After "teaching a lesson" to Yan Yuanyi, a woman who had long annoyed him, He Heng immediately felt refreshed and his mental state greatly improved.
"Hmm, now my martial arts can be considered fully developed, reaching the peak of national martial arts. From here on, it's impossible to make progress in martial arts cultivation in this world. It seems I can only work on the realm aspect," He Heng pondered about his development in this world, realizing he had reached a bottleneck.
National martial arts cultivation had reached its limit at the realm of breaking through emptiness and seeing the indestructible divine. Even with his advanced martial arts experience from the Great Celestial World, it was difficult to envision a path forward. This was originally a dead end, and even if there was a way, it wasn't something he could figure out in a short time.
So, with no hope of progress in terms of cultivation, if he wanted to quickly enhance his strength, he could only focus on martial arts realms and techniques.
In the Great Celestial World, there were many divine skills and unique techniques that could allow martial artists to fight across realms, but he obviously didn't have those powerful martial arts. However, in this world, there are no strongest martial arts, only the strongest people. In the hands of certain individuals, even the simplest martial arts can transform decay into miracles, possessing earth-shattering power. This relies on a kind of focus, practice makes perfect.
No matter how simple a martial art is, as long as it can be cultivated to the peak level, its power won't be inferior. Like the flying swordsman A Fei, who only knew a simple sword technique, yet could still reach the level of one of the strongest in "Little Li Flying Dagger". Although He Heng didn't have the top-tier unique skills of the Great Celestial World, he believed that at the same realm, he wouldn't lose to those who possessed those powerful martial arts.
There are no strongest martial arts in the world, only the most suitable for oneself. Even the most powerful unique skills are created by others and don't belong to you. Cultivating them means you can never reach the peak and become a true grand master of martial arts. Only by creating your own martial arts, your own methods, your own Dao, can you unleash the strongest power.
He Heng was already on this path. In "Dragon Snake Romance", GOD had a unique skill called "Lotus Blooming in Fire", Tang Zichen had the Dragon Snake Combined Strike, and Wang Chao had the Heaven-Overturning Seal. These were all the essence of their fully developed martial arts. Others learning from them could never reach the ultimate peak. Although He Heng's current realm couldn't be considered fully developed martial arts, his Dao had just begun. However, in terms of realm, He Heng was not inferior to GOD, Wang Chao, or Tang Zichen. Naturally, he also had his own unique skills.
Suddenly, He Heng sat cross-legged, embracing the dan, in a large hall. His gaze was like a torch, without any emotion, like an immortal deity looking down on the mortal world. The entanglements of the mundane world, the ups and downs of worldly affairs, showed no fluctuations, lonely and cold, like the vast sky.
Abruptly, he threw a punch. It was like an antelope hanging by its horns, untraceable. No one knew how he threw this punch, formless and traceless, indescribably marvelous. It was as if heaven and earth were opening up, nurturing all things, inconceivably mysterious.
This was the Formless Punch of the Great Dao, one of the Three Punches of the Great Dao, created by He Heng after walking through dangers, experiencing life and death several times, comprehending the nature of heaven and earth, the birth and death of all things, as his martial arts initially took shape.
The Great Dao is formless, giving birth to heaven and earth!
"Boom!" Suddenly, a violent rumble sounded, a huge sonic boom that made the villa where He Heng was located shake several times. It was like the heavenly divine thunder at the beginning of the world, shaking the universe, giving birth to the great world.
Suddenly, He Heng's punch changed again, his expression becoming indifferent and emotionless. If he had seemed like a deity looking down on the mortal world just now, now he had transformed into the emotionless, desireless, impartial Dao of Heaven, viewing all living beings as straw dogs, indifferent to all worldly affairs, allowing the world to rise and fall, heaven and earth to operate, dominating everything in the world, the cycle of life and death, the alternation of sun and moon. This was the Emotionless Punch of the Great Dao, one of the Three Punches of the Great Dao!
The Great Dao is emotionless, operating the sun and moon!
He Heng's punch at this moment was like the supreme Dao of Heaven, wielding the birth and death of heaven and earth, the cycle of reincarnation, the changes of sun and moon, vast and boundless, filled with infinite momentum.
Then, He Heng's punch changed again. This time it was a kind of restraint, a return to simplicity. His expression returned to normal, dispersing that indifferent intent of looking down on the vast world, transforming into the simplest human nature, ordinary yet truly sublimated, casting away all sharp edges, avoiding all calamities, nurturing oneself, achieving the true Dao. This was the Nameless Punch of the Great Dao, one of the Three Punches of the Great Dao!
The Great Dao is nameless, nurturing all things!
The essence of this punch lies in the word "nurture", extremely restrained, reaching the realm where the ultimate person has no name, avoiding the sharp edges of all things in heaven and earth, thus having no disasters or calamities, allowing oneself to be nurtured.
Zhuangzi said: "Do good without seeking fame, do evil without fearing punishment. Follow the middle path as the constant, and you can preserve your body, complete your life, nurture your parents, and live out your years."
