Martial Artists, the Three Gates, the Nine Realms!
Hearing Duan Chenzhou's words, Ji Xiu's ears perked up. He was unwilling to miss a single detail.
Previously, he had repeatedly tried to cozy up to Qin Biao, plying him with food and wine, all to ask about the secrets of 'Martial Artists'.
But after getting him tipsy a few times, Ji Xiu finally had it all figured out.
This Qin Biao was just a man from a respectable family who had squandered half his life's savings in his youth and was desperately trying to turn his life around.
When he was young, here in Anning County, he found an obscure little Martial Arts Hall, paid a few dozen silver, performed the tea ceremony, and became a disciple.
But after several months of training without any real results, he was kicked out, his name struck from the registry.
Unwilling to give up, he clung to that martial arts manual, whose explanation of 'Entering the Realm' was vague at best, and practiced for another ten-plus years.
In the process, he exhausted his family's savings without getting any tangible results and racked up significant debts from both loans and gambling.
With no other choice, he had to sell himself into servitude at the Lin Residence, where he had struggled and scraped by to this day.
That was why, when Ji Xiu was single-mindedly pursuing the Martial Dao, Qin Biao offered him a few words of caution—it was because he himself had failed so miserably on this very path.
His understanding of a Martial Artist's path was superficial at best, and he didn't believe Ji Xiu could succeed, so his words were vague and couldn't be taken at face value.
But...
Now, Ji Xiu had found the way.
And before him, as dusk faded completely and moonlight spilled onto the stone table in the cool courtyard, Duan Chenzhou was about to impart the true teachings to him!
So, he hurriedly took the kettle of boiling water from the side stove, set out the tea bowls, and brewed the tea.
He then respectfully offered a bowl to Duan Chenzhou before returning to his own stool, where he sat bolt upright, assuming the posture of a 'good student'.
Duan Chenzhou nodded in satisfaction.
"You're a sharp kid. Just like I was back in my day."
With that, he picked up his tea bowl and took a small sip to wet his throat.
"Before that,"
"I must ask you, Ji Xiu. What do you think..."
"How strong can the strongest Martial Artist be?"
'How strong can a Martial Artist be?'
Ji Xiu thought for a moment, then answered with some uncertainty:
"Parting rivers, cutting through water? Flying by manipulating Qi?"
Duan Chenzhou shook his head.
Ji Xiu clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing as he couldn't help but aim his next guess even higher.
"Becoming a one-man army? Carrying Mountains and Chasing the Sun?"
Duan Chenzhou still shook his head.
This made Ji Xiu's heart tremble, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking, 'Could it be that the Martial Dao of this world reaches such profound heights that... it's comparable to immortals and gods!?'
Just as the thought formed and he was about to speak, Duan Chenzhou tapped the rim of his bowl and said leisurely,
"You might be wondering why I'm asking you this."
"Because,"
"this is the very same question my own benevolent master asked me before he passed on his teachings, back when I, Duan Chenzhou, first became his apprentice."
"At the time, the hall was full of students, yet not a single one could answer correctly."
"For a boy from a poor family to even think of such things is already remarkable. It's enough to see the ambition burning in your chest."
"But I have to tell you, it's still not enough."
Duan Chenzhou clenched one fist and slammed it on the stone table, exclaiming,
"At that time, my former master, whose Cultivation had reached the level of a 'Qi Cultivation Grandmaster', once said,"
"'Although Martial Arts are bound by a framework known as the 'Three Gates and Nine Realms', throughout history, there have been those who could break these Shackles.'"
"Therefore,"
"In the Great Xuan Dynasty, the opening of the 'Profound Monarch Martial Scripture'—used to teach princes and imperial grandsons—is said to contain these words:
"'The Martial Realm is boundless and without limit.'"
"'As wide as your heart, so high your reach!'"
"Later, as this spread, this maxim was adopted by many Sects to teach newly initiated Disciples. It is called: 'Setting Your Ambition'!"
"But you are of humble birth, and a servant besides. All you have seen and sought amounts to just two words: 'Rise up.' That's not good enough."
"So tonight,"
"I, Duan Chenzhou, will set your ambition for you. I will unveil a 'map of the Martial Dao'!"
