Invincibility Begins with Mastery of Fist Techniques-Chapter 164 - 158: The Reason

Seeing the expression on Zhou Yuanjue's face, Zhang Dongwei knew he had just asked a foolish question.

"Twenty-five... twenty-five..."

Zhang Dongwei muttered the age to himself.

He had advanced to the Saint Awakening Realm at thirty-two, and had always prided himself on being the youngest person to reach Saint Awakening in a thousand years, with no one younger to be found in the historical record.

Furthermore, judging by Zhou Yuanjue's strength, he had clearly not just advanced to Saint Awakening. Using one's own Qi to command the Power of Nature was something only a veteran Saint Awakening could do. When Zhang Dongwei had explored on his own, he had only just managed to reach that level as he approached the age of thirty-eight.

And yet, Zhou Yuanjue was only twenty-five, which meant he must have reached Saint Awakening even earlier.

'A Saint Awakening who's not even twenty?'

In the thousands of years of Donghua history, such a person had never existed. It was hard to imagine how someone so young could comprehend the true meaning of life and attain this realm.

'The times are changing far too quickly.'

"In this day and age, are all who reach Saint Awakening so young?"

Zhang Dongwei inquired.

"Not exactly. Even now, those who reach Saint Awakening are exceedingly rare. But the world is vast, and with a population in the tens of billions, there are bound to be hidden masters. I'm not sure how many others have reached Saint Awakening at my age."

Zhou Yuanjue shook his head. As far as he could recall, the established individuals who had reached Saint Awakening were all quite old. The only one close to his age was Jiang Jiushan, but that guy was still lying in a hospital, in some sort of self-induced catatonic state, with no telling when he might wake up.

"Tens of billions..."

Hearing this staggering number, Zhang Dongwei was momentarily dazed.

For someone from his era, a population of that size was simply unimaginable.

"Perhaps... this is the era I have been waiting for..."

Zhang Dongwei remarked with a sigh.

"The era you've been waiting for? I'm actually very curious—why do you seem unaffected by the Elixir of Immortality? Are you still the man you once were, or are you just a Celestial Demon that has taken over your memories?"

Zhou Yuanjue said, his brows furrowed.

Zhang Dongwei fell silent for a moment at his words, then finally sighed. "Do you know why I took the Elixir of Immortality in the first place?"

Zhou Yuanjue shook his head slightly.

"From a young age, I was exceptionally gifted and was taken in by a great master. At that time, the Martial Dao was not the main path of Cultivation; Daoist cultivation was."

"The Inner Alchemy Dao, True Fire Hundred Refinements, forging a Golden Core to become Land Immortals... Those who pursued Daoist cultivation were recluses, living in the mountains like wandering clouds and wild cranes, detached from worldly affairs. Every school and sect guarded its secrets jealously, considering themselves immortals among men, far removed from the mortal world."

"At the time, the Martial Arts of the mortal world were nothing more than simple physical exercises, methods for circulating blood and qi to strengthen the body. Many of these methods even damaged the body and shortened one's life. Mortals had no path to transcendence; the mysteries of Saint Awakening were grasped by only a select few."

"My master told me I was born to walk the path of the Dao—relentless, single-minded, and with an unshakeable heart for the Dao. Later, I succeeded in my Cultivation. At the age of thirty-three, I broke through the threshold of life and death, stepped onto the path of Saint Awakening, and became one of the Land Immortals. In that moment, I believed myself to be without equal in history. I was ambitious and determined to forge a path where none had gone before."

"Unfortunately, from ancient times to the present, the Saint Awakening Realm seemed to be the limit. The Saints and Sages of antiquity, the Buddha Bodhisattvas—they all appeared to have reached this same realm. Only those with peculiar powers, the Aliens known as the Remnant Clan of the Immortal Gods, were able to advance further, but they relied on their non-human abilities. For ordinary humans like us, once we reached this point, the path ahead seemed to vanish."

"A person might reach Saint Awakening only once every two or three hundred years. You couldn't even find a peer to exchange ideas with, let alone an opponent. It is truly lonely at the top."

Zhang Dongwei said slowly.

Zhou Yuanjue nodded, beginning to understand Zhang Dongwei's feelings. When he had first reached Saint Awakening, he too had felt a sense of being lost. It was a leap from the finite to the infinite; the path ahead seemed wide open, yet it was also shrouded in darkness. He hadn't known which way to turn. If not for Liehong Mountain's guidance, comprehending the mysteries of the Natural Magnetic Field and achieving his current level of power would have been an incredibly long journey.

This was the benefit of having others to confer with. With the experience of those who came before, their successors could avoid many wrong turns. The time and energy that would be wasted on exploring through trial and error alone was incalculable.

But in Zhang Dongwei's era, not only was there no path forward for him, but he didn't even have a single peer with whom he could communicate on equal terms. For a Seeker of the Dao, this was a profound tragedy.

"I groped my way through the darkness, reading countless scriptures. For the ordinary people who had reached Saint Awakening before me, this realm was the pinnacle of human achievement. With no way to advance further, their only options were to seek Merit, abandon their physical bodies, and ascend to immortality through Feather Transformation."

"But I refused to believe that. I always felt that humanity was not limited to this level. If those Aliens could achieve it, then so could we."

"Through my explorations, I identified the reasons why my predecessors were unable to advance beyond the Saint Awakening Realm."

"First, it was rare for multiple individuals to reach Saint Awakening in the same era. The path was long and lonely, with no one to walk it with you. Relying on individual wisdom alone, one could not find the inspiration to galvanize their will, stir their qi and blood, and see what lay further beyond."

"However, the teachings of Daoist cultivation are obscure and arduous, demanding extremely high aptitude and comprehension. Ultimately, only a rare few are qualified to pursue it. The Martial Dao, on the other hand, can be practiced by anyone. So, after leaving the mountain, I lived in anonymity for twenty years, seeking out all the Martial Arts in the world. By combining them with the Inner Power of the Alchemy Dao, I created the Inner Refining Martial Dao. This path could also lead to Saint Awakening. My hope was to plant the seeds of seeking the Dao in the world, to cultivate another person to the level of Saint Awakening, so that we could discuss the Dao as peers, discoursing upon matters ancient and modern."

"And so, the Martial Dao spread throughout Donghua. I brought martial arts to all under heaven."

As Zhang Dongwei continued his tale, Zhou Yuanjue's expression grew animated.

'Bringing martial arts to all under heaven...'

'So that was why Zhang Dongwei had laid the foundation for the modern Martial Dao and its Fist Techniques.'

'To immerse himself in study and forge a new path.'

'If there is no one in the world who can discuss the Dao with me, then I shall be the first to do so and forge another who can reach Saint Awakening.'

'What incredible ambition. Perhaps only a man who had left such an indelible mark on the history of the Donghua Martial Dao could possess such audacity.'

"Unfortunately, I failed. The world is vast, but how many are truly capable of reaching Saint Awakening? By the time of my hundredth birthday, not a single other person had appeared who could reach that realm."

"I analyzed the reasons for this and discovered a simple fact: though the world was vast, how many people could actually afford to practice martial arts? To find a single medicinal herb, one might have to trek across mountains and rivers, a search that could last half a year or more. This was commonplace. For someone at my realm, a daily diet of a bushel of rice and an entire cow was barely enough to stave off hunger."

"I gradually came to a tragic realization: these were the limitations of my era."

"I could transcend myself, but I could not transcend the era in which I lived!"