Seeing that he had trained Crimson Fiend Skill to its peak, Su Que considered which martial art he should practice next.
He still had two sinister arts in hand: Yin Wind Claw and Dark Yin Finger.
"Then I'll practice Yin Wind Claw first!"
Su Que made his decision swiftly.
However, it was already night. He would train tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Su Que rose early and looked through the Yin Wind Claw manual.
Yin Wind Claw was a vicious martial art.
With a single claw strike, it could not only damage an enemy's flesh and skin, but also leave Yin Poison in the enemy's wounds.
First, this Yin Poison could make an enemy's wounds difficult to heal.
Second, it could seep through the wounds into the enemy's flesh and blood. If the enemy did not use medicine or true qi to purge it, the Yin Poison would remain in their body, continually damaging their flesh and meridians.
The first stage of its cultivation required one to use external force to temper the muscles and bones of both hands, making them even harder.
The manual described a combined training method involving medicinal baths, sand and gravel, qi and blood tempering, and striking.
Only when one could effortlessly drive all five fingers into a living body using nothing but physical strength, without circulating true qi, would the first stage be considered complete.
Why did it start with driving my fingers into a living body? How bloody and perverse.
Su Que thought.
Besides, this early in the morning, apart from himself, he could not find a living creature in the house for the moment.
Su Que continued reading and only then learned that driving one's five fingers into a living body was for the second stage.
The second stage required one to drive all five fingers into a living body, then breathe and circulate energy according to Yin Wind Claw's unique method, drawing the living creature's Death Qi into one's hands.
All animals possessed both life qi and Death Qi within them.
Dying animals contained the densest Death Qi, making them extremely suitable for practicing Yin Wind Claw.
Forget it. I still have to teach the children later. Better not get my hands covered in blood.
Su Que planned to find animals that night to practice this sinister art.
That night, after finishing dinner, Su Que left the city and raced toward a forest.
Most of the wild beasts in Qinghua Mountain's forests had been roasted and eaten by him. Now, finding beasts in those woods was no easy task.
So he went to another forest.
After darting through the woods for a quarter of an hour, he spotted four wild wolves foraging for food.
He immediately kicked off with both feet and shot toward the four wolves like an arrow.
Before the four wolves could react, Su Que's four midair punches had beaten them to the brink of death.
Then, Su Que crouched beside one of the wolves, curled both hands into claws, and fiercely raked them down into the wolf's body!
Pfft!
All ten of his fingers sank into the wolf's flesh.
The wolf's hot blood gushed from the wounds pierced open by his fingers.
His fingertips immediately felt hot, sticky, and slick.
However, he quickly gathered his Heart Intent and began breathing and circulating energy according to the method recorded in the Yin Wind Claw manual.
Before long, he felt threads of icy breath gathering from the wolf's body, flowing through his ten fingers and into both hands.
According to the Yin Wind Claw manual, because practicing Yin Wind Claw often required drawing in Death Qi, the body would be damaged by it.
When absorbing Death Qi, one's flesh and meridians were already harmed. The body would feel cold, while qi and blood would become somewhat sluggish.
Afterward, the Death Qi would lurk within the body and flare up every midnight.
When one first began practicing Yin Wind Claw, qi and blood would only become slightly sluggish at midnight, and the side effects would not yet be obvious.
When Yin Wind Claw reached minor mastery, Yin Qi would wreak havoc at midnight, causing the body to turn cold and numb.
If Yin Wind Claw reached major mastery, then at midnight, the body would feel as though it had fallen into an ice cellar. Even soaking in hot water would not stave off the unbearable cold.
After suffering the bitter cold, the body would become completely numb and utterly unable to move. One could only stare helplessly and wait an hour for the body to gradually recover.
Moreover, sluggish qi and blood would bring cultivators many problems, such as premature aging, blurred vision, and worsening hearing.
Only after learning of Yin Wind Claw's side effects did Su Que realize that the prescription Startling Blood Soup he had obtained from Fan Wuyang was not merely for accelerating cultivation; it was also used to resist Yin Wind Claw's side effects.
That was because Startling Blood Soup could make one's qi and blood boil and surge, thereby setting in motion once more the qi and blood that had stagnated from Yin Wind Claw's side effects.
However, the side effects of any cultivation method would be reversed in Su Que's body.
Ordinarily, after absorbing Death Qi, one's qi and blood would become somewhat sluggish.
Yet now, after Su Que absorbed Death Qi, his qi and blood instead began to faintly boil and surge, as though he had taken a small sip of Startling Blood Soup.
Su Que's spirits rose, and he continued breathing and circulating energy, absorbing Death Qi.
Before even the time it took to burn a stick of incense had passed, the wolf into which he had driven his fingers was completely dead.
The wolf's entire coat had gone limp, dull and devoid of luster.
Only a tiny trickle of blood seeped from the wounds where Su Que's fingers had entered, and the blood was no longer scorching hot as before, but cool as an autumn river.
Su Que pulled out his ten fingers and saw that the wolf's wounds had turned black.
Curious, he tore open the wolf's hide along the wounds and discovered that not only had the wounds turned black, but all the wolf's flesh and blood had blackened as well.
Judging from the cultivation method alone, this Yin Wind Claw was far more sinister than Crimson Fiend Skill.
Thinking this, Su Que kicked off with both feet, darted to another wolf's side, curled his hands into claws, and fiercely struck down.
After his ten fingers sank into the wolf's flesh, he continued breathing and circulating energy, absorbing Death Qi.
After a while, he felt as though the Death Qi had reached a critical point.
So he summoned his Attributes and took a look.
Yin Wind Claw had indeed reached 99% Initial Glimpse.
Su Que continued breathing and circulating energy, absorbing Death Qi.
After a while, he suddenly felt a great quantity of Death Qi surge from the dying wolf's body into his hands.
"I've broken through!"
Su Que summoned his Attributes.
Name: Su Que (18 years old) Lifespan: 165 Talent Value: 31 Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (6th realm, Divine Skill 36%), Yin Wind Claw (Initial Glimpse 1%)[Expand] Internal Arts: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (Outstanding 30%), Crimson Fiend Skill (5th realm, Peak Mastery 99%)
His Lifespan had increased by five years, and his Talent Value had increased by one point.
Whoosh!
Su Que pulled both hands from the wolf's flesh.
Aside from being covered in wolf blood, his hands showed no visible changes.
Yet with a thought, wisps of icy Yin Qi began to emanate from his hands.
Suddenly, he clawed at the wolf with his right hand.
A chunk of the wolf's hide and flesh was immediately torn away, leaving a claw mark whose wound glimmered with a faint blackness.
"So this was Yin Poison?"
Su Que withdrew the Yin Qi from his clawed hand and touched the blackened part of the wound with a finger.
At once, threads of coolness spread from his fingertip.
Moreover, Su Que could feel the Yin Poison seeming to corrode the skin on his fingertip.
"Crimson Fiend Skill has Fire Poison, while Yin Wind Claw has Yin Poison."
"If I use these two moves one after another, I could catch an opponent off guard."
As Su Que thought this, he curled his fingers into claws and, with a pfft, drove them once more into the wolf's flesh, breathing and circulating energy as he absorbed Death Qi.
Yin Wind Claw's cultivation progress rose at an extremely rapid pace.
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