Chapter Twenty-Two: Martial Arts, Fourth Heaven
Within the dim cave, Qi Fei retrieved a luminous pearl from his robe, its faint glow casting a gentle radiance in the darkness. As the seven-day deadline approached, his master, Mo Zhanpeng, had gifted him this pearl. By its light, Qi Fei carefully examined the cave’s surroundings.
The entrance was already sealed by Huo Zhongmou’s Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array. Even his master, Mo Zhanpeng, had spoken of this profound sect barrier with dread; Qi Fei dared not test its power. High on the cave’s slanting wall was a small opening, scarcely half a foot wide, leading to the outside world. Through the hole, a rope could be vaguely seen; it was most likely the sect’s means of delivering water and food in the future.
The Grand Elder and Huo Zhongmou had long since departed from the Cliff of Reflection, leaving Qi Fei alone and unburdened. He embedded the luminous pearl into the stone wall, then calmed his mind. As he invoked the reverse flow of the “Heart-Linking Art,” two powerful martial spirits erupted within his dantian and sea of qi.
Casting aside distracting thoughts, Qi Fei channeled the dual true qi born of his ice and fire spirits and began to practice the one hundred and eight forms of the “Eight-Armed Wind and Thunder Fist.”
His fists moved as swiftly as wind and thunder, their howls echoing endlessly through the cave. Before long, a wave of oppressive loneliness surged within him. His master’s warnings were indeed true: cultivating beneath the perpetually sunless Cliff of Reflection, anyone lacking resolute will would eventually be driven mad by this despair and solitude, seeking death in the sword array’s deadly embrace.
A suspicion crept into Qi Fei’s heart—did the sect leader, Lu Qingxuan, and the Grand Elder not fear that, over time, he might perish within the Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array, his spirit broken by despair?
At dusk, a disciple of the Danxia Sect delivered water and food through the small opening. Qi Fei untied the rope, retrieved the provisions, and ravenously devoured them.
Though he trained his body and bones all day with internal martial arts, a deep worry grew in his heart. Such methods consumed much strength, and he did not know if the sparse water and food would suffice for his cultivation.
He sniffed the strange odor coming from his body and sighed, yet could not bring himself to use the precious water to cleanse himself.
Suddenly, an aged voice drifted through the small hole, reaching Qi Fei’s ears.
“Qi Fei, can you hear me?”
Qi Fei’s heart jolted—it was the Grand Elder Guo Huai, who had left the Cliff of Reflection long ago. With suspicion, he quickly employed the “Heart-Linking Art” to conceal his martial spirits, strode to the opening, and projected his voice with true qi: “Is the Grand Elder outside?”
The voice of Guo Huai replied, “Indeed, it is I.”
Qi Fei wondered if the Grand Elder wished to interrogate him about hiding the Gathering Essence Pill. No, if the Grand Elder intended such, he could simply wait until Qi Fei was tormented into despair by this dark prison before acting.
“What instructions does the Grand Elder have?”
“The Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array laid by Elder Huo is formidable. Even if you master your martial spirit someday, you are no match for it. You must not tempt fate by testing its power.”
Qi Fei realized that the Grand Elder truly feared he might recklessly trigger the array and lose his life.
“Thank you for your guidance, Grand Elder. I will obey,” Qi Fei replied, then added, “Grand Elder, I have a request—may I trouble you to grant it?”
Outside, Guo Huai was silent for a moment before replying, “What do you wish? Speak. If it does not violate sect rules, I may consider it.”
“Grand Elder, as I cultivate day and night in the cave, might I have a little more water and food delivered?”
Afraid the Grand Elder would sense any deception, Qi Fei quickly added, “If you grant this, I will surely repay you in the future.”
A note of suspicion crept into Guo Huai’s voice, “Repay me? Do you still have the Gathering Essence Pill hidden?”
Qi Fei feigned hesitation and replied flustered, “I am loyal to the sect—how could I hide anything?”
“Then how will you repay me?”
Qi Fei had already prepared an answer. “In the valley where I obtained the Gathering Essence Pill, I may have missed some treasures. If the Grand Elder is willing, I will one day lead you there; perhaps more fortune awaits.”
At last, Guo Huai relaxed, “Very well, I grant your request. Remain here and cultivate, but do not touch the Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array. Should you break your word, do not blame me for being merciless.”
“I would not dare.”
Guo Huai added, “The sect has many affairs. If you wish to speak with me, simply pull the rope three times when food and water are delivered. A disciple will report to me.”
