One Hundred and Nine, Border

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of this, Ninth Uncle suddenly smiled and said: 'Actually, the realm of martial arts practice is quite vague and complex, but our ancestors have summed up a general outline.' After pausing for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, he continued: 'The first realm can be called "Initial Glimpse". At this time, one practices techniques and tempers their strength, bones, and tendons. Once the strength, bones, and tendons are fully tempered, and the body is strong and sturdy, only then will they enter the next stage. This stage is called "Entering the Hall", where techniques have been mastered, and the tendons and bones are strong. It is at this point that one truly begins to make contact with the Way of Martial Arts.'"

  And then looking at Bai Yu said: "And you are in this stage, the practice of this stage is Ming Jin, and Ming Jin is the force exerted by human bones, muscles and tendons. Then, with a special way to flexibly use it, until you can control your own strength freely and gather it to the part you want to use, that's when you've mastered this stage."

  Bai Yu nodded upon hearing this, and also gained some understanding of what Jiu Shu had said. For cultivators, the first stage could be completely skipped. The body of a cultivator was fragile? With the transformation of spiritual power, as long as one practiced their moves to proficiency, they would naturally reach the realm of entering the hall.

  At this point, it is said: "Practicing martial arts is like cultivating oneself, and it's not something that can be accomplished overnight. Often, people who have reached the first two stages of practice are already in their prime or middle age, so those who reach the later stages are increasingly rare. In the next stage, called 'changing tendons', one will naturally use internal strength to transform external strength. External strength is bone refinement, while internal strength is tendon transformation. Internal strength is the essence of internal martial arts. When attacking, internal strength is hidden and only released at the moment of impact, making it impossible for others to defend against."

  At this time, Bai Yu listened to what he said and compared it with his own martial arts practice. This hidden strength was actually the breath contained in his chest. Now he had a way to get in touch with it, but he hadn't practiced deeply enough to master the technique of practicing internal strength. It was just a matter of turning from external to internal practice. After nodding several times, Bai Yu asked again: "Brother Dao, what is the next stage?"

  "Ah, this is the next stage, where one can attain the realm of a master who can move their body at will. At this level, when listening to some high-level martial artists talk about it, they are referring to the cultivation of 'Hua Jin' (Transforming Power). They can control the power within their body with ease, and can stop a punch just a hair's breadth away from your cheek without even a hint of trembling."

  Upon hearing Ninth Uncle's words about this realm, I suddenly felt a sense of incredulity. My entire body's energy was freely released and withdrawn, with every punch being controlled by my heart's intention. This realm is not easily attainable through mere training; it also requires an extraordinary understanding of the martial way.

  "At this point, Bai Yu couldn't help but ask: 'How many people have reached this state?'"

  "Upon hearing this, Ninth Uncle shook his head and said: 'Those with a natural talent for martial arts are already scarce in this world. Those who have reached the realm of a grandmaster are even fewer. And I don't know much about the current state of the martial arts world either. Nor am I clear on how many people there are.'"

  Bai Yu nodded, such a master of the realm is not common. However, some modern well-known martial artists have reached this level. To cultivate the Way of Martial Arts, it's not just about practicing and breaking through, but also about comprehension, just like cultivating the Tao. Those who have reached the Master Realm are said to have their own spirit infused in their martial arts, which is closely related to their personality and way of thinking.

  At this time, Ninth Uncle spoke again: "Actually, there is another realm behind this, but it's even rarer to reach this level. This realm is called the Realm of Transformation. At this point, martial arts have merged with one's thoughts, and every part of the body has a shadow of the Way. Even if someone tries to launch a sneak attack on him, they won't succeed, and might even end up getting hurt. It's as if it's a divine technique."

  "Oh?" Bai Yu heard this and felt a sense of wonder, asking: "Is it really that amazing? Has anyone ever actually achieved it?"

  Ninth Uncle nodded and said, "That's natural. Our country is vast and rich in resources, with many talented people. Those who have reached this state of mind, there are several people within the past hundred years. I think that with your qualifications, you will also reach this point one day."

  Just then Ah Qiang rushed in from outside, his face covered with sweat, and shouted repeatedly: "Master, something's happened, something's happened."

  "Old Ninth glared at him and shouted: 'What's going on that you're yelling? Speak slowly.'"

  A Qiang heard the shout, hastily collected his voice, and then calmed down his disordered breathing. After a while, he said: "Master, something's wrong! The corpse of that bandit leader is gone, it seems to have been taken away by some wild dog."

