Chapter 1140: The So-Called Essence, Qi, and Spirit

“No, it’s not about constantly entering the body, but rather entering life itself. This is the essence of Inner Qi refinement, which is the first stage. Once you reach this stage, unless some external force destroys it, you won’t regress,” Huang Zhong explained with a nod.

Like Lü Bu, Huang Zhong had reached the peak early, so he often reflected on the steps he had taken, making him very clear about each phase of the process.

Of course, people like Tong Yuan and Wang Yue also understood these concepts. That’s why, despite their Inner Qi Leaving the Body being at the perfect stage, they were fearless against anyone.

“Oh, I remember! Some soldiers on the battlefield suddenly gained Inner Qi, but after the battle, they lost it again,” Xu Chu recalled after downing a bowl of wine.

“Life energy, except for divine stones, doesn’t increase suddenly. However, the spirit fluctuates, and external stimuli can cause a surge, which often happens on the battlefield,” Huang Zhong explained, stroking his beard.

“When the willpower surges, people who usually cannot connect the energy between essence and spirit might briefly touch Inner Qi. But if they can’t generate enough Inner Qi as a bridge during that time, once their willpower recedes, the bridge collapses,” Huang Zhong said with some emotion, fully aware of what happens when the bridge breaks.

It’s not just a simple fall back to their previous state. It causes permanent damage, meaning that the bridge connecting essence and spirit has broken once. With each break, it takes even more Inner Qi to reach the refinement stage again.

Xu Chu, now fully engrossed, set aside his food and adopted a serious expression, sitting across from Huang Zhong as he continued to listen.

“Once you refine Inner Qi, there’s no risk of the bridge breaking again. After that, you use Inner Qi as a bridge to connect your spirit with your body, gradually improving your body while allowing your spirit to infuse your Inner Qi, which is the basis of reaching the Qi Refining to Gang Formation stage,” Huang Zhong said with a smile.

“And once you reach Qi Refining to Gang Formation, it’s essentially a process of accumulation. Whether it’s Inner Qi or the spirit infusing the body, both are slow processes. The peak of this stage should be when the spirit completely permeates every part of the body,” Huang Zhong added with a wry smile.

This process is slow, not simply a matter of accumulating so much Inner Qi that the body can no longer handle it. Although for most people, reaching the Qi Refining to Gang Formation stage does involve pushing the body to its limits.

“Let me think…” Xu Chu scratched his head. He felt that what Huang Zhong was saying didn’t quite match his own understanding.

“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re a special case,” Huang Zhong laughed. “Your body is incredibly strong, almost excessively so. You shouldn’t have cultivated Inner Qi in the first place. Instead, you should have focused on using your willpower and external essence, supplemented by Inner Qi, to enhance your body.”

With such a unique and powerful physique, Xu Chu was an anomaly. While cultivating Inner Qi was easy for someone with such an abundance of life energy, the true path for someone like him should have been to make the strong even stronger.

“In essence, Qi Refining to Gang Formation is about merging your willpower into every part of your body. It’s slow, very slow, and even when you break through, you might not have fully completed this process,” Huang Zhong said with a helpless sigh.

“What we often call the peak of Qi Refining to Gang Formation is when the body reaches its limit in terms of how much Inner Qi it can contain. But this isn’t the real limit—it’s just the limit of the human body,” Huang Zhong said with a bitter smile.

Xu Chu was confused. “If that’s not the limit, then what is?”

“Do you know why some people are so much stronger than others, even though they’ve both broken through to the peak of Qi Refining to Gang Formation? Why are some as strong as those at the perfect stage of Inner Qi Leaving the Body, while others barely scratch the surface?” Huang Zhong asked, seeing Xu Chu’s confusion.

“It’s about how much they’ve accumulated, right?” Xu Chu replied without hesitation.

“All those who break through have accumulated enough Inner Qi to push their bodies to the limit. They are all exceptional individuals, so why would the difference be that large?” Huang Zhong shook his head.

“The so-called Inner Qi Leaving the Body stage is about breaking the physical limitations. Since life energy cannot suddenly increase, it requires a sudden burst of willpower to forcefully draw upon life energy and the essence of heaven and earth, resulting in a surge of Inner Qi,” Huang Zhong said, reminiscing about the past.

“In most cases, this fails because it involves a conflict between self-preservation and risking everything. The burst of Inner Qi is enough to destroy the practitioner, which is why they must release the energy outside their body and break through the barrier between man and nature. This is what we call the phenomenon of breaking through,” Huang Zhong explained.

Xu Chu nodded, understanding this stage since he had experienced it himself. Huang Zhong, however, had a deeper understanding. From that point onward, the power of Inner Qi Leaving the Body no longer relied solely on life energy with a will of its own but became imbued with the essence of heaven and earth.

This is why Inner Qi Leaving the Body warriors can utilize their Qi even within atmospheric pressure, as their Inner Qi has become infused with the essence of nature—what is often referred to as the force of nature itself.

This is also why it is so easy for those with Inner Qi Leaving the Body to defeat those at the Qi Refining to Gang Formation stage. The latter’s Inner Qi is effortlessly assimilated by the former.

As for the strength differences after breaking through, it’s actually quite simple. It depends on how much the spirit has permeated the body. At the moment of Inner Qi Leaving the Body and connecting with the heavens, the body becomes infused with the essence of life, and the spirit fully integrates into the body.

The more the spirit permeates the body, the greater its capacity to hold the essence of heaven and earth, and the more powerful the practitioner becomes. At the same time, the deeper the imprint of the spirit on the body, the more memories are retained.

This also explains the incredible regenerative power of Inner Qi Leaving the Body warriors. The body, deeply imprinted by the spirit, holds a subconscious record of its original state. When injured, the body draws upon this memory to rapidly heal itself.

In theory, if someone could fully infuse their spirit into their cells during the Qi Refining to Gang Formation stage, they would become virtually unkillable, as long as they willed it. They would also be immune to aging.

As for why most Inner Qi Leaving the Body warriors still age, it’s because they fail to fully permeate their cells with their spirit. They can extend their lifespan and enhance their recovery abilities, but they cannot achieve true immortality.

This is also why spiritual talents and the Inner Qi Leaving the Body stage are mutually exclusive. The moment of breakthrough is when the spirit fully integrates with the body, transforming into a more tangible will.

On the other hand, spiritual talent is a state where the spirit has been fully purified. At this stage, the spirit can directly infuse the body without relying on Inner Qi or life energy as a bridge. If it can reach the cellular level, it would have a similar effect.

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