Chapter Thirty-Four: Yuan Force Penetrates the Body

First of all, my thanks to Ci Feng and Dance of the Departed for their generous rewards, and to Dance of the Departed for casting two votes of recommendation for this book.

As for Wang Broadblade, though Liu Pan was not afraid, neither did he underestimate him. After all, Wang Broadblade had reached the sixth level of Martial Disciple, while Liu Pan had only just stepped into the realm of Martial Disciple himself.

The Martial Disciple realm was different from the Martial Practitioner stage, which only required physical refinement. In this realm, a cultivator’s vital energy could erupt from the body to attack. To put it plainly, it was akin to possessing a “King’s Overbearing Aura”—with a surge of inner energy, one could blast away objects around them.

However, despite how impressive “King’s Overbearing Aura” sounded, its power was directly proportional to the strength and control one possessed over their internal energy. Take Liu Pan, for example: though he had “activated” his spiritual force and his perception and control over all things far surpassed ordinary people, the small amount of vital energy in his body would, at most, create a gentle breeze. It might stir a leaf or two, but it could hardly send anything substantial flying.

In fact, using energy outbursts to knock things away was a foolish act; not only did it drain one’s energy, but it was barely effective. If, in the midst of combat, one tried to rely on such a burst to deflect an opponent’s attack, it was even more foolish. Regardless of whether the opponent also possessed this “King’s Aura,” their body weight would be no less than eighty or a hundred jin. Even at the peak of the Martial Disciple realm, or after breaking through to the Martial Master stage, it would be almost impossible to send something that heavy flying with a mere energy burst.

Thus, there was a correct method to utilizing one’s inner energy, and that method was the art of concentration.

When a cultivator unleashed their energy without deliberate control, it would erupt outward indiscriminately from the body’s center. However, such diffused force was too scattered to be effective unless one’s cultivation far exceeded the opponent’s. Therefore, this power needed to be focused.

While an omnidirectional burst served little purpose, concentrating it in one direction, or even onto a single point, was a different matter entirely. It was like the difference between scattering sand in all directions and striking with a small sandbag at a single spot—the results were worlds apart.

Moreover, if a cultivator’s energy was potent enough and their control precise, they could concentrate their energy through weapons such as swords or sabers, unleashing lethal sword or saber energy. Even without weapons, they could manifest palm or fist imprints to attack at range.

In short, the greatest difference between the Martial Disciple and the Martial Practitioner was that the cultivator’s “reach” grew longer; even from several meters away, one could kill an opponent outright.

To unleash the “King’s Overbearing Aura” was not difficult: one simply released the restraints on the vital energy in the dantian and forced it outward, naturally forming the aura. But gathering this energy was far from simple, requiring a certain degree of control over one’s internal energy.

After all, unlike Martial Practitioners, who merely guided energy through the meridians, here one had to release the energy, gather it to a point before it left the body, and then, in an instant, drive it outward as an attack.

The crucial distinction lay between internal and external: the human body had no meridians connecting directly to the outside world. Although energy could be released through acupoints, this was far slower than forcibly expelling it from the dantian. Moreover, the meridians could only withstand so much energy flowing at once—if one attempted any “ultimate move,” the meridians would be unable to bear it.

In fact, there was another function for an explosive release of energy: suicide, or self-detonation. By instantly releasing all restraints, the energy compressed within would expand violently in a moment, creating a massive explosion. Among high-level cultivators, self-detonation was a method used to wound adversaries when defeat was imminent, or to perish together.

Of course, for someone like Liu Pan, a mere Martial Disciple, such self-destruction was a distant prospect. Without the cultivation of a Martial Master, self-detonation was impossible, and to make it truly devastating, one required at least the Martial King realm.

But how could Liu Pan be so foolish as to attempt self-detonation?

As the author himself, Liu Pan naturally knew the correct way to unlock the “King’s Overbearing Aura.” It was simply that after his breakthrough, events had unfolded too rapidly for him to attempt it. However, feeling a slight pressure from Wang Broadblade, Liu Pan decided, upon returning to his small courtyard, to immediately begin practicing the explosive condensation of “King’s Overbearing Aura,” hoping to improve his combat power.

