Fighting Methods
The area at the Li Flame Mountain and the area at its summit where the rocks are still flaming are completely different worlds.
From a distance, Li Flame Mountain looks like a red-hot iron rod slanted into the earth, becoming increasingly charred and hotter as you go higher.
However, the foot of the mountain is encircled by a naturally formed "cool vein." The underground fire is blocked by the Spirit Vein, and the heat is trapped halfway up the mountain, turning the foot of the mountain into a beautiful place that is warm in winter and cool in summer.
The predecessors who built Li Flame Mountain had a clever idea: most of the inner disciple lived on the mountainside and inside the mountain, while the outer disciples lived at the foot of the mountain in this elegant environment, which was a disguised way of being relaxed on the outside but strict on the inside.
However, his Wu Hun belongs to an outer disciple of Spring Water Ridge, not Li Flame Mountain.
Generally speaking, outer disciples do not deliberately divide themselves into five lineages, but as their cultivation methods become more specialized, they gradually develop their own choices.
For example, Jiang Mingshan chose Great White Peak.
Wu Hun, instead of choosing the Li Yan and Tai Bai lineages, which are known for their combat prowess, they chose the Spring Thunder Ridge.
The reason is not complicated. Spring Thunder Ridge emphasizes quiet cultivation and enlightenment, and has the most Cultivation Method in this regard. For a contestant like him with obvious weaknesses, he cannot let go of any fortuitous opportunity that can increase his enlightenment.
"Then I'll leave you here."
The Hu Mang stomped on the "ash field." This stuff is a specialty of Li Flame Mountain. It looks like thoroughly burned and cooled furnace ash. It looks lifeless, but it can actually grow some fire-attribute Spirit Plant.
"Isn't Senior Brother going back to Spring Thunder Ridge?" Wu Hun asked.
"I'm not going back. I've finally managed to get out of the house, so I'll take a stroll."
Hu Mang suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh right, give me the token."
Wu Hun took out the outer disciple's token, and with a flash of divine light in Hu Mang's hand, the rewards were automatically allocated to him.
This is also a minor privilege of inner disciple; they can allocate task rewards independently.
In the previous instance, and in these two instances as well, Wu Hun didn't ask for any of the Mountain Merit or the Law Artifact rewarded from the mission. Instead, he chose guidance from his sect elders, either the Three Mountains True Person or the Demon-Subduing True Person.
Logically speaking, outer disciples should have dedicated instructors to teach them Cultivation Method. However, this guy has maxed out his martial arts talent but barely developed his cultivation talent. He never understood the teachings during the lessons, so he can only rely on the rewards from missions to get guidance from his elders.
Jiang Mingshan and Hu Mang were also willing to give him this opportunity.
"Thank you, senior brother."
Wu Hun sincerely thanked his inner sect senior brother, who was Xiaoyi his age.
The Hu Mang twisted its neck, feeling the powerful Qi and Blood within its body about to burst forth.
"I was originally planning to spar with you, but I think I'll pass. I'll come back to spar with you once I've adapted to this body."
Hu Mang paused, then suddenly laughed, "Speaking of which, you taught me the Four Great Refinement Methods," but it seems you only taught me the refining methods, not the combat methods. Are you worried that if you teach your apprentice, the master will starve and won't ask you for quests anymore?
A slight smile finally appeared on Wu Hun's usually indifferent face.
"Senior brother is joking. There's no such thing as peers exchanging fighting techniques. Besides, the monsters we forge are all different from those we cultivate."
Different "monsters" have different fighting skills.
"Moreover, Senior Brother is only one step away from breaking through to 'Shattering the Void,' and every demon must take human form. This is a crucial step, and I dare not interfere recklessly, lest I ruin Senior Brother's important matter."
Hu Mang seemed to be deep in thought, "Can monsters also wield machinery?"
"Even monsters have claws and tails."
Now that you put it that way, I understand.
Goodbye, senior brother.
"Goodbye."
Not long after the Wu Hun left, the Hu Mang also flew directly towards the southwest mountains, and soon, the monsters in the mountains suffered.
Whether flying or running, dead or alive, all became whetstones for the Hu Mang to test its abilities. The mountains were originally a Savage Wilderness place filled with Yao Qi, with dense forests and miasma, hiding countless ancient monsters; but the Hu Mang was like a tiger that broke into a flock of sheep, with an indescribable ferocity and savagery, crushing one mountain after another.
Wu Hun is right. A master can teach a disciple fighting techniques, but for a fighter who is nearing the end of his martial arts journey, only he himself can teach him.
Or it could be pure slaughter.
Moreover, killing protected Demon Beast here is not illegal!
The Hu Mang then became even more unrestrained.
The first decent opponent he encountered was a century-old iron-backed centipede that had been entrenched in the Soul-Severing Ravine. The centipede was entirely reddish-black, with an iron-like exoskeleton and a hundred hooked legs, and when coiled up, it resembled a small mountain.
When hunting, it never charges head-on. Instead, it first blocks the prey's retreat with poisonous mist, then strangles it with its hundred legs, killing it alive. The Hu Mang fought with it for half a day, taking more than a dozen stranglers, until it finally saw through the essence of the strangulation. In return, it used its Qi and Blood to create mist, and its veins twisted and constricted, finally crushing the opponent's head.
The second one was a crimson fire crow that perched on Flame Cliff. The fire crow was entirely crimson, and its wings spread out like fiery clouds. It could breathe out a mouthful of demonic fire that could burn rocks into glass. When hunting, it never got close, but only circled high in the sky, repeatedly roasting its prey with its demonic fire. Only when the prey was half-dead from the heat would it swoop down and peck open the prey's skull with its iron beak.
