High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

The only sound before the bamboo house was the rustle of wind through the leaves.

Ta Shan held his breath, afraid to cause a disturbance.

Finally, Flame Venerable let out a long breath. The look he gave Xu Wuyi was complex, yet tinged with approval.

"The mountain becomes the marsh... A fine ’mountain becomes the marsh,’" he repeated in a low voice. "Heaviness itself is formless, yet you managed to manifest it as a great marsh. This is a Realm only achievable by one who has completely mastered the Rules."

He rose and began to pace before the bamboo house, apparently deep in thought.

Xu Wuyi waited quietly.

A few minutes later, Flame Venerable stopped pacing and looked at Xu Wuyi. "Your path... has already gone beyond what I can teach you."

Xu Wuyi was startled.

Flame Venerable waved his hand. "Don’t misunderstand, I’m not shirking. When it comes to the path of fire, I can indeed teach you a great deal. But one of the core aspects of your Heart Image is now ’heaviness,’ ’sinking,’ and ’condensation.’ These Attributes are fundamentally opposed to the nature of fire—’rising,’ ’spreading,’ and ’burning.’"

He walked up to Xu Wuyi and said seriously, "Everyone understands the principle of yin and yang balancing each other, but those who can truly achieve it are few and far between."

"Your Heart Image is in a very delicate balance right now: Heavy Water for the foundation, the Golden Crow for the function. But how long can this balance last? Won’t the Heavy Water eventually suppress the Heart Fire? Won’t the Golden Crow’s ’agility’ be eroded by the Heavy Water’s ’stagnation’?"

This string of questions sent a chill through Xu Wuyi.

He had vaguely sensed these potential problems before but had never clearly conceptualized them. Now that Flame Venerable had laid them bare, everything suddenly became clear.

"I ask for your guidance, Senior," Xu Wuyi said, bowing solemnly.

Flame Venerable helped him up. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Within the Federation, the person with the deepest understanding of Rules like ’water,’ ’heaviness,’ and the ’yielding nature of yin’ is neither me nor your teacher, Han Mo."

He paused, then uttered a name. "Grandmaster Liang Sixian."

Xu Wuyi searched his memory for the name but came up with nothing.

"Grandmaster Liang is just over fifty, which is quite young for a Grandmaster, but she holds a very high seniority," Flame Venerable explained.

"She is the inheritor of the ’Still Waters Run Deep’ lineage. This line has very few descendants—at most two or three per generation—but every one of them is a prodigy of stunning talent."

"Grandmaster Liang is a recluse. She lives in seclusion year-round at the ’Cold Pool Villa’ in the Northern Marches, and she rarely sees outsiders. Few people in the Federation even know she exists, much less have ever visited her."

Flame Venerable looked at Xu Wuyi. "Your Heavy Water aspect incorporates Rules from the two dimensions of ’heaviness’ and ’yin’s yielding nature.’ This shares common ground with the philosophy of the Still Waters Run Deep lineage. If you could receive her guidance, it would be of immense help in perfecting your Heart Image."

Xu Wuyi’s interest was piqued, but he quickly composed himself. "If Grandmaster Liang rarely sees outsiders, then how could I..."

"That’s why I told you not to get ahead of yourself," said Flame Venerable. "I have some connection to Grandmaster Liang’s master’s senior brother, so I can try to contact her on your behalf. But I can’t guarantee anything."

He returned to the stone bench, sat down, and poured three cups of tea, handing one to Xu Wuyi and another to Ta Shan.

"Stay here in the West Desert for the next few days and wait for word from me. If Grandmaster Liang agrees to meet you, I’ll arrange for someone to take you to her. If not... well, we’ll just have to find another solution."

Xu Wuyi accepted the teacup and said gravely, "Thank you, Senior."

"Don’t thank me." Flame Venerable took a sip of tea, his gaze deep. "You’ve reached this point through your own destiny and effort. I’m merely giving a little push in the right direction, fostering a good connection for the future."

