After the Great Dao Died

The maid led Chen Lingxi to the West Courtyard Servant Quarters.

Though still a servant’s dwelling, the room was much more spacious and dry than the gatehouse quarters. Furnished with a bed, a table, and a chair, its window lattices were intact, keeping the wind and snow at bay.

After the maid left and Chen Lingxi settled in, he closed his eyes, concentrated, and once again activated the Vision Wander Divine Ability. His consciousness sank into the Divine Chamber, attempting to observe Lin Suri.

Barely a few breaths later, he opened his eyes, his consciousness returning to reality.

He frowned, letting out a soft sound of surprise.

”The Vision Wander couldn’t catch a trace of Lin Suri this time...”

Chen Lingxi felt a pang of confusion before realization dawned.

”The Divine Chamber spans three hundred zhang vertically and three hundred zhang horizontally... If the Vision Wander can’t lock onto him, it likely means Lin Suri isn’t within that range today.”

He shook his head slightly.

For the past two nights, Lin Suri had been cultivating in the East Hall of the South Courtyard, utilizing a strange breathing posture while his energy circulated and a faint golden light shimmered around him. Chen Lingxi had gleaned nothing from watching him...And today, he wasn’t even there.

”I should keep cultivating.”

Banishing the stray thoughts from his mind, Chen Lingxi curved his body like a drawn bow once more. He began to breathe—one inhale broken by three pauses, followed by one exhale punctuated by five stops...

”After resting for three days straight, I can finally complete one full cycle of this breathing technique. One inhale with three pauses, one exhale with five stops. I can fully swallow a single strand of qi.”

He dared not slack off.

This breathing method was, after all, his greatest hope.

The night passed just like that. By the time the sky brightened and the clouds parted after the snow, a servant boy in green was already waiting outside the room. Seeing Chen Lingxi emerge, the boy led him toward the Martial Arts Courtyard.

Located on the eastern side of the Marquis’s estate, the Martial Arts Courtyard featured high walls, dark green tiles, and wide-open, red-lacquered doors.

Stepping inside revealed a sprawling stone courtyard. The snow had already been swept clear to expose the dark bluestone paving. Stone locks, wooden dummies, and archery targets were arranged across the grounds, while swords, spears, halberds, and other weapons gleamed coldly from racks in the corners.

Two-story pavilions stood on the east and west sides of the yard, housing martial arts manuals and quiet meditation rooms. To the north loomed a majestic two-story main building. A plaque with a black background and gold lettering hung beneath its eaves. The three characters for ”Martial Arts Hall” were written in bold, vigorous strokes that faintly exuded a chilling, deadly aura.

Several figures were already leading the guards in their morning drills. Their shouts mixed with the sounds of fists tearing through the air. The boiling vitality of their blood and qi visibly chased away some of the surrounding winter chill.

Chen Lingxi swept his gaze across the yard, his eyes locking onto one man in particular.

The man looked to be about forty years old. He was tall and lean, yet large-boned, with broad shoulders and thick wrists. His knuckles bulged like old bamboo joints. He looked like an iron frame loosely draped in human skin.

He was currently teaching a fist technique, his strikes moving at a snail’s pace. As he sank his waist, his bones cracked in unison.

It wasn’t a sharp, brittle sound, but a deep, resonant hum—like a massive bell tolling deep underground!

A faint, silvery-white halo akin to moonlight rippled around him. With just a few punches, he visibly warped the air itself, displaying extraordinary power.

”That’s He Duan, the instructor of the West Courtyard.”

Chen Lingxi had heard of this man’s reputation long ago, so he simply stood to the side and quietly watched him guide the others.

A full quarter-hour passed.

He Duan pulled back his stance and stood upright.

The men training alongside him were drenched in sweat and completely exhausted. They collapsed onto the ground to rest.

He Duan, however, was still breathing evenly. He announced in a loud voice, ”In a few days, Jiang Yuan, the new guest minister of the West Courtyard and an expert at Silver Bone Consummation, will choose one disciple from our courtyard to inherit his signature martial art!

”Train hard these next few days. If you manage to receive his teachings, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime.”

The courtyard erupted into a noisy clamor as the men cheered in excitement.

A nearby disciple brought over a silver basin. After washing his hands, He Duan finally turned his gaze toward Chen Lingxi standing off in the distance.

Chen Lingxi was just about to step forward, but the instructor had already turned his back and walked into the main building with his hands clasped behind him.

A short while later, a young man walked out, carrying several manuals in his arms.

”Chen Lingxi?”

The young man approached and offered the manuals. ”Instructor He wants you to pick one of these three to take back. Just leave the rest on that stone stool over there.”

With that, the young man turned and walked away.

As an official bondservant of the Baosu Marquis Residence, Chen Lingxi was long accustomed to such cold treatment.

His expression remained unchanged as he looked at the three manuals in his hands.

”Sinking Iron Stance, Layered Wave Fist, and the Fragment of the Seven Forms of Halting War!”

Finding a quiet spot, Chen Lingxi opened the prefaces and carefully read through them...

A long time later, he let out a deep breath.

”The Sinking Iron Stance is a foundational posture art. It tempers the physique, smelts the blood and qi, and refines the body a hundred times over to enter the Iron Body realm.

”But it doesn’t come with any matching offensive techniques. It has almost zero lethal power and can’t be used for self-defense.”

