Consolidation

Martial Art: Vajra Body Forging Art (Fragment)

Quality: First-Class

Realm: Not Initiated

As the fat man finished the final note, the system had already recorded the fragment of the Vajra Body Forging Art.

"Young hero, these are the complete essential formulas. Recite them back to me now, and I'll check whether you've missed anything."

Shen Yi sensed it within his sea of consciousness, then smiled.

"No need. I've memorized it."

The fat man was astonished and asked reflexively, "Truly?"

The essence of this secret art contained the core tenets of Buddhist teachings, along with many obscure and difficult terms. Even though the fat man had explained them to him in detail, memorizing everything in a single go was exceedingly difficult.

For Shen Yi to remember it all at once, he could truly be called exceptionally gifted. No wonder he was a Qilin prodigy who had made the Heaven's Mystery Rankings.

The fat man sighed inwardly once more.

Night had fallen.

The fat man saw Shen Yi sitting cross-legged, concentrating on comprehending the art.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally said that he would head into the forest to hunt for food, while the thin man would remain in the cave to nurse his wounds.

He had not even considered asking Shen Yi whether they could leave now that they had handed over the cultivation art.

After all, the other party had only just obtained the method.

Even verifying whether it was genuine would take some time.

During that time, the fat man had already prepared himself to remain by Shen Yi's side with the thin man.

Seeing that Shen Yi remained silent and raised no objection, the fat man got up and left the cave.

What he did not know was that Shen Yi no longer cared in the slightest whether the fat man and thin man chose to leave.

In his view, their transaction had already been completed. He had obtained the cultivation art, while the fat and thin men had exchanged it for their lives.

Whether they wished to leave or stay was entirely up to them.

At this moment, Shen Yi's mind was wholly immersed in his sea of consciousness. His earlier ambush of the Blade Catchers had earned him a substantial amount of secluded cultivation time.

Now was the time to consolidate his gains.

Remaining Secluded Cultivation Time: 11 years, 2 months

His current martial arts were:

Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash at Mastery, Surging Tide Art at Proficient, and the fragment of the Vajra Body Forging Art not yet initiated.

Shen Yi first consolidated his foundational martial arts.

He respectively invested three years into the Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash and the Surging Tide Art, then entered secluded cultivation.

You began practicing the Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash.

With the deep foundation from Wind Slash and the Hidden Edge Saber Technique, you understood with perfect clarity the consummate realm of this self-created saber art. You merely practiced the saber day after day, contemplating the intent of wind and thunder, merging nature's mighty power into your saber momentum.

After three years of secluded cultivation, your wind-thunder saber momentum approached perfection. The Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash officially entered the Consummate realm.

Martial Art: Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash

Quality: Acquired

Realm: Consummate

Ultimate Technique: Wind Slash Thunderclap

A sharp saber momentum flashed across Shen Yi's body, faintly gathering the manifestations of wind and thunder.

The thin man, who had been circulating the Vajra Esoteric Art to heal his injuries, nearly jumped straight up in fright.

He thought Shen Yi had gone back on his word, or that his killing intent had surged again.

That Shen Yi wanted to split him apart with a single saber stroke.

But then he discovered that Shen Yi was still in a state of closed-eye cultivation. Yet the saber momentum that had just erupted was like thunder exploding beside his ears, surpassing even Shen Yi's battle in the forest during the day.

The thin man was deeply shaken.

This boy had broken through again. He was simply a monster.

He had long heard that the Qilin Rankings contained no shortage of peerless geniuses with profound potential, people for whom breaking through bottlenecks was as easy as drinking water.

Some could even continuously improve in battle, every fight helping them grow stronger.

Now, it seemed Shen Yi was precisely that sort of person.

By sheer chance, the two brothers had run into him.

The thin man muttered:

"Such a genius is only ranked eighty-eighth? Could Heaven's Mystery Rankings have misjudged him?"

"The Pacification Office is truly staffed by fools. They failed to carefully nurture such a genius and actually let him defect and leave. Tsk, tsk..."

