Mastering the Art, Cleansing the Marrow

Ye Wudao watched the proficiency of the Northern Dark Divine Art shoot upward on the system panel.

At that moment, he had only one thought: once he got out of prison, he would show Ye Zhenshan and Ye Mingyuan what true cruelty meant.

Fifty minutes later, the Northern Dark Divine Art's proficiency had successfully reached 900.

Remembering that there were three other people nearby, he wanted to stop the art from cultivating automatically.

After all, it had taken less than an hour to cultivate an art to the introductory level on his very first try. That would attract far too much attention.

Especially since he still had no idea what Hu Lianfeng was thinking. He didn't want to draw too much notice.

However, he couldn't find a way to stop the art from cultivating.

After thinking for a long while, he muttered inwardly, "Northern Dark Divine Art, you're strong enough already. There's no need to keep cultivating. Take a break!"

[Your Northern Dark Divine Art hears your words, scoffs, and declares: No one can stop me from growing stronger!]

Seeing the system notification, Ye Wudao's mouth twitched slightly.

It wasn't great when an art developed a mind of its own. Being unable to control it was a pain, too.

All he could do was watch helplessly as the Northern Dark Divine Art's proficiency continued to rise.

920, 940, 960...

The second its proficiency reached 980, he distinctly felt as though his heartbeat had skipped.

Excitement, nervousness, and a little anticipation.

After all, this was his first time cultivating the Martial Path, and the first time he had cultivated an art to the introductory level.

It would have been a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

The moment his proficiency hit 1,000, he felt a warm current appear out of nowhere in his lower abdomen.

Immediately afterward, an inexplicable rhythm pulsed from his belly.

"This is..."

"The Furnace Seed?"

He muttered softly, feeling something in his lower abdomen throb again and again.

At the same time, a peculiar energy enveloped his torso and limbs.

Then the muscles in his body began to twitch, contract, and relax.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

He could feel his heart beating with powerful force.

"Crack, crack..."

A faint series of sounds came from the joints throughout his body.

That very sound made Hu Lianfeng, on Bed No. 3 beside him, suddenly sit up.

He stared at Ye Wudao in disbelief and murmured, "The art has reached the introductory level, cleansing the marrow?"

The middle-aged man on Bed No. 2 also looked at Ye Wudao in disbelief and said softly, "He mastered the art in an hour?"

"Could this kid really be a natural-born martial artist?"

Even the old man on Cell No. 1 shifted slightly. He didn't get up, though; he merely opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling before slowly closing them again.

At that moment, Ye Wudao felt as if countless ants were gnawing at his body. His muscles tingled and prickled.

He couldn't quite describe the sensation, but it wasn't painful. In fact, it felt rather pleasant.

The strange sensation throughout his body lasted about half a minute before gradually fading.

[Your Northern Dark Divine Art has reached the introductory level. Realm experience +100!]

[Your art, Northern Dark Divine Art, has reached the introductory level. In high spirits, it has begun cultivating automatically. Art proficiency +40/minute. Realm experience +4/minute.]

When he saw the two new notifications on the system panel, a surge of delight filled his heart.

Mastering the art had granted him one hundred points of realm experience outright.

But that wasn't the main thing. Most importantly, once the art reached the introductory level, his cultivation speed increased as well—it had doubled.

The art's proficiency gain had risen from +20 per minute to +40 per minute.

His realm experience had also increased from +2 per minute to +4 per minute.

Although his realm hadn't advanced yet, at this rate he could reach the Body Forging Realm in just a few more hours.

In the Art column, Northern Dark Divine Art (Not Mastered) had also changed to Northern Dark Divine Art (Mastered).

The proficiency requirements had changed as well.

Before he mastered it, the art needed only 1,000 proficiency to advance to the next level.

Now that he had mastered the Northern Dark Divine Art, it needed 10,000 proficiency to reach the next level.

Still, he wasn't worried that his proficiency would fail to keep up. Instead, he was concerned that his rapid cultivation might make Hu Lianfeng wary.

