The description of this cultivation technique was more or less the same as what he knew.
The only difference was that the copy in his hands could only be cultivated up to the twelfth level, and each level had nine training poses, making 108 poses in total.
Each pose had 36 variations, secretly corresponding to the number of the Heavenly Dipper. The different poses guided the flow of blood through the body, strengthening the cultivator's vitality. As the training progressed, it would gradually affect and strengthen all 206 bones and 639 muscles, reaching the realms of Golden Marrow, Jade Bone, and Melt Blood.
Golden Marrow, Jade Bone, and Melt Blood meant that, upon reaching mastery, one's entire bone marrow would flow like molten gold, all 206 bones would be as white as jade, and one's blood and vitality would burn as hot as lava.
Moreover, every level completed would add one Dragon Elephant Strength to the body. It was a first-rate external martial art.
The book called it Dragon Elephant Strength, not the strength of one dragon and one elephant, as he remembered.
He knew what a dragon was, and he knew what an elephant was, but he had no idea what a dragon elephant was. It sounded pretty impressive, though.
But as absurdly powerful as the technique was, it was also absurdly difficult to cultivate. An ordinary person would need at least a month to master each pose, and completing a single level would take at least nine months.
That was because every pose had to be mastered step by step. Unless you had completely mastered the previous pose, you couldn't fully work through the next one.
Every pose pushed the human body far beyond its limits.
Eighteen minutes later...
Lu Siye sat on the ground in a strange pose and blinked. His face was still streaked with sweat that hadn't dried, and his expression was full of astonishment.
"Did I... just unlock all nine poses that easily?"
"Wasn't I supposed to need a month to master a single pose? Could I really be a once-in-a-thousand-years martial arts genius?"
"Or was all of this thanks to that pill I took last night?"
Lu Siye remembered that the description of Dragon Essence Tiger Gall Pill had mentioned that it could improve one's talent for martial arts.
Lu Siye practiced the technique again to make sure.
Eighteen minutes later, he completed all nine poses in one smooth sequence, without the slightest difficulty.
As he held the final pose, he could clearly feel the speed and direction of his blood flowing through his body. It continually washed through his blood vessels, and wisps of heat arose from it, steadily strengthening his circulatory system.
He could feel himself slowly growing stronger. His mind, fogged by a lack of sleep, cleared in an instant. Every cell in his body seemed to cheer, and he began to grow a little enamored with the feeling.
Grrr rumble~
Suddenly, a thunderous rumble erupted from Lu Siye's stomach, forcibly interrupting the sensation.
Hungry! So hungry!
An intense hunger gnawed at his stomach. He had never felt hunger this powerful before; his vision seemed to turn green, and every cell in his body sent out a desperate craving for food.
He rushed into the kitchen and gathered everything edible he could find, then devoured it all as if a gale had swept it away.
Whatever he ate was digested by his powerful digestive system and turned into strands of energy that traveled through his blood to every part of his body.
A little over ten minutes later, the kitchen was a complete mess. Lu Siye was still hungry, but at least he had finally regained his reason.
"System, what's going on? Did I mess up my cultivation?" The first thing he did after coming to his senses was question the system.
"Cultivating the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill requires a great deal of blood and vitality. Host, your symptoms indicate that you are depleted. The hunger will go away once you replenish what you have lost."
"Why didn't you tell me something that important sooner?" Lu Siye said, fighting his hunger as he continued searching for food.
"You did not ask beforehand, Host."
"I..." Lu Siye was at a loss for words.
"Fine. System, is there any way to replenish my blood and vitality quickly?" Lu Siye gritted his teeth as he asked.
"You can replenish your blood and vitality quickly by enhancing food or medicine with blood-enriching properties."
"Something that replenishes blood..." Lu Siye looked at the Red Dates in his hand. He had just found them under the living room table.
He hurriedly tore open the package, shoved his hand inside, and grabbed ten dates. Then he silently thought, Enhance.
"May I ask whether the host wishes to spend 100..."
"Cut the crap and enhance them already." Hearing the system's question, Lu Siye shouted at once. He was about to lose control.
A flash of light passed over them, and the dry Red Dates in his hand instantly became plump. A sweet aroma wafted toward him.
Just smelling them sent wisps of warmth into his body, easing his tormenting hunger a little.
He had no time to inspect them. Lu Siye hurriedly tossed the enhanced dates into his mouth and swallowed them whole, flesh and pits alike.
Boom!
Lu Siye felt as if he had swallowed ten fireballs. An endless heat exploded in his stomach, turning into surging waves that pierced through its walls and rushed into his bloodstream, sweeping toward his every limb and bone.
His hunger vanished, and then his blood and vitality began to surge. His skin turned bright red in the blink of an eye, and a wave of heat rolled off his body. The sweat on his face evaporated rapidly, leaving only scattered white salt stains.
This was bad. He had too much blood and vitality!
Lu Siye felt as if his body were a balloon inflated far too full. All his blood vessels, muscles, and skin swelled at once, and his entire body felt ready to explode.
He immediately began cultivating, repeating the nine poses of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill over and over. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he struggled to guide the raging blood and vitality through an orderly circulation.
Under his guidance, the blood and vitality gradually merged into his blood, blood vessels, and heart.
Suddenly!
A scorching heat radiated from Lu Siye's body, like a blazing furnace.
At the same time, Lu Siye's heart beat with increasing force, its thumps gradually ringing out like the pounding of a drum. A rushing sound came from the blood vessels in his body, like a clear spring flowing over rocks.
The heat rolling off his body began to fade. His skin gradually tightened, and all his blood and vitality had been fully refined.
Lu Siye opened his eyes and instinctively stretched his body. A faint, indistinct sound came from within him, like a dragon but not a dragon, like an elephant but not an elephant.
Lu Siye suddenly came to his senses. His heart pounded like a drum, his blood flowed like a spring, and dragon and elephant cries rang out. These were the signs of having mastered the first level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
"So, I've really done it?"
Lu Siye was delighted. He could feel boundless strength within him, as if he could tear apart tigers and leopards or split mountains and shatter rocks with his bare hands.
He casually threw a few punches. The fierce rush of wind that followed each blow stirred up hunting gusts, making the curtains beside the balcony, several meters away, flap wildly.
Was this Dragon Elephant Strength? He had used only a fraction of his power, yet he could already create such terrifying gusts.
Simply terrifying!
Before you continue