High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

”I only said a few words,” Xu Wuyi said, shaking his head. ”His epiphany was the result of his own accumulated experience.”

Xu Wuyi knew that an Innate Martial Artist like Senior Yan had already amassed countless insights over the years. He just lacked a clear direction.

’Believing in oneself is one thing, but sometimes, believing in others can have the same effect.’

Chen Zhang said no more and arranged for a hovercar to take Xu Wuyi to Frost Airport.

An hour later, the private plane took off, leaving the Northern Lands behind.

Outside the cabin window, the sprawling snowfields and glaciers gradually receded, replaced by the green plains and urban clusters common to the Federation’s central regions.

Xu Wuyi leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

He mentally reviewed the gains from his trip to the Northern Lands.

His exchange with Fang Fu had helped him understand the True Intention of ”External Calm and Internal Movement.”

Sparring with and guiding numerous Martial Artists had allowed him to examine his own Martial Arts from different perspectives.

Finally, through frequent contemplation and application, he achieved a breakthrough from his ”Thick Accumulation and Thin Emission,” grasping the rhythm of Heavy Water Breathing and finding the crucial step to uniting motion and stillness.

’Next, I need to go to the research institute and solidify this epiphany into a true form of Martial Arts.’

Xu Wuyi opened his eyes and gazed out at the sea of clouds.

The Star Realm Research Institute, Ye Guanlan, the supercomputing array, the virtual intranet... Familiar scenes surfaced in his mind.

Last time, they had collaborated to perfect *Golden Crow Burning Heart·Raging Fire*.

This time, he would optimize and solidify the ”Heavy Water Orb,” turning it into another killing blow in his Martial Arts System.

The private plane was fast.

At 3:00 PM, it landed at a military airport on the outskirts of Capital Xingjing City.

Xu Wuyi descended the boarding stairs, where military personnel were already waiting. After his identity was verified, a dark-green military hovercar drove him toward a mountainous region designated as a restricted zone.

The entire process was the same as last time.

At the tunnel entrance, guards scanned his security clearance.

He passed through the brightly lit alloy corridor and entered the enormous subterranean space.

The spherical device suspended in the center still pulsed with colorful streams of Energy. In the research areas sectioned off by transparent barriers, researchers in white lab coats bustled about as always.

It was as if time stood still here.

”Martial Artist Xu, this way, please.” A young researcher approached him, having clearly been notified of his arrival. ”Researcher Ye is waiting for you in the Heart Image Martial Arts Department.”

Xu Wuyi nodded and followed.

After passing through a few corridors, he arrived at a familiar laboratory door.

The door slid open. Ye Guanlan was standing at a console, his attention fixed on the stream of data scrolling across a light screen.

Hearing the footsteps, he turned. His gaze fell on Xu Wuyi, lingering for a couple of seconds.

”It seems your trip to the Northern Lands was quite fruitful,” Ye Guanlan said with a smile. His tone was as calm as ever, but a hint of professional assessment flashed in his eyes.

Xu Wuyi wasn’t surprised by Ye Guanlan’s perceptiveness.

The research institute’s youngest Genius had an almost terrifying talent for perception and analysis.

”Senior Brother Ye,” Xu Wuyi said, using the same address as before. ”I’ve come to trouble you again.”

”It’s my job,” Ye Guanlan said, walking over to pour a glass of water and handing it to him. He added with a faint smile, ”Besides, you’re paying for it. The usual fee: one hundred thousand merit points.”

”Of course,” Xu Wuyi nodded. He didn’t need to put it on a tab this time.

”Have a seat. General Qiao already gave me a heads-up. He said you have a new Heart Image epiphany that needs to be optimized and solidified. Tell me the specifics.”

The two of them sat down in front of the console.

Xu Wuyi held nothing back, recounting in detail his trip to the Northern Lands, his conversation with Fang Fu, and the process through which he finally grasped Heavy Water Breathing.

As he described the Heavy Water contracting and condensing into a high-density sphere, he raised his hand in a grasping motion, materializing a fist-sized, dark-gold orb of water above his palm.

The instant the orb of water formed, the laboratory’s monitoring instruments simultaneously emitted a faint hum.

Ye Guanlan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately pulled up the real-time data.

”The Energy Fluctuation is contained, but the radiation intensity of the ’heavy’ Mental Realm... is four-point-seven times what it was before,” he noted quickly. ”Contraction ratio? Cost? Duration?”

”Currently, the stable contraction ratio is about eight percent of the Great Marsh’s total volume,” Xu Wuyi said, dispelling the orb. The data returned to normal.

”The cost isn’t high; it’s mainly a strain on my Heart and Spirit. The duration depends on the Compression ratio. At eight percent, I can maintain it for about ten seconds.”

Ye Guanlan rapidly worked on the light screen, pulling up the Heart Image model Xu Wuyi had left behind from his last visit.

A three-dimensional structural diagram of the Dark Gold Mountain Body and the Great Marsh appeared, flanked by a dense list of parameters.

”Your Heart Image has evolved from the ’Mountain Transforming into Marsh’ stage to the ’Marsh Generating Breath’ stage,” Ye Guanlan said, pointing at the model.

”This breathing rhythm is a sign of increased Heart Image activity. It means your Heart Image is starting to take on a certain ’living’ quality, which is a good thing.”

”To be honest, I’ve rarely seen a Heart Image develop in this direction...”

He paused, then looked at Xu Wuyi. ”You want to solidify this ’breathing and contraction’ ability into a form of Martial Arts?”

”Correct,” Xu Wuyi nodded. ”Just like with *Golden Crow Burning Heart*, I want it to have a complete Heart Method, Energy pathways, and force application techniques. I hope this new form of Martial Arts can maximize the power of the ’Heavy Water Contraction’.”

Ye Guanlan fell silent for a few seconds, his fingers sliding across the light screen as he pulled up a file.

”You’ve come at a good time,” he said. ”The institute recently made some new breakthroughs in the field of high-density Energy Compression.”

”One of these technologies can increase the efficiency of your ’Heavy Water Contraction’ by over thirty percent, while simultaneously reducing the strain on your Heart and Spirit.”

Xu Wuyi’s heart skipped a beat. ”What’s the cost?”

”It requires more precise control over your Heart Image, as well as a deeper understanding of the Gravity Rules,” Ye Guanlan said. ”However, you’re not lacking in either of those.”

He closed the file and looked at Xu Wuyi. ”We can take this project a step further than last time. We won’t just be solidifying the Martial Arts technique; we can also try to create a synergy between the ’Heavy Water Orb’ and your *Golden Crow Burning Heart*.”

”Synergy?”

”Yes.” Ye Guanlan pulled up a simulation interface. ”Your Heart Image is a symbiosis of Heavy Water and the Golden Crow.”

”When the Heavy Water is compressed to its limit, if you can inject a wisp of Golden Crow Heart Fire into the ’core,’ allowing the ultimate ’weight’ and the ultimate ’incineration’ to erupt from a single point... the power could be beyond anything you can imagine.”

Xu Wuyi quickly simulated the scene in his mind.

’Heavy Water compressed into an ultra-high-density sphere, with a wisp of Golden Crow Heart Fire sealed within.’

’Upon impact, the Heavy Water would first crush and pierce with terrifying weight. Then, the Heart Fire would detonate, incinerating everything from within...’

’It would no longer be a simple physical crushing or Energy-based incineration, but a compound attack combining two ultimate Attributes.’

”It’s worth a try,” Xu Wuyi said.

”Then we’ll move forward in that direction,” Ye Guanlan said, typing quickly into the project proposal. ”However, that’s a Tier Two objective. It won’t be easy to achieve.”