Wang Hao had never understood martial arts, which bordered on the fantastical, but fortunately, he had inherited the memories of the person he had possessed. As a result, he knew something about them, especially external martial arts.
Having also activated the Dao Comprehension Function several times to comprehend martial arts, he had deepened his understanding of them to a certain extent.
This time, however, Wang Hao did not delay in the slightest. He activated the Dao Comprehension Function and put all his remaining twenty Fortune Points into comprehending the Golden Bell Shield and Lightning Straight-Line Step.
Twenty seconds passed quickly, and Wang Hao opened his eyes.
There was no flash of brilliance in his eyes like in the novels, but his gaze had indeed grown brighter. He looked excited, though also somewhat regretful.
"As expected of a supreme Shaolin art. It really is formidable."
Wang Hao praised it from the bottom of his heart. Even after using twenty Fortune Points to activate the Dao Comprehension Function, he had only comprehended half of the External Training Golden Bell Shield, enough to cultivate it to the Complete Integration realm.
Only after comprehending it did he understand that the Golden Bell Shield did not have the twelve gates and twelve layers found in novels. At least, the Golden Bell Shield of the Smiling Proud Wanderer World was not like that.
This External Training Golden Bell Shield was a purely external martial art, similarly divided into four realms: Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber, Complete Integration, perfection, and transcendence.
Cultivating it to Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber made one a Third-Rate martial artist; Complete Integration, a Second-Rate martial artist; perfection, a First-Rate martial artist; and transcendence, a Super-First-Rate martial artist.
He also understood that the Iron Cloth Shirt had indeed evolved from the Golden Bell Shield. To put it plainly, the Iron Cloth Shirt was a weakened version of the Golden Bell Shield.
Even if one obtained the complete Iron Cloth Shirt and cultivated it to transcendence, one would at most reach the cultivation of a Second-Rate martial artist. It would also leave considerable hidden injuries, and that would be the limit of one's lifetime achievements.
The reason Wang Hao had been able to break through to Second-Rate cultivation with the original incomplete version of the Iron Cloth Shirt was, first, his naturally powerful physique, and second, the help of his True Spirit Sword Intent and Bloodline Power. Only then had he broken through in battle.
By comparison, the Golden Bell Shield's cultivation was far more complete. Not only did it come with a secret medicine to accelerate cultivation and mend hidden injuries, it also had a special breathing method to regulate force.
It was vastly superior to the Iron Cloth Shirt.
However, the accompanying secret medicine was extremely precious. Although there was a recipe, Wang Hao gave up on it after a single glance.
It listed several kinds of top-grade medicinal ingredients like thousand-year-old ginseng, and the other supplementary ingredients were also quite valuable.
This was a Cultivation Method that burned through money. Ordinary people simply could not afford to sustain it.
Of course, one could use inferior medicinal ingredients to make it, but its efficacy would be greatly reduced as well.
Before awakening his Bloodline Power, Wang Hao would indeed have been troubled by this, but now that he had it, he no longer thought much of the so-called secret medicine.
No matter how powerful that secret medicine was, it was merely an external aid. It could not compare to the mysterious power of Bloodline Power, which was born within the body.
Earlier, to fuse with the dog blood, he had used the crudest and most direct method, using force to rupture his stomach and intestines. Such injuries had originally been all but certain to kill him, yet shortly after he awakened his Bloodline Power, they had been healed, and his stomach and intestines had even been strengthened in the process.
In terms of healing alone, Bloodline Power was several grades above that secret medicine.
As an aid to cultivation, Bloodline Power also left the secret medicine far behind.
Together with the increased appetite granted by his bloodline Divine Ability, the boost to his external martial arts cultivation was quite astonishing.
And since Bloodline Power existed within his own body, he could replenish it simply by eating enough food. The cost was far, far lower than that of the secret medicine.
After using up his Fortune Points, Wang Hao left his room and loosened up his arms and legs in the courtyard. Then, using a subtle method, he gathered force into both legs. He bent them and pushed off, shooting forward in a burst and crossing a full zhang in the blink of an eye.
"As expected of a First-Rate martial art. My burst speed increased at least threefold!"