Naturally, Shen Yi had no idea that the thin man's thoughts were running wild outside.

He began cultivating his internal arts in seclusion.

His goal was not merely to raise the level of the Surging Tide Art. Through today's battle, he had noticed a problem.

The Surging Tide Art emphasized an unbroken, ceaseless flow.

The Array Breaker Art emphasized explosive fighting spirit.

The two were originally well suited to complement each other, but they were ultimately different cultivation arts, and the circulation of their inner breath each had its own characteristics.

In the gaps between switching the flow of internal force, brief moments of stiffness and stagnation were unavoidable.

It was like the Fat and Thin Kongos. Though the two worked together flawlessly, their temperaments were ultimately different, allowing Shen Yi to seize a flaw.

He did not wish to repeat the fat man and thin man's mistakes, so he intended to fuse the Surging Tide Art with the incomplete Array Breaker Art into one.

Since ancient times, the road of creation had always been the most difficult.

It required a hundred times more time than merely inheriting what others had left behind.

Shen Yi had already experienced those hardships when creating the Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash, but fortunately, time was what he lacked least right now.

You picked up the cultivation formulas of the Surging Tide Art and the incomplete Array Breaker Art once more, carefully contemplating them, discarding the dross and selecting the essence as you attempted to merge them into one.

After half a year of focused study, you decided to draw qi into your body using the breathing techniques of the Surging Tide Art, condense fighting spirit to command the circulation of your inner breath, merge the circulation routes of the two arts, and perform the work of circulating the heavenly cycle.

You began carefully attempting to circulate it within your body. Whenever your inner breath was about to go wrong, you immediately ceased the art and corrected it. After three years of diligent cultivation, you had no idea how many times you adjusted the crucial points of the cultivation art or how many times you endured the agony of qi deviation. At last, on the final attempt, you saw hope.

Shen Yi's brow furrowed slightly.

Perhaps because this was his first time researching a fused cultivation art, it had consumed even more time and effort than he had imagined.

He did not hesitate.

Once again, he devoted two years to secluded cultivation of his internal art.

In this attempt, although your inner breath circulated slowly, there was no stagnation. To ensure the smooth circulation through your meridians, you opened several blocked meridians and constructed an entirely new heavenly cycle.

After two years of focused study, you successfully fused the incomplete Array Breaker Art with the Surging Tide Art, creating an unnamed cultivation art that gathered the strengths of both schools. Your internal force flowed smoothly and freely, without the slightest obstruction or stagnation, allowing the power of the Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash to be unleashed to the greatest extent.

Martial Art: Nameless Heart Sutra
Quality: Acquired Realm
Realm: Great Mastery

Shen Yi let out a long breath. The cultivation art had yet to be named, and for the moment, he could not think of a suitable name.

The path of creating martial arts had only just begun.

For now, he would call it Nameless.

Shen Yi had already spent eight years in secluded cultivation, leaving him with three years and two months.

Though his heart ached somewhat, he still felt that the investment had been worthwhile.

Finally, his attention settled upon the incomplete Vajra Body Forging Art. Shen Yi poured two years into it.

You recalled the cultivation essentials of the Vajra Body Forging Art, visualizing the dharma image of an angry-eyed Vajra within your mind. Drawing upon Vajra Buddhist intent, you set your qi and blood surging, tempering your own bones and flesh.

Because your body had already accumulated a deep foundation through cultivating internal arts, your progress in the Vajra Esoteric Art was rapid. You entered the art in three days, achieved Lesser Mastery in half a year, and the bones and blood throughout your body surged like a river, while your strength increased sharply.

You began using qi and blood to temper your tendons and bones. After a year, your tendons and bones had been fully tempered, greatly improving their resilience and resistance to blows. The Vajra Body Forging Art entered the Hall of Mastery realm.

From within to without, you began training your skin, tempering it with bone and blood and shaking it with the thunderous vibrations of tendons and bones. Your flesh became extraordinarily resilient, balancing hardness and softness; ordinary blades and swords could not harm it in the slightest. After two years of secluded cultivation, your body-forging secret art finally reached Great Mastery.