The Hu Mang chased it for three days and three nights, then turned around and used its Qi and Blood to dry it out.
The third one was a nine-tailed fish spirit hiding in the Black Water Pool. The fish was pitch black and slippery. Its nine tails were like nine iron whips, capable of stirring up whirlpools and undercurrents in the water. Then, its nine tails were turned around and pulled into the whirlpool by the eight tails of the Hu Mang. With a powerful punch, its Spiritual Qi was completely dissipated.
Three-eyed Wind Wolf, Hundred-eyed Toad, One-horned Thunder Rhinoceros----
Hu Mang initially planned to practice with the spear, but he discovered that he couldn't even use it.
The Turtle Dragon Bone evolved from the shell of the Mountain-Bearing Ao Turtle, which drastically increased the hardness of his bones. He had personally tested it, and in terms of sheer strength, it was even stronger than his three great spears. Even the most formidable Immortal Weapon Shattering Thunder, if it were just a simple physical attack, could only leave a white spot on his palm bone, and couldn't even break through the surface dragon scales.
Given this, Hu Mang became even more unscrupulous.
He transformed into a humanoid demon Demon Beast and ventured even deeper into the southwestern mountains.
One monster after another fell, and one innate Divine Ability after another was dismantled, absorbed, and incorporated into the Hu Mang's martial arts.
His fighting style was like a piece of iron repeatedly forged, slowly taking shape, being tempered, and sublimated in the midst of battle. His fist techniques were no longer simple martial arts variations, but incorporated the constriction of a snake, the pounce of a tiger, the transformation of a fox, the entanglement of a centipede, the scorching heat of a fire crow, the whirling of a fish, the trapping of a tree demon, the speed of a wind wolf, the allure of a toad, the collision of a thunder rhinoceros, the sealing of an ice cicada, the corrosive power of a poisonous centipede, and the transformation of a dragon—
Each bloodline Divine Ability brings about a special change in Qi and Blood. In this process, the fox, tiger, and python successively transform into human form. The Hu Mang felt that it could take this final step at any time if it wanted to.
However, Hu Mang planned to leave this final step to "Shattering the Elixir".
Simultaneously achieve a dual breakthrough in martial arts realm and National Standard Golden Core cultivation.
However, just as Hu Mang was honing his fighting skills and killing the protected Demon Beast to the point of oblivion, something finally came up at Zheng Family Garden that required the "boss" of the Martial Hall Master —or rather, the Innate Research Laboratory —to intervene.
He needed to sign a contract with the relevant person in charge of Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise, and the person in charge seemed to be an Information Nascent Soul.
As soon as Hu Mang from Zheng Family Garden came out of the pass, he saw Wu Cai he hadn't seen for some time.
"Boss, long time no see! Hey, you've gotten taller!"
The Hu Mang was already quite tall, and now that its four cultivation techniques had reached perfection, its height had increased dramatically. If it weren't for its deliberate efforts to suppress its height...
He had long aspired to be like Zhao Longbo, and even so, he had now surpassed 1.9 meters tall. Combined with his external training, he was undoubtedly a muscular giant.
"He's had a second growth spurt," Hu Mang said casually.
"Boss, I graduated from medical school. Please don't give me answers that insult my intelligence."
"Then don't ask such a stupid question. Do you think you can know the boss's secrets?"
The two started teasing each other as soon as they met.
It had been several months since I'd seen this guy after he returned to Heavenly Gate. Originally, Hu Mang thought that since they'd even produced a lab product called a "Golden Core substitute," they should hurry up and sign a contract, otherwise it would be too late.
Wu Cai rejected his boss's idea, saying that the journey from laboratory to commercial use for such internal cultivation products is not only extremely long, but it is definitely not something that can be done simply by developing it. Production lines, qualification approvals, and human testing are all things that cannot be resolved in a day or two. Moreover, they hold many patents for Golden Core Elixir, and others would have to pay to use them.
The negotiations stalled once again, but Wu Cai himself was not idle. Relying on his status as a former senior executive of spirit medicine Company, he sold the relevant patents everywhere and made a considerable amount of money.
Anyway, they've already made back many times over the money they invested in the Hu Mang.
Of course, he kept the core information he had, namely the data on the "Three Flowers," very well. At most, commercial spies on the market could only find out about the "Essence and Qi Flowers," and most of their findings were just guesses.
Only this is the true foundation of "Golden Core Elixir Reconstruction".
As expected, they were able to endure the loneliness, but the other side couldn't.
Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise, a private sect renowned for its customized Core Formation techniques, approached them, and negotiations continued.
Wu Cai's exorbitant demands were accepted by the other party.
He intends to use the relevant "Three Flowers Method"—patents, technology, and clinical data—to acquire shares in this Qi Refining Enterprise and become a listed shareholder.
Hu Mang expressed his approval.
As expected of a man who likes to keep Nanyang devils, his negotiations are indeed unpredictable and cunning, catching people off guard.
"I heard that Nascent Soul from Heavenly Gate can leave at any time as long as they are in a private sect, right? How do they plan to come over?" Hu Mang couldn't help but ask.
He was present when the contract was signed, so the other party should be present too.
"Is the internet signal good in Zheng Family Garden?" Wu Cai asked.
"It's alright, at least it doesn't lag when playing with friends."
"Then let him come from the internet. It's too much trouble for his physical body to come; let his Nascent Soul come."
Hu Mang suddenly realized something: the speed of ordinary internet is actually close to the speed of light, isn't it?
Therefore, does every Information Nascent Soul at Heavenly Gate possess Rainbow Transformation?