Chapter 4: Learning Martial Arts

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lu Yan stood up, nocked his arrows, and drew his bow in one fluid motion, like clouds flowing across the sky. He loosed three arrows in succession—two struck the third ring, and one hit the fourth.
This was a qualitative improvement over his previous attempts.
“In less than three days, I’ve made as much progress as an ordinary person would in a year of hard training,” Lu Yan murmured, unable to conceal his delight.
And this, despite a shortage of food. If he could eat meat three times a day, or had an endless supply of nourishment to keep his Archery Clone constantly training, his progress would be even more astonishing.
The marvels of the Daoist Tome were beginning to reveal themselves.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…
Lu Yan practiced continuously, and soon more than a dozen bamboo arrows studded the target. He walked over, pulled them out, and began again.
The Archery Clone never paused for lack of energy, and Lu Yan himself refused to waste time. Practicing personally also advanced his progress, deepened his comprehension of archery, and strengthened his body.
He trained until dusk before returning home.
That night, as before, there was meat for dinner. They cooked about a pound and a half; Lu Yan received at least a pound.
“Strange, this time my archery progress increased by only fifteen percent before stopping,” Lu Yan frowned. Previously, a pound of meat had brought a thirty percent improvement.
But he soon understood.
Now that his archery had reached the level of “Moderate Mastery,” the difficulty of improvement naturally increased, and more energy was required.
With roughly the same amount of nutritional energy, slower progress was to be expected.
It was as if the Daoist Tome possessed wisdom of its own, not consuming all the food, but leaving enough to sustain the body’s basic needs.
Day after day passed, and in the blink of an eye, half a month was gone.
Lu Qingshan went into the mountains to hunt every day; though not always successful, he could generally ensure at least one meal of meat per day.
A pound of meat, plus other foods—wild yams, coarse rice, wild greens, and the like.
With this, Lu Yan’s archery steadily advanced. After a little over half a month, he surpassed “Seamless Integration” and reached the fourth realm of archery: “Consummate Skill.”
Archery Clone, Basic Archery, Consummate Skill (5%).
In just twenty days or so, he had attained Consummate Skill—a feat comparable to ten years of hard training for most people.
By this point, at thirty meters, Lu Yan could strike the bullseye with nearly every arrow, rarely missing.
He guessed that Lu Qingshan was probably at a similar level.
At this time, Lu Yan decided to join Lu Qingshan in hunting in the mountains.
His current goal was to accumulate silver and enter the city to study martial arts.
Moreover, as his archery skill kept breaking through, energy consumption increased as well. Now, a pound of meat only increased his progress by 3.75%.
To keep the Archery Clone progressing rapidly, he needed more food and meat—but relying on Lu Qingshan alone was too slow and insufficient.
However, when Lu Yan brought up the idea, Lu Qingshan refused outright.
“Yan’er, you haven’t practiced archery for long. The wild beasts are cunning—if you miss with the first arrow, they’ll vanish in a flash. After you’ve trained for a few more years, I’ll take you hunting,” Lu Qingshan said.

“Father, I’ve made great progress with my archery lately. I can hit the bullseye every time—I should be good enough for hunting.”
Lu Yan explained, unwilling to hide his progress. He wanted to hunt as soon as possible, save money, and study martial arts.
After all, it was just basic archery. Even if his improvement was remarkable, it shouldn’t be a problem.
“You can hit the bullseye every time?”
Lu Qingshan was plainly skeptical.
He knew well that consistent bullseyes meant “Consummate Skill”—a level he’d reached after more than ten years of hunting, while Lu Yan had only been practicing for twenty days.
“Father, let’s go test it out,” Lu Yan suggested.
The two of them walked to the bamboo grove.
Lu Yan drew his bow and loosed five arrows in a row. All struck the bullseye, leaving Lu Qingshan utterly dumbfounded.
It was a long moment before Lu Qingshan came to his senses, his face breaking into a broad smile. “Truly, Consummate Skill! In just over twenty days—Yan’er, could it be that you’re a martial arts prodigy?”
Lu Yan, thick-skinned, replied, “Father, I’m not sure myself. Ever since I started archery, everything has come naturally, and my progress has been lightning-fast.”
“That’s it, that’s it…”
Lu Qingshan muttered to himself, hesitated a while, then said, “Yan’er, since you have such talent, it cannot be wasted. From today on, your father will teach you martial arts.”
This time, it was Lu Yan’s turn to be shocked. “You’ll teach me martial arts? Father, you know martial arts? Are you a martial artist?”
In an instant, Lu Yan’s imagination ran wild.
Could his father have once been a martial arts master, a peerless expert who went into hiding in these mountains to escape deadly enemies, marrying, raising a family, and forbidding his son from learning martial arts to avoid being discovered?
Clearly, Lu Yan was overthinking.
“Alas!”
Lu Qingshan sighed, lost in reminiscence. “I was once a disciple at the Iron Thread Martial Hall in Wo Ye City. I practiced Iron Thread Fist, but in my youth I was hot-blooded and reckless. In a match, I had my meridians shattered, my blood and qi blocked, and my martial arts were ruined. Disheartened, I settled in Lu Family Village as a hunter.”
“With that lesson, I forbade you from pursuing martial arts, hoping you’d study and earn honors instead—I didn’t want you to repeat my mistakes. But I never imagined you’d have such talent for archery. I’ve decided to teach you Iron Thread Fist.”
“So that’s how it is,” Lu Yan nodded, finally understanding why his father had insisted he study: it was to keep him from following the path of reckless violence.
At the same time, Lu Yan felt a surge of excitement. He had planned to hunt and save up to learn martial arts, but now his father could teach him directly, saving both time and money.
“Father, how are martial artists ranked? Are there realms or stages?” Lu Yan asked.
As an author of popular web novels, he had read countless stories—all of which described martial arts with distinct levels. Now, confronted with real martial prowess, he was naturally curious.
“Of course there are. Martial arts have ranks, and martial techniques are divided into levels.”
“The Martial Dao Canon records that the human body contains infinite potential, but it is locked behind ‘sealed gates.’ There are five such gates, and martial training uses specific techniques to circulate blood and qi, accumulating them, then striking open these ‘sealed gates’ to break through one’s limits and unleash potential.”
“Each gate broken greatly increases one’s blood and qi, as well as power. Martial prowess rises accordingly.”
“At my peak, I broke through two sealed gates, and was known as a ‘Double Limit-Breaker’.”

