The Levels Of Martial Arts

The souls of immortals found within the lower realm were of course from powerful experts. this is because the heavens forbid those from the immortal realm to come to the lower realm. those who managed to get down here were not simple figures. For example, the Soul within Xiao Yan's necklace was a mighty figure and was once called the 9 Flame Heavenly Alchemy Emperor

from the knowledge Ling Han had of this expert, he was a mighty figure who was not only capable of fighting but also well-known for his skills with flames and alchemy. he got his name thanks to the fact he created a cultivation art that allowed him to cultivate 9 flames, before fusing them.

He was betrayed by his disciple who wanted his full inheritance, he managed to use everything he had to flee to the lower realm, where he hid within a necklace that was connected to an extreme genius. there he had been trying to cover bits of his strength.

the souls of powerful immortals Ling Fang brought back were from mighty experts who rival the 9 Flame Heavenly Alchemy Emperor. Among them was the Cosmos Phoenix Emperor. a powerful clan of the Phoenix race, sadly one day he and his clan were almost destroyed and were forced to flee to the lower realm. there the Immortal died of his injuries, but he had left behind his soul to find a talented person who could protect his clan which he had sealed away... they have now joined the Ling Clan.

Another was called The Immortal Time Emperor. he was a powerful expert who had walked the path of time, but one day his clan was targeted to get a technique he had created, the Endless River Of Time Palm. a palm technique that causes anything it hits to age out of existence. Although it had the drawback of making one also age faster, it was a technique many wanted to get their hands on or destroy. in the end, he fled to the lower realm with his granddaughter whom he sealed away, waiting for someone worthy to take care of her and also protect her... they have now joined the sect.

Another was called The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, an arrogant monkey who was sealed away by a powerful expert from the Buddha court in the lower realm, under a mighty mountain... but the seal was also baptizing the Sage, making him grow more loyal towards his enemy. but this would have taken billions of years, Ling Fang made a deal with the monkey and got him out of the seal. of course, the billions of years the seal had on his mind were also removed by him.

The list went on, but pretty much everyone Ling Han brought back was in trouble with some powerful power within the immortal realm. of course, Ling Han brought them back and tried his best to bring them back at full power... but even he couldn't do it. these were powerful experts who had mastered Dao and were beyond the Mountain and River Tier, their Dao was at a level light years beyond what he could do for now. But they did become his teacher.

Although I loved sleeping, I knew the importance of training. Xiao Yan was someone who I became enemy with because I saw his potential. why would I make enemies with someone who did nothing to me? well... in my eyes, all that mattered was family. everyone else was either a pawn or an enemy. Xiao Yan was a pawn, he would grow strong, hate me, want revenge, and so on. come fight me when he was capable enough. That would be used to improve his [Absolute Combat]. I could tell that a battle to the death against a capable martial arts would allow me to reach greater levels in [Absolute Combat]

thats all Xiao Yan's existence was worth in my eyes. once his job was done, he would be killed. Did I sound like a villain? what happened the last time I played hero and gave up everything for the sake of the world? the worst mistake of my life...

"You talented and all, the best martial artist within the lower realm. but thats by the lower realm standards." Standing before a man who looked part monkey and part human, Ling Han was paying close attention to his training. this was the Great Sage, Heaven's Equals. he had golden fur with golden eyes. He was considered to be the best martial artist within the immortal realm. he was so capable that the Buddha court wanted to convert him into the war Buddha.

"You have sharpened your instincts and can react to things even if they get past all your senses. So, you don't jump to jump scares unless it comes with an attack. your reflexes are fused with your martial arts... but thats just the level of advanced Martial arts." The Great Sage said calmly,

the basic Martial arts were those who had a high understanding of martial arts like black belts. With enough mastery at this stage, they are capable of fighting those even above their body weight and strength. of course, if the other party is also at this level of martial arts, then they should flee.

Advance is the level where one trains their instincts. on instincts alone, they could tell a person's combat style, and weakness, and even react to danger even if they didn't sense it. at this stage, being above body weight or even bigger normally isn't a huge problem. in fact, being stronger than them also isn't a huge problem as they could bring out 99% of their body capability. this isn't breaking their limiters, it's just that they could move and fight, giving the illusion that their body limiters have been removed.

"Perfect Martial arts is the stage above advanced martial arts. why do you think they call it Perfect Martial arts." The Great Sage asked calmly.

"Because at that stage, one makes the perfect movement while in battles no matter what," I said to which the Great Sage nodded slightly.

"Indeed, at that stage one mind no longer hinders the body. every move and action your body makes is perfect, there is no need to think and no hesitation. Your Instincts would be so sharp, even while sleeping, and completely off guard, your body moves and fights with you not knowing a thing... but of course, to reach this level it takes harsh training. for one, your instincts have to be trained to know how to react, and your mind has to be trained to move out of the way." He said to which I nodded slightly.