After steadying himself, Wang Hao looked back at where he had started and marveled once again.
Besides comprehending half of the Golden Bell Shield, he had also taken the opportunity to comprehend half of the Lightning Straight-Line Step, reaching the Complete Integration realm in it.
Unfortunately, just like with the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, his realm was high, but his own cultivation limited him to unleashing the Lightning Straight-Line Step at a level equivalent to Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber.
Otherwise, he would have covered three zhang rather than one, and his speed would have been even greater.
According to the manual, once the Lightning Straight-Line Step was cultivated to transcendence, its movement speed would truly be like a flash of lightning, exceeding the limits of an ordinary person's reaction speed.
"I'd better use this kind of explosive martial art sparingly for now!"
Feeling the soreness and numbness in his legs, Wang Hao's heart tightened. He resolved not to use the Lightning Straight-Line Step for the time being.
Nearly all explosive Secret Methods placed a certain burden on the body, or even caused injury. The soreness and numbness in his legs meant he had reached the limit his muscles and bones could bear. If he used it again, he would inevitably injure himself.
The manual contained a warning about this as well. If he forced himself to use it, he would definitely cripple his legs.
Wang Hao was not particularly worried about this, however, because he had Bloodline Power.
Bloodline Power itself had an extremely powerful healing effect, so it could naturally ease the strain. It was just that his Bloodline Power had only recently awakened and was too weak. He should use it to cultivate the External Training Golden Bell Shield, rather than repeatedly healing such injuries for the time being.
Once he had cultivated for a while and accumulated enough Bloodline Power, he could even use the Lightning Straight-Line Step continuously as his regular Movement Method without any problem.
Host: Wang Hao Cultivation: Mortal Realm First Layer Spirit: True Spirit Sword Intent (91/100) Soul: Unawakened Corporeal soul: Unawakened Divinity: Unawakened Qi: Unawakened Essence: Bloodline Power (2/100) Fortune Points: 0 Bloodline Divine Ability: Object Storage Cultivation Method: Golden Bell Shield (Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber/Complete Integration) Martial skills: Ten Stances of Bloody Battle (Complete Integration/transcendence) Lightning Straight-Line Step (Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber/Complete Integration)
With a thought, the attribute panel appeared before him. As expected, his Fortune Points had dropped to zero, and under Cultivation Method, the Iron Cloth Shirt had been replaced by the Golden Bell Shield.
Moreover, because he had used the Dao Comprehension Function to comprehend half of the Golden Bell Shield, his realm in it had reached Complete Integration.
Unfortunately, an external martial art like the Golden Bell Shield could not be improved overnight. His actual realm had only barely reached Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber, and he would have to spend a great deal of time cultivating it before he could truly master it.
However, that also meant he would not encounter any major bottlenecks or restraints before breaking through to Complete Integration. He only needed to cultivate step by step.
The Lightning Straight-Line Step had been added under martial skills, and its situation was much the same as the Golden Bell Shield's.
"Time to cultivate at the training grounds!"
After looking around the courtyard, which was not very large, Wang Hao walked out through the gate and headed for a nearby training ground.
When the attendant had brought him here earlier, he had given him a rough introduction to the layout of Blood Wind Hall along the way. It included several training grounds for cultivation, equipped with numerous facilities to assist in training.
Little Erha, who had digested most of the food in his stomach, hurried after him. He had already acknowledged Wang Hao as his master.
Especially after Wang Hao had fused with the dog blood and awakened his Bloodline Power and bloodline Divine Ability, Little Erha felt a sense of kinship and wanted to draw close to him without even realizing it.
Wang Hao soon arrived at the nearest and largest training ground, where several figures were practicing on their own.
Those people merely glanced at Wang Hao before ignoring him and continuing to practice their martial arts.
Wang Hao could not be bothered with them either. He looked around and finally walked over to an area with wooden dummies, which was meant for practicing unarmed combat and external martial arts.
He took the greatsword from his back and planted it in the ground, leaving Little Erha to guard it. After loosening up, Wang Hao circulated force using the External Training Golden Bell Shield's method and drove a vicious punch into the wooden dummy before him.
