Hoo~
Xuanyuan Tianxia opened his eyes, a golden light flashed in them, and a sacred and peaceful aura emanated from him, bathing him in a mysterious glow.
Looking at his surroundings, Xuanyuan Tianxia let out a sigh of relief, finally leaving that accursed place. The purification became harder and harder as he progressed, with each demon requiring several days of his full effort. However, the rewards were incredibly satisfying. Not only did his cultivation improve, but his spirit was also tempered.
After all, constantly purifying in a place filled with demonic energy risked being corrupted by it. Fortunately, Xuanyuan Tianxia had the protection of dragon qi, making him immune to the pollution of demonic energy to his soul.
He could then focus on tempering his spirit with this demonic energy, rapidly increasing his soul cultivation.
He was now considered a powerhouse beneath the Wutian realm.
His soul sensed the surroundings, and information from the Xin Huo Divine Hall entered his mind. He began his journey to the human branch base of this city.
...
Ten days later, Gu Yuan stepped out of the Scripture Pavilion and returned to his cave dwelling. During his time in the Scripture Pavilion, he had reviewed all the martial arts techniques that piqued his interest. At this low level of cultivation, these techniques were child's play to him.
Furthermore, in his spare time, he had used the Dao Luck Heavenly Scroll to examine the destinies of several Dharma Aspect realm cultivators. He discovered that each of them had used their Dharma Aspect to become a Divine Being of Destiny, possessing no destined fate. Each of them also had the purple destiny [Person Without Destiny].
This was rather intriguing. Gu Yuan had been pondering this matter for days, but with too little information, he had no idea where to begin his deductions.
Upon returning to his cave dwelling, he sat cross-legged on the futon, his eyes slightly closed. The vast amount of martial arts techniques he had read over the past ten days flashed through his mind. The formidable computational power of his golden soul began to systematically summarize these techniques, which then merged with the inheritance from the Martial Ancestor deep within his mind.
Numerous sparks of martial arts collided in his mind, giving rise to new insights that settled into his martial path as drops of enlightenment.
These basic martial arts techniques had stood the test of time, were simple to cultivate, and had no side effects, allowing them to be widely promoted. Anyone could learn them.
After all, even the tallest buildings start from the ground up. Gu Yuan had not encountered many low-level martial arts techniques before, relying solely on his comprehension of fist intent and his robust qi and blood to fight.
The foundation is always the most crucial. Over these ten days, Gu Yuan noticed many individuals with seemingly low cultivation levels who had not chosen suitable martial arts techniques and cultivation methods. Instead, they were all searching for advanced techniques.
In Gu Yuan's view, this behavior was misguided. Advanced martial arts techniques, apart from their energy circulation methods and artistic conception, were all extensions of the basic fist and footwork he had observed.
Compared to the extremely high cultivation difficulty of advanced techniques, basic martial arts were much simpler to practice. Moreover, mastering basic martial arts would make practicing advanced techniques twice as effective.
Gu Yuan had not encountered so many basic martial arts techniques in the past. Even after receiving the Martial Ancestor's inheritance, he had not paid too much attention to the fundamentals, choosing instead to develop his own powerful moves.
Now, he understood that the foundation of the martial path lay within these punches and kicks.
Within arm's reach, one could stand against an entire nation!
The qi and blood, true qi, and other energies within his body were merely manifestations of his fist. Even the techniques for using weapons were extensions of his hands and feet.
Gu Yuan fell into a state of profound enlightenment. With the last sliver of consciousness, he walked out of his cave dwelling and into the open space outside.
Techniques upon techniques of basic fist arts flashed through his mind.
First Technique: "Basic Fist Arts"
This was the foundation of all fist arts. Any fist art could be expanded upon using the moves from this technique.
Straight punch, hook punch, uppercut, whip punch.
These were the most basic fist techniques, yet Gu Yuan practiced them with meticulous precision. His movements were so standardized that any veteran boxing master would praise his stance.
Gu Yuan demonstrated the moves several times, and then his fist art suddenly changed. No longer bound by the descriptions in books, he moved at will. Often, before his mind could even conceive of a move, his body would react automatically, throwing punches one after another.
His entire demeanor was natural, fluid, and even graceful. Where the fist went, the mind followed.
Except, in this case, the fist led the mind. The mind had not yet reached the destination before the fist had already struck!
After practicing for a few rounds, Gu Yuan slowly drew his fists back and stood still, his eyes slightly closed. The fist arts replayed in his mind like a slideshow.
