Does the Myriad Calamity Body Forging Art also go by the Northern Dark Divine Art?

Ye Wudao watched the two men confronting each other, his body shrinking back slightly.

The aura radiating from these two men made him feel a sense of trepidation.

"If you two keep bickering, I'll chop all three of you up and feed you to the dogs!"

Suddenly, the old man in Bed No. 1 spoke in a flat tone.

Yet, this single sentence was enough to instantly silence the tense old man and the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man sat back down on his bed, and the scarred old man returned to Bed No. 7.

For a moment, the atmosphere inside Cell No. 1 felt eerie.

Ye Wudao looked at the old man in Bed No. 1, his heart filled with shock.

The scarred old man and the middle-aged man were clearly martial artists, yet they dared not speak another word after the old man in Bed No. 1 had simply opened his mouth.

What did this signify?

It meant that the old man in Bed No. 1 was the strongest person in this cell.

At that moment, he didn't know where the courage came from, but he walked straight up to Bed No. 1, bowed, and said, "Can you take me as your disciple? I want to learn the martial way from you."

As his voice fell, the scarred old man and the one-eyed middle-aged man both turned to look at him.

Neither of them spoke; they simply watched the old man lying on Bed No. 1 in silence.

Ye Wudao could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

What kind of feeling was this?

A bit nervous, a bit afraid, and filled with a sliver of anticipation.

He remained hunched over, waiting for the old man's reply.

"Get lost!"

After a long while, the old man softly spat out the words.

Standing beside the old man, Ye Wudao felt a powerful pressure bearing down on him.

In that instant, he felt as if he were being crushed by a heavy weight, making it difficult to breathe.

He cast a disappointed glance at the old man and silently returned to his own bed to sit down.

The scarred old man watched Ye Wudao sit on his bed and gave him a thumbs-up.

He whispered, "Elder Qin would never take you as a disciple."

"Looking at your age, you must be an adult, right?"

Ye Wudao nodded without saying a word.

The scarred old man chuckled. "Eighteen years old, and you have absolutely no foundation in martial arts. You must have never come into contact with it before."

"For someone your age, it's actually a bit late to start training."

"However, I have a technique here that is particularly suited for you."

"As long as you are willing to learn, you can reach the Houtian Realm within a few years."

"Once you reach the Houtian Realm, while you might not be able to handle that old geezer Ye Haipeng, dealing with that piece of trash Ye Zhenshan would be more than enough."

"How about it? Want to consider it?"

Ye Wudao looked at the grinning, scarred old man, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

They were total strangers; would this scarred old man really be kind enough to teach him martial arts?

However, it seemed he had no other choice.

The old man in Bed No. 1 and the middle-aged man in Bed No. 2 wouldn't even acknowledge him.

Although the middle-aged man had clashed with the scarred old man earlier, he hadn't spoken again after the old man in Bed No. 1 had intervened.

Thinking of how Ye Zhenshan and Ye Mingyuan had sent him to prison, and remembering that he would have to spend the next fifteen years in this cage, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "I'll learn!"

"Hmph!" As soon as he spoke, the middle-aged man let out a cold snort, though he said nothing more.

Ye Wudao didn't understand the meaning behind that snort. He stood up from his bed, mimicked what he had seen in television dramas, dropped to his knees with a thud, and cupped his hands. "Disciple Ye Wudao pays respects to Master!"

The scarred old man laughed heartily, helped Ye Wudao up, and said, "Your master is called Hu Lianfeng, nicknamed Scarface Hu, and I am a master of the Houtian Realm."

"Since you have taken me as your master, I will first explain the basic knowledge of the martial way to you."

Ye Wudao nodded, watching Hu Lianfeng intently.

Hu Lianfeng said softly, "The so-called martial way is the constant transcendence of human limits, ultimately using the power of the physical body to contend with the heavens and earth."

"Martial cultivation is divided into four major realms: Body Forging, Houtian, Xiantian, and Grandmaster. Body Forging tempers the body, Houtian tempers strength, Xiantian tempers qi, and Grandmaster tempers the spirit."

"Each major realm is further divided into four minor stages: Entry, Minor Success, Great Success, and Peak."

"What you need to do now is Body Forging. Body Forging involves toughening the tendons, bones, and skin, making the physical body as tough as iron. An ordinary person can complete this stage in three years; those with talent can do it in one."

"But there are no such conditions in prison, so..."

"I will pass on the Myriad Calamity Body Forging Art to you. This Myriad Calamity Body Forging Art treats the world as a furnace and your own body as the iron billet."

