Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 182 – 156 Five Viscera

Chen Mu closed his eyes.

He felt the subtle changes that occurred after the Five Viscera formed an inner cycle.

Although his body had become robust and sturdy, with Qi-Blood solidified and his entire body toughened as though it were a slab of iron, it was essentially just a mass of strength, like a piece of raw iron; hard enough, but without any other profound mysteries, simply having gained more strength and endurance.

But now, after stepping into the Five Viscera Realm and achieving an Inner Breath cycle, his body seemed to have formed a self-circulating microcosm within. Moreover, with each breath, he could faintly draw a kind of nearly imperceptible energy from Heaven and Earth.

“Is this the so-called Heaven and Earth’s Yuan Qi…”

Chen Mu felt the energy entering his body between breaths, extracted by the ’root of the Qi’ within his lungs, turning it into an intangible, incorporeal energy that circulated through the Five Viscera. Finally, it slowly flowed into the Qi sea at his chest. He mumbled to himself.

Just from reading the descriptions in the classics, he had thought that the Heaven and Earth’s Yuan Qi, which one could inhale and exhale in the Five Viscera Realm, was a substantial existence within the air.

But it wasn’t until he truly entered this Realm that he could more clearly feel that what was inhaled and exhaled was not a substantial existence but essentially the “Power of Heaven and Earth” that was mobilized by Artistic Conception!

In plain terms, it was.

While Martial Artists grasp Artistic Conception, they can merely touch and mobilize this essential force of Nature. However, after cultivating the Five Viscera Realm, they can slowly refine this force into their bodies, forming Yuan Gang True Essence!

These two forces are essentially the same thing at their core!

“No wonder they say that only by stepping into the second phase of Artistic Conception can one contend with existences of the Five Viscera Realm. In fact, the power of Artistic Conception mobilized in the second phase and the Yuan Gang True Essence directly applied by Five Viscera Realm Martial Artists are essentially the same.

The so-called transformation of Qi-Blood into Yuan Gang True Essence is nothing more than using Qi-Blood to nourish the Five Viscera and then inhaling the Power of Heaven and Earth.”

“The Yuan Gang True Essence, having been exercised within the bodies of those in the Five Viscera Realm, is easier to control and more solidified than mere Artistic Conception. Still, its strength ultimately depends on the quality.”

Chen Mu shook his head.

He had finally understood the difference between the second phase of Artistic Conception and the Five Viscera Realm.

It wasn’t that his comprehension was lacking; rather, people of this era didn’t have a concept for the difference between ’air’ and ’Qi’. They lumped everything together and called all of it ’Qi’.

However, Chen Mu was clear that these two concepts were fundamentally different. The latter seemed to be a unique characteristic and force of this world, pervading between Heaven and Earth. It was the essence of a Martial Artist’s strength.

Chen Mu carefully sensed the changes within his body again.

“Although this Power of Heaven and Earth can strengthen the body and endow Martial Artists with terrifying power, even allowing them to unleash Heavenly Thunder and Earthly Fire with a gesture, it cannot change the essential nature of the body’s cells.”

He soon wore a pensive expression once more.

He wondered if those at the Marrow Cleansing Realm and even the Blood Exchange Realm, the pinnacle existences of the Martial Arts world, realized that the body was composed of ’cells.’ But even if they did, they probably weren’t aware that lifespan essentially depends on the number of times cells divide.

Martial Artists of the Five Viscera Realm could easily live past a hundred years old, simply because they are able to nourish their bodies well, thereby extending the life of their cells. But even if they undergo Marrow Cleansing and Blood Exchange, most have not changed the essence of their cells, so they eventually grow old and die all the same, with lifespans not exceeding two hundred years.

Of course.

Even though Chen Mu, who was fully aware of this, merely knew of it—asking him to change the nature of cells to extend lifespan, he too was completely clueless. Even with his current level of perception, he couldn’t reach the level of individual cells.

“No wonder it is rumored that those at the zenith of Martial Arts, whose might can obliterate cities and split mountains, still cannot resist aging… Their bodies, no matter how well-tempered, still haven’t transcended the essence of ’humankind’.”

“Blood Exchange, Martial Saints; neither can achieve immortality.”

Chen Mu let out a soft sigh.

Although the future him might not be able to overcome that barrier, at least he understood some more fundamental things compared to many others in this world. Should he ever reach those heights, he would at least have a clear direction to work toward.

But for now, the most crucial thing was the cultivation of the Five Viscera Realm.

At present, he had completed the Five Viscera cycle and could truly be said to have entered the Five Viscera Realm. Accumulating Yuan Gang True Essence would still require some time. Once the accumulation was sufficient, the next step would be the ’Tempering’ of the Five Viscera.

Plainly put, it is to further strengthen the Five Viscera Inner Breath with the Heaven and Earth’s Yuan Qi inhaled and exhaled, making the Yuan Gang True Essence circulated by the Five Viscera stronger and more abundant, further enhancing one’s own strength.

“In the Five Viscera Realm, there is no distinction between Minor Achievement and Major Achievement, but rather one must undergo ’Tempering.’ The number of Temperings determines the power of the Yuan Gang circulated by the Five Viscera and therefore the strength of one’s power.

And the number of Temperings one can undergo is solely related to the Martial Artist’s foundation upon entering the Five Viscera Realm.”

Chen Mu whispered to himself.

The tempering of the Five Viscera starts at a minimum of three times and the maximum is not yet clear; some have managed to temper nine times or even ten times.

In reality, the difference between one or two temperings is minor. Those who are stuck in the Five Viscera Realm like Yu Jiujiang and He Wuyou usually have three temperings. The intensity of their Yuan Gang True Essence might not even compare to his own, who has just entered the Five Viscera Realm.

