Master, Where Are You?

"Ah, I really miss Master now..." Er Dongsheng sat cross-legged beside the campfire, thinking with some distress.

Er Dongsheng's master was quite the extraordinary man. When he was young, he had followed his own master across the length and breadth of the land, gone to battlefields, fought the Japanese, and gunned down more than a few Russians. Not only was his internal and external martial arts prowess freakishly formidable, but he was also highly proficient in all kinds of boxing techniques. He had dabbled in Xingyi Boxing, joint-locking techniques, Drunken Fist, and more.

Before Er Dongsheng came here, the old man had already lived for over a hundred years, yet his body remained remarkably robust. Even in the dead of winter, he could wear nothing more than a thin undershirt without showing the slightest sign of cold.

Actually, Er Dongsheng's master had leaned more toward the Daoist School in his cultivation. His alchemical and magical arts were far more formidable than the internal and external cultivation of a martial practitioner.

During the years Er Dongsheng had followed his master in cultivation, they often encountered all sorts of powerful figures asking the old man to perform rituals, drive out evil spirits, or assess feng shui.

Back then, modern people were restless and plagued by countless distracting thoughts. Once a person's mind lost its purity, it became frighteningly easy to attract filthy things to possess them. Don't disbelieve it. Ordinary commoners had little chance of coming into contact with such things, because the aura on ordinary people was hardly attractive to them. But the aura of certain extremely wealthy and honored families was much more vigorous—and that was precisely what ghosts and monsters loved most.

The old man had principles, too. He would not help the rich who were heartless, nor would he tend to government officials. There was a reason for that. If the official aura on your body could not even suppress evil influences, then that office of yours—tsk tsk—was truly something else. So if you ever saw an official's family encountering filthy things, that official was definitely rotten to the core.

But that was getting off-topic. Er Dongsheng simply missed his master terribly. What had happened?

"Refining Essence into Qi first requires refining essence. Relying on the Abyssal Aura and these nourishing ingredients, I completed that step in just two years. But how do I transform it into qi?"

Transforming it into qi meant storing the refined essence and converting it into qi. In his previous life, upon reaching this stage, he had begun internal contemplation of his dantian, located its position, blasted open the dantian gate, and then stored his essence and qi.

The capacity of the human body's cells, sinews, and bones was limited, after all. Once the body was filled with essence and qi, another place had to be opened up to contain it. That place was the dantian.

"My foundation is incomparably solid. I can say that no one before me has matched it, and no one after me will surpass it. I have so much essence and qi that it's almost overflowing. But where is the dantian in this Demon body?"

Er Dongsheng was utterly troubled. A Demon body differed greatly from a human body. The difference might not have been apparent during the early stages of cultivation, but now the problem had emerged.

Where was the dantian? Or did it not have one at all?

"Ah, why didn't I bring Master along when I transmigrated...? With his vast learning and talent, he'd definitely have a way to solve this...!"

At present, he could only vaguely sense some energy responding around his chest. He guessed that this was where the essence of his Demon body was located, much like that Abyss Snake, whose essence was hidden in its gallbladder.

Every Abyssal Species contained its own essence. It was like the magic cores in novels, only far more powerful. Aside from cultivating and absorbing Abyssal Aura, Abyssal Species could also advance by slaughtering and devouring the essence of their opponents. This method was even more common, since not every Abyssal Species knew how to cultivate.

Essence was the most important part of every Abyssal Species. It was where energy would be stored for future advancement and where its True Name would be engraved. More importantly, essence did not follow any fixed pattern. Upon reaching Level One, the Great Cosmic Will would use one's soul, memories, energy, and other factors to form a unique essence core for each Abyssal Species, along with powerful innate abilities.

It was important to note that this was bestowed by the Great Cosmic Will, not the Abyssal Will. The Great Cosmic Will contained the wills of countless planes. It was One, the Beginning, and the Eternal. The Abyssal Will was merely one of the more powerful wills among the countless planes. None of these wills possessed thoughts or emotions; they were simply collections of Laws.

As for why Demons breaking through to Level One received the blessing of the Great Cosmic Will rather than the Abyssal Will, the reason was probably that the Great Universe was compensating the creatures of the Abyss. After all, creatures from other planes, though it was extremely difficult, could still find a way to travel to other planes. But for creatures of the Abyss, for some unknown reason, they had been imprisoned forever in this cosmic cage. To get out, they had to be powerful enough to tear open the overwhelmingly formidable crystal wall of a plane themselves—like the Demon Lords, for example.

There was no need to discuss these matters for now. Er Dongsheng's level was too low, and he did not understand most of the issues involved. What troubled him most at present was that his essence core did not react to essence and qi at all. It accepted only Abyssal Aura without the slightest resistance.

"Fine. Looks like I can only absorb Abyssal Aura for now!"

He adjusted his posture, calmed his mind, and worked hard to circulate his internal martial arts technique. The essence and qi throughout his body surged like a rolling tide. A faint white mist began to rise around him, while his grayish scales gradually reddened. This was what happened when an internal martial arts technique was cultivated to its limit—his vital energy surged skyward like a pillar.

At that moment, Er Dongsheng could clearly feel streams of essence and qi and Abyssal Aura circulating through his body, slowly being refined. But after the essence and qi completed one cycle, there was nowhere to store them, so they drifted out of his body and dissipated. The Abyssal Aura, however, vanished after circulating to his heart. It had been absorbed.

Feeling the essence and qi dissipating outside his body, Er Dongsheng grimaced, his heart aching terribly.

"If someone who practiced martial arts in my previous life saw this, wouldn't they be angered to death?"

*

Time trickled away with the pitter-patter of rain. The Abyssal rain outside was beginning to weaken, and Er Dongsheng, who had cultivated for four or five hours, finally came to.

He rubbed his belly. He was hungry.

"There's some good stuff today. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water." As he spoke, a strand of drool fell.

It was no wonder. He had gone far too long without eating anything this good.