Cultivation/Concepts and Laws

*An article that gives detail to the system of laws and concepts in the Martial World. The boundless network that governs all things, or as they call it, the Great Dao.*

## Overview

Laws and Concepts were simply a generalization that everyone used; there wasn’t a true difference between them. But, if there was a difference, then that would be that Laws encompassed a great domain while Concepts were more concrete and specific.

For instance, Burning Heat was the first level Concept of the Fire Laws. But, all nine level Concepts of Fire could simply be referred to as the Fire Laws.

# **Concept**

The word ‘concept’ sounded vague and intangible.

In the mortal realms, if a martial artist wanted to comprehend a single ‘concept’, the would not know where to start. What was the ‘concept’? It wasn’t something that was one could easily grasp.

The ‘concept’ was in truth a law. It was a force of nature; once it was comprehended, one could control a core of power. In the wide world, everything had its own inherent laws.

A Concept was a utilization of the power of Laws. The power of Laws was the underlying strength and origin source of every force in the entire universe.

For instance, water would flow to the lowest valley; fire would rise to the highest peak. Yin and Yang supported and restrained each other, and life and death and so forth. These were the most basic of laws.

Extend the law deep into the soul and control the origin of all things. This was what a ‘concept’ meant.

For a martial artist to comprehend a concept, they did not need to resist, but to harmonize and conform to the natural laws around them, and feel the power of the it.

# **Law**

A Concept was a rule, a form of heavenly law. In this world, nothing could be separated from these rules. From the passing of years, the changes of stars, from when a seed grew to a tree, from a mortal’s life and death, everything, every change, was inseparable from these governing rules.

A drop of water. A grain of sand.

Everything contained the power of Laws.

Something that seemed simple was not always simple. As long as one unravaled the basis of these simplicities, all complexities could be reduced…

## Introduction

Although there were only a small number of these tiny particles, they were able to form the vast and boundless universe. In this universe there were celestial bodies, there was space and time, there were mountains, rivers, lakes, birds and beasts, bugs and plants.

There were mortals without the strength to chop a chicken and there were martial artists that could move mountains and churn seas. The endless vicissitudes of life, all of the world’s laughter, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, hate, despair, hope, countless births and countless deaths continued in this world. The laws of the jungle where the strong eat the weak, the evolution of the universe where celestial bodies can change, all of this left one feeling drowned in the endless mysteries of the vast and infinite universe.

In front of the universe, a simple human was as unimportant as a mote of dust.

And all of this was composed of these most basic particles. And, the force that controlled the arrangement and interactions of these particles were the Source Laws of the universe.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, thunder, wind, time, space, light, darkness, life, death… everyone and everything that existed in this universe corresponded to the Laws. When one’s understanding of Laws reached the peak, that was when they could touch upon the very source of the universe!

However, within these Laws, the most basic types were limited in number. But in fact, when they were combined together, they were ever-changing with limitless variations. A simple word of complex wasn’t enough to describe them.

Through countless years there had been an unimaginable number of supreme elders who had unceasingly perceived these Source Laws, in the hopes that they could identify the essence of the universe’s truths and become an immortal king. However, the so-called peak of martial arts continued to remain clouded in mist, impossible to understand!

If there was really someone that could comprehend all the Laws and rules that governed this universe, they could exist beyond the cycle of samsara and become a true god of the world.

### **Laws in the Martial World**

Cultivation and one's perception into the Heavenly Dao could be said as true absolute strength in the martial world. And comprehension of Laws was an extremely important standard in determining a martial artist’s potential strength.

The amount of energy that one possessed was the symbol that represented their strength. It could nearly be equated with their cultivation rank.

But comprehension of Laws represented the rate at which a martial artist could utilize this energy.

As a martial artist’s boundary grew, perception became more and more important. This was because perception was related to a martial artist’s understanding into the Heavenly Dao.

No matter which race, their geniuses always suppressed their cultivations to temper their comprehension of Laws.

Otherwise, if one’s cultivation rose too quickly but their Laws couldn’t follow them, then the gains simply weren’t worth the losses.

For instance, take a martial artist that cultivated the Fire Laws. If they entered into the Holy Lord realm after comprehending the sixth level Concept of Fire as opposed to entering the Holy Lord realm after comprehending the seventh level Concept of Fire, the effects of entering the Holy Lord realm would naturally be completely different between the two.

