Chapter 7: Earth-shattering Changes

  "Perfect on top of perfect, there's still innate!"

  "The innate boundary is truly the pinnacle!"

  "I thought that a martial arts grandmaster who was innately perfect would be truly invincible, but it turns out they're just the pinnacle of the mundane world."

  "There's a sky beyond the sky, so it seems."

  It was then that everyone suddenly realized and secretly felt a chill in their hearts.

  Among them, many people only knew for the first time that the tenth round of perfection in the post-heaven is just the peak of the world. Above the post-heaven, there is still the pre-heaven. After being shocked, they couldn't help but feel uneasy and a strong question arose in their hearts: what exactly is the realm of the pre-heaven?

  At once, someone raised the doubts in their mind.

  "What's the secret of the Innate Boundary?" Lü Zhenwei heard the crowd's doubts and couldn't help but chuckle, "The secret within is profound and difficult to understand, but it's actually very simple."

  Lü Zhenwei said this, paused for a moment, and swept his gaze over the crowd.

  "I ask you, can an ordinary martial artist maintain the strength of their youth after growing old and frail, with their vital energy dwindling? Or if they are injured or even defeated in battle, can they be reborn?"

  "This is of course impossible, birth, aging, illness and death are the natural way." Someone in the crowd responded.

  "Of course not! A severed limb cannot be reattached, and the dead cannot come back to life. These are all common sense. If people could die and come back to life, or even live forever, wouldn't that make them monsters?" Others responded in agreement.

  "That's right, the ancients also have poems as evidence, 'Wine debts are common everywhere, and a lifespan of 70 is rare since ancient times.'" The crowd chattered and exclaimed.

  "Hahaha... Ignorance! Foolishness!" Lü Zhenwei heard and couldn't help but burst out laughing, "But this is also understandable, after all you are still mortal with limited vision, it's hard to imagine the subtleties of the Innate Realm."

  "Hmm... ignorance... foolishness..." The crowd was silent and speechless, unsure of what they had done wrong.

  "I've already said it before, beyond the mortal realm, there's also the pre-heavenly realm. You think that reaching the tenth level of the mortal realm is being an unparalleled master? I'm telling you, the tenth level of the mortal realm is just a ordinary person who has barely touched the threshold of spiritual cultivation and hasn't even stepped inside yet. Those so-called earth-shattering, wall-penetrating, river-crossing, lion-and-tiger-subduing techniques are just ordinary human tricks. A pre-heavenly cultivator can scatter beans to summon soldiers, shrink the land to an inch, travel a thousand miles in one night, ride a sword through the sky, make clouds and rain with a wave of their hand, even tear apart heaven and earth, reverse the cycles of life and death, and disrupt the balance of yin and yang. Those are the truly formidable abilities."

  "It's hard to believe, but I've had the good fortune of witnessing it with my own eyes. A Taoist master performed a magic trick in the imperial palace, using a flying sword to cut off his own head. When the guests were shocked and panicked, he burst out laughing three times, and then suddenly put his head back on, without any harm done! The scene has been etched in my memory ever since, and now I think about it, that was truly unbelievable!"

  Lü Zhenwei saw that they were narrow-minded and ignorant, and couldn't help but feel both angry and amused. He began to tell the crowd about his past experiences.

  Many people were shocked when they first heard these stories.

  "Scattering beans to form an army, shrinking land to an inch?"

  "Can one still live even if their head is chopped off?"

  "This, isn't this becoming a fairy? Is there really a fairy in the world?"

  "Immortals? Of course there are!" Lü Zhenwei replied without hesitation.

  Everyone gasped in shock and doubt, and many complex thoughts emerged.

  But whether they believed it or not, Lv Zhenwei's words broadened their horizons and increased their knowledge.

  Post-heaven, pre-heaven, the theory of compliance and reversal, the distinction between immortals and mortals, various magical techniques, the methods of immortal cultivators!

  Although Lv Zhenwei's words were ambiguous, he subtly conveyed to the young people that the myths and legends circulating in the streets are not all superstitions of foolish people, but indeed have their basis.

  In imperceptible ways, these young people have all had some sprouts of something in their hearts.

  "The day after tomorrow, the innate, the ordinary way, the immortal way... The world is vast and endless." Lü Yang, who was eavesdropping from a distance in the grass, also couldn't help but reveal a look of yearning.

  Lü Yang had long known that above ordinary people were immortals, and cultivating immortality and seeking the Tao was not a legend.

  He even knew that the old ancestor of the Lü family was a disciple of the Xianmen sect, the proud son of the heavens of the Xuántiān gate.