Although this sounded cool and all, there was something he forgot to say. not everyone's instincts were the same. some instincts were not sharp enough to react to the danger, while others could. at the same time, some instincts were best suited for noncombat-related stuff. a cook's instincts would allow them to cook perfectly, while an artist's instincts would allow them to paint beyond their wildest understanding. 

Perfect Martial Artists were able to fight and move as if they had 100% of their full body capability upon them. this allowed them to do things like fight those hundreds of times stronger than them, of course even they can't remove their limiters. 

"Now, to train to such a level. you need to master many martial arts to perfection. to gather, learn, and fuse them, before taking that knowledge to create your martial arts. so for now, go and learn before coming back here." the Great Sage said calmly,

"Why don't we spar first, I want to see how far the gap between us is," I said making the Great Sage's eyebrow raise for a moment. but he nodded before lowering his strength to be equal to mine. this is the usefulness of martial arts, it could allow one to fight those far above them in strength, defense, speed, and so on.

I didn't waste any time and jumped towards the Great Sage, I punched him, yet the Great Sage easily dodged. his dodge was perfect, with no wasted movement, and perfect timing. it gave me the illusion that I would hit him, giving me no time to change my attack when I realized I couldn't hit him. 

I quickly turned with my kick shooting towards his head, but the Great Sage easily dodged, even dodging my other leg which was hidden from his sight. I kept attacking, but no matter how I attacked, his reaction was always perfect... it was beautiful.

But as I kept attacking, my senses were fully locked on him, allowing me to read his movements, break them down, and slowly help [Absolute Combat] take that final step.

'This kid...' the Great Sage had a bitter look while looking at Ling Han, he was a cocky man. ignoring the time he had been trapped under the mountain, he had only cultivated for around 900 years. he had unmatched talent, so much so that he believed none under the heavens were his match.

Back then, he stormed into the heavenly court and the Heavenly Court emperor had to move to personally stop him. Even then, the heavenly court emperor couldn't stop him from fleeing. he went everywhere and did as he wanted, not even the heavens were worthy of stopping him... that was until the Buddha Court Ancestor made his move. the deal he made with Ling Fang was simple. he would join the Ling Clan for 100 years, and within this time he would help and train Ling Han. if he wanted to fight for the Ling Clan, that was all up to him.

but he realized just how freakish Ling Han was, if he equaled the heavens, the heavens would be second to Ling Han. how could someone learn so fast from simply fighting someone who was dodging?

When he was the same age as Ling Han, he was just a baby monkey yet to even know about the world. how could the gap between two people be so large?

{congratulations... Absolute Combat has reached level 2.

Level 2: Your combat capability has gone beyond the normal understanding of others. With a simple look, you shall be able to read a person as if they were an open book, giving you the power to know how they fight, their personality, and many others. You easily master techniques and other skills, capable of adapting to another party's way of fighting as if it's nothing. any item you touch or see, you can instantly know the best ways to use it in battle. }

'I see...' Ling Han thought with his blue eyes glowing. all of a sudden, he found himself much more easily splitting his mind from his body, allowing for his instincts to kick in and do the work. the Great Sage who was easily dodging everything was quickly forced to block these blows.

Every Punch I threw out was no longer a simple basic punch, it was a perfect punch that was perfectly infused with my full capability. My strength was at level 2 Lesser Loose Immortal, but at this moment even a level 3 Lesser Loose Immortal could be defeated by me.

Like techniques that gave one the power to best bring out their Qi full potential, martial arts helped bring a person's combat potential to the fullest. the greater your martial arts, than you could fight those even twice your strength or even hundreds of times your strength.

Right now, The Great Sage was equal to Ling Han in both speed and strength. yet he was able to move around dodging all of Ling Han's attempts to touch him as if he were far stronger than Ling Han. This was because of how high his Martial arts were. 

"You're not bad... I want to see how far you can go." The Great Sage couldn't help but smile, but for the first time in his life, he saw someone he wanted to take as a disciple. with a step, he punched Ling Han, this was his first attack. Ling Han quickly blocked by crossing his arms before him, and was sent rocketing backward, before moving his head to the right, just in time to lessen the impact of the punch coming towards him from the left.

He was sent rocketing away, with the Great Sage following up with more attacks, yet as the attacks kept coming, Ling Han's martial arts skills just kept growing. his body reaction time grew near and near perfection, and he was getting the hang of punching and blocking.

But he couldn't help but realize the Great Sage was also improving, this was simply because, after years of being sealed away, his instincts were not as sharp as they used to be. The fact Ling Han was improving so fast was helping him regain that sharpness.

but as the fight went on, it was clear Ling Han was improving faster than the Great Sage was regaining his former sharpness. Ling Han had reached a state where he was no longer showing an emotionless look while fighting and was now capable of thinking of other things during battle.

