Chapter 79: Contemplation
Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Contemplation
This Earth Bear was the father of the cub Zhu Ge had previously slain!
The cub’s mother, on the other hand, had been killed by the Raincoat Fisherman long ago.
It was only natural for it to be angry.
However, this also made Zhu Ge realize how much he had grown.
Before, he had struggled even against a small cub, needing to rely on the Vajra Palm to match it.
But now, he could take on three Second Realm and a host of First Realm opponents. If it were a one-on-one duel, he could kill this Earth Bear in just a few palm strikes.
"Vajra Palm!"
Zhu Ge blasted out two palm strikes, his stance as firm as a boulder.
Across from him, the fanged boar with its crimson eyes was sent flying and knocked to the ground.
The Earth Bear was sent stumbling back, collapsing onto its rear. It shook its head, dazed and disoriented.
’The Wrathful Vajra Palm...’ Seeing this, Zhu Ge silently rejected the name.
’It actually suits me quite well, though.’
He had been getting more and more proficient with the Vajra Palm, finding it increasingly natural to use.
If he kept this up, he estimated he would condense a Martial Arts Heart for the Vajra Palm in just a few days and step into the Mountain Shattering Realm.
’I can’t keep using the Vajra Palm. I should use the Rain Swift Fist for now. It’ll be a problem if I really do condense a Martial Arts Heart...’ Zhu Ge made up his mind.
He then began to use the Rain Swift Fist again.
This time, he held back some of his strength compared to when he had first started using it.
He brought his palms together and charged at the Earth Bear, then viciously swiped his arms outward.
RIIIP—
A ghastly gash was immediately torn across the Earth Bear’s chest, a mangled mess of flesh and blood that exposed the bone beneath.
"ROAR!!!!" The Earth Bear cried out in pain. Its Demon Qi surged, and the demon heart in its chest pounded violently.
It raised its two paws, each larger than Zhu Ge’s head, and swatted at his head with a whoosh of air.
"I ate your son’s heart before. This time, I’ll have a taste of yours." Zhu Ge immediately retreated, dodging the blow.
The next second, the fanged boar at his side charged at him again.
Both the Earth Bear and the fanged boar were enormous Demon Beasts.
In Zhu Ge’s eyes, however, the two of them were just like his past self—all brute force and no technique.
"Rain Swift Fist!"
Without using the Vajra Palm, Zhu Ge’s attacks were no longer head-on clashes, but were instead filled with agility and speed.
However, the damage was inferior to that of the Vajra Palm.
The Vajra Palm was powerful and heavy, best suited for fighting these thick-skinned Demon Beasts.
But the Rain Swift Fist was different.
He had just used the Rain Swift Fist. Although he hadn’t used much Blood Qi, it was still about twenty percent of his reserves.
Yet even with that much Blood Qi, he had only managed to tear through the Earth Bear’s skin and flesh, not even injuring the bone.
’No wonder Venerable Rain Swift warned his descendants not to make enemies of Body Refining Martial Artists.’
’A Body Refining Martial Artist’s body is indestructible. After a few moves, the Rain Swift Fist will be exhausted, but a Body Refiner can keep fighting even without any Blood Qi.’
’Speaking of which, the decline of Body Refining Martial Artists might also be related to their lineages and techniques...’
While fighting the two Transformed Demon Beasts, Zhu Ge still had the presence of mind to let his thoughts wander.
He had given up any thought of escaping anyway.
The two Essence-Devouring Demon Beasts looked down on an Anger Realm Martial Artist like him.
The Second Realm and First Realm Demon Beasts had pretty much all fled.
These two big, dumb, thick-skinned beasts in front of him were perfect for slowly honing his Rain Swift Fist.
At this moment, he was pondering the connection between the rise and fall of Martial Arts Body Refinement and the Da Sheng Dynasty.
It was a case of seeing the whole picture through a small detail.
It was obvious just from thinking about it: Martial Arts Body Refinement required a wealth of resources to cultivate.
