Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Unity of Heaven and Humanity, the Inner Landscape Reveals Its Image

"Father, as the mistress of the Yuan estate, let me make the arrangements." Lady Mingji rode over, cast a glance at the severed head of Young Master Jiu, and spoke.

Originally, Lady Mingji, accompanied by her two sons and dressed in ill-fitting armor, had been embedded within a troop of armored soldiers, intending to break through the encirclement once the vanguard breached the enemy lines. However, with Lu Wu arriving with the head of Young Master Jiu, the situation had shifted dramatically. Naturally, the mother and her two sons no longer needed to risk a breakout.

"Very well. Look after General Lu well. These are extraordinary times, so you, Ke, and Lie must be cautious." Teng Liang was his personal guard commander; with battle imminent, he could not easily step away.

"Rest assured, Father, I understand." Lady Mingji nodded in agreement. She dismounted, turned to Lu Wu, and performed a graceful, respectful bow. "General Lu, please follow me."

The battle with Gongsun Boyang had indeed left Lu Wu somewhat exhausted. Since Lin Zhong refused to leave, he saw no reason to object to resting for the night. Yet, before departing with Lady Mingji, Lu Wu added a final, concerned instruction: "General, please take good care of my brother-in-law."

Lin Zhong’s face darkened instantly. "I am a warrior, too! I don't need 'taking care of'!"

***

The moon hung like a hook in the center of the sky.

Lu Wu sat cross-legged on the floor, his upper body bare, a sixteen-foot halberd resting horizontally before him. The spacious martial arts hall—ten paces wide, fifteen paces long, and three stories high—was barely illuminated by the hundreds of flickering candles, leaving Lu Wu in the dim center.

It wasn't that the Yuan estate couldn't provide a bedroom; Lu Wu had simply requested a spacious, well-ventilated area to circulate his energy and recover from his injuries. In this world of peculiar arts and secret techniques, such a request was hardly strange.

Black God was content. With its four hooves tucked beneath it, it lay behind Lu Wu, serving as a backrest for its master. A large basin of fruit sat before it; the horse would occasionally stretch its neck to snatch a piece, crunching it down in two bites, then reach for another, *crunch-crunch*, and swallow again.

Lu Wu had refused the Yuan family’s physicians and their medicinal salves. Instead, he had devoured a hearty feast, ordered to be brought to this hall, and insisted that Black God be allowed inside with him. This was certainly against protocol, but at this moment, Lu Wu was the most honored guest of the Yuan estate. Even if he had set the hall on fire, Lady Mingji would likely have raised no objection.

Lu Wu’s refusal of the physicians wasn't out of fear of foul play; it was because no one in the world understood his physical state better than he did. Despite his shattered crown and broken armor, his injuries were not severe. He had simply depleted his reserves to a point where recovery would take time, hence the weariness he showed before Lin Zhong.

Every person’s internal energy—*qi*—is essentially the same thing: the collection and control of one’s own life energy. It is only the methods of collection and control that differentiate the nature of that *qi*. *Qi* is tied to one’s very life and vitality; no one possesses an abundance of it. Even with proper instruction, aptitude, and perseverance, a year of diligent practice yields very little.

In combat, the power unleashed by *qi* is not necessarily greater than the strength gained from a week of training in external martial arts. To project *qi* outside the body is unthinkable without a decade or two of accumulation. If one’s internal cultivation method is inferior, it is common to spend thirty to fifty years without ever achieving the ability to project *qi*. And this is assuming one possesses the grit for daily, arduous training.

Moreover, the ratio of energy lost when projecting *qi* externally compared to circulating it within the body is more than one hundred to one. In other words, a great general who can sustain battle for a day and a night by using *qi* to nourish their muscles would be doing well to last a single quarter-hour if they unleashed *qi*-based special moves in every strike.

Furthermore, the power of projected *qi* is not all that impressive. Techniques like the "Hundred-Step God Fist" or the "Air-Splitting Palm" are rarely as powerful as a solid punch delivered directly to the body; their only advantage lies in the element of surprise. This was why Lu Wu primarily used the "Eighteen Slashes of Overlapping Mountains," which relied on physical leverage, rather than the "Green Dragon Stirring the Sea" halberd technique, which required high-speed *qi* vibration to unleash its full potential.

Even a landlord has no spare grain!

Gongsun Boyang had believed that Lu Wu’s *qi* was incredibly pure and his reserves vast, but Lu Wu knew that while his cultivation path was unique, his *qi* was equally precious. The amount he had consumed in this battle would delay his growth phase by three months.

Indeed, Lu Wu’s cultivation method, a technique of his own creation called "Golden Beam Supporting the Sea," focused first on forging the "Golden Beam" (his skeletal structure) to then contain the "Sea" (his *qi*). Although his growth process was synonymous with building his foundation and honing his body, it required the nourishment of his *qi* to succeed.

With every increment of strength his body gained, his *qi* became purer and more potent. The two nourished each other in a perfect, albeit demanding, cycle. It is fair to say that anyone whose body was not as strong as Lu Wu’s could never possess *qi* as powerful as his. They might have more in quantity, but the quality would certainly be inferior.

But what of that old man’s *qi*?

Lu Wu was confident that his physical strength exceeded the pinnacle of the "Iron Cloth Shirt" technique. Unlike that style, Lu Wu’s strength was from the inside out; his internal organs were as resilient as his muscles. He himself could not drive such violent *qi* through his body, yet the old man’s physique was clearly far inferior to his own.

He had fought his way from the Lu estate to the Yuan estate without much effort, yet a mere half-hour of combat with that old man had depleted over half of his *qi* and left him mentally exhausted. If the old man hadn't inexplicably fled, Lu Wu would have had to retreat before his *qi* was completely spent after perhaps eight or ten more exchanges.

Lu Wu sat on the floor, utterly bewildered. With no other choice, he focused his mind on the flow of his *qi*.

Under the faint moonlight, a subtle sound of tides began to echo through the martial arts hall. The air pulsed, rippling outward in circles; once it reached a radius of ten feet, it seemed drawn back by an invisible force, surging toward Lu Wu in waves.

The dark, bruised marks on Lu Wu’s skin gradually faded, his skin and muscles returning to their natural, fair hue. Black God stopped eating; its large eyes half-closed, its neck relaxed as it lay on the ground, softly snoring.

The halberd before him trembled slightly in these ripples, the distortions on its shaft smoothing out until it became perfectly straight once more. The temperature in the hall began to drop, and frost started to form on the floor.

The maids and servants waiting outside, ready to serve, seemed to see the surging of an ocean tide within the hall. But when they rubbed their eyes and looked closely, they saw only the figures of one man and one horse, sitting in the center of the room.

***

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was morning—then noon.

Lu Wu opened his eyes, and the faint sound of the tides vanished instantly.

"General Lu, would you like to eat?" A refined, cool-mannered woman approached and asked cautiously.

"What is available?" Lu Wu asked.

"Various pastries, beef, mutton, chicken, some fish, and seasonal fruits and vegetables."

"Bring more beef, and a portion of everything else," Lu Wu replied without ceremony.

Others needed medicinal herbs to recover from injuries, but for Lu Wu, his *qi* was born directly from his marrow and blood, making it exceptionally pure. Therefore, as long as his bones were not broken, eating nutrient-dense food was more effective than any herb.

"Might I ask you to move to the Zhenghe Hall? The Lady and Young Master Ke are waiting for you there to dine together."