Mythical Three Kingdoms

"No, it's about constantly entering life, not the body; this is what Inner Qi Condensation is about, which is the first realm. Essentially, once reached this realm, as long as you're not abolished by external forces, you won't fall back." Huang Zhong nodded and said.

Huang Zhong and Lyu Bu were similar; having reached the peak too early, they both reflected on their past steps, so they understood each step clearly.

Of course, Tong Yuan and Wang Yue probably understand these things too. This is why their strength is at the Inner Qi Manifestation Perfection level, yet they aren't afraid of anyone.

"Oh, I recall some soldiers suddenly gaining Inner Qi on the battlefield but losing it afterward." Xuu Chu reminisced while drinking a bowl of wine.

"Life Energy, apart from the Divine Stone, generally doesn't suddenly increase, but the Spirit can fluctuate. Due to external stimuli, it might surge explosively, and the battlefield is such a place." Huang Zhong stroked his beard and explained.

"The surge in Spiritual Will gives those originally unable to connect Essence and Spirit through external Essence Qi a chance to touch Inner Qi. But if enough Inner Qi can't be generated as a bridge during that period, once the Spiritual Will diminishes, the bridge breaks." Huang Zhong said with emotion, knowing well what happens if the bridge breaks.

It's not simply falling back; it's a permanent harm. Falling back means the bridge connecting Essence and Spirit broke once, and each break increases the Inner Qi needed for the next Inner Qi Condensation.

Xuu Chu stopped eating and sat seriously across from Huang Zhong, listening to his words.

"Once Inner Qi Condensation is achieved, breaking is impossible. Next is using Inner Qi as a bridge to connect Spirit and body, slowly improving the body, and allowing Spirit to gradually imbrue Inner Qi, giving it desired effects, which is Qi Refining to Gang." Huang Zhong said with a smile.

"After reaching Qi Refining to Gang, it's actually an accumulation process, whether it's Inner Qi or Spirit imbuing the body. The peak of Qi Refining to Gang should be when the Spirit completely imbues every part of the body." Huang Zhong said with a lamenting smile.

This process is slow and meticulous and not merely accumulating Inner Qi until the body can't withstand it. Although generally, Qi Refining to Gang does accumulate Inner Qi to the body's capacity limit.

"Let me think..." Xuu Chu scratched his head, feeling what Huang Zhong said was different from his impression.

"I know what you want to say, but you're a special case." Huang Zhong smiled, "Your body is excessively strong; you should not have cultivated Inner Qi but rather enhanced your Spiritual Will and used externally acquired Essence Qi to supplement your body through Inner Qi."

With a large ten waist, such an extraordinary Talent surprisingly cultivated Inner Qi. Although natural Life Energy made it easy to cultivate, shouldn't cultivation make the excellent even better?

"Essentially, Qi Refining to Gang means integrating Spiritual Will into every part of the body, which is very slow. Generally, even when you break through this realm, it's still not complete." Huang Zhong expressed with great helplessness.

"When we speak of the peak of Qi Refining to Gang, we actually refer to Inner Qi reaching the body's limit, but this is not the limit, not of Qi Refining to Gang, but merely the body's endurance limit." Huang Zhong said with a bitter smile.

Xuu Chu was puzzled, thinking why it's not the limit then what is?

"Do you know why breaking through the peak of Qi Refining to Gang yields different strengths? Why some are strong, and some are weak? The strong achieve Inner Qi Manifestation Perfection at the first breakthrough, while the weak only initially enter." Seeing Xuu Chu's confusion, Huang Zhong asked a question.

"Different accumulation." Xuu Chu replied without thinking.

"Inner Qi capable of manifesting reaches the body's limit before breakthrough, all are Emperor's chosen ones, how could there be such differences?" Huang Zhong shook his head and said.

"Inner Qi Manifestation breaks the body's constraints because Life Energy can't instantly heighten, it needs a sudden explosion of Spiritual Will. Spirit forcibly acquires Life Essence and Heaven and Earth Essence, causing Inner Qi to erupt." Huang Zhong said nostalgically.

"In reality, most such situations fail because there's an aspect of selflessness versus self-preservation. Inner Qi at this level can extinguish the cultivator, requiring the Inner Qi to be expelled to break through the Heaven-Man Barrier." Huang Zhong reminisced, "This is known as breakthrough anomaly."

Xuu Chu felt this stage too, so he had nothing more to say. Actually, Huang Zhong understood better, from this point the strength Attribute of Inner Qi Manifestation no longer leans on Will Attribute Life Energy but on Will Attribute Heaven and Earth Essence.

This is why Inner Qi Manifestation Martial Artists can risk using Inner Qi amid Cloud Qi, as their Inner Qi already carries Heaven and Earth Essence attributes, known as natural might.

Similarly, this explains why Inner Qi Manifestation easily kills Qi Refining to Gang, as Qi Refining to Gang's Inner Qi is easily assimilated.

As for post-breakthrough strength, it's quite simple. It's the result of Spiritual Will imbuing the body, because at Inner Qi Manifestation, Heaven-Man conjunction allows massive Essence Qi infusion and merging of Spirit into the body.

The more imbued, the higher Heaven and Earth Essence accommodation, thus increasing strength further, with corresponding Spiritual Will memory increment.

This also explains Inner Qi Manifestation's strong Recovery Power, as the Spirit-infused body deepens memory to the subconscious, enabling fast recovery when injured.

If someone could render Spiritual Will to cellular level during Qi Refining to Gang, they wouldn't die unless they wanted to, making them nearly unkillable or ageless.

As for other Inner Qi Manifestation, they age because their Spiritual Will imbues only the body, not to the cellular level, only prolonging life, enhancing recovery, failing to achieve true Immortality.

This is why Spiritual Talent and Inner Qi Manifestation cannot coexist, as Inner Qi Manifestation is when Spirit fully merges with the body; post-event, the so-called Divine Finger actually changes reality's Will.

As for Spiritual Talent, it's the purest state of Spirit, where it no longer needs Inner Qi and Life Energy as bridges to imbue the body directly. If reaching the cellular level, it's effective too. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com by recommending or monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)