Chapter 3: The Theory of Fighting Qi

As Lei Qing’s breathing entered a slow and deep state, his body functions began to operate in an orderly manner. Through breathing, he extracted the energy stored in sugars and fats from the food he usually ate to replenish his physical strength.

According to the Fighting Qi theories of the Tianlan Empire, physical strength was widely stored in every single life factor within the human body. It was something humans were born with, and it was the most direct power for human life activities and any movements, including running, fighting, breathing, heartbeats, and everything else.

Physical strength could be gradually enhanced through continuous exercise. Once it was consumed, the human body would automatically convert backup energy, sugars and fats, through breathing to replenish physical strength. When eating normally, apart from the cost of maintaining life, the body would also convert excess energy into sugars and fats for temporary storage.

In this way, a perfect cycle of human activity was formed.

However, this was not enough, far from enough. If it stayed like this, one could only be considered an ordinary person. This was because physical strength, although it could grow through continuous exercise, was still too scarce. In a single battle or a bout of intense running, physical strength would burn away rapidly. Moreover, as physical strength increased, the body would become stronger, consuming physical strength even faster.

Admittedly, one could convert backup energy through breathing. But that conversion speed was too slow, far from meeting the demand.

Thus, Fighting Qi appeared. Fighting Qi was a high-level extension of physical strength, existing in a gaseous state. Normally, it was stored in the Qi Sea in the lower abdomen. Once needed, it could quickly extend to every corner of the body, burn up, and turn into a massive amount of physical strength, allowing the body to generate powerful explosive force. Because it could make people produce powerful combat strength, it was called Fighting Qi.

According to the research on Fighting Qi theory over ten thousand years on the continent, the understanding of Fighting Qi was already very clear.

The source of Fighting Qi was not produced by heaven and earth, nor did it come from gods or demons. Instead, it originated from the human body itself. The human body was composed of countless life factors, and physical strength was hidden within these life factors. What was magical was that it existed in single units. Fighting Qi theorists called them physical strength factors.

Humans used a special breathing cultivation method to absorb these hidden physical strength factors. Then, through breathing, they used life factors to combine three physical strength factors into one complex Fighting Qi factor. Afterward, these Fighting Qi factors were stored in the Qi Sea.

When a large number of Fighting Qi factors gathered together, it was called Fighting Qi. Fighting Qi could burn instantly, forming majestic physical strength factors, allowing the human body to produce super-strong explosive force.

Not only that, but Fighting Qi was extracted from life factors to form, yet it could circulate within the body and burn and resonate at key points of the body. In turn, this stimulated and strengthened the life factors, allowing the human body to constantly break through limits and become stronger and stronger.

In this way, a truly perfect internal cycle was formed. Humans took in energy from food to sustain life and stored excess energy as sugars and fats. Through breathing, they converted sugars and fats into physical strength. Through life factors, they extracted physical strength and condensed it into Fighting Qi. Fighting Qi, in turn, strengthened the life factors. After the life factors became stronger, they could perform various energy conversions more quickly and could also make the Qi Sea stronger, containing more Fighting Qi.

This was the most basic process of Fighting Qi cultivation, and it was also the fundamental reason why humans became stronger through cultivation.

Of course, what was described above was only the most basic and primitive Fighting Qi cultivation. Humans had long since learned to fuse a part of the natural factors between heaven and earth into Fighting Qi, causing a qualitative change in Fighting Qi. Thus, it made Fighting Qi even more powerful.

The family-inherited Fighting Qi cultivation method Lei Qing practiced, Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder, was to fuse the thunder elements drifting between heaven and earth into Fighting Qi, forming Thunder Fighting Qi.

Sitting cross-legged in the snow pit, he operated the Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder mental method over and over again. With each deep and slow breath, he combined his physical strength with the drifting, omnipresent thunder elements between heaven and earth to form Thunder Fighting Qi, which he merged into his Qi Sea.

Heavy snow fell, and in just three hours, the snow on the ground thickened by more than half a foot out of nowhere.

Boom~

Lei Qing exploded through the accumulated snow and flew out. At this moment, the energy around his body was like a sharpened edge, sharp and vigorous. Within his pair of pitch-black and bright eyes, electric light flickered faintly. The endless sense of fatigue was swept away, and he only felt that he had endless power to squander.

Of course, this was just an illusion. It was merely the vigorous energy that could not be contained after his cultivation had improved.

A comfortable feeling swam through Lei Qing’s chest, and he could not help but want to laugh a few times. Life-and-death experience was indeed the best way to cultivate. This short recovery of three hours not only restored him to his peak state but also allowed him to take a step further.

However, it was only a slight improvement, and he was still at the Mid-stage Bronze level. But he clearly felt his own strength. If he were to meet Ouyang Ba, the Spirit Slayer he had killed, again, even without using tricks in a head-on clash, his winning rate would exceed sixty percent.