### **High Level Laws**

The higher the Laws one comprehended, the greater their combat strength would be amongst those of the same rank.

The quality of energy was divided into ranks and Laws were also the same.

So basically a top-genius would study peak laws at a young age, this would give them strength surpassing that of their boundary and give them greater potential. Thus, comprehending laws are key to absolute strength in the martial world.

But who could easily comprehend the boundless Great Dao? It wasn't an exaggeration to say that it was heaven-defying task!

The Laws of the universe were unimaginably vast. Even an Empyrean would never be able to comprehend one ten thousandth of their complete exquisiteness. The only thing that a martial artist could do was solidify their foundation as much as possible.

One would need the mental fortitude and ambition that reaches the heavens for one to truly comprehend the source of Heavenly Dao. Also, only when one’s foundation was solid would they be able to deduce and comprehend higher boundaries of Laws.

When a martial artist perceived the Laws, perceiving the Laws to a profound degree was one aspect. But, another aspect was to understand a comprehensive portion of Laws!

One had to comprehend many different Laws of all types. Only by summing up all the Laws together could one approach the truth of the universe's origin!

It sounded simple, but in the end comprehending the all encompassing Heavenly Dao was a monumental task of all monumental tasks! One could see how hard it is just by the sheer amount of heaven-defying heroes that couldn't reach that final step.

As the saying said, the Great Dao was the simplest concept. But in truth, all the complex variations and diverse wonders of the universe could be reduced to the simplest attributes. Those things that seemed simple might not be simple at all.

## Concepts and Laws

The further one walked down the path of martial arts, the more obvious the importance of Concepts became.

### **Structure**

In it's most basic form, the laws appeared to be fantastical and colorful lines that weave the boundless universe. Like silk is used to create a beautiful dress, the laws of the 33 Heavens form the entirety of the universe, subtle yet ever changing.

These lines represented the various paths that the source energy of the universe travelled in. In other words, if one wished to look at these in another way, they would be called Laws!

In truth, these lines were simple to construct. But as they moved, they might spin, they might cross, or they might even coil around, forming countless complex diagrams and images, all of them containing a multitude of mysteries. This sort of union between simplicity and complexity revealed a harmonic beauty at every turn, leaving one yearning for more.

### **Elements**

The five elements were considered to be metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and often wind and thunder were placed among them. But, the truth was that wind and thunder didn’t belong to the five elements. Rather, they belonged to the eight trigrams.

The fifth level Concept of the Five Element Laws was separated from the fourth level Concepts by an extremely large gap. There were many powerhouses that would never manage to cross this moat in their lifetimes!

Even some weaker Divine Lord powerhouses wouldn’t be able to cross this step.

* Fire Laws
	+ First level: Burning Heat
	+ Second level: Annihilation
	+ Third level: Creation
	+ Fourth level: Manifestation
	+ Fifth Level: Virtual Fire (Fire of Spirit)
	+ Sixth Level: Yang Flame
	+ Seventh level: Star Flame
	+ Eighth level: Fire of Nirvana
	+ Ninth level: To Ashes
	+ Tenth level: Beginning of the Blaze

* Thunder Laws
	+ First level: Death
	+ Second level: Life
	+ Third level: Extreme Speed
	+ Fourth level: Manifestation
	+ Fifth Level: Virtual Thunder (Spiritual Lightning)
	+ Sixth Level: Destruction Thunder
	+ Seventh level: Thunder Dominion
	+ Eighth level: Life Origin Thunder
	+ Ninth level: World Split Thunder
	+ Tenth level: Primordial Thunder

* Wind Laws
	+ First level: Gust
	+ Second level: Zephyr
	+ Third level: Gale
	+ Fourth level: Manifestation
	+ Fifth Level: Freedom
	+ Sixth Level: Aeroblast
	+ Seventh level: Sky Splitter
	+ Eighth level: Breathe
	+ Ninth level: Obliterating Tempest
	+ Tenth level: Eye of all Air

* Water Laws

* Earth Laws
* Metal Laws

* Wood Laws

### **Variations**

These Concepts were simply variations of the five main elemental Concepts. Although they could improve one’s strength, their potential for growth was limited.

