The Challenge of Cultivation

Warm and comfortable, Er Dongsheng began letting his thoughts run wild.

"This rainy season will probably last about a week. I can't just go out during this time. The forest is even more dangerous in a downpour. Many powerful creatures that hibernate during the dry season and emerge to hunt in the rainy season will wake up. Those fellows have been hungry for nearly three years. Better not go out during this period."

"My ancient martial arts training has recently reached a bottleneck. These next few weeks are the perfect time to consolidate my foundation and find a way to break through as soon as possible."

His thoughts spread and wandered. As he thought and thought, Er Dongsheng's mind drifted elsewhere.

"Once I become strong, I have to go out and see the world. I've stayed in one place for more than ten years—I'm bored to death. And all those strange and bizarre Abyssal Species from the inherited memories... I want to see them all."

"Alas, this world feels perfectly suited to someone like me who loves ancient martial arts, but the Sunlight Plane... when will I ever see it again?"

At the mention of sunlight, an instinct deep within his soul stirred. It was an instinct rooted in his deepest depths—both longing and conquest.

"Sunlight, green grass, the earth... and beautiful women. Speaking of beautiful women, there seem to be quite a few famous stunning races in the Abyss too—the Abyssal Fairies, Succubi, and so on. Any one of them seems to be a top-tier beauty!"

"Alas, I'm still not strong enough. Those Abyssal Species are incredibly powerful, and they live in groups. They probably all have Abyss Demons watching over them!"

Er Dongsheng was not wrong to think so. Such gregarious Abyssal Species generally had several Abyss Demons within their clans. Even if they did not, the entire clan would attach itself to some powerful Abyss Demon for protection.

"Splash, splash."

The rain outside grew heavier and heavier. Even from within the cave, he could hear it clearly.

"I spent nearly a whole year preparing for this rainy season. Especially that place where I stored rainwater—just thinking about it makes my claws ache."

"My food stores are sufficient too. Then, it's time to cultivate in peace. I'll strive to reach Level One as soon as possible!"

With a splash, Er Dongsheng rose from the basin of water and began planning out his cultivation regimen.

*

Er Dongsheng missed his former master on Earth terribly. He missed him deeply...

How should he put it? The reason was simple: he did not know how to continue practicing ancient martial arts!

As an ancient martial arts enthusiast, even though he possessed some simple knowledge of how Abyssal Species advanced, he had not abandoned his passion for martial arts. Moreover, the cultivation methods of Abyssal Species were far too crude for Er Dongsheng to even bother using.

For creatures of the Abyss to advance, they needed to constantly slaughter and battle, instinctively devour Abyssal aura and essence, evolve themselves, and then, during evolution, develop all kinds of innate abilities according to the uniqueness of each soul.

There was far too much coincidence involved in that method. It all depended on one's own luck. He suspected that even after advancing, one would not know why it had happened.

Perhaps other Abyssal Species possessed special cultivation methods. Those Greater Demons, or even Demon Lords, definitely controlled deeper methods of cultivation. But that had nothing to do with Er Dongsheng, because he was merely a humble lone Abyssal Species—not even a demon. All he could do now was figure out how to become one of demonkind more quickly.

By the instinct of an ancient martial artist, Er Dongsheng had studied this body of his from the very first day he arrived in this world.

To be honest, aside from being a little short, he was quite satisfied with every aspect of this body. Its agility and the structure of its muscles and bones, in particular, were especially commendable.

Western training systems emphasized weighted muscle training, using heavier loads and more repetitions to stimulate muscle growth. The East had similar training methods, but some uniquely Eastern profound arts, such as the methods of Internal Martial Arts, did not use weight training. They placed greater emphasis on internal power and the training of muscles and bones. Through stance training and other cultivation methods, the body's essence and qi were nurtured, accumulated, and circulated, while the muscles and bones within were stimulated into secondary growth. This made the bones as hard as iron and stone, producing the "Tiger-Leopard Strength" mentioned in martial manuals—the effect known as "Inner Tempering."

Then there were Eastern External Martial Arts and Hard Qigong. These used external force to temper the body's muscles and bones, combined with suitable nourishing foods to refine one's physique. Though this world differed enormously from Earth and even its plants were completely different, every Abyss creature was filled with strange energies. From his memories, Er Dongsheng had found a type of insect with exceptionally powerful wound-healing abilities. With that insect's help, his pair of hands had been tempered until they were no less formidable than ordinary demon weapons. When digging caves and the like, he needed no tools at all—these hands alone did the job.

His tail was also an important part of his daily training, surpassing even his hands. Just look at the scales there: all black and gleaming, utterly unlike the dull gray of the rest of his body. That alone showed how much effort he had put into it.

Under his master, Er Dongsheng had practiced Elixir-Martial Unity, advancing martial cultivation and alchemy side by side. External Martial Arts and Hard Qigong were forms of martial cultivation, belonging to external techniques. For now, they had no real bottlenecks and could be used in every world. As long as one had the proper methods, good medicinal materials, and the willingness to endure hardship, one could improve. But to achieve great mastery, it was best to combine them with superior Internal Martial Arts—cultivating qi, nourishing the body, accumulating essence and qi, and breaking through the limits of human potential.

Internal Martial Arts began by training the muscles and bones inside the body: Tendon Transformation, Bone Transformation, and Marrow Transformation. They could raise human potential almost without limit. Unlike muscle training, where one began regressing after merely a few days without practice, this allowed elderly old boxing masters to grow vigorous in old age, their skill deep and profound. Combined with External Martial Arts, they were truly invincible.

On Earth in his previous life, if one could settle down and practice Internal Martial Arts for three to five years—or persist for decades as though every day were the same—one could still gain considerable results. External Martial Arts, however, were difficult. Due to industrial pollution on the Earth of his previous life, spiritual qi had gradually dissipated. Even an ordinary spirit herb was something one could only yearn for, and even a tiny piece of tiger bone was extraordinarily difficult to obtain.

But this world was different. Leaving aside spirit herbs, there were at least countless bones of all kinds of strange beasts. Nourishing materials were abundant beyond measure, and the Abyssal aura that so closely resembled spiritual qi allowed Er Dongsheng's external and internal cultivation to advance shoulder to shoulder. In only three short years, not only had his external techniques achieved modest success, but his internal cultivation had also completed the path of Refining Essence into Qi. In three years, he had traversed the road that had taken decades in his previous life.

But setting external techniques aside, the next stage of internal cultivation was Refining Qi into Spirit. Yet, yet... a bottleneck that should not even have counted as a bottleneck had held Er Dongsheng back for an entire year.

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