Martial Arts Encyclopedia - Chapter 5

Goal for the future (1)

Reading the Martial Arts Encyclopedia, I’m facing my first great hurdle, which is to overcome my decision paralysis. At first, I was expecting to take my time accumulating Karma, but for some reason I received a great amount in a brief time. There are still many things out of my reach, but I need to properly take them into consideration for my immediate future instead of being something to look forward to in the distant future.

This time I read the book more carefully to catch any forms of inconsistencies, and I realized the first hurdle hidden in the book.

…

Qi Flow Correction

There are ten thousand paths to the Great Dao, however some paths might cross each other and create incompatible flows of Qi. By learning this ability, the practitioner can prevent a different flow of Qi to interfere with the other, however they are still two entities. The more conflicting Qi Flows the user has, the more weight of Karma required.

Qi Flow Integration

There are ten thousand paths to the Great Dao, however some paths might cross each other and create incompatible flows of Qi. By learning this ability, the practitioner can integrate two harmonious but distinct flows of Qi, combining them into one, however the newly created flow of Qi will be as slow to cultivate as it has become powerful. The more different Qi flows the user wishes to integrate, the more weight of Karma required, and the slower the flow of Qi.

…

In other words, I can’t infinitely buy new martial arts and expect all of them to mesh well if they have different Qi Flows, and unless I learn some more exoteric knowledge from the Encyclopedia, I won’t be able to figure out if they’re conflicting or not unless I buy them first.

With one exception.

Peerless Heavenly Scripture.

In the novel History Strongest Senior Brother, the Peerless Heavenly Scripture is a cultivation scripture that has aspects of the Primordial Chaos that came before existence from which everything came to be, both the righteous and the demonic, Gods and Monsters, the Buddha, and the Devils.

The protagonist of the novel could master all forms of martial arts since he had the formless, all encompassing, all accepting foundation of the Peerless Heavenly Scripture. Of course, going that path is a massive investment in Karma, and I still need to cultivate like anyone else. I would also need to buy Cultivation Talent, and the other support talent and techniques to supply myself with the materials to reach higher realms.

Other sources of power, like Nen, Chakra, Aura, and Hamon are easier to reach an acceptable level of power, that I would then later further enhance with my Falna and regular training.

Of course, there’s the complex issue that is Cosmo. I watched the old Saint Seiya and read the manga, the series still being popular in my homeland after all those years, and I’m sure what they have counts as a form of divine energy. The passive Cosmo that permeates the universe and is present in the secular world is the same that Bronze Saints learn to harness that allows them to punch at the speed of sound, Gold Saints to move at the speed of light, and it is also the same Cosmo that the gods in that setting possess, except they burned stronger and brighter than mortals. Hell, destroying objects at the atomic level is an entry level technique.

Of course, I don’t think Bronze Saint level Cosmo is enough to conquer the Dungeon assuming that I don’t have to face Juggernauts every step of the way into the abyss. I’m also not one of the five main Athena’s Saints: Shun, Ikki, Hyouga, Shiriyu, and finally Seiya. I would at best be at the level of Jabu.

I steal a glance of my goddess sitting on the couch at my side, and she returns me a smile.

Alright, maybe I can get a better mileage out of it.

However, one thing that is common to all those powers is that I need to have a certain foundation in martial arts to properly leverage those abilities, and most if not all of them require a well-trained body to make full use of those abilities.

I pause my reading and this time I look at Artoria in the eyes. “Lady Artoria, can I ask you an important question?”

“Certainly, what is it, Uehara-dono?”

“What kind of body do you like, aesthetically speaking? Big, bulging muscles? Small, lithe bodies? Tight, defined muscles?”

“W-what?” She squeaks adorably at my question. “W-what brought that on?”

“Most of the entries in the Encyclopedia give similar results, if through a different path. If it is all the same, I wonder what you find more pleasing.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her, earning a ‘playful’ slap from her that sent me to the edge of the couch.

