Peter looked at the Mountain Spider, seemingly understanding its anxiety. "Are you worried that I won't be able to find the location of your heart? I really think you don't need to worry about that at all. I know the anatomy of a spider; I know spiders have hearts and what they look like."
What on earth did you understand!
The Mountain Spider finally realized that although the youth before it was indeed an excellent prospect whose abilities originated from spiders, this guy knew absolutely nothing about the cultivation of Qi. Consequently, the Mountain Spider spoke up in exasperation, "Didn't that damned Iron Fist tell you that the prerequisite for becoming an Immortal Weapon is to cultivate your Qi first?"
Peter froze for a moment. Did he? It seemed like he hadn't.
"Listen well, mortal. Let me ask you, what is the only Immortal Weapon you have ever seen?"
"Iron Fist?"
"No, I am not asking 'who'." The Mountain Spider lowered its body, staring at Peter with its eight large eyes. "An Immortal Weapon is also a weapon, so as you can see, what is an Immortal Weapon? Could it be his fist? No! The Immortal Weapon is the person!"
The Immortal Weapon is the person. Following cultivation in K'un-Lun, superb martial arts and a mastery over the internal Qi of one's body are indispensable and essential requirements for becoming an Immortal Weapon. It could even be said that the immortal power resides directly within the body of the immortal divine beast; however, if the person acquiring the immortal power has not mastered these basic forces, then what they obtain is merely skin-deep.
The key lies in transforming the entire person into the Immortal Weapon. To achieve this, one must rely on "Qi"—or to be more precise, "Qi."
"I highly doubt you can hear the difference in pronunciation, so just treat it as regular Qi. In any case, that Iron Fist probably hasn't figured it out clearly either."
Having said that, the Mountain Spider continued to ramble on, "If you merely extract the immortal power and integrate it into your body through a ritual, you are not an Immortal Weapon at all, understand? For instance, if you blend the immortal power with your fist, then only your fist will be immortal, rather than yourself being immortal! This means if someone hacks your hand off, they can use it as a weapon too!"
"The same logic applies to other body parts. If that's the case, why not find a sword instead and fuse it with the immortal power? At least a sword is harder than human bones!"
Peter came to a sudden realization. "So what actually fuses with the immortal power is Qi? A Qi possessing immortal power is what transforms a person into an Immortal Weapon? No one ever told me about this!"
Consequently, the Spider-Man and the Mountain Spider began staring blankly at each other. Following that, the Mountain Spider started to regret driving the Iron Fist away. To think that I, a divine beast, actually have to personally teach someone how to cultivate Qi?
It subsequently turned around and walked toward the mountains, its massive rear end nearly crowding Peter off the edge upon turning, leaving behind only a brief "Follow me." Peter also caught up rapidly, the person and the spider advancing swiftly through the midair by swinging on webs. Following the Mountain Spider for an unknown distance, Peter finally spotted scenery other than stone cones and cobwebs: several massive mountain peaks had been flattened, upon which some buildings were constructed, with a number of people sweeping and working there.
However, their mental states appeared rather fatigued, nowhere near as glamorous as K'un-Lun. Furthermore, upon closer inspection, these flattened mountain peaks also featured farmland and orchards, and even rivers; yet due to the Gotham-like weather, the harvest did not look particularly good either.
The Mountain Spider flexibly climbed to the temple its believers had built for it, then used its silk to drag a stack of books out from inside, tossing them to Peter. "Left behind by your predecessors of past generations, these are martial arts manuals for cultivating Qi. What a pity; the Spider Kingdom currently has practically no martial arts masters left and cannot guide you. See for yourself."
Having finished speaking, the Mountain Spider didn't feel like teaching either, so it simply left on its own, leaving Peter standing there completely dumbfounded, staring at the pile of books in his hands. The characters were actually quite easy to recognize—they were either in clerical script or traditional characters, and there were even a few books in simplified characters, all of which he recognized.
But the problem was that he had never cultivated Qi before. Could he really manage to practice it just by having two books thrown at him?
Meanwhile, in K'un-Lun.
Daniel Rand returned to the temple where Shou-Lao resided. Although Shou-Lao's name was Shou-Lao, he actually corresponded more to the Azure Dragon among the divine beasts. At this very moment, he was lying on the roof basking in the sun. Turning his head and spotting Daniel, he finally lifted his head, "You have come, Immortal Fist. Have you comprehended the opportunity to take a step further?"
"Not yet, Shou-Lao. Although I can feel the immortal power flowing within my body, I am still unable to control its release and containment at will." Daniel felt somewhat ashamed. "Such a vast power makes me feel that I ought to be able to do more and better, but in reality, I am always limited by the amount of power I can release, leaving me unable to accomplish many things. I cannot even make both fists release the immortal power simultaneously. I am afraid I might be the weakest Iron Fist in the past millennium."
"Therefore, you return to K'un-Lun twice every year to cross swords with me, attempting to find a solution." Shou-Lao spoke as he floated into the air. "I heard you brought an apprentice over to that Mountain Spider fellow?"
"An outstanding, noble warrior. Although he has not undergone the cultivation of Qi yet, I believe he can accomplish it and become an Immortal Weapon. Furthermore, I know the battles he faces; he needs more power—even every single scrap of power."
"Then perhaps you should join him, and even teach him how to utilize Qi." Shou-Lao spoke calmly, "Sometimes, the act of teaching others is a form of learning in itself. This is what's called teaching benefits teachers and students alike; looking at all of this from an altered perspective might perhaps be of greater help to you."
"I was thinking along those lines as well, Shou-Lao."
"However, before that..." Shou-Lao spoke as he reared up his colossal form, "Let's have a match first, Immortal Fist!"
A few hours later, having finished his contest with Shou-Lao, Daniel arrived at the Kingdom of Spiders. He knew that what Spider-Man was about to face next would be an extremely difficult cultivation process. For a practitioner, the most difficult step was actually becoming aware of one's own Qi—this formless, life-sustaining non-material energy existence. Only by realizing that it truly existed could it be utilized for cultivation.
Regarding the subsequent cultivation, Daniel didn't think there would be any issues; however, without his own assistance, Spider-Man might perhaps never become aware of the existence of the Qi within his body.
He landed lightly on the ground and walked into the temple dedicated to the Mountain Spider. "Spider-Man, what I want to tell you is that regarding the cultivation of Qi and the Immortal Weapon... you can already circulate Qi?"
The Iron Fist stood at the entrance, looking in sheer disbelief at Peter, who had woven a hammock out of webbing and was lying on it reading a book.
How on earth did you manage to practice it already?
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi