Cultivation Method Basics, Marrow Cleansing

Ye Wudao watched the proficiency of the Northern Dark Divine Art on his system panel climb higher and higher.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: once he was released from prison, he would show Ye Zhenshan and Ye Mingyuan what true cruelty was.

Fifty minutes later, the proficiency of the Northern Dark Divine Art successfully reached 900.

Remembering the three other people around him, he wanted to stop the technique from cultivating automatically.

After all, reaching the entry level of a technique in less than an hour during his first attempt was a bit too eye-catching.

In particular, he still didn't know what Hu Lianfeng was thinking, so he didn't want to attract too much attention.

However, he couldn't find a way to make the technique stop cultivating.

After thinking for a long time, he muttered softly in his heart, "Northern Dark Divine Art, you're already strong enough. You don't need to practice anymore, take a break!"

[Your Northern Dark Divine Art heard your words, felt disdain, and indicated that no one can stop it from becoming stronger!]

Seeing this system prompt, the corners of Ye Wudao's mouth twitched slightly.

It wasn't necessarily a good thing for a technique to become sentient; being uncontrollable was a nuisance.

He could only watch helplessly as the proficiency of the Northern Dark Divine Art continued to rise.

920, 940, 960...

The second the proficiency hit 980, he could clearly feel his heart skip a beat.

Excitement, nervousness, and a touch of anticipation.

After all, this was his first time practicing martial arts, and the first time he had brought a technique to the entry level.

To say he wasn't nervous would be a lie.

The moment the proficiency jumped to 1000, he felt a warm current appear out of thin air in his lower abdomen.

Immediately following, an inexplicable rhythm emanated from his abdomen.

"This is..."

"The Furnace Seed?"

He muttered softly, feeling something pulsing in his lower abdomen.

At the same time, his torso and limbs were enveloped by a strange energy.

Next, the muscles in his body began to twitch, contract, and stretch.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

He could feel his heart beating powerfully.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

His joints emitted a faint sound.

It was precisely this sound that caused Hu Lianfeng on the adjacent Bed No. 3 to sit up abruptly.

He looked at Ye Wudao in disbelief and whispered, "Technique entry, cleansing the marrow and cutting the tendons?"

The middle-aged man on Bed No. 2 also looked at Ye Wudao in disbelief and whispered, "One hour to reach entry level?"

"Could this little guy really be a natural talent for martial arts?"

Even the old man on Bed No. 1 stirred, though he didn't get up; he simply opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling before slowly closing them again.

At this moment, Ye Wudao only felt as if his body was being bitten by countless ants, his muscles tingling and numb.

He couldn't describe the feeling, but it wasn't painful—on the contrary, it was quite comfortable.

The abnormal state of his entire body lasted for about half a minute before slowly dissipating.

[Your Northern Dark Divine Art has reached the entry level, Realm Experience +100!]

[Your technique Northern Dark Divine Art has reached the entry level, feels delighted, and begins automatic cultivation. Technique proficiency +40/minute, Realm Experience +4/minute.]

When he saw the two new prompts on the system panel, he felt a surge of pleasant surprise.

Reaching the entry level of the technique had directly provided him with one hundred points of Realm Experience.

That was secondary, however; the main point was that after reaching the entry level, his cultivation speed had also increased, doubling directly.

The technique proficiency went from +20/minute to +40/minute.

The Realm Experience also went from +2/minute to +4/minute.

Although his realm hadn't improved yet, at the current speed, he would be able to advance to the Body Forging Realm in just a few more hours.

In the technique column, Northern Dark Divine Art (Not Yet Entered) had also changed to Northern Dark Divine Art (Entry Level).

Changing along with it was the proficiency requirement.

When it was not yet entered, the technique only needed 1000 proficiency to advance to the next level.

But after reaching the entry level, the Northern Dark Divine Art required 10,000 proficiency to advance to the next level.

However, he wasn't worried about the technique proficiency keeping up at all; instead, he was somewhat worried that his cultivation speed was so fast that it might make Hu Lianfeng suspicious.

