Cultivating Magic and Martial Arts Together
Lin Xu entered a meditative state to cultivate. His soul left his body and floated above the room, bathing in the dense moonlight.
Wang Yue was skilled in formations, and Lin Xu had asked him to set up this Water Moon Light-Gathering Formation.
With just three formation flags and a few Spirit Stones, the formation could gather the moonlight from a radius of about one li into a single spot.
Now, for instance, darkness had already enveloped the village and its surroundings. The only place where light gathered was Lin Xu's quiet chamber, which was shrouded in moonlight so dense that it glowed pale blue.
Bathing in the dense moonlight, Lin Xu's soul body gradually took on a blue glow.
His magic power circulated, refining the moonlight into magic power. A trace of true intent within it permeated his soul body, dispelling its impurities bit by bit. His once indistinct soul body gradually became solid, transforming toward crystal and glazed glass.
A gust of night wind brushed past, making his soul body tremble, but it held its shape throughout.
Lin Xu closed his eyes and meditated, letting the night wind turn into blades that cut at his soul body. The pain struck his soul directly, like being subjected to a thousand cuts, stripping the flesh from his body inch by inch.
His magic power circulated, and a spirit lamp burned steadily in his sea of consciousness. His soul body's injuries were immediately nourished and repaired by his magic power, easing the pain in his soul.
Great streams of pure moonlight poured into his sea of consciousness, where they were refined and purified by the heart lamp before circulating throughout his body with his magic power.
Amid this alternation of cold and warmth, a thought stirred in Lin Xu's mind as he cultivated in his meditative state, and he set the Water and Fire Refinement and Deliverance technique, which had already reached the grandmaster realm, in motion.
The moonlight was bitterly cold, while his magic power was scorching hot. As cold and heat alternated, they further tempered his spirit.
It was like refining iron into steel. Under this extreme tempering, the quality of his soul body improved bit by bit, and the boundary of light in his sea of consciousness expanded little by little, dispelling the darkness over a wider area.
Dawn broke, the moonlight dispersed, and Lin Xu emerged from his meditative state.
He pushed open the door and stepped outside. Liu Jiayao, who was standing guard, was practicing a body-refining technique.
This basic body-refining technique was a fitness exercise created in the real world by martial arts masters from across the country, gathered by the Central State Government to pool their wisdom. It was best suited to the people of Central State.
In theory, as long as an ordinary person practiced it step by step, they could raise their constitution, strength, and agility attributes to a maximum of 16 points each.
With 16 points in each of those three main attributes, a warrior could don heavy armor and sweep across an ancient battlefield.
Watching Liu Jiayao train, Lin Xu immediately grew interested. The Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter cultivates magic and martial arts together. If I practice more when I have time, it might have some unexpected effect.
No one had ever said a Daoist could only cast spells. He went to a corner of the courtyard, took his stance, and began to train.
Ten years of habit helped him find his rhythm within a few breaths.
In particular, after he had grasped a cultivation method for training his neural network, his magic power had nourished his nerves and opened up neural pathways. Practicing the basic fitness technique again now, he immediately noticed the changes.
In the state of Thought Overclocking, every movement of his body was almost instinctive, and he could clearly track the motion of every muscle fiber.
The contraction and extension of his muscles appeared clearly in his consciousness, as plain as writing on his palm.
So there were this many mistakes and omissions in the movements I used to make...
Understanding dawned on Lin Xu, and he quietly made minute adjustments to his movements.
His movements looked much as they had before, smooth and fluid with a sense of rhythm, but in the finest details, they were vastly different from his previous movements.
Among the subtle changes in movement that he had overlooked in the past, muscle groups that had never been exercised, or had been exercised less effectively, were activated one by one during this session.
As his muscles worked, magic power circulated from his sea of consciousness, starting from the neural network in his brain and traveling along his nerves throughout his body. From his muscle groups to his internal organs, every corner of his body was being nourished by the circulating magic power.
With the movement of his muscles and the nourishment of his magic power, his cells sped up their metabolism. Some defective cells were consumed, while new cells were born and strengthened, fortifying his body bit by bit at the most fundamental level.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lin Xu stopped. "That took a lot out of me."
He glanced at Liu Jiayao, who was eating Spirit Rice in great mouthfuls, then went over and picked up his own bowl and chopsticks.
Cultivation was the evolution of life, and at its core, it was the turnover of the human body's energy.
Before evolving into an immortal body that could dine on wind and drink dew, eating and drinking were the most effective ways to replenish energy.
Lin Xu spent the next few days cultivating.
Perhaps because of their crushing defeat last time, the dungeon side made no further moves.
Xuanwei Monastery, which had received the battle report from Peach Tree Village, issued no new orders either, and for a time, Peach Tree Village grew quiet.
After setting up the village's defenses, Lin Xu divided the four Evil Eye Dharma Protectors into two groups to scan the area around the village day and night. The direction of the dungeon to the east was a particular focus of their surveillance.
Peach Tree Village's defenses had already begun to take shape. Without more resources to support them, this was the best arrangement currently possible.
After careful consideration, Lin Xu decided to focus his next efforts on developing Peach Tree Village's production.
At the current rate of Source Fire consumption, I can stay in the Spirit Realm for another three months...
The greatest gain from his previous battle with the powerful enemies from the dungeon was the discovery that killing these organized monsters yielded more Source Fire Fragments.
That one battle had increased his safe remaining stay by about a month.
There's no telling how long the fighting between Xuanwei Monastery and the dungeon will go on. I can't follow their pace.
After checking Peach Tree Village's Territory Panel, he turned his attention to the "special plots" field.
[Peach Grove Slope (Spirit Peaches can be gathered, undeveloped)]
Peach Grove Slope was about half a li from the village. The ground rose gradually, and peach trees covered the slope in a grove. Every spring, peach blossoms blazed with color and spirit mist curled among them.
From what Lin Xu knew, the peach trees in this grove were all descendants of the century-old spirit peach tree in the village. Each one could slowly draw in the faint, free-floating Spiritual Qi in the air.
Although the peaches they bore were ungraded and did not count as Spirit Peaches, eating them over a long period could moisten the lungs and nourish Qi, and was quite beneficial for strengthening an ordinary person's body.
An Evil Eye Dharma Protector's gaze swept over Peach Grove Slope. A hundred or so peach trees swayed in the morning light, their branches dappled pink and white, with spirit mist hanging like gauze.
The spirit mist churned in the grove, faintly forming twisted faces that seemed to be howling shrilly, only to quickly dissipate.
According to the villagers, strange phenomena often occurred on Peach Grove Slope at night. Some had heard whispers and seen figures in the mist, so no one dared approach it after dark.
As the spirit mist in the grove grew denser, it even took shape in broad daylight and possessed a strange ability to bewilder people, forcing the villagers to abandon the grove.
This peach grove naturally gathers Spiritual Qi, and it isn't far from the Earth Vein branch in the village. Over the years, it has shown signs of developing spirituality.
Lin Xu gazed at the images sent back by the Evil Eye Dharma Protector, delight appearing on his face.
This was a good thing. NPC factions like Xuanwei Monastery did not know how to develop or make use of it. Now that it had fallen into his hands, he needed only a few years to turn Peach Grove Slope into a steady source of resources.