At its current speed, the Northern Dark Divine Art would gain 2,400 proficiency in an hour.

It would take only four or five hours to advance the Northern Dark Divine Art to the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

He had no idea what level of talent it took to advance an art by two realms in a single day.

But according to what Hu Lianfeng had said earlier, even ordinary geniuses took about a year to go from starting their Martial Path cultivation to reaching the Body Tempering Great Accomplishment Realm.

If he could cultivate the art to Minor Accomplishment in just a few hours, then his talent ought to be on par with an ordinary genius.

He could only shake his head helplessly and take things one step at a time.

If Hu Lianfeng noticed something was off and decided to make a move against him ahead of schedule, all he could do was fight for his life.

Ye Wudao opened his eyes and immediately noticed Hu Lianfeng and the one-eyed middle-aged man staring at him.

He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked softly, "Master, I just felt itchy all over. What happened?"

Hu Lianfeng smiled slightly and pointed at him. "Take a look at yourself."

Ye Wudao caught on and looked down at his body.

His prison uniform was completely soaked, and an intensely sour, foul smell kept wafting up into his nose.

He rolled up his sleeve and saw that his body was covered in a dense layer of black liquid.

He touched it with one finger. It felt like lard: slick and a little sticky.

"W-what is this?"

Ye Wudao panicked a little.

Hu Lianfeng explained gently, "Don't be afraid. This is your body cleansing its marrow after you mastered the art."

"The black stuff is the toxins in your body."

"Once they're expelled, you'll cultivate the art much faster."

He covered his nose and said with a disgusted look, "Hurry up and wash yourself! The air circulation in this place is bad, so the smell won't go away. It stinks."

Ye Wudao nodded and stood up, then froze in place.

He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked quietly, "Master, can I take a shower at this hour?"

At the detention center, inmates could shower only on odd-numbered days. They had to use a designated washroom, and each person was limited to ten minutes.

Hu Lianfeng pointed toward the toilet. "Our cell doesn't have to follow those rules. There's a shower in the bathroom. Go ahead."

Ye Wudao nodded and hurried into the bathroom.

Once inside, he was stunned.

Was this really a prison bathroom?

Even a hotel bathroom wasn't this luxurious!

The shower area was separate, and there was not only a shower but also a bathtub!

It even had both a squat toilet and a seated toilet.

Compared with the detention center's trench where everyone did their business, this bathroom was practically paradise.

After admiring it for a while, he turned on the tap and started showering.

It had been three months since he'd last enjoyed a shower like this.

There was no time limit. He could wash as long as he wanted.

Even more astonishingly, the shampoo and body wash in the bathroom seemed to be high-end brands.

The treatment made him feel as though he were dreaming—was this really prison?

He showered for a full half hour before coming back out.

He looked at Hu Lianfeng, who was reading, and asked quietly, "Master, are all the bathrooms in our prison this nice?"

Hu Lianfeng rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"When you came in, didn't the guards tell you what was special about Cell No. 1?"

Drying his hair with a bath towel, Ye Wudao shook his head. "No!"

"I heard they transferred a batch of prisoners from the Second Prison. When it was my turn, there weren't any beds left, so they assigned me to Cell No. 1."

Hu Lianfeng nodded and said softly, "That explains it. I was wondering how an ordinary person like you ended up in our cell."

"Since the guards didn't tell you, I'll explain."

"Our Cell No. 1 is reserved for martial artists. It's a cell for Houtian Realm martial artists."

"We don't have to follow the prison rules in this cell. We can do whatever we want, and our food and supplies are better than those in other cells."

"But there's more to living in this cell than just the benefits."

"Stay here a few days and you'll find out."

Ye Wudao asked quietly, "What's the downside?"

Hu Lianfeng shook his head. "You'll find out tonight."

"Get dressed. Have your meal, then get some rest. We may have an operation tonight. I'll take you along to broaden your horizons and show you what the real Martial Path world is like."