Before the Competition

"What the heck? It just reached maturity and it's already evolving into its final form? I don't even know what the purpose of this transformation is!"

Si Ming tried to control his right hand and found that, just like before, although it obeyed commands, he still couldn't exert much force. It felt sluggish and unwilling to move, and the feeling of being full of energy and boundless vitality, like he had been injected with chicken blood, had completely faded away.

"Young man, can you smoke some more?"

Dengbulishao weak voice.

"Master, you're free now?"

"You can't move your hands and feet, but you can speak and think. This is such a pleasant surprise! If you can, please have a little more."

Something felt off, but since it was indeed beneficial to the Blazing Sun True Qi, Si Ming didn't refuse. This time, he didn't use his right hand to absorb it, but instead used the Blazing Sun True Qi to devour and transform it.

Having lost ninety percent of its power, the Sinful Qi could no longer gain the upper hand. Despite its best efforts to resist, it was still "forced into virtue" by the Blazing Sun True Qi. Si Ming happily felt his internal energy sea expand and grow, Internal Cultivation rapidly improved. Although it brought some impact to his meridians, given his physical condition, it was about the same as stomach bloating, and he could just bear it.

There is no bottleneck in the Blazing Sun True Qi, which is the same as the Dou Qi cultivation method. Once enough energy is accumulated, one will naturally cross the threshold of level seven and then rush towards level eight without stopping.

Upon seeing this situation, Si Ming wished he could slap his right hand. Based on the current conversion rate, if he could devour all the black energy, he could definitely break through to level ten, and with Internal Cultivation Level Eleven, he probably wouldn't find another person of his age. His weakness had suddenly become his strength.

Whether it can even reach level eight now is uncertain; we can only pray that the dark energy can hold on and that we can squeeze out as much as possible.

His Internal Cultivation level quickly rose from the early stage of level seven to the middle stage, and then advanced to the peak of perfection, breaking through to the level eight boundary. Meanwhile, only a small clump of black energy remained on Dengbulishao's body, around his heart.

There's hope!

The thought had barely crossed Si Ming's mind when he heard Dengbulishao say, "Young man, you can stop now, you don't need to remove it all."

"Master, I can do it, you don't need to be so polite with me!"

Si Ming answered anxiously, almost shouting, "My kidneys are good! My kidneys are good!"

"It's not a matter of being polite. Although this Source of Sin has plagued me for many years, I've only been able to survive until now thanks to its power. Once it's completely eradicated, I estimate I won't have many days left to live."

Upon hearing this, Si Ming, though reluctant, had no choice but to stop. He wasn't about to risk the other person's life for a small gain.

Dengbulishao loosened his grip, swung his arms, and exhaled like an old man who had just finished practicing Taiji Fist, saying with immense relief, "This is the first time my body has felt so relaxed. This is pretty much what it feels like to have your arthritis cured."

Si Ming, "I almost got epilepsy because of your arthritis."

Dengbulishao chuckled twice and said gratefully, "Thank you so much for your help this time, young friend. I never imagined there was a cultivation method to suppress the Source of Sin. Alas, if only I had known sooner, so many people wouldn't have been implicated."

Because his life was saved, Si Ming's status was upgraded from young man to friend.

"Is the 'master' referring to the one rumored to have been thrown onto the Sea Continent?"

"Ha, it's true, but the reason wasn't revenge, it was to save my life," Dengbulishao, leaning back in his chair by the fireplace, taking a puff of his pipe and exhaling a comfortable smoke ring. "I've suppressed the Source of Sin for years, and even my soul has been infiltrated. At this rate, I wouldn't live more than a few years; I could be assimilated by the Source of Sin at any moment. But after coming to the Sea Continent, this threat disappeared. Because the Eternal Barrier can shield all laws, even the Source of Sin. Now, besides its inherent evil attributes, it has no other supernatural abilities. At most, it can turn people into mentally confused madmen. As long as one's will is strong enough, one can resist its corruption."

Si Ming asked curiously, "What exactly is the Source of Sin?"

Dengbulishao didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Do you know about the Four Outcasts?"

Si Ming replied without hesitation, "Ghostly Monsters? That's common knowledge."

"Demons refer to intelligent beings with different appearances from Human Race. In essence, there is no difference between humans and demons; they are simply groups distinguished by cultural and physical differences."

Demons are a race born from destruction. Their pursuit is the slaughter of all living beings and the destruction of all civilizations. They are beings that cannot be explained by biological means. Humans may be able to coexist with demons, but they can never coexist with demons.

Ghosts, needless to say, are a race that lives in the presence of death. In the West, they are also known as spirits of the dead. If humans represent the yang form of existence, then ghosts represent the yin form of existence.

A monster is an existence born of chaos, incomprehensible by normal thinking. It's difficult to define it as either a living being or an undead being. Its existence represents a distortion of the laws of Principle. Therefore, powerful monsters can even disregard the Principle of physics and energy, causing people to lose their minds at a glance. And the Source of Sin is the mother of monsters.

