Self-Realized Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method

He quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

He dragged the corpses into a nearby grove and tossed them aside. Jiang Dali kept the silver, poisons and antidotes, decent weapons, and other such items for himself.

For instance, the darts forged by Deathly Scholar were merely ordinary Mortal Grade weapons, but Jiang Dali could still use them.

Deathly Scholar's iron fan, however, was a third-grade sharp weapon. Such an unusual weapon was difficult to forge, and if sold in the right place in the jianghu, it could fetch a good price. Jiang Dali put it away as well.

As for the ordinary hand axes and longswords carried by the other two lackeys, he could not even be bothered to take them.

Once he was done, Jiang Dali stopped hesitating. He sat cross-legged and spent 50 Cultivation Points, instantly advancing to the Inner Qi Realm.

He felt a strand of inner qi arise within his lower dantian, continuously nourishing him. In an instant, his entire body seemed to brim with power.

"You have comprehended and cultivated inner qi on your own, officially entering the Inner Qi Realm. Jianghu Reputation +50. You have created a basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method."

Jiang Dali happily opened his eyes, which gleamed brightly.

He immediately checked his attribute panel.

Sure enough, the attribute panel had changed.

"Jiang Dali, Third Boss of Black Wind Stronghold (Inner Qi Realm Minor BOSS), Qi and Blood 3500/3500, Inner Qi 100/100."

Realm: Inner Qi Realm (2/300)

Status: One of the Three Bosses of Black Wind Stronghold / Iron Character Killer of Green Robe Pavilion

Jianghu Title Reputation: Slightly Notorious (420/500)

Pet: Jianmen Pass Demon Eagle

Martial Arts: Hidden Weapons: Mortal Grade Mid-Rank 'Sky Full of Flying Rain' (Level 3, Slight Accomplishment)

Fist and Leg Techniques: Basic 'Four Directions Fist,' Basic 'Six Paths Leg,' Basic 'Eight Directions Palm'

Saber Technique: Mortal Grade Mid-Rank 'Tiger Fiend Golden Ring Saber Technique' (Level 3, Slight Accomplishment)

Body Tempering: Mortal Grade Low-Rank 'Iron Cloth Skill' (Level 3, Slight Accomplishment)

Movement Technique: Mortal Grade Low-Rank 'Eight Steps Catching Cicadas' (Level 2, Initial Mastery)

Internal Energy Cultivation Method: Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method

Cultivation Points: 3

Potential Points: 52"

First, his Jianghu Reputation had risen to 420 points. He was not far from advancing to the next stage.

Second, his strength had reached the true Inner Qi Realm. He was now roughly on par with Qiu Xuemei, whom he had killed earlier, and could mobilize inner strength to increase the lethality of his martial techniques.

At this realm, he had basically shed the status of a jianghu rookie and could be considered a true martial artist.

By comparison, Xiong Ba, the Great Mountain Lord of Black Wind Stronghold, was not in the Inner Qi Realm either.

However, the Great Mountain Lord of Black Wind Stronghold was still a BOSS. His Qi and Blood was abundant, and he cultivated a tough, highly refined Iron Cloth Skill. His true combat strength was no weaker than that of some who had just entered the Inner Qi Realm.

How easy had it been to cultivate to the Inner Qi Realm in my previous life? Those players were basically born with excellent aptitude and bone structure—meaning they leveled up quickly.

That was why the famous sects, great and small, were all so willing to accept players, teaching them all kinds of martial arts and even precious Internal Energy Cultivation Methods.

Jiang Dali sighed. Unlike me, a reborn man who somehow remained in this world and became a bandit. Not only was I immediately branded as someone of dubious origins...

Even without that label, those sects would not have accepted me as a disciple or taught me an Internal Energy Cultivation Method.

That is why it took me two years to slowly reach this point. If I had not taken the initiative to accept and complete so many missions for Cultivation Points, my progress would have been even slower.

After breaking through, Jiang Dali reflected on the past two years. Though he felt sentimental, he had no regrets.

After all, steadily cultivating and comprehending an Internal Energy Cultivation Method on his own was also an extremely formidable path of cultivation.

In his previous life, players who wanted to cultivate an Internal Energy Cultivation Method only needed to complete a few missions, scrape together some travel expenses, and wait a while. They could then join certain sects, learn Internal Energy Cultivation Methods, and advance rapidly.

Hardly anyone would foolishly train the basics for years, slowly raising their cultivation until they comprehended an Internal Energy Cultivation Method on their own.

That was until a player known as One God suddenly rose to prominence.

