"Feet shoulder-width apart, head held lightly upright, chest drawn in and back extended, waist relaxed and abdomen firm."
"Hold your arms in a circle, palms facing inward, hands above your elbows, elbows level and wrists straight."
"Remember, this is called the Five-Step Stance, the introductory standing exercise of Sage Fist."
Tang Yin held his fingers together and tapped Huo Wu's waist, abdomen, chest, and back, correcting her posture over and over.
When she heard Tang Yin explain the martial arts.
Huo Wu had initially been half-convinced at best, but after Little San Niang demonstrated weaving a flower basket with the Blue Silver Emperor before her, she was won over.
With the attitude that she was already here, so there was no harm in trying.
She began practicing the fundamentals.
"Very good, Sister Huo Wu. You have excellent aptitude, the best class I've ever taught-cough, cough. Hold this position for an hour."
Tang Yin spoke with a perfectly straight face.
Huo Wu was fiercely competitive. Once she mastered the basics, she would scarcely need any urging to practice, making her far less troublesome than Xiao Wu.
Tang Yin sat in a wicker chair nearby, leisurely watching Huo Wu tremble.
Barely ten minutes had passed before glistening beads of sweat covered her forehead.
After all, this was her first time practicing a standing stance. Tang Yin had never intended to make her hold it for a full hour; he had merely set a goal for her.
He had to admit, the sight of this beautiful girl drenched in sweat had a charm all its own.
Just then.
Familiar footsteps sounded, and Tang San Niang leaned close to his ear.
"Brother, I sorted through this batch of herbs for ones we can extract toxins from. There are three in total."
"One of them, azure flame snake saliva vine, produces a slow-acting toxin that causes blood to clot. It fits your requirements perfectly."
Tang Yin's eyes lit up.
His spirit veins martial soul had given him extraordinary adaptability and plasticity.
Combined with his Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, it pushed his recovery and adaptability to their limits.
That was why he had been planning how to use the advantages of his spirit veins martial soul to improve his strength.
One approach was to temper his body with the world's poisons, gradually increasing their potency so his body would continually adapt to different toxins, ultimately forging a body immune to all poisons.
In the original story's course of events, quite a few top soul masters had fallen victim to poison.
With a poison expert as formidable as Tang San Niang at his side, Tang Yin naturally intended to make use of that advantage.
Moreover, tempering his body with poison and gradually adapting to it would constantly stimulate his spirit veins martial soul to evolve. Perhaps he could even achieve a second awakening through it.
The greatest difference between a body martial soul and an ordinary martial soul was its ability to undergo a second awakening! It could even achieve a third awakening upon breaking through to the Titled Douluo realm!
After each awakening, the martial soul's quality and abilities would leap forward dramatically!
The strength attained after a second awakening fell into four tiers: black iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
Naturally, Tang Yin sought a gold-tier second awakening.
A body martial soul's second awakening required constant stimulation of the martial soul, along with powerful spiritual strength and a robust physique.
Achieving a gold-tier second awakening required one's martial soul, soul power, spiritual strength, and physical body to reach exceptionally high levels before success was possible. The demands were harsh in the extreme.
A third awakening further required comprehending the state of unity of heaven and humanity, harmonizing those four aspects into a perfect whole.
This was Tang Yin's path to attaining godhood through his physical body.
Even a God King merely governed one of the world's laws on its behalf.
No god has ever attained divinity through the flesh before, so I will be the one to blaze that trail!
A glimmer of ambition flashed through Tang Yin's eyes.
"Little San Niang, extract it for me and dilute it to a low concentration. Prepare ten doses."
"In three days, once my body has fully recovered, we'll conduct the first experiment."
A trace of concern flickered in Tang San Niang's eyes.
Even with complete confidence in her brother, this still went somewhat beyond her understanding.
Nevertheless, she silently nodded.
She secretly resolved to prepare a corresponding antidote for every dose of poison she made.
That way, she could respond to any unforeseen circumstances at a moment's notice.
Naturally, Tang Yin knew nothing of his sister's thoughts.
He continued.
"And as for studying medicine, you can't rely entirely on teaching yourself. I still need to find someone to instruct you."
However closely medicine and poison were intertwined, Tang San Niang still needed a systematic education in medicine.
Otherwise, when they consumed immortal herbs in the future, they might repeat the absurdity from the original storyline of swallowing them whole, like a cow chewing peonies.
