Chapter 8: Internal Energy Levels

Requirements for practicing the “Seven Stars Sword Art”:
Arm Strength 37, Bone Strength 41, Comprehension 60, Movement Skills 47, and the required internal energy level—“Mystical Realm”!
Player: Happy.
Arm Strength 24, Bone Strength 18, Comprehension 25, Movement Skills 20.
……
Arm Strength represents physical strength and vitality, which can gradually improve over time through hard work and progress in martial arts.
Movement Skills represent speed and agility, which can also improve over time along with advancements in light martial arts.
But Bone Strength is different—it represents defense and foundational strength. It usually only improves by mastering internal energy techniques to a high level or by practicing external martial arts, reflecting the difficulty of progressing from lower-level to higher-level martial arts.
As for Comprehension…
It depends on an individual’s understanding of martial arts. The higher the level, the more Comprehension usually improves when breaking through barriers.
Whether it’s introductory martial arts like “Shaolin Boxing,” techniques, light martial arts, or hidden weapon skills, reaching a high level—especially the ninth level—will slightly increase Comprehension, with greater increases as the martial arts become more advanced.
In other words, to transition from lower-level to higher-level martial arts, each player needs to master several or even more skills, and they must achieve proficiency in these skills to improve their Comprehension and become true masters.
Of course…
There are shortcuts to improving Comprehension. Attending lectures at a private school or studying books can also broaden one’s mind and enhance Comprehension. However, private schools are expensive, and since it’s difficult for newcomers in the martial arts world to make money, few can afford to spend heavily on such education.
Just in terms of the four basic attributes, Happy already has a gap of dozens of points. So, although this high-level martial art is coveted by many players, holding it without being able to use it feels unsatisfying. It can only be temporarily stored in a bank while continuing to practice Shaolin Boxing.
The path of the Seven Stars Sword Art is very long…
The ultimate martial art, “Stars in Motion,” is even more arduous. Just the cultivation of internal energy alone cannot be achieved with just the “Mystical Realm.”
Speaking of internal energy levels, this is something that must be mentioned in all martial arts novels. However, “Jianghu” has created a more detailed and clear system.
Internal Energy Levels!
Starting from the most basic level of “Entering and Leaving Life and Death,” which grants the right to enter and exit the martial arts world;
to the slightly higher “Fate-Forced Realm”—where one gains external fortune and becomes a martial arts expert;
and then to the “Mystical Realm,” where internal energy reaches a mystical state, providing the foundation for mastering higher-level martial arts.

Next, one officially enters the “Life and Death Realm,” where one can know fate before combat begins. Those at this level are already top-notch masters possessing a variety of advanced martial arts skills.
Beyond life and death lies liberation!
The “Liberation Realm”!
It is said that there are no less than ten further internal energy realms beyond the “Liberation Realm”.
…
With daily practice of mental techniques, progress in internal energy is minimal in the later stages! Only by reaching an extremely high level in martial arts can there be slight improvement—by entering the realm of mastery—or through extraordinary opportunities, can there be rapid advancement.
However, with each level of internal energy mastered, a warrior’s strength improves dramatically!
Before crossing over, Happy remembered that in “Jianghu,” after three years of practice, the person with the strongest internal energy realm was the “Carefree Marquis” among the “Seven Marquises”!
It was rumored that the Carefree Marquis had inherited the supreme martial art of the “Carefree Sect,” the “Northern Abyss Divine Skill,” which allowed him to instantly break through from the fourth level of the “Life and Death Realm” to the fifth level of the “Liberation Realm,” enabling him to rival even the “Emperor” among the world’s greatest masters without defeat.
“The Rotation of Stars” required the fourth-level “Life and Death Realm” for internal energy, as the uniqueness of this technique demanded a thorough understanding of the essence of numerous martial arts schools to truly achieve the ultimate art of “returning harm with kindness.” Such strict requirements for internal energy were inevitable!
It was precisely because Happy understood this that he resolutely decided to stay in the Murong family and diligently practice various martial arts…
However!
Mastering a variety of martial arts is not so simple.
The Murong family would not just hand over a set of martial arts for you to practice.
Each set of martial arts had to be earned through the hard work of their disciples!
The “Whole Heart Mental Technique” was privately taught to Happy because he took good care of their pets, earning the favor of Miss Murong; as for the Shaolin Long Fist, it was due to a task in the Purple Bamboo Forest.
The acquisition of the “Seven Star Sword Art” and “Wandering Dragon Steps” was rather unexpected. These advanced martial arts, which should not have been part of low-level task rewards, appeared likely because Happy exceeded his tasks unexpectedly, triggering higher-level rewards.
Though incredible, this is the true nature of the martial world!
“Miracles can happen at any time, at any moment.”
It’s a pity the sword art cannot be practiced…
It’s like possessing a priceless night pearl but being unable to explain its origin; bearing it guiltily makes it difficult to use.

So ultimately, acquiring any martial arts requires the player to strive for it on their own. Now that Xing Kai has been officially accepted as a member of the Murong family by Miss Murong, he knows that from this moment on, he has finally entered the path of the sect mission system! He can directly approach the butler or Miss Murong to seek sect missions and obtain more secret manuals from the Murong family’s martial arts library by completing various tasks.

However, he did not accept any missions right away. Instead, he used the forty taels of silver he earned from selling wolf pelts to buy eight doses of “Golden Wound Medicine” at the pharmacy, then headed back to the western suburbs outside the city.

A few miles outside the city, it was completely dark. At the foot of Hanshan Temple, illuminated by the moonlight, it appeared even more mysterious. There was no one on the road, and the forests were filled with distant, eerie howls of wolves, making the wilderness even more terrifying!

Few people knew that at night, wolves saw a slight improvement in their abilities, transforming into “fierce wild wolves”! Even players who could enter and exit the city had no guarantee of victory when encountering them in the forests under such moonlight due to blurred vision and senses. Moreover, since the martial world had only been established for a little over a month, there were very few players who could enter and exit the city. Outside Hanshan Temple, hardly any players could be seen at night.

Fortunately, the night didn’t last long. In this virtual martial world with a 2:1 day-to-night ratio, night lasted at most four hours. Most players chose to meditate and practice their mental techniques at night or find a corner to exchange skills with each other until dawn.

This approach… would be criticized by countless masters a month later.

Nighttime, in fact, was a better opportunity for cultivation. With all sorts of mysterious creatures roaming at night, there were actually more opportunities. Just like wolves, once they turned into fierce wild wolves, their strength increased, and the value of their fur and meat also rose. Sometimes they appeared in groups, and those lucky enough might even find wolf dens and wolf kings.