'Breakthrough' the key?
Xue Jing's gaze shifted.
Zhu Shanying helped him voice his confusion, "Master, what is 'Breakthrough'?"
Li Qi smiled and said, "The human body has its limits, we martial artists practice body skills, and once the Skin, Flesh, Tendons, Bones, Blood—the Five Major Practices—are all completed, we are considered to have reached our own limits."
"At this stage, there is no further progress to be made. This is due to the most fundamental limit from the human body—genetic restrictions. No matter how hard one tries, at most, one could only maintain one's current strength. At times like this, one must undertake 'Breakthrough'."
"Or, to put it in terms you are more familiar with—Leaping Through the Dragon Gate."
Xue Jing sat up straight, listening carefully.
"Fish Leaping Through the Dragon Gate, being struck by lightning and burning off the mortal tail; in the West, they call this 'Breakthrough,' meaning to surpass the limits of the human body. It actually has little to do with martial arts itself, but rather, it's a sublimation of the level of life."
"What does the sublimation of life mean? It's breaking the limits of one's own genes, reshaping the most fundamental components of one's body. Even though one's form is still human, the essence of life has transformed into something non-human!"
"In the Old Era, those who completed this kind of sublimation of life were referred to by the Daoist Sect as 'Eternal Immortals' and by the Buddhist Sect as 'Instantaneous Buddhas.' Such beings, as long as they don't meet with accidents, can live for at least one hundred and fifty years, and they are limited only by their lifespan, without the suffering of aging, maintaining their body's peak condition until the moment before death."
Li Qi said softly.
Without the suffering of aging... Xue Jing glanced at Li Qi's aged appearance.
It seems this is what 'accident' means.
"And to accomplish the Breakthrough and sublimate, physical strength alone is useless; one must rely on 'Consciousness' and 'Spirit,' these abstract mental forces, to forcefully interfere with one's own body, pushing it to change."
Zhu Shanying's eyes widened, "Ah?"
"This sounds a bit unscientific, Master."
Li Qi glanced at her, "There is nothing unscientific about this. In fact, the principle is quite simple. I ask you, what do you think is the relationship between our human consciousness and body?"
Zhu Shanying thought for a moment and replied uncertainly, "Consciousness... is it a logical network formed by the combination of brain neurons?"
She tried her best to recall the knowledge she had learned.
Li Qi gave a different answer, shaking his head, "Wrong. The so-called 'Consciousness,' 'Spirit,' 'Ego,' exist independently of the body. The brain is merely an organ of the human body, and it is not 'You'."
"If we compare the human body to a computer, then the brain would be its most important component—the CPU, while the real 'you,' the actual 'Consciousness,' is the person using the computer, and not the computer itself."
"However, in the material world, consciousness needs a vessel, just as without a CPU, you cannot turn on a computer. Your consciousness needs the brain as a vessel to manifest in the material world."
Li Qi did not resemble an old-fashioned martial arts master at all but instead seemed like a learned professor, beginning to explain the principles to his students.
This contrast left Xue Jing feeling quite strange—was this the scientific martial arts practice of the new era...
Of course, Li Qi had no idea what Xue Jing was thinking, but he continued, "In fact, humans have very low control over their own bodies."
"Take a simple example—you cannot kill yourself by holding your breath. Even if you have undergone a certain level of training to overcome instincts, once you truly reach your limit, your brain will immediately interrupt your consciousness, causing you to faint and thereby allowing instincts to take over the body to continue breathing." (Readers should absolutely not attempt this operation.)
"As you can see, 'I' am not the body itself; 'I' am just the user of the body. Therefore, the Buddhist Sect proposes the idea that life is a sea of suffering, and the physical body is the boat crossing this sea of suffering, because the body is the 'vessel' that 'I' ride in, not the true 'I' itself, but something that belongs to 'I'."
"Now to the key point—if 'I,' or consciousness itself, is powerful enough, it can take over the body with this abstract mental force."
"In this way, we are no longer using the inefficient means of controlling the body by giving instructions through the brain and its connected nerves. Instead, we directly cover the entire body with consciousness, taking charge of the body itself with consciousness."
Li Qi extended a withered palm, grasping in the air.
"With consciousness forcefully intervening in the body, order the genes to change, eliminate all the weak and useless genes, and further strengthen the genes that are already powerful, thus elevating one's level of life!"
"Therefore, after completing the Five Great Practices, martial arts practice is no longer about digging into the body's potential, but rather, unlocking the secrets within one's mental consciousness!"
"The strength of the mind will drive the strength of the body! As long as you possess consciousness that matches this strength, as strong as you believe yourself to be, that's how strong you will be!"
"Of course, in this process, there is great danger, great risk. Those who wish to leap through the Dragon Gate must be struck by lightning. This process of burning off the mortal tail can easily end in genetic collapse if one is not careful."
Xue Jing and Zhu Shanying, the two disciples, listened spellbound.
This martial arts practice—how can it feel both scientific and unscientific, yet within the unscientific, it somehow seems very scientific…
Li Qi's gaze settled on Xue Jing.
"And now, you have achieved one of the key steps—allowing your consciousness to enter the body."
Xue Jing subconsciously looked at his own arm, activating his breathing skills, stirring the Power.
He could clearly feel it as if the Power were alive, using his body as a river, freely swimming within.
"Although you are hundreds, thousands of steps away from a true Breakthrough, you have already taken one of the most crucial steps. What remains is a matter of persistence."