Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 266 - 266 29 The Root of Martial Arts

Chapter 266: Chapter 29: The Root of Martial Arts Chapter 266: Chapter 29: The Root of Martial Arts Feng Yin could only feel the cultivation within his body suddenly boiling and stirring like a raging tide. An irresistible, enormous force guided his innate abilities, causing them to rampage inside his body!

A moment later, even his soul power also began to grow in sync, and the sea of his spiritual awareness expanded along with it.

The Dao Classics contained within reverberated with this growth.

With a thunderous sound, the barrier of the second rank of innate was immediately broken, followed by the barrier of the first rank of innate, which fell effortlessly and instantly broke through under Bu Changkong’s precise control.

Effortlessly soaring to the peak of first rank under favourable conditions… the entire process only took the span of two breaths. This breakthrough was merely like piercing through a paper window, not posing any difficulty whatsoever.

In an instant, Feng Yin only felt his mind ringing incessantly like a large bell, his spiritual awareness suddenly surged, extending like an endless river flowing into the horizon.

Fortune manifested, and as his spiritual awareness spread, the Spiritual Transformation Technique automatically engaged his corporeal body, giving him a distinct sense of a brand-new world!

“There.”

Bu Changkong said, retracting his finger with a faint smile. Just as before, his actions were clear to Zhuang Weiran’s couple, but they knew they were powerless to resist or block due to the insurmountable gap in their strengths.

What they didn’t notice was the slight tremble in Bu Changkong’s fingers.

Surprised, Bu Changkong thought to himself: I might have overdone it this time…

Helping an innate junior like Feng Yin breakthrough was not a big deal, given his transcendently divine cultivation; it was nothing more than a basic operation.

In the past, while rewarding his subordinates, he frequently assisted Dark Guards to quickly grow. He had become extremely skilled and familiar with this, but what surprised him was Feng Yin’s unusually powerful spiritual sense. Upon Feng Yin’s advancement, his spiritual sea expanded accordingly, drawing an enormous portion of his spiritual power!

While cultivation can be rapidly accumulated with the help of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, treasures that can nourish and even enhance spiritual power are indeed rare. Wanting to fully recover his spiritual power, he would need some time, for sure.

This result was not merely unimaginable. Even Earth Rank high-grade martial artists shouldn’t possess such strong spiritual essence. What was going on?

Moreover, Bu Changkong had a vague feeling: if he had not withdrawn his aid in time, this young man’s spiritual sea could have drained him entirely!

What was his level of cultivation? What was my level of cultivation? How come such a gap had made me so drained?

“What a monster!”

Bu Changkong marveled internally, aware that Feng Yin had drained a reasonable amount of his spiritual power.

Bu Changkong even felt that he was at a loss.

It was originally just a routine operation, a small reward for a meritorious junior, giving him a promising future.

The minor loss usually would be replenished quickly.

But now…

However, there was no expression of this on Bu Changkong’s face, for if he were to show any signs of “pain, distortion” after doing good to a junior, he would be making a fool of himself!

Hence, he painfully held back and tried to maintain his previous composure, portraying an appearance of ‘this sort of thing is but a routine for me.’

“You are now a Human-Level martial artist. How does it feel?” Bu Changkong inquired authoritatively.

“Many thanks to you, Division Chief! You have worked hard.”

“No, it’s not tough. This is just a drop in the bucket for me.” Bu Changkong’s expression remained indifferent, giving off an imposing aura.

Feng Yin thought, considering the transcendental existence before him, helping him break through one level of cultivation would indeed be as easy as lifting a finger.

“The Division Chief is magnanimous!”

Feng Yin expressed his heartfelt thanks.

This only made Bu Changkong’s insides churn a little.

Then, taking a deep breath, he asked, “Do you know what it means to be a Human-Level Martial Artist?”

“Please enlighten me, Division Chief.”

“Postnatal, incompetent; they are merely worldly brave men, and cannot be called warriors.”

Bu Changkong explained, “Only when you reach innate, do you touch upon the martial world of mortal existence. Therefore, it is called innate… To give you an analogy, the realm of innate can be compared to an embryo in the mother’s womb. Although it knows that it is about to come to this earthly world, it has yet to arrive.”

Feng Yin widened his eyes: Is that so?

“Breaking through innate and becoming Human-Level…For martial artists, it is like a baby leaving the mother’s body and opening its eyes for the first time, seeing this mortal world. Starting from this moment, you may be called a ‘person’ and no longer just the so-called innate fetus. Do you understand?”

Feng Yin fell into deep thought – this statement, interpreted from this perspective, seems incredibly apt.

“Becoming a Human-Level martial artist is akin to turning into a ‘person’ who is just a baby!”

Bu Changkong sternly said: “Therefore… Whether this baby can successfully learn to walk and speak, whether they will stray or die prematurely… is still unknown. Martial Artists of this realm are still incredibly vulnerable.”