"Practitioners don't need to sweat through their clothes; they only need to draw spiritual energy into their bodies between breaths to automatically temper their tendons, bones, and skin."

"But your foundation is too shallow; breathing alone isn't enough. I will pass a strand of Hidden Power to you first to help clear your meridians. Once you cultivate a 'Furnace Seed' within your body, you will be able to practice on your own."

Ye Wudao nodded with some excitement; he hadn't expected to be able to learn a cultivation art while in prison.

"Hmph!" The middle-aged man nearby let out another cold snort upon hearing this.

Hearing that cold snort, Ye Wudao felt a sense of caution grow within him.

There was a heavy note of mockery in that sound.

He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked, "Master, since you are helping me this much, is there something you want me to do for you?"

Despite his excitement, he kept a sliver of calmness in his mind.

He knew that no one would help a stranger for no reason.

Hu Lianfeng glanced at the middle-aged man without saying anything further.

Then, he narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice, "Once you reach the Houtian Realm minor completion, I need you to help me kill someone."

Ye Wudao pursed his lips; the aura Hu Lianfeng exuded while speaking made him feel a bit afraid.

It was an aura that suggested tearing someone to pieces.

He asked in a low voice, "Master, if even you at Houtian Realm major completion cannot deal with this person, can I do it at minor completion?"

Hu Lianfeng smiled. "The reason I cannot deal with them is that I cannot get out of here."

"As long as you reach Houtian Realm minor completion, you will definitely be able to handle that person."

"You aren't serving a life sentence, are you?"

Ye Wudao nodded and said, "Not life, but I was sentenced to fifteen years!"

Then, he changed the subject and asked, "Master, who is it you want me to kill?"

Hu Lianfeng said in a deep voice, "I will tell you the day you reach Houtian Realm minor completion."

"Come! Extend your hand; I will help you condense the 'Furnace Seed'."

Ye Wudao looked at Hu Lianfeng and extended his right hand.

Although he still had some confusion in his heart, he was now desperate to obtain a cultivation art.

He wanted to test what the system was actually capable of and see if it could truly help him take his revenge.

The next second, Hu Lianfeng placed his hand on his wrist.

"Bear with it, it might hurt a little!" Hu Lianfeng said softly.

As soon as the words left his lips, Ye Wudao felt a sudden pain in his wrist.

Something surged into his body, racing from his wrist toward his shoulder.

He could even clearly see a round, bulging object burrowing from his wrist to behind his shoulder before disappearing.

"Ugh..."

He gritted his teeth and held on, forcing himself not to cry out.

It wasn't until that thing surged into his lower abdomen that it slowly came to a stop.

Hu Lianfeng raised an eyebrow and laughed, "I didn't expect your physical condition to be this good. You're eighteen, yet your meridians aren't blocked at all!"

"The Furnace Seed has been planted. Now, I will teach you the art; listen carefully."

"Humans have four seas: the stomach is the sea of water and grain, the Chong meridian is the sea of the twelve meridians, the Dantian is the sea of qi, and the brain is the sea of marrow..."

Ye Wudao listened intently. The art was very brief, only a few hundred words long, but it was obscure and difficult to understand.

"Congratulations to the host for comprehending the Northern Dark Divine Art!"

However, the moment Hu Lianfeng finished speaking, a system notification sounded in his mind.

Hu Lianfeng looked at the bewildered Ye Wudao and asked softly, "Did you memorize the art?"

"If you didn't, I'll recite it again."

Ye Wudao shook his head. Although the system had already notified him that the art was successfully comprehended, he couldn't show it.

For someone like him who had never practiced martial arts, it was impossible to memorize a cultivation art just by hearing it once.

Hu Lianfeng nodded and began to recite the art again.

However, Ye Wudao wasn't listening to the rest of what he was saying.

His mind was filled with confusion: why did Hu Lianfeng speak of the Myriad Calamity Body Forging Art, while the system told him he had cultivated the Northern Dark Divine Art?

According to the feedback from the system, this Northern Dark Divine Art could not only be practiced on its own, but it could also absorb the internal energy of others.

However, there were two limitations to absorbing others' energy with the Northern Dark Divine Art.

First, one could not absorb energy from someone stronger than oneself.

Second, the person whose energy was being absorbed must also be practicing the Northern Dark Divine Art; they could not be practicing other arts, or the two energies would clash and destroy the meridians.

He recalled the middle-aged man's mocking snort from earlier and suddenly realized the truth.

Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

He furrowed his brows and snuck a glance at Hu Lianfeng, thinking to himself: This old thing, he isn't trying to use me as a human furnace, is he?