Fusion Successful, "Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body" (1 / 2)

Most importantly, striking an enemy's vulnerable spots faster and more accurately also required constant practice.

After all, the human body's vulnerable spots were not limited to the throat. They also included the eyes, the back of the head, the pit of the stomach, and the groin.

Only by practicing Spirit Snake Flicking Tongue until it became bodily instinct, allowing him to execute it and strike an enemy under any circumstances, could he unleash its full power.

This applied not only to Spirit Snake Flicking Tongue, but also to Scorpion Tail Sweep and Spider Entangling Hands.

Spirit Snake Flicking Tongue attacked with the fingers, while Scorpion Tail Sweep used the legs. In theory, the latter would be more powerful and catch opponents even more off guard.

Spider Entangling Hands, meanwhile, was a joint-locking technique and a grappling move.

So although the moves of Five Poisons Fist were simple, it offered Centipede Shell Retraction for defense, along with palm techniques, kicks, grappling, and even training in force. Whether in versatility or power, it was well worth Zhao Er cultivating it to a higher level.

Practicing Five Poisons Fist alone did not require him to train in the stifling side room, so Zhao Er practiced his fist techniques in the shade of the courtyard.

The little girl, Zhao Shan, had gone nowhere that day. She stayed beside Zhao Er, copying his movements as she practiced Five Poisons Fist.

"Third, come back here! Stop making trouble over there!"

Zhao Dazhu brought out the centipedes he had roasted until they were partly dry and laid them out to sun on one side of the courtyard. Seeing Zhao Shan throwing punches and kicks beside Zhao Er, he assumed she was making trouble and called out loudly.

"No! I want to learn fist techniques from Second Brother. If I learn them, I get meat!"

Zhao Shan's face was covered in sweat, but she had no intention of giving up. She watched Zhao Er's movements and copied each one.

"It's fine. Just practicing some punches and kicks to strengthen her body is good too."

Zhao Er circulated Toad Force while kicking out with Scorpion Tail Sweep, unconcerned by the little girl imitating him.

The core of cultivating Five Poisons Art lay in tempering the body with poison. Zhao Shan had only learned the punches and kicks, not even Toad Force, so it would not harm her body.

Still, he only meant to let Zhao Shan learn a few punches and kicks. He had no intention of having her truly begin martial training this early.

The best time to practice martial arts was not after the body had fully matured, but between sixteen and eighteen, when qi and blood were at their strongest. Beginning martial cultivation too early did the body no good.

Once Zhao Er began, he spent all his time practicing Five Poisons Fist except during the hottest stretch around noon.

Although the gains from this training could not compare to tempering his body with Heavenly Dragon Toxin, the rewards from the Settlement Panel still helped add several points to his Five Poisons Fist progress.

What delighted him most, however, was that after a full day of training, even his Five Poisons Art progress on the panel had increased by one point.

"Dinner's ready~~"

"Shan'er~ Come on, let's eat. I'll let you have a whole big piece of meat."

Only when he heard his mother Zhang Xuan'e calling that evening did Zhao Er stop training. Smelling the aroma of meat drifting over, he called Zhao Shan, who had spent another afternoon practicing alongside him, and headed toward the sitting room.

"Second Brother, is practicing martial arts really this strange?"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I don't know why, but after practicing, I keep wanting to kneel!"

Holding Zhao Er's hand, Zhao Shan had just stepped over the sitting room's high threshold when she tilted her head up and looked at him curiously.

"Hm?"

Zhao Er looked down and saw the little girl's legs trembling slightly. Then he noticed the exhaustion on her face and understood what had happened.

Although the little girl had only been copying his punches and kicks, she was too young for her body to hold up after an entire day. She was simply too little to know that she was exhausted, so all she could do was describe exactly how she felt.

"Hahaha, it's fine. Eat some more meat, then have Mother massage your legs. Once you've put some flesh on them in a few days, you won't feel like kneeling anymore."

Zhao Er laughed heartily, then scooped her up and carried her to the dining table.

Zhao Shan really was exhausted. At dinner, she had barely finished her meat before she began nodding off, and her mother Zhang Xuan'e had to carry her to the bedroom.

After dinner, however, Zhao Er went straight to the side room as though he knew no fatigue. Before long, the sound of cloth strips filled with poisonous sand striking his body rang out from within. It continued for nearly an hour before finally stopping.

Only then did Zhao Er drag his weary body into the house to sleep.

Over the next two days, Zhao Er made only one trip up the mountain, bringing back the centipedes caught in his centipede traps. The animal traps had caught nothing.

This was within Zhao Er's expectations. Although he had treated the animal traps to remove their scent before setting them, little time had passed, so it was hardly surprising that no animals dared approach.

On the afternoon of the third day, Zhao Er hurried eagerly to the side room after finishing his meal, because the technique synthesis on the panel had entered its final countdown.

Zhao Er was full of anticipation for his first fusion of cultivation techniques.

When he summoned the panel, the technique fusion had already finished. The original Five Poisons Art and Ginseng Spirit Art had vanished, replaced by a new cultivation technique.

[Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body (Blue) lv.1 (66/100)]

The technique's name had changed. It was no longer Five Poisons Art or Ginseng Spirit Art, and its grade had risen by one tier, but its cultivation difficulty and Zhao Er's previous progress remained unchanged.

As Zhao Er opened the panel entry, knowledge concerning the "five poisons returning to origin body" began appearing in his mind out of nowhere.

The original Five Poisons Art cultivated both internally and externally. Poisonous sand was struck against the entire body, allowing the toxins within it to enter through the skin. Combined with the circulation method of Toad Force, poison served as a resource for martial cultivation, ultimately refining the body.

Its drawbacks were equally obvious. Ordinary people practicing it had to endure pain beyond what most could bear, and the toxins within their bodies could turn against them at any moment. Once that happened, their intestines would rupture and their guts would rot.

Ginseng Spirit Art hardly needed explaining. It involved consuming specific medicinal ingredients, then using a special guiding method to combine their medicinal properties with the body's blood, ultimately producing spirit blood.

Its drawback was that spirit blood could not be lost lightly. If it was drawn out, the practitioner had to cultivate anew to replenish it. Moreover, despite possessing a cultivation realm, its practitioners ranked among the weakest martial artists in combat.

The new "five poisons returning to origin body" combined the strengths of both techniques. There was no longer any need to pound toxins into the body through the skin using external training; instead, they could be consumed directly.

The practitioner would swallow the poison directly, then use a specific guiding technique to have the blood absorb its toxins, before circulating that toxin-laden blood to temper the body.

This method offered many advantages. Refining the body would no longer be limited to its surface, nor would the practitioner need to endure the hardship of external training. All they needed to do was swallow poison, guide its absorption, and finally circulate it with Toad Force to temper the body.

Of course, the further their cultivation advanced, the more potent the toxins in their blood would become.

But the technique fusion had not merely inherited their strengths. Their drawbacks remained as well.

Swallowing poison was nothing like taking herbs such as angelica or astragalus. The pain and danger involved were far beyond those of absorbing toxins through the skin.

If the most agonizing stage of practicing Five Poisons Art was the training itself, then its most dangerous stage was the backlash caused by toxins running out of control during a breakthrough.

Cultivating this "five poisons returning to origin body," then, meant nine chances of death and one of survival. Taking poison, absorbing its toxins into the blood, tempering the body with them, and facing toxins running wild during breakthroughs—every stage was a gamble with one's life.