Cultivating Evil Arts, Proving Immortality!

After completing Second Blood Muscle Refining, Su Que noticed while bathing that the lines of his muscles were far more pronounced. His arms were nearly a full size larger, and his shoulders and back had grown broader and thicker.

To keep others from noticing, he had no choice but to visit the city's shops and buy looser scholar's robes to conceal his increasingly sturdy frame.

The long hours of martial training had also made him a bit taller.

Fortunately, he was still young.

Growing taller at this age wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

Before he knew it, two months had passed. Su Que taught during the day, trained at dawn and night, and lived a quiet, peaceful life.

During this time, the yamen, martial arts schools, gangs, and the White Lotus Sect in Jade Water City had clashed several times, becoming the talk of the streets and alleys.

Word had it that Jade Water City had repeatedly requested reinforcements from the prefectural city. Eventually, the prefectural city relented and sent a constable whose martial realm had reached Third Blood Tendon Strengthening.

But three days after arriving in Jade Water City, that constable vanished without a trace—as if he had evaporated into thin air.

A couple of days later, a runner from the yamen leaked the news: the constable had been brutally murdered by White Lotus Sect followers.

When the people of Jade Water City heard that even a constable sent by the prefectural city had died so quickly, a pall of terror settled over them all at once.

In their eyes, the White Lotus Sect suddenly seemed overwhelmingly powerful.

Seeing the sect's strength, some people even took the initiative to approach the White Lotus Monks patrolling the streets and beg to join.

But none of this had anything to do with Su Que. He was just an honest, unassuming teacher.

Whenever he saw wandering warriors challenging the White Lotus Monks, he always watched from a safe distance.

When he encountered White Lotus Sect members, he made a point to steer clear.

There was no way he'd ever cross paths with those fanatical White Lotus heretics.

When he got home, he would often remind his sister Su Jing to stay indoors as much as possible. If she had to go out, she shouldn't linger around crowds, lest she get caught up in the White Lotus Sect's violence.

At night, after dinner, Su Que would head to the cave.

After drinking his medicine, he would begin his training.

Ever since breaking through to Second Blood Muscle Refining that night, he had pressed on with the cultivation of Third Blood Tendon Strengthening.

Third Blood Tendon Strengthening meant using blood and muscle to temper and stretch the ligaments.

As his tendons grew tougher and more flexible, he could perform movements he'd never been able to before.

Moreover, training the tendons further enhanced his strength, speed, and reflexes.

But Su Que noticed that his progress in Third Blood Tendon Strengthening was no longer as fast as it had been with First Blood Skin Refining and Second Blood Muscle Refining.

So he shifted the focus of his training back to the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.

Once the true qi of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill grew more abundant and more overbearing, his progress in Third Blood Tendon Strengthening would speed up accordingly.

Another month slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Name: Su Que (17 years old)

Lifespan: 93

Talent Value: 16

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (5th Realm Peak Mastery 15%), Five Animal Frolics (1st Realm Initial Glimpse 1%)

Internal Skill: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (3rd Realm Entry Level 9%)

After over a month of training, his Wedding Dress Divine Skill had risen another realm.

Thanks to the reverse flow of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, his flesh, blood, and meridians had been strengthened.

His lifespan had extended by ten years compared to a month ago.

His Talent Value had increased by three points.

When he first started training the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, the true qi inside him was just a single wisp—a faint warmth.

Now, his true qi had grown considerably, nearly as thick as three fingers.

Since true qi could merge with the force of his punches, his strength was now on an entirely different level.

As his cultivation of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill progressed, a wisp of steam rose from the Baihui Acupoint on top of Su Que's head.

And faintly, with each breath he took, steam would curl out from before his nose and roll back in.

"Let me try using blood and qi to strengthen the tendons again."

With that thought, Su Que immediately circulated his blood and qi, moved his muscles, and began to temper and stretch his tendons.

Instantly, every tendon on his muscles and bones began to itch and ache.

The skin and muscles beneath his clothes bulged out in some places and sank in others—his tendons were stretching back and forth.

"Just as I thought—once the Wedding Dress Divine Skill advances, the speed of my martial realm cultivation picks up again!"

Internal skills help boost martial realm progress, and martial realm progress in turn aids internal skill cultivation.

The two are inherently complementary.

Beyond that, thanks to the reverse flow of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, his muscles—already refined through Second Blood Muscle Refining—had become even tougher and more compact.