“I understand and thank the Grand Elder.”
Qi Fei waited by the small opening for a while longer, but the Grand Elder made no further sign—he must have departed from the Cliff of Reflection. Soon, someone would surely bring more provisions.
Sure enough, half an hour later, a fresh supply of food and water descended by rope. With his worries about internal cultivation alleviated, Qi Fei’s heart was settled.
Time in the cave slipped by unnoticed. Before he knew it, he had spent several months cultivating beneath the Cliff of Reflection.
Each day, he practiced the one hundred and eight forms of “Eight-Armed Wind and Thunder Fist,” tempering his body. Over these months, Qi Fei had mastered this superior internal martial art to an extraordinary degree.
As he circulated his true qi, his tattered white training robes swelled without wind. With a sudden stomp, the stone beneath his feet split apart, and thunderous cracks echoed through the cave. When he struck out with his fist, the air seemed torn by a mighty wind, and the blow crashed into the stone wall. The stone of the Cliff of Reflection was far harder than ordinary rock, but even so, his punches sent waves of force surging, shattering stones in all directions.
Suddenly, Qi Fei’s face turned ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes flushed red. True qi surged within him; his organs, muscles, and bones underwent a stunning transformation.
It was as if his body was being hammered and refined by a thousand-pound sledge. He could clearly sense his martial spirit’s qi, drawn by the mysteries of internal martial arts, continually tempering his flesh and meridians.
Knowing this was the crucial moment for forging his body in martial arts, Qi Fei gritted his teeth, enduring the onslaught of qi, and intensified his strikes, further drawing out his strength and toughening his body. Soon, his meridians grew more resilient, and his physique became ever stronger.
After half an hour, Qi Fei roared, and his already tattered white training robe burst apart. The once-slight youth was transformed—his frame grew robust and imposing, his muscles and bones tempered to perfection, hard as iron.
At this moment, the interplay of the two martial spirits—ice and fire—brought Qi Fei, this youth of dual spirits, to a new opportunity.
As his fistwork reached its apex, the fiery spirit’s energy surged, refining his body, while the icy qi of the other spirit coursed through his meridians. The two opposing energies intertwined, gradually merging into a single, vast and peculiar true qi.
The searing fire and the freezing ice blended together; in his dantian, the two martial spirits fused and mutated. In an instant, a wave of inexpressible exhilaration washed through his body.
His acupoints opened, his meridians widened and solidified, and the newly-forged ice-fire martial spirit refined his internal energies into purer, more potent true qi.
Filth seeped from every pore, and Qi Fei felt utterly refreshed. He could not resist channeling this new, mighty qi into a punch.
His fist thundered forth, sending a visible blast of energy crashing into the stone wall and blasting a gaping hole a yard across, pulverizing the rock to dust.
In just a few months, relying on his innate advantage of dual martial spirits, Qi Fei soared from the second tier of martial arts, refining body and marrow, to the fourth tier. Moreover, as he unleashed the “Eight-Armed Wind and Thunder Fist,” he sensed the subtle mysteries of the fifth tier, where internal force manifests externally.
The tremendous commotion in the cave alarmed the Danxia Sect disciples stationed outside. A surprised voice called through the small opening, “What happened? Why are stones exploding in the cave? Qi Fei, by order of the Grand Elder, do not touch the Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array!”
Qi Fei seemed not to hear, gazing at his hands before throwing his head back in a wild, exultant cry.
In just a few short months, he had ascended to the fourth tier of martial arts, and his ice and fire spirits had fused. The combined qi contained boundless power; with his cultivation greatly advanced, he now had the means to protect himself, even in these dire circumstances.
The disciple outside grew anxious, wondering if Qi Fei, after months of solitude, had lost his mind.
Eventually regaining his composure, Qi Fei surveyed the battered cave and the tattered rags hanging from his body, shaking his head with a wry smile.
He stripped off the ruined clothing, scrubbed himself with fresh water, and then raised his voice: “I have heeded the Grand Elder’s advice and have not touched the Four-Aspect Infinite Sword Array. Would you please bring me a new set of clothes and inform the Grand Elder that today, I have finally awakened my martial spirit? In the days to come, as I practice the ‘Tiger Roar Fist’ here, the disturbances may only grow greater.”
Had Qi Fei truly awakened his martial spirit at the Cliff of Reflection? The disciple on guard was visibly startled and hurried off to the main hall to report.