Dengbulishao, waiting for Si Ming to understand and process the information, before continuing, "I used to think that the Source of Sin was the aggregate of desires of intelligent beings, or rather, psychic energy corrupted by negative mental forces. Now I think that definition might be somewhat flawed. It's not necessarily desire or negative emotions; any thought that goes against the order can become the power of Source of Sin. Love is undoubtedly a positive emotion, but distorted love and obsessive love can still give rise to Power of Sin. Hatred is a negative emotion, but the principle of 'a life for a life' is a matter of course. Who dares to say that revenge isn't part of the order?"

Si Ming thought for a moment, then said, "The Nation of Beauty is invaded by Anomalies every few years, and I've heard that these Anomalies come from the other side of the Hide-and-Seek Forest. Doesn't that mean..."

"The other side of the Hide-and-Seek Forest has probably been completely corrupted by the Source of Sin; it may have become an Anomalies world," Dengbulishao, flicking his cigarette ash. "Although this is just my speculation, that side is probably the Southern Barbarian Continent, one of the Nine Continents."

Chapter 306 Before the Match

Si Ming returned from his trip to the old lawyer's house with a full load of valuable information.

It's one thing for my right hand to enter a second evolution, since it won't be useful for a long time anyway, and I won't be able to enjoy any benefits. But my Internal Cultivation has truly broken through to the peak of level seven, and it has been verified that the Blazing Sun True Qi can be improved by devouring Anomalies.

In addition, he also took away two sets of Dou Qi arts techniques: one called the Radiant King Fist and the other called the Blazing Flame Lion King Sword. Despite their simple and beautiful names, they were the top martial arts techniques in the Luo Continent.

The former is the highest-level fist technique of the Radiant God Church, and the latter is a secret sword technique passed down by the royal family of the Caesar Empire. Dengbulishao, as the headmaster of the first magic school in the Luo Continent, had the opportunity to collect these two martial arts. Others would not even have the right to see them.

Although Dengbulishao has other top-tier martial arts in his collection, for Si Ming, these two sets of martial arts are enough to broaden his horizons. One set is light-attribute, and the other is fire-attribute, which are perfectly suited to his Cultivation Body. It is a case of learning from others' strengths, not about changing one's school of martial arts.

He had no intention of changing his profession, from a martial arts master to a warrior or some kind of fighter. Although his martial arts attributes were becoming increasingly weak, he still had to keep something in mind.

From the perspective of the Eastern cultivation world, Si Ming's decision to pursue martial arts without Internal Cultivation seems to be putting the cart before the horse. However, after consulting with Dengbulishao, Si Ming learned that internal Internal Cultivation is not a concept in Dou Qi arts cultivation.

The human body has three elements: essence, qi, and spirit. True Qi is the Qi Essence, but Dou Qi is not the Qi Essence, but the Jing Essence. Therefore, the martial artists of the Luo Continent often fight for a very short time because activating Dou Qi will consume a lot of physical strength. If the fight goes on for a little longer, they will run out of energy to fight. In this respect, they are not as good as the martial artists of the East. It is not surprising that two masters of internal martial arts can fight for three days and three nights if they do not use their ultimate moves.

Qi Essence requires a separate cultivation method, while Jing Essence does not. As long as the body becomes stronger, Jing Essence will naturally become abundant. Therefore, Western martial arts often combine training methods, cultivation methods, and fighting methods. For example, the Radiant King Fist teaches you how to convert Jing Essence into Dou Qi and release it, how to practice fist techniques to strengthen your body, and finally, it also has moves for killing enemies.

The reason why Easterners consider Dou Qi to be an Evil Dao is because it is purely for combat and is not an independent form of energy. Activating Dou Qi consumes Jing Essence, which is a depletion of Primal Qi and is harmful to the body. True Qi, on the other hand, is an independent form of energy that can nourish the body even without fighting. Cultivating Internal Cultivation is an increase in vital Primal Qi and is beneficial to the body.

This view is actually flawed, treating Dou Qi as True Qi. In fact, Western martial artists do not have the concept of Internal Cultivation, only the concept of "qi". They also have training and cultivation methods, and they do not exhaust the resources. However, they do not cultivate Qi Essence, but Jing Essence.

Driven by curiosity, Si Ming returned and practiced for a while. What he found was astonishing. Because of his talent for sudden enlightenment, he didn't need to worry about proficiency; the only thing hindering his progress Foundation.

In just one night, he mastered the Radiant King Fist to the fifth level. It should be noted that the Radiant King Fist only has seven levels in total, corresponding to the Sevenfold Heaven Mountain in mythology. The fifth level is equivalent to the Early Spirit Transformation. The Blazing Flame Lion King Sword also reached the same level.

However, after a moment's thought, he understood the reason. The foundation of Dou Qi arts is Jing Essence, and the external manifestation of Jing Essence is physical quality. The stronger the body, the stronger the Jing Essence. With Si Ming's physical qualities, it is not surprising that he has such achievements.

"Does this mean that I have reached the Spirit Transformation stage?"