Volume Two: The Mortal Realm, Chapter 106: Innate in a Single Night

The brilliance of that blue moon grew ever more intense, and the cracks spreading across its surface multiplied, rendering the celestial body increasingly unstable.

"Borrowing the power of heaven and earth from the cultivators to strike against the cultivators themselves—once the fist is thrown, there is no turning back, no retreat, no surrender."

These were the words the old beggar had spoken to Ye Mingke before teaching him the punch.

It was an art of dancing on the edge of a blade. An art of mastering power. Extremely beautiful, and extremely dangerous.

The blue moon shattered.

At that moment, azure specks of light showered the pitch-black sky, which hung like a curtain of snow, and a fresh blizzard began to swirl across the flat terrain.

The old beggar, having thrown that final punch, walked out from the snowstorm, his beard and hair dusted with crystalline ice. Behind him, the dozen snow-wolves had been transformed into ice sculptures by the violent tidal wave of water-attribute spiritual energy, only to be crushed into nothingness by the subsequent surge of power.

Emerging from the storm, the old beggar saw Ye Mingke sitting cross-legged on the snowy ground with his eyes closed, his hands clenched into fists upon his knees. His breathing was incomparably long and steady, and the snowflakes falling around him were repelled by the aura radiating from his body.

Then, a faint cyan aura—the *gangqi*—began to seep from his tightly clenched fists.

Power and *Qi*. From the moment they begin their training, martial artists grope for the harmony between these two.

But when power and *Qi* harmonize and become one, what was once merely the strength of the flesh can now circulate within the body alongside *Qi*, and even transcend the skin to manifest as *gangqi*.

This was the Innate Realm of the martial path.

Watching Ye Mingke reach the Innate Realm in a single night, the old beggar was struck by indescribable shock. He knew Ye Mingke’s constitution was incredibly formidable, already rivaling that of an Innate master, but he had not yet taught him any breathing techniques, nor how to cross the threshold from the acquired realm of tempering the flesh to the innate.

"This little monster... did he observe my exertion of force and my breathing, and attain enlightenment on his own?"

Fearing he might disturb Ye Mingke’s breakthrough, the old beggar shook his head, laughing heartily yet silently. As he laughed, the corners of his eyes glistened. He looked down at the delicate-featured youth sitting silently in the snow, his aged face softening with a mix of self-mockery and gratification.

"Self-taught, reaching the Innate Realm in a night."

"Little monster, as you said, I am hardly qualified to be your master. But to accompany you for a leg of your journey—for a lowly mortal like me, that is honor enough."

"Five nights of teaching have passed. How much do I have left? How many more nights can I teach you?"

The old beggar sat down amidst the snow, waiting for Ye Mingke to wake, until the dawn broke.

***

"Why... haven't they returned yet?"

Inside the dim, firelit cave, A'ru asked softly. The young girl hugged her knees by the fire, fighting off sleep as she waited for Ye Mingke and the old beggar. They were well past their usual time of return.

Liu Xi had heard the passage of the snow-wolf pack earlier. She knew the old beggar had been hunting them, likely tracking them down, but she didn't want A'ru to be afraid, so she simply said, "Your big brother has a lot to learn tonight. He’ll be back late, so you should sleep, A'ru."

"Oh~" A'ru’s voice sank with disappointment. "Even later? That bearded old man is so annoying."

A pout appeared on A'ru’s small face. She tapped a small wooden stick against the edge of the fire, sending sparks flying. "That bearded man is so fierce! First, he wanted to take away my 'Woody,' and now he’s forcing me to drink medicine. He makes you carry that heavy sword every day, and he hits my Woody all the time. A girl can only take so much!"

"Ouch!" No sooner had A'ru finished her fierce declaration than Liu Xi flicked her on the forehead. She clutched her head, crying out in grievance.

Only time and the unfolding of new events were the best medicine for healing wounds. Having regained consciousness after her long illness, A'ru’s spirits had improved significantly. The "Woody" she referred to was Ye Mingke, who was always a bit slow and didn't know how to comfort people. Because his name contained characters related to trees and branches, A'ru had nicknamed him "Woody."

"He is the sister’s father; you must not speak of him that way," Liu Xi said, her lips pursed and her gentle eyes looking seriously at A'ru.

Over the past two days, whenever they weren't traveling, Ye Mingke had been taken away by the old beggar to practice martial arts, so Liu Xi had been the one keeping A'ru company. After several days together, the relationship between the two girls had become much closer and more harmonious.

"Ehh~" Feeling Liu Xi’s seriousness, A'ru, still holding her head, nodded sullenly. Though still unconvinced, she muttered under her breath, "My daddy is much better than the sister’s daddy."

"Daddy never let me carry heavy things, never let me get too tired. But..."

