Cave Refuge-Chapter 336 - 302 Energy Cultivation and Qi Cultivation_2
Dong Tianyu flipped through the booklet he received from Robinson William, finding that most of its content was a Cultivation Method for the Inner Breath Realm. Although the method was balanced and gentle, it was not slow in practice. It was also noted that it did not conflict with most other Cultivation Methods for the same realm.
Beyond that, the final few pages of the booklet detailed how to break through from the Inner Breath Realm to the Energy Realm, the necessary level of cultivation for attempting the breakthrough, and methods to stabilize one’s cultivation level after the breakthrough.
Dong Tianyu quickly finished browsing the booklet in his hand, then returned it to Madeline and casually asked, "Besides this Inner Breath Realm booklet, there should also be ones for the Body Tempering Realm and the Energy Realm, right?"
Madeline helplessly shook her head as she took back the booklet from Dong Tianyu, "I only have the Cultivation Technique for the Body Tempering Realm, not for the Energy Cultivation."
"My friend mentioned that the China Martial-Body Tempering Chapter and the China Martial-Inner Breath Chapter, these two sections, are disclosed for free to all survivors by the Imperial Court. In Kyoto, survivors just need to visit a yamen or a street office where, although they can’t take the materials away, they can watch for free in a reading room for three hours," she explained.
"The time limit is set because there are currently many people wanting to view them. If they can’t memorize the content, they can queue up again without restrictions on the number of viewings. The time limit exists only because of the current high demand, and the printing difficulty is somewhat high, mainly due to the complicated process of ink preparation. Once there are more secret manuals, the time limit will likely be lifted," she continued.
"As for the Energy Cultivation Chapter, it has been compiled, but the Imperial Court has not made it public. Do you know why this secret manual is named ’China Martial’?" Madeline suddenly asked.
Caught off-guard by Madeline’s sudden question, Dong Tianyu reflexively responded, "China’s martial arts!"
Hearing Dong Tianyu’s answer, Madeline pretended to be profound as she shook her head, then spoke in a very indifferent tone, "China Martial, China Martial, doesn’t it sound very much like ’honorable martial’?
"The Imperial Court didn’t name this Cultivation Technique as such to encourage practitioners to engage in honorable but forbidden martial acts."
"Rather, it aims to teach the Martial Artists who study this technique to understand what it means to be truly honorable—serving the country and the people after mastering martial arts."
Hearing Madeline’s explanation, Dong Tianyu chuckled helplessly. Although he was unsure whether what Madeline said was true, the word ’honorable’ indeed had these two different interpretations.
While Dong Tianyu and Madeline were chatting idly, Dong Tianyu, who had been using his Divine Sense to monitor Robinson William’s condition, suddenly noticed something unusual about him.
The Inner Breath that had previously been circulating ceaselessly within Robinson William’s body had now come to a standstill in his abdomen.
’This position!’
Although the notion of Dantian had long existed in China since ancient times, neither instruments nor dissection before the disaster could ever locate the so-called Dantian, which seemed like a place name—a term for specific location rather than a specific organ or entity.
There were three Dantians: the Upper Dantian in the head, the Middle Dantian at the chest cavity, and the Lower Dantian below the navel. Most martial arts novels refer to the Lower Dantian, which is precisely where the ever-circulating Inner Breath within Robinson William’s body had come to rest.
As more and more Inner Breath wandered into the Dantian and with Robinson William’s manipulation, the Inner Breath within his body began a slow process of compression and purification. The originally colorless Inner Breath slowly manifested color during the compression.
"Is this the color of Energy?"
As Dong Tianyu turned his attention to Robinson William, stopping his conversation, Madeline followed his gaze toward Robinson William. At that moment, Robinson William was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his posture, unintentionally, resembling the image of Martial Artists in meditation from films.
With legs crossed and thumbs touching, placed below the navel—his thumb and forefinger formed an oval, hollow shape the size of a goose egg, which precisely corresponded with the location of Robinson William’s Lower Dantian.
