Chapter 78: Martial Arts Heart
Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Martial Arts Heart
The first realm of the Martial Dao is called the Anger Realm.
And the Second Realm, as this book explained, is called... the Mountain Shattering Realm!
For some reason, this brought a line of poetry to Zhu Ge’s mind.
"The earth splits, the mountains shatter, a hero dies; only then are sky-ladders and stone roads joined."
In other words, after a Martial Artist in the Second Realm condenses a "Heart," their Martial Dao possesses the power to shatter mountains and split the heavens!
The Third Realm, on the other hand, is about condensing one’s true intent.
It is called... the Venerable Realm!
The person who left behind this *Xu Family Rain Swift Fist* was also known as Venerable Rain Swift.
According to Venerable Rain Swift, to become a Great Power—an incomparably strong Grand General or Great Hero—one must walk their own path when condensing their "Heart" and form one that is uniquely their own.
But what concerned Zhu Ge most wasn’t just this, but also what Venerable Rain Swift had mentioned at the beginning: "I created this fist style by observing rain swifts."
’Venerable Rain Swift created the Rain Swift Fist before he became a Venerable, condensing his Heart from this very fist style and forming the Rain Swift Fist Intent. But in the end, a severe injury affected his body, preventing him from breaking through to become a Great Power.’
’But... doesn’t this mean he actually had a chance to break through, and it was only the injury that stopped him?’
’And that one line... observing rain swifts?’
Zhu Ge organized the information, and a complete path for Martial Arts Practice vaguely took shape in his mind.
He was now in the late stage of the Anger Realm. To break through to the Second Realm, he would have to condense a "Heart."
It was just like how a Confucian Scholar needed to condense a Confucian Heart.
The Heart that Zhu Ge condensed would become the cornerstone of his future Martial Dao!
’Thankfully, it seems Yu the Scholar is comprehending his own path, the one from the *Jianshan Terraces Notes*. That means he’ll be able to advance in the future as well.’
Zhu Ge couldn’t help but think of Yu the Scholar, whose hair had turned white from consuming a massive amount of his lifespan in an instant.
Although Yu the Scholar was condensing his own Confucian Heart, would he ever have a day when he could become a Great Power?
Never mind Yu the Scholar; Zhu Ge himself was currently being hunted by a massive, dark horde of Demon Beasts. He didn’t even know if he would see tomorrow’s sun.
’Whether I live or die, I have to give it a try.’
Thanks to his previous uses of his traits, Zhu Ge’s mind was now quite sharp.
He immediately thought of how to create his own Martial Dao based on the method Venerable Rain Swift used to create the *Xu Family Rain Swift Fist*.
He was only in the late Anger Realm, yet he was already giving a group of Transformed Demon Beasts a miserable time.
If he could advance to a Mountain Shattering Realm Martial Artist...
’The earth will split, the mountains will shatter, and ten thousand beasts will die!’
Not all Second Realm experts were the same.
Back then, that scholar who followed the Confucian Dao was able to beat Second Realm experts like the Tiger God and Mr. Chong so badly they couldn’t even lift their heads. Zhu Ge could do it too!
And to become a Mountain Shattering Martial Artist, he had to fuse three strands of Blood Qi and condense a Martial Arts Heart.
As for what kind of Martial Arts Heart to condense?
Should it be from the *Wrathful Vajra Palm*, which he had already mastered, or Venerable Rain Swift’s *Xu Family Rain Swift Fist*?
He knew that if he chose the *Wrathful Vajra Palm*, he could probably condense a Martial Arts Heart with the Vajra Palm as its core in an instant. His current predicament would be solved immediately.
’There are many easy paths in this world. The easiest of all is to simply die. It ends everything, effortless and carefree.’
’There are few difficult paths. They require one to blaze a trail through the wilderness, to tread as if on thin ice, to give it one’s all.’
’But...’
Zhu Ge’s heart felt not the slightest bit heavy. Instead, a trace of joy welled up within him.
The scars on his body could not extinguish his will.
Likewise, a dispirited will is useless even in a healthy body.
Now, his vengeance was complete, his thoughts were clear, and his path was illuminated.
He had one year of life left.
Then he would break through to the Second Realm within that year and become a Mountain Shattering Realm Martial Artist!
"SCREEEEE!!!!"
Zhu Ge could no longer contain his inner joy and threw his head back with a long cry.
It was a cry of pure, unrestrained delight, of endless exhilaration, under a vast sky where birds flew and fish leaped.
The giant egg-like soul in his mind couldn’t help but tremble.
A Kunpeng, soaring through the sea, soaring through the sky, soaring through freedom!
In that moment, Zhu Ge faintly touched upon another Kunpeng trait... Exhilaration!
[Exhilaration: When equipped, accelerates the body’s power generation cycle, allows a dust-covered heart to regain clarity, and clears the mind.]
Feeling his muscles leaping, his bones trembling, his organs burning hot...
