novelraw Chapter 255 248: Holding Nothing Back
Chapter 255 248: Holding Nothing Back
Besides Zhou Yuanjue, the youngest person present was over eighty, and nearly half were centenarians. Throughout their long lives, they had dedicated themselves to war, to the Martial Dao, and to their country, but none had ever applied themselves to academia.
From ancient times to the present, the transmission of the Martial Dao had always been clandestine. Even as techniques were continuously exchanged and evolved, the true core secrets were almost never passed to outsiders or altered.
Martial Artists had always been seen as simple brutes—training their bodies, spilling blood in a fit of rage, and having nothing to do with intellectual pursuits. This was even more true for the Saint Awakening Realm, which was profound beyond measure and difficult to describe.
Therefore, when they saw that the documents before them were, of all things, a short and incomplete academic paper, metaphorical question marks slowly formed over the elders' heads.
However, the large title on the first page of the paper soon caught their attention:
Instinct and the Mysteries of the Human Body—A Thesis on the Principles of Saint Awakening and the Path Forward
This incomplete document had been compiled by Zhou Yuanjue in the three days following his battle with Feng Xun. Using the format of an academic paper, he summarized all the insights, experiences, and theories about the path forward that he had gained on his journey to breaking through to Saint Awakening and comprehending Yin Yang Unity.
This paper, it could be said, encompassed all the insights Zhou Yuanjue had gained since reaching Saint Awakening. He had expressed them without reservation, using terms and concepts that would be most easily understood in the modern era.
Besides his identity as a Martial Artist, he had also once been a lecturer in the history department at Wuhai University and was highly educated. When he was a lecturer, he had been required to conduct and publish research annually, so writing a paper was a simple matter for him.
Seeing such a formal and academic-sounding title, everyone couldn't help but feel a sense of incongruity.
The principles of Saint Awakening... What an audacious title. Research on Saint Awakening was more extensive in the Starry Sky Country, but their data was all top secret. It very likely involved information related to the Celestial Demons and had never been made public. Domestically, research in this field was still shallow; they lagged several generations behind the Starry Sky Country in every respect. And even the Starry Sky Country wouldn't dare claim to have thoroughly understood the principles of Saint Awakening, because many of their own technologies were based on the power of the Celestial Demons—they could utilize it, but their analysis of the underlying principles remained immature.
Nevertheless, it successfully piqued everyone's interest, and they began to flip through the documents in their hands.
The further they read, the more the look in their eyes changed. Even though they had no academic experience, Zhou Yuanjue's wording was simple and his descriptions were vivid, allowing them to immediately grasp the paper's meaning.
Every person who had achieved Saint Awakening was a talent of heavenly proportions. All they needed was a slight nudge to see through the fog.
"Saint Awakening... the human body... instinct... control..."
Lei Yi muttered to himself, his eyes unfocused, as if he had reached some kind of epiphany.
"When you first start training, exhaustion, suffering, and pain are inevitable. Some can't endure it and retreat, their path cut short. That's because human instinct is lazy; it shies away from hardship, seeking comfort and avoiding toil. Only by withstanding extreme suffering, gradually forging an unyielding will, and overcoming these base instincts can one become strong. This isn't just true for Martial Artists; it's the same in every field. To become a legend, you need immense self-discipline, unwavering resolve, and a will of iron."
"A person's entire life is a battle against their own instincts. Learning is painful. Training is painful. Anything that makes you better is invariably accompanied by pain. The greatest difference between humans and beasts, besides intelligence, is our ability to overcome our instincts. We are not driven by instinct to become just another animal in the pack; rather, we use our Spirit to command our instincts, elevating ourselves to a higher plane."
"Those who can overcome instinct—or in other words, overcome the inherent, autonomous laws governing the body—and allow their Spirit to completely command the body, achieving a unity of knowledge and action, will certainly become powerful. But those who have reached Saint Awakening suppress even the strongest instinct for survival to explore the unknown within the void. They are the most supreme among humans, which is why they are called 'Supreme Beings.' A Supreme Being is one who has mastered their own instincts."
Chen Qingmu's voice was trembling with excitement. The contents of this document were like a beam of light piercing the darkness, allowing him to see the path forward. After so many years of searching, he could finally see the light of dawn.
This was a path the ancients had never explored.
"When it comes to Saint Awakening and the Martial Dao, there have always been too many profound and mysterious descriptions—circulating blood and Qi, the five viscera and the five elements... The ancients even described magnetic fields as 'Qi,' or as the 'Spirit of Heaven and Earth' or the 'Essence of Heaven and Earth.' They believed that to break through to Saint Awakening, one had to transcend life and death, invert Yin and Yang, and draw upon the Spirit of Heaven and Earth to refine the body and shed one's mortal form. But they only knew that it worked, not *why* it worked."
Zhao Beidou said in a low voice.
"Saint Awakening is merely the first step, overcoming superficial instincts. But the deeper, autonomous laws that govern the body have yet to be fully mastered. Yin Yang Unity replaces these instinctual laws, creating a 'paradoxical' cycle within the body. This allows for further sublimation of the human form, even letting one touch upon that second shackle!"
"This paper of yours meticulously unravels the mystery, layer by layer. It is incredibly important to us—to the entire Martial Arts Realm! This is a viable path. If this path truly proves to be passable, then every Martial Artist in the world will become your student!"
Lei Yi said solemnly to Zhou Yuanjue.
"This path is very likely the correct one. The second shackle you speculate about in this document—a similar realm does indeed exist in the legacy of the Spirit Guardians. Historically, no ordinary human has ever broken through to this realm. Only Spirit Guardians possess such a Bloodline and Talent. This is why most Spirit Guardians and Celestial Demons believe that ordinary humans have a limit."
At that moment, the usually quiet Li Zhaonan suddenly spoke up.
"That's right. To break through that shackle is to reach the realm beyond the First Generation. Throughout history, no ordinary human has ever achieved it, only Spirit Guardians with special Bloodlines. In ancient times, anyone who entered that realm would have been called a 'Human Hero.'"
Daoist Bailong also spoke.
This made everyone's eyes shine even brighter.
"As long as the path is correct, then what Bloodline Users can achieve, we can achieve as well. In this era, an ordinary human will inevitably be the one to break that shackle."
Zhou Yuanjue said, his expression calm.
"Well said. We do not fear a difficult journey, only a dead end. As long as we have a direction, we can break through any obstacle."
"Yuan Jue, thank you."
The Chief Commissioner also spoke with great solemnity, thanking Zhou Yuanjue for sharing his every insight without holding anything back. In the traditional Martial Arts Realm, after all, such realizations were considered supreme secret teachings, entrusted only to the main successor of a school and never revealed to outsiders.
Then, the Chief Commissioner's voice grew heavy. "Everyone, these documents are extremely important. I will classify them as top secret. Only those with the proper clearance will be permitted to read them. If this information were to leak, the consequences would be unimaginable..."
"No! I disagree with that course of action."
Just then, Zhou Yuanjue suddenly cut the Chief Commissioner off, his gaze burning with intensity.
"I have no intention of keeping this paper a secret. On the contrary, I will publish it openly for all the world to see, so that every person who practices martial arts has access to it!"
"And not just this paper. From now on, as long as I live, as long as I continue to grow stronger, I will write down every new insight I gain and make it public for all the world!"