Exchange! Northern Dark Divine Art!

After returning from Zhu Wen's place, Zhu Youning continued his dull routine of recuperation and cultivation.

[ Ding, because you consumed Bird's Nest, your martial art: Tiger Roar Art proficiency has increased. ]

[ Ding, because you consumed Velvet Antler, your martial art: Dragon-Snake Spear Technique proficiency has increased. ]

[ Ding, because you consumed Lingzhi Mushroom, your martial art: Cold Heart Art's automatic cultivation has been completed ahead of schedule, and its proficiency has increased. ]

[ You have obtained 1 cultivation wave! ]

[ Ding, because you consumed Jade Bee Honey Syrup, your martial art: Nine Yin: Healing Chapter's automatic cultivation has been completed, and its proficiency has increased. ]

[ You have obtained 1 cultivation wave! ]

[ Ding, because you consumed ginseng, your martial art: Nine Yin: Healing Chapter's automatic cultivation has been completed, and its proficiency has increased. ]

[ You have obtained 1 cultivation wave! ]

Because the system had automatic cultivation slots that could absorb and convert the medicinal supplements he consumed at maximum efficiency, Zhu Youning had no fear of overtaxing his body with tonics. He cycled through all sorts of supplements, and in just three days, his injuries from the fall had fully recovered.

Besides that, he had also gained more than fifty cultivation waves.

By now, Zhu Youning had obtained more than a hundred cultivation waves in total through numerous spiritual pills and wondrous medicines.

[Zhu Youning]

[Realm: Great Star Realm]

[Martial Arts: Tiger Roar Art, Dragon-Snake Spear Technique, Calm Heart Technique, Cold Heart Art, Nine Yin: Healing Chapter]

[Martial Arts Currently Under Automatic Cultivation: Tiger Roar Art, Dragon-Snake Spear Technique, Cold Heart Art, Nine Yin: Healing Chapter]

[Tiger Roar Art: An internal art formed by gathering the essences of many Central Plains sects. Its qi force is fierce and powerful. Trait: Fierce True Qi]

[Dragon-Snake Spear Technique: A spear technique Zhu Youning developed through battlefield drills. Its moves are sharp and swift. Trait: Swiftness]

[Cold Heart Art: A relatively basic cultivation art that produces cold-natured true qi and can be used in conjunction with Yin Yang Fusion Art. Trait: None]

[Calm Heart Technique: Based on seated meditation, it controls one's breathing to direct the movement of true qi. It is the foundation for practicing more advanced internal arts and can regulate one's breath and body. Trait: None]

[Nine Yin: Healing Chapter: The healing chapter of the martial art Nine Yin Manual, highly beneficial for recovering from internal injuries. Trait: None]

[Talents: Battle-Hardened, Born Savage]

[Current Status: Full of Vitality]

[Items: Green Mandala Flower, Jade Bee Honey Syrup, Tiger Bone, Bear Gallbladder, Schisandra, Velvet Antler, Bird's Nest, Polygonum Multiflorum, Lingzhi Mushroom, Trogopterus Dung]

[Current Cultivation Waves: 103]

Looking at his status panel, Zhu Youning immediately fell into deep thought.

Although he appeared to know quite a few martial arts, most of them were ordinary and not particularly profound.

Now that his cultivation waves had surpassed one hundred, it was time to exchange them for a decent and useful advanced internal art.

For Zhu Youning as he was now, one hundred cultivation waves were precisely enough to exchange for a peerless martial art.

Moreover, since he had already decided to pursue the Six Meridians path, internal energy was indispensable.

After all, to follow the internal arts path, one needed abundant internal energy.

And the martial art currently most useful to him, and most effective at increasing internal energy, was likely the Northern Dark Divine Art.

That was because the Northern Dark Divine Art could absorb another person's internal energy and make it his own.

As for other martial arts, he could exchange for them later.

Thus, Zhu Youning opened the martial arts exchange list.

[Northern Dark Divine Art: The supreme martial art of the Xiaoyao Sect. Once mastered, every acupoint across the body can absorb another's internal energy and convert it into Northern Dark True Qi. Northern Dark True Qi possesses both yin and yang qualities and is fierce, tyrannical, and formidable. Yang Northern Dark True Qi burns like a furnace, while yin Northern Dark True Qi is several times colder than ice. Traits: Reversed True Qi, Constant Readiness]

[Northern Dark Divine Art: Exchangeable for 100 cultivation waves]

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhu Youning immediately chose to exchange for it.

