From the Ming Dynasty, we will conquer the world

Chapter 17: Forged by Thunder and Fire, Refined to the Ultimate Level! (5400)

Chun'an is hundreds of miles away from Taizhou, but due to continuous heavy rains and blocked roads, if you really want to get there, you may have to walk nearly a thousand miles.

With Xu Xing's level of boxing skills, if he were to travel alone, attacking day and night, this distance would not be a big deal.

But after all, he was with a group of apprentices, and although he was traveling light, he was still a little slow.

Among the thirty-eight people who were rescued from prison by Xu Xing, thirty of them who were able to move normally and practice martial arts chose to follow him on the journey.

Together with Xiyu and Qi Dazhu who were accompanying them, as well as the four security coaches sent by Shen Yishi, the momentum of their group was indeed not small.

Fortunately, the routes chosen by Xu Xing were mostly in the mountains and did not attract much attention.

The rain has been so heavy these days that the water has rushed down the hillside in the form of mud, gathering into a flood that has completely destroyed the winding paths through the woods.

Everyone could only climb up the steep and rocky cliffs. The mountain path was extremely dangerous and narrow. The rain was like a waterfall, coming from all directions, hitting the mountain walls and breaking into a misty white fog, blocking their vision.

It is like a blind man riding a blind horse, standing by a deep pond in the middle of the night.

If you are not careful, your steps will tremble and your body will roll down the mountain stream and be smashed into pieces.

Although these thirty men all prided themselves on being brave, they were all sweating, their hands and feet were numb, and they were breathing heavily when they climbed such a steep mountain.

The four coaches also looked pale, and their usually rock-solid stances were a little stiff.

Only after going through a life-and-death experience, Qi Dazhu, who vaguely touched the threshold of "bone refining", and Xiyu, who had undergone a second body refining, could they deal with it calmly, as if walking on flat ground.

As for Xu Xing...

He was not just walking on flat ground, he was like a bird flying into the sky and a fish entering the sea. As soon as he entered the woods, he disappeared, free and unfettered.

Only when these disciples slipped and were about to fall into the abyss would Xu Xing appear, give them a little help, and then leap away again.

This is the practice of "stealing the secrets of heaven" in the martial arts. The essence of this practice is to put people in great terror on the brink of life and death, to muster all their energy, tense their hearts, and inspire courage.

The excitement and fear that this kind of training method can bring are in no way inferior to actual life-and-death combat.

It is too dangerous for ordinary people to practice. Even if they are brave enough, mistakes are inevitable.

But with Xu Xing's level of boxing skills, he could easily protect everyone from harm.

In the previous bloody battle in the prison, although these men had experienced a life-and-death fight with real swords and guns, the main force was still Xu Xing and Qi Dazhu, and the time was too short and the stimulation was not enough.

Xu Xing wanted to use the method of stealing the secrets of heaven to train these apprentices again on this journey.

After all, they might encounter unexpected events when they go to Taizhou. Since there is an opportunity for them to improve their skills, Xu Xing, the owner of the hall, will naturally not miss it.

The reason why martial artists throughout the ages called this method "the devil's way" is not only because practicing boxing with one's life at risk is extremely dangerous, but also because practicing in this way can lead to rapid progress.

After all, even if you practice martial arts to the highest level, you still cannot escape the words life and death, and you have to figure it out.

During breaks, the apprentices talked about the owner and even started arguing about him.

Some said that this was because the owner of the hall had practiced the eagle-form kung fu to the highest level and was able to transform into an eagle.

Some simply said that Xu Xing was a thousand-year-old demon in disguise, and that his so-called boxing and martial arts were just a way for him to cover up his own sorcery.

In any case, they all had a common idea when they mentioned Xu Xing.

No matter what this museum owner is, he is absolutely, absolutely not a human!

Qi Dazhu had no choice but to let this kind of speech go on despite repeated bans.

After hearing it so many times, even he, the eldest disciple, couldn't help but be shaken.

Thinking of Xu Xing's mysterious behavior over the years, often disappearing for three or four days, or even ten days or half a month, Qi Dazhu couldn't help but become suspicious.

Could it be that under the appearance of a scholar, Master really is some monster?

Xu Xing was too lazy to care about these things.

Since becoming a grandmaster, the sound of Xu Xing's boxing skills was quite terrifying, and it was not convenient to perform them in front of people.

Now that the apprentices were tired from training, he climbed to the top of the rock to practice his boxing skills on his own.

After giving Qi Dazhu an order and throwing the mixed iron rod to him, Xu Xing jumped up, stepped on the steep cliff, and flew towards the top of the mountain. His robe fluttered as if he was riding on the clouds.

After becoming a grandmaster, Xu Xing's poking skills could no longer be described as "a combination of hardness and softness".