”The Layered Wave Fist, on the other hand, is a pure blood and qi explosive art... I haven’t even crossed the threshold of martial arts yet. This technique doesn’t suit me at all.

”It seems He Duan never took me seriously to begin with.”

Chen Lingxi shook his head, his gaze finally landing on the Fragment of the Seven Forms of Halting War.

”This seems to be a rather mixed fist technique. It can temper the physique and bones, but it can also be used to kill enemies. Plus, it’s incomplete.

”Even so, despite seeming like a hodgepodge, it is still the most suitable manual of the three...”

It looked like he had been given a choice between three methods, but in reality, Chen Lingxi could only choose the fragment.

Having made his selection, he didn’t linger at the Martial Arts Hall. He simply followed the servant boy back to his room.

Back in his room, Chen Lingxi opened the Fragment of the Seven Forms of Halting War and read it carefully.

A full four shichen passed. Aside from a trip to the servant dining hall at noon to eat a bowl of rock-hard millet mixed with brown rice and boiled cabbage, Chen Lingxi stayed in his room, reading and comprehending the seven strikes.

Although it was called a fist technique, it was actually a comprehensive introductory guide to martial arts.

It wasn’t until the blazing sun sank behind the western mountains that Chen Lingxi finally exhaled a breath of stale air.

”I never realized practicing martial arts would be this difficult!”

He originally thought martial arts training would be just like the TV shows from his past life—rigidly practicing punches and kicks, move by move. He never expected that an ordinary person would need so much just to step through the door!

”The path of martial arts in the Great Li Dynasty, and indeed the entire world, is divided into seven major realms.

”Iron Body, Bronze-Red, Silver Bone, Golden Body, Jade Qi, Nine Revolutions, and Entering Profound!

”Take the introductory Iron Body realm as an example. Before officially learning martial arts, one must first endure a hundred days of foundational tempering. You have to combine external physical conditioning with dietary supplements, progressing gradually day by day to lay the groundwork for practicing actual manuals. Otherwise, you risk permanent bodily damage, making it impossible to ever reach the Silver Bone or Golden Body realms!

”Once the hundred days of foundational building are complete and a person can smoothly practice a manual, they can then start striking and hammering their body during training!

”At first, you use a wooden pestle to beat and condition the flesh. Once you reach the Iron Body realm, you switch to iron sandbags.”

Chen Lingxi’s thoughts spun.

”Just training hard isn’t enough. You also need massive amounts of food. If you have the means, you can take body-tempering pills and soak in medicinal baths to promote blood flow, remove bruises, and strengthen the muscles and bones.”

And right there in the manual for the Seven Forms of Halting War was a prescription for a body-tempering medicine!

”Wolfberry root bark, safflower, bone-penetrating grass... there’s even mica!”

He couldn’t help but sigh, ”A single dose of this prescription probably costs several qian of silver. If I take one dose a day, I’d burn through one or two hundred liang in just a year!”

As an official bondservant, Chen Lingxi received no monthly allowance.

In other words, he couldn’t afford a single dose!

”The book says martial arts is a money-burning endeavor. You need huge amounts of meat to replenish your blood and qi, as well as all sorts of medicines and baths, otherwise you’ll definitely ruin your body’s foundation... But as an official bondservant, I only get brown rice and cabbage every day. I don’t even see meat once a month.

”If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean I can’t practice martial arts at all?”

Chen Lingxi furrowed his brow even deeper.

He pondered carefully, then suddenly raised an eyebrow.

”It’s only been four days since I started practicing that breathing method I got from Lin Suri!

”Yet in those four days, despite only eating two bowls of brown rice and cabbage daily, my stomach hasn’t felt weak and empty like it used to.

”Instead, I constantly feel a warm current of energy rising from my dantian, circulating through my limbs and bones. Even my skin and bones frequently feel hot.”

Chen Lingxi had noticed these changes early on.

Especially after finishing his morning cultivation, his muscles and bones always felt light and strong, his vision became crystal clear, and even his five senses were much sharper.

”And my physical strength...”

Chen Lingxi stood up and tried moving the square elm table in his room.

Previously, worn down by daily backbreaking labor, he would have had to grit his teeth and use all his strength just to budge it a few cun.

Now, with a light tug of a single hand, the table corner slid two or three cun!

The heavy weight pressing into his palm didn’t feel strenuous at all; rather, he felt a sense of effortless ease.

This feeling...

He suddenly recalled a description in the preface of the Fragment of the Seven Forms of Halting War—

”When mortals practice martial arts, they first nourish the stomach with plain food and simple rice, supplementing it with stance training and physical strikes. After a hundred days, their blood and qi will gradually flourish, their strength will rival a horse, and their joints will pop. Only then is the initial foundation considered complete.”

Strength like a horse, the power quietly growing within his muscles and bones, his abundant vitality and spirit—it all perfectly matched the book’s signs of a ”completed foundation.”

Chen Lingxi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

”Could it be...”

He lowered his head, raised his hands, and flipped open the Fragment of the Seven Forms of Halting War!

The manual was old and its edges were frayed, but the ink was still perfectly clear.

He turned to the general illustrations, his eyes landing on the nine variations of the first strike—the Mountain-Pulling Stance!

”Whether I’ve truly completed my martial foundation... I’ll know as soon as I try!”