The Road of Acquired Cultivation

"Huh! Fuck!"

Wang Wu stood there in a daze, his mind completely blank. Ice Spirit Energy? Beginner Ice Spirit Root?

This worked too?

I'm not dreaming, am I?

But after the shock passed, the first thing he thought of was those five White-Haired Rats.

If he had guessed correctly, those five White-Haired Rats had likely gone through something similar to him the previous year. They had first ground out their Ice Resistance, gained Perfect Ice Resistance, then somehow muddled their way into obtaining Ice Spirit Energy.

He just did not know whether those five had cultivated a Beginner Ice Spirit Root.

As Wang Wu pondered this, a sense of urgency rose within him.

By his calculations, a month and a half had already passed since the first winter snow fell. The Cold Air Gale would weaken, then disappear.

No matter where this thing came from, whether it was a variant of Golden Particles or some benefit a Great Demon had bestowed upon the Sprites...

At most, he had only one month left.

He had to hurry.

With that thought, Wang Wu quickly returned to his cave dwelling and slept like a log. After waking, he gorged himself until he had accumulated 500 points of Satiety, then charged into the tunnel and crawled out of the snow burrow.

The Cold Air Gale still showed no sign of weakening. Even though Wang Wu had gained a trace of Ice Spirit Energy and opened a branch meridian, it still hurt when it blew against him. It still mercilessly pierced through fur, flesh, bones, organs, and skull...

Wang Wu gritted his teeth and endured, but he could only barely hold out for twenty-one seconds before being completely defeated. He burrowed into the tunnel and began his mad collision routine.

With the experience from last time, his collisions became more efficient. He knew more precisely where to strike and how much force to use, gathering the Cold Air that roamed wildly through his body into one place—the branch meridian he had opened earlier.

The entire process took only five minutes.

Once the gathering was complete, the pain vanished instantly. Then, a message swiftly appeared.

You successfully harvested 0.04 points of Ice Spirit Energy.

No way, only this much?

Wang Wu froze, then did the calculations. The day before, he had indeed endured roughly five hundred seconds outside in total before successfully gaining 1 point of Ice Spirit Energy.

Converted like that, this was indeed the proper amount. This Ice Spirit Energy was harder to acquire than the spirit energy formed from Golden Particles.

Was there any difference between the two kinds of spirit energy?

Wang Wu pondered it. He could now clearly sense the short branch meridian that had been opened in his body. It was like a road that had been carved out, tangibly existing there. The trace of Ice Spirit Energy within was also within easy reach; it was truly something he could use, though it was destined to require long-term training.

But where was the spirit energy he had obtained before?

It seemed to be hidden in his bloodline, naturally governed by his Spiritual Resonance Talent. It came at his call and went at his command, like a child sheltered by its parents, doing whatever it pleased and willful to the extreme.

"If I had to compare them, the two were probably like the acquired and the innate."

"I've never upgraded my Spiritual Resonance Talent, so I haven't felt the difference that strongly."

"But if I raised my Spiritual Resonance Talent to level 5, I should be able to see a very obvious contrast."

At that moment, Wang Wu could not help thinking again of the five White-Haired Rats and the Flame Scorpion King.

In the past, he had not been able to see the difference between them. But now, it was clear that the White-Haired Rats had acquired their ice spells through acquired cultivation.

That was why none of the Gray Rat Knights in their clan could wield ice spells.

Because this was an individual undertaking.

That was why the White-Haired Rat had been able to obtain official registration so quickly. It was weak, but special, so it had received considerable care.

But then there was the Flame Scorpion King. It could launch fireballs itself, which seemed no different from fire magic.

Yet the problem was that the offspring it produced could also unleash fireballs.

That was the fundamental difference.

It was like two roads: one followed acquired cultivation, while the other followed innate Bloodline Talent.

Neither path was inferior.

The Bloodline Talent path might even be stronger.

Wang Wu was absolutely certain of this, because the strength of his four Bloodline Talents spoke for itself.

And from beginning to end, he had never upgraded his Spiritual Resonance Talent. If he raised that as well, he might not be unable to fight the Flame Scorpion King.