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To put it simply, when one reaches the Five Viscera Realm, the strength of the Artistic Conception becomes even more crucial. Even if the internal organs are tempered several more times, allowing one to harness stronger Yuan Gang True Essence, this can’t compare to the gap between the first and second steps of Artistic Conception.

Chen Mu once asked Meng Danyun about the gap between different rounds of the Five Viscera Tempering. Meng Danyun’s answer was that the gap between nine rounds of tempering and one round of tempering is roughly equivalent to the gap between reaching the second and the first step in one’s Artistic Conception.

In simpler terms.

Tempering the Five Viscera to the nine-round limit, as opposed to just once, is roughly equivalent to having ’an extra’ Artistic Conception that has stepped into the second phase—just that much of a difference.

However, the more rounds of tempering of the Five Viscera, the better, as it determines the heights one can reach after stepping into the Six Viscera Realm!

The strength of the Six Viscera Realm is closely related to the number of times the Five Viscera have been tempered; the stronger the tempering of the Five Viscera, the stronger the Six Viscera will be. One could say that the cultivation at the Five Viscera Realm is mostly in preparation for the Six Viscera Realm.

Therefore.

After martial artists reach the Five Viscera Realm, they often stay for a considerable amount of time, tempering the Five Viscera as many times as possible, honing their foundation. Only after that do they attempt to step into the Six Viscera Realm.

Of course, this doesn’t include people like Yu Jiujiang or He Wuyou, who are stuck in the Five Viscera Realm. Their stagnation isn’t due to accumulating experience in the Five Viscera Realm but rather because their bases are too weak, and in the end, they cannot overcome the threshold of the Six Viscera Realm.

“Six Viscera Realm…”

Chen Mu murmured to himself.

To his knowledge, among the eight realms of Martial Art Body Tempering, the Six Viscera Realm almost has the greatest disparity between its upper and lower limits!

The weakest within the Six Viscera Realm, who haven’t even grasped the second step of Artistic Conception and just barely entered, might even be thoroughly beaten by true disciples of the Five Viscera Realm like Zuo Qianqiu. Even for someone like Meng Danyun, it would be strenuous to defeat them, and victory is far from certain.

On the other hand, the strong ones are truly formidable, such as Yan Jingqing, who is among them. It is said that his strength is such that even when facing some of the Elder Level figures in the Seventh Realm of Marrow Cleansing, he can still hold his own, which is telling!

Of course, these extremely strong and weak instances are very rare; most fall somewhere in the middle.

“Next is to slowly accumulate Yuan Gang.”

Chen Mu stretched out his hand, palm open, and a wisp of Yuan Gang quietly appeared in the center of his palm. This Yuan Gang was almost formless and intangible inside his body, not affecting the physical body, but once it reached the outside, it immediately transformed, forming an intertwined state of wind, thunder, and fire elements, coalescing the power of the Three Phases.

Boom!

With just a gentle palm strike from Chen Mu, a surge of Yuan Gang True Essence flew out from his palm and crossed a few yards in an instant, entering a piece of ironstone he usually used for practice and directly blasting it apart.

A distance of three yards, striking objects through the air!

This is the fundamental difference between a Martial Artist at the Five Viscera Realm who has solidified Yuan Gang, and those at the Bone Tempering Realm.

Martial Artists at Bone Tempering Realm, even with a grasp of the second step of Artistic Conception, can only incorporate the power of their Artistic Conception into close combat moves, barely extending it outward a bit, and they still need to rely on actual materials like flowers and branches to exert force at a distance.

Moreover, the power exerted from a distance is nowhere near as strong as when the Artistic Conception is executed up close.

But it’s different for the Five Viscera Realm. With a single empty-handed palm strike, without the need for any external objects, one can shatter ironstone. Within a few yards, the power won’t diminish in the slightest, and Yuan Gang True Essence can emerge from any part of the body, no longer restricted by movement.

Because of this.

The circulation of Yuan Gang True Essence within the body can also achieve a state of being in the world without being tainted by a single speck of dust.

Moreover, after directly drawing ’Qi’ from nature, the demand for many material things greatly decreases, allowing one to survive for ten days or half a month without food or drink, to swim underwater for an hour without burden…

Based on Chen Mu’s estimation, it would take him just about ten days or so to fill up the Yuan Gang True Essence that he could accumulate at his current stage.

After that, he would step by step temper the Five Viscera, a process which no longer required deliberate cultivation like Tendon Changing or Bone Tempering since Inner Breath formed its own cycle, naturally progressing whether he was eating, resting, or sleeping.

As the threshold for True Disciples of various Sects representing their Sects and traveling down the mountain, the Five Viscera Realm rightfully has its own logic. At this stage, either retreat from the world for quiet contemplation and understanding of Artistic Conception, or immerse in worldly Cultivation to comprehend the nature of Heaven and Earth.

A combination of movement and stillness is the true path.

Meng Danyun went down the mountain in search of the opportunity to grasp the second step of Artistic Conception as he had already reached a bottleneck in his comprehension and staying within the Sect would have been a waste of time. It was the most suitable moment for him to venture out.

The same is more or less true for Gu Hong, Hua Nongying, and the others.

And having reached the Five Viscera Realm, they are at least preliminarily qualified to travel the world since encountering figures above the Marrow Cleansing Realm is rare, and for the Six Viscera Realm… unless they run into the extremely powerful Yan Jingqing, people like Hua Nongying can at least escape.

If they also possess special life-saving methods given by their Sects, there truly aren’t many who can pose a real threat to them.

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