Dual Body Cultivation Read online

  Jei took a long breath, holding it to absorb every word. He had read about the theory in books, but seeing it on the mirror he understood many more things.

  "Now, the question is how a Body Cultivation system is different from qi condensation."

  Jei looked at the senior with dumbfounded eyes. "Please enlighten me, senior."

  "There are two aspects to Body Cultivation: Body Refining, and Essence Manipulation when you cultivate a body cultivation system. Let's take Poison Body as an example. Once you attain the first Houtian realm, your cell structure is changed. Now I won't get into what a cell is. Let’s leave it for modern scientists and call them your body's minute particles. Those particles are changed after your breakthrough."

  Jei's head hurt. There were so many foreign terms being throwing at him. But he endured. This was his only way out.

  Senior continued, "The human body attracts and absorbs natural essence throughout the day, but it doesn't get stored in these minute particles. A normal body particle doesn't store this essence and uses only what is required for normal functions. But when you activated your Poison Body, your minute particles were enhanced. Now they can absorb the energy faster and more efficiently. They are the reason you're twice as fast and twice as strong. Your Poison Body has also enabled your minute particles to store the energy, fortifying your body. This process is called Body Tempering."

  "Now, the second use of Body Cultivation is Essence Manipulation. Can you guess what that is?"

  Jei was completely dumbstruck.

  Chapter 20

  Jei stood there, staring at the senior standing on the edge of the river in his soul palace.

  He only understood about half of what the senior had told him. The other half went over his head. It was so hard to understand all the technical terms, but that didn't mean he would give up. He would never give up. He clenched his hands and took a deep breath. The air inside the soul palace was pure and aromatic. Even the tea the senior conjured was tasty and sweet. Suddenly, he craved tea.

  "Senior, I'm storing every word you speak inside my mind. Even if I don't get it right now, I'll ponder it for days until I understand." He paused, wondering if he could ask for some tea. "Can I get some of that tea you made last time?"

  Joshua thwacked his head with the stick. "Concentrate. No need to be hard on yourself. Just try to understand whatever you can. I'll imprint this knowledge afterwards, but it’s also essential to learn normally."

  What?

  "Yes, Josh." Jei was about to clasp his hands and bow to the senior, but he stopped himself from doing it. That would've attracted another swing of the stick.

  "Qi cultivators use the qi stored in their dantian to enhance their fist attacks or weapon attacks. Their dantian can store tremendous amounts of qi at higher realms, so they can fight for days. The same is not true for body cultivators. And yet body cultivators are stronger in all the realms. Now tell me, how is this possible?"

  Jei shook his head. Nothing came to mind.

  "What's the initial source of all energy?"

  "Heaven and earth essence —natural essence, natural energy."

  "Right. So, if you can manipulate energy equal to qi stored by a qi cultivator, do you need to store it in your body?"

  "No." Jei thought for a moment. "So, we don't need to circulate this essence through our body at all?"

  The senior frowned. "Are you dumb?"

  "No. But can you explain it in a detail?"

  "Such a fucking drag. Did you forget Body Refining? You need this energy as fuel. Without it, how would your body attack, run, defend? Manipulation is only for battle, but the foundation is your body refinement. Making it stronger. Hard like stone. They can fortify their bodies for defense using qi, and you use the natural essence in your body to for divine arts." He stared at Jei who was scratching his head. "Okay, let me simplify this for you. A Houtian realm expert can exert 300kg of force, right?"

  Jei nodded.

  "So, for a qi cultivator, when he punches, he uses qi from his dantian to reinforce his punch. If he doesn't use qi, his strength is much lower than 300kg. But a body cultivator infuses his body, so his strength is permanent. Even without using qi. Body cultivators have absolute advantages over qi cultivators."

  Jei understood a bit more now. "That means if a person depletes his qi, he would be easy to squash, while the body cultivator can still fight with just his physical strength?"

  "Now you're getting it." Senior grinned.

  "Then why does anyone cultivate qi? Why not just cultivate body?"