Speaking of her father, A'ru remembered Li Han, and her eyes welled up with tears. On the ground illuminated by the firelight, crystalline droplets fell.

"Why did Daddy suddenly not want A'ru anymore? Does Daddy not love A'ru anymore?" A'ru’s voice was choked with sobs.

Liu Xi’s heart softened. She reached out and pulled the weeping A'ru into her arms. With her hair disheveled and her attire looking nothing like a lady’s, she stared at the fire and spoke softly.

"Don't cry, A'ru. How could a father not love his own daughter?"

"It’s just that there are many, many different ways to love someone—so many that sometimes, even the other person can't tell."

In the hazy firelight, Liu Xi seemed to see her tall father from twenty years ago—a man who rarely came home, but whenever he did, would tickle her cheeks with his beard and hoist her high into the air. Back then, he was high-spirited, a hero secretly leading the martial arts world of the Great Xia to resist the scourge of the immortals. He would hold her and boast proudly to his brothers-in-arms:

"This is my girl. She looks just like me."

Holding her, he would tilt his chin high with vanity. "Look at her, only a few years old and she’s already so good at swordplay and boxing! Maybe one day she’ll be a Valkyrie. You lot, remember to curry favor with her now."

At that time, he was a father who loved her.

She also saw her father from ten years ago—the man whose hair had turned white overnight, whose once-tall frame had grown hunched. The father who told her over and over not to learn martial arts, who drove her away repeatedly, who mocked her and told her not to persist.

That father was cold and distant, but he was also a father who loved her. Because he didn't know if the path he had chosen was the right one, he didn't want his most beloved daughter to sink into the abyss alongside him and his foolish dreams.

After crying in Liu Xi’s arms for a while, A'ru soon fell into a deep sleep.

Liu Xi waited a while longer, then leaned against the cave wall, resting in a half-dreaming, half-waking state, her heart filled with concern. Near dawn, she felt—in a state of not-quite-sleep—the light footsteps of the old beggar and Ye Mingke as they returned.

Seeing Liu Xi leaning against the cold wall, the old beggar took off his tattered cotton jacket and draped it gently over her. He then sat by the extinguished fire, watching Liu Xi and A'ru with a peaceful, joyful expression.

Liu Xi did not open her eyes; she knew the old beggar wanted her to rest well, rather than worry all night about their absence. This, too, was her way of loving her father.

Twenty years ago, the little girl hoisted high by her father didn't really like those fierce-looking uncles she had never met, but she would diligently perform her sword and fist forms for them because she loved the sound of her father’s proud, happy laughter.

Ten years ago, the naive and stubborn girl defied her father’s wishes, insisted on carrying the heavy sword named "Humanity," and followed the down-and-out old beggar, refusing to leave. In those ten years, she traveled the entire human world. As a woman, she ascended to the peak of mortal martial arts to stand against those immortals whom mortals feared so much. She did it only to prove to the world that her father was not wrong—that he was a hero of the human world—and to help her father walk out of his own inner demons.

This, too, was her way of loving her father.

And now, to calmly accompany her father, to let him walk his final path in peace—this was also her way of loving him.

*Liu Xi, be strong. Do not cry. Do not let your father worry for you. Let him finish his final journey in peace.*

Sensing the old beggar’s gaze upon her in the morning light, the gentlest and strongest of women kept her eyes tightly shut, though they still reddened.

***

The dawn finally arrived, and the world was bright. The old beggar, the sword-bearing Liu Xi, and Ye Mingke, who carried A'ru on his back, set off on their journey once more.

Ye Mingke had broken through to the Innate Realm of the martial path the previous night. Although he hadn't fully grasped the mysteries of the realm, he found that, with his power and *Qi* now unified, his strength had increased significantly.

Furthermore, his *gangqi* possessed the effect of breaking through spiritual barriers. Ye Mingke no longer felt helpless against cultivators of the "Dajing" realm, even without his overwhelming physical advantage. He estimated his current strength could rival a mid-stage Dajing cultivator. Even against a peak Dajing cultivator like Yi Er, if he could close the distance, he was confident he could hold his own without relying on the heavy sword of "Humanity."

With Ye Mingke’s improved strength, their travel speed increased, and the old beggar quickened their pace accordingly. That day, by sunset, they had covered nearly two hundred *li* more than usual. Yet, the old beggar leading the way showed no signs of stopping, continuing forward even after the sky had turned completely black.

"Senior, it's dark. Aren't we going to find a place to rest?" Ye Mingke asked from behind.

The old beggar smiled and shook his head, and Liu Xi, beside him, also wore a faint smile of joy.

The old beggar looked toward the mountains in the twilight and laughed. "Let's push a little further. There is another 'little monster' ahead; we shall rest with him tonight."