Honkai Martial Artist

Prologue 


"...Well, this is just great." My gaze scanned the surroundings, I was in the wilderness. There was not a single thing which pointed me towards civilisation.


Mountains and lush pine trees are all I see in this place!


"Next time when I fill up a survey I will fill in everything," I mumbled to myself as I checked my hands. They have shrunk. 


I was around 7…maybe 9 years old now. My body has shrunk. My childish voice confirms that.


The only cause of this could potentially be that weird survey. That thing was far too strange. Some of the questions were simply confusing and out of place.


One of the questions was about power. Like what kind of power one could have? I entered martial arts. As someone who has been practising martial arts, I could only enter that thing.


'Though, I shouldn't have bloated it the way I did. The whole spiritual stuff was not that needed since It asked for simple things. Or was it?'


For a moment I wondered about the survey. Since that thing dropped me in some sort of wilderness.


Thinking about this for a bit. I decided to explore. I quickly realised that my body was not conditioned, it was a complete reset from my peak body I had before. No muscle mass, no energy, I felt weak.


This means I will need to retrain. 


Walking for a bit, I noticed that there was some sort of energy in the air.


I realised that because of my augmented perception which came from spending years with Shaolin Monks and Taoists of Wu-Dang.


While my body was fully reset in terms of physical training my soul and mind were not. I was able to see this purple-ish energy in the air.


This energy was strange because it didn't feel as 'alive' as compared to human life.


It felt even somewhat robotic, unnatural, it had been ordered to do something. 


The whole thing was strange.


Apart from that, I understood that one can command it and use it. 


"...Hmm— strange… it's toxic if not under control…"


I mumbled to myself as I saw purple lines starting to appear on my fingers.


The exposure to this thing rots away flesh.


"This is bad if I allow it to spread. I guess, I start with training Instead of exploration."


I dropped to the ground and crossed my legs, and both of my hands ended up connecting finger to finger. This method allows me to conserve energy and prepares my mind for work.


Less energy is needed to circulate through my body as current flows through the fingers instead of going down to the legs.


Once the preparations were done I started one of three meditations I learned in Tibet.


The Shaolin enlightenment meditation is also known as Lotus Meditation.


Since my body is reset, I need to synchronize again. The fastest way to do that is to achieve Zen and then become one with land.


With my body relaxed, I proceeded to imagine pitch darkness and a golden lotus seed in the middle of it.


"Hmm?"


There was a reaction from the surroundings as I could feel this energy surging into me. 


Achieving the Zen state is quite simple since I achieved it before, the second state is the acceptance of oneself, something I passed last time as well.


But the bottleneck, I feel is one with land, the third stage of the mediation techniques. It was difficult on Earth. But this place… It's different.


It appears the very fundamentals of this place are different. The energy in this place…feels programmed to do certain things.


Since it's not 'organic' it could potentially do things that are opposite to life.


This is why it's poisonous. But it can be 'ordered'.


'Ordered…huh…'


That moment I felt a surge.


The lotus seed inside the darkness blossomed. The darkness turned into gold.


When I opened my eyes there was a golden glow around me.


'So this is how it is…'


I swiftly changed my stance. Getting up on feet and then taking the stance of Heaven and Earth Meditation.


The fabled art of Wu-Dang Sect. The Taoists of Balance. The stance itself reflects the balance of the universe.


Left leg forward, right leg back, representing Yin and Yang, right hand at the level of stomach representing earth, left hand at the head level representing the sky.


Once the stance was achieved, it was time to begin.


First the Zen state, then the acceptable of oneself. Even though I closed my eyes I saw the Golden Lotus. I cannot see darkness anymore. Not that it means anything, as the Yin and Yang symbol spun into existence in my subconscious.


It started to pulse like a heart as I achieved one's acceptance, what was next was feeling up the surroundings something I was well aware of before. My soul's power didn't diminish. In truth, it's the only thing that I achieved in realms of  'supernatural' on Earth. 


My soul achieved a sense of enlightenment way before I was sent here.


This is what helps me quickly regain my cultivation at a rapid speed.


Quickly I was able to perceive my surroundings and start absorbing this energy into myself.


Truly said it is extremely easy as this energy doesn't have the means to resist. The only thing it does is have pre-set conditions to harm organic life.


With my will imposed in it, I was able to start gathering the energy with my Meditation of Heaven and Earth.


However, I quickly noticed one of the things this energy is coded with, it starts crystalizing once a large amount is gathered in one place.


'It has a critical point. But the energy in these surroundings is not enough.'


With a sigh, I opened my eyes and stood up.


My gaze scanned the wilderness. Now that I have enough energy in my body I can perceive the wild one in the surroundings. 


