"Six Harmonies Skill."
Six Harmonies means unity.
It refers to the heavens and the earth, as well as the four directions: east, west, south, and north.
The Six Harmonies represent the world, and the world is the Six Harmonies.
"Hmm."
It sounds grand and impressive.
So, what kind of martial art is this Six Harmonies Skill? "It's a martial art sold for a mere few coins in the marketplace."
It's not just cheap for a secret technique; it's also inexpensive for a book.
It is the cheapest martial art in the world, sold for just the price of paper.
In simple terms, it's a low-quality skill.
When the beggars in the marketplace dream of becoming heroes, the first book they buy is this Six Harmonies Skill.
It is a martial art learned by those who do not want to adhere to the strict rules of sects or martial academies, hoping to become masters through self-study.
In the past, when Qingming was active in the martial world, the Six Harmonies Skill, Six Harmonies Fist, and Three Calamities Sword were known as the three great martial arts of the marketplace.
By the time Qingming was called the master of the three swords, it seemed that the basic martial art of the marketplace had changed to Taiji Fist, but that was their own business.
But why learn such a cheap martial art? "Because it's not cheap."
The Six Harmonies Skill is the introductory martial art of Mount Hua.
Everyone who enters Mount Hua begins their martial journey with the Six Harmonies Skill.
The reason the Six Harmonies Skill spread to the marketplace is that a certain elder of Mount Hua boldly declared that the art of nurturing life should not be limited to the sect but should be available to all people.
However, unfortunately, the Six Harmonies Skill alone cannot make a person strong.
It only brings about a slight improvement in health.
Those who do not see the desired effects despise the Six Harmonies Skill as a poor martial art and criticize Mount Hua for revealing its core teachings.
Eventually, it became a poorly regarded martial art, with new disciples of Mount Hua protesting upon learning that the first skill they learned was the Six Harmonies Skill.
But Qingming knows.
The Six Harmonies is by no means a bad martial art.
If it were as worthless as the public perceives, it would not have maintained its place as the foundational martial art of Mount Hua for hundreds of years.
"Everything has its purpose."
The Six Harmonies Skill does not exponentially increase one's inner strength.
To be precise, if we only consider the efficiency of gathering inner energy, it does not even reach one-tenth of the basic skills of most sects.
However, the Six Harmonies has an incredible efficacy that overshadows this shortcoming.
It perfectly purifies the practitioner's body.
In simpler terms, "It is literally a foundational skill."
Foundation.
Basic construction.
The Six Harmonies is the best martial art for refining the lower dantian and the body to perfection.
But while others are busy refining their lower dantian, they only focus on that, so its effects are not visible.
If others are running while you are crawling on the ground, what will happen? "It will cause a commotion."
In the end, even Mount Hua gave up on deeply exploring the Six Harmonies Skill.
With its traditions and history, they only taught it as an introductory skill, and once they learned to circulate their energy, they quickly moved on to the Lesser Purification Skill.
In his past life, Qingming also did not cling to the ineffective Six Harmonies Skill.
He believed that learning a better mental technique would be a hundred times more beneficial.
"It was a hundred times a loss. Damn it!" This was the thing he regretted the most in his past life.
If he had completed the Six Harmonies Skill before hastily moving on to another martial art, he could have become at least twice as strong.
However, once a tower is built, it is impossible to redo the foundational work.
For him, the opportunity to resolve this deep regret has now come.
This time, he will not be hasty.
He will carefully dedicate himself to completing it, so the tower he builds will be even larger and more beautiful.
"Hoo."
With his legs crossed, Qingming closed his eyes and slowly recalled the formula of the Six Harmonies Skill.
The moment his mind stirred, his energy began to move.
Through his breath, external energy was drawn into his body.
Those who begin to learn foundational skills usually spend nearly a month just feeling this external energy for the first time, but Qingming did not need such a process.
The energy that was drawn in slowly traveled through his body according to the guidance of the Six Harmonies Skill and settled around his lower abdomen. 'It starts now.' Of course, Qingming had no intention of merely learning the Six Harmonies Skill.
Following the path laid out by the elders is not a bad idea, but one who has walked the path once cannot be satisfied with walking the same path again. 'More purifying.' He focused his mind and filtered out the impurities mixed in with the gathered energy.
It felt like seeing every thread in a massive piece of fabric and filtering out the slightly misaligned threads, perfectly removing the not entirely pure energy.
At first, it must be perfect.
The size of the gathered energy does not matter at all.
What he needs now is not the impure energy of a hundred but a single perfect unit of energy.
The energy is shaved away.
The size of the energy, which was as small as a grain of millet, became smaller and smaller.
After more than half a day, what remained was a minuscule unit of energy.
This energy settled in his lower abdomen, creating a space that could barely be called a lower dantian.
Flash.
Qingming opened his eyes.
"Hooouu."
His face was drenched in sweat.
The rags he wore were soaked and dirty with the sweat and impurities that flowed from his body.
It was already dirty, but now it was even dirtier.
"This is the first time I've concentrated so hard on circulating my energy."
But rather than feeling tired, he felt refreshed.
And he was very pleased with the results.
He gently patted his lower abdomen.
Although it was a shape that could hardly be called a lower dantian, he had successfully taken the first step toward a perfect foundation.