  Even the vastness of the universe, infinite worlds, and boundless cosmos, he had heard people mention before.

  He really yearned for these things.

  "Alas, I am just a slave, a small slave! From the moment of birth, it was destined to be enslaved by others, troubled by endless trivialities. I cannot grasp my own destiny, nor can I pursue my own dreams. Everything is because of this damned slave identity."

  "If I could get rid of this slave status and gain freedom, it would be great."

  Lü Yang made a silent vow in his heart, one day he would grasp his own destiny, pursue the supreme Tao, and explore the boundless vast world.

  Especially recently, he unexpectedly received a huge windfall, giving him many ideas. His restless mind, which was originally not very calm, became even more active.

  His greatest wish now is to get rid of his slave status and leave the Lü manor.

  "With this wealth, I can at least live a peaceful life as a rich man. However, being poor in literature but rich in martial arts, one still needs to practice their skills. Who knows what the future holds? If something unexpected happens, at least I won't be helpless and unable to resist."

  "Although money can hire guards and buy influence, all of these are unreliable without one's own strength."

  "I'm completely powerless to protect myself now; once my financial situation is exposed, it's a dead end."

  Lü Yang thought that there were countless paths to success, one could study and take the imperial examination to gain a good reputation, or engage in business to accumulate wealth, or do all sorts of things, but none of these compared to practicing martial arts and cultivating one's body.

  He came from a humble background, was not eligible to take the imperial examination, and doing business did not improve his status either. At any time, he could be exploited or harmed by others. Only by practicing martial arts and self-cultivation could he seek advancement, otherwise, he would have to spend his whole life as a slave in the Lü manor, living a peaceful and contented life.

  He thus came to understand a very simple yet useful truth, that is, neither wealth nor power nor anything else has the power to be reliable, only one's own strength is the most real.

  But all of this is premised on his ability to escape slavery, gain freedom and have the opportunity to learn the ultimate martial arts. Without this opportunity, there will be no day for him to rise to prominence.

  "Alas, opportunity."

  Lyu Yang let out a long sigh.

  How could such an opportunity be so easily obtained?

  For over a decade, the young men who trained hard in this martial arts school have changed four or five batches. Some people have fought bravely on the battlefield and become famous through their victories, while others have died in battle in foreign lands, wrapped in horsehide. Some were dispatched to various places to carry out tasks, and some entered the Heavenly Man Hall for further study. All of them went their separate ways, except for Lü Yang, who from childhood to adulthood, always snuck around on the mountain slope beside the school to listen in, never getting tired of it.

  He had long been able to recite the basic principles of martial arts fluently, but he was still enthusiastic and not tired at all.

  But all along, he has only been listening and not learning.

  He had self-awareness and knew that he could only intermittently eavesdrop and couldn't fully understand the principles of martial arts, so it was easy to practice incorrectly.

  Another concern is that there are many high-level martial artists in the mansion, and with their keen eyesight, they can tell at a glance whether someone has any martial arts skills or not.

  So he has been enduring until now and does not dare to start practicing martial arts easily.

  It's because the opportunity hasn't arrived yet. He still hasn't found the chance that can change his fate.

  But it's also because of this that he can make a fortune without revealing anything, and stubbornly pretend as if nothing happened.

  Lü Zhenwei poured his heart and soul into it, telling everyone about the post-heavenly and pre-heavenly realms, as well as the key points of cultivation methods for each realm. Afterwards, he also taught people some principles of martial arts and self-cultivation, and before they knew it, time had slipped away unnoticed.

  Lü Yang listened in a daze until the distant sound of bells and drums rang out, and when the crowd dispersed from the school grounds, he suddenly realized that it was already noon.

  Lü Yang hastily got up and returned along the way he came from behind the mountain.

  "Huh?"

  Just as he was on his way back to the mountain, he passed by a small lake with clear water and a flat surface like a mirror. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, let out a soft "hmm" and came to a halt.

  As he was crossing over a stone from the water's edge, he inadvertently glanced at the water surface and suddenly discovered that his appearance and figure seemed to have changed from a few days ago.

  "How could this be?"

  Lyu Yang crouched down and examined it carefully.

  At this time, he was surprised to find that his body was becoming strong and sturdy, his skin smooth, his teeth correcting, becoming white and neat, like a grain of gemstone, and his flesh contained a crystal clearness like jade. The whole person's appearance was not at all like a small servant who climbed the mountain every day, but rather a rich young master who was raised in luxury.

  His entire appearance and temperament have undergone a complete transformation.