Tang San Niang understood medicinal properties, but her practical application was lacking.
Her medical skills probably weren't much better than those of the self-taught Dugu Bo.
Tang San Niang was not stubborn.
Instead, hearing her brother's arrangements brought a smile to her face.
"Brother, I'll do as you say."
If Brother really does end up badly poisoned someday, I'll have a better chance of treating him.
Tang San Niang thought to herself.
It wasn't that she lacked confidence in her brother.
Better prepared than sorry.
Yes, exactly!
Thud! The sound interrupted Tang Yin and Tang San Niang's thoughts. They turned to see that Huo Wu could no longer hold on and had collapsed onto her knees.
Well-
Little San Niang interrupted me, and I actually forgot about Sister Huo Wu.
Tang Yin was thoroughly embarrassed.
Meeting a pair of eyes filled with shame and indignation, both siblings simultaneously looked away.
Sister Huo Wu is terribly proud. We can't let her think we're laughing at her.
"You two-"
Huo Wu flushed as she forced the words out.
"My legs have gone weak. Help me up already."
"Pfft!" Unable to hold back their laughter, Tang Yin and his sister hurried to help her up.
"No laughing! I'm just not used to this posture yet."
"Next time, I'll definitely be able to hold it easily for more than an hour!"
What followed was a string of incomprehensible excuses about the wind being too strong, not sleeping well last night, and her period arriving.
The entire courtyard brimmed with cheer.
Nuoding City lay in the southern Heaven Dou Empire, bordering the sea to the west, with a humid climate.
Half a year passed, bringing late autumn, yet the ginkgo trees' foliage remained lush green.
In the courtyard, the maids were sweeping up leaves.
A long-legged girl in a pink dress, her hair in a Scorpion Braid, walked straight through the corridor and stopped outside the Training Room.
Knock, knock, knock!
"San Niang, I'm coming in."
Xiao Wu pushed open the door.
The first thing she saw was a boy with his upper body bare, circulating his energy and regulating his breathing.
The meridians throughout his body were clearly visible, with a thin emerald-green line faintly flowing through them.
Beside him, Tang San Niang watched quietly.
"Brother still isn't done?" Xiao Wu asked softly.
The toxin seemed rather fierce this time. Even with her brother's abilities, three days had passed without him adapting to and absorbing it.
Xiao Wu was a little worried.
Tang San Niang, however, remained fairly composed.
Her brother had been cultivating by consuming toxins for over half a year.
He had started with one cup containing a trace amount of toxin each week, then gradually increased the dosage.
Not a single problem had arisen.
This proved that her brother's body was gradually adapting to the corrosive effects of those toxins.
This time, even taking a full dose of azure flame snake saliva vine toxin directly would not cause any problems.
Presumably, before long, her brother would expel these toxins just as he always had.
Suddenly, Tang San Niang's eyes lit up.
The toxin flowing through Tang Yin's meridians like a tiny emerald-green snake abruptly shuddered, then began moving rapidly, converging on his chest.
In an instant, a strange emerald-green orb of light bloomed between Tang Yin's nipples.
"What is that?"
Tang San Niang was deeply shaken.
Following the usual process, shouldn't her brother have expelled these toxins from his body?
Why had they gathered together instead this time?
As Tang San Niang wavered in bewilderment.
A thought suddenly sprang into her mind.
Could this be the idea Brother mentioned? Gathering toxins within a single spirit aperture and combining them with his first soul skill-Myriad Forms Spirit Balance-to unleash terrifying explosive power once activated.
Tang Yin's eyes snapped open.
Delight filled his face as he sensed the changes within his body.
Using Myriad Forms Spirit Balance as a guide, he had combined his vital energy and blood, soul power, and this dose of toxin. After three days of effort, he had finally gathered all that power into a single spirit aperture.
The human body had seven major spirit apertures: heavenly surge, spirit wisdom, life nurturing, essence stabilizing, calamity dispelling, clear radiance, and Ying Huai.
This was the secret art he had created based on the esoteric Buddhist theory of the seven wheels-Seven-Star Fate-Pointing!
The first fate, Ying Huai!
Once activated, his vital energy and blood, soul power, and strength would instantly surge to five times their usual levels. Its duration would depend on his body's endurance and the toxin's concentration.
In the future, combined with the secret art of Ring Detonation and the might of the Great Sumeru Hammer.
Its power would be enough to shake the gods!
Before you continue