Chapter 20 — Ancient and Modern Times Differ

Moving his body in time with his breathing methods, the more Teng Xuanji practiced, the more vigorous he felt. This session went on for a full two double-hours. In the internal martial arts, the deeper one goes the more drive one has—and Teng Xuanji was far more than a beginner; in awareness he was already at the grandmaster level.

"Heh, hah!"

At the end, Teng Xuanji could not hold back two great excited shouts.

"My whole body feels wonderful, every sinew and muscle tingling with numbness—what a comfort. The internal martial arts are clearly far more effective than ancient yoga." Teng Xuanji was overjoyed.

The internal martial arts are by nature strengthening to sinew and muscle, and with Teng Xuanji's memories of a former life to draw on, his execution of Xingyi naturally yielded the best results. He could even feel that after each session of Xingyi, the sinews and bones throughout his body were changing. Sinew and muscle were improving by leaps and bounds—and that, of course, required energy.

Which was why Teng Xuanji's appetite had grown even bigger.

"Heh!"

In his own courtyard Teng Xuanji leaped high and came down, braced one hand on the ground, rolled over—and there was a two-legged scissor takedown.

"Out... in..."

With the fierce exertion, Teng Xuanji matched his movements to his breathing.

The secret of the internal martial arts lies precisely in the union of breathing methods with bodily form. Such breathing also strengthens the organs and stimulates sinew and bone.

Whenever both his father and mother were away from home, Teng Xuanji would shut the doors and practice in the courtyard.

"Hm?"

Astonished, Teng Xuanji stopped, then crouched and slapped a palm against the ground. With a soft squelch, a hole appeared in the packed earth.

"How is that possible?" Teng Xuanji stood rooted to the spot, dazed. "I—I've only been practicing Xingyi for a single month. How could inner force have formed? And my sinews and muscles are still in their growing stage; I've not come anywhere near the limit of sinew and bone. How could inner force form?"

Just now, inner force had been born within Teng Xuanji's body.

By the hierarchy of the internal martial arts, one should first temper the body. Only when the muscles reach a limit and the qi and blood are abundant can these be transformed into inner force.

Yet Teng Xuanji was only three, had practiced Xingyi only a month, and was still a hundred thousand li from the body's limit. How could inner force possibly have formed?

"Ancient times and modern—I practiced the internal martial arts in both. How can there be such a vast difference?"

Teng Xuanji's expression suddenly changed. "Could it be..."

Ancient times and modern times—true, both practiced the internal martial arts. But the environments differed. In modern times, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth had thinned to the point of negligibility. And in ancient times?

"Legend says the ancients could absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and refine it into inner force. And that method of absorbing spiritual qi is in fact a method of breathing." Teng Xuanji's eyes lit up. "The breathing methods of my internal martial arts should likewise be able to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Could it be that during this past month, while I practiced Xingyi, I was also naturally absorbing spiritual qi, and it has now been transformed into inner force?"

There was no other possibility.

Teng Xuanji's sinews and muscles were, after all, still at an early stage; the essence and blood in his body could not possibly have produced inner force.

There was only one explanation: the absorption of the spiritual qi of heaven and earth had produced inner force.

"Inner force at three years old—in modern times that would be utterly impossible." Teng Xuanji felt his heart tremble. "A person draws energy from eating, and the energy absorbed is limited. But now I can absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Then to what heights might I reach?"

In modern times, drawing energy from food, the energy was limited, yet the internal martial arts could still reach the level of an SS-rank assassin.

But in ancient times, with boundless spiritual qi to absorb, to what realm might a master of the internal martial arts attain?

Teng Xuanji's eyes shone.

Suddenly his heart was filled with a yearning—a yearning for the future.

The future—just how far could he himself go?

"It seems the training plan I set for myself before will have to change." Feeling that faint thread of inner force within his body, Teng Xuanji was in that moment filled with boundless ambition.