"Bang!"
The dull impact echoed throughout the training ground, prompting the people practicing martial arts on their own in the distance to glance over.
Wang Hao paid no attention to their gazes. After that punch, he smashed an overlord's elbow into the dummy.
This was the Golden Bell Shield's cultivation method: using a special method of circulating force to draw out and unleash the force within the body, then using that force and the rebounding impact to temper the flesh, muscles, and bones.
The method could be called crude in the extreme, but it was also highly effective.
Even if it caused some injuries, they were of no consequence. Wang Hao had the powerful healing ability of his Bloodline Power and could easily withstand that much damage.
Of course, compared with the cultivation methods of his previous life in the Primordial Wilderness, this was much gentler. The Nine Li People had inherited part of the Wu Race's bloodline, giving them naturally powerful physiques and remarkably abnormal healing abilities.
Although he had been at the very bottom in his previous life in the Primordial Wilderness, the cultivation methods had still been extremely crude and brutal, nothing short of self-torture.
The Golden Bell Shield's cultivation method was child's play by comparison. However, the Primordial World possessed a mysterious energy known as the primordial Qi of heaven and earth, which could strengthen living beings' ability to recover. That was how he had managed to endure it in his previous life.
But the Smiling Proud Wanderer World was merely a low-level martial world. There was no primordial Qi of heaven and earth at all, so he naturally could not cultivate in such a brutal manner. Otherwise, he would definitely train himself to death.
By comparison, the intensity of cultivating this External Training Golden Bell Shield was quite suitable for him as he was now.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Dull impacts rang out continuously. The sturdy wooden dummy gradually became unable to withstand the repeated pounding of Wang Hao's tremendous strength, and after a dozen or so blows, it finally broke apart.
Wang Hao did not pause. He turned and smashed his fist into another wooden dummy beside him.
And so Wang Hao continued to batter the wooden dummies in the training ground. Though there were quite a few of them, they could not withstand being used up at this rate.
Two hours later, Wang Hao exploded the last wooden dummy with a punch and finally came out of his focused cultivation.
"They broke already? Their quality is terrible, isn't it? Could the people in charge of Blood Wind Hall's supplies have been lining their own pockets and cutting corners?"
Wang Hao looked dejectedly at the broken dummies strewn across the ground, troubled about how he was supposed to continue cultivating.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao's somewhat swollen fists quickly recovered under the influence of his Bloodline Power, as did the injuries to the rest of his body.
But Wang Hao's words made the killers who had originally been training there, as well as several who had arrived later, roll their eyes.
They had tried those wooden dummies themselves. Their quality was unquestionably solid. They were all made from hard ailanthus wood and had been specially treated, making them as hard as pig iron.
Yet that fellow had smashed every last one of them apart, one after another!
Just where had this guy sprung from?
"Hey! Training alone isn't very effective. How about you all lend a hand and train together?"
Wang Hao turned his gaze to the dozen or so people in the training ground. A rather bold idea had occurred to him: he would use them to help him cultivate his external martial arts.
"You're a newcomer, aren't you? You've got some nerve. As your senior, I'll teach you the rules today."
The dozen or so people exchanged looks. The man in black at their head spoke coldly. Clearly, he took a dislike to Wang Hao and wanted to teach him a lesson.
With that, the man in black drew the curved saber at his waist with a clang. Cold light flickered along its edge. It was clearly an extremely sharp weapon, forged from Hundred-Forged Refined Iron.
"We're only sparring. Isn't using a sharpened weapon going too far? There are plenty of unsharpened weapons over there. Use one of those!"
Looking at the curved saber's edge, Wang Hao frowned slightly and pointed at a wall by the entrance to the training ground. An enormous weapons rack stood there, filled with all kinds of weapons. There was even a spiked mace, a devastating weapon of the battlefield.
After all, he only wanted to use these people to help him cultivate, not torture himself. With his current physical toughness, he could not withstand cuts and slashes from a sharp weapon, so he could not let his opponent wield one.
"What if I don't?"
The man in black sneered, showing no intention of changing weapons. Clearly, he had made up his mind to draw Wang Hao's blood.