Chapter 12: Vitality
Facing his father's inquisitive eyes, which resembled those of a child eager to learn, Su Hao didn't play coy and gave a direct answer. "Blind people!"
"Why can't blind people see a physician?" Wu Yuntian appeared perplexed.
"Because blind people can't see, naturally they can't see a physician either." Su Hao explained helplessly.
Wu Yuntian remained silent for a long time after hearing the explanation.
Su Hao couldn't help but worry that his father might suspect him of being foolish!
...
Wu Yuntian and Su Hao sat facing each other, the stark contrast between the adult and the child evident.
After contemplating for a moment, Wu Yuntian slowly spoke, "If you want to learn martial arts, you first need to understand what it is. Over the next six months, I will gradually teach you the fundamental principles of martial arts. Once you have a good grasp of your own body, we can begin training."
"Humans are different from fierce beasts. The strength of fierce beasts is an innate talent, an instinct. However, the strength of human beings is not. The strength of humans relies on intelligence. Our human ancestors, during their long struggle against fierce beasts, discovered the secret of their formidable strength, which is vitality. As a result, our ancestors developed various methods of cultivating vitality, enabling the human race to have the power to confront fierce beasts. We call these methods Vitality Techniques or Vitality Scriptures. They have similar functions, with minor differences."
"As for what vitality is..." At this point, Wu Yuntian paused and looked at Su Hao, who was attentively listening, seemingly contemplating whether his young son could understand what he was about to say.
At that moment, Su Hao raised his head and asked, "What is vitality?"
Wu Yuntian chuckled self-mockingly and no longer hesitated. "Xiangwu, lift your hand."
Su Hao complied and raised his hand.
Wu Yuntian continued, "Let me ask you, why can you raise your hand?"
Without hesitation, Su Hao replied, "Because when the muscles in my arm contract, they pull up my forearm, and my hand is raised."
Wu Yuntian didn't ask Su Hao how he knew all this but continued his inquiry, "Why can the muscles contract?"
An article describing muscle contraction immediately appeared in the space of his mind, but Su Hao knew that his father wasn't asking about that. Not entirely sure, he replied, "Because there is energy in the muscles?"
Wu Yuntian nodded approvingly at Su Hao's understanding of the concept of energy and said, "Correct. Not only are there energy and muscles, but every part of our body possesses energy. It is through this energy that we can walk, jump, and grasp."
With that, Wu Yuntian pointed to a basketball-sized rock in the distance and said, "Xiangwu, go and bring that rock here."
Su Hao's eyes widened when he saw the rock and looked at his own skinny arms and legs. He wasn't sure if he could move it. However, he didn't say anything and got up, jogging over to the large stone. He first attempted to lift it but failed. Then, he walked around to the back of the rock, using both hands to lift it. With tremendous effort and utilizing the power within his body, he managed to push the rock to his father's side.
Wu Yuntian motioned for Su Hao to sit back down and casually picked up the stone, tossing it in his hand. "Is the stone heavy?"
Su Hao, looking enviously at his father's strong arms, honestly replied, "Yes, it is."
"For you, it's heavy and you can't move it. But for me, it's very light." Wu Yuntian said, tossing the stone in an arc, watching it roll back to its original position. He asked, "Why is that?"
Su Hao suddenly felt speechless. He had rolled the stone all the way here, thinking it had some special significance, and now it was just being thrown back? Why bother asking if it's useless?
Su Hao could only obediently answer according to the line of thought, "Because my arm strength is small, while Father's arm strength is strong. It's like my arm has less energy, while Father's arm has more energy."
He didn't mention age as a factor because he knew that wasn't what his father was asking.
Wu Yuntian nodded, "Correct. Because there is more energy in my arm and less energy in your arm. So, let's give this energy a name—vitality. We can say that the vitality in the arm allows you to lift the stone. The stronger the vitality, the heavier the stone you can lift."
"Understood," Su Hao nodded to show his comprehension.
Finally, a smile appeared on Wu Yuntian's face—a smile Su Hao rarely saw. He said, "Now that you understand this, let's get to the main point."
After pausing for a moment, Wu Yuntian continued, "The so-called vitality cultivation methods are essentially ways to increase the energy in your body. The more vitality you accumulate, the stronger the martial artist becomes. When the body's energy reaches a certain level, it can even shatter a mountain with a single punch."
Isn't that like a nuclear bomb? Su Hao was shocked, looking at his father. "Father, have you seen martial artists like that?"
Little did he know, Wu Yuntian shook his head. "I haven't seen them. It's just a legend."
Seeing the disappointed look on Su Hao's face, Wu Yuntian explained, "I just want to tell you that through training, humans have the opportunity to reach that level. It is said that the most powerful ancestral martial artists can achieve it."
Su Hao simply nodded. Wu Yuntian then asked, "Now, Xiangwu, one final question. We engage in a lot of physical activity every day. Where does the energy for that come from?"
Su Hao eagerly responded, "Food!"
"Correct!" Wu Yuntian nodded, explaining, "Every day, we consume a large amount of food, which provides us with energy through its transformation. Therefore, Xiangwu, you should eat more in the future."
For a rare moment, Wu Yuntian's voice softened. "Xiangwu, you are the smartest child I've ever seen. Even at the age of six, when you started learning martial arts, not everyone understands these principles from the beginning. I hope that in the future, you truly become a powerful martial artist of our human race. I hope... you can break free from the constraints of martial bloodlines."
Curious, Su Hao asked, "What are the constraints of martial bloodlines?"
Wu Yuntian shook his head. "You'll understand in the future. Let's get back to the topic of obtaining energy from food."
"Do you recognize Little Fatty from the outpost?"
"I do."
"Good. The food we eat, apart from providing us with the energy for our normal activities, often leaves us with leftovers. The excess portion eventually converts into energy. There are two possible directions for this conversion. One is what I mentioned earlier—vitality. This type of energy has a high activity level and directly increases strength
. The other is fat, which gets stored in the body, making a person look fat."
"But our bodies default to converting excess energy into fat because fat can be stored for a longer time. The so-called vitality cultivation methods essentially intercept and convert the portion of energy that would be turned into fat into vitality, storing it in the body."
"And Little Fatty is an example of failed conversion. In other words, if you start learning martial arts too early but fail to convert, you will..."
"Get fat!" Su Hao's eyebrows twitched once again. He hadn't considered this risk before, and the thought of possibly becoming a chubby person in the future was a bit scary.
At that moment, Wu Yuntian took out a book from his pocket and handed it over. "Go back and memorize this book. Once you've memorized it, I'll explain it to you."
Su Hao received the book and looked at it—'Nine Palace Blood Severing Scripture.'
"The name is decent."
translated by begs