"Once you enter the realm and break through three gates, you can advance further to the second layer,"
"You can serve as a colonel in the army, and in ordinary martial arts sects, this already counts as above a steward, responsible for various affairs in different regions. The strongest martial artist in the average city is also of this level."
The elder smiled and encouraged, "Guan Yi, you’re only thirteen, and you won’t be fourteen for another two months."
"With your talent and intelligence, you can achieve this level before you turn eighteen."
"An army colonel at eighteen."
Xue Shuangtao scolded, "Grandfather, he’s already a colonel."
The elder laughed, "Ha-ha-ha, yes, yes, he is a colonel, but this seventh-rank Zhenwei colonel position typically belongs to martial artists who can command the respect of others at this rank. During combat, they lead three to five hundred soldiers, fifty men in a squad, including dozens of entered-realm squad leaders, thirty centurions."
"Without some skill, it’s impossible to command respect."
Body Casting, Qi Condensation, Meridian.
Li Guanyi stared at the handprint on the stele.
He suddenly realized.
He knew why he couldn’t use Wave-Rolling and Mountain Shattering even though he had the techniques down.
He had not undergone Body Casting.
His body couldn’t endure the force of martial arts at this level.
The Qi Mechanism was not condensed enough, unable to create a sweeping zephyr-like momentum.
This was the downside of mastering advanced martial arts at a low realm: learning them, but not being able to use them.
Li Guanyi exhaled deeply, as if he saw a more distant world and said,
"Elder Xue, what about martial artists at higher levels?"
The elder replied, "At the third layer, one can lead a thousand elite soldiers, galloping through the chaotic battlefields of this world, earning the title of general from outsiders, whereas a typical sect leader of a martial arts sect is just at this level, with a commanding Qi Mechanism, powerful enough to shatter mountains."
"And for every generation in the Xue Family, reaching the third layer is a must for recognition."
Li Guanyi, puzzled, listened as the elder asked with a smile, "Do you remember how many arrows I fired that day I fought Qiu Ba and Yue Qianfeng?"
Li Guanyi then realized.
The elder hadn’t carried any arrows with him that day.
With admiration in his eyes, the elder casually grasped the air, and his breath formed an arrow, placing it in Li Guanyi’s palm, whispering,
"This is the third layer."
"Condensing Qi into a weapon, Condensing Qi into armor, and many more profound techniques, already unlike an ordinary martial artist. A martial artist at this level has other options for close combat, and their physique from cultivating spirit and Qi across the three teachings isn’t inferior to a martial artist’s from the second layer; they can also wield a sword to kill."
"It’s a stage where all schools and sects converge through different paths."
"In Taoism, one is called a true person; in the Military School, it’s a general. Thirteen years ago, when General Yue first gained fame, it was at this realm,"
"Placed in this world, he was no longer a minor role."
"Guan Yi, take this to heart."
As Li Guanyi grasped the arrow, it shattered. He thought about the Night Rider Cavalry that had pursued him in the past, pretending it was no big deal, he said, "I’ve heard that each nation has its elite forces; Chen Country’s Night Rider Cavalry, Ying Country’s Tiger Barbarians Iron Cavalry, the Turkic Iron Futu, and the Western Regions’ Golden Scimitar Cavalry. How strong are these elites?"
The elder burst out laughing, "There’s also the Xuanjia Army of Duke Ying and the Great Halberd Soldiers under Yue Qianfeng’s command."
"All are forces less than a thousand strong, yet capable of vying for power on battlefields tens of thousands strong."
"Each one is elite, with soldiers possessing the strength of a typical colonel."
"Often, they are the combined elite force of an entire army, wearing the finest armor, riding swift horses, equipped with weapons and crossbow arrows, capable of encircling and slaying a third-layer martial artist, and under the command of a famous general, even a fourth-layer Grandmaster may be killed."
Night Rider Cavalry, the second layer...
Li Guanyi pursed his lips, the relaxed ease that had involuntarily appeared after entering the realm completely disappeared.
He then remembered the Night Rider Cavalry sent to pursue Yue Qianfeng.
Those assigned to such tasks were certainly elites from within the Night Rider Cavalry, yet they were effortlessly slaughtered by an severely injured Yue Qianfeng, and his current strength, one-on-one, wasn’t even comparable to one of those soldiers from that year.
But the youth looked at the sky, slightly relaxed again.
He was only thirteen after all, with a long future ahead, surely he could surpass them someday.
Why fret over this daily?
It’s Aunt, not knowing martial arts... she must be fooling me.
But he wondered, what level are the elder before him and Yue Qianfeng, who roared like a Red Dragon and could shatter mountains with a punch, themselves at?
At that moment, a white-haired guard came out in the courtyard and softly announced, "It is ready."
He led Li Guanyi and Xue Shuangtao forward, pushed open the door, and casually said, "Entering the realm’s cultivation technique requires inheritance through Divine Will, the most crucial being the cultivation of the ’cultivation body’; this is the core of it all."
"Each cultivation body has its own tendencies, which are essentially body, Qi, spirit,"
"The orthodox three teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism focus on Qi and spirit; while the otherworldly sects, such as those involving zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, focus purely on ’spirit’."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha, it’s really quite naive of you, we martial artists naturally focus on Qi and body, and only consider spirit at the third layer. With a robust physique and a commanding breath, a martial artist in armor can do anything within thirty-three steps, unmatched even by Buddhist Tao. It clearly divides the vulgar martial artists from the pedantic scholars."
The elder stopped, pointing to a bookshelf ahead. Each shelf held a unique scroll glowing with varicolored auspicious mien surrounded by burning incense, which sharpened the mind. The elder warned, "In martial arts cultivation, all techniques after entering a realm require inheritance through Divine Will and are not simply learned through reading."