"The path is at your feet."
"As for how far and how high you can go..."
He extended a hand in an inviting gesture.
"That's entirely up to you."
Having set the tone and fired up Ji Xiu's spirit, Duan Chenzhou quickened his pace, cutting straight to the heart of the matter: "Your guesses captured it perfectly—the idea that the body is unconstrained, that the Martial Dao is endless. For you to express that... it truly points to the truth of being a 'Martial Artist'. It's hard to believe you're just a poor boy who sold himself into servitude."
"It is precisely because generations of Martial Artists, who held the same thoughts as you, continuously pioneered and forged new paths that we have the 'Martial Realm' as it's known throughout the world today."
"The Three Gates are the 'Power Barrier', the 'Qi Barrier', and the 'Will Barrier'!"
"As their names imply."
"The 'Power Barrier' tempers one's physical strength. After achieving Great Success, one can become impervious to blades and spears, invulnerable to Water and Fire. Tearing a Tiger and Leopard apart with your bare hands becomes a simple matter."
"The 'Qi Barrier' is about cultivating a breath of Qi and shaping it into swords and blades. With it, you can achieve Ten Steps One Kill, send a flying sword a hundred paces, and take a man's head in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!"
"As for the 'Will Barrier'..."
At this point, a tone of longing and reverence had unconsciously crept into Duan Chenzhou's voice, as if he were gazing at the moon in the heavens.
"Even I do not know its depths."
"But,"
"an elder senior once said that those in that realm have already condensed their 'Martial Dao Will'. They have formed their own unique truth and believe in their own Martial Dao without a shadow of a doubt. It is called the 'Dao of Sincerity, by which one can know what is to come'!"
"Through these thoughts, which can almost influence reality itself, they can do... everything you just mentioned."
"Those in the Power Barrier are called Martial Artists; those who practice Qi Cultivation are Grandmasters."
"And above that,"
"are the 'Titled', those who possess their own Title!"
"Figures like these can, in this great and ancient age of the Martial Dao, carve their own footprints into the endless scroll of history."
"Compared to the innumerable other Martial Artists,"
"they are the pioneers, the trailblazers, the 'gods' who have forged their own path. They are the true... 'Martial Arts Family'!"
"They are what countless millions of Martial Artists pursue their entire lives."
"It's just a pity,"
Duan Chenzhou sighed softly.
"That it is so incredibly difficult."
"Ninety-nine percent of people under the heavens... for instance, in this five-hundred-li Anning County, if you took all one hundred thousand-plus households... you couldn't find a single Grandmaster who has broken through the 'Qi Barrier'."
"Let alone anyone of a higher level."
"I'm telling you all this simply to broaden your horizons, so that when you reach the end of your path, you don't become one of those 'Misers' who builds a small foundation and then wastes their life away acting like a petty tyrant in this five-hundred-li Anning County."
His expression turned serious.
"The Three Power Barrier Realms are divided into 'Tendon Refining', 'Bone Tempering', and 'Skin Refining'!"
"The Qi Barrier Grandmasters and the Titled Martial Dao I just mentioned are too distant for you right now. I only spoke of them to bolster your Spirit."
"But this, right here, is tangible. It concerns your entire future."
"If you successfully complete Tendon Refining, you will have crossed the threshold."
"Not only will the Government Office remove you from the 'Slave Registry', but even your own masters will do everything in their power to keep you."
"This is your ticket to becoming an 'Honored Guest'."
"And if you can achieve Bone Tempering, even to the mere level of Iron Bone, then as long as you haven't passed the age where your Qi and Blood begins to decline—the age when fists begin to fear the young—"
"you can rely on your Martial Arts to open a small Boxing Hall and become a 'Hall Master', or even be the 'Captain' behind a local enterprise!"
"And if, by some stroke of luck, your arduous Cultivation one day allows you to reach the Perfection of Tendon Refining, succeed in Bone Tempering, and ascend to the Skin Refining Realm..."
"Heh."
Duan Chenzhou chuckled, then stood up and pointed to the sky.
"One sentence."
"This five-hundred-li Anning County..."
"Will be yours to command!"