Chapter 24

"Solid stage, I've been cultivating for five or six years, but I'm still at the beginner level."

Wang Yuan said with some frustration. The first realm of ancient martial artists is the solid stage. Generally, those with outstanding talent can cross the solid stage in three to four years; but he had been cultivating for five or six years and was still only at the mid-solid stage.

Because of this, his master no longer spent much effort on him. The family had paid a great price to have the master take him as a disciple, but he himself was not up to the task and had not achieved much in the path of ancient martial arts.

"What are the levels of ancient martial artists? Tell me about them."

Mo Wen asked out of curiosity. He was not clear about the concept of the solid stage. The martial arts system he knew was clearly different from the ancient martial arts on Earth. However, he believed that although the systems were different, the path of cultivation was the same; all paths lead to the same destination, no matter which path you take.

"You don't know?"

Wang Yuan looked at Mo Wen with some surprise. Given Mo Wen's performance, his ancient martial arts cultivation should be far above his own. How could he not know the realm system of ancient martial arts? It was like someone who could speak fluent English but didn't recognize the English alphabet.

Mo Wen nodded slightly without offering any explanation.

"In ancient martial arts cultivation, the first realm is called the solid stage. At the beginning of cultivation, one trains the body and builds up vitality. The second realm is called the inner breath stage. As one's cultivation deepens and the body's vitality becomes full, the inner qi will undergo some changes. Like breathing, the inner qi will start to breathe automatically. At that stage, even without actively meditating to recover inner qi, it will recover bit by bit on its own."

Wang Yuan looked at Mo Wen strangely but did not ask more, continuing to explain:

"The third realm is called the meridian stage. After the dantian accumulates inner qi and gradually becomes full, one can begin to impact the twelve main meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians, completing the small and great heavenly cycles. The inner qi will no longer be limited to the dantian but will begin to fill the entire body."

"The fourth realm is called the qi sea. I don't know much about this realm; my master is only a mid-meridian stage ancient martial artist. It is said that if one can form a qi sea, they can perform feats like leaping over eaves and walls and injuring people from ten meters away with a single strike, making them a great expert!"

A look of longing flashed in Wang Yuan's eyes. An ancient martial artist at the qi sea stage was definitely beyond the realm of ordinary people, almost like a martial hero. Like Ximen Chuixue, who could take a life with a single sword strike from a hundred paces away.

With his talent, he probably would never reach that realm in his lifetime.

"Are there more realms after that?"

Mo Wen frowned. The qi sea stage, as he remembered, was the stage where ancient martial artists could release their inner qi externally after completing the small and great heavenly cycles, forming a qi sea in the dantian. At that stage, the body would be fully connected, and the inner qi would flow continuously, allowing one to release inner qi to injure others without a trace.

However, releasing inner qi was not the end of cultivation; there should be more realms beyond that. Not to mention others, his own cultivation in his past life had far surpassed the stage of releasing inner qi.

"Of course there are." Wang Yuan rolled his eyes. "But the realms after that are no different from legends; they are not something we can reach. According to my master, after the qi sea stage, there are the dan-holding stage, the fetal breathing stage, and even the legendary golden dan stage."

"Do you know about the golden dan? It is usually what the Daoists refer to as the golden dan path, which is the ultimate realm of ancient martial arts; it is a nebulous realm, the pinnacle of ancient martial arts. There probably aren't any ancient martial artists at the golden dan stage in the world!"

Wang Yuan sighed. Those realms were too far away for him. His most pressing concern was whether he could break through to the inner breath stage within five years and become a true ancient martial artist. Only ancient martial artists at the inner breath stage are considered to have truly entered the door of ancient martial arts, with a qualitative leap in all aspects of their abilities. They can also channel their inner breath to their palms and use inner qi to injure others, splitting stones with a single strike.

"Let's go to the cafeteria for dinner."

Mo Wen moved his body, which was surging with qi and blood, and called out to Wang Yuan before leading the way to the cafeteria.

It was already dinnertime.

"Hey, wait for me."

Wang Yuan shouted and hurriedly followed.

Mo Wen usually did not socialize much with others. Even with classmates, he only knew their names and faces but did not really talk to them. Only Wang Yuan, due to their shared pull-up routine, had some interaction with him.

When the two entered the cafeteria, they found it already full of people. The high-intensity training naturally increased the demand for food, and many were already hungry, waiting for the cafeteria to open.

After Mo Wen and Wang Yuan got their food, they chose a secluded corner to sit.

There was plenty of time to eat, about fifteen minutes, allowing them to eat leisurely. Special training sessions usually required them to finish eating in a few minutes.

"Master Cheng, are you really going to do it? That's a serious violation of discipline."

At a long table, a group of about ten people were gathered. One of them, a tall but somewhat thin teenager, whispered.

Next to him sat a lazy-looking teenager with a rather handsome face but pale complexion and deep eye bags, giving the impression of being weak and lacking vitality.

Such a poor appearance suggested either a serious illness or excessive indulgence.

This person was none other than Cheng Hao, the noble's son who had a grudge against Mo Wen. He was in the same military training area but in a different battalion, so Mo Wen had not seen him during the week of training.

"What's there to be afraid of! If anything happens, I'll take the blame. Just do it, but don't kill him."

A cold look flashed in Cheng Hao's eyes as he coldly glanced at the table where Mo Wen was eating, a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

He was just a commoner, daring to offend him, clearly tired of living.

Although he was surprised that Mo Wen had been admitted to Huaxia University, he thought it was just a stroke of luck and did not take it seriously. Even if Mo Wen had some connections, he did not care. A commoner, no matter how resourceful, could not be that powerful. He was not afraid of him.