Hidden Force Trains the Spine, Dragon Form Searches the Bones

Fang Yu drank the qi and blood mixture.

Then Fang Yu took a light black sealed case from the temperature-controlled room nearby. Inside were several fist-sized boxes. He took one out and opened it to find a sealed light gray pill the size of a thumb.

Bone-strengthening pill, Fang Yu thought. Made by the Starlight Group. One pill costs 800 star coins, only half the price of a genuine one from the eight major groups.

For Junior Martial Artists who wanted to grow quickly, qi and blood mixtures and bone-strengthening pills were the two most basic medicines for assisting cultivation. The former accelerated the circulation of qi and blood and replenished the energy needed to strengthen flesh and blood... the latter strengthened bones and toughened fascia...

At martial arts junior colleges and universities, most of the cultivation resources the Blue Moon Alliance distributed to students were these two medicines.

They sounded like the most basic medicines.

Yet most martial artists still couldn't afford to use them long-term.

A genuine qi and blood mixture from the eight major groups costs 2,000 star coins a vial, and it's best to take one every two days, Fang Yu thought. A bone-strengthening pill costs 1,600 star coins, also one every two days.

That's over 50,000 star coins a month altogether.

Over 600,000 star coins a year, Fang Yu thought with a sigh.

And that didn't include weapon wear and tear, daily expenses, lesson fees, and so on.

Martial arts truly were a gold-devouring beast.

That was especially true of martial artists who had yet to mature. Martial arts students in high school or just starting junior college didn't just devour gold; they ate without ever shitting.

I've heard some wealthy people and martial arts geniuses who sign with the eight major groups early also get medicines like Star Power sensing agents, Vitality Regeneration Elixirs, and spirit-nourishing pills. Those are even more expensive. Fang Yu unwrapped the bone-strengthening pill and swallowed it directly as well.

His own family was fairly well-off.

His father had an extraordinary ability to earn money.

But ever since his mother died on the Primordial Star, the family had been greatly affected. After Fang Yu entered martial arts junior college, the "living allowance" he received from his father was 500,000 star coins a year... barely enough to support his use of the two basic medicines.

That was why...

After his martial arts skills reached Subtlety in his second year, Fang Yu immediately used Senior Brother Dong's connections to become an assistant instructor at the Iron Mountain Martial Arts Society. He could earn some money part-time and also hoped to reflect on his own skills by teaching students.

Teaching students was also teaching himself.

The results were good.

In one year, he had earned over 100,000 star coins, and his martial arts skills had reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety. At last, he saw hope of transferring into a university bachelor's program.

On the other hand...

After his skills reached Subtlety, his Innate Divine Ability, Devour, became more efficient. To make better use of his money, Fang Yu switched his source of qi and blood mixtures and bone-strengthening pills from the eight major groups to the Starlight Group.

In this era...

Aside from the many technology, energy, and finance companies... the most prominent were the eight major martial artist groups.

Their founders were all first-generation starry sky martial artists.

After decades of development, each group had a host of starry sky martial artists... The eight major martial artist groups represented the pinnacle of the civilization's martial power. They also controlled numerous subsidiaries that had penetrated every industry, giving them control over enormous wealth.

In the Blue Moon Alliance, the eight major martial artist groups were an extremely powerful force.

Most of the raw materials for these astonishingly effective cultivation medicines come from the Primordial Star, Fang Yu thought. And I've heard firearms can't be used there. Only powerful martial artists can venture deep inside, fighting fierce beasts and even battling powerful warriors from numerous alien civilizations.

The Primordial Star was a battlefield between civilizations.

Martial artists spent much of their time on the edge of life and death... That was also why they held such a high status in society and enjoyed so many privileges.

Because they controlled the raw materials, the eight major martial artist groups had a near monopoly on the cultivation medicine business.

That business accounted for a huge share of the civilization's commerce.

However...

Over decades of development, the Blue Moon Civilization had produced more starry sky martial artists, and some new martial artist groups had emerged, including the Iron Mountain Group and the Starlight Group. Although they couldn't compare with the eight major groups, they had begun releasing various products of their own.

The Starlight Group was a second-tier martial artist group.

Fang Yu had settled on its qi and blood mixtures and bone-strengthening pills... after trying more than a dozen kinds of off-brand medicines.

In terms of effectiveness...

The Starlight Group's medicines were incredibly close to those of the eight major groups... Their effects were simply more forceful, and they contained a trace more medicinal toxins.

All medicine contained some poison.

Just as some patients who took medicine indiscriminately could suffer liver damage or even kidney failure... medicines that assisted cultivation were no exception.

That was also why the eight major groups' medicines hadn't lost market share, even though their prices were high.

