Chapter 21: Myriad Phenomena Origin
Ye Qinghe looked toward Ning Qi and was immediately stunned in place.
She saw that Ning Qi had at some point closed his eyes tightly, with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his posture exceptionally relaxed, yet seeming to contain some kind of peculiar charm. The sunset’s afterglow slanted onto Ning Qi, and the young child’s figure unexpectedly took on a touch of sacredness.
“Could it be that Little Junior Brother is having an enlightenment?”
Ye Qinghe was startled, then overjoyed.
She had once heard Master Dragon Mountain Daoist speak of this miraculous state. If one could achieve enlightenment, it was as if aided by the divine; all the doubts and confusions that were hard to unravel in the past could be resolved effortlessly. This was a supreme opportunity; some people might never enter the enlightenment realm in their entire lives.
“Little Junior Brother is only four years old and already achieving enlightenment once—what amazing comprehension!”
Ye Qinghe felt somewhat envious and also admiring.
Both of them saw this wondrous sight before their eyes, yet neither had the slightest feeling from it. That was the difference.
In the eyes of ordinary people, she was undoubtedly a genius, but compared to Ning Qi, they were not even in the same dimension.
But thinking that Ning Qi had already reached Bone Refining after just one year of cultivation, she immediately felt relieved. What was there to compare with such a prodigy?
She began to earnestly serve as Protector for Ning Qi, lest his opportunity be disturbed.
Upon the Stone Platform.
Two people and one ape.
Ning Qi and the White Ape both had their eyes closed, while Ye Qinghe focused intently on perceiving the surroundings, lest any exotic beast appear.
At this moment.
Streams of spiritual insight flooded into Ning Qi’s mind.
All the various thoughts he had pondered over this past year erupted in an instant.
The various stance techniques he had seen in the Scripture Depository and the natural phenomena of heaven and earth he had observed and comprehended all surged forth.
He had indeed achieved enlightenment.
But it was not entirely because of this wondrous natural scene before him; this was merely a trigger. His accumulation had already been sufficient, and today, with Ye Qinghe’s accompaniment, he had verified the thoughts in his heart once more. He had only needed some time to succeed.
Now, it had come ahead of schedule.
“Body Tempering Stance Technique is essentially ‘tempering the body with qi.’ Bi An Stance condenses Bi An qi, True Martial Stance condenses true dragon qi. Bi An qi is fierce and divine, true dragon qi even more majestic and noble—considered powerful among the myriad manifestations of heaven and earth. The ‘qi’ condensed by imitating such creatures is naturally stronger, hence the excellent body tempering effect.”
“But the mysteries of the human body are infinite; even true dragon qi may not be entirely beneficial. It might have excellent effects in certain places but be less effective in others.”
“The best method is to follow the momentum and adapt accordingly, using different ‘manifestations’ to temper different places, so that every part of the tempering achieves the utmost effect.”
“Thus… grasp the myriad manifestations of heaven and earth to temper the human body!”
All sorts of thoughts continuously emerged in Ning Qi’s mind, like a thread gradually stringing together the previously scattered spiritual insights.
He began to move.
Under Ye Qinghe’s astonished gaze.
Ning Qi still kept his eyes closed.
But his hands had already assumed a stance.
His punches and kicks were not fast, but they were forceful.
“Little Nine is… practicing a stance technique?”
Ye Qinghe was stunned.
With her eyesight, she could only tell that this was approximately a Body Tempering Stance Technique.
“But isn’t Little Nine practicing Bi An Stance?”
She knew.
Her Little Junior Brother had heaven-defying talent; perhaps he had already cultivated Bi An Stance to a profoundly perfected realm. After all, the talent he displayed when learning Chi Wen Stance from her back then was excessively strong.
But now, she could not understand this stance technique.
It was clearly not Bi An Stance.
There was no Bi An Divine Intent, not even the basic moves, no anomaly manifesting, yet it had a mysterious charm.
Her eyes focused, and she observed even more intently.
