Chapter 8: Primordial Harmony Technique, Opening the Dantian
“Mystic energy—only mystic energy can counter mystic energy!”
“If I can cultivate mystic energy, even if it’s only enough to cover my body’s surface, I’ll be able to put up some resistance against the external force of a Grand Martial Master’s mystic aura.”
“And if Wan Gu Xiao is still merely a Martial Master, with my strength and speed tripled, and with heightened insight to quickly master martial techniques, I can certainly match him blow for blow.”
“Then, I’ll truly possess the power to protect myself!”
Wary that Wan Gu Xiao might still be searching for him, Lu Sheng remained absolutely still, plotting his next move in silence.
When he left the secret chamber, all his thoughts were on defending himself against the myriad serpents and insects of the Snake Den, believing his strength sufficient. Now, confronted by Wan Gu Xiao, Lu Sheng realized his abilities were still pitifully lacking. He desperately needed to become stronger—to become a Martial Master!
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“But becoming a Martial Master is no easy task!”
“To achieve this, one must not only temper muscles and bones, but also accumulate sufficient internal energy.”
“Only with enough internal energy can one open the Ren and Du meridians. These two act as bridges, connecting the practitioner to the vital energy of heaven and earth, allowing internal energy to be transformed into mystic energy.”
“In this process, the Ren and Du meridians serve as the bridge between the human body and the world’s vital energy, which is why they are called the Bridge of Heaven and Earth.”
“Likewise, because opening them is so difficult, they’re also known as the Gates of Heaven and Earth.”
“For any martial artist, this is an exceptionally challenging threshold!”
Recalling what he knew about becoming a Martial Master, Lu Sheng considered his own physical state:
“According to my memories, this body was born with powerful origins. After birth, the innate energy manifested for a time. At that moment, Lu Hai—already a Martial Master—guided this energy to refine and open my twelve primary meridians and the Ren and Du meridians.”
“So all I need is to cultivate internal energy, let it circulate and stabilize within the twelve meridians, and then channel it through the Ren and Du meridians, attuning myself to the world’s energy.”
“Once I can sense and absorb the vital energy of heaven and earth, I can transform my internal energy into mystic energy, thus becoming a Martial Master.”
At this realization, Lu Sheng felt a flash of joy: this body truly possessed talent. As long as he could cultivate internal energy, there was almost nothing standing in his way of becoming a Martial Master.
“For ordinary people, unless they rely on spiritual medicines, accumulating enough internal energy to break through the Ren and Du meridians can take at least a dozen or twenty years.”
“They usually become Martial Masters around thirty or forty years old.”
“But those gifted enough to refine their meridians, and with the resources to do so, can skip the accumulation process and quickly outpace their peers!”
“Most of those prodigies who make the list of young talents and become Martial Masters at a tender age are people like me, born with such gifts.”
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“My own strength has already reached its limit. With the right method, I can easily convert my strength into internal energy.”
As for the technique to transform strength into energy, Lu Sheng was not lacking in options. Though, due to certain reasons, his inheritance of the Hunyuan Art was incomplete—he would need to travel to the Central Region to comprehend the sect’s treasure for the Grandmaster and Supreme Grandmaster portions—everything up to the realm of Martial Master was complete and sufficient for his current practice.
“The Hunyuan Art, passed down by Emperor Jing, not only initiated the trend of condensing energy into vortices, but has withstood nearly a thousand years without being deciphered.”
“To this day, it remains the most robust cultivation art in the world—one of the very best!”
In this world, martial artists are innumerable, and martial arts flourish. Any new technique, once revealed, is targeted by adversaries seeking to develop counter-methods.
At such times, the art is either improved and passed down, or it fades into obscurity if its flaws cannot be remedied.
As the foundational art of the Imperial Lu Clan, countless clan members have practiced Hunyuan Art over the centuries, facing untold numbers of enemies.
Yet, no one has ever created a method to break the Hunyuan Art, nor has any other art dared to claim superiority. This alone proves the might of Hunyuan.
Now, Lu Sheng was about to cultivate this top-tier art in the world!
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“Inhale, exhale, hiss, expel…”
Selecting a breathing technique from the Hunyuan Art, Lu Sheng roused all his strength and began his cultivation.