He paused, then smiled suddenly. "However, before we get to that, I can talk to you about another aspect of ’fire.’"

Xu Wuyi immediately sat bolt upright. "I am all ears."

"You practice the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace*," Flame Venerable said slowly, "and follow the path of turning your body into a furnace to melt all of creation."

"But have you ever considered this? No matter how sturdy the furnace, if the ’fire’ within isn’t nimble enough, isn’t ’alive’ enough, then whatever it refines will ultimately lack a Spiritual quality."

"That’s where Han Mo got stuck back then. His ’furnace’ was too rigid, his ’fire’ too lifeless. And you? Won’t your Heavy Water aspect also make your ’fire’ too ’heavy’?"

Xu Wuyi fell into deep thought.

This question struck at the central conflict within his Heart Image.

Flame Venerable did not rush him. He drank his tea slowly, giving Xu Wuyi time to think.

The bamboo leaves rustled. Time flowed by in silence.

Ta Shan stood to one side, watching the scene with a heart full of emotion.

Three years ago, Xu Wuyi was just a fledgling Martial Artist who needed Flame Venerable’s personal guidance on the very basics.

Now, three years later, he was sitting here, discussing the profound principles of the Martial Arts with a Grandmaster.

His rate of growth was simply unheard-of.

...

A moment later, Xu Wuyi looked up, a flash of understanding in his eyes.

"You mean, Senior, that I shouldn’t just pursue the stability of the ’Heavy Water,’ but should try to preserve the ’fire’s’ agility within it? Or, to put it another way, let ’heaviness’ itself take on the trait of being ’alive’?"

Flame Venerable smiled.

"You have a quick mind." He set down his teacup. "Heaviness doesn’t mean death, and water doesn’t mean stillness. Look at the rivers and oceans—calm on the surface, with raging undercurrents below. Can your Heavy Water have ’undercurrents’ of its own? Can your Golden Crow ’swim’ within the Heavy Water?"

Those few words were a moment of pure epiphany.

In Xu Wuyi’s sea of consciousness, the dark golden great marsh rippled faintly.

All this time, he had treated the Heavy Water as the ’base’ and the Golden Crow as the ’manifestation.’ While the two intermingled, they essentially remained a layered structure.

’But what if... the Heavy Water itself could become ’alive’?’

’What if the Golden Crow could not only hover over the marsh’s surface but also dive deep within it, stirring the undercurrents?’

’The structure of his Heart Image seemed to open up to new possibilities.’

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior." Xu Wuyi bowed again, this time out of sincere gratitude.

Flame Venerable waved his hand dismissively. "They’re just a few ideas. Whether you can make them work is up to you."

He glanced at the sky and rose to his feet. "That’s all for today. Go back and digest what we’ve discussed. I’ll have someone notify you when there’s news from Grandmaster Liang."

"Yes."

Xu Wuyi and Ta Shan bowed and took their leave.

...

The next morning, just as Xu Wuyi was finishing his morning exercises in the Cultivation Room, a call came through from Tana, right on time.

"My father would like to invite you over," Tana’s voice was tinged with a smile. "He said your last meeting was too brief and insists on hosting you properly this time."

"Alright." Xu Wuyi didn’t decline. "When would be convenient?"

"Now is perfect. I’ll come pick you up."

Ten minutes later, Tana’s hovercar pulled up in front of the small building. Xu Wuyi, having changed into a simple black training uniform, walked out the door.

The hovercar headed toward the core area of the Royal Palace. This time, it didn’t stop at a reception hall but went directly to a private courtyard.

Two guards stood watch at the courtyard entrance. Upon seeing Tana and Xu Wuyi, they immediately saluted and let them pass.

The courtyard was shaded by lush green trees. In the center stood a stone pavilion, where Tamur, the Prince of the West Desert, sat brewing tea.

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