First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 5 - The Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique

The night was dark as ink and silent save for the chittering of insects. 

Upon returning to his residence, Su Yi stood within the courtyard, held his breath, and focused until his mind was perfectly clear. Only then did he take up a stance and begin practicing his fist technique. 

From his perspective, the incident in the clan hall wasn’t worth a second thought.

Cultivation was the most important matter at hand!

The path of cultivation was divided into four major stages in total: Martial Dao, Origin Dao, Spirit Dao, and Profound Dao.

In his past life as The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, Su Yi had lived for one hundred and eight thousand years, reaching the pinnacle of the Profound Dao—

The Profound Unity Realm!

The Profound Unity Realm was also known as the Imperial Apex Realm, its experts emperors among emperors with lifespans of a million years. In the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, they were peak-level experts that towered above the masses.

Back in the day, relying on the power and influence of the Profound Unity Realm, Su Yi had numerous titles—“the Head of the Wilds”, “a Sovereign Among Emperors”, “the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force”, etcetera. Each was a paramount honor; his reputation was as lofty as could be.

Throughout all Nine Provinces of the Wilds, Su Yi could count those of comparable status on the fingers of a single hand!

But to the current Su Yi, the Profound Unity Realm was far, far away.

The task at hand was beginning his cultivation anew. He was about to step onto the Martial Dao, and he had to build an incomparably sturdy foundation for the path ahead. 

The Martial Dao was the first stage of cultivation, as well as the beginning of the Grand Dao. 

It was divided into four realms: Blood Circulation, Qi Accumulation, Inner Furnace, and Anāsrava, or “Flawlessness.” 

These were the “Four Realms of the Martial Dao.” 

Of them, the “Blood Circulation Realm” was the initial stage of the Martial Dao.

In it, one circulated their blood and qi, refining the skin, muscles, sinews, and bones. 

Thus, it was further subdivided into four layers: Refining Skin, Refining Muscle, Refining Sinew, and Refining Bone.

At the pinnacle of this realm, one’s blood and qi were powerful and flourishing, with skin like bronze and bones like iron. Such experts could rip tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands and shatter boulders with a single finger. 

Those who stepped into this realm were called “warriors.”

In the courtyard, the moonlight flowed like water, and the night sky was tranquil.

Su Yi’s movements were slow and deliberate, his back straight and his steps stable. His stance was firm but not rigid, flexible but not soft, and each breath carried a distinctive cadence.

When he moved, he was like an immortal crane flapping its wings, light and at ease.

When he was still, he was like a cliffside pine, its roots embedded firmly in the rock. 

The Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique.

It included nine attacks and eighteen forms. 

It originated from “The Absolute Martial Sutra of the Eight Extremities”. It was the first chapter, a method for establishing one’s foundations in the Martial Dao. 

“The Absolute Martial Sutra of the Eight Extremities” was the work of Su Yi’s close friend from his past life, Gongye Chi.

Gongye Chi was tyrannical by nature, a master of all martial arts. He habitually referred to himself as “a mere soldier.” 

Yet to the people of the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, he was someone even experts could only look up to, “the Peerless Martial Emperor”!

A mighty existence, a living legend on the path of the Grand Dao!

His personality was audacious and uninhibited, wantonly arrogant and aloof. He’d taunted the daoists of the Six Great Daoist Sects and walloped the three Old Demons of the Three Great Demonic Sects. Who knew how many overlords of their respective territories and Imperial Realm Experts Gongye Chi had beaten black and blue, all under the pretense of “paying them a visit”? 

But although practically no one in the world knew it, Gongye Chi wasn’t undefeated!

He’d once “visited” Su Yi, then the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, only to lose to Su Yi’s Dao of the Sword. 

It was because of this battle that they bonded and became close friends.

Later, when Gongye Chi painstakingly compiled a lifetime of attainments into a martial arts scripture, he gave Su Yi a copy to study.

That tome was none other than the “The Absolute Martial Sutra of the Eight Extremities”!

When he first finished reading the “Crane and Pine Body Refining Technique” within, even Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh, “This technique nears the perfection of the Dao. There’s nothing to add, nor anything to take away.” 

Even Su Yi had no choice but to admit that in terms of the early stages of cultivation, the “Four Realms of the Martial Dao”, Gongye Chi’s attainments were clearly above his.

Throughout all of the Wilds’ Nine Provinces, none could compete with Gongye Chi in this regard.

As such, you could call Gongye Chi’s “Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique” the number one foundational technique of the Wilds!

Su Yi was about to begin his cultivation anew. He naturally didn’t hesitate to choose the “Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique” to establish the foundations of his Martial Dao. 

