Capturing the Dragon

Before meeting Qin Wan, Xia Dong had already attempted to continue practicing the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining technique from the Profound Yin Scripture without the aid of Yin Evil Pills.

However, his progress came to a complete standstill.

Not only that, but Xia Dong was horrified to discover that as soon as he activated the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining technique, an uncontrollable, fanatical desire to continue practicing—and even a craving to devour wandering spirits—would surge from the depths of his heart.

This desire clung to him like marrow-deep rot, constantly teasing his rationality within his sea of consciousness.

Fortunately, he had only just crossed the threshold of this secret technique, and the "Yin Evil Pill" he had previously absorbed was pure and free of impurities, having been refined by the Bronze Ancient Bell.

Without the interference of the resentment held by those ghosts during their lifetimes, combined with the peaceful state of mind he had cultivated through years of practicing the Crane Stance, he was finally able to suppress this sinister craving without incident.

Consequently, in the absence of new Yin Evil Pills, Xia Dong ceased his practice of the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining technique.

Especially after studying the Evergreen Medical Classic, Xia Dong realized more profoundly that without a miraculous item like the Yin Evil Pill to purify the power of spirits, practicing the Profound Yin Scripture would inevitably lead to his rationality being eroded by resentment, ultimately resulting in a deviation from the path of cultivation.

As for the matter of capturing spirits and ghosts to refine Yin Evil Pills, Xia Dong deliberated repeatedly and decided to shelve it for the time being.

"My blood energy is currently too intense." Xia Dong stood in the courtyard, feeling the surging power within his body. To cultivators or even martial artists with keen senses, his current blood energy was as eye-catching as a blazing furnace in the dark of night.

If he were to swagger out to catch ghosts like this, not only would he easily scare away those low-level spirits, but more terrifyingly, he might very well attract certain evil cultivators or formidable martial artists who viewed martial practitioners as "great medicine," leaving him to suffer the miserable fate of the "mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

He had to completely retract this sharp, exposed blood energy first.

The Dragon-Capturing Technique that Qin Wan had helped him find focused specifically on the physique, and its core lay in capturing the "great dragon" of the spine to lock in the body's blood energy and prevent it from leaking. Combined with the subtle understanding of the human body's internal organs and vital points found in the Evergreen Medical Classic, Xia Dong was quite confident that he could conceal his aura.

Thanks to the tempering from the previous Yin Evil Pill, Xia Dong's soul strength was now far beyond that of an ordinary martial artist.

According to the records in the Profound Yin Scripture jade slip, cultivators only possess divine sense upon reaching the "fourth level of Qi Refining." Xia Dong estimated that although he did not have divine sense yet, in terms of the tenacity and perception of his soul, he might already be comparable to cultivators below the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The benefits brought by a powerful soul were obvious.

A strong soul allowed him to control his physical body with greater precision, making his martial arts practice feel like a fish in water.

He mastered the Dragon-Capturing Technique, which had extremely high requirements for the external tendons and bones, with ease after only a few attempts.

As his blood energy became increasingly abundant, Xia Dong's energy was several times more vigorous than before; not only was his sleep time significantly shortened, but his mind also became clearer than ever before.

In this state, his progress in learning the complex pharmacology and meridian theories of the Evergreen Medical Classic advanced by leaps and bounds, and many obscure medical principles were often understood at a single glance.

However, compared to studying the medical classic, his progress in the Dragon-Capturing Technique was even faster.

Through day after day of arduous training, in just over a month, Xia Dong had brought this technique to the level of perfection.

When he activated the technique, his spine would arch like a fully drawn bow, locking his violent blood energy tightly within his body so that not a single trace leaked out.

At this point, Xia Dong did not hesitate to awaken the Bronze Ancient Bell in his sea of consciousness.

Xia Dong had previously obtained twenty spirit stones in the underground secret chamber, and Qin Wan had given him two more; after spending one in the market, he currently had twenty-one left.

