Chapter 205 - 203: Nine Yin Refining Form, Meridian Yin and Yang, Spiritual and Physical Cultivation

Chapter 205: Chapter 203: Nine Yin Refining Form, Meridian Yin and Yang, Spiritual and Physical Cultivation

Ink Garden, in the training room.

Sunlight poured straight down from the skylight in the dome, enveloping Fu Juemin, who was seated cross-legged in the center of the room, in a bright pillar of light.

Fu Juemin wore a simple, plain-colored training uniform, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Before him, a dozen or so thread-bound ancient books lay quietly open in the dusty winter light:

Four-Form Ancient Boxing Manual, Complete Book of Eighteen Martial Arts, Three Talents Swordsmanship, Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter, Zi-Wu Yin-Yang Decree....

These were all Martial Arts Secret Manuals he had obtained from a hidden compartment in Zhao Jigang’s study when he killed him.

As the president of the Shenghai Martial Dao Association and a Great Martial Family master at the Gratitude Sensing Realm, the books Zhao Jigang had collected and preserved were naturally no ordinary items.

Fu Juemin had spent three days reading through and pondering all these Secret Manuals, and he had actually managed to find a few that would be of some help to him in his current state.

There were three in total: the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter, the Zi-Wu Yin-Yang Decree, and the Spirit and Body Cultivation Book.

The "Nine Yin" in the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter referred to the ultimate Yin Killing Qi. It was a method that emphasized tempering the physical body through External Skills, with the final goal of forging the "Undissolving Bone."

It sounded like an ancient secret art, incredibly lofty, but in reality, it was just an unorthodox and bizarre skill that tempered the bones and Yin Force by mimicking the movements of a zombie.

This technique included a Fist Technique and a Body Technique. Fu Juemin thought for a moment and guessed that this must be the Martial Arts practiced by the Gratitude Sensing Realm master who was with Zhao Jigang, the one nicknamed "Corpse Bat King."

The Corpse Bat King had been under Zhao Jigang’s wing for so many years; it was only normal that Zhao Jigang had learned his skills.

What Fu Juemin found rather surprising was that this Martial Art, the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter, actually contained a Secret Technique for accelerating the "refining form" process by devouring Demon Essence Blood.

And the reason the Corpse Bat King had carelessly ended up with "Demon Poison invading the body," forced to consume the blood of living humans to suppress it, was most likely due to a lack of the crucial subsequent teachings... this was an incomplete text!

According to the fragmented descriptions in the technique, the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter was only the first part of this Martial Art. Besides it, there were also the Profound Yin Bone Forging Chapter and the Netherworld Bone Illumination Chapter.

Especially the final part, the Netherworld Bone Illumination Chapter, which concerned the "White Bone Observation" Heart Form, was the true core essence of the entire technique!

’If I recall correctly, "Undissolving Bone" seems to be the term used in ancient texts for the highest level of zombie-like evil entities...

’In my past life, I would have just dismissed it as empty boasting, but in this world, Demon Fiends and evil spirits truly exist.

’This Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter also directly states to use Demon Essence Blood to aid in cultivation. Could it be...?’

Fu Juemin looked at the ancient, mottled Secret Manual in his hand, his eyes glinting as he secretly guessed, ’The so-called Martial Dao... was it actually created by ancients imitating Demon Fiends and other strange beasts?’

Considering his own skills, after he had brought the Dragon Elephant Skill and Pharmacist Skill to Great Success, their corresponding Buddhist Dharma Forms had naturally appeared in his mind. The mysteriousness of this process had already transcended the scope of ordinary fist-and-kick Martial Arts.

And to advance further, he would have to collect the so-called ethereal "Buddhist Wish Force."

Fu Juemin had originally scoffed at this, but now, mulling it over again, he gradually sensed something different.

’The line of Martial Arts Grandmasters is broken in the present day. Could it really be because the National Fortune no longer exists, the Dragon Qi has scattered, and the "provisions" needed to take that crucial step are missing?

’In the past, Emperor Qianming’s Martial Dao was ranked at the very peak, and he ruled over the entire land. Could it be that he also knew something that transcended the secular world, which is why he gave up his position as a nation’s sovereign and resolutely abandoned his empire to plunge into Jiwei Mountain in search of immortals and the Dao?’

For a moment, countless thoughts arose in Fu Juemin’s mind, his thoughts surging like a chaotic tide.

A moment later, he shook his head and put down the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter.

’I can’t keep thinking about this. If I do, I’m afraid I’ll end up like those Martial Artists in the Demon Capital, unknowingly falling into a demonic path of obsession...’

