Time flew like a weaver's shuttle, and in the blink of an eye, another month had passed.
Ever since Su Haoran had single-handedly stormed the bandit stronghold, slain two chieftains, and turned the tide, his status within Prajna Temple had undergone an earth-shaking change.
In the past, Sweeping Monks had to bow when they saw him, while Scripture Monks would merely nod in greeting.
But now, even those Martial Monks who had always held their heads high would stop from afar upon meeting him on the road, press their palms together, and respectfully call out, "Senior Brother Su."
Even some elders who usually kept to themselves would cast aside their former sternness whenever they encountered Su Haoran, nodding to him with courtesy. Their attitude was practically that of treating him as an equal.
During this time, Abbot Daoming had even specially sent someone to ask whether Su Haoran wished to move to a better meditation courtyard.
After all, with his status as a core disciple and the great merit he had earned, continuing to live in that dilapidated firewood courtyard was somewhat unreasonable.
Yet Su Haoran politely declined the Abbot's kindness.
"Though the firewood courtyard is shabby, it is secluded and quiet. It is the perfect place for me to devote myself to cultivation."
To Su Haoran, a comfortable residence was far less important than an environment where he could grow stronger without distraction.
Although Su Haoran had refused to change residences, the temple still gave him the greatest possible preferential treatment.
In this Chaotic World of consecutive years of famine and soaring prices, meat had become a rare delicacy ordinary people did not dare dream of.
Prajna Temple's incense offerings had dwindled far from what they once were, and its income had sharply declined, yet it still racked its brains to provide Su Haoran with fresh meat every day to help him temper his Qi and Blood.
Of course, cultivating a technique like the Dragon Elephant Skill consumed far more resources than one could imagine.
The meat supplied by the temple was nothing more than a drop in the bucket to him.
Thus, every few days, Su Haoran would still descend the mountain and head to the markets around Qingshi City, exchanging the gold and silver looted from Crimson Hair Stronghold for vast quantities of meat. At the same time, he would visit the city's largest apothecary to purchase all manner of precious herbs needed to refine Qi Replenishing Powder.
Over the past month or so, he had immersed nearly all his mind and spirit in that ancient Dragon Elephant Skill manual.
Seated cross-legged within the firewood room, he entered Unity of Mind and Spirit. Following the method recorded in the manual, he guided the surging Qi and Blood within his body through an arcane and ancient circulation.
Beneath his skin, his muscles wriggled faintly like living creatures. With every breath, it was as though he were drawing in and exhaling the essence of heaven and earth.
His vigorous Qi and Blood thundered through his meridians, roaring like surging rivers.
One week later, Su Haoran, who was deep in meditation, suddenly shuddered!
Crack! Crack-crack!
The bones in his body erupted in a series of explosions like beans popping in a pan!
Immediately afterward, an aura far heavier and more primordial than when his Iron Cloth Shirt had reached Perfection burst forth from him!
He slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them before vanishing.
He had succeeded!
With a thought, Su Haoran summoned the system panel and glanced at it.
Technique: ...Dragon Elephant Skill (Initiation)
He opened the beast-hide manual. On the annotation beneath the opening general outline, a line of tiny, neat characters was clearly written: "For those with excellent talent, Initiation in this technique requires several months or even a year. For those lacking talent, failing to enter its gate even after ten years is commonplace."
A trace of heartfelt delight appeared on Su Haoran's face.
Several months? A year? Ten years?
Yet he had taken only one week!
"Fortunately, my comprehension is no longer what it used to be!"
He felt immensely fortunate.
Had he relied on the utterly ordinary aptitude he possessed when he had first crossed over, then as the manual said, even wasting ten years of his youth might not have let him touch the threshold of the Dragon Elephant Skill.
But now, as one technique after another reached Perfection, his Raw Talent had been developed to an entirely new height. Cultivating any technique was like a master butcher dismembering an ox—everything yielded with irresistible force!
He rose to his feet and lightly stretched his limbs.
Crackle! Pop!
A dense barrage of explosive sounds, like firecrackers, rang out from within him. His sinews and bones chimed in unison, while his Qi and Blood surged wildly!
Listening closely, one could even faintly hear a trace of dragon roars and elephant trumpets mixed within the sound!
This was the sign that the Dragon Elephant Skill had reached Initiation!
Merely reaching Initiation had already made him feel that his strength and the richness of his Qi and Blood had increased by no less than thirty percent compared to when his Iron Cloth Shirt had reached Perfection!
The discovery filled Su Haoran with wild delight and gave him unprecedented anticipation for this technique.
In the days that followed, he entered a state of cultivation that was nearly insane.
Every day, he rose before dawn and cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill until the Qi and Blood within him had been utterly depleted. Then he swallowed large doses of Qi Replenishing Powder and consumed mountains of meat to replenish himself. After recovering slightly, he plunged straight back into cultivation.
The cycle repeated itself—dull, tedious, yet brimming with the thrill of rapidly growing power.
Another three months passed. Deep winter had arrived, and the cold wind howled.
Inside the firewood room, Su Haoran sat cross-legged, bare-chested.
The air around him was actually faintly distorted by the terrifying heat radiating from his body.
His skin had taken on the color of ancient bronze, while his muscles were sharply defined and filled with explosive power.
At a certain moment, he abruptly opened his eyes!
Roar! Trumpet!
A dragon's roar and an elephant's trumpet, as though they had come from the primordial wilderness of ancient times, did not emerge from his mouth. Instead, they exploded from every cell in his body, every inch of his sinews and bones!
A terrifying aura more than ten times stronger than at Initiation erupted skyward like a volcanic eruption!
The entire firewood room trembled lightly!
Su Haoran slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. It shot several feet away like a white arrow, lingering in the icy air for a long while without dispersing.
He lowered his head to look at his hands, feeling the surging, turbulent, terrifying power within him—as though it could tear apart everything. A frightening divine gleam flickered in his eyes.
Technique: ...Dragon Elephant Skill (Minor Accomplishment)
At last, after consuming a vast amount of resources and undergoing more than three months of grueling cultivation, he had successfully pushed this technique to Minor Accomplishment!
"Is this... the Power of One Dragon and One Elephant?"
Su Haoran murmured to himself.
He felt as though his body had undergone a transformation akin to shedding its mortal shell and exchanging its bones.
If the Iron Cloth Shirt of before had been like putting a sturdy suit of armor over his body,
then the Dragon Elephant Skill now thoroughly strengthened and sublimated the very essence of his life from within—from the roots of his sinews, bones, flesh, and blood!
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