It is simply extraordinary and amazing!

Xu Xingzu took one step at a time and climbed almost vertically. After a while, he had climbed more than ten feet and reached the top of the cliff.

Set foot here, walk slowly and look into the distance.

I saw cumulus clouds piling up, as if condensed into a solid iron wall, covering the mountains. Thunder flashed and thunder rose and fell, and heavy rain poured down like a waterfall.

It was as if dozens of dragons and snakes had gathered here, poking a hole in the sky, causing the Milky Way to flood back into the human world.

After a boxer becomes proficient in martial arts, it is an inevitable process for him to understand the changes in the human body through the changes in nature.

Especially for the masters who have already dabbled in the "Way of Supremacy", using celestial phenomena to cultivate the spirit of boxing is a glorious and correct way.

Without a heart that shakes the mountains and rivers, how can you deliver boxing skills that shake the world?

Such a heroic spirit can only be obtained through the tempering of nature, the world, and human nature.

Yes, this kind of place and this kind of weather are perfect for practicing boxing.

Xu Xing took a deep breath, faced the violent storm, and performed the seventy-two moves recorded in Lei Bin's "Mian Zhang Short Fighting" booklet.

The man's body moved sideways and diagonally, circling and spinning, his hands moving with his steps, slashing, chopping, and thrusting. His shoulder sockets were sunken like pits, and his skin was covered with a very light blue-black color.

Ever since Xu Xing obtained the Sanfeng Blood Sutra, he has always wanted to comprehend its profound meaning.

However, these two scriptures mostly use cryptic language from the alchemy field. Although Xu Xing is well-read due to his uncle, he still finds it difficult to understand the true meaning.

However, although he could not understand the content, he was able to understand the profound meaning contained in every character and stroke through his master-level boxing skills.

This kind of Taoist boxing meaning can be used to sharpen Xu Xing's boxing intentions, add power to his grandmaster boxing moves, and also make his mind more acute and his perception of the world more profound.

After breaking through the gate of life and death and allowing his qi and blood to flow through his forehead, Xu Xing's mental acuity surpassed that of his peers.

Now that I have been tempered like this, that kind of mysterious connection has become even stronger.

Even the number of times that mirror images can be condensed every day has increased by one, from three times to four times, and the efficiency of deducing martial arts is several times higher than before.

Therefore, although the rainstorm phenomenon was evolving every moment, Xu Xing could still catch that faint rhythm, and circulate his own qi and blood to resonate with it. His muscles and bones responded to the rolling thunder, and his internal organs agitated and vibrated to make sounds.

Even though Xu Xing did not deliberately use any strength, he was just performing each move in a methodical manner.

But the rain around him was still swept away by this shock, and a white "rainless zone" was created in the wind and rain.

Everyone knows that if one wants to achieve immortality through martial arts, one must achieve a state of purity of body and spirit.

The physical body is the extreme of reality of Yang, and its goal is to achieve “seeing the indestructible spirit”; the spiritual body is the extreme of emptiness of Yin, and its goal is to achieve “breaking through the void”.

Only when the two are combined into one can one become a complete martial arts immortal.

As for the path to cultivate the physical body to the point where one can see the indestructible gods, warriors throughout the ages have their own answers.

Taoist boxing, represented by Wudang, combines alchemy with boxing. It aims to mobilize the essence of water and grain, transform the Ying and Wei, reach the level of mercury, marrow and silver paste, and finally condense the vitality into a point, going against the innate.

Therefore, this method is called "Jade Liquid Elixir".

Buddhist martial arts, represented by Shaolin, use many secret methods to stimulate the potential of the human body, turn decay into magic, train the body to have various strange appearances, and become an incorruptible golden body.

Therefore, this path is called "Real Vajra Appearance".

Spiritual practice is even more illusory, and there is no universal path at all.

The masters of all generations could only simply divide the spiritual realm before breaking through the void into three stages.

The first, and most basic, is called borrowing appearance.

The method of borrowing appearance in boxing is to use mental thoughts to hypnotize yourself and stimulate the potential of the human body, so as to deliver a stronger punch.

This method is also called divine attack.

But if one wants to become a master, a boxer must be sincere to himself and to his boxing skills, otherwise he will not be able to master the fist seal and condense his own boxing style.

This is the second realm, which is also the so-called way of utmost sincerity.

Therefore, the grandmaster's boxing realm is also called "the god of utmost sincerity", which means that there is no need to ask for help from the gods. If you are sincere enough, you will naturally become the god who dominates yourself.

The third realm is also the change of the way of utmost sincerity.

The Grandmaster's "Seal of Man and Fist" is essentially about drawing inspiration from his own experiences and extracting real and authentic strength to strengthen his fists.

If you want to go further, you need to practice fist and heaven seal. This state is not achieved by hard training, but by gaining enough insights from the nature of heaven and earth.