* Concept of Landscape
* Concept of Ice Clouds
* Concept of Mist

### **Others**

* Concept of Vibration

* Concept of Slaughter/Annihilation
* Concept of Blood
* Concept of Starlight
* Concept of Endlessness
* Concept of Timelessness
* Darkfire Laws

### **Higher Laws**

* Space Laws
	+ Space Distortion
	+ Heaven’s Divide
	+ Dimensional Slash
	+ Space Disruption
	+ Spatial Genesis
	+ Space Storm
	+ Black Hole Vortex
	+ Tenth Space Dimension
	+ World Destruction
	+ World Creation
* Time Laws
	+ Stagnation
	+ Slow
	+ Fast
	+ Freeze
	+ Temporal Genesis
	+ Distortion
	+ Time Travel
	+ Time Dimension
	+ World's End
	+ World's Beginning
* Darkness Laws
	+ First level: Devour True Essence
	+ Second level: Turn Space Viscous
	+ Third level: Blot Out
	+ Fourth level: Manifestation
	+ Fifth Level: BlackHeart
	+ Sixth Level: Destruction
	+ Seventh level: Dark Domain
	+ Eighth level: Before Light
	+ Ninth level: Engulf
	+ Tenth level: Shadow World
* Light Laws
* Yin Yang Laws

### **Source Laws**

* Concept of Spirit Source Qi
* Concept of Genesis Qi

* Concept of Grandmist Qi
* Concept of Life
* Concept of Death
* Concept of 33 Layered Heavens
* Laws of Swallowing
* Laws of Sealing
* Eon Laws
* Laws of Destruction
* Laws of Creation
* Laws of the Primal God
* Divine Dream Laws

### **Supreme Laws**

* Concept of Eternal Life
* Chaos Laws
* Asura Heav­enly Dao

* Sacred Scripture
	+ Comprised of two parts; Law of Life & Death

## **Comprehension and Perception**

* Comprehension of Laws come in several stages:
	+ Memorization - Mind
		- The first stage was to memorize the Laws with the mind. It was easy to forget or misplace memories, and when recalling these memories, there was also a slight delay. In the midst of a heated battle, responding even just a little bit slower would often have fatal consequences.
	+ Body - Feeling
		- As for the second stage, that was memorizing Laws with the body. If one remembered the Laws with the body, they would never forget them in their entire life. Also, it would become a conditioned reflex, that would stay with the body forever, lasting for a lifetime, completely natural to use. This was the same even for mortals. If a mortal learnt how to swim, they would always know how to swim. This was the difference between memory of the mind and memory of the body.
		- Also, when the mind remembered something, a person would have to mull over and recall those memories, passing through various thoughts and delaying for the slightest moment before coming out. But, a bodily memory did not need to be processed by the mind in that manner. Instead, it became instinct! It was how a child learned to write. If they had to think about what brush strokes to make, they would have to ponder for a moment every time. But, if the strokes of a word were imprinted onto the memory of the body, then they would write much faster.
	+ Bones - - Law Engraving
		- And the third stage was to use one’s bones and marrow to store the memories. To deeply inscribe the Laws into one’s bones and burn them into the marrow until those Laws became a part of the body! For example are Divine Beast's who inherently have principles carved into their bones, ensuring that those of the same boundary would find it hard to injure them.
		- When ancient peerless powerhouses cultivated Laws, these Laws would eventually turn into runes that were carved into their flesh and blood and even their skeletons. This was the same for Lin Ming. After going through two heavenly tribulations with his Ninefall and Empyrean breakthroughs, countless Law runes were fused into his body.
		- From that point on, the body was Laws, and Laws were the body; everything was the same! For such a person, their body was a totem stone. By killing someone like that, others could pick up their bones and perceive the Laws from them. Every single part of their body would be a priceless treasure. After reaching such a stage, one could freely drive the Laws, and even one’s bodily movements would arouse the corresponding Laws. This was because the body itself had become a form of the Laws. Every action one took would contain the truth of the Laws, thus it was easy to foment the Laws of the world!

