Divine Art, Like a Crane Arriving

After delivering meals several times, Chu Tianshu realized he hadn't seen the principal.

He carried a thermos and looked around, finally finding the principal in the quiet room filled with canvases.

What is the principal doing?

"You've already exhausted the murderous aura on this canvas. If it stays hanging there and is blown around by the wind and snow, the canvas might become distorted, and the figures might look warped."

Feng Jianhua sighed softly, muttering to himself as he rolled up all the paintings.

Chu Tianshu observed for a moment and found that although Feng Jianhua's Shangdu was no longer as dry as before, with fine flakes, his lips were still chapped.

"Principal, I've brought some hot water. Would you like some more?"

Upon seeing the water bottle, Feng Jianhua burped, quickly straightened up, and gently stroked his collarbone down to his stomach.

"No, I drank so much water as soon as I got back, I can't digest it anymore."

Feng Jianhua said, "Although my internal energy also helps to convert water, the intensity of water loss caused by exercising my internal energy still exceeds the efficiency of my water replenishment."

"Even with water gushing to my throat, I still feel thirsty. I can only wait for these next few months to slowly recover."

Chu Tianshu pondered, "Principal's internal strength is quite impressive, and his internal energy is very pure. Your internal energy manual is probably the best one at Golden Saber Martial Arts School, right? Could I learn it from it?"

"I can trade other cheat codes for it."

Feng Jianhua shook his head and said, "This is a martial arts school. The students who learned the ' Heaven-Hating Art ' before didn't exchange anything of particular value."

"But given their progress in cultivation, even though they know this technique is incomplete, has flaws later on, and won't reach that stage for a long time, since they're young and willing to learn this first, I let them learn it."

"If you were to cultivate this technique, I'm afraid it wouldn't be long before you would encounter its flaws. Even if you could switch to another technique while you're still young, wouldn't you just be wasting your time?"

The old headmaster said, "I can recommend you to the Special Investigation Bureau to obtain a powerful secret manual. Based on your performance this time, even if you give up the prize money, it's enough to buy you a good internal skill manual."

Chu Tianshu pondered for a moment and asked, "How good can it be? Is its grade necessarily higher than the Heaven-Hating Art?"

"This..."

Feng Jianhua said, "Even with its flaws, the Heaven-Hating Art is still top-tier in this era. Among the internal skills that the Special Investigation Bureau can collect, its internal energy quality should be the best. However, you have the Yellow Sprout True Qi, so the quality of your other internal skills is even higher than normal."

Chu Tianshu immediately said, "What if I cultivate the Heaven-Hating Art using the Yellow Sprout True Qi?"

Feng Jianhua chuckled, "So you've got your fix on this martial art, huh?"

Chu Tianshu said, "I'm just curious and want to see. People as young as me always have a lot of curiosity. If I can't see it, I won't be able to sleep well at night!"

This is the truth.

Whether you can see it or not, you'll dream of fighting every night when you sleep.

"Well!"

Feng Jianhua said helplessly, "Then I'll show it to you."

He carried the bundles of canvases upstairs, with Chu Tianshu following behind.

After placing the canvas on the second floor, the two went up to the third floor.

Feng Jianhua didn't try to hide it; he left the door open and took the manual out of the wardrobe.

Chu Tianshu took the manual and carefully examined it, but his mind was elsewhere.

The token screen reappeared, controlled by thought; the list slid and locked onto one of the Evil Spirit materials.

[River Drifter: The mighty river rushes in, sweeping people into the water, where they sink into the silt and decay but do not perish. Their resentment is so strong that all seven orifices are closed.]

One day, it surfaced on a full moon night. Its bones disintegrated, and its soul ascended, traveling by the moon and water.

Characteristics: It can cause the human body to become excessively moist, as if the mouth and nose are sealed with water, leading to swelling of the whole body and death.

It can cause the possessed person to have multiple layers of water under their skin, allowing them to absorb and release force. They become maddened, laughing incessantly, leaving a trail of wet footprints wherever they go.

This Evil Spirit should be classified as a water ghost.

If we choose the characteristics of this Evil Spirit to mix and refine materials, we can deduce Principal Feng's set of techniques.

Will this eliminate the side effects and allow the full potential and strengths of this exercise to be realized?

Theoretically, it might be possible, but there's no guarantee of success.

Chu Tianshu searched again.

The southeast is rich in water, and the souls of those who died in the water transformed into Evil Spirit, making up a significant proportion of those Evil Spirit.

He found another Bitter Well Woman.

