Dragon-Elephant Marrow Cleansing Sutra

At dawn, the first ray of sunlight shone over all things beneath the heavens. Among the rolling emerald peaks of Central Province, everything was thriving; countless small animals busied themselves preparing breakfast, and bursts of beast roars and birdsong immediately set off a flurry of chaos.

Among the clustered peaks, halfway up one mountain, a human figure could be faintly seen flailing about there, doing who knew what.

Up close, it was Wang Ding. As it turned out, he was cultivating martial arts. At this moment, Wang Ding was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of long trousers and cloth shoes. His skin reflected a bronze sheen, his muscles were arranged in streamlined lines, his deltoids divided in a perfect golden ratio, and his entire body seemed filled with a sense of power.

Wang Ding held his stance, dragon-elephant cries sounding from his mouth. A stream of white breath exhaled from his lips, condensed without dispersing; then, with an inhale through his nose, that white breath was drawn back into his body along with the sound of his breathing, cycling back and forth without end. This white breath was formed after one's martial cultivation reached the marrow-cleansing stage, when the essence and qi of the whole body transformed from formless to formed, condensing into a strand of essence visible to the naked eye. During cultivation, it could be expelled through the mouth and nose to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, thereby strengthening oneself.

Dragon-elephant tones issued from Wang Ding's mouth as he shifted constantly between the two stances, Giant Elephant Roams and Dragon Roams the World. With every shift, the muscles, bones, membranes, five viscera, and marrow throughout his body trembled.

An ancient, savage aura pervaded Wang Ding from head to toe, as though he were displaying a scene from the barbaric age when dragons and elephants vied for supremacy. He had clearly cultivated this martial art to the point that it had seeped into his marrow. The ground was covered in footprints an inch deep, all his handiwork, formed from practicing who knew how many times.

The two forms, Giant Elephant Roams and Dragon Roams the World, were the framework of the Dragon-Elephant Marrow Cleansing Sutra; all its techniques evolved from these two forms. This martial art Wang Ding had learned was called the Dragon-Elephant Marrow Cleansing Sutra. It was the cultivation method taught to him by the old Daoist priest who had taken Zhang Teng in. It had five levels in total, divided into membrane, sinew and flesh, bone forging, five viscera, and marrow cleansing. It was an introductory method used by Buddhist disciples to temper the fleshly body and harden strength. Originally, it was a cultivation method created by a Buddhist eminent monk after watching a giant elephant and a flying dragon battle. Cultivated to its peak, it could transform the tendons and cleanse the marrow, granting the strength of one flying dragon. For a rogue cultivator like Wang Ding, it was already a very good method.

In this world, the combat strength of martial artists was mainly judged by the power they possessed. In the Essence Refining Realm, the highest was the strength of one flying dragon. In the Qi Refining Realm, it was generally from the strength of two flying dragons to five flying dragons. In the Qi Training Realm, one could reach the strength of ten flying dragons to ninety-nine flying dragons. In Spirit Transformation, one could reach the strength of one divine dragon to ninety-nine divine dragons. Now, Wang Ding had already cultivated to the limit of what the Essence Refining Realm could attain, and he could break through his current realm at any time and advance into Qi Refining.

At this moment, Wang Teng suddenly drew the essence into his body, then leapt up. Two meters off the ground, he flipped once in the air before landing lightly, lowering both hands calmly as his essence sank into his dantian. He stood still and finished the exercise.

Letting out a long breath, Wang Ding thought, Now I've already practiced the kung fu in my memories to the level Zhang Teng had reached before he died. If not for this body's foundation still being here, who knows how long it would have taken me to reach this point. Wang Teng then pondered, It's already been a month since I came here. I've been so busy recuperating and practicing that I've never properly observed the situation around these surrounding peaks. Fine, the practice is done anyway, so I'll scout around this mountain and get familiar with the environment.

