129 Heart and Intention?

"Greetings, Master Chen!" Although Yao San was already middle-aged, he remained exceptionally obedient to the instructions of the sturdy old man, clearly holding his mentor in high regard.

Moreover, having witnessed with his own eyes how Chen Jue gave up three moves only to defeat his teacher with a single strike, coupled with the previous pointers he had received, Yao San naturally felt a surge of reverence for Chen Jue.

In martial arts, one does not earn the title of "Master" simply by virtue of seniority or age. Ability takes precedence; this is an immutable truth in any field. Since Chen Jue was stronger than them—capable of leaving them in awe and eager to imitate him with just a casual display of skill—it was only natural to address him as Master Chen.

"Dark energy requires the eruption of heart and intent?"

"Isn't it the eruption of the heart itself?" Listening to Old Man Lin from the side, Chen Jue felt a flicker of doubt.

His own dark energy had been cultivated beneath the Chen Village Reservoir. At the time, once his proficiency panel leveled up, and by contemplating the shifts in the underwater currents, he had naturally grasped the technique of "needling" with dark energy. First, by perfecting the Eight Immortals Stance, he had channeled dark energy into his limbs; later, by upgrading Tai Chi to Level 4, he had permeated his entire body with it.

In Chen Jue's understanding, dark energy was essentially the same as closing one's pores in bright energy—it was merely a specialized technique for muscle activation. How could it involve the "eruption of heart and intent"?

While his heart did beat violently when releasing dark energy, that was simply the heart increasing its output to pump blood, causing the body to unleash greater power by accelerating the flow of *qi* and blood to stimulate the dark energy. "Heart and intent" and the physical "heart" were simply not on the same wavelength!

In fact, what Chen Jue did not realize was that while his dark energy appeared to be self-attained through his underwater meditation, the attribute panel had actually granted him a form of muscle memory akin to divine enlightenment when he broke through to perfection, helping him trigger the dark energy. It was like being given the formula to solve a problem, rather than being taught how to think through the solution himself. Copying an assignment while adding one's own minor understanding versus completing the assignment through genuine intellectual effort—the results might look the same, but the underlying significance was worlds apart.

...

After finishing his formal salute, Yao San turned to Lin Yuanchao and said, "Master, you know better than anyone how difficult it is to cultivate the eruption of dark energy. I have practiced under you for so many years, yet I have never grasped what you call the 'eruption of heart and intent.' Even with Master Chen here to guide me, I fear that with my dull aptitude, I still cannot understand what you mean by 'intent'."

Hearing his disciple's words, Lin Yuanchao sighed, a mix of frustration and regret. "Sigh! San'er, what you say has some truth. The times have changed; without the experience of real combat, it is difficult to grasp the techniques of heart and intent. Back in my day, I traveled everywhere with my peers, participating in all sorts of martial brawls, and it was through those repeated life-and-death encounters that I realized dark energy."

"At that time, we were all eighteen or nineteen-year-old hotheads, fresh to martial arts. We didn't care about the consequences—we would charge in with spears and fight every expert we saw. It was through those recurring battles that we understood intent! Countless companions were injured or crippled, and many died in those fights."

"Since the era a hundred years ago, martial arts were referred to as 'National Arts' by the old masters, intended to be promoted to strengthen the nation and its people. But now that the country is strong, the people are prosperous, and life is stable, these martial arts are naturally fading from the stage of history. Fewer and fewer people are learning them."

"San'er, you have a good foundation, but your talent is a bit dull. Even if you find your own inspiration one day and learn the eruption of intent, in this society, it would be a 'dragon-slaying technique' with no use. It would be better to focus on your business, earn an honest living, and support impoverished students and the elderly—that would be a greater contribution to society."

Perhaps shaken by being defeated by Chen Jue in one move, Old Man Lin became talkative, his emotions fluctuating, his eyes filled with nostalgia. It was a fanatical era of fluttering red flags; it was stubbornness and devotion—a sentiment that only those of his generation had personally experienced and could truly understand. By the time the martial arts lineage reached Yao San, the flavor had changed, mixed with the slickness of a merchant. The intent of his fist was no longer pure, and thus, he could not grasp the dark energy of heart and intent.

Chen Jue's situation was even more unique. He was born in a more peaceful era. Although his journey had been a bit rough, his time spent practicing martial arts was short, and he had relied mostly on the panel to break through. Though he had once questioned the panel, since embarking on his path of training and reading extensively, Chen Jue had felt that the more he practiced, the deeper his understanding of martial arts and alchemy became.

But hearing the conversation between Lin Yuanchao and his disciple, Chen Jue felt a sudden awakening. He realized that although he had reached the realm of a "bodily saint" who had shed his mortal shell and transformed his marrow, the doubts in his heart had only deepened.

Using the newfound, albeit dim, sense of a "Heavenly Man" after forming his Golden Elixir, he sensed the temperament and spirit of these two descendants of the Three Emperors Cannon Punch. He discovered that the martial intent radiating from Lin Yuanchao was just as fanatical and indomitable as his life story. In contrast, Yao San carried the slickness of the business world, filled with calculation and hesitation.

...

And what about Chen Jue?

Although he had acquired the martial intent of the coastal fishermen—a sense of tragic heroism and righteousness overcoming evil—from the Eight Immortals Stance, that was the intent of his predecessors, not his own!

Perhaps noticing Chen Jue’s prolonged silence after his own trip down memory lane, Lin Yuanchao turned to look at him. That single glance made the sturdy old man frown. "Master Chen... why is it that I cannot feel any 'inspiration' in you? Could it be that you attained dark energy through the Taoist practice of Inner Alchemy?"

"Yes! I have indeed practiced Inner Alchemy, and I have already formed the Golden Elixir," Chen Jue nodded, offering a wry smile. In this brief moment of clarity, he had identified his own problem: he possessed the physical vessel, but lacked his own spirit and intent.

Whether it was the innocence brought by the Boy's Practice, the righteousness of the Eight Immortals Stance, the divine channeling of the Tiger Form, the bone-searching of the Dragon Form, or the convergence of Dragon and Tiger—they were all the martial arts and intent of those who came before him. No matter how much he practiced, if he did not understand his own intent, he would become what the martial classics called a "corpse guardian"—possessing a body of martial arts like a living corpse, devoid of his own "vitality."

Chen Jue had thought that by using the panel to break through human limits, he had become extraordinary, only to realize, upon looking back, that he was the most foolish of them all.

"What? A Golden Elixir master!"

"At your age, you have actually reached this level of alchemy? No wonder... no wonder... that explains it! That explains why your strikes earlier were so chaotic! Your techniques are exquisite, but they lack your own intent! They are all the intent of others!" Lin Yuanchao stared at Chen Jue for a long time, his eyes filled with both envy and pity.

He envied that Chen Jue, through the Golden Elixir, could maintain the abundant physical stamina martial artists dreamed of, keeping his body healthy and extending his life, allowing him to fight with full force even in his twilight years. What he pitied was that such a brilliant young talent had spent his gifts on the ethereal path of alchemy, failing to innovate in martial arts or grasp his own inspiration.