Right now, it was incredibly weak.
Even if he searched through the history of the martial world, there would be no one who created a lower dantian weaker than Qingming's among those who succeeded in their first energy circulation.
But Qingming knows.
This small lower dantian will lead him to another world.
This small but perfect energy will roll and roll like a snowball, eventually creating a massive avalanche that no one in the world can stop.
Yes.
Just like… 'That Heavenly Demon.' Qingming's body trembled.
Thinking of the Heavenly Demon sent a chill down his spine. 'He was not human.' Overwhelming.
No, he was an existence that could not even be expressed with that word.
A coalition formed by gathering the elite of the sects that dominate the world.
That coalition did not target the entire demonic sect.
They only charged at the Heavenly Demon.
The result was a crushing defeat.
To exaggerate a bit, it would not be an overstatement to say that the Heavenly Demon fought on equal terms with the entire martial world alone. 'Perhaps…' This time, he might be able to reach it.
If he does everything he can, one by one.
Qingming sprang to his feet.
"Alright then…" Stagger.
His body, which had been half-standing, collapsed weakly forward.
"Uh…" What is this? Did I overdo it with the energy circulation and get dizzy? "Ugh!" He tried to lift himself up with his arms.
No, he tried to.
But his arms did not obey him.
"Huh?" Trembling.
His arms were shaking as if struck by lightning.
The sight of his skinny arms trembling like winter branches was pitiful.
"Why, why is this happening?" No way? If he had circulated his energy, he should be overflowing with strength… "Wait a moment."
Qingming's gaze turned to his lower abdomen, which was touching the ground.
The purest energy in the world was gathered there, but it was no more than an ant's eyelash.
An ant's eyelash… The purity of the energy was enough to make even Qingming, who was once the Sword Master of the Plum Blossom Sword, laugh with joy, but… the amount was so miraculously small that it could be exhausted with a single punch from a child.
What does that mean? "No, damn it! This won't help me use my body at all!" Qingming clutched his head and rolled on the ground.
He should have thought it through before creating it! Think! His head is meant for thinking, so why isn’t he thinking? Why! He could almost hear the voice of his elder brother Jiang Mun-sahng in his ears. - Please think and live! Think! Why do you act first and think later! Why! Don't use your head as a doorstop; think! Qingming's hasty personality, which made the noble elder utter such words, felt like it had caused another disaster.
If he had known this would happen, he would have made it a bit larger! "I have to go to Mount Hua with this body?" How far is it from Muhan to Mount Hua? So roughly… "Two thousand li?" His eyes spun.
Two thousand li? An ordinary person who has not learned martial arts struggles to travel a hundred li in a day.
But he has to travel two thousand li in this body that has barely eaten? Two thousand li? "Ugh!" Qingming rubbed his face with both hands.
"Ah, damn life!" But what can he do? He had already created it.
In fact, even if he had known, he would not have been able to create a significantly larger lower dantian.
He had painfully realized how taking shortcuts for immediate comfort could become obstacles in the future.
He would no longer sacrifice the future for the present! …But that is not such a simple matter.
"Ugh."
Qingming staggered as he got up. "…What is life?" In the end, all of this was just a hardship that Qingming had to endure.
Hardships are what create heroes! "With determination, nothing is impossible!" Qingming gritted his teeth and began to walk back toward the path.
Thud! "Ugh…" Qingming, whose legs had given out, collapsed on the spot. 'There are things that cannot be done even with determination.' What a surprising realization at this age.
Qingming learned once again that there are forces beyond one's control in this world.
He could endure the pain in his legs.
He could somehow endure the screams of his body.
But there was one thing he could not endure. 'I'm so hungry I could die.' The hunger that clawed at his belly could not be solved by anything.
In the past, he thought he was somewhat accustomed to hunger.
Practicing sometimes requires strict self-restraint.
Eating something is an act of accepting external energy, but naturally, one also accepts impurities.
Therefore, practitioners strictly prohibit eating cooked food.
During intense training, there were times when they even completely abstained from food.
Qingming was also a disciple of the Taoist sect of Mount Hua and was someone who had some immunity to hunger.
No, he thought he was that kind of person.
But Qingming did not know.
There is a huge difference between not being able to have something and choosing not to have it! There is a world of difference between resisting food when it is available and starving when it is not.
Extreme hunger cannot be overcome with willpower.
It felt like a herd of horses was stabbing him in the belly.
He managed to get through the path and into the city with sheer determination, but beyond that, he had no energy left to do anything.
He had almost crawled to the marketplace. 'To face the crisis of death from starvation for the first time in my new life.' It was an absurd situation.
Who is Qingming? The three greats of the world… Ah, enough with that.
I'm so hungry I could die.
That 'I could die' was not just a simple phrase; it had become a real threat.
Qingming groaned.
It was no joke; he really felt like he might starve to death.
He tried to catch a wild beast, but that beggar named Jeongpal had beaten him so badly that he could hardly move.
No, even from the moment he left Muhan, this body was on the brink of starvation.
Perhaps he had already starved to death once.
And now he was facing the second crisis of starvation. 'What should I do?' To find something to eat, he needed money, and to earn money, he needed to work.
But it was impossible for this body to work.
Then what… At that moment.
Clink.
A sound of metal rang out from somewhere, echoing clearly.