  Senior laughed like Jei had made a fine joke. "Do you think everybody is ready to go through the same process as you? Even a low-level body cultivation system requires one to go through immense pain. High-level body cultivation requires materials which are not cheap. For you to go to Venom body level, you would at least need fifty thousand different types of poisons but a qi cultivator can just slowly expand their dantian with qi, and boom. Breakthrough."

  It made sense now. Jei bowed. "Thank you for enlightening me with this knowledge. You're like a master teacher for me."

  Senior thumped his back with the stick. “No more bowing in front of me." He waited for Jei to acknowledge him, then continued, “It’s not me, dude. It's all thanks to the soul crystal. I'm just absorbing the knowledge and passing it on to you."

  Jei turned to face the soul crystal and bowed to it. "Thank you, Master Soul Crystal."

  "Now let's talk about divine arts used by body cultivators," senior said. "Why do they add properties to your attack? Like the first stance of the Hidden Dragon Fist art doubles your punch power. This is very simple. By moving the essence through a particular path in your meridian, you can achieve natural essence manipulation outside of your body, thus increasing your strength. The same is true for defense and speed techniques. Remember, with each breakthrough you receive a speed, strength, and defense boost without having to use a divine art."

  Jei understood this. When he’d advanced to houtian realm, his strength had doubled, and when he learned Hidden Dragon Fist, his strength would double again. Each of his attacks would be four times more powerful than before.

  His body shook a little. Divine arts really changed things for a body cultivator. This was amazing. The pain was worth it.

  Senior moved stepped forward and pushed a strand of blue energy into Jei's forehead, resulting in him understanding all the knowledge he’d just been given. It was much clearer now.

  "Go and achieve the ten-punch-a-breath speed. Then try circulating the natural essence through the given path. Remember, don't try it before achieving ten punches in a breath, or it will harm your meridians."

  Jei nodded. He would follow everything written in the Hidden Dragon Fist art manual. To the letter.

  Jei once again bowed to the soul crystal and stepped out of his soul palace. He now possessed immense gratitude for the senior and the soul crystal. Without them, he wouldn't have achieved Houtian realm or obtained such precious knowledge.

  When he opened his eyes, Xue was taking an afternoon nap, so Jei headed out to his backyard to practice fist attacks.

  It was a strait punch. Easy. Time after time, he punched the air. With his newfound energy, throwing a punch was as easy as drawing a line on canvas.

  Every time his fist surged forward; a slight howl of air emerged from his fist. His punching was not only faster, it was stronger as well. He could feel the energy surging through his hand.

  Soon, he became relaxed as it didn't take much time to punch the air. He easily did it for an hour without breaking a sweat. It was much faster to do ten rounds of punches as the red-robed elder had demonstrated. But when he actually counted the time it took to punch 10 times; it came to 8 breaths.

  Too slow.

  Four hours passed. His body became drenched in sweat, the stench overpowering his body's natural aroma. He would need a bath when he finished.

  But despite all his practice, his punching speed remained the same. It s
till took him eight breaths to complete ten punches.

  Why is this so hard?

  He then tried whatever ideas came to mind, like throwing a double punch, but nothing improved his punching speed. After one more hour, it seemed impossible to improve his speed even a little.

  "Josh, is there a way to increase my speed?" he asked, mentally.

  "Sorry dude, I don't know the practice of this thing. I can only guide you through the theory."

  Jei frowned. Though he had the knowledge, he didn't know how to apply it. How was he going to learn it? Sadness filled his heart; frustration flowed through his blood. How was he going to save Brother Green if he couldn't even improve a little in five hours?

  Chapter 21

  A sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew Jei a step back. Crows perched in a nearby tree went silent. Pressure mounted in Jei’s body, so intense that he feared the rice he’d eaten that morning would come back up.

  "Li Jei, you are a fool to use that fist attack like a chicken." A roar echoed in the air. It had the power to set Jei's ears on fire.

