Douluo: Unlocking the Great Secrets of the Human Body, Becoming a Heavenly Demon

The fusion of the Thousand-Year Spirit Soul was indeed somewhat strenuous. It had developed rudimentary intelligence and instinctively resisted Bai Xu, but with their spiritual powers mutually infiltrating each other, it was utterly powerless. It did not even last a minute before Bai Xu refined it.

Level!

"First Soul Skill, Spirit Amplification—it can temporarily increase spiritual power by roughly fifty percent. Just as expected." Bai Xu sensed his first thousand-year soul ring and was fairly satisfied. A Sacred Illusion Demon Ape cub appeared on his shoulder, blinking as it examined Bai Xu's Heavenly Eye.

Mysterious Yellow Qi seemed to flow within those black eyes, capable of seeing through falsehood and clearly perceiving the road ahead.

"Oi-ya!" The cub waved its arms and legs in celebration of its new life.

Bai Xu put away the demon ape and focused inward. "Secrets of the Human Body Cultivation" recorded that the first realm of human cultivation was the five viscera. The so-called five viscera stored essence and qi without leaking them.

Essence and qi were the secret to human cultivation. Generally speaking, humans possessed three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit. Although spirit was mostly stored in the brain, the heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and kidneys were all closely connected to mental activity.

The five viscera were what stored spirit, essence, blood, qi, souls, and ethereal souls.

The book recorded that cultivation was not accomplished in a day. If one wished to unlock the body's hidden power, results might not be visible in the short term. Three years, five years, perhaps even ten years—through gradual transformation, the human body would unearth its potential. By then, one could split mountains with brute force, wield the power of the Five Elements, fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, capable of anything.

Here, the Five Elements referred to the first realm—the five viscera.

Kidney Water, Liver Wood, Heart Fire, Spleen Earth, Lung Metal.

They could be cultivated in sequence and were divided into early, middle, and late stages. However, the five viscera had to be cultivated in moderation. Once one reached completion, one could not stubbornly persist and had to cultivate another organ instead. Otherwise, the Five Elements of the human body would be disrupted and the body thrown out of balance. At best, one would suffer cultivation deviation; at worst, one would explode and die.

The method of cultivation was simple: breathing exercises, meditation, and a regular routine, absorbing and increasing human essence and qi before storing them within the five viscera. Of course, spiritual qi, spiritual fruits, spiritual springs, and other heavenly treasures were best used as supplements, as they could greatly speed up cultivation.

Bai Xu was cultivating Spleen Earth, corresponding to the Essence of Earth—simply put, the primordial qi of the earth, also known as Mother Qi of All Things. It could nourish all living things and strengthen spiritual perception.

Bai Xu relaxed into a cross-legged seated position, naturally placed his hands on his knees with his palms facing upward, gently closed his eyes, and began cultivating.

East Sea Spirit Transmission Tower

A young adult had finally been assigned the first important student of his life. Though he was only an instructor rather than a personal mentor, he still took the matter very seriously.

His immediate superior personally instructed him, "Leng Jiuming, teach this child well. Perhaps he will have the ability to take up a post at Spirit Pagoda Headquarters."

Leng Jiuming accepted the file and said in surprise, "Innate Full Soul Power, a Thousand-Year Spirit Soul, Spirit Connection Realm spiritual power... This is no less impressive than those little monsters among Shrek's new students."

"Yes. He will be enrolling soon, so make good use of these next few years. If this child rises to great heights in the future, you and I will benefit as well. His information is currently only with the branch tower master and has yet to be sent to Spirit Pagoda Headquarters."

"Yes, I will guide him with all my strength." Leng Jiuming did not care much about benefiting from it. He was simply curious what such a genius child would be like, and what kind of personality he would have.

Bai Xu's cultivation was undoubtedly busy. Not only did he have to cultivate Soul Power, he also had to develop his body. He was exhausted every day. His family did not have much money and could not buy heavenly treasures to supplement him, but he was not in any hurry.

That month was an extraordinary one. Bai Tao and his wife also received good news. Though they had originally believed they would be unable to have children for the rest of their lives, they suddenly had a child of their own. They were overjoyed. Although Bai Xu was like a biological son to them, he was too steady and rarely showed emotion, leaving a faint sense of distance between them in daily life.

After all, no matter how good he was, he could not compare to one's own child.

Though the elderly couple did their best not to show it in front of Bai Xu, their heartfelt joy could not be concealed. It was at this time that Leng Jiuming came to visit.

"Hello, I am Leng Jiuming, a level seventy-nine Spirit Sage and Bai Xu's instructor for the next six years." The tall and handsome man stood at Bai Xu's doorstep. The strength of a Spirit Sage left Bai Tao and his wife, who lived at the bottom of society, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Lord Leng, please come in."