Xia Dong carefully took out three of the spirit stones and entered a state of deep sleep as he had done before.

In his dream, as the spirit stones turned into grayish-white powder, the Bronze Ancient Bell once again emitted a vast, ancient roar.

Scarlet, twisted characters emerged and shifted on the surface of the bell.

As expected, he had obtained a brand-new limit-breaking martial skill—the Dragon-Capturing Hand!

However, the difficulty of practicing the "Dragon-Capturing Hand" was far greater than that of the "Crane Shadow Step." This was no longer a simple matter of exerting force for movement, but involved extremely subtle control over blood energy and the precise manipulation of projecting force through the air.

For several consecutive days, Xia Dong's progress in the "Dragon-Capturing Hand" was extremely slow, and he would even feel drained of energy after practicing it too many times in a row.

Xia Dong stopped his movements, steadying his ragged breathing, and carefully summarized the experience of this period in his mind.

"Capturing dragons and controlling cranes—how could it be so easy..."

He finally understood that this martial skill required an extremely powerful soul to act as a "guide" for precise control, while also requiring abundant internal energy for support.

Although he had mastered the basics of the martial art, he still lacked the foundation to bring the "Dragon-Capturing Hand" to great success.

However, the Dragon-Capturing Hand was clearly far more sophisticated than ordinary techniques like the Bone-Splitting Hand.

In terms of attack power alone, the might of the Dragon-Capturing Hand was perhaps not inferior to the Dragon Claw Hand he had read about in novels, not to mention that the Dragon-Capturing Hand also possessed the marvelous ability to seize objects from a distance using projected force.

Spring was almost here.

Xia Dong planned to open a medical clinic after the first lunar month.

This matter needed to be discussed with the He Family, to borrow their connections and help him build a reputation.

Over the past period, Xia Dong had also learned some things about the imperial court from Elder Lord He.

It turned out that after the Great You Dynasty Court was established, it was generally forbidden for anyone within the five degrees of mourning of a family to enter government service if there was a cultivator among them.

Moreover, matters concerning cultivators were handled by the specialized Bureau of Profound Mysteries.

The Eagle-Wolf Guard was responsible for law enforcement.

"Xueyi, the martial examinations will be held after the start of spring. If you are interested in participating and pass as a Martial Scholar, you can ask Magistrate Yang to recommend you to the Eagle-Wolf Guard. Now that the Eagle-Wolf Guard has just gained a foothold in Linyuan Prefecture, it is the easiest time to establish merit after joining." Lord He advised Xia Dong.

Xueyi was Xia Dong's courtesy name, given to him by the father of this body.

Xia Dong had only learned this from Master Qin's letter.

Lord He was, after all, a capital official by origin, and he was quite sensitive to the new laws of the imperial court.

Moreover, the Eagle-Wolf Guard had a formidable reputation.

However, joining the Eagle-Wolf Guard was not so simple; even with the status of a Martial Scholar, it was very difficult to get in.

Yet, the Eagle-Wolf Guard possessed immense privileges and could even interface directly with cultivators.

Even for a local gentry family like the He Family, getting in was impossible.

But Xia Dong was different; he possessed a Dao Registry.

In the eyes of the Great Xia imperial family and the nobility, this made him one of their own by nature.

For hundreds of years in the dynasty, even if noble families rose and fell, in the final analysis, it was very difficult for them to sink to the level of commoners.

Once an opportunity arose, it was easy for them to climb back up.

Furthermore, Xia Dong held the status of a "Dao Registry," which was even more special than that of an average noble descendant.

Upon hearing the words of Elder Lord He, Xia Dong could not help but fall into deep thought.

It seemed that joining the Eagle-Wolf Guard was also a decent choice.

It was just that he carried a great secret, and if he were to enter rashly, accidents would inevitably occur.

Therefore, this matter still required careful consideration.