The Challenge of Cultivation

Warmth brought thoughts with it, and Er Dongsheng's mind began to wander.

This rainy season will probably last a week. I can't go out during that time. The forest is even more dangerous in a downpour. Plenty of powerful creatures that hibernate through the dry season and come out to feed in the rains will wake up. Those things have been hungry for nearly three years. Better stay inside.

My martial arts training has hit a bottleneck lately. I can use these next few weeks to shore up my foundations and try to find a way through.

His thoughts kept spreading until they drifted off in another direction entirely.

Once I'm stronger, I have to get out and see the world. I've been stuck in one place for over ten years. I'm sick to death of it. And all those strange Abyssal Species in my inherited memories—I want to see them too.

Ah, this world feels perfect for someone like me who loves martial arts, but the Sunlight Plane... When will I ever see it again?

At the thought of sunlight, an instinct stirred deep in his soul. It was rooted in his very depths: a yearning, and a drive to conquer.

Sunlight, green grass, the earth... and beautiful women. Speaking of beautiful women, the Abyss has plenty of famously gorgeous races too. Abyssal Fairies, Succubi, and more. Any one of them would be a beauty beyond compare!

Ah, I'm still not strong enough. Those Abyssal Species are formidable, and they live in groups. They probably have Abyss Demons watching over them.

Er Dongsheng was right. Such communal Abyssal Species usually had several Abyss Demons within their ranks. Even if they did not, the entire group would pledge itself to a powerful Abyss Demon for protection.

"Patter, patter. Patter, patter."

The rain outside grew heavier. He could hear it clearly even from inside the cave.

I spent nearly a whole year preparing for this rainy season. Especially that rainwater reservoir—my claws ache just thinking about it.

I've stored enough food too. Time to settle down and train. I'll reach level one as soon as I can!

Splash. Er Dongsheng rose from the basin and began planning his training.

Er Dongsheng missed his master from Earth. He missed him terribly...

The reason was simple: he no longer knew how to continue practicing martial arts!

As a martial arts enthusiast, he had not abandoned his passion for training, even though he possessed some basic knowledge of how Abyssal Species advanced. Besides, their cultivation methods were far too crude for him to consider using.

Creatures of the Abyss advanced through endless slaughter and battle. They instinctively devoured Abyssal Aura and essence to evolve, developing various innate abilities according to the nature of their souls.

That method depended far too much on chance. It was all luck; even after advancing, they might have no idea how they had done it.

Other Abyssal Species might have special cultivation methods. The Greater Demons and Demon Lords certainly knew deeper ways to train. But none of that had anything to do with Er Dongsheng. He was merely a lowly, solitary Abyssal Species—not even a Demon. For now, all he could do was find a way to become one faster.

Following his instincts as a martial artist, Er Dongsheng had studied his body from his very first day in this world.

To be honest, apart from its short stature, he was fairly pleased with it in every respect. Its agility and the structure of its bones and tendons were particular strengths.

Western training systems emphasized lifting weights, increasing the load and number of sets to stimulate muscle growth. The East had similar methods, but certain advanced Eastern disciplines, such as Internal Martial Arts, did not use weights. They emphasized training internal energy, bones, and tendons instead. Stance work and other exercises cultivated, accumulated, and circulated the body's vital essence while stimulating the bones and tendons to grow anew, making them as hard as iron and stone. That produced the "Tiger-Leopard Strength" described in martial manuals—the effect known as "Inner Tempering."

Eastern External Martial Arts and Hard Qigong, on the other hand, used external force to toughen the body's bones and tendons. Combined with the right nourishing foods, they could strengthen the physique remarkably well. This world differed greatly from Earth; even its plants were completely different. But its Abyssal Creatures were full of strange energies. Er Dongsheng had found, within his memories, a kind of insect exceptionally good at repairing external injuries. With its help, he had tempered his hands until they were no weaker than ordinary Demon weapons. He needed no tools to dig tunnels; his hands did all the work.

His tail was another major focus of his daily training—if anything, more so than his hands. Its scales gleamed jet-black, utterly unlike the dull gray of the rest of his body. That alone said plenty.

Under his master, Er Dongsheng had practiced Elixir-Martial Unity, advancing martial training and alchemy side by side. External Martial Arts and Hard Qigong were forms of external training, and he had yet to encounter a bottleneck in them. They worked in any world: with the right methods, good medicinal ingredients, and the will to endure hardship, one could make progress. But to truly master them, it was best to pair them with advanced Internal Martial Arts—cultivating energy, nourishing the body, accumulating vital essence, and breaking through the limits of human potential.

Internal Martial Arts began with the bones and tendons within the body. Tendon Transformation, Bone Transformation, and Marrow Transformation could raise human potential almost without limit. Unlike muscle training, the gains did not begin to fade after a few days without practice. That was why some elderly martial arts masters only grew stronger with age and retained profound skill. Add External Martial Arts, and they were practically invincible.

On Earth in his previous life, someone who settled down to practice Internal Martial Arts for three to five years, or for decades without missing a day, could still achieve decent results. External Martial Arts were harder. Industrial pollution had gradually dispersed Earth's spiritual energy. Even an ordinary spirit herb was beyond reach, and obtaining so much as a small piece of tiger bone was exceptionally difficult.

But this world was different. Setting spirit herbs aside, it had more bones from strange beasts than anyone could count, along with nourishing substances in overwhelming abundance. Then there was the Abyssal Aura, so like spiritual energy. Together, they let Er Dongsheng's external and internal training advance apace. In just three years, he had achieved some success in external training and completed the path of Refining Essence into Qi in his internal training. He had covered in three years the ground that had taken him decades in his previous life.

But external training aside, the next step for his internal training was Refining Qi into Spirit. And yet a bottleneck that should barely have counted as one had held Er Dongsheng back for an entire year.

"Aaaah! What am I supposed to do?!"