CG Chapter 145: A Mouthful of Righteous Ki
Outside the Beggar Sect hideout, deep in the rotting alleys of the slums, Aretius drifted past the sagging roofs and broken windows.
In his hand, he held the thick booklet, its pages quickly fluttering beneath his aged fingers at an abnormal speed. To any outsider, this would seem like he was toying with the pages rather than actually reading them.
Luckily, the starving residents paid him no mind, as they were more worried about how to hush the clawing pain in their bellies, and how to fill their next rice bowl.
He, however, didn't let the booklet take all of his focus, as his legs continued walking to an unknown place.
Reading the first words that explained the martial arts and power system of this world, he was lost in thought for a small moment, as he carefully analyzed the text, trying to understand it on a deeper level before continuing his walk.
The booklet explained that people could walk on the two major paths of inner and outer martial arts, but it also noted that some sects didn't follow that system.
One major example was the Confucius Sect, which preached the concept of nurturing righteous Ki around their hearts. By "spitting" forth with a mouthful of Righteous Ki, they could clash with even First-Rate masters, or perhaps stronger.
However, despite how shiny and easy it seemed, Aretius quickly figured out a major problem with this path.
While, yes, it might offer an easy way to gain power, it all depended on the concept of righteousness and morality, and who exactly judged if something was morally right or wrong?
It definitely wasn't the people themselves; otherwise, most people out there would become masters with the flip of a coin. After all, most people thought of themselves as righteous; even many criminals and lowlifes thought that their actions were within some moral right.
Heck, if people had that right, then even he would become the Grand Confucius himself, since all it takes is believing that you are right.
Let's not forget that to Aretius the only justice and morality worthy of speaking of was power, the kind of power that belonged to oneself and no other.
Thus, he concluded that most likely the master behind this little play was none other than…
Aretius looked at the starry night above him.
He thought internally, 'How interesting it seemed that at some level all Heavenly Wills would choose to develop some kind of internal group to defend them from outsiders and act as some form of heavenly justice.
But what is the use of that power if they ultimately become nothing more than some lowly lapdogs that would bark at the nearest tree the heavens deem unworthy?'
To make things simple, the concept of titles naturally developed over the years to group all people from all systems into one hierarchical pyramid.
The outer path. Started with the five organs, trying to make up for the deficiencies of the human body, to fill the gaps, and heighten the peaks.
It went from Skin Tempering; Flesh Refinement; Bone Forging; Blood Purification; and Marrow Awakening who are considered the highest as they were given the title of Outer Mastery.
The inner path would begin from Breath Control, where the practitioner would only be a bit stronger than mortals and could get crushed by one if not careful. For that reason, those who walked this path were mostly nobles who had the luxury of time.
It then progressed to Ki Stirring, where the practitioner would extract his body's treasures; Ki Guiding, where he learned to completely use it; Ki Anchoring, where one would stabilize the rampant Ki flowing in their bodies; and Ki Harmonization, where everything returned into one.
These two systems respectively followed the ranks of Fourth to First Rate martial arts until they finally ended with the realm of an inner or outer master.
As for what came after, the booklet didn't explain, only mentioning that it was the realm of supreme masters that shouldn't be spoken of.
It should be noted that the booklet mentioned that some ambitious people tried walking both paths, but the end of such people went one of two ways: the majority would quickly fall into mediocrity as they saw all of their peers surpass them by miles, which was natural since no one had unlimited time or talent.
However, there still were a few rare gems that, despite the odds, would somehow match their peers in speed, or, even rarer, surpass them.
These few showed a much higher power level, and it wasn't as simple as one plus one equaling two. Instead, the two systems would harmonize with each other as they made up for each other's weaknesses and even amplified their strengths.
Imagine a case where a Blood Purification body martial artist fought a Ki Anchoring cultivator, both of whom rightfully had the title of a First-Rate Expert. In close proximity, the body martial artist would crush the cultivator like a child's toy due to the big difference in physical strength.
Still at long range, the KI cultivator would have an easier time maneuvering as he slowly exhausted the strength of the body martial artist.
Aretius estimated that he could take down a Fourth-Rate martial artist with his current body; anything above that would be too much of a stretch with his crippled bones.
He guessed that if he had a normal adult body, then he might even take down Third or Second Rate experts with under-the-belt tactics.
He, unfortunately, couldn't be sure, as the only knowledge that he had came from the booklet. Without facing an actual expert, Aretius wouldn't make a fool out of himself and risk his life over some guess; if he did, then his thousands of lifetimes would amount to naught.
Thinking of this, and his own path, a somewhat heretical idea came to Aretius that would throw the whole world into disorder. Well, it wasn't like he cared…
He grinned to himself, 'It seems like I need to carry punishment on behalf of the heavens. Xian Xiao Butcher…'