Da Xuan Martial Saint

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Om!

The Earthly Green Lotus Seed fell into his belly, and without any sound or fuss, it turned into a cool sense that melted and disappeared.

Then, Chen Mu felt as if the world, previously shrouded in grey mist, suddenly became bright, as though a blurred veil had been covering his eyes all along, obstructing his sight and senses. But now, in an instant, all such hindrances had vanished without a trace, and he seemed to become one with the surrounding world without any barrier.

He could feel the rich and surging Power of Heaven and Earth poised to burst through the Inner Breath circulating within the Five Viscera, forcibly infiltrating his body, but he immediately mobilized his Inner Breath to suppress it.

"It indeed feels different."

A glimmer appeared in Chen Mu's eyes.

He could sense that his thoughts were extraordinarily agile at this moment, every idea crystal clear. Positioned between heaven and earth, it was as if he could perceive the essence of all universal patterns.

In such a state, to comprehend heaven and earth, even without an Artistic Conception Map, relying on slow personal contemplation would probably lead to understanding the mysteries of Artistic Conception—this was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Perhaps.

Those with extreme aptitude among the world's prodigies perceive the world in this very way.

After all, tracing back to the true origins of Martial Arts, there was no such thing as Artistic Conception Maps. The earliest people contemplated heaven and earth, wind, thunder, water, and fire, advancing step by step in understanding and passing it down through generations. Who knows how many years passed before someone explored these Artistic Conceptions to their limits, and after countless more years, generations of prodigies built upon their predecessors' knowledge, summarizing various Martial Arts Artistic Conceptions, eventually leading to comprehensive ones such as Yin Yang and Five Elements.

Chen Mu lowered his gaze towards the Gen Mountain Diagram, and at that moment, he could feel the once obscure and mystical Artistic Conception in the map was now so clear, as if he were directly observing the majestic ranges that stretched into the clouds, connecting heaven and earth.

Thus, he immersed himself in contemplation.

In a trance.

He found himself amidst a vast and towering mountain range.

It seemed as though it was the first mountain, the first range to emerge with the birth of this world, rolling and unfolding, grand and mighty, like the backbone of the earth, holding up the entire sky.

Chen Mu wandered aimlessly toward that mountain, step by step as if on a pilgrimage.

One step,

Two steps,

Three steps,

Though the mountain was seemingly within reach, it also felt infinitely far away. He had no idea how long he walked, having lost track of time and ages, always unable to shorten the distance, only able to look up at the towering peaks.

Suddenly, snow flurried, rains intertwined, and the sun blazed fiercely. Chen Mu felt the icy snowflakes falling on him, the pelting raindrops, the scorching heat soaking into his heart and soul.

But looking out, the mountain range remained unchanged.

The mountains also bore the snow, endured the rain, and withstood the scorching sun, yet they were always there.

Imposing.

This was one of the Affinities of Gen Mountain, but not its entirety, nor its core. Its true essence is unchanging, immovable.

Steadfast as a mountain, unmovable as Gen Mountain.

The Gen Mountain Artistic Conception signifies stillness, immobility, stability—the ageless constancy of all things. It is one of the main forces in the Qiankun Eight Phases that emphasizes "defense," not just protecting the body, but also the mind and intent.

When the body is unmoving, the heart is steady, and the intent is self-controlled, all evil spirits and impurities find it difficult to invade the body, and all external things hard to sway the mind.

"Gen Mountain Artistic Conception…"

Chen Mu murmured to himself.

Suddenly, as he looked up, he realized that at some unknown point, he had quietly reached the foothills of that mountain range. The distance that seemed impossible to close, despite what felt like endless ages, had vanished without a trace.

He knew he had gained a deeper understanding of the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception.

Gazing up at the towering peak with no end, he took a step forward to ascend, planting his foot on the mountainside, but with this step, he found himself faltering into emptiness, plummeting toward the valley bottom. The heavy sensation of falling jolted his consciousness back to clarity.

In the blink of an eye, the mountains and ranges disappeared from view, and he was back in the Silent Chamber underground, with the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception Map in front of him. But the nearby oil lamp had long since run out of oil and died out, unknown how much time had elapsed.

Chen Mu's consciousness was still somewhat hazy.

Like a person who had just woken from a deep sleep.

As his consciousness gradually returned, before he could recall his recent insights, a profound hunger arose from his belly.

"I'm so hungry."

He suddenly stood up and was shocked to realize, how long had he been contemplating?

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As an existence in the Five Viscera Realm, with Inner Breath circulating and connected to the heavens and the earth, he could endure not eating or drinking for ten days to half a month. However, at this moment, he felt a strong hunger in his stomach and a thirst due to dehydration throughout his body.

After all, the Five Viscera Realm is not the Six Viscera Realm; his stomach and viscera had not undergone tempering and could not draw Yuan Qi directly from the surroundings. Short periods without food or drink were not a great concern, but he had not yet reached the point where he could fast indefinitely.

At present,

Chen Mu took a step out of the underground Silent Chamber.