"Time to explore."


~~~


I quickly noticed that I didn't want to eat or needed to sleep. The energy I absorbed, the formed crystal is sustaining me. 


But since I didn't achieve a critical point the energy is not limitless and it works like a battery for me.


Strangely it formed just above the yin and yang symbol in my consciousness.


Well, more like this crystal is special as it's in my consciousness and it's formed inside of me as well. So it's like a multidimensional existence of some sort.


'Well, whatever, at least my training can continue in this strange reality.'


My journey continued through the wildness which looked like Canadian or Russian tundra of some sort.


The pine trees are everywhere and soon enough I started to see snow.


This means I am quite high on the map.


As my journey continued so did the absorption of this energy. 


The crystal continued to grow but it was quite strange.


My gut feeling told me that this crystal doesn't have 'taste', 'nature' or more precisely 'Law'. It was a simple chunk of energy.


So I continued to drain whatever there was in the land while continuing to walk… somewhere. 


I didn't have a specific goal for my destination, I simply walked while draining this energy. Some areas had more while others had less.


Such a thing is visible in the very nature. Higher-density ones had strange and more alien looks while the areas with less energy reminded me of Earth's vegetation.


Not that I cared, I drained everything until the crystal reached a critical point and I had the urge to do something.


'Ohh…I know…'


I closed my eyes and proceeded to use Arthan's Meditation. My third and most combat-orientated meditation. Unlike the other two this meditation is more like Yoga than anything.


More precisely this meditation is the ancestor of Yoga. But instead of relaxing and stretching bodies, this meditation sharpens martial arts and its comprehension.


What it does in this situation helps me understand this energy more and how to utilise it!


Once again I closed my eyes and entered a Zen state What I saw was my consciousness which had a Golden Lotus in the golden background and under my feet was the Yin and Yang symbol.


With Arthan's meditation golden mist started to roll out and spread through the consciousness.


Once the mist settled in my understanding and sense of this energy went up. I understood what I needed to do.


Slowly a second yin and yang symbol started to manifest and flow towards the crystal.


Since I need a 'law' or 'nature' to utilize the power of the crystal I will give my martial philosophy to these things.


Whatever happens, will happen.


For a few moments, there was resistance but then the symbol merged with the crystal and the white crystal's colour changed. Half of it turned black.


At that moment the crystal glowed and power surged!


Power started to spread through my being!


"Holy shit!"


My eyes snapped open as Arthan's meditation was interrupted!


Right in front of my eyes, my clothes changed. My wear-down training slacks and jacket turned into blue and white Chinese-style robes!


I looked like an elite Taoist! Golden embroidery appeared on the sleeves the shoes turned into Taoist combat shoes followed by a Jian sword appearing on my hip.


"...What the hell is this?"


As I said that I subconsciously knew what I was… 


'Herrscher…of Balance?'


The Lawmaker of Balance, my powers were over the balance. 


"...Hmm…so this what it is…"


As I mumbled to myself I felt a surge of wild energy around me. White monsters started to come out of black portals of some sort.


My senses over this energy tell me that these things are dolls and nothing more.


They have no brains and only have basic commands that they can do.


"Fine. So this is how it is… You don't like that I achieved this power. That is fine, I didn't ask this… presence for permission. Not that I care what you think."


With a casual motion, I pulled out the sword. It was a classic Chinese sword, though there was some majesty in it. The aura radiating was absurd and half of the blade was white and half was black.


For the guard, it had the Yin and Yang symbol.


I swiftly took the stance of Blue Dragon. One of the schools of Wu-Dang Martial Arts.


With a swing of the blade, black and black-and-white energy was released from the blade. Cutting one of the white doll-like beings. The thing was cut in half and both sides started to burn with white and black flames.


'Impressive power. It appears there is some sort of conceptual thing behind all of this.'


The other dolls rushed towards me but the power I wielded easily disrupted their balance and some of them simply stumbled on the ground while I rushed forward and with basic sword swings cut all of them down.


The fight was over in just a few short moments.


What was left after was the wild energy which I proceeded to absorb with the Heaven and Earth Meditation.


All this battle gave me was the extra energy to continue to refine my new Herrscher Form.


However, these things didn't stop popping and I started to find them in the wilderness as well.


It appears that I am approaching some sort of 'zone'. The world I am in is some sort of place where this energy is trying to invade and destroy life.


The reason is unknown. Not that I care. I can absorb it and refine the new form I have achieved.


The area I was in was simply too great to pass. The energy was thick it would help me to refine the crystal and its power.


After a few more hours of walking, I stumbled upon a tower.


It was a high-tech thing.


'So there is intelligent life in this place. From my observations, it was identical place to Earth. With one glaring difference being this energy.'


As I thought about it I approached the tower. As I got closer a feeling washed me over. 


My intent instantly took over all the wild energy and proceeded to probe the building. 


This was another test. I want to see the limits of this energy. Not that it disappointed me. 


I can see through this energy. It was like an extension of my power.


Not only that, but I learned the purpose of this tower.