In this way, the boxer can grasp the vague connection between the human body and the universe, diffuse his mind and connect with the universe around him.

This is also called "returning to the void".

The so-called breaking of the void means that one must first diffuse the mind and reflect the void, and then one can attempt to "break".

Although Xu Xing's "sincerity as divine" has not yet reached its peak, he has already touched a glimpse of the secret of "reflecting the void" through this coincidence.

Moreover, although he did not have the secret manuals of Buddhist and Taoist boxing at hand, after Xu Xing became a master, he had his own understanding of the realm of "seeing the indestructible gods".

When the fourth level of refinement was completed, Xu Xing originally thought that he was close to perfection in the training of his skin, flesh, tendons and bones.

But after achieving the master's degree and awakening the stone mirror, Xu Xing gradually discovered through his desperate practice that he still had a long way to go in terms of detail.

Whether it is refining the skin, flesh, tendons, or bones, there are defects that can be made up for.

Everyone in the martial arts world knows that the Four Refining of Skin, Flesh, Tendons and Bones, although with the same name, each school has different methods, and when the training is successful, the results presented are also different.

For example, when Xu Xing was refining his skin in the past, he used the "Iron Shirt" skill that matched the Eagle Claw. When he practiced it to the highest level, as soon as he exerted his strength, his entire body would turn blue and black, as if covered by an iron armor.

The technique of using Mian Zhang's short punches to refine the skin is to make the membrane as clean as a lotus leaf, without any flaws, to the point where "not even a feather can be added, not even a mosquito can land".

Once this kind of body-refining is accomplished, it will not regress unless one is old and weak, and there is naturally no such thing as changing one's ways.

But Xu Xing is now trying to see if he can combine two completely different, even opposite skin refining methods together to re-refine his body and push his physical strength to a higher level.

This kind of refining method has never been seen in the history of martial arts in this world.

In fact, Xu Xing also vaguely felt that the so-called Four Refinements to Accomplishment was actually just a popular term.

The fourth level of perfection only means that the boxer's physique is already capable of trying people and fist seals, and there is no need to worry about lack of brain power. It is considered that he has just stepped into the threshold of the master.

In fact, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the skin, flesh, tendons and bones, but it is difficult for ordinary boxers to train them.

Before reaching the Grandmaster level, there is still a smooth path in the martial arts, and martial artists of all generations naturally would not waste time.

But Xu Xing has a stone mirror in his hand, which allows him to deduce martial arts and simulate practice from the mirror image, so he can do more exploration on this dangerous path.

After losing his life twice, Xu Xing had found out an effective way and was about to put it into practice.

If he could truly master the two aspects of hardness and softness, his level of physical training would surely undergo another transformation.

This state can be called the ultimate state.

Xu Xing wanted to rebuild his skin, flesh, and bones to see if this path could lead him to "seeing the indestructible gods."

This is the unique advantage that the stone mirror brings him.

Xu Xing always has the confidence to try every possible path and extract experiences and insights from them that others may never gain in their entire lives.

After performing the seventy-two moves in succession three or four times, Xu Xing's mind was already immersed in the boxing, and he fully demonstrated the principles of twisting the skin into a whip and using the flesh to exert force.

Even if Lei Bin were to be resurrected, he would exclaim that it was impossible after seeing his achievements.

But Xu Xing always felt that he was still a little short of the level he had imagined, so he continued to fight.

One explosion after another sounded continuously, like rolling green thunder exploding in the sky.

The mountain wind brought with it heavy rain, howling like a huge tide hitting the shore, pouring into Xu Xing's lungs, filling his chest with a gloomy and damp feeling, as if it was entangled by countless silk threads.

The more Xu Xing fought, the more depressed he felt in his heart. He felt quite unhappy, and his skin all over his body was vibrating violently and turned red.

It’s not pleasant. Very unhappy.

Xu Xing glanced at the dark abyss below his feet and the cold sky in the distance. He felt like a broken-winged falcon that had fallen off a cliff and was struggling to survive.

He wanted to fight against the sky, but failed in the end and could only be bound between heaven and earth.

An idea suddenly came to Xu Xing's mind.

If the sky could be torn apart, the rainstorm shredded, and a bright blue sky and clear water could be created, that would be truly satisfying!

At this moment, Xu Xing and this world seemed to have some kind of spiritual connection.

Therefore, as soon as the thought came to his mind, it was noticed by the God, who was going to strike him with thunder to make this madman experience the mighty power of heaven!

A bolt of lightning broke through the air and spread out in branches like a thunder tree taking root from the clouds. The light was dazzling and bright, making the dark sky and earth as bright as day. A "fork" fell towards Xu Xing's head!

