"Don't just stand there and watch, follow along with me!" Dash looked at the bewildered crowd and hurriedly said.
It was Anthony who reacted first and couldn't help but ask, "Old man, are you serious?"
"I'm an old man, do you think I have the leisure to joke around with you young folks here?" Dash replied irritably.
Anthony questioned, "But what you're explaining can also be found online."
"Online?" Dash showed a disdainful look. "Besides a wide range of romance movies, those so-called breathing techniques are just shoddy imitations. How can they compare to the authentic martial arts of my Heavenly Sect? I'm asking you, young man, do you really want to learn?" "My time is precious, old man!"
Seeing that Dash didn't seem to be pretending, Anthony nodded to the two women and said, "Let's follow along."
"That's more like it." Dash nodded in satisfaction and said, "Now continue to follow along with me. Inhale through the nose, remember to make your breaths long-lasting, silently count to seven in your mind, swallow it into your abdomen, then hold your breath for seven counts, and finally, slowly exhale through your mouth."
"No different from what's on the internet." Anthony thought to himself, but he felt that Dash's method wasn't as simple as it seemed. "Repeat the motion I just did twelve times, and then we'll start a new motion." After Dash finished speaking, he simply sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and waited.
Anthony and the other two immediately began practicing as the old man instructed. It wasn't until the fourth cycle that Anthony suddenly frowned. He felt a slight bloating in his lower abdomen, and a warm sensation rose from his dantian. This feeling was very distinct. In other words, what the old man said was true. After finding this sensation, Anthony continued to breathe in through his nose and exhale through his mouth until twelve cycles. He only felt the gas in his lower abdomen getting larger and larger, as if a little rabbit was bouncing around inside, causing a throbbing pain with each bounce.
"What's going on?" Anthony's face showed astonishment. Verna and Cheryl felt uncomfortable as well, although not as intense as Anthony.
"My stomach hurts," Cheryl said, clutching her belly.
Verna frowned and said, "Me too." She hadn't had her period and hadn't eaten anything unclean.
After saying that, they looked at Anthony, who had no expression on his face. "Are you feeling it too?" Anthony nodded. Just as the three of them were at a loss, Dash suddenly opened his eyes and burst into laughter.
Looking at the puzzled crowd, he asked, "Did you feel the pain and bloating in your lower abdomen? Like a little rabbit bouncing around inside?"
"I didn't feel it like a rabbit bouncing, but I felt something small jumping," Cheryl said.
Verna said, "It's similar to Cheryl's description." Finally, the three of them looked at Anthony.
Anthony, feeling uncomfortable, said, "It's like a rabbit, very painful."
Dash looked at Anthony with an appreciative gaze and explained, "This is a good phenomenon, indicating that you have initially incorporated spiritual energy into your body. The severity of the pain also represents the amount of spiritual energy absorbed. The more spiritual energy you absorb, the more your stomach will hurt. So there's no need to panic."
"This is related to the second step you are about to learn, which is controlling the spiritual energy," Dash explained the principle. "Because you have only learned how to inhale spiritual energy, but not how to control it, the spiritual energy becomes uncontrollable and chaotic inside your body. That's why the online knowledge only teaches people to absorb Qi but not how to control it. This leads to issues in the body, and in severe cases, it can damage the dantian and meridians, causing paralysis throughout the body."
"So, how do we control the Qi?" Anthony, feeling the pain, couldn't bear it and spoke up.
"Now follow along with me," Dash said, slowly extending his arms, then raising them towards the top of his head, palms together. He slowly lowered his arms, crossing them at the lower abdomen, and finally returned them to the front of his chest, palms at the dantian. He then exhaled slowly.
Anthony quickly followed along. As expected, the moment his arms opened, the Qi in his dantian flowed immediately towards his upper body along the direction of his arms. It then followed his arms towards his limbs before returning to the dantian.
After completing the entire sequence of movements, the spiritual energy in the dantian immediately calmed down. The previous bloating and pain disappeared, replaced by a refreshing and clear sensation, as if having taken a hot bath. No wonder practicing these techniques requires a master's guidance. If you practice them incorrectly, it's very easy to encounter problems.
"Now, do you feel very comfortable again?" Dash asked once more.
Anthony was the first to respond, "Yes, I feel completely refreshed."
This time, Dash's face no longer had the previous calmness. He immediately walked over and grabbed Anthony's arm, transmitting a warm current.
After a moment, Dash's face was full of shock. "You, kid, are actually a legendary innate body!" He looked at Anthony with a pleased expression and said, "Kid, join my Heavenly Sect, and the position of sect leader will be yours in the future."
"I refuse." Without hesitation, Anthony directly declined. There must be no good intentions behind the old man's lecherous expression. However, Anthony directly asked what the so-called innate body was.
"Are you sure you won't reconsider?"
"No, I won't."
"What a pity." Dash wore a regretful expression and no longer dwelled on it. He explained, "When we are in the womb, we possess an innate body. At that time, all the acupuncture points in our body are open, and there is a trace of innate Qi nurtured within. That's what we call the innate body. However, there are too many impurities in this world, and after birth, the innate Qi is lost. The open acupuncture points become blocked by impure Qi from the outside world, causing the innate body to transform into an acquired body. We martial practitioners absorb spiritual energy and use it to clear the blocked acupuncture points, reversing from acquired to innate."
"So, what is the use of the innate body?"
Anthony was puzzled. Dash glanced at Anthony impatiently and said, "Having an innate body means that as long as you practice martial arts and accumulate internal energy, there are almost no bottlenecks. It's not too difficult to even break through the innate realm in martial arts."
"What are the different realms for martial artists, and what realm are you in, old man?" Anthony only knew about the levels of zombies and was unfamiliar with the levels of martial artists.
"Martial artists, also known as ancient warriors, are generally divided into four realms: acquired, innate, grandmaster, and great grandmaster. And each major realm is further divided into twelve minor realms. I am currently at the fifth minor realm of the acquired realm. The fifth minor realm of the acquired realm is equivalent to a first-level mutated zombie, but slightly stronger."
Anthony made a comparison in his mind and asked, "What about the martial arts described in movies, like Ming Jin, An Jin, Hua Jin, Gang Realm, and Dan Realm?"
"Do you believe everything you see in movies?" Dash rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Isn't it true?" Anthony became even more curious.
Dash took a deep breath, trying to restrain himself, and explained, "The realms mentioned in movies are not about cultivation levels but rather the division of techniques in using power. For example, Ming Jin is when I hit a tree and it breaks in half at the waist. That's the visible force. An Jin is when I hit a tree and it looks fine on the surface, but it rots inside. That's the force that is not visible on the surface."
"Hua , as the name implies, is the skillful application of power, like Tai Chi, where a light touch can neutralize the opponent's force. As for Gang Realm and Dan Realm, those are made-up terms in novels. The author actually based the division of these realms on the grandmaster and great grandmaster levels."
"The reason why acquired and innate are called realms is that each promotion represents a transformation of the body. Scientifically speaking, it is an evolution of the level of life, which is fundamentally different from Ming and Hua ." The old man's explanation was simple and clear, and Anthony immediately understood, but it also overturned his understanding of martial arts realms.
Realizing that the old man took the trouble to answer his questions, Anthony's expression became serious, and he deeply bowed, saying, "Thank you, sir, for enlightening me."
"Now that you understand, repeat the movements I just showed you twelve times. Remember, do it while breathing."
"Yes." This time, Anthony and the other two no longer showed any disdain.