Several months after becoming the universally acknowledged Eldest Senior Brother, An Jing and the other boys and girls ushered in the true training of Xuanming Village.
It was not merely physical conditioning; Xuanming Village began to truly teach "martial techniques" and "mental cultivation methods."
The beginning of Dachen's Martial Path is the [Inner Breath], but before officially becoming an Inner Breath Martial Artist, fledgling Martial Disciples must pass [Three Passes].
The first pass is called the Heart: remain fearless in the face of danger, eyes unblinking even with swords at one's throat.
The second pass is called the Body: abundant strength and vigor, capable of throwing a thousand punches without fatigue.
And the final pass is called Technique: one must hone a single technique until it is seamless and unified, fluent in a single breath, flowing effortlessly through a hundred or a thousand forms.
Only when all three—Heart, Body, and Technique—are achieved can one deliver that strike which harmonizes the strength of the entire body and comprehend [Inner Breath].
The body pass was easy to clear through exercise. The disciples of Xuanming Village were selected from all over, so there was no doubt about their aptitude; step by step, anyone could succeed.
The heart pass required sparring—training until the mind was still and the spirit focused, until fists reached the eyes without blinking, and pain piercing the mind caused no panic.
Ever since An Jing defeated eleven people in a row, sparring had become an everyday routine in the Martial Arts Arena. Although no one dared to challenge An Jing, the other four disciples who got to eat meat besides An Jing were challenged by someone every day. Their rankings changed every ten days, and their martial prowess was honed at a blistering pace.
The final pass, Technique, was the most difficult. It required day-and-night refinement alongside innate inspiration in order to use technique to fuse the "Heart" and the "Body," thereby mastering the [Xiantian Pneuma] and transforming that pneuma into Inner Breath.
The reason An Jing could crush the other disciples was precisely because his "Body" and "Heart" had long since cleared their respective passes. Only his "Technique" had not yet achieved total fluency, though he still far surpassed everyone else in progress.
And this Technique was not merely about physical manipulation; it was also an understanding of one's own physical acupoints and internal organs—how could someone possibly grasp the Xiantian Pneuma and attain Inner Breath if they could not even recognize their own extraordinary meridians and connecting vessels, were unclear about the vital acupuncture points throughout their circulation, and failed to distinguish their five viscera and six bowels?
This was why Xuanming Village had always taught its disciples to read and write: practicing martial arts required culture as well.
The mental cultivation method taught by Xuanming Village was called the [Linyuan Qi-Nurturing Stake]. One had to stand blindfolded upon a wooden stake, visualizing a deep abyss and gloomy gorge, controlling the muscles and internal organs of the entire body to remain fearless, motionless, unwavering, and undisturbed.
While not a high-tier mental cultivation method, it was far more complete than the crude family methods of many martial clans; it could nurture one's qi, steady the spirit, and smelt physical strength.
The martial technique taught was called the [Guanjia True Power]. In essence, it was merely a method of exerting force, but it was an upper-tier martial technique that even surprised An Jing... or rather, a part of one.
Guanjia True Power was actually the force-exerting chapter of an exceptional, orthodox lineage inheritance.
It required matching the heart with physical force; the braver one was and the more indomitable one's advance, the greater the burst of force generated at that instant. If brought to major completion, its power was sufficient to pierce armor and snap steel.
If fully mastered, it could even be used to break through to the [Inner Breath] realm.
Both the Linyuan Qi-Nurturing Stake and the Guanjia True Power were martial techniques and mental methods that cultivated a "spirit of brave and decisive valor," emphasizing a continuous flow of breath and explosive output at full strength. It was a path of life-and-death combat where one traded blows with their life on the line.
Coupled with the very name "Xuanming Village," An Jing could basically conclude that this place was, in all likelihood, a training base operated by some major faction or great sect for cultivating assassins and Death Retainers.
Although he had his suspicions before, they were not as absolute as they were now.
For An Jing, the Linyuan Qi-Nurturing Stake was very easy. During his year of fleeing, he had experienced life-and-death situations several times and was already accustomed to walking step by step on the edge of an abyss. His mindset was a very natural fit, and he completely mastered it in no time.
