Chapter 532

Chapter 532: True Body of Martial Arts

Puff…

In Long Life Dream, Qiao Mu transformed into a cloud of blood mist once again.

In the state of blood mist, he was still clear-headed, manipulating his "body" to start reconstructing from the tiniest parts.

"In this state, it’s similar to how an immortal can restore their body; only complete destruction truly means death."

"But to be precise, this is not like the body of a True Immortal; it is essentially a manifestation of extremely powerful life force, one of the characteristics of a perfect being who has reached the end."

A True Immortal is the ultimate goal of beings born in the countless worlds.

At this point, Qiao Mu naturally had to consider the essential difference between martial arts and immortal ways, so he could carve his own path.

In Jiu Province, ordinary people believe that martial arts focus on the physical body, while immortal ways emphasize the spirit. This is the fundamental difference between the two.

However, when one reaches the level of True Immortal, the spirit becomes the physical body, and the physical body becomes the spirit—both have already merged into one and no longer have weaknesses.

From the perspective of an immortal cultivator, the immortal way can be seen as the process of understanding the way of the universe and getting closer to the heavenly path, especially clear at the True Immortal Stage.

For example, Immortal Yanshen understands the way of time, allowing them to harness the forces of the universe, using magical techniques to influence the flow of time, which appears as skills like Immobilization Skill and Fish Leap Technique.

Knowledge is power; the deeper the understanding of the way of the universe by a True Immortal, the stronger they will become.

But in the martial arts of this world, the focus is not on the external universe but rather on oneself, undergoing a dual training of both the physical body and the spirit.

Qiao Mu today has achieved a unity of energy, spirit, and body, allowing them to transform into one another, with the spirit able to manipulate changes in the physical body, resembling the traits of True Immortals and divine beings.

Still, even so, he is not as versatile as a True Immortal. Immortal Yanshen can twist the time of the great world using their understanding of the way of time.

Qiao Mu, however, cannot do this.

"The prosperity and breakthroughs of martial arts in Jiu Province are closely linked to the oppression of mortals by the Immortal Gate. The martial arts of Jiu Province, all techniques and methods, pursue power in battle, but they are indeed not as varied and wonderful as the magical ways of the immortal path."

Qiao Mu sighed.

"All I can do is scatter the Immortal Yanshen a thousand times."

As Qiao Mu focused his thoughts, Qiao Yuan on his right extended his palm, and a drop of blood floated out, quietly hovering in front of Qiao Mu.

This drop of blood quickly enlarged, revealing finer microscopic structures before his eyes.

Over one hundred thousand years ago, before entering the Return Ruins Celestial Palace, Qiao Mu had seen the giants of the Kuafu tribe on that vast ancient land, and since then, he had thought about trying to guide the Shape Changing Skill toward a non-human direction, but he had not succeeded.

Today is different.

Poof.

The blood mist, under Qiao Mu’s control, slowly changed into various different shapes, sometimes gathering to form a person, sometimes merging into all kinds of strange forms.

In fifteen years of traveling through many worlds, Qiao Mu has seen many strange beings.

Of course, at the very top of all the beings in countless worlds are still the True Immortals and the gods and demons.

As time passed, this blood mist changed continuously. It is unknown whether it had been hundreds or thousands of years, but when Qiao Mu took shape again, he instantly understood and focused his mind into the Long Life Lock.

He saw the energy bar, which had not moved for countless years, had changed from 99% to 99.1%.

Although a 0.1% change is very small, representing only a thousandth increase in physical strength, it shows that Qiao Mu’s thoughts are correct.

"With 99% energy, it can be called stable, and the difference from 100% is quite small, not affecting a martial artist’s fighting power," Qiao Mu said to himself.

"However, 100% energy means the martial artist’s body is flawless and unbroken, with no loss of energy at all, like a perfectly smooth slope with no friction, which only exists in physics problems and does not exist in reality."

By reaching this point, Qiao Mu understood in his heart.

His energy had always stayed at 99%, not because his Human Path Sutra had a problem, but because a human body naturally experiences wear and tear and has flaws, making it impossible to be perfect.

The so-called perfection, if it truly exists, must be a being standing shoulder to shoulder with the True Immortal and divine demons.

Now that his essence, energy, and spirit have merged into one, Qiao Mu can control his body to evolve freely, heading towards an ultimate form that theoretically may exist, but mortals can never reach…

99.1% can be seen as a progress bar.

When his vital energy reaches 100%, it signifies the endpoint of perfection.

He still has a long time of tens of thousands of years ahead of him…

………………….

In the sky above, a giant finger that could block the sun suddenly descended, causing the clouds within a hundred miles to vanish in an instant, leaving the sky clear.

This made the survivors still living in the ruins of cities big and small in Zhong Province unconsciously look up at the giant finger blocking the sun.

In mid-air, a faint little black dot has already disappeared from their sight.