Not only did he become the first player to comprehend a Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method on his own, but he also used that advantage to combine the strengths of two schools. He learned the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Pure Yang Wuji Skill, his inner strength becoming astonishing enough to make him one of the strongest players.

Only later did many people discover One God's secret.

It turned out that as long as one did not take shortcuts and comprehended a Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method on their own, they could adjust their own Internal Energy Cultivation Method, continuously absorbing the advantages of other methods to make up for its shortcomings and perfect it. In the end, they could create the strongest internal energy method best suited to themselves.

Such self-created internal energy methods possessed the greatest destructive power, suited their users perfectly, and had enormous room for growth. They allowed one to carve out their own path.

In contrast, players who joined sects and learned their sects' Internal Energy Cultivation Methods were ultimately following paths laid out by others. They remained far from creating their own martial arts, and it was even harder for them to incorporate the strengths of other Internal Energy Cultivation Methods while cultivating one.

Over the past two years, Jiang Dali had not lacked other ways to join a sect and learn an Internal Energy Cultivation Method. Yet he had not chosen them, because he wanted to comprehend one himself and walk his own path in the future.

Now that he had broken through to the Inner Qi Realm, Jiang Dali hurried to consolidate his cultivation.

He spent all 50 Potential Points on the Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method.

At once, the data for the Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method on the attribute panel shifted. A line of words faintly appeared after Internal Energy Cultivation Method: (Beginner Practice) 50%.

Jiang Dali felt as though the qi in his lower dantian had suddenly increased by more than half, making him feel an urgent need to urinate.

He rose to his feet.

Jiang Dali suddenly let out a low shout. His entire body swelled, muscles and bones expanding as a chain of crackling explosions erupted from his skeleton. In an instant, he grew more than two feet taller, his muscles bulging as though a vajra had descended into the world—savage and cold.

Bang!

His clothes were directly torn apart by the expansion, while the outer layer of the Tiger-skin Set clung tightly to his body.

Jiang Dali felt inner qi constantly surging through the dantian within him, as if his whole body were filled with strength. Yet this inner qi also seemed to be draining at an extremely rapid rate.

Moreover, the inner qi could not seem to be directed into his limbs, head, or other parts. It could only travel through the meridians near his dantian, like a kinetic reservoir supplying energy to his body.

"Ha!"

Jiang Dali swung his fists and kicked his legs, stirring howling winds through the forest.

His bluish-black fist smashed into a fir tree as thick as a bowl.

Crack!

The fir tree snapped cleanly in half, wood chips scattering everywhere.

Crack, crack, crack—

Jiang Dali rapidly threw punches and kicks. After roughly a dozen punches, his inner qi was completely exhausted, leaving him hollow.

However, several nearby fir trees, along with even thicker trees, had been severely damaged.

Not bad. Although it is only a Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method, it does not add much to my destructive power. The inner qi is rather mild and lacks endurance, but it is still inner qi. It has probably increased my strength by a full thirty percent.

As someone who had lived through it once before, Jiang Dali quickly made his assessment.

There might be no useless martial arts, only useless people.

But martial arts throughout the world were still divided into different grades.

Although self-comprehended Internal Energy Cultivation Methods had great potential and room for growth in the future, their early stages were clearly limited. Their grades were too low, they lacked distinguishing features, and their increase to combat power was therefore limited.

If he had mastered a supreme Internal Energy Cultivation Method like the Nine Yang Divine Skill now, then once he circulated it, his combat strength might directly increase threefold or fourfold. The gap was enormous.

Mounting his horse, Jiang Dali continued toward Black Wind Mountain Stronghold.

Still waters ran deep, and a master never feared having too many skills.

Now that his strength had improved again, Jiang Dali believed that even if Xiong Ba, the Great Mountain Lord, truly harbored ill intent like Deathly Scholar, he could handle it.

He did not fear going alone to Black Wind Stronghold.

Although Black Wind Stronghold was merely a tiny force, insignificant in the vast Shenwu World,

Jiang Dali had long made plans. He still intended to use the stronghold as his base, a springboard for conquering cities and land and dominating the jianghu in the future.

After all, the bandits in the stronghold were ready-made subordinates for him to command.

The stronghold occupied favorable terrain and was self-sufficient. It was also a viable base for a Grass-Head Emperor.

Most importantly, the first batch of players would descend tomorrow. In the early stages, the forces these players would encounter most often were precisely tiny forces like Black Wind Stronghold.

Jiang Dali had long regarded the players as resources he could continuously cultivate and plunder—otherwise known as leeks.