Chapter 324: Cultivating Mid-Rank Martial Arts

No matter how one looked at it…

The Fourth-Rank martial arts manual was now in his hands.

Wangchuan flipped through the 《Poison Sand Palm》 manual, memorizing all the contents. Afterward, the manual turned to ash, transferring the information into a data entry on his attribute panel.

He left Old Seven’s courtyard and returned to his own. As soon as he arrived, Cui Mingjue came over with everything needed to practice 《Poison Sand Palm》.

“Wangchuan, I’ve set everything up here for you.”

“This is the poison sand, specially processed red sand made from a unique toxic powder.”

“Everything has been prepared.”

“I heard you’ve practiced 《Iron Sand Palm》 before, so you should be familiar with the basic experience. The main difference with 《Poison Sand Palm》 is that you need to use internal energy to protect your hands, preventing the poison from entering your body while still allowing a small amount of poison to be absorbed by the palms.”

Cui Mingjue had only heard a rough description, and now he was reporting it to Wangchuan as accurately as possible.

The specific cultivation methods and the process of absorbing and isolating the toxins were all detailed in the manual.

Wangchuan walked over to the basin filled with the pungent-smelling red sand. He slightly furrowed his brows and held his breath. The toxicity of the red sand wasn’t extremely strong, but once it entered the body, it could quickly cause blood clotting.

When a practitioner mastered the technique and infused their internal energy with the poison, they could strike an enemy with the poison palm and create a quick advantage, decisively sealing the outcome of a fight.

So, 《Poison Sand Palm》 was indeed quite powerful—it deserved to be a Fourth-Rank martial art.

Under Cui Mingjue’s watch, Wangchuan silently began to activate his internal energy, channeling the 《Xuanwu Art》 and gathering energy to his palms, according to the method outlined in 《Poison Sand Palm》.

Whoosh!

His right palm cut through the red sand, like a knife.

Having previously practiced 《Iron Sand Palm》, this cultivation was no stranger to Wangchuan.

The red sand didn’t feel as painful as the iron sand.

Moreover…

With internal energy forming a protective shield around his palms, he could still tolerate the sensation.

Wangchuan concentrated on sensing the changes in his palms.

His palms became red and hot, with a slight tingling sensation, as if something were trying to burrow through his skin into the flesh beneath.

Wangchuan remained calm and endured the sting of the poison entering his palms while continuing to channel his internal energy. With each strike, he resisted the poison’s intrusion.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!!

Every time his palms were pulled from the red sand, they were blood-red, a shocking sight.

Cui Mingjue watched nervously from the side, reminding him:

“Remember, with 《Poison Sand Palm》, you can’t practice for more than one incense stick’s time. After that, you need to wash your hands with the cleansing solution. I’ve already prepared it for you.”

“Mm.”

Wangchuan nodded without looking away, continuing his practice.

Throughout this time, he kept a close watch on his health status and the progress of his experience in 《Poison Sand Palm》.

Because the red sand was the shortcut to cultivating 《Poison Sand Palm》, entry into the martial art was swift!

However, the rate at which his blood dropped was somewhat unexpected.

When he practiced 《Iron Sand Palm》, it took nearly half an hour to lose one-quarter of his health.

But with 《Poison Sand Palm》, each practice session drained 5 health points.

Even after activating 《Xuanwu Art》 to temporarily increase his stamina by 20 points and raise his health cap to 860, he could only practice for a maximum of 40 strikes before needing to rest.

Indeed!

The Poison Palm drained health quickly.

If someone failed to control their training, they could easily end up wrecked!

After 40 strikes, his health dropped to 660.

Wangchuan immediately stopped.

His palms were in excruciating pain, itching unbearably!

He quickly placed his hands into the solution prepared by Cui Mingjue.

Sss!

The strange itch eased, but the stinging sensation was magnified several times.

In an instant, his health dropped by 20 more points.

Wangchuan gritted his teeth, enduring.

This was the critical moment to eliminate the poison’s damage to his palms. Without the protection of internal energy, the only thing left was the solution to help remove the remaining toxins from his body.

Cui Mingjue, watching Wangchuan’s hands tremble, saw the agonizing pain on his face. Sweat poured from his forehead, veins bulged, and yet Wangchuan gritted his teeth, pressing his hands deeper into the solution. One could imagine the intensity of the pain.

“…”

Cui Mingjue swallowed nervously.

He watched Wangchuan intently.

Wangchuan’s forehead and face were drenched in cold sweat, his complexion pale.

The pain from the hand washing was persistent.

After five or six minutes, the pain gradually subsided, the strange itch completely disappeared, and the solution turned blood-red.

Wangchuan finally pulled his hands from the solution.

His palms were still blood-red, a chilling sight.

Even Wangchuan himself felt a cold shiver in his heart. He regretted practicing this cursed martial art.

But without hesitation, he sat down and began circulating 《Qingcheng Heart Method》.

For his first time training, he hadn’t endured it too long.

《Xuanwu Art》 absorbed some of the damage, and although his health dropped by 50 points during the hand-washing process, it didn’t reach the level of light injury.

If he trained for too long, things could get tricky!

Wangchuan continued circulating his internal energy, a warm current flowing through his palms. The pain from his hands returned, but this time he could clearly feel that the sensation was softer, indicating that the injury was beginning to heal.

With each cycle, his health recovered slightly.

With each cycle, the blood-red color on his palms gradually faded, and the pain lessened.

After about half an hour of circulating energy…

His health was back at full capacity.

His palms could finally open and close without any pain.

When he opened his eyes, Cui Mingjue was no longer in the courtyard.

Instead, Chen Ergou stood beside him, his face full of worry as he looked at Wangchuan.

“Hall Master.”

“Mingjue said he went to report your training progress to Old Seven, and he’s also brought some freshly prepared solution for you.”

The solution had been replaced and was ready.

Wangchuan nodded and returned to the basin of red sand.

“40 strikes only increased 2 experience points.”

“Reaching ‘Minor Mastery’ is not going to be easy.”

Wangchuan muttered to himself.

But he still directly activated his internal energy, gathering it into his palms and continuing his practice.

This time, he again limited himself to 40 strikes. When his health reached 660, he stopped decisively and used the solution to wash his hands.

Pain! Itching!

Wangchuan soaked his palms for five or six minutes before sitting down again and circulating 《Qingcheng Heart Method》.

Three minutes of practice!

Six minutes of washing his hands!

Thirty minutes of circulating energy to recover health.

Forty minutes, 2 experience points gained.

Wangchuan gritted his teeth and persevered, continuing day and night, steadily advancing his progress. By the late hours of the following night, he finally heard the system prompt:

“Ding!”

“《Poison Sand Palm》 has reached ‘Minor Mastery.’ Reward: 1 point of Stamina.”

Wangchuan smiled, his body still damp and reeking from the accumulated sweat.

Finally, success!

The first Fourth-Rank martial art had reached Minor Mastery.

At this moment, he was truly a Third-Rank Martial Artist.