This is a scene that Nian Chao Sheng finds very familiar; he had seen it not long ago when he witnessed the end of Founding Emperor Yan with his own eyes.

But this time is different.

Even though he saw Qiao Yi’s death, he did not feel hopeless or despairing…

And in the next moment.

The Human Emperor Sword falling from the sky was tightly grasped by a hand reaching out from the void.

In the next moment, Qiao Mu’s figure appeared in the air once again.

At that moment, he was still just a small black dot high above the sky, so tiny under the immense finger covering the heavens that he could almost be overlooked.

But for some reason, everyone felt something unusual in their hearts.

Even though the size comparison was so astonishingly different, it was obvious to see with the naked eye.

But in their hearts, an inexplicable intuition arose. This tiny black dot in the sky seemed like a giant mountain looming above, not smaller than the finger pressing down from the heavens.

"Qiao Yanyan, come join us!"

This voice was an endless nightmare for the Immortal Yanshen of the past.

But for the martial artists in the land of Jiu Province, especially those who had fought on the battlefield of the Soul Predicting Path Immortal Gate, a rare sense of at ease began to rise in their hearts.

The endless stream of Qiao family members was a nightmare for the enemies, but for the martial artists of Jiu Province, it brought a strong feeling of security.

"Qiao Yanyan?"

The Undead Immortal Lord from outside seemed to feel a bit of confusion because of this strange name, causing the finger pressing down toward the ground to slow slightly.

Immortal Diyuan was the first to frown.

Although she was no longer a True Immortal, she still possessed spiritual powers. At this moment, her gaze fell on Qiao Mu, as if she could see through his skin and bones.

There are no tree rings, but there are life cycles for people. Time leaves marks on all living things, even on a True Immortal who has achieved eternal life and lives as long as heaven and earth.

Although True Immortals have infinite lifespans, the older they are, the stronger they become.

Therefore, for a True Immortal, learning the skill to observe others’ life cycles is essential, as it can help avoid attracting attention from even older ancient immortals.

"Seventeen hundred thousand years? An elder of the Qiao family who is five thousand years older than Qiao Yi?" Immortal Diyuan guessed.

"Since this elder of the Qiao family is seventeen hundred thousand years old?" Nian Chao Sheng was quite surprised. He truly did not know what dynasty or era existed in Jiu Province seventeen hundred thousand years ago, or if there was even a kingdom at that time.

This is history too far back; even he, the demon king Di Ting of the mortal realm, could not find out.

"Since they are indeed seventeen hundred thousand years old, then they must be able to—"

Nian Chao Sheng’s words were not finished.

Just then, under the weight of that enormous finger, Qiao Mu, who had just appeared, was crushed like a watermelon, bursting into a cloud of blood mist.

"Is… is this dead?" Nian Chao Sheng exclaimed in surprise.

But soon after, they noticed something was wrong.

The cloud of blood from Qiao Mu’s shattered body spread out at an astonishing speed, almost covering the whole sky in an instant, turning it a faint shade of red.

Even the giant finger from the sky that encompassed their entire view was now covered in a light layer of blood mist.

The giant finger continued to press down, growing larger in their sight, and a suffocating sense of pressure suddenly struck them.

However, for some reason, the speed of its growth seemed to slow down, eventually appearing to freeze in the air.

"Flawless and complete, martial arts true body…" a voice that seemed to come from nowhere whispered, echoing through the heavens and earth.

As Qiao Mu’s mind sank into Long Life Lock, a message immediately appeared.

Vital energy: 100%

After fifty thousand long years, he chased the best answer with the No Move No Thinking Skill, using True Immortal and gods as references.

His body had gone through countless changes over the long years and had become perfect.

When Qiao Mu reappeared in the world, he had achieved a flawless martial arts true body that should not exist in the human realm. It was like a smooth block with no friction or a spherical chicken in a vacuum.

In the vast sea of blood mist, a voice suddenly echoed from an unknown source.

"Buddha’s Palm·Wanfo Chaozong!"

The thick blood mist covering the sky changed rapidly like a fierce wind.

At that moment, golden light burst forth from the blood mist, transforming into one golden arm after another, filling the sky.

The merging of essence, energy, and spirit formed a flawless martial arts true body, which was a transformation similar to achieving True strength.

At this moment, every strike Qiao Mu made gathered all his power into a golden shadow of his hand.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The blood mist covered every part of the giant finger, and golden fist shadows appeared everywhere.

It was as if thousands of gods were swinging their fists, and the dense shadows of their hands piled up, stretching from one side of the sky to the other.

A fierce howling sound echoed through the clouds, and the giant finger, like a falling meteor, shattered loudly into tiny pieces.

The blood light quickly gathered, and all the blood mist merged into one again in the brilliance, revealing Qiao Mu’s figure.

At this moment, he seemed to look the same as before, but he had actually undergone a complete transformation, and his very essence of life was now different.

Whether it was the blood mist filling the sky or his human form at this moment, it was merely an external change.