  Jei almost lost control when he heard those words. His heart sank into his abdomen as he turned to look at the owner of the voice. Two bloodshot green eyes glared at him. Uncle Hei. He stood there with a gourd in his hand, clothes in disarray, hair riding the wind. He looked like a despicable man, but at the same time there was something threatening behind those eyes.

  "Uncle Hei." Jei clasped his hands respectfully. For some reason.

  "You’re a fool. Who told you to punch like a chicken? Even a chicken would hit better than you."

  Jei was at loss for words. Anger smoldered in his chest. What authority did this old man have to teach him anything? He was merely a level 5 qi condensation cultivator. What did he know about the divine arts?

  "You don't believe me?" Uncle Hei took a large swallow from the gourd. Some wine slipped out from the corner of his mouth to dribble down his chin. "Watch this." He pulled his right elbow back and threw a punch that zipped through the air. A roar filled the air.

  Observing his punch was like watching a tiger declare war on his enemy. Loud, and fear inducing. The air pressure was so great, it pushed Jei back a step, even though the punch wasn’t thrown in his direction.

  "How—"

  "Now watch again." Uncle Hei threw another punch with a slightly angled fist. The punch flew silently through the air, like a tiger pouncing his pray. Sharp and silent. Though it looked calm and quiet, it wasn't. The air around that punch actually shuddered for a moment.

  "Uncle Hei..." Jei’s legs shook. A drop of sweat ran down his spine, spreading a chill through his whole body. How was this even possible? That fist. "Can you teach me that?"

  A crazy smile appeared on Uncle Hei's face as he swung around to leave. "Change the angle of your fist. Find an angle that suits you. Remember, a punch can break the heavens."

  A punch capable of breaking the heavens. What kind of punch would that be?

  "Kid, how come the fatty displayed that punch technique? God, it was really amazing," senior said.

  Change the angle.

  An idea struck Jei, and he sat on the ground. Closing his eyes, he went straight to the soul palace.

  "Josh, do you mind if I sit here for some time?" The air was pure and calm. If he practiced here, he might be able to understand the meaning behind Uncle Hei's words.

  "Suit yourself." Senior walked away and pulled a long fishing hook from the air. He dropped the hook in the river that flowed through the soul palace. Had he created fish in the river too?

  Jei shook himself and closed his eyes, contemplating Uncle Hei’s words.

  A punch that breaks the heaven. What kind of words are those? Why do I feel like there is meaning behind them?

  Half an hour passed, but he was no closer to solving the mystery behind those words. Irritated, he put the words in the back of his mind and focused on the other thing Uncle Hei had told him. The angle. Uncle Hei had shown him two fist attacks. One was a straight punch, his wrist parallel to the ground, and the second was with his fist slightly angled to the ground. Would it make a difference?

  Jei jumped to his feet and started punching the air. The calm wind blew across his body as he tried all the angles his fist could make, but there was no change in the speed or force he exerted. Something was amiss, and his mind again and again went back to Hei’s other words: a fist to break the heavens.

  Break the heavens.

  Break.

  Break, break, break. While pondering on that word, he again started throwing punches, one after another, again and again. Suddenly, something struck. One of his last ten punches felt like it went too fast and powerful.

  Jei stopped, recalling what had happened. Being in the soul palace, he could think faster and recall things perfectly. He never understood why, but when he was trying to be a scholar, he found mulling over the solution to a complex problem went faster in the soul palace. Though he could do it only once in a day back then, as it exerted immense physical pressure on him, but now he could come here at any time.

  "I need to test this on something. Like a tree," he muttered to himself and jumped out of his soul palace.

  Picking a tree behind his house, Jei started punching it using different angled strikess. His mind kept murmuring the work “break.”

  Without worrying about the tree's strength, he kept hitting it with full force. It was a huge, indestructible red pine tree. How could it break with a mere 300kg pressure? He wouldn't even put a dent on the tree with 1000 kg strength.

  Time and again, he punched the tree with his full strength. Hundreds of punches later, he stopped. Sharp pain shot from his knuckles. Blood dripped from them. He was amazed for a moment; his body had become so sturdy that it took him hundreds of full force punches to injure himself.