## **Stages of Comprehending**

In understanding laws to a certain level, a cultivator would usually try to first comprehend the mystery and the profound traits of those laws. This step is called *sublimation*, or to reach a higher understanding. This step is when a martial artist tries to fuse laws and not just combining them.

When one’s Concepts reached an extremely high level, they could be fused together. Let alone fusing the various level Concepts within the Fire Laws, even completely different Laws could be fused together! For instance, fire and thunder, or time and space. However, when Lin Ming had fused a thunder-attribute cultivation method and a fire-attribute cultivation method together to create an explosive attack move, that was actually not the fusion of the Laws themselves. That could at best be called combining the Laws. But even a simple combination was actually able to multiply their total might. If one could truly fuse them together then the power could be imagined.

Next is *integration*, when a martial cultivator integrates laws into practical use. In higher levels, integrating laws would be similar as to walking a path never taken before. An example is when a martial artist tries integrating cultivation methods into one, whole, and original technique. This could be seen with Lin Ming who had walked the road of fusing the Asura Sutra and the Holy Scripture.

## Comprehension Levels

A martial artist's level of perception can be categorized into 4 stages, they are **Elementary, Small Success, Large Success** and **Perfection**. Usually, one's comprehensions in laws would stop at the 5th level for elemental laws and the 4th for Space and Time laws. But when a martial artist has heaven-gifted talent, then they could perceive the laws at a higher height.

### **Non-existent**

* Martial artists that have comprehended elemental laws at an extremely rudimentary level, to the point that it was almost non-existent.
* Usually, these were cultivators at the Pulse Condensation to Xiantian realm.

### **Elementary**

* When a martial artist begins to comprehend the mysteries of the world, they form an elusive and vague understanding towards laws and concepts.
* Lower Realm Emperor talent - Divine Realm mid level talent.
	+ 1st - 3rd level of Elemental laws.
	+ None - 2nd level of Space and Time laws.

### **Small Success**

* A martial artist having minor to exemplary perception and comprehension of laws and concepts.
* A martial artist at the Nine Divine Shifts level of comprehension. Although, most Divine Sea geniuses of a World King Holy Land had this level of comprehension.
	+ 4th - 6th level of Elemental laws.
	+ 4th - 5th level of Space and Time laws.

### **Large Success**

* Reaching **Large Success** in the perception of laws meant that one had a high-level understanding of laws and concepts. These were laws above the 6th, fusing the laws before it.
* At this level, the laws would bow to the king and certain phenomena would happen, for example the ripples and incantations that surround such a peerless powerhouse. These ripples happen because one’s comprehensions in the Laws were too high. With every step they took, with every gesture they made, it would arouse vibrations in the Laws. This was the so-called commanding Laws without ordering them, but only needing to move the body.
* Normally, this was a level reserved for those overlords that dominated a great world - a Great World King.
	+ 7th - 8th level of Elemental laws.
	+ 6th - 7th level of Space and Time laws.
	+ Small Success in Source Laws

### **Perfection**

* Achieving perfection in the laws meant that they had fused a significant amount of world laws, integrating these laws into one's foundation and communing to the world rule.
* A person with such a high-degree of comprehension would inevitably be a god of trillion quadtrillion lives. Usually, martial artists at the peak of this level are in some ways free from the Heavenly Dao. They are beings that stand at the same height as the Great Dao - Empyreans.
* However, most martial artists are in truth never at the true perfection of laws, even for basic laws like the five elements. The reason for this is that their will always be flaws in a martial artist's understanding to the Great Dao.
	+ 8th - 9th level of Elemental laws.
	+ 8th level of Space and Time laws.
	+ Large Success in Source Laws

### **Origin - Essence**

* Usually, a martial artist's understanding in laws were ranked until perfection. However, when a martial artist reaches a great boundary, they would realize the faults and the simplicity of how they utilized the laws. After looking back, a martial artist would realize that their comprehension of the Concept was simply too crude and unrefined. This was after realizing the true origin and profundity rooted in the laws and how they correlated with the Heavenly Dao!
* In this regard, many powerhouses would fall far short in their comprehensive understanding of the Heavenly Dao, leading to them a bottleneck in their cultivation. This is how the countless martial artists of the world had failed in attaining a higher boundary. There were even some Divine Lords or Holy Lord powerhouses that had assumed they had comprehended their basic concepts to perfection, that their understandings had reached the peak. But they never realized that above perfection was an even deeper meaning. That was… to comprehend the origin.
* To comprehend the origin of laws was to open a door of the Great Dao and become one step closer to divinity.