As she watched.
Ye Qinghe’s pupils gradually widened.
In her eyes, Ning Qi’s figure slowly faded away.
She seemed to see a river, a mountain, a cloud, a gust of wind, and also tiger roars and dragon bellows, wolf assaults and eagle cries.
Mountains and waters, clouds and mists, dragon tiger eagle wolf…
Ye Qinghe could not comprehend it, but she was greatly shocked.
She desperately rubbed her eyes, then discovered that all those scenes had vanished. Before her was still Ning Qi punching, the fist path still plain and unadorned, but Ye Qinghe knew this was probably an extraordinary stance technique.
Perhaps it could rival Bi An Stance.
As for surpassing it?
She did not dare to think. After all, True Martial Nine Stances were the foundational true art accumulated and created by generations of the True Martial Sect. For her Little Junior Brother to create a stance technique comparable to it at four years old was already extraordinarily impressive.
“Little Nine this guy, heaven-defying!”
She did not know when.
The White Ape had already awakened.
Ye Qinghe heard the sound and looked over, seeing that after digesting that red fruit, the White Ape’s entire body was even more snow-white, glowing white and brimming with vitality. Its limbs, eyebrows, and eyes were all covered in white fur, even appearing divine. If not for the lively cunning in its eyes, others seeing it might think it was an enlightened old ape.
The White Ape was about to excitedly roll around.
Ye Qinghe hurriedly signaled it to be quiet.
It immediately spotted Ning Qi practicing punches with eyes closed in the distance. Wisely, it stopped its own movements to avoid disturbing Ning Qi; the scene of Ning Qi smashing the Iron Arm Ape earlier had left a deep impression on it.
Curiosity arose in its eyes, and like Ye Qinghe, it carefully observed Ning Qi’s movements.
The White Ape’s lively eyes gradually widened.
In its vision, Ning Qi slowly disappeared, replaced by a golden monkey clad in a Daoist Robe. Between the golden monkey’s punches and kicks was a special charm, as if questioning the heavens, striking the White Ape like lightning and making it unable to resist imitating.
But no matter how hard it tried, it could not learn it.
The fist path was clearly simple and straightforward, but when it tried, it felt utterly discordant, even extremely uncomfortable.
Ye Qinghe watched the staggering White Ape and reminded in a low voice:
“Little monkey, this is a stance technique that only the Human Race can learn. Don’t force it, or you’ll get hurt.”
The White Ape froze, its face full of dejection.
But soon after.
It could not help looking toward Ning Qi’s back, intense reverence and longing rising in its eyes.
It always felt that this was different from anything it had seen before.
Ye Qinghe inwardly marveled.
Both at the White Ape’s spirituality and at the miraculous nature of Ning Qi’s stance technique, which even enticed the White Ape to want to learn it.
Finally.
Under the gaze of one person and one ape, Ning Qi slowly stopped his movements.
He opened his eyes and found that he was now only a fist’s distance from the edge of the Stone Platform, yet he showed no panic at all. Though his eyes were closed, he could ‘see with divine sense’ and perceive his surroundings, so he would not fall off the cliff.
Having perused 132 stance techniques, comprehended the essence of stance techniques, observed the myriad manifestations of heaven and earth and the scenes of the four seasons, and using True Martial Stance as foundation to fuse the myriad manifestations, he had finally achieved enlightenment.
A smile curved at the corners of Ning Qi’s mouth.
Myriad Manifestations Origin Stance.
This was the result of this enlightenment.
The intent of Myriad Manifestations Origin embodied his expectations. He now only had an initial glimpse of the myriad manifestations, perhaps grasping only their superficial forms, but when his cultivation deepened in the future and he stood taller to see farther, he might directly point to the origin.
Without a doubt.
This was a supreme-level stance technique. In Ning Qi’s conception, it was far stronger than worldly-level stance techniques.
From now on.
Body tempering was a smooth path ahead.
Ning Qi could not help bursting into laughter.
