Cultivation Dissipation

"Hun Yuan Sheng Mie... Just hearing the name, it already sounded extraordinary."

If it had not been followed by the five words "Children's Martial Arts Hall."

Yun Shou: "..."

It was time to simulate some face-slapping again.

Wait, why did I say "again"?

It felt like hearing names such as "Zhuge Dali" and "Murong Cuihua." A perfectly good beginning had been ruined just like that.

You entered the martial arts hall. A dozen or so children inside were grunting and shouting as they performed utterly unstandardized body-tempering movements. The reason they were unstandardized was that every one of them did something different.

A little old man approached with a genial smile. "Here to learn martial arts? Come to me... I don't take anyone over ten." His expression suddenly changed as he tapped the two characters for "children" on the plaque.

He was Zhu Baowen, an utterly ordinary old man who had lived in Qingcheng for twenty years. It was said that he had once been a Martial Master and the owner of some martial arts school outside the city, but had been crippled by his enemies and fallen to this state.

What a joke. If he really were some plain, unremarkable crippled Martial Master, you would eat standing on your head!

You concocted a story about having admired martial arts since childhood, previously receiving a transmission of power from a mysterious old man, and now feeling a particular affinity for "Hun Yuan Sheng Mie," hoping Zhu Baowen would accept you as his personal disciple.

"Mm." Yun Shou nodded. In the simulation, he was a Second-rate Martial Artist who had achieved Major Accomplishment in the Iron Body Technique. He was joining as a disciple with prior training, so this had to be explained clearly.

The explanation he gave the Qing He Gang for his sudden surge in strength was "a mysterious old man transmitted power to me," so he could not lie before Zhu Baowen either. If this hidden big shot really investigated, things would turn troublesome.

As for whether the "transmission of power" he had made up would seem full of holes in the eyes of Zhu Baowen, whose Martial Dao Realm was unknown...

He felt that his simulated self was gambling.

Gambling that truly powerful martial artists could transmit their cultivation!

If Zhu Baowen thought it impossible, that only meant he was not strong enough. There were definitely martial artists stronger than someone who could slap an army of thousands to death, and such martial artists could transmit cultivation!

As for the second point, he was gambling that Zhu Baowen had no soul-searching methods.

If he did, the danger in the simulation lay in a future that had not yet arrived. Yun Shou simply would not seek out Zhu Baowen in the future.

After hearing your bitter pleas, Zhu Baowen remained unmoved and told you to get as far away as possible.

Of course, you could not possibly give up. There were still nearly twenty years before the Wu Kingdom's army came marching in, so you would cling and pester him until you forged a connection with him!

After that, whenever you had the time, you would visit Zhu Baowen now and then. Every trip, you brought a small gift for acknowledging a master: a roast duck and a jug of old wine.

Da Qing 273, Zhu Baowen seemed to have been moved by you. Occasionally, he would let you demonstrate a few moves before him, then offer guidance from the perspective of a former "Martial Master."

Da Qing 274, you felt that you were about to achieve Unity of Qi and Strength. The next step would be Blood Replacement and Muscle Condensation, the limit of a Second-rate Martial Artist. Song Yulang, the flower thief you had once fought, had been a Second-rate Martial Artist at the "Blood Replacement and Muscle Condensation" stage.

You successfully achieved Unity of Qi and Strength, gaining even greater control over your body. You began gathering special medicinal herbs to refine and strengthen your flesh and blood.

Da Qing 275, you had also risen to become a minor leader in the Qing He Gang, becoming the "thirteenth-in-command" among the gang's more than two hundred members.

Da Qing 276, another Young Talents Grand Competition was held in the Wu Kingdom. You heard that everyone in the top ten was a First-rate Martial Artist under twenty-five, while the first-place winner had already become a Martial Master, leading the era in unmatched splendor.

Da Qing 277, age twenty-two. Foundation: 136%. Your Internal Force had increased threefold since you had first entered the Second-Rate, giving you four times the endurance. Under Zhu Baowen's occasional guidance, your Combat Techniques had also improved greatly.

Da Qing 279, you sighed that the final step for a Second-rate Martial Artist, "Blood Replacement and Muscle Condensation," was indeed difficult to tread. You could not imagine what sort of monsters those who entered the First-Rate before twenty-five were.

That same year, your Iron Body Technique reached Perfection. Your physical strength received a rather substantial additional boost, and you were certain that your current strength far surpassed what it had been last time. You could even contend with a First-rate Martial Artist who had forcibly broken through and possessed an unstable Foundation.

You guessed that your gang leader, Xu Ruohai, was probably at this level.

Da Qing 280, Zhu Baowen asked you, "Can you bear to dissipate this perfected Iron Body Technique of yours?"

After practicing martial arts for many years, your first reaction upon hearing those words was that he was joking, because Cultivation Dissipation was no different from cutting off one's own arm for a martial artist!

First came the bonuses. The additional enhancements granted by Martial Arts would vanish, and your strength would lose a huge portion out of thin air. The bonuses from a perfected technique were considerable even for First-rate Martial Artists, let alone you, a Second-rate Martial Artist!

This would directly lower your strength from "barely able to fight a weaker First-rate Martial Artist" to "mid-tier among Second-rate Martial Artists."

Another point was even more important: the Foundation would become cluttered and conflicted. Practicing multiple techniques could make one somewhat stronger than others at the same level, but the flaws caused by seeking that little bit of extra strength would be fatal!

Conflicts between techniques would greatly affect your breakthroughs at every Martial Dao Realm. Someone who practiced two techniques could never become a grandmaster in this lifetime!

Practicing multiple techniques caused conflicts, while Cultivation Dissipation caused the Foundation to become cluttered! A portion of bodily tissue within you would have already taken the shape of the "Iron Body Technique," and this tissue would be unable to adapt to your new technique.

Simply put, Cultivation Dissipation would lower your Foundation, because part of it had been completely contaminated by the dissipated technique and could no longer be cultivated by a new one!

(Someone said this section of the setting seemed like padding, so it was moved to "The Author Has Something to Say.")

You began to slowly dissipate your cultivation. Not only could you not practice martial arts during the process, it was also accompanied by declining strength and damage to your Foundation. No one lacking great Spirit Power could possibly accomplish it!

"But I have a lifetime to spend with you." Yun Shou smiled faintly. "Whether this counts as a test or not, I choose to accept it with my 'entire life'!"

"Witness the terrifying patience of a simulated person, you old man Zhu!"