Lu Qingshan explained everything in detail, and Lu Yan listened intently, missing not a word.
“Limit-Breaker?” Lu Yan murmured.
“Yes. There’s a story behind it—at first, such people were called ‘Gate-Breakers,’ but later generations thought the name inelegant. It was changed to ‘Limit-Breaker,’ meaning one who shatters their limits.”
“That’s the ranking system for martial prowess. But as for martial techniques, each one progresses through stages: Initiation, Minor Achievement, Seamless Integration, Consummate Skill, Reaching the Pinnacle, Transcendence, and Unity of Man and Martial Art—seven levels altogether.”
Lu Qingshan continued,
“Isn’t that similar to archery?” Lu Yan thought, then said, “I understand—higher mastery means greater power for any technique.”
“You’re right, but that’s not all.”
Lu Qingshan went on, “The level of mastery not only affects power, but also training speed—and greatly aids in breaking through the sealed gates.”
“Any martial art begins by repeated practice, until you can sense the blood and qi flowing through your twelve main meridians. Once you can perceive and control this flow, you’ve reached Initiation.”
“Next comes Minor Achievement—at this stage, you open up smaller branch meridians, allowing your blood and qi to permeate more deeply, refining the body further and accumulating energy faster.”
“The higher your mastery, the more branch meridians you open, the faster you accumulate energy, and the more powerful and refined your body becomes.”
“In general, a third-rate martial art at Minor Achievement opens eighteen branch meridians; at Seamless Integration, thirty-six; and at Consummate Skill, seventy-two. And so on.”
“Third-rate martial art?” Lu Yan caught another new term.
“Yes, martial arts are also ranked. Iron Thread Fist, which I’ll teach you, is third-rate. At Minor Achievement, you open eighteen branch meridians, and at best, you can break through three sealed gates to become a Triple Limit-Breaker.”
“It’s said that second-rate martial arts open thirty-six branch meridians at Minor Achievement. Both the speed of cultivation and the quality of energy are superior to third-rate arts. At best, you can break through all five sealed gates, becoming a Quintuple Limit-Breaker.”
Lu Qingshan explained.
“Is there a first-rate martial art above that?” Lu Yan asked.
“There is. First-rate martial arts, they say, open a hundred and eight branch meridians at Minor Achievement. The energy even penetrates the bones, forging bone strength—making the body as tough as copper and iron, fierce and unstoppable, capable of beheading foes amid a thousand troops. Such a master is called a Martial Marquis. The Liu clan, with their noble lineage, certainly have Martial Marquis who’ve mastered bone strength.”
“But first-rate martial arts are almost all in the hands of great noble houses, far beyond the reach of common people. You needn’t concern yourself with that for now.”
“Is bone strength the stage above Quintuple Limit-Breaking?” Lu Yan murmured, forming a basic impression of the world’s martial arts.
“Father, those Liu clan soldiers—what level do you think they’re at?”
Lu Yan recalled the Liu clan’s warriors: over six feet tall, exuding a presence more fearsome than tigers, able to rend an adult limb from limb with a single sweep of the spear. The memory still left his heart pounding.
“The Liu family is only the lowest rank of Martial Marquis household, so their warriors are probably between one and five Limit-Breaks. But since they’re the clan’s elite, they’re likely trained in second-rate martial arts, making them far stronger than those with only third-rate arts.”
“That’s enough for now. You have a basic understanding of martial arts. The rest you’ll have to grasp through practice. It’s time I taught you Iron Thread Fist. Martial arts, like archery, are easy to learn but hard to master. You must train diligently and never slacken.”
With that, Lu Qingshan began teaching him Iron Thread Fist.