"Savage Ox Fist"
This was a basic fist art widely circulated among the thirty-six nations of the human race. It was very simple and did not require many resources to cultivate, only the need to eat more.
Even a farmer in the fields could manage a few moves of this fist art.
Gu Yuan slowly threw a punch. It was a simple straight punch, but the power it generated was far more than that.
Moo!
A bellow, filled with the aura of the wild, erupted. As Gu Yuan continued to throw punches, the bovine calls reverberated throughout the area. With the final move of his Savage Ox Fist, "Savage Ox Charges the Heavens," a majestic, dark blue phantom appeared behind Gu Yuan, its head aligned with Gu Yuan's right fist.
Any expert in fist arts witnessing this would be astonished. This was the true essence of the fist art. Any fist art that involved the circulation of qi and blood within the body would eventually manifest its true essence when cultivated to the highest level, just as Gu Yuan was experiencing now.
After completing the Savage Ox Fist, Gu Yuan did not stop. The slideshow of fist arts in his mind began to change once more.
Thus, with every set of fist arts Gu Yuan performed, he automatically comprehended its true essence, causing the disciples in cave dwellings near Gu Yuan's to hear roars of beasts or the booming sounds of fists from that direction.
Although Gu Yuan was practicing relatively low-level fist arts, his cultivation realm was considerable. Even with conscious efforts to restrain the power of his techniques, the explosive might still shocked the surrounding true disciples.
In front of the true disciple's cave dwelling closest to Gu Yuan's.
A figure of exceptional grace and ethereal beauty gazed blankly at the figure on the prominent platform.
This stunningly beautiful woman was Jiang Muqing, a true disciple of the Zhen Tian Sect!
Her strength was exceptionally close to the Dao Tian realm, and she had only been a true disciple for six years. Some predicted that by the end of her tenure as a true disciple, she might ascend to the Dao Tian realm and become a formidable power in the human territory.
Furthermore, she was not only powerful but also possessed top-tier looks, figure, and family background, making her the number one goddess among the male disciples of the Zhen Tian Sect. Her fame had spread far and wide in the surrounding nations.
Jiang Muqing turned to her maid and asked, "Xiaocai, you said this Gu Yuan only joined the Zhen Tian Sect recently."
The maid, named Xiaocai, thought for a moment and replied, "I recall it was less than a month ago."
Gu Yuan nodded and looked back at Gu Yuan, who was continuously practicing his fist arts. She had been watching him for a while. The fist arts Gu Yuan was using were some of the simpler ones from the second level of the Scripture Pavilion. According to Xiaocai, he had spent about ten days in the Scripture Pavilion.
Upon his return, he began practicing fist arts in front of his cave dwelling and has continued to do so until now. Xiaocai even mentioned that Young Master Gu Yuan had learned the extremely difficult Zhen Tian Seal of the Zhen Tian Sect, rumored to be even more formidable than Qu Ling, the top inner disciple.
This was indeed thought-provoking. Even she had struggled considerably to learn the Zhen Tian Seal when she first acquired it.
As a genius ranked among the top in the entire Zhen Tian Sect, she had visited the second level of the Scripture Pavilion to study fist arts when she first joined. However, unlike Gu Yuan, she had only read through them once, studying their profound essence.
Therefore, she was quite familiar with the fist arts and martial techniques on the second level. Gu Yuan had already demonstrated many fist arts, several of which she had learned herself. She never expected this newcomer, Gu Yuan, to have cultivated them to the point of manifesting true essence within just a few days.
She was curious to see what kind of person this Gu Yuan truly was.
Jiang Muqing, who had never been very interested in men since childhood, suddenly felt a desire to investigate this man named Gu Yuan.
She therefore sent Xiaocai away and sat in the pavilion in front of her cave dwelling, quietly watching Gu Yuan practice his fist arts. Her expression was calm, but the gradually changing light in her eyes indicated that her inner heart was not as tranquil as her outward appearance suggested.
Meanwhile,
This was the cave dwelling above Gu Yuan's.
An Gang felt agitated. The constant booming sounds of fist arts from below were giving him a headache.
As a true disciple who had joined even earlier than Jiang Muqing, An Gang was closer to the Dao Tian realm. Moreover, his physical body had been cultivated to a point where it was not inferior to that of a cultivator at the early stage of the Dao Tian realm.
He was also the strongest in terms of physical prowess among the true disciples.
He had just returned to his cave dwelling after completing a mission and intended to catch up on sleep. However, the incessant bellowing sounds of oxen had woken him up.
