Refining the Three Poisons, Transforming the Three Qi

In the Treatise on Gang Banner Qi and Pulses, the author left behind an essay. [My natural talent was dull. Relying on fish balls, I cultivated diligently, without a single day of slack, and only then did I enter the Tiger Elephant realm. Past the age of thirty, my meridians and organs were like the sewers of the Walled City, medicine toxicity built up throughout my body. The three demons—greed, anger, and delusion—tormented my mind. My daughter says I always lose my temper over the smallest things, for no reason at all. Unfortunately, purging medicine toxicity has been an intractable problem since ancient times, unless one possessed a rare treasure capable of cleansing the body to its very marrow. But I have no regrets. Had I not taken the medicine, I would have died at sixteen at the hands of a gang enemy. By the age of forty, my body was in steady decline. My qi and blood were fading, and the medicine toxicity's backlash grew ever fiercer. In my despair, I left Xianghai and traveled far to Sheng. I spent my entire family fortune roaming famous mountains and great rivers, calling on eminent Buddhist and Daoist masters, seeking a way to cure the poison. When I reached Shengbei, in Lu Region's Qizhou Prefecture, I met an old man who told me to seek out an eminent master at Thousand Buddha Mountain. I met that master. The master said that by using martial will to bind the medicine toxicity and imprison it within the Niwan Palace, one could ease its flare-ups. I begged the master to take me as his disciple. Seeing that my comprehension was passable, he accepted me. I followed the master, cultivating my body and temperament, practicing Chan and seeking the Way. Thirty years passed like this. All my life I studied how to purge the medicine toxicity without relying on the treasures of heaven and earth, yet to my dying day I never achieved enlightenment. Only on the verge of death did a flash of insight strike me, and I abruptly grasped a method, which I recorded in my notes: Medicine toxicity is like a flood. To tame a flood, channeling it is better than blocking it. If one could transform the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and delusion into the three qi of courage, dominance, and killing intent... ...perhaps one could root out the medicine toxicity for good, and thereafter take secret medicine without any fear of the consequences. Later generations: should you obtain my Treatise on Gang Banner Qi and Pulses, and with world-staggering wisdom forge this method, you will surely become a grandmaster of your age.] Li Xiuwen looked toward the incense burner. [General Martial Knowledge proficiency increased by 1%...] Having finished the Qi and Pulses Treatise, Li Xiuwen found that this collection of essays held no martial methods, nor much in the way of profound theory. But it did give him an inspiring line of thought: Binding the Three Poisons with martial will and hiding them within the Niwan Palace could delay the flare-ups of the medicine toxicity, but could not cure it. If he could create the method that old master described—refining the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and delusion into the three qi of dominance, killing intent, and courage—then a true cure might well be possible. And the key to it all was that elusive, intangible power of mind and will. "Damn. This crazy old man and the Three Castings of the Heart Furnace just keep getting more valuable." "If I get the chance, I definitely have to pay a visit to Thousand Buddha Mountain in Qizhou Prefecture, Lu Region!" ... One day. Li Xiuwen had just arrived at Four Seas Martial Arts Hall when Old Huang called out to him. "Ah Wen, your presence has been climbing pretty fast these days." Huang Sihai frowned slightly. Li Xiuwen answered honestly. "Master, I've used the three refined fish balls Senior Brother Xiao gave me, plus the one gifted each month. I'm close to the limit of the Skin and Membrane Gate now." "You still want to make a run at the Academy, don't you?" Huang Sihai sighed. "Ah, you poor thing. You started martial arts too late—there really isn't much time left for you." "I've kept your teaching firmly in mind, Master, but I have my reasons, and I've made my peace with them... I only want to charge ahead while my qi and blood are still at their prime, and take a gamble." Li Xiuwen's tone was sincere, and Huang Sihai understood. "In any case, I've said all I can. The rest is up to you. But there's one thing I have to warn you about." "Please go on, Master." Li Xiuwen knew he had disappointed Huang Sihai once again. "After you reach the limit of the Skin and Membrane Gate, polish it well and