Martial Master

"Gather essence from the sky,

Cycle rivers, purify.

Condense the stars within your core,

Let chaos reign, then restore."

"Cycle Qi with steady breath,

Pierce the shroud that veils from death.

Unlock the gates, release the seal,

Emerge reborn, your power real."

All secondary channel acupoints previously obstructed were cleared again, allowing large Qi circuits to form and connect every extremity. A temporary Qi deficiency arose but was resolved after few minutes of continuous radiance refinement.

"With each step, the earth shall quake,

Bend the heavens, rivers break.

Master flesh, and Qi, and mind,

Now to fate, no longer bind."

The Trinity of essence, spirit, and Qi aligned further, preparing him for the most crucial step—expansion of the Spirit.

"Eyes unseeing, heart awake,

Feel the tremors heaven makes.

Extend thy will beyond thy skin,

The outer world, now drawn within."

He had finally attained the strength needed to activate spiritual consciousness, granting him the ability to sense and influence the world around him. He only felt he had a new sense merging with the vision. Although his mind felt clearer, he knew that fully mastering this newfound awareness would require additional training.

After consuming and refining the food he had brought, he commenced a visualization:

"A spark of light within shall gleam,

Awake thy soul, begin the dream."

His soul slipped into a dreamlike state, even as his consciousness remained alert.

"Flicker bright, now steady burn,

Soul to flame, its essence churn.

Refine the haze to crystal clear,

A lamp to guide what once was mere."

Drawing upon his master realm Qi, he directed energy toward the shen acupoint, shrouding his still-ethereal spirit. The 9 Cycles Spirit Refinement Technique activated, aligning Qi with the law of the soul. The Nether resonated with his Dao- rhythm infused Qi, condensing a spirit flame at the spirit's center. Though the soul burned, it gradually grew more condensed—smaller, yet more solid. Han Chen endured the intense pain and rapid heartbeat without losing consciousness. Sweat poured down his forehead, but he kept the progress.

"A nebula swirls, then takes its form,

Within the void, a star is born.

The soul compressed to crystal pure,

The seed of strength, forever sure."

Once his soul felt lighter, a stellar refinement began, reconsolidating its original strength. He visualized the flame as a star, which exploded into a nebula and then re-formed as a seed at its core.

"Let stillness reign, let light reveal,

The soul's vast strength, refined and real."

The seed radiated a special Nether-driven light, sending waves of euphoria through him. His facial expression turned into pure bliss after the initial refinement torture he had to undergo.

"The universe, now in thy grasp,

Reality bends within thy clasp.

Command the winds, the tides, the flame,

Thy soul ascends, no longer the same."

He watched his spiritual consciousness expand infinitely, merging with the visualized cosmos. In his mind's eye, stars and planets aligned with his will, enabling him to manipulate the streams of energy surrounding him—redirecting cosmic winds, calming turbulent waters, or igniting flames at a single thought within his mind.

Though the technique was based on his old immortal method of spirit condensation, it remained excruciating. He realized he would need to recreate and refine his personal approach.

"The spiritual consciousness is typically cultivated at Foundation Building," he reflected. "Because of my earlier spirit-will training and powerful immortal consciousness, I had an easier start. Even so, my soul strength has only grown by about one percent, but I've fully stepped into the Master Realm—what I'll call the Martial Adept Realm. Others might just say 'beginner martial master.'"

Recalling what he knew of this world, he understood that because there was little knowledge of spirit and soul cultivation, most warriors relied on constant battles, extreme conditions, and ceaseless Qi refinement. Over time, they refined their meridians, developed strong intent, body strengthening and gained the ability to guide Qi with thought—but never progressed into soul refinement.

Now, however, he could project his inner energy outward, retrieve it with a mere thought, and even form complex shapes within half the radius of his spiritual will. Testing this ability, he condensed a lotus of Qi in his palm and drew it back, noticing only a slight loss of energy.

"I've transcended mortality. My lifespan now exceeds 200 years." Checking his system status, he added, "Peak Qi cultivation usually grants around 180 years, but my Martial Adept Realm—on par with the sixth level of Qi Refinement—has extended it further."

His senses were far sharper. Even in this still atmosphere, he caught the faint rustling of the wind. His heartbeat had slowed, yet each pulse was incredibly strong. Qi flowed through him like second nature, and techniques operated on instinct.

He released his intent, feeling the aura around him become more tangible. After reaching the Martial Master stage, his Qi no longer drained away. His range of perception had also grown; with a single thought, nearby weeds rustled, as though stirred by an invisible hand.

"Is this telekinesis?" he wondered aloud. "I've never wielded my will in this manner before." The more you live more strengthened the will would be. If someone could judge his spirit will, he could find out that the person had already surpassed his physical age and soul age.

Han Chen moved over and knelt in the overgrown courtyard of the abandoned factory; his palms pressed to cracked concrete. The world around him shifted.

What began as faint streaks of color—red vulnerable area, blue defensive spots, gold threads of perceived trajectory spots—now bled into something deeper contours of primary colors. The ground beneath him wasn't just dirt and rubble but a pulsating tapestry of hues in a new plane. Blue veins of groundwater snaked below, intersecting with jagged red fissures where rusted pipes decayed.

