Crab Demon

Chapter 4: The Crab Demon

Possessing the cultivation technique, He Yu immediately began to practice. In this strange place, he felt not a shred of security, especially after the two "demon beasts" he had encountered not long ago, which had filled him with an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Strength!

Only by possessing formidable strength could he dispel the unease in his heart. Now that he had a cultivation technique—though not profound, it was sufficient for his current needs—coupled with spiritual essences more abundant than common cabbage, He Yu knew that as long as he cultivated diligently, his strength would surely advance by leaps and bounds.

For his first attempt at the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole, He Yu did not use any spiritual essences to assist him. He needed to see what his normal cultivation speed was and how the heaven and earth spiritual energy in this place fared.

With his eight legs planted firmly on the ground, he focused his mind and forgot himself, wholeheartedly beginning to circulate the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole. At first, because his consciousness had not entered the proper state, there was no progress. But after a short while, once his consciousness successfully entered the meditative state of the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole, He Yu felt eight powerful streams of heaven and earth spiritual energy entering his body through his eight legs.

He Yu's eight legs were connected to his Eight Main Meridians. As soon as the spiritual energy entered his body, it began to assault the Eight Main Meridians from the meridian junctions at the tips of his crab legs. Moreover, it assaulted them all at once. Generally, those who cultivated would clear their internal meridians from easy to difficult, first clearing the minor branch meridians before gradually moving to the main meridians. To clear all the main meridians at once was an unprecedented feat!

Although He Yu also possessed forty-eight minor branch meridians within his body, the technique he had created cleared the Eight Main Meridians first and the forty-eight branch meridians later. This was why the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole differed from other cultivation methods. Past cultivation usually involved guiding heaven and earth spiritual energy into the body through breathing, then clearing all meridians via the branch meridians—this was from the inside out. He Yu, however, went directly from the outside in, acting in reverse.

As the technique circulated, waves of powerful heaven and earth spiritual energy surged into his body, battering the Eight Main Meridians. He Yu was shocked beyond measure; he had never imagined that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth would be so dense. His first, unfamiliar attempt at circulation had nearly reached the limit of what he could endure.

Feeling the waves of pain radiating from his Eight Main Meridians, He Yu knew that the sheer volume of spiritual energy had already damaged his meridians. While a lack of spiritual energy was useless for clearing meridians, too much was also bad; as it was now, the energy was at the limit of his body's capacity, nearly tearing his Eight Main Meridians apart.

Alarmed, he hurriedly stopped circulating the technique, lest his meridians suffer even more severe damage over time.

As his consciousness withdrew from the cultivation state, He Yu broke into a cold sweat. How fortunate! If he had used spiritual essences to assist his cultivation this time, combined with this monstrously dense heaven and earth spiritual energy, he would surely have exploded and died.

After this experience, He Yu understood the dangers of cultivation; one wrong step could lead to eternal damnation. He had been lucky this time, but who could guarantee such luck again?

Caution! He secretly resolved that he must be extremely careful in his future cultivation.

Although this brief, simple session of cultivation had yielded no results and had even damaged his meridians, He Yu had gained a great deal. At the very least, he had confirmed that the heaven and earth spiritual energy was incredibly dense and had avoided a brush with death.

"It seems I cannot yet bear to absorb heaven and earth spiritual energy directly for cultivation," He Yu thought, finding it both laughable and frustrating that the energy was so dense it hindered his progress. However, with countless spiritual essences at his disposal, the initial stages of cultivation would be no problem. Once his cultivation base grew stronger, he would naturally be able to absorb the dense spiritual energy of the world directly.

After clarifying everything, He Yu began to consume spiritual essences to cultivate. Because of the nature of the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole, he could not clear the branch meridians first, so he had to use the energy within the spiritual essences to strengthen his body and his Half-Demon Core Seed.

Cultivation knows no time. He did not know how long had passed, but He Yu's cultivation session eventually came to a temporary end. By this time, his body had been strengthened several times over from the inside out, his meridians were more robust, and he had grown to the size of a washbasin. His two crab claws were enormous, resembling a pair of giant axes joined together, covered in small, sharp spikes that looked ferocious and terrifying.