The main reason he was thinking so much was because of the "Mana" attribute on his character panel, which had yet to be unlocked. And this "Mana," no matter how he looked at it, didn’t seem like an attribute used solely for Martial Arts...

’I already have two orthodox, top-tier Buddhist Sect Iron Body Skill Trainings. There’s no need to practice something that will turn me into something neither human nor ghost, especially when it’s an incomplete text... However, some of the moves and Body Techniques recorded in this Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter can be stripped out and practiced appropriately to shore up my weaknesses.’

The second book, Zi-Wu Yin-Yang Decree, seemed much more ordinary compared to the bizarre and ancient style of the Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter.

Fu Juemin recognized it as the Martial Art practiced by Zhou Feibai, who had died at his hands during the Eighteen Life-and-Death Trials.

He had singled out this Martial Art because he felt its martial principles concerning the flow of the Yin Yang Five Elements and the mutual transformation of the Meridian and Pole could provide him with some reference and inspiration for linking his Five Poison Skills and Five Beasts Skill.

The Five Poisonous Creatures were Yin, the Five Beasts were Yang. Extreme Yin gives birth to Yang, extreme Yang gives birth to Yin... This involved too many profound principles, leaving Fu Juemin feeling utterly lost, with no idea where to even begin.

"A Pharmacist masters the Five Beasts and has Immunity to the Five Poisonous Creatures."

Fu Juemin now had a general understanding of these words, though he wasn’t sure if Li Tong had said them to motivate or to deceive him back then.

The Pharmacist Skill was both orthodox and unorthodox, but because it was fundamentally a Buddhist Sect Nourishing Body Technique—moderate and peaceful—it lacked a certain offensive edge against enemies, regardless of whether its application was orthodox or unorthodox.

And the domineering, insidious Five Poison Skills and the agile, ferocious Five Beasts Skill could perfectly compensate for this deficiency. In theory, cultivating all three together could be mutually beneficial, pushing a Cultivator’s potential to unimaginable heights.

But how to turn this "theory" into reality, how to build a stable cultivation framework, how to harmonize yin and yang, how to command both the orthodox and unorthodox... it was all up to the Cultivator to comprehend and explore on their own.

This was a realization that had become increasingly clear to Fu Juemin the longer he practiced Martial Arts—although adding points on his panel could save him a great deal of arduous cultivation by letting him skip the intermediate steps and directly reach a new realm, he still had to figure out how to build the overall framework of his Martial Dao system himself.

’My Demon Body state, even as Four Souls in One Body, is just a continuous superposition of brute force and chaotic demonic aura. There’s no qualitative change, no birth of the one thing I’ve always wanted—a Demon Magic Dharma Form.

’The root of the problem is that my foundation is mixed and impure, my Consciousness is chaotic, and I lack a "core concept" of my own that can unify all my powers. My use of my major Talents is still stuck at the crudest, most instinctual stage...’

’Demon Martial Arts, Demon Martial Arts... since it’s based on the Martial Dao, the martial principles it needs to integrate should be broader, deeper, and more exquisite than ordinary Martial Dao.’

The Nine Yin Refining Form Chapter was the best example. Just by imitating zombies, it had such a complex system. One wrong step meant you were beyond redemption.

As for the last manual, the Spirit and Body Cultivation Book, it was even more profound and obscure for the current Fu Juemin.

In Fu Juemin’s view, this could not even be considered a proper, traditional Martial Art.

Its very first sentence was: "The Spirit is the soul, the flesh is the vessel. The soul cannot manifest without the vessel, and the vessel cannot survive without the soul. The path of spiritual and physical cultivation is to break the barrier between these two and achieve Returning to the Origin."

Later, it proposed the concept of the "Three Jiao Yuan Palace"—the Upper Cavity. Spirit Mansion, the Middle Cavity. Qi Mansion, and the Lower Cavity. Form Mansion. Then there was "Form and Spirit Mutual Sensing," "Heart Fire Refining Spirit," "Spiritual and Physical Embryo"...

It was enough to make Fu Juemin’s head spin; it was exactly like reading an indecipherable tome.

He had a gut feeling that this technique was extraordinary, because among the dozen or so ancient thread-bound books he had obtained, this Cultivation Book was the one that showed the most signs of being read by Zhao Jigang.

Of course, he hadn’t been completely without gain after reading it over and over for three days. He had at least found some tips in this book for the step of Refining Perception when advancing from Tongxuan to the Gratitude Sensing Realm, as well as methods for further deepening his Consciousness and even constructing a "Heart Scene" after reaching the Gratitude Sensing Realm.