Initially, he thought some monstrous beasts had intruded into the True Disciple Peak. As he was preparing to add a meal to his menu, An Gang emerged from his cave dwelling and discovered that it was Gu Yuan, the newly joined true disciple of the Zhen Tian Sect, practicing fist arts.
He could only dejectedly return to his cave and begin tempering his physique. He had not installed soundproofing arrays earlier, and he was accustomed to cultivating outdoors. Therefore, he had not wasted time asking the sect to install them, a decision he now regretted.
Listening to the booming sounds of fist arts from below, occasionally accompanied by beastly roars.
It made it impossible for him to even cultivate. Being inherently combative, hearing someone practice fist arts made him itch with eagerness.
Although he had only returned recently, his acquaintances among the disciples had already informed An Gang of all the events related to Gu Yuan's joining the sect.
An Gang felt that Gu Yuan was quite a decent fellow, primarily because, like himself, his physique was extremely powerful. To him, a true man should cultivate his body; it was the romance of a man to engage in fist-to-fist combat.
His fondness for Gu Yuan increased considerably. However, after this incident, An Gang felt that he had to teach Gu Yuan a lesson, to let him experience the "care" of a senior disciple.
Wait, why hasn't it stopped yet? An Gang frowned. It had been at least an hour, why was he still punching?
An Gang stood up and instantly appeared outside his cave dwelling, his gaze directed towards Gu Yuan's cave.
He looked at the figure still practicing fist arts, his brow furrowing. He was puzzled. As a cultivator of the physical body, how could he not see that the fist arts Gu Yuan was practicing were from the second level of the Scripture Pavilion?
Those were merely basic fist arts; there was no need to practice them continuously.
An Gang calmed his mind and quietly observed Gu Yuan's fist practice. Gradually, he realized that the matter was not as simple as it seemed.
For every fist art, Gu Yuan cultivated it to the point of manifesting its true essence. This meant that for the entire duration, Gu Yuan had cultivated all the punches to the highest level of fist arts, which was the stage of "fist with true essence."
As a true disciple, An Gang's fist arts were formidable among the true disciples, even surpassing those of some elders. Many of his fist arts had reached the stage of "fist with true essence."
However, he had never been as frenzied as Gu Yuan. This was madness. How could he have cultivated so many basic fist arts to the stage of true essence so quickly?
Some fist arts were widely circulated in the mortal world, and it was understandable to cultivate them to the stage of true essence. However, some of these were unique fist arts of the Zhen Tian Sect, yet he had also cultivated them to the stage of true essence.
You are not right in the head, brother!
Gu Yuan was unaware that he had already attracted the attention of two true disciples. He was now immersed in a world constructed from the true essence of countless fist arts. Even the fist intent that had integrated all his martial arts into one now circled around him.
The divine soul in his sea of consciousness was also enveloped by an extremely profound aura, significantly increasing Gu Yuan's comprehension ability, even surpassing his original capacity.
As Gu Yuan outside manifested the true essence of each fist art he performed, the surrounding true essence of fist arts around him grew by one more strand.
After an unknown period, the true essence of fist arts swirling around Gu Yuan increased. The body of Gu Yuan outside, which had been robust and glowing, began to mysteriously shrink, and the qi and blood within, which had been like a mighty river, started to dwindle.
Boom!
Accompanying a deafening explosion in his mind, the scene before Gu Yuan's eyes rapidly shattered. Strands of true essence from fist arts began to converge, eventually forming a small figure. Before Gu Yuan could react, it directly merged into his glabella, fusing with his golden divine soul.
The Dharma Aspect behind his divine soul suddenly became several times more solidified, and its facial features now bore a striking resemblance to Gu Yuan's, about seventy to eighty percent similar.
Gu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes. The somewhat depleted qi and blood within his body began to surge. A phantom image of a divine being, with its head touching the sky and its feet treading the earth, appeared behind Gu Yuan, radiating an inexhaustible and overbearing aura.
Having been tempered through so many worlds, Gu Yuan firmly believed: Fist is Power!
Only strength is the capital for everything!
An Gang abruptly stood up, his face filled with shock: "This Dharma Aspect! It's not ordinary!"
Jiang Muqing looked at the phantom behind Gu Yuan, her face thoughtful, and a subtle change occurred in her gaze towards Gu Yuan.
At this moment, the prompt from the Dao Luck Heavenly Scroll sounded in Gu Yuan's mind.
[Congratulations to the Dao Master for obtaining the Destiny: Fist Suppresses Mountains and Rivers (Red)]