[The Bitter Well Woman: Many women live in deep houses; three generations have died in the well. The well water is bitter and blue; a forked snake avenges the wronged.]

The resentment and corpse energy of three generations of blood relatives, combined with the water veins of an ancient well, gave birth to Evil Spirit. It was shaped like a snake, three feet long, and had three heads.

Characteristics: Poisonous water is always with him, inexhaustible; poison arrows can be sprayed, capable of cleaving through anything three zhang (approximately 10 meters) wide.

First, select a few weaker Evil Spirit, just enough to barely meet the criteria for one deduction.

We'll use the characteristics of this well ghost as a starting point to try and deduce its properties later.

"Alright, stop standing at the door and watching."

Feng Jianhua waved for them to leave, saying, "Go upstairs and find a room to sit down."

Chu Tianshu carried the book downstairs.

The area connecting the second floor to the staircase is a large hall.

There are sofas, tables and chairs, fruit, a refrigerator, potted plants, and porcelain jars with calligraphy and paintings on them.

In the corner, there was a stone trough, which looked like it was used for washing brushes. The faucet was broken or something, and water was dripping into the trough little by little.

The snow and wind were intermittent, making it hard to tell which day was colder.

But when Chu Tianshu was cultivating downstairs those days, he didn't hear the dripping water from upstairs.

It now appears that the climate is indeed showing signs of improvement.

Chu Tianshu casually found a sofa, sat down, and quietly read the manual amidst the dripping water.

Feng Jianhua peeked at him, then went downstairs.

[Technique Materials:]

"The Heaven-Hating Art"

The twelve regular meridians are like rivers, the eight extraordinary meridians are like mountain paths, and the thousands of fine veins cannot be exhausted. How can they compare to soaring across the land with wings spread!

An ordinary person's energy is like a small boat on a river, but by cultivating this skill, one's internal energy circulates rapidly and exceptionally.

Like a roc spreading its wings and soaring freely on the river, it develops the momentum of a roc soaring into the nine heavens.

However, Kuafu, chasing the sun, drank all the water in the Great Marsh and died; the roc, soaring into the sky, never looked back. The clouds and mist were not reliable, and eventually, there was the problem of thirst.

This set of exercises has immense potential, but unfortunately, it has a drawback: in the later stages, once one exerts full power, dehydration, both internal and external, can occur within ten breaths, requiring immediate rehydration.

After flipping through the manual several times, Chu Tianshu summoned his token and saw the description of the cultivation technique's materials.

"Okay, let's give it a try."

He chose "Bitter Well Woman" as his leader, gathered a group of weak Evil Spirit to make up the required number, and began to deduce the truth.

A short while later, the token indicated that the deduction was complete.

A large amount of cultivation techniques flooded into Chu Tianshu's mind; compared to the original text in the book, the changes were not many.

The modifications and optimizations account for less than one-twentieth of the total.

However, Chu Tianshu grasped the key point.

"... When this technique is practiced to its later stages, if one exerts all their strength, dehydration can occur within 15 minutes."

Chu Tianshu's eyes were bright and piercing.

Two quarters of an hour! You can really do that with tokens?

Without further hesitation, he selected the water ghost from the river and mixed a large amount of materials.

"Ha, this is the first time we've fought such a costly battle."

[Mixing complete...]

The deduction is complete...

The Sky-Spanning Divine Art

A thousand fine veins cannot be exhausted; with a single flap of its wings, it can cover mountains and seas!

When the roc rides the wind and carries the mist, it can soar to the ninth heaven; even if it is no longer free to carry the mist, it can still strike the water for three thousand miles.

Having mastered this skill, one 'True Qi is inexhaustible, and one's will possess a soaring power. As long as the True Qi remains undiminished, one's will will not become confused, like the vast ocean with its swirling waters, the Kunpeng Transformation, Sky-Spanning wind and rain!

Sure enough, the drawback of being prone to water shortage was gone.

Chu Tianshu savored the cultivation technique in his mind, initially feeling a surge of joy, but then he noticed something subtle.

When he fought Li Guangzong, he felt that Li Guangzong was not as perceptive as someone who practiced boxing in some aspects.

The people I encountered later were all quite shrewd in combat, so this flaw wasn't as noticeable.

However, now that he had a detailed internal energy cultivation method in his mind, he had to admit it.

It seems that, fundamentally, internal strength training is somewhat less effective than that of those who specialize in physical training.

Because the existence of internal force will forcibly interfere with bodily functions.