He had no time to ask the astonished Wang Ni, Ku'er, and the rest in the courtyard. He went straight to the north side, where special demon meat jerky was stored, took out a few pieces, swallowed them in two or three bites, and then furiously drank half a bucket of well water beside the well.

The feeling of hunger and thirst in his belly finally began to subside gradually.

"Master,"

Only then did the little maids Ku'er and Le'er follow behind, looking at Chen Mu with a bit of fright.

Chen Mu touched his chin and then his hair, finding that his beard and hair had grown considerably. But he wasn't too concerned about his appearance at the moment. He only asked the two young maids, "How long have I stayed in the Silent Chamber?"

"Master, you haven't come out for thirty-three days,"

Ku'er blinked and quietly replied, counting on her fingers.

"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for? Go fetch water and heat some water."

No time to lose, Wang Ni came over with a basin and a towel, instructed Ku'er and Le'er, then looked at Chen Mu and heaved a sigh of relief, "Brother Mu, you've stayed down there far too long this time. If it weren't for Sister Lotus and Sister Yue saying we shouldn't disturb you, I wouldn't know what to do with Ku'er and Le'er."

By now, Chen Mu had gradually come to understand. It seemed the Earthly Green Lotus Seed was more effective than he had anticipated. Engrossed in its enchantment, he lost track of time, and before he knew it, more than a month had passed. No wonder it's said that this item is not suitable for those below the Five Viscera Realm; merely its effects are indeed not fit for those who haven't trained their Five Viscera. Discover more stories at empire

Even for someone at the Bone Tempering Realm, not eating or drinking for over a month would almost spell disaster. But as a person at the Five Viscera Realm, the worst he could suffer was some discomfort in the stomach and body, which could be quickly remedied by replenishing meat and water.

Lotus and Chen Yue were also aware of this, which was why they forbade a worried Wang Ni and others from disturbing him, knowing that as someone in the Five Viscera Realm, a month of retreat without food or drink wouldn't pose any significant problems.

"Hmm, I've worried Ni'er."

Coming back to his senses, Chen Mu smiled at Wang Ni and said.

Wang Ni stood there with a basin, looking somewhat hesitant as she whispered, "I know Brother Mu is very skilled in martial arts, but can you really be okay after not eating or drinking for over a month?"

At that moment, Chen Mu casually wiped his cheeks with his hands, causing his beard to fall off, and then the somewhat grown hair was cut short. After that, he picked up the towel, washed his face in the basin Wang Ni was holding, and looked at his reflection in the water. His face, which had not become gaunt from a month of fasting and still looked very handsome, he nodded slightly.

Then he smiled at Wang Ni, "Your Brother Mu is like an immortal; you don't need to worry about these things. Now go."

Wang Ni looked closely at Chen Mu, and indeed after his beard and hair had fallen, he looked no different than before, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. She turned to pour out the water from the basin and then went to help Ku'er and Le'er fetch and boil water.

A moment later.

After filling a large wooden tub in the house with water and testing its temperature, she helped Chen Mu change clothes and take a bath.

After reaching the Five Viscera Realm, Chen Mu's body didn't easily get dirty, but he still kept the habit of bathing, if less frequently than before. Now, as he removed his clothes and lay in the hot water, he exhaled deeply. After telling Wang Ni to leave for the moment, he finally cleared his mind of distractions and summoned the system panel.

[Martial Arts: Gen Mountain Artistic Conception]

[Experience: 37146 points]

[Deduction Opportunities: 0 times]

"This Earthly Green Lotus Seed really is effective, almost excessively so,"

Seeing the experience accumulated on the system panel, Chen Mu didn't know what to say for a moment. Thirty-three days had passed in a blink of an eye, over a month of deep contemplation. He had never done such a long retreat before, but the results were extraordinary. In just one month, he gained over thirty thousand Experience Points!

Almost three times the norm from contemplating an Artistic Conception Map!

Moreover,

Chen Mu was well aware that while he hadn't quite reached the second step in the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception, he was not far from it. Perhaps just one more exploration would take him directly into the second step.

This means his contemplation of the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception this time inadvertently resulted in an excess of over twenty thousand Experience Points.

If those twenty thousand plus Experience Points could be converted into the Kan Water Artistic Conception, it wouldn't be long before he could elevate the Kan Water Artistic Conception to the second step. But now the Experience Points for each Artistic Conception cannot be used interchangeably, so they could only be used to enhance the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception.

"Well, it's all inevitable sooner or later. Might as well see just how far there is from step two to step three of the Artistic Conception…no, from the second step to the 'two-and-a-half' steps of the Martial Arts Domain,"

Chen Mu's mood quickly returned to calm.

After all, the second step of an Artistic Conception would not be his endgame. At present, each Artistic Conception was only cultivated up to the second step and then stopped, aiming to quickly master all six Phases except Qian Heaven Kun Earth to then proceed to cultivate Qian Heaven Kun Earth.

Since the experience points for the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception had overflowed due to the Earthly Green Lotus Seed, it was time to see just how daunting the distance was beyond the second step. Indeed, as he knew, for most martial artists in the Six Viscera Realm, advancing from the initial phase of the second step to the very end and then taking half a step further to master a Martial Arts Domain often required a lifetime.