a demon beast breaks through the sixth level, it enters the transformation period, which is an even greater watershed. Only a few demon beasts can break through. Because after breaking through the transformation period, the demon beast can transform into a human form, and from its appearance, it is completely indistinguishable from humans. It can live in human cities without being discovered by anyone."

  "Can a demon beast really transform into a human? A real human?" Qin Lang's eyes widened, he couldn't imagine how a four-legged demon beast could transform into a human. Was it completely different? Could they also reproduce and live like humans?

  "Haha, you little rascal, I know what you're thinking." Mo Gu Yun smiled and said: "I don't know about this either, go ask the shape-shifting beasts."

  Qin Huan's face sank, and he thought to himself: "When I have the chance later, I must get to the bottom of this." But his mouth didn't say anything.

  "Alright, after saying so much, I'm all dried up. Let's get to the point, do you know why I brought you here today?" Mo Gu Yun picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said:

  "Qin Huan didn't know." Qin Huan was indeed unclear about the situation, he and Mo Gu Yun were not familiar with each other, and their identities were also vastly different. Yet at this moment, they were in the same study room discussing for so long, and Mo Gu Yun even played the role of a teacher, answering his questions and dispelling his doubts. But why was that?

  "I brought you here to give you something." Mo Gu Yun reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a hexagonal plaque, tossing it to Qin Lang.

  Qin Lang stretched out his hand and grasped it, opening his palm. Qin Lang found that what Mo Gu Yun had thrown over was actually a hexagonal metal medal, with some ancient and intricate patterns on the medal, which looked like some ancient texts. Qin Lang didn't recognize them.

  "Your Ladyship, what is this thing?" Qin Lang asked, holding up a metal medal.

  "Oh, this is a medal, it's a reward for your outstanding performance in this county competition." Mo Gu Yun said lightly.

  "Oh, thank you so much, County Master." Qin Huan said with gratitude, but in his heart he was questioning why he had been brought here to receive a medal. Shouldn't this be awarded to him in front of everyone? This is great, got a medal and nobody knows about it. If I tell others, they probably won't even believe me, not even enough to show off or impress the girls.

  "Didn't you say before that you wanted to be a heavenly soldier?" Mo Gu Yun asked.

  Qin Huan's eyes lit up and he became excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, but despite this, Qin Huan still suppressed his excitement.

  "Yes, milord. Becoming a heavenly soldier has been my dream and the driving force behind my efforts all along." Qin Guang immediately expressed his stance.

  "Hmm, alright then, I'll arrange for you to join the Jun Tian Army." Mo Gu Yun said.

  In Gu Yun Prefecture, Mo Gu Yun's words were golden rules. He wanted to arrange for Qin Cang to enter the Heavenly Army, and it was just a matter of one sentence. More useful than anyone's recommendation.

  "Thank you, thank you, thank you, young master." Qin Lang bowed to Mo Gu Yun with a trembling voice, his tone choked with emotion. A dream of over a decade had finally come true. Just thinking about wearing that majestic military uniform made Qin Lang's eyes moisten.

  "Hehe, nothing, this is what you deserve." Seeing Qin Cang's tears, Mo Gu Yun actually believed that this was a true outburst of emotion. But Qin Cang's surprise wasn't over yet.

  "Given your outstanding performance, you can start as a squad leader."

  "Squad leader!!!!" Qin Huan exclaimed.

  Qin Lang finally became a heavenly soldier and even a small team leader. Hehe! What kind of performance will Qin Lang have in the Heavenly Army?