"No need. Today is the opening day of Spirit Transfer Academy. I came to pick up Bai Xu. Please have him come out. We will depart immediately."

"Alright, alright. Xiao Xu! School has started! Your teacher is here to pick you up!" Bai Tao's voice trembled. As a Soul Grandmaster of only a little over level twenty, he had truly never seen a Spirit Sage from such close range. He was so nervous that even his voice shook.

"I'm coming!"

Bai Xu ran over and met the handsome man. He had neat, capable short hair and wore a standard Spirit Pagoda Uniform as he looked Bai Xu over with a hint of anticipation.

"Hello, Teacher!"

"Mhm. Let's go."

"Godfather, I'm leaving. Cultivation is arduous, and I may return very rarely in the future. You and Godmother should live well." Bai Xu said.

Bai Tao had been promoted two ranks and could now accumulate a considerable amount of wealth. His wife, Bai Ying, was also pregnant. Their good days had only just begun. Meanwhile, Bai Xu had resolved to walk the path of cultivation, so he might rarely return in the future.

Bai Tao stood at the door and watched Leng Jiuming take Bai Xu away. He could not help but feel emotional. Back then, he had brought Bai Xu home only because he wanted a sensible child who would not cause trouble. But now, it seemed that being too sensible was not necessarily good. Bai Xu saw everything too clearly and appeared extremely rational. Without realizing it, he kept people at a distance, making him difficult to get close to.

Within a few minutes, Leng Jiuming brought Bai Xu to Spirit Pagoda Academy. Though it was called an academy, it was more like a small department operating under the Spirit Pagoda. Its students were all children of internal personnel from the Spirit Pagoda's branch towers. Their talents were not low, but neither were they particularly high.

Inside the classroom,

Leng Jiuming said, "From now on, I will be fully responsible for your growth. I'll be frank, Bai Xu—you are a genius, the greatest genius I have ever seen. At the same time, you are the person closest to Spirit Ice Douluo in ten thousand years, so the Spirit Pagoda will nurture you with all its strength. But being too talented is not necessarily a good thing. The internal power struggles of the Spirit Pagoda are rotten and dark to a horrifying degree. By comparison, I still recommend that you further your studies at Shrek Academy."

Oh, Leng Jiuming himself had graduated from Shrek Academy.

Shrek's ideals ran deep. That was where the geniuses of the entire continent gathered, where geniuses could truly display their brilliance. The current Spirit Pagoda was merely a machine operated for the Qian Gu Family. Everything within the tower had to serve the Qian Gu Family. Unless something unexpected happened, the next tower master would be the grandson of the current tower master, Qian Gu Dongfeng—Qiangu Zhangting.

"Of course, everything depends on your choice. My words are merely for reference."

Bai Xu showed no emotional fluctuation. "Mhm. Then can we start class now?"

Leng Jiuming glanced at Bai Xu in surprise, opened his palm, and said, "I already know your spiritual power level. Now, punch me once so we can test your strength."

Bai Xu did not hesitate. He mobilized all the strength in his body and threw a punch. Leng Jiuming did not move in the slightest.

"About one hundred kilograms!?"

"Could you possibly have been born with divine strength?"

What child had one hundred kilograms of strength right after awakening their Spirit? And Bai Xu's was a spiritual-type Spirit, not a Beast Spirit.

Bai Xu still had those calm, unruffled eyes as he stared directly at Leng Jiuming. Only after a long while did Leng Jiuming say, "I will adjust your cultivation plan according to your physical data. Perhaps your physical training will need to be strengthened as well. Here is a class schedule. The basic spirit beast knowledge course is mandatory. Choose one course that interests you as a secondary profession from mecha design, mecha repair, Battle Armor knowledge, and so on. You may spend the rest of your time freely until I come find you. Do you have any other requests?"

"I need money to buy heavenly treasures such as spiritual fruits and spiritual herbs. I want to know where I can earn money." Bai Xu said.

"Earn money? At your age, you do not need to eat those things yet, do you? Heavenly treasures are good, but not everything can be eaten."

"I know what I'm doing. Teacher, just tell me how to make money quickly."

Leng Jiuming fell into thought. If one were talking about making money quickly, Battle Armor was a highly profitable industry. Mechas were as well, but both required time to accumulate technical skill. It was not something that could make money immediately.

"The fastest way to turn a profit would be Eastsea City's underground auction house. Catch Sea Spirit Beasts in the Outer Sea and auction them off. The profits are enormous. Because Spirit Souls are widespread and the Spirit Ascension Platform exists, many people have never seen real spirit beasts. Those living Sea Spirit Beasts are treasured collectibles for wealthy merchants."

"Since you need heavenly treasures so badly, I'll advance you some money. There are Five Million Federal Coins on this card. Spend it as you wish."