  Ninth Uncle was shocked upon hearing this, as the matter was not trivial. To know that the leader of the horse thieves died with great resentment, and his corpse had a strong aura of grievance, which was also influenced by the accumulated evil energy over the years. If it were not handled properly, a major disaster would surely occur.

  "Didn't I tell you to burn it? How did it end up being taken away by a dog?"

  A Qiang heard this and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, saying: "I was in a hurry to go to the toilet for a while, who knew that just this short time the body would disappear, and a circle of dog paw prints were found in the original place."

  Ninth Uncle listened and sighed heavily, then said: "Hurry up and find him, you must hurry up and find him, otherwise there will be endless troubles."

  A Qiang was shocked by what he heard and didn't dare to slack off, so he quickly ran out again.

  Seeing the current situation, Bai Yu also didn't want to idle around. He said to Jiu Shu, "Brother Dao, why don't I go help find him too while it's still bright outside?"

  Ninth Uncle nodded and said: "This is also good, many people have great strength. I'll go notify the townspeople later and then go find him."

  Then the two of them each found their own targets and went into action separately.

  This is the place where Ah Qiang wants to cremate the body, it's very remote, in a desolate area outside the town, here is very empty, there are no people, and don't have to worry about attracting anything.

  At this time, A Qiang had already gathered some young men as the security team leader, each of them was acting separately, expanding their search in a web-like manner from this location. About 100 meters outside this empty land was a small forest, the trees inside were very lush, standing outside it was impossible to see what's going on inside, it seemed that they had to enter deep into the forest to search.

  After a while, the crowd arrived here, looking at the dense forest in front of them, they all hesitated and looked at each other. One person stepped forward and said to Ah Qiang: "Captain, I think we should go back and prepare some equipment first. I heard that there are many wild dogs and wolves in this small forest, it's too risky to rush in like this."

  Ah Qiang believed his master's words at this time, his master said that if there would be trouble, it would definitely not be a small matter. He patted his chest and said: "What are you afraid of? I'm here, aren't I? Even if mountain wolves or wild dogs come, they won't be enough for me to beat in just a few blows. Don't worry, besides, White Daoist is following behind us."

  Everyone heard the words and looked at Bai Yu, who was standing behind them. They remembered how Bai Yu had fought against Ma Zei that day, and suddenly felt a surge of confidence. They all nodded in agreement and then entered the forest.

  Bai Yu also followed behind these few people and drilled in, the trees in this forest are very lush and low, these branches are generally only as short as the calf of the crowd, and everyone can only climb along the branches to feel inside.

  "Ah." After a while, one of them suddenly let out a soft cry and jumped up in surprise.

  Everyone who heard the voice was shocked and rushed to his side, only to see him lying on the ground, clutching his leg and groaning softly.

  Ah Qiang saw this and quickly squatted down, pulled open the man's pant leg, took a look, and exclaimed in surprise, "He was bitten by a snake, we must hurry to suck out the venom." Then he turned his gaze to the crowd and asked, "Who will do it?"

  As soon as everyone heard about sucking out snake venom, they all shifted their gaze elsewhere, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

  At this time, one person stepped forward and said: "Captain, I know that you have always been a kind-hearted good captain."

  A Qiang didn't understand the purpose of this person's words, but being praised still made him feel quite pleased. Upon hearing this, he nodded slightly with a hint of complacency and said: "Hmm, it seems that my efforts over such a long time have all been taken into consideration by you all. However, it's not suitable to bring up this kind of thing often; just keeping it in mind is enough."

  That person's tone suddenly became somewhat stiff upon hearing this, possibly because he hadn't expected Ah Qiang to be so impolite. However, he then forced a smile and said: "Captain, we naturally remember the captain in our hearts. The captain's concern for us team members is evident, just like when Er Gouzi was bitten by a snake, the captain was the first to rush over. This reflects the captain's concern for us people. It seems that earlier when asking who would come to smoke, it was all just superficial talk. In reality, he had already prepared himself to come and smoke personally. We will definitely remember the captain's kindness. Let's not get too close, let's retreat a bit, and absolutely don't affect the captain's performance."

  At first, A Qiang was still a bit proud and self-congratulatory, wondering if he was really that good. But by the end, the smile on his face had frozen, and he realized he had been tricked, reflecting that this wasn't praise but rather someone's design to deceive him.

  At this time, the crowd in the field also reacted and took a few steps back, and then everyone applauded and cheered.