Invincibility Begins with Mastery of Fist Techniques-Chapter 177 - 171: Half Buddha, Half Demon

In addition to Gong Shouzhuo and Yan Hao, Zhou Yuanjue's old acquaintances from his time in the Southern Boxing Three Capitals, such as Ding Jiutong, Wu Tianhe, and Dai Yisheng, also received the news simultaneously.

Some were astonished, others were filled with admiration, and some even took him as their role model, redoubling their own efforts.

The impact of a young Saint Awakening's sudden emergence was by no means small.

But the protagonist at the center of this storm was unconcerned with the outside world. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

At that moment, Zhou Yuanjue was still at the temporary military base in Duoka City, located at the foot of Kunlun Mountain. Over this period, aside from guarding the Sealing Realm Image at the mountain's base and helping Daoist Bailong repair it, he had dedicated all his remaining time to training.

His encounter with Zhang Dongwei in the Kunlun Immortal Palace had shown him the terrifying power that stood at the pinnacle of Saint Awakening. Every move Zhang Dongwei made altered the surrounding environment, as if he were a Divine Spirit in command of Celestial Phenomena. Such immense power was beyond the imagination of ordinary people and enough to leave any Martial Artist shaken.

Lately, he had been constantly pondering Zhang Dongwei's words.

The Yin Yang Technique. One Yin and one Yang—this is the Dao.

Zhang Dongwei's Turtle and Snake Form was the perfect illustration of this principle.

The turtle is hard, the snake is soft. When the two combine, Yin and Yang are balanced, allowing for a shared ascent.

The ancient Daoist Family used to say, "Lone Yin cannot birth, lone Yang cannot grow." Thinking on it, there was a great deal of truth to that.

Everything in the world can be understood through the principles of Yin and Yang.

There is white because there is black; there is high because there is low. A palm has the "softness" of its center and the "hardness" of its back, which is why a hand can grasp anything and create miracles.

The Martial Dao is no different. Without death, how can there be life? It is in the harmony between life and death that the human body can gradually transcend the mundane.

During his previous cultivation, through the forging of the Heaven and Earth Furnace Technique, his body's magnetic field had changed, gradually developing scorching heat and flame-like properties. Throughout this process, his physical constitution had naturally been enhanced.

However, after more than a month of training, this enhancement quickly reached a saturation point. The changes in his body's magnetic field leveled off, and the growth of his physical strength slowed.

This was because the human body has a finite capacity for endurance. Exceeding that limit by too much would force a slower pace of advancement; otherwise, the body would be unable to bear the strain and suffer damage.

This was the principle that "what is too rigid is easily broken."

'But what if I used Zhang Dongwei's method to harmonize my own magnetic field with Yin and Yang?'

The Black Tortoise is associated with water, and both the turtle and the snake in its form are related to water. Yet, with one being hard and the other soft, their individual sharpness is neutralized, making them easier to control and more readily accepted by the body.

If he could achieve that, his physical strength might experience another major breakthrough.

'The opposition of Yin and Yang within the same attribute... positive and negative shaping each other, developing in tandem...'

After several days and nights of contemplation, Zhou Yuanjue had a vague idea of the path forward.

Static Fire and Active Fire.

Fire could be divided into active and static. Static Fire guarded its domain like a brightly burning candle that even a gale-force wind could not extinguish. It guarded the mysteries of the mind and illuminated the path forward.

It did not contend or seize, attack or invade. It was the fire of enlightenment, of transcendence, of the mind and the True Self.

The prime example of Static Fire was the Nirvana Fire—the faint, natural candlelight left in his Niwan Palace by the Lamp Burning Technique, which contained the will of his innermost self.

The purpose of this fire was to repair the body, clarify the mind, and guard one's life and nature.

On the other hand, in opposition to Static Fire, there was Active Fire.

Active Fire was extremely aggressive, its temperature scorching. Once unleashed, it seemed capable of incinerating the heavens, piercing the firmament, and purifying all creation. It was a raging inferno, a sharp blade of slaughter. When Active Fire emerged, it could scorch the earth for a thousand li.