This was the only way he could surpass his past self at the same stage of cultivation!

The knowledge and experience of his past life meant that Su Yi already had a clear path to follow as he cultivated anew. 

In this life, he had to be stronger than his former self at every stage of cultivation. 

Only then could he forge an unparalleled path and far surpass his past life!

In the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Su Yi practiced the full Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique three times. He was already covered in a sheen of sweat, and his breathing was slightly ragged.

This was already his current limit.

Even so, he was in unusually high spirits, and bathed in the morning light, his tall, thin frame shone with all the youthful vigor of a seventeen-year-old.

“This is already the third day since I reawakened the memories of my previous life and began my cultivation anew.

“But now, after just three sets, I’m already covered in sweat….

“This body of mine just isn’t good enough. The cultivation methods I used over the past seventeen years were full of flaws, and my foundations weren’t ‘good’ at all.”

Su Yi wiped his brow with a cloth and pondered.

In this life, before losing his cultivation, he’d been the Sword Chief of Blueriver Sword Manor’s Outer Sect, famed throughout Cloudriver Prefecture.

But in the eyes of his “past life”, this minor accomplishment wasn’t even worth discussing.

“At seventeen years old, I’ve already missed the ideal age for hammering out my Martial Dao. Fortunately, if I use the Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique to establish my foundation, it won’t be difficult to compensate for the flaws of my earlier cultivation.

“It’s just, this world’s spiritual energy is a bit too sparse, isn’t it…?”

Su Yi furrowed his brows.

In the three days since reawakening his memories, he’d figured out just which world he was in.

The Azure Continent.

It was home to over a hundred nations big and small, its territory vast and expansive.

He was currently in “The Great Zhou”, which was but one of the Azure Continent’s hundred-plus countries. 

In his past life, Su Yi had never once heard of the Azure Continent, but he was certain that this world was connected to the Nine Provinces of the Wilds. 

His reasoning was simple: the prevailing cultivation system of the Azure Continent shared a common root with the Wilds!

However, because the spiritual energy of the Azure Continent was practically depleted, the people spoke only of “the Martial and Origin Daos”, the first two realms along the path of cultivation.

As for the two higher realms of cultivation, the “Spirit Dao” and “Profound Dao”, there was practically no trace of them on the Azure Continent. They only existed in legends.

Rumor had it that the mightiest experts of the Great Zhou were only in the Origin Dao stage. 

Despite this, the common folk honored them as “Earthly Immortals.”

From this, it was easy to infer just how barren and sparse the Azure Continent’s spiritual energy was.

Su Yi pondered out loud, “Even if I have countless techniques and remarkable abilities at my disposal, I reincarnated into such a barren place that most aren’t usable….”

But he wasn’t actually worried about all that. 

The way of cultivation undoubtedly came down to four key words: wealth, companions, techniques, and land.

“If I can find a place with concentrated spiritual energy, I can cut my work in half for twice the results.

“And if I can find a few treasures of heaven and earth on top of that, I’ll need three months at most to break past the Martial Dao and step into the Origin Dao….”

Su Yi’s thoughts stopped here. “I’m getting ahead of myself,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “With the sparse spiritual energy of the Great Zhou, giving rise to elixirs on the level of ‘treasures of heaven and earth’ is all but impossible.

“But realizing my dao in this spiritually-depleted landscape will prove my abilities as Su Xuanjun. Only then will I have a chance to reach greater heights than in my past life!”

Why had he reincarnated to cultivate anew?

Naturally, it was a plan to reach an even higher realm than in his past life!

“Tomorrow, I’ll take a trip outside the city and see if I can find a ‘spiritual ground’ suitable for cultivation.” Having made up his mind, Su Yi looked up. His carefree gaze reflected the bright moon hovering overhead, and when its radiance lit up his pupils, there was a hint of an altogether different emotion visible there.

Seth's Thoughts

Cultural notes if you’re curious:

The “pine and crane” are both traditional symbols of longevity. It makes sense that pines would symbolize longevity; they’re evergreens, resistant to cold (and presumably other hardships), and many species of pine really do live a long time. There’s a tree in California, “Methuselah”, that’s almost five thousand years old already.

As for cranes, there are legends of daoists turning into cranes upon death, or of cranes carrying the souls of the dead to the next realm. Cranes can also represent purity, among other things. You’ll often see them paired with pines in traditional Chinese art.

“Anāsrava” is a Buddhist term, presumably from Sanskrit. It doesn’t imply perfection as in “omnipotence” or “moral superiority” so much as the absence of contaminants.