A stable supply of raw materials, gentle effects that the body could absorb more easily, low toxicity... It was a business dealing in what amounted to necessities, with a consistently stable market and intense competition.

There had to be a reason they were expensive.

Nobody was a fool.

If the eight major groups' medicines were simply overpriced, sales would surely fall.

But with my Innate Divine Ability, Devour, the drawbacks of off-brand medicines hardly affect me. Fang Yu was already used to the effects of this Innate Divine Ability.

It could absorb the effects of a medicine almost perfectly in a very short time, wasting very little. That was also how Fang Yu had been able to tell that Manager Huo and Supervisor Gao had "faked" theirs.

Medicinal toxins? It could easily break those down too, leaving Fang Yu's body almost unaffected.

That was why Fang Yu dared to choose off-brand medicines.

...After taking the qi and blood mixture and bone-strengthening pill one after the other...

Soon...

Fang Yu felt the power of both medicines. His stomach and intestines churned, seemingly digesting them at an astonishing speed. Streams of warmth flowed from his abdomen and gradually spread throughout his body, where the sinews, bones, flesh, and blood of his limbs and body devoured them greedily.

That feels good.

With how intensely I've been training, the medicine I took yesterday has nearly worn off. Fang Yu sealed and put away both medicines.

He went to the center of the underground martial arts room.

He began practicing the Twenty-Four Basic Fist Forms... The basic forms looked simple; many elementary school students could perform them convincingly after a little instruction.

But on closer inspection, Fang Yu was entirely different at this moment.

Many of his movements differed subtly from the standard forms. Not a single muscle in his body trembled, and even the rhythm of his breathing had changed.

"Open the Dragon Spine." Fang Yu began practicing the final form.

He crouched low against the floor, like a carp leaping over the dragon gate. The preceding forms had fully opened up his muscles, sinews, and bones, and the spine in his back slowly rose like a great dragon.

Power started in his legs and palms, rising from the roots and passing through layer by layer.

His breathing technique set his internal organs trembling.

This was the hardest of the twenty-four forms.

Everyone was different, so there was no absolute standard for this form. Only after reaching Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety and circulating one's qi and blood could one keep experimenting and adjusting to achieve the highest efficiency.

The movements were the surface, the sinews, bones, and muscles were the interior, and the rhythm of breathing and circulation of qi and blood were the core. Ultimately, they acted on the spine to bring it to its most perfect state.

Over the past ten-plus days...

Fang Yu had tried every day before he truly felt this form.

"Buzz... buzz..." His spine fully opened, and Fang Yu felt comfortable all over. Streams of strange force arose from his spine, then seeped into his internal organs and throughout his body.

Dark Force trains the spine, dragon form searches the bones!

In this state, his sinews, bones, and muscles, which had already "eaten" their fill, unexpectedly began absorbing the medicinal effects that were gradually becoming dormant once more.

He was bringing out the full effects of the qi and blood mixture and bone-strengthening pill.

As he cultivated...

Nearly two hours passed without his noticing.

"Phew!"

Fang Yu slowly rose, feeling power surge through his body. He felt wonderfully comfortable. His eyes brightened slightly; he had received several pieces of information through the Sleeping Star Aspect.

My life level has reached level 16? Fang Yu thought.

Even with his skills at Subtlety, Fang Yu found it hard to judge his own condition perfectly, and measurements taken by scientific instruments often had some margin of error... But the Sleeping Star Aspect's sensing was incredibly precise.

After reaching Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety...

Dark Force trains the spine, dragon form searches the bones. That's the true essence of the Twenty-Four Basic Fist Forms. Fang Yu was very satisfied. Once one's skills reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety...

Without relying on Star Power...

Simply drawing out the body's potential to the utmost, combined with qi and blood mixtures and bone-strengthening pills, could bring about a period of rapid physical growth.

Especially over the past few days, Fang Yu's life level had improved as much as it would have in half a month of hard training before his breakthrough.

The two basic medicines only seem unremarkable in this era. You can buy a dose for one or two thousand star coins.

In ancient times, either would have been considered a rare treasure, Fang Yu thought to himself.

In the ancient martial arts era, those grandmasters whose skills surpassed the Inner Landscape and whose brilliance outshone all ages had eaten all kinds of ordinary food and relied on their superb skills to raise their punching force to two or three thousand kilograms... Just thinking about it, Fang Yu found it incredible.

Times had changed.

If I keep training like this...

My life level can rise by a large margin over the next month. Fang Yu grew increasingly confident. Suddenly, his ears twitched.

The door sounded, and there were voices.

Xiaolong and Siyue are back. A hint of delight appeared on Fang Yu's face. He ended his practice and went straight upstairs. I wonder how their martial arts aptitude tests went.

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