Still, he ultimately possessed a human soul. The angle, breadth, and depth from which he viewed things were not something these Sprites could match.

"I'll walk both paths."

"But I absolutely won't show off or get swollen with pride. Developing quietly and creeping forward like a rat—that's the motto of our kind!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Inside the dark tunnel, Wang Wu continuously rammed himself against the walls, sorting and gathering the Cold Air Gale that had invaded his body. At the same time, he worked hard to summarize the pattern behind these collisions.

Because he was also searching for an efficient way to perfectly release this Ice Spirit Energy.

He could not possibly absorb Ice Spirit Energy and never use it.

"If I were human, perhaps I could use all kinds of spell formulas and release Ice Spirit Energy with a wave of my hand. But I'm a bear, so I can't use humans as my reference."

"Right now, my only reference is that White-Haired Rat."

Wang Wu quietly pondered and recalled.

How had that White-Haired Rat, the one that had fought him several times, released its ice spells?

"It seemed to have used only three attack methods."

"The first was an area-of-effect freezing attack. Its maximum measurable freezing range was around ten meters, and it could freeze a target solid in an instant. But the power and duration of this spell depended on the surrounding environment. There had to be enough water nearby, or it had to be raining. Before casting it, it would stand upright and slam its two little paws forward."

"The second was ice spikes. This seemed to be a rather complicated spell with a long windup, requiring at least nine seconds. But once the windup was complete, it could fire up to nine ice spikes at once."

"The third was talismans, but it was still unclear where the White-Haired Rat had gotten them."

Thinking of this, Wang Wu tried standing upright and slamming his two paws downward, but there was no reaction at all.

"Maybe that isn't it. I can't impose human habits and ways of thinking onto this. These Sprites couldn't possibly possess such delicate thought processes, so the medium for triggering Ice Spirit Energy should still be movement. There's no need to think too much. It needs to be released naturally, following the rhythm of an attack."

Wang Wu then connected this with the collision movements he had summarized for sorting out the Cold Air, and a train of thought gradually took shape.

So he continued slamming into the tunnel walls, hitting once with the left side of his body, then once with the right.

This collision movement could completely evolve into an attacking movement.

Humans had Iron Mountain Lean; his could be called Bear Mountain Lean.

For a time, Wang Wu stopped obsessing over releasing Ice Spirit Energy and instead focused entirely on Bear Mountain Lean as an attack method.

For example, he first needed to run, to accelerate as he ran. At the moment he charged toward and closed in on a target, he should not try to stand upright or swipe with his paws. Doing so would slow him down and cause him to lose much of the inertial force he had gained from running.

But if he used Bear Mountain Lean instead, he would not waste the inertial impact force generated by running.

And in actual combat, he could switch between Bear Mountain Left Lean and Bear Mountain Right Lean according to the target's movements.

Once he had thought it through, he simply began testing it in the tunnel. He first retreated some distance, then began accelerating, accelerating. Just as he was about to reach the end of the tunnel, he immediately made a slight adjustment to his center of gravity and shifted the angle of his body. Naturally, he smashed the right side of his body viciously into the tunnel wall.

In that instant, it was as if blessings had reached his heart, as if water had naturally filled its channel. Or perhaps the inertial impact of his body had spontaneously stirred the Ice Spirit Energy within him.

That opened branch meridian was like a switch that had received the signal to release.

The instant he successfully rammed into the wall, a surge of Ice Spirit Energy burst forth, instantly coating the entire wall in a thick layer of ice!

It worked!

Although that Bear Mountain Right Lean had directly drained the trace of Ice Spirit Energy he had stored, Wang Wu was so happy that he jumped straight into the air.

That's right, this was it. This was the feeling. There was no need to be like humans, pinching hand seals, chanting spells, and stepping through the cosmos before casting a spell. My attacking movement itself was the signal!

There was no need to imitate humans.

Humans were too frail, so they fought at range whenever possible. But he was a bear, thick-skinned and tough-fleshed. Close combat suited him just fine.