“If we calculate by a person’s age, human-level martial artists are only equivalent to a person from birth to eleven or twelve years old. Therefore, the ninth rank of human level is the hardest! It’s because you may not know if what others teach you when you know nothing, is correct or not.”

“But whether it is correct or not, you are in a phase of learning. You need to absorb everything and make it part of you.”

“This is the ‘human’-level. Being human for the first time, every step is a gate, every rank is a layer of heaven and earth; with each step forward, it’s like a baby’s growth year by year. Every step, every year, is packed with endless new knowledge.”

Bu Changkong deeply sighed, “Whether you learn good or bad, it starts with laying the foundation now.”

“Yes.” Feng Yin reflected upon this.

“By the time you’re eleven or twelve years old, having completed the first part of your journey as a person, the next step depends on whether you can ‘stand on the earth’, whether you can come of age and establish a career; that is, to stand on your own, to have your personal life principles, and your own business and foundation. This step is also challenging!”

Bu Changkong said, “This stage, according to a person’s growth process, goes from pursuing education to establishing a career and having a family.”

Feng Yin found this analogy quite intriguing as he carefully pondered over it.

“But at this point, although you have something solid, you may not necessarily be able to hold it stable. Therefore, standing firmly on the earth is just one phase.”

Bu Changkong stared at Feng Yin with a serious expression, “And then after going through this stage and climbing up to the Heavenly Level; do you know what ‘Heaven’ means?”

“What is Heaven?” Feng Yin was somewhat puzzled, “Please enlighten me, Sir.”

“Heaven, as the saying goes, ‘To the people, food is heaven’, the encasing vault is heaven, the most superior is heaven, the overseer is heaven; without heaven, this world cannot exist!”

Bu Changkong said, “Heaven, vast and boundless, heaven, supreme and unparalleled, heaven, the nurturer of all life, heaven, with no end and no boundaries.”

“In terms of a family, the head of a household, the pillar of the house; that is the heaven of the household!”

“As a person, one can be born, learn, grow, establish a career, and have a family, but not necessarily be the heaven of his or her family!”

“Carrying all the hardship, enduring all the storms, resisting all external harms, providing a safe haven for your family… this is… Heaven!”

“Martial Arts is like life, only those who can reach this point can be considered Heaven! Standing on earth, every unbroken person can do it; but it’s only standing on earth! Standing on earth is different from reaching heaven!”

Bu Changkong said solemnly, “This is what is referred to as the Heavenly Level of Martial Arts!”

Even Zhu Weiran and Hu Lengyue, let alone Feng Yin, heard of this theory for the first time, and they were instantly fascinated.

“This is why the martial artist hierarchy was initially named the Human Level, Earth Level, Heavenly Level! These are the real reasons and the actual foundations!”

“Only by understanding this can you know the true meaning of the Human, Earth, and Heaven Levels!”

Bu Changkong said, “The so-called man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the natural way, that’s how it is.”

“This is the Great Dao!”

Feng Yin felt as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly struck his mind from the sky, instantly dispelling all bewilderment. He had never felt so enlightened.

It turned out it wasn’t for the sake of sounding impressive or appearing grand, but simply to explain this martial arts principle from this perspective.

“The so-called correct way, this theory was speculated by later generations; but those with high-level cultivation did not deny it. Therefore, you can also proceed according to this sequence, it’s just a more detailed breakdown.”

“No matter whether it is discussed in a positive or negative context, it’s all about pushing forward. That’s all there is to it.”

Bu Changkong smiled slightly, seemingly a bit mocking, then continued: “The so-called correct way… From birth to establishing a footing in society, a person is driven by instincts. Moreover, most don’t abide by the true nature of the world; so it’s just one phase. It’s called natural growth.”

“Having reached the phase of standing on earth, one begins studying orthodox teachings and understanding the general aspect of the world. So, the previous notions are discarded and a new methodology is adopted to understand and explore the world. Hence, it is as if we are going against the original flow.”

“Therefore, calling the Earth Level ‘opposite’ is also reasonable. After all, young people at this stage are defiant, each feeling as if they can conquer all problems…”

“But when you reach the Heavenly Level, you will realize that what you have learned, it’s not that it’s useless, but after applying it to life, battle, and social interactions, you fail to do so. Therefore, at this time, you reflect on your life’s path, overthrow what you have learned in school, or adapt it in your own way… This is Heaven. It can also be considered the correct path of a person’s life!”

“So it’s correct again, it makes sense.”

While Bu Changkong apparently didn’t quite agree with this principle, he still explained it.

Because for cultivators like Feng Yin, beginning with this perspective is indeed the most appropriate.

“These are the three major realms of martial arts under heaven!”

“When dealing with life, it’s the same principle. You should remember this!”

Bu Changkong said.

“So it’s well said by the ancients: To ascend to heaven, one must first be a human.”

&&

[Some may feel this chapter is lengthy, but it is the one in which I’ve invested the most thought…]