And "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening" precisely relied on blood and muscle.

With his muscles growing stronger, it was no surprise that Su Que's cultivation speed increased.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. Su Que sat cross-legged on the bed, and a series of crackling sounds like popping beans rang out from his body.

"My martial realm has broken through!"

He advanced from the state of "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening" to "Fourth Blood Bone Forging."

He leaped off the bed, suddenly lifted his leg, and kicked straight upward.

His right leg and left leg instantly formed a straight line.

This was the state of a martial artist after undergoing "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening."

The muscles and tendons throughout the body became supple and flexible.

Movements like full splits and wide straddles were effortlessly executed.

Su Que lowered his leg, then abruptly leaned back into a "Steel Plank Bridge," completing it with ease.

After "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening," his physical strength grew greater, and his body became more agile.

Not only could he attack from tricky angles, but he could also dodge others' strikes with unimaginable movements.

Moreover, after "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening," the lines of his body became more pronounced, and he had grown two inches taller.

If he were to bare his torso in front of others, any knowledgeable martial artist would immediately recognize him as a trained fighter.

After undergoing "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening," the shape of his muscles became naturally smooth and fluid—one could say his muscles had transformed from "dead" to "alive."

Such muscles could never be developed by ordinary people relying solely on brute force training.

Su Que's mind stirred, and four lines of pitch-black text appeared before him.

Name: Su Que (Age 17)

Lifespan: 108

Talent Value: 19

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (5th Realm Peak Mastery 15%), Five Animal Frolics (1st Realm Initial Glimpse 1%)

Internal Art: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (3rd Realm Entry Level 9%)

He had heard some martial artists say, "An inch longer tendon adds ten years to life." Though not entirely accurate, it at least pointed out that tendon strengthening could extend one's lifespan.

After "Third Blood Tendon Strengthening," his lifespan had actually increased by sixteen years!

And his Talent Value had risen by three points.

Su Que felt a surge of excitement and quickly returned to the bed to cultivate the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.

With the increase in Talent Value, his cultivation speed for the Wedding Dress Divine Skill had also accelerated.

Suddenly, another two months passed.

Nighttime, in a forest outside the city.

Su Que's mind stirred, and he summoned five lines of pitch-black text.

Name: Su Que (Age 18)

Lifespan: 120

Talent Value: 22

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (5th Realm Peak Mastery 15%), Five Animal Frolics (1st Realm Initial Glimpse 1%)

Internal Art: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (4th Realm Outstanding 2%)

The Wedding Dress Divine Skill had advanced another realm.

After reaching the 4th Realm Outstanding, the cultivation speed of this internal art had slowed considerably.

When cultivating the Seven Injuries Fist, progress also noticeably slowed at the 4th Realm Outstanding.

Perhaps all martial arts hit a bottleneck at the 4th Realm Outstanding.

The slow progress in internal arts directly led to a slowdown in Fourth Blood Bone Forging.

Thus, Su Que shifted his focus to cultivating the Seven Injuries Fist.

After an hour of practicing the Seven Injuries Fist, he found that its progress had actually increased by 2%.

At this rate, advancing the Seven Injuries Fist another realm would only take about ten days.

His cultivation speed was much faster than before he obtained the Wedding Dress Divine Skill!

Su Que immediately pondered the reasons.

"First, having internal energy aids the progress of martial arts."

"Second, cultivating the Wedding Dress Divine Skill extends my lifespan and increases my Talent Value, which in turn speeds up my Seven Injuries Fist cultivation!"

Thinking this, the vague ideas that had lingered in his mind gradually became clear.

--When a demonic art reaches a bottleneck, stop first, then find another demonic art to cultivate!

Because his current Talent Value isn't low, starting a new demonic art from scratch allows him to quickly advance it from Initial Glimpse to the fourth realm, Outstanding.

Cultivating a new demonic art extends his Lifespan, which in turn boosts his Talent Value.

Although extending his Lifespan is no longer easy now, as long as he trains several demonic arts to the fourth realm, Outstanding, his Lifespan will inevitably lengthen considerably, and his Talent Value will rise accordingly.

Once his Talent Value increases to a certain level, he can then return to the demonic art that hit the bottleneck.

With the added Talent Value, that bottlenecked demonic art is sure to make progress!

Repeating this cycle, he can keep stacking Talent Value and continuously extend his Lifespan!

If this continues, proving immortality may not be impossible!