At that moment,
Ning Feng lowered his head to look at the black stone slab in his hand. His gaze lingered on the line of text for a long while.
"The Body Secret Art has three stages. First, Body Penetration: channel the mighty power of heaven and earth through your entire body to cleanse your flesh."
Ning Feng read it aloud, then looked at Vina beside him and pointed to the slab.
"What exactly does 'the mighty power of heaven and earth' mean?"
Vina stood very close to him as she explained, "It means the pure natural forces of the world."
"For example, lightning, hurricanes, heavy snow, and raging fire."
"These energies are extremely violent. Direct contact with the human body would cause tremendous damage, so we have to use specially prepared medicinal herbs. They let us forcefully temper our bodies with these energies. During the process, the herbs rapidly repair the damage, and the cycle repeats."
After listening, Ning Feng quietly considered it.
Although this method sounded extremely painful, it was clearly far more efficient than tempering the body with Soul Power alone.
He continued reading and said, "The second stage of the Body Secret Art is Body Forging."
"'Tear apart the flesh, then use medicinal herbs to put the body back together'... What does that mean?"
Vina watched him with a calm expression and replied flatly, "It means exactly what it says."
Ning Feng's brow twitched.
Tear apart the flesh?
The method sounded almost like self-mutilation. He couldn't help thinking it was outrageous.
But then he remembered the Body Sect's philosophy of "pushing the limits," and soon came to terms with it.
In this world, people were even willing to sacrifice their lives for power. What was a little pain compared to that?
"What about the third step? Innate Qi Invocation?" Ning Feng continued.
"At that stage, you can fully invoke the innate qi within your body." A trace of longing appeared in Vina's eyes.
"This qi exists in the human body from the beginning. But as we grow older, impurities gradually conceal it."
"This secret art can awaken it. Simply put, if you can normally exert a force of one pound, invoking your innate qi will let you unleash the equivalent of ten pounds in an instant."
"That powerful?" A flicker of surprise crossed Ning Feng's eyes. A nine-hundred-percent increase like that would be a killer move in actual combat.
He turned to Vina. "How far have you gotten?"
Vina shook her head and answered with some regret, "I haven't completed Body Penetration yet."
"Actually, most of the younger generation in the Body Sect haven't completed this stage."
"Body Penetration can't be accomplished overnight. It's a long and painful process that requires repeatedly using the forces of heaven and earth to temper yourself."
She paused, then continued, "For someone exceptionally talented, with help from the Body Sect's medicinal herbs, it can take around ten years."
"But for those who progress more slowly, even fifteen or twenty years might not be enough to complete it."
"So I'm still feeling my way through it, too."
Ning Feng listened in silence.
This information had completely reshaped his understanding of cultivation in the Body Sect.
In the original story, the Body Sect had appeared a few times, but it had received so little coverage that all he knew was that it specialized in cultivating Body Martial Souls and could trigger a second Martial Soul Awakening in them.
Aside from that, he hadn't known anything about how they cultivated their disciples or what other abilities they had.
Now, hearing all this firsthand, he could finally grasp just how profound the Body Sect's power system was.
"Does the sect provide the medicinal herbs needed for cultivation?" Ning Feng asked the most practical question.
"Of course the sect provides them," Vina explained.
"The sect leader said in the hall earlier that the only duty of the Body Sect's disciples is to step forward when the empire needs them."
"As long as you fulfill that duty, the sect takes care of everything else. Medicinal herbs, food, guidance—we have it all."
Then Vina added, "And I might as well be honest with you: the imperial family actually provides all of it."
"The Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family and the Body Sect have been partners with shared interests for many years."
"As the imperial family, we need the Body Sect—the guardian of the Heaven Dou Empire—to protect us."
"And the Body Sect, because its numbers are small and cultivation is difficult..." couldn't handle everything by itself like the other major powers on Douluo Continent. So things like collecting high-level Soul Beast meat, gathering all kinds of medicinal herbs, and providing financial support were all part of the deal between the imperial family and the Body Sect.
Ning Feng understood at once.
He was actually quite satisfied with the Body Sect's arrangement.
After all,
Compared to Shrek, this place was incredibly generous.
At Shrek, students also had to risk their lives outside. But they weren't doing it for themselves—they were doing it for the supposedly glorious, yet utterly intangible, reputation of Shrek.
At the Body Sect, as long as you had talent and were willing to do your part, the sect provided everything.
This kind of no-nonsense investment still came with obligations, but for someone who genuinely wanted to become stronger, it was far better than a place like Shrek Academy, which did nothing but exploit its students.
But then Ning Tian thought of something else.
He looked around the Scripture Pavilion and realized that it was unusually quiet.
So he quickly asked Vina, "But the mighty power of heaven and earth isn't available all the time, is it?"
Vina nodded. "Of course not."
"Lightning is definitely the most powerful energy for this, but you can't have it whenever you want."
"But even without lightning, you can use water, wind, or fire instead. They won't be as effective, but they'll still work."
As the two of them talked, the sky outside the window suddenly darkened.
The sky had been clear, but thick clouds suddenly appeared from nowhere and hung over the snowy mountain, dark and heavy.
Dull thunder rumbled faintly deep within the clouds. A sense of oppression instantly filled the entire Scripture Pavilion.
Vina's expression shifted slightly as she looked outside. Her tone was strange. "Well, that's quite a coincidence."
Before Ning Feng could react, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the Scripture Pavilion.
Wang Yanfeng, Chen Lü, and the others came rushing over. Before they even entered, their voices rang out.
"Junior Brother! Are you in there?"
"It's thundering! Come on! Let's go do Body Penetration!"
They hurried to the doorway. When they saw Ning Feng and Vina, they immediately waved excitedly. "Junior Brother, this kind of weather is hard to come by! A thundercloud this big is the perfect chance for Body Penetration. If we miss it, who knows how long we'll have to wait! Come with us!"
Watching their excited faces, Ning Feng couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth. Were they really going to get struck by lightning? Anyone watching would think they were going to collect a reward...
Before you continue