501: The Birth of Martial Arts

Xu Qing sat cross-legged on the peak, the Dao Charm flowing around him, resonating with the entire star.

During his long years of comprehending the Dao, Life on the star unfolded like a scroll.

Initially, only moss spread, and ferns unfurled their fronds in the damp soil; then, insects flapped their wings, fish swam, and a primitive ecosystem gradually took shape.

Later, strong-limbed beasts began to run across the land, their eyes gleaming with the wisdom of survival.

This process was extremely long, spanning millions of years of evolution.

And finally—the spark of wisdom ignited!

In a fertile river valley, a group of tall, upright-walking beings learned to use tools.

They resembled the Human Race, but adults were generally over three zhang tall and possessed immense strength.

They used sharp stones to cut animal hides, drilled wood to make fire, and sat around bonfires at night, uttering obscure but meaningful syllables.

Hunting, gathering, communal living... They gradually learned division of labor: strong males were responsible for hunting, keen females for identifying edible plants, and elderly wise ones recorded seasonal changes with crude symbols.

One day, a sudden flash flood destroyed their habitat.

In the face of disaster, they no longer scattered like wild beasts but gathered together, led by their oldest chief, migrating to a safer plain.

This was the prototype of civilization!

Although Xu Qing meditated with closed eyes, all changes on the star were reflected in his heart lake.

Time flowed, and he “saw”—

Those intelligent beings began to build simple straw huts, forming the earliest tribes; they used fired pottery to store food and ground bone needles to sew clothes.

Even, on a night sparkling with stars, they looked up at the sky, their fingers gesturing, seemingly pondering the mysteries of the stars... “Life... can be so wondrous.”

Xu Qing’s Dao Heart trembled slightly.

Though the wisdom of these beings was shallow, it contained infinite possibilities.

Their communal living, cooperation, and contemplation... all were microcosms of the Dao’s evolution.

This was the path walked by the pioneering ancestors of the Human Race.

What concerned Xu Qing even more was—

They began to worship “Heaven”!

On the stone pillar in the center of the tribe, they carved simple patterns: a blurry human figure, seated high on the clouds, overlooking the earth.

That was... Xu Qing’s figure!

Although he had never appeared, under the will of this star, these beings, in the depths of their intuition, sensed his existence.

“Power Of Faith?”

Xu Qing pondered.

Perhaps, as the civilization of these beings continued to develop, as their wisdom deepened... the “Dao Charm” they could feedback to the Great Dao would also become more magnificent!

And this was what Xu Qing wanted.

Because he was the Great Dao of this world, the Heaven of this world!

Just like Dao Xuan in the past, he too was the Heaven of the Eternal Dao Realm.

“Very well! Let me lend you a hand!”

Xu Qing lightly tapped his fingertip, and a wisp of starlight containing the true essence of the Great Dao merged into the star’s Heavenly Dao.

Instantly, the entire sky trembled slightly, and in the depths of reality, a mysterious Dao Charm quietly flowed, integrating into the rules of this world.

Several years later, in the River Valley Tribe.

The aged shaman knelt before the stone pillar, his withered hands holding a bone staff high, chanting ancient prayers.

The tribe’s people surrounded the stone pillar, devoutly bowing, praying for the protection of Heaven.

Suddenly—

“Boom!”

Above the sky, clouds surged, and rays of light pierced the air!

A profound Dao Charm flowed among the clouds, indistinct, like mist and lightning.

The old shaman’s cloudy eyes suddenly widened, his emaciated body trembled violently, he reached out his hand, wanting to grasp something, but the Dao Charm slipped through his fingers like quicksand.

“Heaven... Heaven has manifested!!”

The tribe erupted in excitement, everyone knelt, but no one truly understood the meaning of that wisp of Dao Charm.

Only the old shaman, in the days that followed, stayed by the stone pillar day and night, looking up at the sky, pondering bitterly.