And there, threading through it all, a new color—indigo tinged with ultraviolet, a shade that prickled his senses like static. It was… pressure. It arises from the new sensation arrived from the penetration of telekinetic ability through objects due to its increasing strength making him able to feel density.

He stood, flexing his fingers. A moth fluttered past, its wings scattering UV -tinged ripples in the air. Air currents. He'd always sensed movement, but now he saw it—layers of force and friction painted across his vision. His biological vision is still trichromatic but what he sense now doesn't arise from light. Its a new sense. External perception not limiting to sight.

The day before earlier on morning, he'd tried to lift a rusted gear using his telekinesis. Before, it would've wobbled, then crashed. Now, as he focused, the fallen and rusted iron railing floated smoothly—not just because he willed it, but because he felt its density. Iron, pitted and brittle. He adjusted his mental grip, avoiding weak points. 

Nearby, a puddle of rainwater shimmered. Han Chen frowned. To others, it was just water. To him, it was a shifting mosaic of purple spots showing surface tension and molecular chaos. He willed a movement. The water coiled upward, defying gravity, before splashing back down.

Similarity the ripple seems to have generating golden contour in a plane showing him future prediction of flow movement. It was previously impossible to perceive due to lack of information in density and pressure - now he can.

Fluid dynamics. I can project it now.

Now trying its usefulness in combat, he sparred with shadows. His fists cut through the air, each strike calibrated by newfound awareness. A phantom opponent lunged; Han Chen sidestepped, seeing the density of its imagined muscles, the pressure points glowing violet. His elbow snapped out, precise as a scalpel. The phantom is nothing but his own trajectory made of golden hue in sight.

Martial arts aren't just technique—they're biology. Nerve clusters, tendon elasticity, the physics of leverage. But this… this was different. When he kicked a concrete pillar, he didn't just feel the impact. He saw the shockwave ripple through the structure—cracks spreading in slow-motion gold and purple hue.

Now as perception increased his head throbbed. Colors bled at the edges, the factory's walls vibrating with overlapping hues. He stumbled to a clearing, gulping air. A rat scurried past, its tiny body a blur of red heat and blue fear. Han Chen pressed a hand to his temple.

Too much. Too fast. The previous overwhelming situation happened again. But it was over in a second due to his heaven defying comprehension digesting it down.

He'd spent years mastering control in combat in spiritual arts and immortal arts, but this—this was raw data flooding a mortal brain. Beautiful. Exhausting.

As he meditated, the golden threads returned—not just air currents, but trajectories. A leaf spiraled down, and Han Chen knew where it would land three seconds before it did. He could now limit the information he receives easily not getting overwhelmed by all sorts of color spectrum.

He caught it midair, grinning.

Foresight? Or just hypercalculation?

After testing it all in he decided to do a visualization of combat situation in his mind. The mind space for him with a heaven defying comprehension is an exact replica of physical situation, within his mind he could simulate everything.

The scene outside reappeared in mind purely through his memory as imaginative representations. He imagined an ambush on him.

In the midst of a chaotic skirmish within a labyrinthine courtyard , Han Chen's new sense transformed the battlefield into a living tapestry of energy. Enemies of innate realm approached from all sides, their movements a blur to the untrained eye. But to Han Chen, each adversary was a shifting mosaic of hues and hidden intent.

As a rival charged, his aura flared—a transient burst of indigo edged with ultraviolet that revealed the exact moment his muscles tensed for an attack. In that heartbeat, Han Chen caught a glimmer of scarlet where the opponent's Qi faltered—a silent cry of vulnerability. With preternatural grace, he sidestepped the incoming strike, as if reading the enemy's unspoken intentions written in the spectrum.

The air around him shimmered with dynamic layers: sapphire pulses radiated from an opponent's guarded stance, while intermingled streaks of gold signaled a brewing offensive—an energy build-up that predicted the next furious blow. Han Chen's eyes, now adept at deciphering these chromatic cues, flickered.

As he moved, the warehouse seemed to transform into a battlefield of light. He noticed an enemy whose defense was impeccable, yet a fleeting orange shimmer betrayed a momentary lapse—a fusion of red and blue that marked an unstable Qi flow. Recognizing the opportunity, Han Chen unleashed a flurry of strikes, each precise blow targeted at those ephemeral gaps. His fists became instruments of both art and science, guided by the silent language of the spectrum.

In one breathtaking moment, while parrying a vicious counterattack, Han Chen perceived a delicate gradient shifting along his foe's forearm—a subtle transition from deep blue to a muted gold. It was as if the very air whispered the secret of the enemy's imminent collapse. Trusting his enhanced vision, Han Chen pivoted and struck with a speed that defied mortal limits, disrupting the adversary's balance and sending him sprawling.

In this battle, every motion he imagined was a conversation in color. The interplay of hues—each a vital clue to the enemy's strategy—allowed Han Chen to get experienced not only to defend but to anticipate and control the flow of combat using the new perception.

Withdrawing from his mental journey, he took a moment to relax and go outside the courtyard. But suddenly he perceived new hues of red projecting over in the distance nearly 100 meters away at the limit of his spirit will domain.