Humans cultivating Fighting Qi from nothing was fundamentally a way to break through limits. On the path of Fighting Qi cultivation, every step forward was a breakthrough for oneself, a promotion of the life level. And every breakthrough was not an easy matter; it required continuous tempering, accumulation, and also luck.

Since ancient times, there were many people who got stuck at a certain checkpoint and could not break through for their entire lives, as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Perhaps some would say that one could go through life-and-death trials to seek breaking through shackles and unleashing potential, but in fact, that was undoubtedly an idiot’s dream. The so-called stimulation of potential through life-and-death danger required one to truly feel fear, danger, and the state where life could fall at any moment from the bottom of one’s heart.

One only had one life. When hanging by a thread in extreme danger, ninety-five percent of people would often die. Among the remaining half a percent, those who could stimulate their potential and successfully break through were only one or two out of ten. Therefore, those who used this method to break through had to be prepared to die at any time. Between life and death, there was great terror.

If he had any other choice, Lei Qing would absolutely not be willing to be hunted for months to seek a breakthrough.

Fortunately, he had successfully survived the crisis for the time being and became stronger. It was just that now, before he could be excited for long, his face stiffened. His stomach was growling with hunger, as he had not eaten properly for two days. The meditation just now had also consumed a lot of physical energy. His body was already using an unusually uncomfortable sense of hunger to remind him to eat quickly.

But with the heavy snow falling and three feet of accumulated snow on the Heavenly Ridge Plateau, where could he find food?

Helplessly, Lei Qing had to dig out a piece of snow, swallow it into his stomach, and replenish some water.

Enduring the hunger, he tapped his feet lightly, his figure drifting and unsteady as he continued toward the Heavenly Ridge Mountain Range. Although the snow was falling heavily and he could not see far, he silently calculated that the nearest foot of the mountain was still about eighty or ninety li away. Near the foot of the mountain, there would obviously be much more food.

With Lei Qing’s current Fighting Qi cultivation, plus the Thunder Flash movement technique at the Small Success realm, if he exploded with full power, he could dash nearly four zhang in an instant. Calculating purely by this speed, he could run nearly two hundred li in one hour. Theoretically, a distance of eighty or ninety li would take at most half an hour.

But such a calculation was purely nonsense. A person’s physical strength was limited, Fighting Qi was limited, and the body’s toughness was also limited. If he burned Fighting Qi to explode with full speed, he could maintain it for at most the time it takes to burn one or two sticks of incense. Afterward, his Fighting Qi would be exhausted, and his body would become extremely tired and sore due to the overly intense exercise. Moreover, this was on the plateau with difficult roads, heavy snow, and thin air.

The normal way to travel was to use only a small part of Fighting Qi to perform the movement technique and drive the speed. While traveling, one would constantly adjust and replenish Fighting Qi through breathing.

It was best to travel at a speed that balanced the consumption and replenishment of Fighting Qi. This was the most efficient, longest-lasting, and safest method.

Lei Qing slightly adjusted his speed and breathing, maintaining a speed of about eighty or ninety li per hour. If he traveled purely at this speed, he would be fine with just a little rest after an hour or so.

Although Lei Qing’s stomach was unbearably hungry at this time, the principle that haste makes waste was still simple and clear. Enduring the hunger, he hurried toward the foot of the mountain neither too fast nor too slow. He left a series of faint footprints, but they soon disappeared in the falling snow.

After more than half an hour, he had traveled dozens of li. The Fighting Qi in his Qi Sea had only lost a small part, but his body began to feel slightly tired.

Woo woo woo~

A series of low wolf howls rang out one after another, causing Lei Qing to stop his steps abruptly. With a clang, he pulled out the dilapidated long sword, Ice Flame, his gaze becoming slightly grave.

There were many wolves in this world. They were social animals with class and organization, cruel and cunning. They possessed super strong keen senses of smell and decent vision, moved very fast, and were good at tracking, ambushing, and besieging. They had a strong sense of territory and a strong desire for revenge.

Humans could cultivate, and animals could too. Once animals had Fighting Qi in their bodies, they were given a specific term: Demonic Beasts or Demonic Birds. And Demonic Beasts and Demonic Birds were both very powerful creatures. In fact, the reason humans initially comprehended and learned Fighting Qi was by learning and imitating from Demonic Beasts.

If one intruded into a wolf pack’s territory, unless your aura was strong enough to make them tremble with fear, it would be a fierce battle. Their keen sense of smell could catch scents from dozens of li away downwind.

This was the snow region of the Heavenly Ridge Plateau, so this wolf pack was obviously the famous Highland Snow Wolf species. This kind of wolf had a huge body, fast speed, and a cruel and combative nature. In the snow, it was their home ground.

The series of wolf howls just now represented the alpha wolf deploying his troops and declaring war. Clearly, the alpha wolf did not think that Lei Qing’s aura could suppress it. Therefore, it regarded Lei Qing as an enemy or prey.

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