Not to mention food and drink, one also needed proper rest and recovery for Body Refinement to be twice as effective with half the effort.
This inevitably required the support of a well-off family.
But under such family conditions, it was very difficult to trigger the "anger" condition.
Not impossible, but rare.
Those who would trigger the "anger" condition were mostly from the bottom rungs of society.
But how could those at the bottom have such good conditions for Body Refinement and training?
Thus, the Body Refining Lineage naturally and gradually fell into decline.
On the other hand, there were lineages like Venerable Rain Swift’s Xu Family, whose inherited Martial Dao was all about refining Blood Qi.
Since they could generate Blood Qi without needing anger, families with better conditions were naturally more suited to refining Blood Qi rather than their bodies.
But these well-off families, like Venerable Rain Swift’s, were countered by the Body Refining Lineage.
As such, they naturally hoped for there to be as few Body Refiners as possible.
How to achieve that?
By restricting the inheritance of Cultivation Techniques!
As long as Body Refining Techniques became rarer and rarer, Martial Artists who refined Blood Qi would naturally face fewer counters.
The decline of the Body Refining Lineage was inevitably tied to the "the strong get stronger" principle followed by the great aristocratic families.
This also indirectly explained why the Da Sheng Dynasty had fallen to such a state.
The great families monopolized resources and Cultivation Techniques. In a world without a clear path to advancement, and with such vast differences in power, a common person could shout "Are kings and nobles born to their station?" a thousand times and still not be able to defeat a single Three Realms Venerable.
It was basically impossible for anyone from the lower class to climb up.
Stagnant, rigid, a pool of dead water.
The talented had no resources and no legacy to inherit, so the Da Sheng Dynasty went down the path of decline that Zhu Ge knew from history.
But the natural world would not stagnate.
The law of the jungle still applied to all Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters.
The talented grew ever stronger, while the weak were eliminated.
With one side waxing while the other waned, how could the Da Sheng Dynasty possibly govern the realm?
Collapse was almost inevitable.
This was the connection Zhu Ge had suddenly thought of between the decline of Body Refining Martial Artists and the fall of the Da Sheng Dynasty.
Though it was an incomplete picture, it was likely close to the truth.
’So, in the future, there will inevitably be many more Body Refining Martial Artists.’
Zhu Ge was lost in thought.
When the world is in chaos, the great families can no longer monopolize resources. This means that low-level Martial Artists will also have the opportunity to obtain all sorts of resources to strengthen themselves.
Fueled by anger, all they would need is an inheritable technique, and generating Blood Qi would be a simple matter.
And among those in the Anger Realm, most who came from the great families would, in a sense, be no match for those who had clawed their way up from the bottom.
Turbulent times breed heroes!
And Zhu Ge, in a sense, was also a beneficiary of these chaotic times.
If not for the chaos, getting his hands on a Cultivation Technique like the Great Sun Glaze Body would have been nothing but a dream!
’But the middle and later stages of the Great Sun Glaze Body, this Body Refining Technique, are basically just the founder’s fabrications and conjectures. It’s going to be very difficult for me to continue on this path in the future.’
’Even the founder himself said that because he was an immortal cultivator, he found it nearly impossible to temper his body during the Wind Refining stage of Body Refinement, so he never actually practiced it himself.’
Zhu Ge mulled it over and over, feeling incredibly lucky to possess the "Kunpeng" trait, which allowed his soul to leave his body even when he had no Cultivation.
Otherwise, he would be like his teacher and Yu the Scholar, unable to practice the Martial Arts Techniques they possessed.
BANG!!!
At this thought, Zhu Ge swung a fist to his left and right, smashing into the demon hearts of the fanged boar and the Earth Bear.
CRACK!
Two soft cracks sounded one after another. The fanged boar wailed and stumbled back several steps, blood pouring from its mouth, its demon heart shattering piece by piece.
The Earth Bear also fell backward, not even making a sound.
The Transformed Demon Beasts... were dead!
"Let’s see if you two have any good treasures on you."