"The Three Innate Realms: Observing Principles, Cultivating Essence, and Perceiving Divinity."
"Observing the principles of heaven and earth, cultivating the essence of martial arts, and perceiving the divinity within oneself."
"The essence of these three realms is a step-by-step progression—observing the world, imitating the world, and ultimately becoming the world."
"Now that I have taken the first step and become an Innate Martial Artist, it is only the beginning."
Creak—
After his breakthrough, Xu Xi pushed open the wooden door and stepped back into the snow-blanketed world outside.
The air was biting cold, and people were bustling about.
After the demon tide, Qingniu Town had not quieted down.
Burying the dead, tending to the wounded, carving up demon flesh, and clearing the rubble of collapsed houses—there was too much to be done.
There was no time for grief; emotions were numb. The townsfolk could only work as quickly as possible to clear the grotesque ruins and prepare for the next wave of demon attacks.
The demon tide would last a long time, from winter until the following spring.
It was like an endless punishment, lashing and tormenting everyone.
"Not enough, it's still far from enough…"
Xu Xi muttered to himself.
Clarity.
Purity.
His heart seemed to have truly transformed into a furnace, with blazing vital energy providing him with an endless source of strength.
The cultivation of the Observing Principles realm.
The innate martial artist's protective aura.
After his breakthrough, Xu Xi was far stronger than he had been in the Blood Exchange realm.
But this was not enough. The cultivation of the Observing Principles realm alone was far from sufficient.
"Although I do not know the full extent of the Great Qian Dynasty's power, it is undeniable that within it exist Martial Immortals, beings who completely surpass Innate Martial Artists."
"If even Martial Immortals cannot withstand the Ten Thousand Mountains, how can an Innate Martial Artist hope to?"
Snow weighed down the eaves.
Wind battered the windows.
Amid the howling wind and snow, Xu Xi recalled the terrifying sights he had witnessed over the past few years.
A roc with wings that blotted out the sky soared across the heavens.
A serpent as massive as a mountain opened its maw to devour the stars.
Such power, as if myths had come to life, was far beyond what ordinary martial artists could contend with.
"Whoosh—!!!"
The wind and snow grew fiercer.
Xu Xi raised his right hand against the flurry of snowflakes, his fingers straight and aligned like a blade, slashing horizontally through the storm.
Sss.
Like a balloon deflating.
A faint, almost imperceptible sound.
But suddenly, the faint sound erupted into a deafening roar, and the swirling snowflakes, like out-of-control butterflies, crashed chaotically in all directions.
They were all shattered and dispersed by an invisible aura.
For a brief moment, the world was clear, with neither wind nor snow in sight, all of it halted by Xu Xi's strike.
Though the familiar blizzard returned after a few breaths, it was enough to demonstrate the overwhelming strength of an Innate Martial Artist compared to a Body Forging Martial Artist.
Yet.
Such strength, awe-inspiring as it was to mortals, was laughable to the more powerful demons and Martial Immortals, utterly insignificant.
"The road ahead is long indeed."
…
[Simulation Year 7: After breaking through the Blood Exchange realm, you rapidly advanced to become an Innate Martial Artist.]
[This was an unexpected promotion.]
[You had once calculated that, based on the time you were stuck at the Marrow Cleansing stage, it would take at least five years to break through to the Innate realm.]
[But now, those five years were bypassed, and you stepped directly into the Innate realm.]
[You marveled at the uniqueness of the Vital Energy Martial Path.]
[In the cultivation world, cultivators needed to meditate in peace, avoiding the entanglement of karma.]
[In the world of magic, mages needed to enter a state of meditation to empty their minds and connect with the elements.]
[Most of the time, intense emotional fluctuations would hinder cultivation or magic practice, but today's battle with the demons had propelled your martial realm to a rapid breakthrough.]
[You suddenly realized that while perseverance and rigorous training were undoubtedly useful, in the martial path, unwavering conviction was equally important.]
[Your strength surged.]
[Your vital energy became astonishing.]
[The third wave of the winter demon tide arrived, and this time, you chose to face it alone.]
[You walked on air, without any formal instruction, relying solely on your own determination to master the basic use of aura, transforming it into a blade to annihilate all invading demons.]
[You successfully protected Qingniu Town, and the people, amazed by your strength, cheered for you.]
……
[You did not feel joy.]
[On the contrary, your expression was grave.]
[In recent years, the demon tides of spring and winter had grown stronger, with an increasing number of Blood Exchange-level demons—a dangerous sign indeed.]
[You worried that if a demon equivalent to an Innate Martial Artist appeared, it would devastate Qingniu Town.]
[You guarded against this possibility, quietly intensifying your martial training.]
[You were lucky.]
[All the people of Qingniu Town were lucky.]
[By the time spring arrived and the last wave of the demon tide ended, no demon equivalent to an Innate Martial Artist had appeared, and with your protection, Qingniu Town survived the harsh winter.]
[Spring came, and the earth awakened from its winter slumber, with lush greenery everywhere. Only the blackened bloodstains on the roads remained as grim reminders of the winter's bloody slaughter.]
[Simulation Year 8: You are 23 years old.]
[You have fully stabilized your Innate realm, with your aura refined and your vital energy radiant. As always, you remained diligent and hardworking, never abandoning your martial pursuits.]
[But in addition to this, you also allocated some time to plan for future actions.]
[You knew that, based on the frequency of past demon tides, the next winter would inevitably bring even stronger demons.]
[As an Innate Martial Artist, you were powerful, but you could not protect everyone.]
[You received vegetable buns from Niu's family.]
[You received Granny Liu's bland soup.]
[You received 'candy' from the neighborhood children—a special kind of grass stalk that tasted sweet when chewed, a favorite treat for children in the borderlands.]
……
[You began searching for a new path, one that could protect more people and prevent them from meeting tragic ends.]
[Why are you doing this?]
[You asked yourself this question in your heart.]
[As you ate the vegetable buns, drank the bland soup, and chewed the 'candy' given by the children, you suddenly chuckled, realizing that no reason was needed.]
[Or perhaps, the reasons were everywhere.]
[You came up with a challenging plan.]
[You decided to teach martial arts to the townsfolk, enabling them to protect themselves. But there was a crucial problem: most people lacked the talent for martial arts.]
[They lacked comprehension, unable to grasp the principles of the techniques.]
[They had poor physiques, with inherently weak vital energy.]
[So, was there a martial art in the world that required neither comprehension nor a strong physique, allowing ordinary people to become martial artists?]
[The answer was no.]
[But you were not ready to give up.]
[With your Martial Evolution trait, you had countless possibilities.]
[You quietly obtained a copy of the "Qi Nurturing Technique," a common and widely available martial art, intending to use it as the foundation to develop a martial art that even ordinary people could use to grow stronger.]
[You continued practicing the "Qi Nurturing Technique"...]
[You continued refining your innate aura...]