Fearing discovery by Wan Gu Xiao, Lu Sheng not only refrained from any vigorous movements, he didn’t even dare breathe loudly. He stretched his rhythm as much as possible, careful not to make a sound or stir the air.
Though this made the process more challenging, it did not diminish its effect; with each breath, he could faintly sense his strength being drawn forth.
Knowing the method was effective, though time-consuming, Lu Sheng instructed Ruyi to use merit to replenish his energy, settling down to focus, breathing steadily, and converting his strength into internal energy.
He had no idea how much time passed, when suddenly, he felt a surge of warmth in his lower abdomen. A current of energy clearly emerged in his senses, growing stronger by the moment.
“It’s done!”
Recognizing that this was internal energy transformed from his strength, Lu Sheng was elated. Yet he did not lose his rhythm, continuing to breathe and guide his strength into internal energy, carving out his lower dantian.
This step—converting strength into energy—may seem simple, but with inadequate accumulation, one could easily encounter obstacles. But for someone like Lu Sheng, who had refined his strength to its peak, to the realm of complete mastery, the transformation was seamless. Moreover, the continuity between Hunyuan Strength and Hunyuan Internal Energy made the process all the easier.
A thunderous rumble!
The internal energy kept growing, and under the guidance of his breathing, was continually drawn into his dantian.
Finally, as if a shackle had been broken, Lu Sheng sensed a resounding echo within his body, and a vast, empty dantian clearly emerged in his perception.
“The lower dantian has been opened!”
A wave of joy swept through him, but Lu Sheng did not stop. He continued his breathing, guiding his internal energy to form a vortex within his dantian—
This is the Hunyuan Art’s famed technique: condensing energy into a vortex, expanding the dantian to the body’s utmost limit, storing as much internal energy as possible.
“Ruyi, use merit to provide energy and increase my internal energy!”
Even with eighteen times the strength, and a greatly expanded dantian, Lu Sheng was not satisfied.
He could sense his body had not yet reached its limit; his dantian still had untapped potential.
So, he turned to the power of boundless merit once more.
Uncertain how much merit it would cost to directly increase internal energy, he used it simply as a source of energy to fuel his internal growth.
With the help of merit, the previously flagging internal energy surged anew. Under the guidance of his breathing technique, the vortex within his dantian expanded until it reached the limits of what his body could endure, then finally stopped.
But Lu Sheng’s breathing did not cease; its rhythm shifted, guiding the internal energy upward through the Ren and Du meridians, to his chest.
Another thunderous rumble!
Again, the sensation of breaking a shackle, just as when he opened his lower dantian. Now, Lu Sheng opened another dantian in his chest—
This was the so-called middle dantian.
“The reason Hunyuan Art is hailed as the most robust in the world is not only for its energy-condensing vortex, which expands the dantian to its limit, but also because it allows one to open both the lower and middle dantians in a single stroke.”
“With two fully expanded dantians to store internal energy and mystic energy, naturally one’s reserves far surpass others!”
Guiding his internal energy to similarly expand the middle dantian to its utmost, Lu Sheng’s breathing technique finally halted—
But his thoughts did not rest. He began considering how to open the upper dantian.
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“The human body has three dantians: the upper dantian, the residence of spirit; the middle dantian, the storehouse of energy; the lower dantian, the seat of essence.”
“Internal energy is the transformation of physical strength, essentially the manifestation of essence and energy. Thus, both the lower and middle dantians can store internal and mystic energy, and are called the Sea of Energy.”
“In the martial world, most people open only the lower dantian, so ‘Sea of Energy’ usually refers to it. The terms ‘dantian and sea of energy,’ or simply ‘dantian’ almost always mean the lower dantian.”
“Only the ‘Sea of Energy in the chest’ refers to the middle dantian.”
Contemplating the two dantians he had just opened, Lu Sheng turned his thoughts to the upper dantian:
“But unlike the lower and middle dantians, which are both used as seas of energy, the upper dantian—intended for spirit—is entirely different.”