At this moment, Xu Xing just took out the posture of Mian Zhang Fist, extending his right fist to attack, turning his left hand over to pull, inhaling suddenly into his chest, squeezing and tightening his lower abdomen, and pushing his shoulders forward to strike.

This stance is called "Knife against Sheath". It can wrap the opponent's fist force with skin and flesh, and then stimulate it with one's own strength. It is an integrated offensive and defensive stance that can only be performed after achieving great success in skin refining.

As the saying goes, there is nothing I can do when I am hit by a scabbard, even heroes are afraid of me.

Xu Xing's move was as if he was using his body as a sheath and regarding the thunder of heaven and earth as a sword, and he wanted to put the sword back into the sheath!

boom! ! !
The people who were resting at the foot of the mountain felt the movement, and they all stood up and looked up at the highest point of the cliff.

But there was a figure standing alone on the top of the mountain, bathed in the surging lightning. Even facing the might of heaven, he would never bow his head, and his back was as straight as a gun.

This kind of arrogant and domineering attitude is just like a demon born from the depths of the mountains, ready to fight against the God!
After a moment, the lightning disappeared and the person disappeared.

At the foot of the mountain, Qi Dazhu and others had fallen into deathly silence.

In their eyes, this was not a scene that could be created by martial arts, but a complete myth.

After a while, a charred figure with white smoke on his head, tattered clothes, cracks all over his skin and a burnt smell all over his body slid down the cliff.

He glanced at the shocked crowd and said curiously:

"We have to travel tomorrow, why don't you guys sleep?"

As he spoke, his body vibrated and pieces of dead skin peeled off, revealing his true appearance and skin as white as jade.

Even Xiyu, a well-informed boxer, was dumbfounded at this moment and could only mutter:
"Monster, the monster shed its skin."

Xu Xing frowned and corrected:
"It's not a monster, it's boxing."

The crowd was in extreme shock and did not notice that when the raindrops touched Xu Xing's skin, they bounced off like mud balls hitting the leather drum.

Every time he breathed, the pores all over his body opened and closed, as if dozens or hundreds of people were breathing at the same time, mixing with the sound of the mountain wind blowing through the trees and rustling the leaves, blending into the sound of the surging river.

After Xu Xing had undergone body refining through thunder and fire, he finally broke through the barrier where hardness and softness met, allowing all the pores in his body to open and close to breathe, inhale and exhale strength, and respond to the changes in heaven and earth.

The raindrops tremble and the dew flies all over the sky.

This is the ultimate level of skin refining!

After all these twists and turns, although Xu Xing had already explained, these apprentices still looked at him strangely.

Everyone has obviously determined that this museum owner is a great demon who can withstand the power of heaven.

Some people even came to ask Qi Dazhu secretly when our master started to practice Taoism and whether he had been a Taoist for a thousand years.
Qi Dazhu was extremely annoyed, and even Xiyu, a swordsman with a cold temperament, couldn't help but cover his mouth and chuckle.

However, after this setback, these apprentices, including the four guard coaches sent by Shen Yishi, all respected Xu Xing from the bottom of their hearts and practiced martial arts even more diligently.

——It’s okay to be a monster. Even the thunder from heaven can’t do anything to our museum master. What’s so scary about being a monster?

I would rather become a demon than be bullied by the government!

Under the influence of this trend of thought, the disciples' enthusiasm for practicing boxing reached an unprecedented high, and when accepting the test of "stealing heaven's secrets", they also showed extraordinary enthusiasm. It is no exaggeration to say that their courage has doubled.

So, they actually traveled about 800 miles in just five days.

This 800-mile journey sounds simple, but everyone has to walk on a dangerous path that goes over mountains and over rocks, and they have to travel in the pouring rain, with many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts blocking the way.

For most people, this is the longest and most difficult journey they have ever taken in their lives.

If it weren't for the Grandmaster Xu Xing accompanying them, I'm afraid that among the more than 30 apprentices, few would be able to make it.

Even though the process was extremely arduous, the final result was quite gratifying.

The temperaments of these apprentices who survived the disaster all changed. Their eyes were full of joy and they had a sense of being reborn. Their boxing and martial arts skills also improved considerably.

Now, they finally arrived at the official road.

Although the rain had stopped, the road, which was well-maintained and wide enough for several riders to ride side by side, was now full of mud and potholes after several days and nights of heavy rain.

Before setting foot on the official road, Xu Xing sensed something strange. Ever since he achieved the ultimate level of skin refining, he seemed to have opened up a divine bridge connecting heaven and earth, and his perception became so sharp that it was completely inhuman.

Xu Xing concentrated his attention for a moment and focused his ears, and he heard a sound coming from a very far distance mixed with the sound of the wind.

"Hahahaha, Xiangshan has been destroyed, how long do you expect Taizhou to hold out?"

(End of this chapter)