don't rush the gate-crossing challenge. With your talent, if you aren't fully prepared, your success rate at the gate-crossing is under... thirty percent." Huang Sihai had never told Li Xiuwen about this: Pass the second gate— for the makings of a superior, the success rate was ninety percent; for middling aptitude, fifty percent; for inferior aptitude, thirty percent. He hadn't wanted to say it, because it would expose the fact that Li Xiuwen was merely of inferior aptitude. What if the boy took it hard and just dropped out? But he hadn't expected Li Xiuwen to reach the limit of the Skin and Membrane Gate so soon. "Master, so I'm actually of inferior aptitude, aren't I? You used a kind lie back then to keep me here." After a long silence, Li Xiuwen smiled. He had read enough books to also know the saying about the second-gate success rates for different innate physiques: "superior nine, middling five, inferior three." Apart from the speed of qi and blood accumulation, this was the greatest advantage a superior innate physique held over ordinary people. It was also why ordinary people, even if they could match the pace of qi and blood accumulation by popping pills, could never catch up to those of high innate physique in their cultivation. Because the ordinary ones fell before the gate-crossing challenge. It wouldn't kill them, but it left them stranded. To rally themselves and attempt the gate-crossing a second time would cost them several more years wasted away. Such people were already mediocre in talent, and often not young, so they were never far from the decline of qi and blood. Which meant that once they failed, it amounted to a "death sentence"—their chance to pass the second gate would be very slim indeed. And so the vast majority of those with middling or inferior aptitude would linger for a very long time at the peak of the Skin and Membrane stage. Half a year at the shortest, three to five years at the longest. They tried every means to raise their success rate at the gate-crossing. Some would even wait until the critical juncture of qi-and-blood decline in their thirties or forties before trying again, aiming to maximize their odds. Huang Sihai cleared his throat and said without changing expression, "As long as you understand your master's good intentions. If you'd known you were of inferior aptitude, would you still be practicing martial arts? Would you even be here today?" Li Xiuwen smiled. "That's true. I hold no grudge—you've been very good to me." Seeing that Li Xiuwen wasn't angry in the slightest, Huang Sihai instead felt a twinge of guilt. "But the facts have proven that your comprehension and inward bone structure are actually quite decent. "Normally, someone of inferior aptitude couldn't reach the peak of the Skin and Membrane Gate in just over four months, even gulping down fish balls. "All things considered, your true innate physique comes out to middling aptitude—not much worse than Liu Chun. That kid has been secretly gulping fish balls lately too. "Yet you still reached the peak of the Skin and Membrane Gate ahead of him, and cultivated the Red Membrane... So that's why I keep telling you, don't rush, don't rush. You're still ten years away from the decline of your qi and blood." Li Xiuwen smiled bitterly. "Master, but what if my goal isn't confined to the Three Gates? What if I want to pass the Three Gates and step into another realm, like the Three Paragons?" Huang Sihai was taken aback, then couldn't help laughing. "Ah Wen, do you have any idea that even the makings of a superior aren't guaranteed to pass the Three Gates? Setting your sights too high is no good thing." He hadn't expected Li Xiuwen's ambition to be so vast. Li Xiuwen merely said, "Master, I know my own foundation. I just want to give it everything I have and try, so I won't look back in regret when I'm old." Huang Sihai was silent for a moment, then patted Li Xiuwen on the shoulder. "Your master understands." He stopped trying to dissuade him. Ah Wen wasn't young anymore—an assassin could come for him, a sword hung over his head, and he had family to protect. The boy had his reasons. ... On the second floor, Chen Jia saw Li Xiuwen come up and sighed. "Junior Brother Ah Wen, don't be so impatient. A restless, fretful mind will drag down your success rate at the gate-crossing for no good reason." "I know the pros and cons, Senior Brother. Thanks." Li Xiuwen smiled. His qi and blood had surged by a great margin these past days, and the disciples on the second floor were all experts who had passed the second gate, so they naturally sensed it. Unfortunately, he had no technique to conceal his aura; otherwise things would be a great deal quieter for him.