Having made up his mind, Wang Ding walked bare-chested toward the summit. The mountain path here was rugged, surrounded on all sides by century-old trees with luxuriant branches and dense leaves. Since no one walked here, no mountain path had formed, so Wang Ding had no choice but to clear his own way. He also had to watch out for snakes and insects, as well as weeds and branches blocking the road, which made him rather impatient. But this was not difficult for Wang Ding. With every step he took, the muscles throughout his body trembled slightly, and any fallen leaves, branches, or caterpillars slid involuntarily to one side.

With every step Wang Ding took through the mountains, his legs formed an outward angle, the soles of his feet pressed to the ground, and he moved as if wading forward, grasping the essence of the Giant Elephant Roams form within the Dragon-Elephant Marrow Cleansing Sutra. In the jungle, giant elephants walked in exactly this way.

Along the road, Wang Ding occasionally startled small animals hidden in the thickets. Seeing them flee in panic and confusion, Wang Ding actually felt they were rather cute. After about two hours, Wang Ding arrived at the mountaintop.

The peak where Wang Ding lived was the highest among this stretch of mountains, roughly a thousand meters tall, located on the outer edge of the mountain range.

Wang Ding stood on the summit and gazed into the distance. He saw the mountains stretching endlessly, like waves of jade-green, making his heart feel open and refreshed. According to Zhang Teng's memories, there is a market town in these mountains spontaneously formed by rogue cultivators from a thousand li around. In the past, he often worked there for others to earn spirit stones and buy spirit grain and spirit water, Wang Ding thought.

Back when the old Daoist priest had not died, he had possessed some skill in talisman-making, so the cultivation resources for the two of them had been passable. But once the old Daoist passed away in meditation, Zhang Teng's cultivation was insufficient and he could not make talismans, so he lost his cultivation resources. To continue cultivating, Zhang Teng had no choice but to enter the market town and do all kinds of odd jobs, working for others and barely managing to continue on the path of cultivation. Just when he had finally been about to endure his way to better days, he had lost his life, benefiting Wang Ding instead.

"The path of cultivation has wealth, method, Dao, and companions, with wealth ranked first. Now I possess no money or goods, and cultivating will indeed be difficult. The urgent matter is that I should first break through my cultivation and step into the Qi Refining Realm. Then I can hunt demonic beasts or gather heavenly treasures and earthly treasures to sell for spirit stones. After that, if I learn that old Daoist priest's talisman-making art, I'll have stable resources to continue my path of cultivation." At this moment, Wang Ding gazed solemnly toward the direction of the market town among the mountains and spoke to himself, his tone carrying unwavering conviction.

Wang Ding glanced at the clouds dyed golden by the sun, then turned and headed toward his own cave dwelling halfway down the mountain. Along the way, he dug up some wild yams and Solomon's seal, using them as his breakfast as he walked and ate.

Originally, for cultivators, the higher their realm, the more refined the food they ate. In the Essence Refining stage, some medicinal herbs were still enough to satisfy nutritional needs. For cultivators in the Qi Refining and Qi Training stages, they could only eat various spirit grains and medicinal pills. Above Spirit Transformation, only Pure Lord Pills refined from the clear spirit qi above the nine heavens could satisfy the vital energy consumed each day by their powerful bodies and Primordial Spirits.

This clear spirit qi of the nine heavens drifted in the void beyond the heavenly astral atmosphere. It was the king of all qi, so it took the character "lord" in its name, meaning to reign over the world.

In the first few days after Wang Ding came to this world, in order to recuperate his body, he had eaten up all the spirit grain Zhang Teng left behind. Now he could only gather various wild yams and Solomon's seal from the mountains every day to stave off hunger. He did not eat meat; its mixed qi was too heavy and unfavorable to cultivation.

Returning to the cave dwelling, Wang Ding took out a jade box. Inside was the Yin Ganoderma Zhang Teng had risked his life to gather back then.

"It's time to take it. Success or failure hangs on this one move. I'll stake everything on it," Wang Ding said through gritted teeth, his voice low.