The same was true for the other Children of Calamity. They mastered this mental method with extreme speed; at most, there were just a few who were slower at reading and needed others to explain it to them before they could understand.
Perhaps this mental method was specially provided for "surviving refugees" like them.
As for the Guanjia True Power, it was much harder.
An Jing learned it quite quickly, soon able to wield it smoothly with various weapons to instantly burst forth with a force forty to fifty percent higher than usual. However, very few people could keep up with his progress, and more than half had not even entered the threshold.
As the Eldest Senior Brother, An Jing was willing to help the other children resolve some of their troubles.
For instance, offering suggestions on training, methods to alleviate fatigue, and explanations of insights regarding martial techniques—he explained things even more thoroughly than some of the lecturers and instructors.
Under his guidance, Zhang Ying, Gu Yeqi, Cang Linzu, and others quickly mastered the mental cultivation method, while Cang Linzu and a few other children with better talent even mastered the Guanjia True Power.
Although the others had not mastered it, each of them had gained their own insights. Knowing that An Jing was neither deceiving them nor holding back his secrets, but was truly sharing his experience openly, gratitude stirred within their hearts, and trust gradually grew.
From then on, quite a few children were even willing to seek him out to pour out their inner worries—mostly the whimsical thoughts and sensitive emotional setbacks peculiar to children around puberty, such as missing their hometowns and parents, or feeling that they were merely specks of dust in the grand scheme of things.
An Jing felt rather helpless, but he was still willing to patiently listen and offer comfort and resolution from the perspective of an older brother.
Because of this, not only the children in his own dormitory, but even those in other dormitories—regardless of gender—all developed a heartfelt respect for An Jing, looking up to him as an elder brother.
Being respected and loved by others was truly a joyous thing.
Furthermore, lecturing others also required a deeper understanding of the knowledge one was explaining.
In the process of teaching, An Jing discovered that his understanding of martial techniques might have relied a bit too much on innate talent—he had learned them instinctively, but his specific thought process was not entirely clear.
The process of explaining things to his junior martial brothers and junior martial sisters was also a process of reviewing key points, thoroughly mastering these mental methods and martial techniques, and moving from "proficiency" to "complete mastery and integration."
However, it was precisely during this period that Xuanming Village sent away its first batch of eliminated individuals.
"A portion of people do not meet the requirements of our Xuanming Village and have been eliminated in the drills over the past half-month."
This was the explanation given one early morning by a Medicine Pavilion physician in response to everyone's questions.
Thirty people were missing from the entire Xuanming Village—neither too many nor too few, enough for everyone to notice, yet not startling enough to cause a huge stir.
Most of these eliminated individuals were children who lacked physical strength and progressed extremely slowly in their martial techniques. This made complete sense and matched the expectations of the vast majority.
Their elimination was only natural, and neither the others nor the eliminated children themselves likely found it strange.
An Jing felt the same way.
However, with his sharp observational skills, he unexpectedly discovered something peculiar.
Well, you could not really call it peculiar... It was just that on the very day those children were eliminated, An Jing did not remember hearing the sound of any carts leaving the estate.
Xuanming Village was located deep in the remote mountains and forests, and supply trucks transported goods every few days. If people were leaving, they would most likely leave by transport truck.
Yet no trucks had come or gone in the days immediately preceding or following that, and those eliminated children were nowhere to be seen within the village.
Still, this was no great matter.
Although he had initially harbored suspicions about the reliability of Xuanming Village, recently An Jing had personally experienced the treatment here—they had meat to eat and could eat their fill. Compared to the chaotic times of the Northern Frontier, this place was practically paradise.
While the various instructors and lecturers were somewhat strict, on the whole they were very good to them.
An Jing also got along quite well with several instructors, who would even bring small snacks to share with the children. Although they were stern as a rule, during rest periods they would tell the children stories about their own training days.
Because of this, An Jing did not take the matter to heart.
After all, as for the five children who might have awakened their Destiny Grids when they first appeared, none of them had ever seen those children either.
Xuanming Village was very large, with many restricted areas that were off-limits. Those five children probably lived in other areas of the estate, and those eliminated children were likely waiting in other areas as well.
Before he knew it, another half-month passed.