For ordinary people, the intervention of internal energy naturally optimizes all bodily functions.

However, for someone like Chu Tianshu, whose physical body has been cultivated to a powerful and pure state, such forced interference might actually reduce his sensitivity.

Even with the seemingly excellent effect of "undissipated True Qi and undiminished will" from the "Sky-Spanning Divine Art," he would likely pay the price of becoming slightly duller in some subtle ways.

Sometimes, unconsciousness and lack of awareness are the body's way of protecting itself.

"It is said that cultivating internal energy with the Yellow Sprout True Qi will also strengthen the body. Is this strengthening simply about strength and defense, or will it be as comprehensive as it is now?"

Chu Tianshu compared the experience of Storming Shaolin with the Sky-Spanning Divine Art, and pondered for a long time.

Well, instead of practicing the "Sky-Spanning Divine Art" now, it would be better to experience the realm of "Martial Stove God" a little longer.

In this state, all aspects of the physical body's functions are clearly understood and deeply remembered.

Once you've developed your internal strength, if there's any weakness in any area, you can use the Weapon Soul of the Sanqi Divine Sword as an observer's perspective to compare and contrast it.

Then you can figure out your own way to specifically strengthen those areas.

Martial arts techniques are static, but the martial artist is dynamic and naturally needs the ability to control themselves!

"Then, when should we mention the method to remedy this deficiency to the principal? With his many years of cultivation experience, we don't need to explain too clearly. Just say that because I possess Yellow Sprout True Qi, I've had some inspiration..."

As long as the inspiration points in the right direction, that's enough for Feng Jianhua.

But to say it in the next couple of days would be a bit too outrageous.

There are still ten days until the forced crossing. Let's see when the time is right in a few days.

Ding-a-ling!!

Chu Tianshu was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard the red telephone in the corner ring.

He stood up and called out, "Principal, the phone!"

Feng Jianhua came out of the teaching building where the wounded were located, and waved his hand, saying, "You take a look at this first."

Chu Tianshu picked up the receiver. "Hello, the principal is on his way..."

"That voice, isn't it Little Chu?"

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "This is Yuan Chongxiao. The principal probably didn't have a spare phone because his phone is broken."

"There's something I wanted to tell him."

"We discovered a room in Mo Shengyi's villa that had been prepared for the Supreme Yin Form Refinement."

Chu Tianshu had heard of this method.

Strictly speaking, the Supreme Yin Form Chain is not a single method, but an entire Dharma Lineage.

Like witch doctors, they all share a common characteristic, but their practices are profound and complex, containing both righteous and evil elements.

The Supreme Yin Form Chain was most popular during the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, many people who successfully practiced this method transformed themselves into corpse demons in order to prolong their lives.

However, later on, fewer and fewer people were able to successfully transform themselves. Even if all the steps were the same, or even if their foundation was better, it was easy to kill themselves through the process.

Like many ancient methods, gradually fewer people dared to risk their lives, and the sect's ancestors even voluntarily sealed them away, leading to their eventual loss.

However, the fact that the Ghost Market could directly supply goods to tomb raiders speaks volumes about the origin of this method.

Mo Shengyi was nearing middle age and probably didn't have any particular urgency to prolong his life.

He probably created this thing because he was attracted to another characteristic of the corpse demon.

--All corpse demons have a strong desire for fresh blood and crave to drink more mellow blood essence.

"He was just looking for a thrill, but he's going down a path that's utterly inhuman..."

Chu Tianshu shook his head and continued listening.

"We've already destroyed this room. There was an iron coffin inside that was still absorbing yin energy. I was seriously injured trying to prevent Ghost Owl from even becoming a ghost, and the others who came with me were also injured. We couldn't destroy the iron coffin right away."

Yuan Chongxiao said, "Fortunately, someone helped me out; he said he was going to visit the martial arts school."

Chu Tianshu laughed and said, "Sure, I don't think the principal will refuse. Who is that person?"

As he spoke, he heard the wind outside and glanced over.

Oh, it's just a red-crowned crane flying by in the sky.

What the hell?!

After a casual glance, Chu Tianshu's gaze sharpened in surprise.

That really was a red-crowned crane.

It had already landed on the windowsill, leisurely preened its feathers, and with a flick of its claws, opened the window.

His small, crane-like eyes stared directly at Chu Tianshu.

"The visitor is none other than Benhe."

Chu Tianshu blinked.

It's not surprising that cranes are intelligent; there's even a cat in the martial arts school that can do backflips and transform.

But why can this crane speak human language?

(End of this chapter)