Though he was the author and could foresee many things, if he was careless and suffered an early demise before he had grown, it would be a tragic end.

With this in mind, Liu Pan sat cross-legged on his bed. With a thought, he loosened a trace of the restraint on the vital energy in his dantian.

As soon as the restraint was loosened, a faint breeze arose from within Liu Pan’s body, causing his clothes to flutter.

He raised an eyebrow, suddenly reminded of those characters in Earth’s television dramas and films who, in their arrogance, seemed to walk with the wind itself. If he were to stroll outside now, loosening his inner energy and donning a cloak, he would be quite the sight.

Yet this thought lingered only a moment before he dismissed it. He clearly had no intention of engaging in such frivolity; besides, as a first-level Martial Disciple, the energy in his dantian was limited. If he tried to show off, he’d run out of “power” in under five minutes.

With a thought, Liu Pan began guiding the energy spilling from his dantian, gathering it before it could dissipate. This step was undeniably difficult, yet after only a brief moment, Liu Pan was stunned to find it posed no challenge at all.

The energy soon coalesced in his palm, and the breeze effect vanished.

He looked at his hand but could no longer see its true form—his entire palm was wreathed in a faint blue glow, brimming with explosive power.

“So easy?” Liu Pan was astonished. After a moment, he looked at the wooden table in his room, then waved his hand. At once, a condensed imprint of energy flew from his palm toward the table.

The moment the energy imprint left his body, it was no longer under his will. The palm-sized imprint rapidly expanded, growing to over a foot in diameter and fading in color before it struck the table.

Bang!

The imprint dissipated, the table trembled slightly, and then fell silent.

Raising an eyebrow, Liu Pan loosened the restraint on his dantian a little more. Soon, a deeper-colored energy imprint burst from his palm and struck the table with a bang.

This time, the imprint scattered and the table slid back about an inch before coming to a stop, after which it was still.

“Did I really succeed?” Liu Pan still found it hard to believe. The ability to condense the “King’s Overbearing Aura” depended on one’s control over internal energy. That he, on his first attempt, succeeded so easily was beyond his expectations.

Could it be that his spiritual force was particularly strong? Liu Pan frowned. He had no way of measuring his own spiritual strength for now; only after learning the methods from Elder Lin and testing how far his spiritual power could extend would he know how strong he truly was.

After pondering for some time, Liu Pan could only laugh it off. If he could not understand it, he would not dwell on it. After all, it was no bad thing; at least now he had something to occupy himself with.

If he could condense the “King’s Overbearing Aura,” it meant he could now practice higher-level martial techniques.

Martial techniques came in many ranks. Those available to Martial Disciples were generally basic techniques, which only circulated energy within the body, enhancing strength or speed and the like.

Beyond the basic techniques, the remaining ones were divided into five ranks: Yellow, Profound, Earth, Heaven, and Legendary, from low to high.

Among these, most Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven techniques had cultivation requirements. Without the requisite level, one could not use them, or using them would cost half a life, or even one’s entire life. Of course, some special techniques had no such restrictions.

As for Legendary techniques, they were anomalies; they only required a certain spiritual root. As long as one met this condition, any cultivation level was sufficient to practice and immediately employ such techniques.

For example, Liu Kuang’s Flame Dragon Tyrant Body Art was a Legendary technique, requiring only a fire attribute constitution. The purer the fire attribute, the more powerful the technique once cultivated.

Just then, Liu Pan recalled a technique he could cultivate and that piqued his interest. This technique was housed in the Technique Pavilion of the Sunlight Sect.

As a personal disciple of an elder, Liu Pan enjoyed certain privileges in the Sunlight Sect; one of these was the right to select a technique from the Technique Pavilion every six months at no cost.

Thus, upon discovering he could practice more advanced martial arts, Liu Pan did not hesitate. He left the Medicine Peak and headed straight for the Technique Pavilion on the Skyward Peak.