Unrivaled Martial Emperor

Chapter 2 - Breaking Through to Second Level

Chen Fan sat cross-legged on a large limestone rock near the river after taking a refreshing bath in its waters.

In the Tianwu Continent, martial arts were revered.

Martial arts practitioners absorbed the primeval qi of heaven and earth to strengthen themselves, enabling them to unleash immense strength measured in thousands of jin. Experts could even transcend spatial constraints to reach celestial bodies like the sun and the moon. At the highest levels, they could even destroy heaven and decimate earth, commanding supreme power.[1]

Despite receiving blessings from a disaster that unblocked his meridians, opened his dantian, and allowed him to break through to the first level of the Qigong realm, Chen Fan was still at the beginning stages of his martial arts journey, existing at the lowest level.

In martial arts, the first step was Body Refinement, followed by Qi Gathering. In the Qi Gathering realm, a martial artist absorbed primeval qi by practicing qi cultivation techniques. This stage was also commonly known as the Qigong realm and had nine levels.

Having obtained the Heaven Seizing Art, Chen Fan wished he could immediately become an exceptional expert under the heavens, standing above the sun, moon, and stars, reigning supreme.

“Does the Heaven Seizing Art really forcibly plunder the primeval qi of heaven and earth? So domineering! Let me give it a try.”

Chen Fan mumbled to himself and immediately shut his eyes, focusing on the cultivation passage of the Heaven Seizing Art.

As he began to practice, anomalies started to manifest in the surrounding space.

Chen Fan seemed to have become a black hole, giving rise to a terrifying suction force that made the air in the surrounding area rush toward him.

Whoosh, whoosh.

The air surged with incredible force, like a category ten typhoon was raging through the area. Whirring noises rang out in the area, the surrounding trees rattled, and the gale ripped off their leaves.

A huge funnel-shaped vortex appeared above Chen Fan. The heaven and earth primeval qi present in the air came rolling in, surging into him along this funnel-shaped vortex.

The instant he began cultivating, Chen Fan felt warmer and lighter and as comfortable as could be. This was something he had never experienced before.

A warm current flowed into his limbs and skeleton. His flesh and blood seemed to revel in the warmth, eagerly absorbing it like a delicious feast.

Chen Fan was very aware that this comfortable, warm current was the primeval qi of heaven and earth—a great tonic for martial arts practitioners.

As such, he began guiding the warm current in his meridians, following the path specified in the Heaven Seizing Art to complete a cycle.

If one observed from the outside, they would find that the circulating path of the Heaven Seizing Art resembled a human figure, precisely tracing the outline of a person.

After the strand of primeval qi had completed a cycle, the much-condensed primeval qi returned to the dantian, increasing the size of the coiled primeval qi in his dantian.

Chen Fan opened his eyes; the excitement in them was on the verge of overflowing.

Although he had been cultivating with his eyes shut, he could hear the commotion rising around him. That was certainly an unusual phenomenon in cultivation. If they were to witness this scene, people would definitely receive a big scare.

“To directly plunder the primeval qi in heaven and earth... The Heaven Seizing Art is indeed domineering. With this, my cultivation speed will be more than ten times faster than others!”

Chen Fan’s heart thumped excitedly.

His old cultivation technique was the most basic cultivation technique. Heck, it could be found in roadside stalls. Due to that art, he usually had to spend a long time guiding primeval qi into his body; ultimately, he could only absorb a minuscule amount that was thousands of times less than the Heaven Seizing Art.

“I absolutely can’t tell others about this. Otherwise, I would lose my life!”

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. The Heaven Seizing Art was too shocking. He knew that if news of its power spread, it would stir up greed in others.

Given his current strength, even a third-level Qigong martial artist would be able to kill him.

“I have to continue cultivating. I can only protect myself when I’m strong!”

Chen Fan's eyes flashed brilliantly. Closing his eyes, he started cultivating the Heaven Seizing Art again. The unusual phenomenon appeared once more.