He Heng's punch took this principle, not used for attack, but for nurturing oneself.
The Great Dao is formless, giving birth to heaven and earth. The Great Dao is emotionless, operating the sun and moon. The Great Dao is nameless, nurturing all things.
These three sentences come from the famous Daoist text "Qingjing Jing" by Taishang Laojun, as the opening three sentences and also the foundation of the entire text. He Heng transformed these into three punches, combining his own martial arts with the Daoist philosophy of this world.
"I believe these three punches in my hands can compete with any powerful martial art in the Great Celestial World!" He Heng said with great confidence. This wasn't saying that he could truly compare with those senior experts who created numerous divine skills in the Great Celestial World. In fact, He Heng was far inferior to those figures. But what he meant by competing was competing with the current inheritors of those martial arts. Although these martial arts are strong, how many people at low realms can unleash even one ten-thousandth of their mysteries? Moreover, they are using techniques created by their predecessors, and no matter how well they fit, they can't exert 100% of the power. He Heng's Three Punches of the Great Dao, however, were created by himself and could exert 120% of their power. In this comparison, He Heng absolutely didn't think he would be inferior to those at the same realm who possessed world-class martial arts.
However, this wasn't his goal. He Heng's goal was, given time, to make these Three Punches of the Great Dao truly live up to their name. With one punch, heaven and earth open, sun and moon turn, nurturing all things! To become the strongest martial art in the Great Celestial World.
This goal was arduous and the road was long, but He Heng was on the path forward.
"My life has limits, but knowledge is limitless. I only hope that in my lifetime, I can walk further on this long path of the great Dao. I seek longevity, not for eternity, not for immortality, but only to get closer to that ultimate great Dao."
He Heng sighed with emotion, his eyes showing determination, the belief in seeking the Dao!
After a moment, He Heng retreated from that state and continued in a deep voice: "My martial arts in terms of techniques, subtlety, and artistic conception have already reached a peak after creating the Three Punches of the Great Dao. It's impossible to make significant progress in a short time, requiring long years of accumulation to possibly undergo transformation. Therefore, it's impossible for me to enhance my combat power in this aspect."
At this point, He Heng paused, then continued: "Now I've reached a bottleneck in both cultivation and techniques, difficult to improve, so I can only think of ways in terms of punch momentum and realm."
"In terms of punch momentum, I have comprehended a momentum that transcends the mundane, breaks through the mortal realm, forgets the secular world - a momentum of metamorphosis and shattering, a punch of loneliness like snow belonging to one person, possessing a momentum free from any entanglements or constraints, but it has not yet been truly perfected."
"As for the realm, although I have touched the human method realm, I have never truly entered that domain. If I can perfectly surpass the realm of technique and step into the human method realm of the three levels of method, my combat power will surely greatly increase. That realm is very mysterious, not merely encompassing the so-called path of utmost sincerity that can foresee, but a perfect control over one's own mind."
At this point, He Heng frowned, somewhat uncertainly saying: "Based on my current comprehension, the so-called human method realm should be like this. Its mystery lies in the character 'human', which refers to the human among heaven, earth, and human, pointing to one's own mind, a perfect control over one's own mind, not being pleased by external things, not being saddened by oneself, completely breaking free from external constraints, not being affected by other influences."
"Many novels write that when experts compete, mental flaws greatly affect combat power, but this doesn't hold for experts who have comprehended the human method realm. Because they can perfectly grasp their own minds, not showing any flaws, external things can hardly shake their hearts, they simply can't be affected, and can exert their full strength at all times.
The saying that strong people lose control of their minds and their combat power drops doesn't hold. Those Pure Yang True Immortal level figures often exist for thousands or tens of thousands of years, but even at the moment of extinction, their power always remains at its strongest state. No matter how the world changes, their own life and death don't affect their strength!
This is the true human method realm, perfectly controlling one's own mind, not fearing the vastness of heaven and earth, not despising the weakness of ants, perfectly controlling at all times. Otherwise, how could one use one's heart to replace the heart of heaven, achieving the realm of unity of heaven and man? Without this state of mind, one would only lose everything under the vast universe of heaven and earth."
He Heng longed for everything in the human method realm, because that was the realm that true strong ones should possess, transcending the mundane, not shaken by any external things, not shaking one's original heart, not shaking one's own Dao. As time flows on, every moment is at peak strength.
"However, achieving this realm is extremely difficult. I have only initially touched this domain now. To truly enter it requires more accumulation and comprehension, and needs some good opponents to stimulate me. Only between life and death can I achieve extreme sublimation and touch that realm," He Heng said solemnly. "And to cultivate that so-called overwhelming momentum, I also need to temper and cultivate between life and death, cultivating an invincible momentum, with fist techniques as majestic as mountains and rivers, sun and moon cycling. All of this requires sufficient opponents."
"And in this world, who can be my opponent?"
Who can be my opponent? At this moment, He Heng deeply felt a kind of loneliness, the loneliness of being invincible.