One sacrifice... two sacrifices... until the ninth sacrifice—

“Boom!”

The sky changed again!

This time, the old shaman had an epiphany, suddenly reaching out, and actually grasped a wisp of ethereal Dao intent from the void!

“So it is... so it is!!”

He let out a joyous roar, and his emaciated body actually burst forth with unprecedented strength, striking out with a punch, the strong wind whistling, shattering a stone block three zhang away!

He comprehended “Qi”!

The tribe members were horrified, then knelt in ecstatic worship.

From then on, the old shaman taught this realization to his people, calling it “Martial Dao.”

Inhaling the Qi of heaven and earth, refining muscles, bones, and flesh!

And this first Realm was Martial Apprentice!

The young adults in the tribe began to Cultivate according to this method, and gradually, some could split stones with a punch, some could move as fast as the wind, and some could even vaguely sense the “Spirit” flowing between heaven and earth.

Cultivation civilization, thus began!

Xu Qing sat cross-legged on the peak, a slight smile playing on his lips.

As the Martial Dao of the River Valley Tribe rose, an invisible Power Of Luck gathered above the tribe, like crimson clouds steaming, vaguely forming the shape of a dragon and a tiger.

Although this Luck was nascent, it had already begun to nourish heaven and earth, causing the star’s Heavenly Dao Laws to slightly increase and become more complete.

The Heavenly Dao strengthens through civilization!

Wondrous changes followed—

The plants and trees near the River Valley Tribe, nourished by the Heavenly Dao’s Luck, gradually became as tough as iron, and the fruits they bore contained faint Spiritual Qi, which could strengthen the body when eaten.

The Martial Artists in the tribe found that the “Qi” they inhaled during Cultivation became purer, and some even vaguely touched upon a higher Realm.

However, the changes did not stop there!

In the depths of a distant mountain range, a group of ape beings accidentally consumed spiritual fruits imbued with Heavenly Dao Luck, their muscles and bones transformed, their intelligence gradually awakened, and they even imitated human movements, independently figuring out rudimentary fist and foot techniques.

On the vast plains, the hunters of nomadic tribes discovered that the ferocious beasts they hunted occasionally formed a bloody crystal core within their bodies, and after consuming it, their strength surged and their speed doubled.

They called it “Beast Blood Pill” and, based on this, created their own Body Refining Dao.

Even beneath the deep sea, certain schools of fish, due to long-term swimming near Spiritual Veins, developed patterns on their scales and could spit water arrows, evolving a unique Cultivation method suitable for aquatic races!

Martial Dao, from nothing to existence, had spread like wildfire!

Three hundred years passed in a blink of an eye!

The old shaman of the River Valley Tribe was nearing the end of his Lifespan, but before his death, he created three volumes of the “Martial Scripture,” laying the Foundation for the Martial Dao for future generations.

The ape group in the mountains established their own clan, honoring the strongest white ape as “Ape Ancestor.”

Among the wise ones of the deep-sea fish race, using coral as a pen, they carved their Cultivation insights onto the seabed rock walls... Xu Qing did not see this scene; at the time of the Heavenly Dao’s Luck feedback, he seemed to have grasped something, being in a peculiar state.

He sat cross-legged in the Void Realm, his figure appearing both real and illusory, resonating with the pulsation of the entire star.

Time flew by, and hundreds of thousands of years passed in a blink of an eye.

During these hundreds of thousands of years, Xu Qing clearly perceived that every Breakthrough and every bit of comprehension by those beings Cultivating the Martial Dao transformed into a wisp of invisible Qi, ascending into the Heavenly Dao, and then, through a subtle connection, fed back to himself.

This was not an increase in Cultivation, but a completion of the Great Dao!

Xu Qing looked inward and found that the rules of the Universe within his body became clearer, and some originally obscure Dao Charms suddenly became clear due to the evolution of the Martial Dao of the star’s beings.

“It turns out that civilization itself... is the best ‘Dao seed’.”