A prime example of Active Fire was the offensive technique Zhou Yuanjue had used when, guided by his rage, he formed a wondrous Hand Seal and manifested his Mind Dharma Form. Its core Mystical Technique was, in fact, the Samadhi Fire.

This was Zhou Yuanjue's own summation of his abilities. After the battle in the Kunlun Immortal Palace and his conversation with Zhang Dongwei, he had gained a deeper understanding of Saint Awakening and of himself.

However, simply summarizing his abilities and finding the path forward did not mean he could achieve his goal in a single leap.

After a period of experimentation, he discovered that to truly comprehend the Yin Yang Technique, the most crucial element, besides separating Yin and Yang, was a single principle: "unification."

The unification of Yin and Yang.

When Zhang Dongwei had used his power, it was the result of the two attributes of Yin and Yang merging.

Individually, a turtle and a snake are merely common creatures in the natural world, not even at the top of the food chain.

But when the aspects of the turtle and the snake merged, they formed the Divine Beast Black Tortoise—one of the Four Spirits—capable of summoning wind and rain, standing indomitably between heaven and earth, its every move triggering changes in the Celestial Phenomena.

Therefore, without achieving this fusion, the separate aspects of Yin and Yang were nothing special.

Unfortunately, after several days of trying, Zhou Yuanjue discovered he could not merge Active Fire and Static Fire to be used simultaneously.

When he used Static Fire, his thoughts grew deep and restrained, his mind calmed, and he focused on guarding his Niwan Palace. It was a feeling of entering Meditation, almost like Nirvana, as if everything had faded into emptiness.

But when he used Active Fire, the flames ignited all the acupoints in his body, his temperature soared, hormones surged, and his spiritual state was filled with a sense of explosive power. It was the complete opposite of the state required for Static Fire. How could they possibly be merged and used at the same time?

Half Buddha, half Demon; to perform frenzied acts with a heart of utter tranquility—that state of being was the "Zen" that was so difficult to attain.

That was no easy feat.

Zhou Yuanjue felt he was in a bind. Despite days of exploration, and though he now understood the direction he needed to go, he had made no tangible progress.

The path of Saint Awakening was truly completely different from what came before. No wonder that among the countless geniuses throughout history, so few had been able to advance further.

He was missing a necessary catalyst.

He stood atop a mountain not far from the temporary military base. A cold wind howled across the snow-covered landscape, and the air was thin.

Yet Zhou Yuanjue wore only a short-sleeved shirt, and in the frigid wind, his skin actually had a healthy, ruddy glow.

The heights are unbearably cold, but for him, that wasn't the case.

To climb high and gaze afar, to experience nature... within this state of True Self lay true meaning.

"You're completely famous now, you know. The news is absolutely everywhere, yet here you are, climbing mountains in the snow. Aren't you the least bit curious what the outside world is saying about you?"

A deep, powerful voice sounded from behind him. It was Tu Junshan.

"What does that have to do with me? I'd only find them noisy."

Zhou Yuanjue replied, his expression calm.

"Sometimes I think you're older than I am. You don't have an ounce of a young man's vigor. That's no good, no good at all."

Tu Junshan's towering figure came to stand beside Zhou Yuanjue, and he chuckled. Having spent this time together, he had come to understand Zhou Yuanjue's personality completely.

"A young man's vigor, you say..." Zhou Yuanjue glanced at him. "How about another fight? I've got plenty of vigor for that."

Tu Junshan was momentarily choked, at a loss for words.

'These past few days, he and Lei Yi had decided to stop sparring with this guy. Not only did he fight like his life was on the line, but his injuries healed ridiculously fast afterward. They needed half a day to recover, while this monster was back on his feet and raring to go in less than half an hour.'

'Who could stand that? We can't keep up...'

"Did you come looking for me for a reason?"

Zhou Yuanjue asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Tu Junshan said, nodding.