Oof, looks like she still has her Servant strength if a casual slap can do that much.

“You’re insufferable,” she says with exasperation and a hint of fondness in her voice. “You shouldn’t bother with what I find visually pleasing when it comes to matters of life and death. What’s more important is for you to survive the trials that will come your way.”

I will take that as ‘you’re fine the way you are’, or at least she trusts my judgment.

For now, I will leave Inner Qi Cultivation and for later once I buy more supplemental techniques. Right now, I need something that I can use right away that has a wide variety of uses and is unlikely to conflict with future purchases.

I will buy the Hercules Method, which is primarily a body and mental training method that brings the human body closer to its theoretical limits. Afterwards I will take the Niko Style (Demonsbane) as a foundational martial arts since it has a bit of everything with their four main katas: Redirection Kata is directly compatible with Super Aiki; Water and Adamantine Katas are directly compatible with Xiaoli; Flame Kata is a good entry level footwork technique; the Void Kata is a good entry level breathing technique that can be upgraded later; and finally the Demonsbane is a very useful counter that helps train me in the future integration of different martial arts styles. The Hercules Method will make the Possessing Demon and Fallen Demon obsolete, and they’re just substitutes for proper cultivation techniques anyway.

To cap my purchases, I will buy Xiaoli, due to its compatibility with the Water and Adamantine Kata. The greater level of muscle relaxation brought by Xiaoli will also help with recovery of my muscles and will help me develop the Hercules Method.

“What do you think, Lady Artoria?”

“You don’t need to be so formal with me, Uehara-dono.”

I smile back at her, “then please call me Andrew, then. Artoria.”

She replies in kind before answering. “Your choices sound solid in my view. All my knights had to train their bodies extensively, which they further enhanced with mana in their own ways.” Her tone briefly turns melancholic when she talks about her Knights, but she quickly composes herself. “Does that mean you choose to grow the size of Herakles? He was certainly an imposing figure, the last time we met each other.” She doesn’t elaborate further on that, another day, then.

“While I can grow as big as I that, I believe I can keep my muscles more compact and defined, building them for impact and speed, like a Sprinter instead of a Strongman or a Marathonist.”

She accepts my reasoning and I make my purchases. Once again there isn’t any fanfare when I acquire the knowledge and techniques. 

For the Hercules Method I gain knowledge on several exercises to sharpen my focus and enhance my will towards a single goal, reaching enlightenment through self-supremacy. The inventor of this method, Cain, achieved enlightenment through an act of murder, while Luther Strode was simply inhumanly talented at it. It’s a Formless Art that turns your body into a living weapon, and for most practitioners, that’s more than enough.

The Niko Style on the other hand is a more formal martial arts style that took influence from several styles, like the Gaoh Style or the Kaiwan Style Karate from The Beard himself. The four Katas are a set of core philosophies from which techniques emerge and to use against the practitioner’s enemies. It’s a style that can easily evolve and integrate new strategies in its arsenal, which is why I choose it in the first place. Also, Demonsbane is a cool sounding ultimate technique that I feel will see a lot of mileage in the future until I start Inner Qi cultivation.

I was indecisive between Xiaoli and Super Aiki but went with Xiaoli first because of its connection to both Water and Adamantine Katas. Water Kata principle is the relaxation of muscles, and has a focus on grappling techniques, while Adamantine Kata relates to the contraction of muscles and direct strikes among other uses.

Speaking of which, I make a fist and contract it as hard as I can, feeling the intense contract of my fist that goes beyond anything I did beforehand which, then I follow by relaxing the muscles on my arm and an intense sense of relief as previously tense muscles relaxed.

“Oh, my goddess,” I can’t help but moan at finally having the tension in certain muscles relax, “best purchase I ever made.”

“I’m glad that you’re happy with it, but I hardly had anything to do with it.” She replied and I spotted a faint blush.

Too bad I’m too busy melting into a puddle of relaxation. My Falna update can wait for a minute.