  And as soon as he stopped, an intense energy flooded his hand and healed his injuries.

  "What?" Jei stared in awe. How could this happen? "Josh, did you see that?"

  "Yes, kid. That's fucking awesome. It must be the gate of healing in action. Earlier, it was only ten percent active, but now it’s one hundred percent raging, baby." Senior's chuckle echoed in Jei's mind.

  "Wow, I wonder how much it can heal."

  "Then don't stop after a measly one hundred punches. Do it a thousand times."

  Jei once again started throwing punches. This time he didn't stop when the pain came. Instead, he focused on the angle and the feeling of the word break. A point came when one of his punches activated a similar feeling to what he had felt in his soul palace. An unfathomable energy wrapped around his punch and carried it forward like a hawk shooting at his prey, and it hit the tree trunk in less than a breath’s time.

  A small scratch appeared on the tree.

  "Wow! How powerful." Jei jumped for joy. Another stream of energy flooded his hand and healed it completely.

  "Do you think that’s powerful?" A loud chuckle came from a distance. It was Uncle Hei once again, drinking and laughing at Jei. "Let me show you what power is." He stepped forward, juggling on the way. He once again pulled his elbow back and hit the tree at a slight angle to the ground.

  A murderous aura erupted from his hand.

  The punch hit the tree without a sound. At first a small crack appeared, and then it spread like wildfire. In less than a breath's time the tree was cut in half.

  An indestructible tree broke, just like that.

  "How... You’re only a level 5 qi condensation..." Jei stuttered. His chest heaved like he had run 100 kilometers nonstop.

  "Li Jei, you have your own secrets, and so do I. But if you want to even put a dent in the tree, find the angle. That angle is everything. Every human has a different angle for the fist attack. It helps him to manipulate heaven and earth essence in a greater way. Just now, you’ve only got the grasp of that one angle." And then he walked away again, struggling to keep his posture straight.

  "Kid." Senior's voice echoed in his mind. "I don't
know what kind of man he is, but the pointers he’s giving are quite correct. I just touched upon a memory of this angle theory. This man has his own secrets. Beware of him."

  Chapter 22

  The drunken man staggered away, but whenever he swayed a little too much, he used some mysterious movement to balance himself. If Jei hadn't know what to look for, he would have been fooled into thinking Uncle Hei barely managed to walk. There was a certain mystery behind that man indeed.

  Pushing all those thoughts away, Jei picked another red pine tree and continued his practice. After three more hours, he concluded his training. Gate of healing had healed all his injuries whenever he stopped, so he didn't have to worry about them. He still had enough energy to continue for few more hours, but he stopped since the sun was about to set. Xue must be hungry by now. Strangely, Jei wasn’t hungry. Maybe he didn't need as much food as he had before. The natural essence he absorbed must be revitalizing his whole body. Even after hours of training, he felt only slightly tired.

  Aunt Bei was talking with Xue when he entered his tiny house. She had a very calm demeanor. She looked to be in her late forties, with a round face and big black eyes. Whenever Jei looked at her, she gave off a motherly aura.

  "Jei'er. Where have you been? I met Madam Yu, and she was asking why you haven't attended the workshop for the last few days. She said she also has your painting supplies ready." Aunt Bei glared at him. "And you haven't shown your aunt the new painting you did."

  "Aunt Bei," Jei clasped his hands. "I was training outside. As for the painting, it's not complete yet. I'll show you once I’m finished." There was no need to hide anything from her. As Uncle Hei knew about his advance, she would soon know too. "I have a question for you, Aunt Bei."

  "Speak up."

  "Can I come to your house after dinner to discuss a few things with Uncle Hei?"

  Aunt Bei's eyes widened. "What do you want to talk with that drunken man about? How to drink? If I ever see you drinking wine, I'll beat the shit out of you." Her eyes shot fire at Jei. Though Aunt Bei was their neighbor, after their grandmother died, she had taken the mantle of their real aunt and reprimand them whenever required.