“Initially, it can only store spirit, hence it is called the Sea of Spirit, or sometimes the Sea of Consciousness, the Mind Sea, or the Mental Sea…”
“Only when one achieves the union of spirit and energy—completely merging spirit with mystic energy—can the upper dantian, like the others, be used to store mystic energy.”
To fuse spirit with mystic energy, thereby mastering one’s essence, energy, and spirit through mystic power, is a major threshold in this world for reaching the level of Martial Lord, and a significant barrier that many Grand Martial Masters never overcome.
“Opening the Sea of Spirit is extremely difficult. According to the teachings of this world, only those who have realized their true nature and seen their own spirit can sense their spiritual power.”
“Then, one can direct this spiritual power to practice visualization techniques, refining the spirit and opening the Sea of Spirit.”
“Only this way can one achieve the union of spirit and energy, becoming a Martial Lord.”
“Therefore, seeing one’s spirit is the first step to becoming a Martial Lord.”
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“Without seeing your spirit, you can never become a Martial Lord!”
Pondering the essence of seeing the spirit, Lu Sheng mused:
“The so-called realization of true nature, seeing one’s spirit, is much like the self-realization of my previous life.”
“Attaining this state is indeed difficult, which is why many people never sense their spiritual power.”
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“But I am different—”
“Through the cultivation of the Tristar Ruyi Technique, I have long since mastered my own essence, energy, and spirit.”
“Of course, this includes spiritual power.”
“So I can fully control my spiritual power and practice visualization techniques!”
“Moreover, among the three inheritance stones, one contains the cultivation methods up to Martial Lord left by Emperor Jing; one contains the various martial techniques and applications of Hunyuan Art; and the third is mainly about the method for refining the spirit!”
“This Hunyuan Spirit Sphere Method, though not as profound as the Hunyuan Furnace Method created by Emperor Jing, is well suited to Hunyuan Art and much easier to begin with!”
“For me, at this moment, it is perfectly suitable!”
Finding the method for cultivating the Hunyuan Spirit Sphere in his mind, Lu Sheng thought:
“By controlling my spiritual power, practicing visualization, opening the Sea of Spirit, increasing spiritual strength, and then using the harmonizing method of the Tristar Ruyi Technique to rapidly increase essence and energy—”
“This is truly the broad avenue of cultivation for me!”
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With these thoughts, Lu Sheng quickly gathered his spiritual power and examined his attributes:
“Essence: 2.12, Energy: 2.36, Spirit: 1.96; Fortune: 78, Merit: 1120, Karmic Debt: 32.”
“My essence and energy have grown, likely from cultivating internal energy.”
“My fortune has increased a little, a result of my improved strength.”
“Merit: 1120, the result of killing snakes. Many of the serpent pit’s demon spawn have died, and that purple snake alone brought me nearly a hundred points of merit.”
“My karmic debt should have been close to my merit, but I’ve used most of it up along the way.”
“These are all my attributes now!”
Looking at these numbers, Lu Sheng pondered for a moment and did not immediately begin refining his spirit. Instead, he used the Tristar Ruyi Technique to harmonize essence, energy, and spirit, raising his essence and spirit to match his energy at 2.36.
“In this way, when I stack essence and energy onto spirit, my spiritual power reaches 7.08.”
“Seven times that of an ordinary person. Although I don’t know how this compares to a Grand Martial Master or Martial Lord, it’s certainly enough to match a Martial Master!”
“If it’s not enough, I’ll continue cultivating the Hunyuan Spirit Sphere Method to raise my spirit until I open the Sea of Spirit!”
With this resolve, Lu Sheng visualized a sphere in his mind—the so-called Hunyuan Spirit Sphere. Through this, his spirit would constantly condense and eventually unify as one.
“Now, I simply wait for my spirit to reach the required level and open the upper dantian!”
His breath faint as mist, Lu Sheng sank into visualization, gathering his spirit, intent on opening the upper dantian.
Within his body, the newly born internal energy formed vortices in both the middle and lower dantians, and with each breath—sometimes quick, sometimes slow, sometimes forward, sometimes reverse—they spun and strengthened.
Although the process was not fast, with time, the results would be remarkable.
This is the great strength of the Hunyuan Art, known as—
Self-Rotating Vortex!
(From Sanqi Chinese)