Upon returning to the dormitory, Zhuang Xun immediately took out the 《Formless Phaseless Sublime Method》 and placed it on the table to flip through it.
As for any ideas about tempering his body to its absolute physical limit to break through to the Martial Artist realm with the most solid foundation, they were completely nonexistent.
Now that he could practice martial arts, who would still miserably grind away at physical strength?
It wasn't as if he couldn't temper his strength after becoming a martial artist. On the contrary, doing so would be even faster.
“Not a single person in the martial academy has mastered it, and even the Principal couldn't fully comprehend the entire technique. The difficulty of this martial art is obvious. Even with my maxed-out Comprehension, it might still take me some ti—eh? Isn't this written in a pretty easy-to-understand way? It even has diagrams with explanations. Wow, how user-friendly.”
“What's so hard about this?”
“No matter how foolish a person is, could they really fail to understand words and pictures?”
Zhuang Xun quickly flipped through a few pages, looking puzzled. After pondering for a moment, he decided to use Yan Pingsheng's brain—which possessed an average Comprehension of fifty points—to comprehend this martial art.
“Holy crap, it turned into a book of gibberish!!”
“Ahem, Yan Pingsheng's brain is still too much of a drag. If I used my brain from my past life, I'd definitely understand it. Yes, exactly.”
Zhuang Xun reconnected to Bai Yujing's brain. Once again, his intelligence reclaimed the high ground, and the cold, aloof words before his eyes turned back into a submissive, eager-to-please state.
“The Formless Phaseless Sublime Method is a high-grade martial art, divided into three parts: mental cultivation, training methods, and combat techniques. Among them, mental cultivation is the primary focus, training methods are secondary, and the combat techniques are formless and phaseless, converting the techniques of others for one's own use...”
“Oh? Impressive. It's like a fantasy world's Minor Formless Method.” Zhuang Xun looked surprised.
Cultivating multiple martial arts simultaneously was impossible; this was a rule of this world.
The reason was that practicing martial arts required shaping a martial physique, and different martial arts shaped different martial physiques, which would conflict with one another.
Therefore, the consequence of cultivating multiple martial arts was extremely dangerous—ranging from crippling oneself at best, to death at worst.
If the 《Formless Phaseless Sublime Method》 was truly as miraculous as it claimed and could copy the combat techniques and moves of other martial arts, then without a doubt, it was a divine technique.
Zhuang Xun's interest in learning surged, and he focused entirely on studying it.
In just the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he had finished reading the entire 《Formless Phaseless Sublime Method》 and committed it firmly to memory.
“The prerequisite to reach the entry-level of the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method is being able to split one's mind to do two things at once. This is a perfect match for my skills.”
Following the instructions of the 《Formless Phaseless Sublime Method》, Zhuang Xun visualized himself in his mind.
The image of a young man of about twenty years old formed in the illusory space. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, positioned in an endless darkness.
—It was exactly Zhuang Xun from his past life.
Zhuang Xun kept this image from dissolving, split his mind, and visualized a second self.
Then, he pushed the two selves toward each other, merging them like bubbles, and finally visualized a serene version of himself with two heads and four arms, sitting cross-legged with eyes closed.
At the exact moment the visualization succeeded.
Buzz—
All kinds of sounds, smells, and information flooded into his mind all at once. Combined with the dizziness brought by the excessively fast sensory processing and the lack of coordination between his limbs, Zhuang Xun felt a nauseating, world-spinning discomfort.
“Ugh! I'm going to throw up!”
He hastily slipped back into Yan Pingsheng's body. After testing the waters several times and confirming that Bai Yujing's body had self-adjusted, he finally dared to return.
Upon his return, he felt a massive difference. Compared to before, his five senses had undergone a complete transformation.
Zhuang Xun looked out the window and concentrated. Everything in front of him slowed down rapidly, and sounds stretched out.
He looked at a small insect that had entered his line of sight.
The insect instantly magnified, and a dotted line appeared ahead of it—this was the insect's movement trajectory calculated by his mind.
Zhuang Xun then looked at the wall behind him. The sound of a heartbeat, breathing, and blood flowing... gradually became clear. Eventually, the wall turned illusory, revealing a blurry figure lying on a bed.
The figure was transparent, with a ball of beating flame at the left chest and flowing red lines covering the entire body.
—Those were the heart and blood vessels.
“Six stone of strength,” Zhuang Xun analyzed the person's power.
Zhuang Xun curiously looked in other directions. After playing around with it for a good while, he finally exited this special sensory state.
“Isn't this ability called 'Spiritual Sight' a skill that one only comprehends upon reaching the Middle Three Ranks?”
Zhuang Xun flipped through the 《Formless Phaseless Sublime Method》 again to confirm he hadn't misread it. In the end, he speculated that Bai Yujing's body was simply too overpowered, allowing him to unlock an ability meant for higher realms ahead of time.
The next step was shaping his martial physique.
“Shaping a martial physique requires at least nine stone of strength. Only with this level of physical intensity and total blood qi can one withstand and recover from the damage caused during the process.”
“In the training methods section, eighty-one stance work postures shape the Formless Phaseless martial physique, accompanied by breathing techniques to mobilize blood qi and heal the damage.”
Zhuang Xun slowly assumed a bizarre, anti-human posture, his body emitting crisp popping sounds from his bones.
“Pain, pain, pain...” The corners of his eyes twitched. He slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm, and a surge of hot blood flowed to the painful areas, instantly bringing a warm, comfortable sensation.
Aside from his initial unfamiliarity during the first attempt, his stance work and breathing techniques soon became highly coordinated. Before the pain could even register, his blood qi had already flowed to the injured spots.
Time passed second by second.
Suddenly, Bai Yujing's body sent a signal of hunger, and Zhuang Xun stopped.
“My blood qi is running low.”
“At this hour, the kitchen staff should be on duty. I haven't eaten my precious meat for this week yet. I originally wanted to use it to convert into panel points, but right now, becoming a martial artist is more important.”
Zhuang Xun quickly made his way to the dining hall, claimed his precious meat, and brought it back to the dormitory to eat. Feeling the sense of satisfaction radiating from his body, he stood up once more to practice the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method.
...
——Character Creation Panel——
[Character One: Yan Pingsheng (Expandable)]
————
[Character Two: Bai Yujing]
[Age: 15]
[Realm: Ninth Rank]
[Martial Arts: Formless Phaseless Sublime Method]
[Skeletal Structure: 100 (Supreme Skeletal Structure)]
[Comprehension: 100 (Supreme Comprehension)]
[Charm: 100 (Celestial Grace)]
————
[Character Three (To be created)]
【Current Points: 2.5】
“It's done!”
“I've reached the entry-level of the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method. I am now a Ninth Rank martial artist!”
Zhuang Xun brought over two chairs, leaped up, and rested one foot on each chair seat, mimicking the splits of Yujiro Hanma from his past life.
Having only just formed the initial stage of his martial physique, he could already feel an unprecedented level of flexibility and neuromuscular recruitment in this body. Even without counting his skyrocketing strength, he could easily defeat several of his past selves.
Over the course of the following day, Zhuang Xun discovered that the benefits of becoming a martial artist did not stop there.
First, the duration for which he could multitask increased.
In the past, if he controlled two clones simultaneously for more than three shichen, his soul would definitely be unable to bear it, which was why he had to rest every afternoon. But now, even as midnight approached, he only felt slightly fatigued.
Second, the precision of his control had improved.
Previously, if he did not synchronize the physical movements of Yan Pingsheng and Bai Yujing, it was very difficult for him to control Yan Pingsheng to perform complex actions.
It was similar to when the brain says, “I've got this,” but the body screams back, “Like hell you do!”
But now, for slightly more complex movements—such as the simplest stance work posture in the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method—there was no need to use Bai Yujing's body to guide Yan Pingsheng's body into remembering the sensation. He could mimic it just by controlling Yan Pingsheng alone and practicing a few times.
Of course, he didn't perform the standard version; otherwise, Yan Pingsheng's body wouldn't have been able to withstand such contortion.
Zhuang Xun's understanding of this was that Bai Yujing's brain had grown stronger, thereby feeding back into and strengthening his own soul.
“Doesn't this mean that as long as my clones level up, my soul will also level up alongside them?”
“Hmm, I'll pay attention to this the next time Bai Yujing breaks through in realm, or when Yan Pingsheng becomes a martial artist.”
Rate on N.U.
