Winds of Blood

Everyone knows that training begins with cultivating qi. Qi circulates through the body, tempering the sinews and bones. When the two are brought together, qi and strength unite, strength and body unite, and the body then moves as the mind wills. Next comes the refinement of agility: some focus force in one spot, some use an opponent's strength against them, some favor unorthodox surprise attacks, and some overcome strength with softness. Turning clumsiness into skill is what gives rise to techniques. Once one's techniques are mastered, one can move on to weapons. A weapon is an extension of the arm, and every kind of weapon has its own strengths and advantages. Only by playing to one's strengths and compensating for one's weaknesses can one unite with one's weapon and achieve mastery. Those who perfect all of the above can be called grandmasters. Yet when a grandmaster has thoroughly grasped the natural laws of the world, they can use their own will as a guide to resonate with the Great Way that flows throughout the world. Through a series of fortunate coincidences, there is a small chance they may gain a sliver of mystical insight into the world's laws. They can then nurture and accumulate this insight until it is theirs to command. Only when they can focus their mind and this mystic insight as one have they reached the Profound Realm. As for the next level, the union of heaven and man, it is even more mysterious. Only four people in this world have attained it, and no one knows how. The fabled Shattering into the Infinite is even further beyond reach...