Of course, it is no longer eighteen thousand years ago. There are not so many great powers now. Over the span of eighteen thousand years, the cultivation methods of the entire world have undergone tremendous improvement and transformation. Especially in the eight hundred years since Journey to the West, short weapons represented by swords have gradually risen to prominence. Compared to ten thousand years ago, martial arts now place much more emphasis on technique. However, long weapons have not been eliminated and still flourish, but they have split into two completely different worlds. In the world of military generals and within armies, long weapons remain dominant, but among some independent martial artists, short weapons are more popular.

　　No matter how things change, the fundamental essence of qi cultivation methods has not changed; it is still about using qi cultivation as support and tempering one’s strength.

　　Cultivating qi is important, but martial skills are equally crucial.

　　A good martial art can allow a practitioner whose qi cultivation is not particularly strong to stand out and defeat opponents stronger than themselves. However, martial skills are not everything—divine abilities and magical treasures play an even more decisive role. Yet, divine abilities are hard to master, and magical treasures are hard to find. In the eighteen thousand years since the Investiture of the Gods, magical treasures have become rarely heard of among mortals. Only some crafting methods have been passed down, allowing people to forge their own, but in this era, rare materials are scarce. Even if one can forge a magical treasure, its power is often unsatisfactory. This time, the evil cultivator who caused such a stir in Dongling wielded a black banner that was a self-forged magical treasure. It was more than enough to deal with ordinary constables like them, but when faced with an expert from the Six Doors, it was broken with a single sword strike—its power was evident. Moreover, forging magical treasures consumes time, materials, and effort. With that time, it’s better to focus wholeheartedly on improving one’s own qi cultivation and martial skills, which is more effective than anything else.

　　Therefore, everyone gradually shifted their focus to cultivation methods and martial skills. The martial arts path has advanced by leaps and bounds, showing tremendous improvement compared to over ten thousand years ago. However, in Charles Brooks’s eyes, the greatest development in martial arts over these millennia has been the emergence of ultimate moves; the rest are just more tricks and fancy techniques.

　　So-called ultimate moves are the killing techniques within a martial art.

　　In ordinary martial arts, strength is distributed evenly when used. For example, a spear technique might have eighty-one moves. In combat, a novice would perform these eighty-one moves in order, but a true expert would break them apart and use the appropriate move in response to the opponent’s actions—this is flexible application. But whether you break them up or use them in sequence, one thing is certain: it’s impossible to pour all your strength into a single move, because then you’d have no strength left for the next one, no matter how skillful you are. Therefore, when performing these moves, strength is distributed evenly. However, at the end of the set, there are always one or two moves that require gathering all your strength to execute. These moves are many times more powerful than ordinary ones and are thus called ultimate moves.

　　Ultimate moves are powerful but cannot be sustained. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, and without at least eighty percent certainty, they are not used—this is what makes them ultimate moves.

　　Eighteen thousand years ago, during the Investiture of the Gods, there were not many ultimate moves. But as time went on and martial arts techniques became more refined, more and more ultimate moves were developed. There even appeared martial arts composed entirely of ultimate moves, characterized by few moves but great power, and of course, they are extremely rare and precious.

　　The demon-subduing pestle technique that Charles Brooks knows is a relic from eighteen thousand years ago. Its power is decent, but it only has one ultimate move, meant for desperate situations. In Charles Brooks’s eyes, it is already outdated. However, since he is now a Yin Spirit, learning martial arts is useless to him, so over these millennia, he has not focused on martial skills, missing many opportunities and merely observing the development of martial arts with a cold eye, without learning any new techniques. This somewhat disappointed Lucas Ethan, but for his current needs, it is already sufficient.

　　Compared to his family’s inherited saber technique, this pestle technique is far more exquisite. Coupled with the qi cultivation method practiced by Thomas Brooks, called the Western Wasteland Battle King Qi, it is enough to greatly enhance his strength.

　　Qi cultivation is a troublesome matter.

　　Although, thanks to Laozi’s reforms, qi cultivation is now vastly different from eighteen thousand years ago, it still originated from the era of the Investiture of the Gods, and its system remains the same.

　　Just like ancient qi cultivation, in the present world, when one’s cultivation reaches a certain level, one will encounter a new realm—the soul.

　　In Lucas Ethan’s eyes, the soul is very mysterious, but in this world, it’s actually easy to understand—it’s just a ghost!!

　　The soul, like the body, also has its own strength.

　　The body’s strength is physical power, while the soul’s strength is spiritual power, also known as mental power.

　　In the realms of qi cultivation, whether one can access spiritual power is a watershed. Those who can are called Xiantian, or Qi Practitioners; those who cannot are called Houtian, or martial artists.

　　Compared to Xiantian Qi Practitioners, Houtian martial artists are far more numerous and have much lower status. In the imperial court, all Xiantian Qi Practitioners are either great generals guarding a region or powerful figures dominating an area.