Zhu Ge seemed to have truly, if faintly, touched the membrane separating him from the Mountain Shattering Realm.
One poke and it would break, and his whole body would feel incredible!
However... he couldn’t be hasty now.
He needed to observe, too.
’Even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run, right?’ If he didn’t know which path suited him, he would just have to observe more things!
Observe the rain swifts.
If observing rain swifts didn’t work, he’d move on to the next thing.
Observe a hundred beasts and a hundred birds, flowers and insects, birds and fish.
Observe all of creation.
In short, he would find what was most suitable, form his own Martial Arts Heart, and become a Mountain Shattering Martial Artist!
"Hahaha, invigorating!"
Zhu Ge turned, stood his ground, and then snatched two long spikes that had been shot at him again, his expression one of utter relief.
This action terrified his pursuers.
"H-h-he... he stopped!"
"He really is one of those martial lunatics! My... my mantis wife is about to lay her eggs!"
"These Martial Arts Practice types are the most treacherous! Every time they get beaten until they’re spitting blood, bruised and swollen, and in the blink of an eye, they claim they’ve had an epiphany and go on a killing spree. It’s practically entrapment!"
"And they get more excited the more they’re beaten! What kind of creature in this world gets excited from being hit? It’s too perverted!"
"Yeah, run! This martial lunatic is beating the Black-Horned Bull and the fanged wild boar senseless while he’s still in the Anger Realm. What’ll happen if he becomes a Mountain Shattering Martial Artist?!"
"Run, run, run! Help! Save this old boar!"
"Don’t let him surround all of us by himself!"
The Demon Beasts were already on edge. After all, Zhu Ge had managed to escape even when surrounded by a whole pack of them, proving his strength.
He was strong, he laughed while spitting up blood, and the more scars he got, the more joyful his smile became. Finally, he’d let out a long cry to the heavens, looking like he was in pure ecstasy.
A pervert!
This member of the Human Race is a total pervert!
The Demon Beasts were terrified.
They were just a disorderly mob to begin with, driven here by profit and the tyranny of the Tiger God and the Plague God Sparrow.
None of that had anything to do with Zhu Ge!
In terms of profit, Zhu Ge had no treasure.
In terms of orders, forget that the Plague God Sparrow’s command was a fake—even if it were real, the order was to kill the Raincoat Fisherman.
What the hell did that have to do with Zhu Ge!
Demon Beasts didn’t have concepts like the Human Race’s honor or dignity.
Born into the law of the jungle, they were destined to seek advantages and avoid harm.
If Zhu Ge himself were a piece of meat, they would have followed the Black Tiger’s and the Great Ape’s orders and attacked.
But Zhu Ge just had to be a stinky, hard-to-chew bone!
A Demon Beast with Spiritual Wisdom certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to charge, and even one without it would know better!
And so, ninety percent of the Demon Beasts turned tail and fled, running for their lives.
Only three Demon Beasts remained, standing their ground and confronting Zhu Ge.
The Black-Horned Bull, the fanged wild boar, and the Earth Bear.
All of them were Transformed Demon Beasts, enormous in size and brimming with power!
These three Demon Beasts had been injured by Zhu Ge and had now entered a state of blood rage.
"Oh? Perfect!"
Zhu Ge gazed into the distance and, seeing no sign of the Great Ape or the Black Tiger, relaxed and focused his attention on the three Demon Beasts before him.
"Haha, you three big idiots. Are you coming at me all at once, or one by one?"
Zhu Ge chuckled.
Feeling one strand of his Blood Qi restored thanks to his newfound clarity of mind, his will to fight surged as he charged toward the three Transformed Demon Beasts.
"You broke my tusk! I’ll kill you!"
"You hurt me!"
"Have a taste of my horns!"
Seeing this, the three Demon Beasts roared and charged as well.
However, halfway there, the large water buffalo known as the Black-Horned Bull suddenly turned and charged in a different direction, leaving only the fanged wild boar and the Earth Bear to continue their forward rush.
"Hahaha, you human brat! If I had just left, wouldn’t you have held a grudge against me?"
"After all, I did just gore you a few times with my horns!"
"Now I’ll take this chance to escape while you’re not paying attention! What can you do about it? Hahaha, this old bull is going home to plow the fields!"
The Black-Horned Bull laughed as it fled, not forgetting to turn its head back to look at Zhu Ge.
Zhu Ge was stunned for a moment.
’What a cunning bull!’
’Looks like I’ll have to get my revenge later if I get the chance.’
Then, he refocused his attention on what was in front of him.
"That damn Black-Horned Bull!" the fanged wild boar roared, charging straight at Zhu Ge. "I’ll ram you to death!"
The Earth Bear, meanwhile, brought its two massive paws together, clapping them viciously toward Zhu Ge’s head. "You ate my son, and the Raincoat Fisherman killed my wife! Now I’m going to eat you!"