As the battle went on, Ling Han was even able to fully ignore the battle, his body doing all of the work while his mind was elsewhere. at this point, it was the Great Sage struggling to even land a blow on Ling Han. The Great Sage was on full defense, while Ling Han's punches rained down upon him. Although Ling Han could have ended the fight, he didn't as he knew the Great Sage's true martial arts capability was above even the Perfect Stage...

after a few hours of nonstop fighting, the Great Sage was capable of showing me transcendent martial arts. A level of martial arts that went beyond perfection.

at this stage, one fuses their instincts, mind, and body. this allows one to bring out more than 100% of their body's full capability. limiters gone, as on instinct one shall be able to control how much force they need.

"It feels good to be back." the great Sage stood there, enjoying the feeling of his limiters no longer hindering his movement. Ling Han took this chance to punch him, but as soon as his fist hit the great Sage's stomach, his fist shattered as if he had hit a metal wall.

"Interesting... on instinct, your skin hardens," I said softly, the Great Sage under the heaven smirked slightly. He was the only one to ever reach this stage of martial arts without reaching that cultivation realm, this level of martial arts is what allowed him to walk freely in this world.

"Indeed, at this stage, you would have full control over your body strengths and capability. you will never use more energy than needed, your mind, body, and instincts are one. do you know what that means?" He asked to which I shook my head, as I didn't know this new realm in my head.

"Simple. how fast are you compared to your mind?" The great Sage asked,

"One thinking speed is many times faster than their movement speed... unless through special means, they can travel far faster than their minds can keep up with," I said to which the Great Sage nodded slightly.

"what if your body and mind grow, giving you the power to move at your thought speed? your body, muscles, and everything are perfected at this stage. your instincts would be so sharp that even if you channel all of your body power to one point in your body, the muscles in that finger would be strengthened to allow you to endure that power without taking too much damage from your power. the instincts alone, you can see through the strongest of defense. your instincts would be so strong you can even use them to mask yourself, making others' instincts not so easily see through you. you become unpredictable. well, as you have noticed, as one martial arts improves, the harder it is to see through it." He said to which I nodded in understanding.

as one martial art improves, to others they would look less complex, but to experts who know what they are seeing, they would be overwhelmed by how complex a punch thrown would be. it would be so complex they would have trouble dodging as their minds would be overloaded, leading to them lagging. but once one instinct is used to block off other instincts, it leads to a fair duel where both can't just know the other's weaknesses and other capabilities on instincts. at that point, the best martial arts would win.

this ability could also be used to hide from sensory-type abilities. The Great Sage, even at the same level of capability as Ling Han, was able to destroy Ling Han in the blink of an eye. even with the great Sage lowering his strength to the false loose immortal, Ling Han was of no match. thats how powerful this stage of martial arts is...

"LIng Han... become my disciple." the Great Sage said with bright eyes, to which Ling Han shook his head without even thinking.

"If you can defeat me while I go all out then sure," I said calmly, to which the Great Sage snorted slightly. the first person he wanted to take in as a disciple and he dared to be so arrogant, but he agreed. a battle of the same level of power was held.

the great Sage shot toward Ling Han, but with a step, Ling Han used the One True Supreme Movement technique. With a step, Ling Han seemed as if he had just teleported before the Great Sage, and slammed his fist into the Great Sage's stomach, sending him flying away while he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

"...i-impossible," the great sage said too stunned for words, he didn't understand what just happened. How did Ling Han get past his instincts and senses?

"When I move, I simply travel past your instincts. with one step, everything in existence, be it logic, laws, and common sense are thrown to the side." I said calmly, leaving the great Sage blank for a moment.

"At the same level, i'm unmatched... this time come at me a level above me in power," I said calmly, the Great Sage's face turned red in rage. since when was he even humiliated like this? With a flash, he shot toward Ling Han and punched him. yet his fist stopped before Ling Han, he could feel his fist moving, yet he was looking at it, frozen.

"Infinity?" the Great Sage's eyebrow raised, he had seen similar techniques, but never one this complex. he gathered his dao and punched the wall of infinity, yet he was stunned as the wall of infinity suddenly grew a wall of infinity to protect it. he targeted that new wall of infinity, yet that wall of infinity also grew its wall of infinity, and so on.

"I can't be reached..." I said calmly, leaving the Great Sage speechless for some time. with his strength limited as it was right now... then yeah, he couldn't break through so many infinities. plus, each time he targeted an infinity, that infinity would just grow another wall of infinity, leaving me untouchable. yes, each new infinity was less stable than the one before it... but was I going all out to create these walls of infinity?

plus, these walls of infinity were special, even if one could cut through space-time. because these infinities were not as simple as a space-time technique. they were a fusion of all things. this defense would even absorb the power behind such attacks, increasing the defensive capability. Do you want to teleport to Ling Han's side? how many infinities can you teleport across?