[ Ding, you have learned the martial art: Northern Dark Divine Art. ]

After exchanging for the Northern Dark Divine Art, a flood of memories poured into Zhu Youning's mind and took root there.

Even though he had never memorized the Northern Dark Divine Art's mental cultivation formula before, it was now firmly imprinted in his mind.

"Zhuangzi, in 'Free and Easy Wandering,' says: 'To the north of the barren lands lies a dark sea, the Heavenly Pool. There is a fish there, thousands of li wide; none know its length.' It also says: 'If water is not deep enough, it cannot bear a great boat. Pour a cupful of water into a hollow in the hall, and a blade of grass may serve as a boat; place a cup there, and it will stick fast, for the water is shallow and the boat is large.' Therefore, the foremost principle of our sect's martial arts is to accumulate internal energy. Once one's internal energy is abundant, there is no martial art under heaven that cannot be used for one's own purposes. Just like the Northern Dark, it can carry boats large and small, and contain fish large and small."

In just a few seconds, the nearly ten thousand words of the Northern Dark Divine Art's mental cultivation formula had all flooded into Zhu Youning's mind.

Zhu Youning could not help but praise the system's expertise.

If he had been made to memorize this nearly ten-thousand-word internal cultivation formula himself, who knew how long it would have taken? The system's direct infusion had saved him a great deal of trouble.

After learning the Northern Dark Divine Art, Zhu Youning immediately placed it into an automatic cultivation slot.

[ Ding, you have replaced the martial art in an automatic cultivation slot: Dragon-Snake Spear Technique, with the martial art: Northern Dark Divine Art. ]

[ Ding, your martial art: Dragon-Snake Spear Technique has stopped automatic cultivation! ]

[ Ding, your martial art: Northern Dark Divine Art has begun automatic cultivation. It is expected to be completed in twenty-four hours, after which you will gain one cultivation wave. During this period, you may consume heavenly treasures to accelerate the cultivation process! ]

[]

Of course, even with the system's automatic cultivation slot, Zhu Youning still wanted to test it himself. After all, true knowledge came from practice.

Zhu Youning immediately circulated the Northern Dark Divine Art according to its mental method, but there was little reaction.

Well, he had only just begun cultivating it. There naturally would not be much effect yet.

So Zhu Youning focused on cultivating for another two days, finally producing a considerable amount of Northern Dark True Qi.

This Northern Dark True Qi was truly tyrannical and overbearing, carrying the air of "those who submit shall prosper, those who resist shall perish." In merely two days, the internal energy from Zhu Youning's original Tiger Roar Art had been entirely devoured by the Northern Dark True Qi, completely transformed into its domineering form.

Of course, this was not a bad thing for Zhu Youning.

After all, Northern Dark True Qi was countless times stronger than the internal energy he had cultivated through the Tiger Roar Art.

Thus, although Zhu Youning's qi cultivation realm had not improved by much and he remained at the Great Star Realm, his true strength had already increased severalfold, undergoing a complete transformation from before.

After obtaining Northern Dark True Qi, Zhu Youning began controlling and familiarizing himself with this internal energy.

Northern Dark True Qi possessed two qualities: one was fierce yang energy, and the other was soft yin energy. Just as the system description stated, the fierce yang Northern Dark True Qi tormented one like a blazing furnace, while the soft yin Northern Dark True Qi was several times colder than ice.

Zhu Youning spent half an hour before he could perfectly control the conversion between the two types of Northern Dark True Qi.

For instance, he could transform fierce yang energy into soft yin energy, or transform soft yin energy into fierce yang energy.

At this point, Zhu Youning was more or less familiar with the Northern Dark Divine Art. What he needed to familiarize himself with next was its energy-draining aspect.

The Northern Dark Divine Art's ability to absorb another person's cultivation was a shortcut to rapidly raising one's qi cultivation realm. Naturally, Zhu Youning wanted to test it out.

As for the test subject, he had naturally already chosen one.