Madeline was unable to see the scene within Robinson William’s body, so she did not know what was happening to him at that moment.
However, Dong Tianyu, who observed Robinson William carefully with his Divine Sense, discovered that in the process of compressing and refining his Inner Breath, something between illusion and reality began to emerge at the location of the Dantian in Robinson William’s abdomen.
As Robinson William continually refined and compressed his Inner Breath, the color inside his body became purer. Suddenly, Dong Tianyu noticed that the Inner Breath within the dantian of Robinson William was disappearing rapidly, as if a water gate had been opened and the pool of water was swiftly draining.
Just when Dong Tianyu felt that there might be a problem with Robinson William’s cultivation and was somewhat at a loss, all the Inner Breath at the dantian of Robinson William had already vanished.
But the originally empty dantian, now, under the gaze of Dong Tianyu’s Divine Sense, gave Dong Tianyu the sensation of something solid, as if there was now an organ within Robinson William’s body that could contain Inner Breath.
No!
An organ for containing qi had newly appeared, and the dantian, which was previously intangible, now had physical form.
Robinson William did not notice anything unusual about the sudden appearance of something inside his body, but he also became aware of the dantian’s emergence.
It was only now that Dong Tianyu recalled the records of the entire breakthrough process in the manual. The events had unfolded so unexpectedly and Dong Tianyu was also experiencing this for the first time, which was why he had forgotten the descriptions he had once read in the manual.
Robinson William, having successfully achieved a breakthrough, was now full of vitality and tried to summon the qi in his body to his left hand.
Under the somewhat surprised and questioning gazes of Dong Tianyu and Madeline, Robinson William’s left hand appeared to be enveloped by a pale grey gas, which he then dispersed.
In the vision of Dong Tianyu’s Divine Sense, where scenes were previously imprinted in black and white in the mind, the area around the dantian in Robinson’s body now emitted a pale grey light, following his breakthrough into the Energy Refining Realm.
When Robinson William had just moved the qi within his body, the path taken by the qi also reflected corresponding light in the vision of the Divine Sense.
It seemed that the scenes mapped in the mind of Divine Sense not only consisted of black and white but would also display different images based on the scanned internal energy attributes.
Moreover, Dong Tianyu discovered that, unless the scanned individual had cultivated some kind of stealth technique, he could discern their level of cultivation through Divine Sense. A stronger glow in the vision of Divine Sense indicated a higher level of cultivation.
"Brother, have you successfully made a breakthrough? Is there any difference from before you broke through?"
Hearing Madeline’s curious inquiry, Robinson William replied with a smile, "What’s different? There are many differences!
When I was still in the Inner Breath Realm, the Inner Breath circulating in my body based on the heavenly cycle did provide some nourishment to my body, but compared to qi, there was a clear disparity.
Moreover, the Inner Breath within my body could only enhance my physical qualities, being something intangible and unable to leave the body.
But now, the qi is different. Although I have yet to learn martial arts moves that are more suitable for qi, I have been able to roughly use it to cover my palm, as I just experimented.
If before, Inner Breath could only amplify the physical qualities and make the skin of my hand more resilient, then qi is like wearing a glove over my hand.
Additionally, I personally feel that the Inner Breath in the Inner Breath Realm within my body and the qi within the dantian in the Energy Cultivation Realm are essentially the same thing, with qi being the product of Inner Breath after compression and refinement. They share the same origin, the difference lies only in their quality."
Hearing Robinson William’s description, Dong Tianyu and Madeline gained a more vivid understanding of the Energy Cultivation Realm.
With the comparisons provided by Robinson William, Dong Tianyu now realized that the dantian used to store Spirit Energy since the Qi Cultivation Stage was something that Martial Artists would only manifest upon reaching the Energy Cultivation Stage.
Moreover, upon careful examination with Divine Sense, Dong Tianyu found that although Spirit Energy and qi were both energies stored within the dantian, the two were not the same thing, and the gap between them was quite clear.
