Change

Wu Ming knew that his body's "aptitude" hadn't improved, but after his senses heightened, his control over his body became much stronger than before. With the same two bowls of coarse grain and a few red dates, his body absorbed the same amount of "blood energy" as before. However, through his meticulous guidance, almost none of this "blood energy" was wasted or lost.

By avoiding much of the waste of blood energy, his body's recovery ability naturally improved significantly.

Normally, in his condition of depleted blood energy and severe bodily damage, his body was almost like a leaky sieve, losing blood energy everywhere. But with keen senses and control, avoiding most of the loss naturally created a huge difference compared to ordinary people.

In just five days, he was able to get out of bed and walk.

Based on Wu Ming's current judgment, he estimated that in another seven to eight days at most, his body would recover to a normal state, no longer weak. After that, within a month at the latest, he would be able to return to his state before the ordeal!

In other words, One month would accomplish what previously took a year and a half of hard work!

Although that year and a half of cultivation was from learning to walk as a child to gradually becoming proficient, with a long period of stagnation, the actual effective cultivation time was less than a year and a half. But for him now to complete this process in just one month undoubtedly showed the immense and extraordinary change he had undergone compared to before.

After walking a few laps in the yard to loosen up his body, Wu Ming didn't expend too much energy. He soon returned to the house, got back into bed, and leaned against the wall, half-reclining.

He closed his eyes.

He gathered his thoughts.

In the vast, boundless space of his consciousness, Wu Ming once again saw the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram that blotted out the sky and obscured the sun.

"Black Emperor's Demon Subduing..."

Looking up at this vast and majestic scroll, Wu Ming murmured softly.

For the past five days, while recuperating in bed, he had been studying the changes in this diagram. However, since the day it suppressed the black energy Malevolent Spirit that had invaded his body, the diagram seemed to have fallen silent again, showing no further changes.

However, after the Malevolent Spirit's invasion and the subsequent strengthening of his soul, Wu Ming's understanding of this diagram was no longer one of complete ignorance. At least, he now knew that this diagram had the effect of suppressing evil spirits and nourishing the soul.

It's just that...

He couldn't actively control this power.

Wu Ming had tried to touch the diagram with his intent, but it felt like an ant trying to move a mountain. He couldn't budge it even a little, nor could he actively awaken it and unleash its power.

As for the origin of the diagram, he was still completely in the dark.

"The essence of this diagram must be far beyond imagination. I am currently unable to explore it. If I can utilize it well, I will surely soar in the path of martial arts."

"However... this diagram is unyielding and cannot be commanded. To borrow its power, do I have to actively invite Malevolent Spirits into my body like before, and then awaken it to suppress the Malevolent Spirits?"

Wu Ming pondered deeply in his heart.

He still hadn't figured out what that black energy Malevolent Spirit was. He only knew that it seemed to be a type of 'evil spirit' that rampaged through the world. The general method for martial artists to deal with such evil spirits was to break them with pure Yang blood energy.

The more vigorous and intense a martial artist's condensed blood energy was, the stronger its effect in dispelling demons and warding off evil.

But this kind of demon-dispelling and evil-warding was usually limited to external use. It required breaking or repelling the evil spirit with pure Yang blood energy before it could approach. Once it invaded the body, it would directly burrow into the forehead and the sea of consciousness. At that point, not only would the blood energy be ineffective, but the evil spirit would seize control of the consciousness and drain the entire body's blood energy for sustenance.

Just like before, when that black energy Malevolent Spirit entered his body, even though it was suppressed by the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in a mere instant, it still used his forehead's sea of consciousness as a base, forcefully drawing out his entire body's blood energy, causing him to fall into a state of depleted blood energy.

Undoubtedly.

Inviting Malevolent Spirits into the body was an extremely dangerous act.

After all, if the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram's power had awakened a little slower, and the black energy Malevolent Spirit had drained even more blood energy, it might have completely drained his blood energy. In that case, even if the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram could suppress and refine it, nourishing his soul, his body, drained of blood energy, would turn into a dried corpse, losing all vitality. This was clearly a major problem.

Wu Ming's intuition told him that the usage of the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram was definitely not so reckless, nor could it have such immense risks. There must be a more complete method, but he was currently unable to discover it.

"Well, there's no need to rush."

After pondering for a long time, Wu Ming temporarily put it out of his mind.

This accidental awakening of the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram had already brought him immense gains. For the next period, he would slowly digest these gains, and there was indeed no need to rush to explore the diagram's deeper powers.

In the blink of an eye.

Another ten-plus days passed.

Wu Ming's body had completely recovered, though his blood energy had not yet returned to its state before being invaded by the Malevolent Spirit. However, fully recovering and even condensing his blood energy to enter the ranks of martial artists was only a matter of time.

Liu Shi and Wu Yu were both overjoyed by Wu Ming's rapid recovery, attributing it to divine protection. After all, the clan leader Wu Qu had said that Wu Ming would need at least a month to recuperate before he could walk, yet Wu Ming was able to walk in just a few days.

The clan leader of Wu Village, Wu Qu, was busy investigating the cause of the Malevolent Spirit's appearance and had not continuously monitored Wu Ming's condition. A few days prior, upon learning that Wu Ming could already walk, he was only slightly surprised but didn't pay much attention.

He had meticulously examined Wu Ming's condition. Having been invaded by a Malevolent Spirit and suffering severe depletion of blood energy, even if he could walk in just half a month and appear normal, it was likely only superficial. The internal emptiness could not be compensated for in a short period.

On this day, In the courtyard, Wu Ming assumed the stance of the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance. After holding it for a period, he slowly exhaled a turbid breath.

"The progress is indeed rapid, not much different from my predictions."

A hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. His previous judgment was indeed quite accurate. After strengthening his soul, with his internal vision and more powerful methods of guiding blood energy, condensing his blood energy was twice as effective with half the effort, far beyond what was possible before.

After his body had fully recovered, he had accumulated a lot of blood energy in just a few days.

"Hoo."

Wu Ming didn't practice for too long and stopped soon after.

His body had not yet recovered to its previous peak state, and with his enhanced senses, he also realized that the cultivation of condensing blood actually required a balance of effort and rest. Forcing it would only deplete his blood energy.

For example, the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance was not suitable for prolonged practice. Standing for an hour at a time was most appropriate. Exceeding this limit would not only yield diminishing returns but also damage his blood energy, requiring a period of rest before repeating the practice.

These kinds of details were different from Wu Qu's guidance.

Wu Qu's guidance for practicing the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance involved standing for two hours, followed by a rest.

Of course, Wu Ming didn't think Wu Qu deliberately withheld information. Rather, with his current meticulous study and understanding of the human body, everyone's innate constitution and physique were vastly different, meaning their adaptability would also vary.

Standing for two hours was likely the most general recommendation, and it certainly wouldn't lead to significant depletion.

However, the optimal duration for each individual varied. For himself, about an hour was most suitable, while some people with exceptional bone structure might be fine even after three hours.

From this, Wu Ming could roughly infer that Wu Qu, as the clan leader, likely didn't have a much stronger perception of the physical body than he did now. This was because Wu Qu gave the same two-hour standing recommendation to his own sons, suggesting Wu Qu also couldn't precisely gauge each person's constitution to tailor the most fitting cultivation method for different individuals.

Then again, it made sense.

If he could do such a thing, Wu Qu wouldn't be a clan leader in a village outside the city. He could easily open a martial arts school in the inner city and recruit many disciples, and surely many people would be willing to be guided by him.

Even Wu Ming himself could only clearly perceive his own condition; he couldn't accurately discern the situation for others.