Bai Xu accepted the bank card, then immediately went to the classroom to attend the basic spirit beast knowledge course.

After listening for several days, he felt it was of little use. He found the "Illustrated Guide to Sea Spirit Beasts" and "Illustrated Guide to Continental Spirit Beasts" himself and read them as leisure books during breaks. At the same time, he applied to Leng Jiuming to cultivate alone and stopped attending the basic knowledge classes.

As for things like mechas and Battle Armor, he had even less patience to learn about them one by one. To get started in such secondary professions, unless an experienced master was willing to teach you their craft, it would take ages to figure things out alone. The gains did not outweigh the losses.

Developing the body's hidden power was already exhausting, so he simply stopped learning everything else. He only cultivated Soul Power and developed his body. Everything else was a burden.

There were also practical combat classes, which Leng Jiuming generally taught one-on-one. These were all that made up his daily training.

The only interesting thing was going to Eastsea City's auctions to buy special spiritual fruits—Dragon Spirit Grass, Crystal Peaches, and other spiritual fruits that nourished the body were Bai Xu's best choices.

Bai Xu had already memorized "Secrets of the Human Body Cultivation" by heart. After the five viscera came the Six Fu. The Six Fu were a transitional stage, allowing the essences of the Five Elements to permeate them and turn the body into a natural furnace. At that point, anything within the Five Elements could be refined in an instant to nourish one's body.

After the Six Fu came the opening of the meridians. The Twelve Meridians would serve as the main channels, while the Eight Extraordinary Meridians would serve as support. Essence, qi, blood, and other energies could pass through the meridians to reach the internal organs within and the skin and muscles without, circulating throughout the entire body. It was said that those who completed meridian opening possessed enough brute force alone to move mountains and fill seas. Whether that was true or not, he did not know.

Beyond that came the demands placed upon the spirit. One would have to cultivate the brain domain, and one had to be exceedingly cautious when circulating qi. One mistake would result in dementia.

That was getting ahead of himself. Bai Xu had not even cultivated Earth Element to the early stage yet.

Thus, his days and nights were filled with cultivation: breathing exercises, meditation, and a regular routine. As a result, he gave up most of his time for making friends. Only during practical training did he spar with Leng Jiuming. His social relationships were incredibly simple, and he did not find it boring at all.

This was different from studying. He could clearly feel his body being developed step by step and his Soul Power constantly increasing. That feeling of strength—the feeling of holding everything in the palm of his hand—was irresistible, and he became immersed in it.

It was precisely this effort that brought him later rewards.

Years old, level twenty Soul Grandmaster, peak Spirit Connection Realm spiritual power, roughly two hundred kilograms of strength.

Years old, level twenty-five Soul Grandmaster, early Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power, roughly nine hundred kilograms of strength, late-stage Essence of Earth, nearing completion.

Years old, level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, early Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power, roughly sixteen hundred kilograms of strength, Essence of Earth at completion, late-stage Essence of Metal.

During the genius competitions over those three years, none of the Spirit Pagoda's geniuses of the same generation could withstand a single exchange against Bai Xu. Even some Beast Spirit Soul Masters were weaker than Bai Xu, while Agility Attack Soul Masters were not as nimble as he was. He could be called an all-around warrior.

Thus, the title of East Sea Spirit Pagoda's Number One Genius spread far and wide.

"Your combat skills have been honed well enough. Compared to true Soul Masters, what you lack now is experience at the boundary between life and death. You are old enough as well. It is time for you to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform and experience the dangers of the ancient Star Dou Great Forest." Leng Jiuming said. "Also, you will go alone. No companions, understand?"

"Mhm."

"Ah, you brat, can't you at least ask why? That would let your teacher smoothly say what's on his mind!" Leng Jiuming said helplessly. This little fellow was far too unruffled.

"Oh. Then why?"

"You know Shrek Academy's renowned Shrek Seven Devils, right?"

"I do."

Leng Jiuming continued, "Although the Seven Devils emphasize cooperation, there is only one strongest person in the world. So-called teamwork is bullshit before absolute power. That is also what I dislike most about Shrek. They keep maintaining those rules for the sake of the Seven Devils' tradition. Aside from those truly powerful people who became gods, most of the Seven Devils are just like you and me. After a hundred years, they will all be nothing more than a cup of dirt."

"Teacher, haven't you always encouraged me to go to Shrek and compete for a place among the Seven Devils? Why are you saying this today?" Bai Xu teased.

"Cough, cough. Although it is useless, if you became one of the Seven Devils, Teacher believes you could truly become a god on your own."

"Haha, you'll make your student proud."

"I've never seen you act proud."

The next day

At the Spirit Ascension Platform of Eastsea City's Spirit Pagoda, Bai Xu had long become intimately familiar with the Spirit Ascension Platform through constant exposure.