Not only had his body been reinforced, but the Half-Demon Core Seed within him had officially grown into a Half-Demon Core, now the size of a soybean. A cyan glow emanated from the Half-Demon Core, illuminating every part of He Yu's body and constantly strengthening his physique. Though the process was slow, the results over time were quite considerable.

He Yu's strength at this moment was more than ten times what it had been before his cultivation!

Feeling that he was now sufficiently strong, He Yu once again entertained the idea of absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy into his body to assault his meridians.

Although he had grown more than tenfold, he was still wary of absorbing the energy directly. Thus, He Yu circulated the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole at his slowest possible speed. Having had the experience once before, he was now familiar with the process. As the technique began, eight powerful streams of heaven and earth spiritual energy entered his body through his eight legs.

Feeling the intensity of the eight streams, He Yu breathed a sigh of relief; it was only one-tenth of his limit. He then confidently circulated the technique at full power. Even more powerful and dense spiritual energy surged into his body in great waves through his eight legs. Even at full power, the energy entering his body only reached about two-tenths of what he could endure, making it quite easy to manage.

Once he could cultivate using the heaven and earth spiritual energy, the Qi Induction stage of the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole progressed rapidly. The Eight Main Meridians were also gradually cleared as He Yu continuously used the spiritual energy to assault them.

Although He Yu had learned about the pain of clearing meridians from the descriptions in his mental cultivation memories, experiencing it firsthand was no different from having blades and swords thrust into his body. This unimaginable, immense pain nearly made He Yu want to give up, but thinking of the dangers here and the temptation of cultivation, he gritted his teeth and persisted. He had lacked the conditions to cultivate before, but now that he had them, he could not give up for any reason.

After several sessions, He Yu was dissatisfied with the progress of absorbing only heaven and earth spiritual energy. He began to prioritize absorbing the world's energy while using spiritual essences as a supplement. With both internal and external cultivation, his base grew day by day. The Half-Demon Core within him grew larger with each passing day, his demon energy increased continuously, and his Eight Main Meridians were being cleared deeper and deeper under the impact of the powerful energy.

Time slipped away quietly amidst He Yu's desperate cultivation. Before he knew it, almost all the spiritual essences in the mountains and forests around the small river had been consumed by him. The small demons with shallow demon power in the forest were naturally dissatisfied, but they were no match for He Yu. Even if he stood still and let them attack, they could not break through his hard crab shell. Helpless, they all had no choice but to move far away.

With countless spiritual essences consumed and the absorption of endless heaven and earth spiritual energy, He Yu's Eight Main Meridians and forty-eight branch meridians were all completely cleared. His entire body was filled with surging demon energy, circulating in an endless loop.

During the process of clearing his meridians, He Yu discovered that it was nothing like the descriptions in the novels he had read; there were no barriers or bottlenecks. Not knowing if he was special or if the novels were mistaken, He Yu had to set his doubts aside.

Once all the meridians in his body were cleared and a complete circulation cycle was formed, the powerful heaven and earth spiritual energy he absorbed quickly transformed into Innate True Qi. At this point, He Yu had successfully completed the first layer of the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole. The next step was to cultivate a Golden Core—though for him, it would be a Demon Core.

Forming a Demon Core within the Twenty-Four Inner Mansions of his Eight Main Meridians was not difficult. Following the technique, He Yu succeeded after a few attempts.

In an instant, his body contained one Half-Demon Core and twenty-four Half-Demon Core Seeds. His demon power was immense; by He Yu's estimation, he was now no weaker than the two demons he had encountered before.

Judging that he could now protect himself with his current strength, and seeing that there were basically no spiritual essences left in the vicinity—and that absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy alone could no longer satisfy him—He Yu felt the urge to venture out.

Wishing to experience the legendary feeling of riding the clouds and mist, he immediately released countless streams of cyan demon energy from his body. With a thought, the demon energy gathered into a cyan cloud, carrying his washbasin-sized body into the air. He flew toward a certain location—the very direction in which the two demons he had encountered earlier had departed. He Yu reasoned that since he was now no weaker than those two, if they could go that way, he should be able to as well.

"I suppose I can call myself a demon now! A crab demon? Heh!" He Yu chuckled to himself.