All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes

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Several months after becoming the recognized Eldest Senior, An Jing and the other boys and girls greeted the true training of Hanging Fate Manor.

It was not just physical training; Hanging Fate Manor began to truly teach 'Martial Skills' and 'Heart Method'.

In Da Chen, the beginning of Martial Arts is called Inner Breath, but before officially becoming a practitioner of Inner Breath, apprentice martial disciples have three challenges to face.

The first challenge is that of the mind, facing danger without fear, being unaffected by blades and swords aimed at oneself.

The second challenge is that of the body, having ample vigor, to throw a thousand punches without fatigue.

And the last challenge is that of technique, needing to refine one technique to perfection, achieving unity and seamless flow, so that all moves and forms can be directed by the heart.

Only when one has completed the three aspects of mind, body, and technique can one deliver a strike that channels the full strength of the whole body, and begin to comprehend Inner Breath.

The body challenge is easier to overcome through training, and disciples of Hanging Fate Manor were selected from all over, with exceptional aptitude, who can all succeed step by step.

The heart challenge requires sparring, practicing until the mind is still and the spirit is focused, practicing until a punch comes at your face and you do not blink, and experiencing pain piercing your brain without losing composure.

Since An Jing defeated eleven people consecutively, sparring became a daily routine in the Martial Arts Field; though no one would challenge An Jing, the other four well-fed disciples would be challenged every day, changing positions every ten days, honing their skills quickly.

The last, technique, is the most difficult, requiring constant practice day and night, as well as talent and inspiration, to integrate skill with 'Heart' and 'Body', then to control innate qi and transform it into Inner Breath.

The reason An Jing was able to overpower the other disciples was precisely that his 'Body' and 'Heart' had long surpassed the challenges, it was just his 'Technique' that was not yet perfected, but he was still ahead of the others in progress.

And this technique is not just about the skill in one's hands, but also about the knowledge of one's own body, the meridians and acupoints, internal organs—without even fully recognizing the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the major acupoints of Complete Circuit, and the clarity of the five viscera and six bowels, how can one master innate qi and achieve Inner Breath?

This is why Hanging Fate Manor has always taught its disciples to read and write: even martial artists must be cultured.

The Heart Method taught by Hanging Fate Manor is called 'Abyssal Qi Nourishing Stance,' one must stand blindfolded upon a Post, visualizing the abyss and deep gorges, controlling muscles and organs throughout the body without fear or disturbance, steady and unshaken.

Although it does not count as a high-level Heart Method, it is much more complete than the crude Heart Methods passed down in many Martial Families, able to nourish qi and solidify the spirit, refining the strength of the body.

The Martial Skill taught is called 'Piercing Armor True Strength,' fundamentally a set of energy-controlling skills, but even so, it surprises An Jing as a superior Martial Skill...a part of one.

Piercing Armor True Strength is actually a segment of a superior energy-exertion transmission.

It requires uniting the heart with strength, the braver and more unstoppable one is, the greater the force of the energy exerted in that instant, and if perfected, that power is enough to pierce through armor and cut steel.

If completely mastered, it can even be used to break through Inner Breath.

Both Abyssal Qi Nourishing Stance and Piercing Armor True Strength are Martial Arts Mind Skills that foster 'a spirit of courage and resoluteness,' emphasizing a complete circuit of energy and full-force explosion, a method of life-and-death struggle, a way of trading life for life.

Adding the very name of 'Hanging Fate Manor,' An Jing could almost be certain that this place was very likely a training base for assassins and Loyal Warriors for some major power Great Sect.

Although he had his suspicions before, they were nowhere as strong as now.

For An Jing, the Abyssal Qi Nourishing Stance was very easy, as during the year he fled, he had faced life and death countless times, literally walking along the brink, which perfectly matched his mindset, and he mastered it quickly.

The other Children of Calamity were similar, mastering this Heart Method at a tremendous pace, with only a few who were slow at reading needing someone to explain before they could understand.

This was perhaps a Heart Method specially provided for these 'surviving disaster victims.'

As for Piercing Armor True Strength, that was more difficult.

An Jing learned it quite quickly, soon able to smoothly wield various weapons, instantly bursting forth with a strength four to five times higher than usual, but there were very few who could keep up with his pace, and most people struggled even with the basics.

As the Eldest Senior, An Jing was willing to help the other children solve some of their problems.

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For instance, he would suggest training methods to alleviate fatigue, and he even explained insights into martial skills more thoroughly than some of the lecturers and instructors.

Under his guidance, Zhang Ying, Gu Yeqi, and Cang Linzu, among others, quickly mastered the heart method. Cang Linzu and a few others with better talent even grasped the Piercing Armor True Strength.

Although the rest hadn't grasped it, they had each achieved their own realizations, knowing that An Jing hadn't deceived them or kept secrets. They were truly grateful for his sharing of experience, and trust began to grow.

Since then, quite a few children were willing to confide their troubles to him—mostly the unique whims and sensitive setbacks characteristic of pre-and early-adolescents, missing their parents and hometown, feeling like mere dust, and so on.

An Jing was rather helpless, but still willing to patiently listen and offer comfort and answers from an elder brother's perspective.

In this way, not just the children from his own dormitory, but even those from other dormitories, regardless of gender, began to respect An Jing from the bottom of their hearts, seeing him as an elder brother.

Being respected and adored by others was indeed a joyful matter.

Teaching others also required a deeper understanding of the knowledge he was explaining.

During the teaching process, An Jing discovered that his cognition of martial skills might have relied too much on talent; he instinctively learned, but the specific thinking was not clear.

The process of explaining to his junior brothers and sisters also became a time for him to review key points and thoroughly master these heart method martial skills, progressing from 'proficient' to 'integrating and penetrating'.

However, during this period, Hanging Fate Manor sent away the first batch of eliminated persons.

"A portion of people do not meet the requirements of Hanging Fate Manor and have been eliminated in the past half month's drills,"

a Medicine Pavilion physician explained one morning in response to everyone's questions.

With thirty people missing from the entire Hanging Fate Manor—not too many but enough to be noticeable—everyone was aware, but not overly shocked.

Most of these eliminated children were those with insufficient physical strength and very slow progress in martial skills. This was completely reasonable and matched most people's expectations.

Their elimination seemed inevitable, and probably no one, including themselves, found it strange.

An Jing thought so too.

However, his keen observational skills led him to unexpectedly notice something odd.

To say it was odd might actually be inaccurate...what struck him was that on the day those children were eliminated, An Jing didn't remember hearing the sound of cars leaving the estate.

Hanging Fate Manor was located deep in the mountains, with trucks delivering supplies every few days. If someone were to leave, they would most likely depart by truck.

But there were no comings and goings of vehicles for several days before and after, and neither were the eliminated children seen within the estate.

Yet this wasn't really a major concern.

Although initially suspicious of Hanging Fate Manor's reliability, An Jing had personally experienced the treatment it offered during this recent period—with sufficient meat and food, the place was nearly a heaven compared to the chaotic Northern Border.

The lecturers and instructors were somewhat strict, but overall, they treated them quite well.

An Jing also got along well with several instructors, who would even share little snacks with the children. Normally they were serious, but during rest periods they would tell tales of their own training days.

Therefore, An Jing didn't dwell on this matter.

After all, he hadn't even seen those five children who might have awakened their Fate Pattern since the beginning.

Hanging Fate Manor was vast, with many restricted areas they weren't allowed to enter. Those five children probably lived in other parts of the estate, and the eliminated children were likely waiting in some other area too.

Before he knew it, another half a month had passed.