At the current cultivation speed of the Northern Dark Divine Art, he would gain 2400 proficiency in one hour.

It only took four or five hours for the Northern Dark Divine Art to advance to the minor completion stage.

He did not know what level of cultivation talent it was to raise a technique by two realms in a single day.

However, according to what Hu Lianfeng had said earlier, it took an average genius about a year to progress from the start of martial arts training to the great completion of the Body Tempering Realm.

Since he could reach the minor completion stage in just a few hours, his talent should at least be comparable to an average genius.

He shook his head helplessly, deciding he could only take things one step at a time.

If Hu Lianfeng sensed something was wrong and decided to strike first, he would have no choice but to fight for his life.

Ye Wudao opened his eyes and immediately noticed the gazes of Hu Lianfeng and the middle-aged One-Eyed Dragon.

He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked softly, "Master, I felt an itch all over my body just now. What is going on?"

Hu Lianfeng smiled slightly, pointed at his body, and said softly, "Take a look at yourself."

Ye Wudao realized what he meant and looked down at his body.

His prison uniform was soaked through at some point, and an extremely sour, foul odor kept drilling into his nose.

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

When he touched it with his finger, it felt like lard—slippery and sticky.

"What... what is this?"

Ye Wudao was somewhat panicked.

Hu Lianfeng explained softly, "Don't be afraid. This is your body undergoing a marrow-cleansing process after your cultivation technique entered the introductory stage."

"These black things are the toxins from inside your body."

"Once these toxins are expelled, your cultivation speed will increase significantly."

After saying this, he covered his nose and said with an expression of disgust, "Hurry up and wash off! The air circulation in this cell isn't great, and the smell can't get out; it's quite unpleasant."

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

He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked in a low voice, "Master, are we allowed to shower at this hour?"

Back at the detention center, showers were only permitted on odd-numbered days, and everyone was limited to ten minutes in a designated shower room.

Hu Lianfeng pointed to the bathroom and said, "We don't have to follow those rules in this cell. There's a shower in the bathroom; just go wash up."

Ye Wudao nodded and quickly ducked into the bathroom.

Once inside, he was stunned.

Is this a prison bathroom?

Even hotel bathrooms aren't this luxurious!

It had a wet-dry separation, and not only was there a shower, but there was also a bathtub!

Furthermore, there were both squat and sit-down toilets.

Compared to the detention center, where a single trench served as the toilet for everyone, this bathroom was a paradise on earth.

After admiring the bathroom for a moment, he turned on the faucet and began to wash.

It had been three months, and this was the first time he had enjoyed such a comfortable shower.

There was no time limit; he could wash however he liked.

What was even more exaggerated was that the shampoo and body wash in the bathroom appeared to be high-end brands.

This kind of treatment gave him an illusion—is this really a prison?

He spent a full half-hour washing before he finally walked out of the bathroom.

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

Hu Lianfeng rolled his eyes and said, "What are you thinking?"

"When you were brought in, didn't the prison guard tell you about the special nature of Cell No. 1?"

Ye Wudao wiped his hair with a towel and shook his head. "No!"

"I heard that a batch of prisoners was transferred from the Second Prison, and by the time they got to me, there were no spots left, so they assigned me to Cell No. 1."

Hu Lianfeng nodded and said softly, "No wonder. I was wondering how an ordinary person like you ended up in our cell!"

"Since the guard didn't tell you, I'll tell you myself."

"This Cell No. 1 is exclusively for martial artists, and only those at the Houtian Realm are allowed in."

"We don't have to follow the prison rules here; we can do whatever we want. The food and supplies are all better than in other cells."

"However, living in this cell isn't all benefits without drawbacks."

"You'll find out after you've stayed here for a few days."

Ye Wudao asked in a low voice, "What are the drawbacks?"

Hu Lianfeng shook his head. "You'll know tonight."

"Get dressed, eat, and get some rest. We might have some action tonight. When the time comes, I'll take you out to broaden your horizons and show you what the true martial arts world is like."