Fortunately, this area was very remote, not to mention it was late at night. As such, Chen Fan didn’t have to worry about being discovered by others, and he could cultivate without worries.

The golden light had expanded Chen Fan's dantian to ten times its original size. As a result, the amount of primeval qi needed to break through to the second level of the Qigong realm was rather huge, sufficient for others to advance two minor realms.

Fortunately, the Heaven Seizing Art was domineering enough to extract primeval qi from a several-mile radius, rapidly filling Chen Fan's dantian with heaven and earth primeval qi.

The night was dark and still, and the moon's soft glow cast a silvery sheen over Chen Fan.

Despite the beautiful night scenery, Chen Fan had no time to appreciate its beauty as he was fully immersed in cultivating.

The primeval qi surged into Chen Fan like a clay ox entering the sea, strengthening his innate breath[2]. A small portion of it was devoured and absorbed by his flesh and blood. It healed his physical injuries and made him stronger.

The following morning, the sky lightened, signaling the start of a new day.

Chen Fan shook violently. All his meridians hummed, and the primeval qi in his wide meridians rushed like the sea waves.

Shockingly, he had broken through to the second level of the Qi Gathering realm.

Chen Fan clenched his fists, feeling the surging power.

He suddenly punched out, and the air boomed.

The air shook, forming a raging air current, and rushed forward, hitting a tree as wide as a bowl. The attack snapped the tree in half.

Chen Fan could tell that his punch earlier contained a force of 2,300 jin.

In the nine levels of the Qi Gathering realm, the first level possessed a force of 1,000 jin, and the second level possessed a force of 2,000 jin. With every small realm advancement, a martial artist’s strength would further increase by 1,000 jin.

Although he was only on the second level, the power of his punch was at 2,300 jin. His strength was comparable to a mid-stage second-level Qigong practitioner.

“This...”

Chen Fan looked at his palms, a little lost in thought.

He couldn’t understand why his strength surpassed a second-level Qigong martial artist’s by this much. After thinking about it, he attributed all of it to him being stuck in the Body Refinement realm for three years.

Moreover, his enlarged dantian gave him an advantage in terms of primeval qi storage. Although his capacity was still in the early stages of the second level of the Qigong realm, it was ten times greater than that of his peers, effectively making it comparable to a late-stage, second-level Qigong practitioner. As a result, his primeval qi would last longer during battles.

“If I see that scumbag Liao Feng again, I’ll definitely have the strength to fight back, unlike before!” Chen Fan didn’t bother thinking too deeply about it as a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Liao Feng’s purpose for robbing his primeval stones was the Outer Sect Grand Competition in three months.

The Spring Autumn Sect’s outer sect had more than ten thousand disciples. They held recruitments every three years, along with a grand competition where the bottom 1,000 disciples were expelled from the sect.

If Chen Fan hadn’t had the fortuitous encounter with the lightning strike, he would have been undoubtedly expelled. However, now...

“Three months. In these three months, I must raise my cultivation to the fourth level of the Qigong realm or above to ensure I won’t be expelled from the sect. Otherwise, I’d really be letting my father down.”

In cultivation, the amount of primeval qi required to advance to the next level increased exponentially as one progressed. As such, even though Chen Fan practiced the Heaven Seizing Art, he only set his target at the fourth level of the Qigong realm.

Reaching the fourth level of the Qigong realm guaranteed him a place in the top 10,000 of the competition.

“Now that I have broken through to the second level of the Qigong realm, I can head to the Martial Arts Pavilion to pick out a martial skill. After learning a martial skill, I’ll definitely get back at Liao Feng for yesterday’s beating if I see him again!”

After a period of dedicated cultivation, Chen Fan stabilized his cultivation at the middle stage of the second level, boosting his strength to 2,600 jin. Feeling ready, he finally headed toward the Martial Arts Pavilion.

1. 1 Jin is rounded to 500 grams, or 1.32 pound ?

2. Also known as natal breath, the purest state of breathing achieved when highly immersed in cultivating, not needing to physically breathe in or out, instead done through the skin. ?