#### **Comprehending the Great Dao**

Normally, a martial artist's strength would come from constantly perceiving the Laws, and then using one's own true essence to spur the power of Laws, transforming heaven and earth origin energy into one's own weapon to fight. During this process, a martial artist would always feel that their own strength was far too miniscule and weak. As for the world Laws, they were incomparably massive, causing all who stood before them to kneel in awe.

But to someone who had reached the level of origin, the akashic realm, in essence the Empyrean realm, this was completely different!

One would that the power of Laws they used had not come from meditating on them, but from one's own body. In that moment, one would feel their own body become one with the world. The world Laws naturally flowed out from the flesh, blood, and organs. It was like one's body had been condensed from the Laws!

And when they used these Laws to control heaven and earth origin energy, one wouldn't feel the jerky feeling they did before. Now everything seemed to flow smoothly and perfectly.

* Achieving a state of understanding in the origins of laws, per se reaching an understanding in the general outline of the universe would give one the ability to understand the origins or the source of creation. One would be able to peer into the beginning, relatively becoming able to reach the origin of basic laws like the elements. This was a level many World Kings never reached, even in their most basic of practiced laws.
* Thus, it could be seen how imperative one's understanding to the source laws and the Great Dao was to a martial artist's future cultivation. Only by understanding the source of all things would one truly reach a peak of martial arts!
* Most martial artist had thought that perfection was the ultimate limit of Concepts. It was more precise to say that the comprehension of Laws never had a limit to begin with. Thus, this level of of comprehension was reserved for true geniuses.

* Martial artists at this level have truly peered through the universe and stand as a god of martial artists!
	+ Can be considered incarnations of the Great Dao, for they exude the laws with every movement.
	+ Origin level of all Elemental laws.
	+ 9th level of Space and Time laws.
	+ Near Perfection - Perfection in Source Laws.

### **Beyond**

* Reaching this level, a martial artist has perceived the Great Dao to the limit. One has understood the universe, world rule, creation, destruction, all life, all things and rules above them.
* A martial artist with perception that transcends the world rule and sees past the 33 Heavens. This was to truly surmount the level of truly understanding the 33 Heavens, it's endless variations and true origin. In this step, a martial artist has completely cut away themselves from the Great Dao and had transcended that world, reaching the apex!
* Having reached this step, one's understanding to the Great Dao has reached the zenith and can wield true Heavenly Dao with one's own might! One could even say that they were the Great Dao themselves.
* An absolute being in an upper level universe.
* Considered as the peak of martial arts in the 33 Heavens.
	+ 10th level of Space and Time laws; became True Destroyers and True Creators of worlds.
	+ Origin in Source Laws.
	+ Multi-universal

## Trivia

#### **Manifestation - Elemental Laws**

* Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, these elemental Laws all had different types of Concepts for the first three levels. However, all of them shared the same fourth level Concept. And that was Manifestation. After arriving at this step, energy would have life and intelligence of its own. Fire origin energy could manifest as fiery vermillion birds or fiery crows. Thunder origin energy could combine into a thunder kirin. Earth origin energy could develop into an earthen black turtle, or earthen snake. Wind origin energy could form gale birds, great rocs, and so on!
* Without having comprehended the fourth level Concept, a martial artist’s true essence and energy would only be lifeless. In order for martial artists to kill an enemy, they would have to control their true essence with every attack. Without a martial artist’s thoughts controlling their own true essence, it would be nothing but a pile of scattered sand without any lethal killing force.
* But for someone that had comprehended the Concept of Manifestation, that was different. Their true essence would have life. Sometimes it would scatter, sometimes it would gather, it would have endless and infinite changes. A martial artist could use their true essence to kill an enemy without the need to control it!
* This type of true essence was far easier to manipulate. With just a thought, hundreds and thousands of supernatural powers could be displayed; this was almost impossible to defend against!

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 999 – Burn the Body
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 1016 – Another Breakthrough
3. ↑ Chapter 1035 – Concept of Manifestation