Seeing that Ben was no longer pretending, Emima, the old beggar, revealed his cards.
"I just wanted to pass on the martial arts heritage…" His tone softened considerably.
Ben immediately seized the opportunity and said, "You must know that the imperial court is banning martial arts, right? At present, it's just internal cultivation methods, but once these internal techniques are eradicated, they will definitely target external martial arts."
"In this environment, you still want to pass on martial arts?"
"Only by destroying the demons in the imperial court can martial arts be promoted and flourish!" Ben spoke with resolute determination.
Influenced by Ben's conviction, the old beggar, Emima, finally wavered and looked at him seriously. He sized Ben up carefully, but still couldn't see through the young man before him. "You say you can kill all the demons in the imperial court? I don't even dare provoke those demons. Where does your confidence come from?"
"Because this is what I am destined to do!" Ben's words weren't entirely a bluff. If he had enough strength, he would indeed confront those monsters.
After a pause, Ben suddenly said, "Also, brother, I am actually a martial arts prodigy, one in a million!"
"Is that so?" Emima glanced at Ben skeptically. "Why didn't I see that?"
Ben smiled. "Don't believe me? Bring me a secret manual and try it. If I can't get started on the spot, I'll turn around and leave."
"Oh?"
Emima was slightly surprised. Getting started with internal cultivation methods was much harder than external martial arts. Even a martial arts prodigy, one in a million, wouldn't dare make such a claim, would they?
Seeing that Ben wasn't joking, Emima immediately took out a secret manual.
"Alright! This Ancient Sword Blood Technique, passed down from ancient times, is the most powerful and masculine internal cultivation method. Even in the prosperous era of martial arts hundreds of years ago, it was still a top-tier technique!"
"I'll give you one incense stick's worth of time. If you can get started and cultivate the Blood you can choose any of the secret manuals I have here!"
Ben smiled at the challenge. "You said that yourself."
He took the Ancient Sword Blood Technique from Emima's hand. As soon as he did, a prompt popped up in his left eye:
[Discovered the internal cultivation method "Ancient Sword Blood Technique" secret manual. Do you want to learn it?]
[Prompt: Learning the "Ancient Sword Blood Technique" and getting started requires consuming 300 Spirit Energy Points.]
As expected of an internal cultivation method, learning and getting started was three times more expensive than external martial arts.
Ben had more than a thousand Spirit Energy Points at the moment, so he immediately chose to learn it.
Instantly, Ben felt a heat flow emerge from his dantian, quickly spreading throughout his body.
This heat was incredibly powerful, transforming his body. Although Ben was prepared for it, he was still surprised.
This Ancient Sword Blood Technique truly lived up to its name as a divine technique. The effect was astonishing.
[Successfully learned the internal cultivation method "Ancient Sword Blood Technique." Subsequent martial arts realms have been unlocked. You can continue to use Spirit Energy Points to improve your realm...]
Ben grinned and immediately upgraded his "Peak of Obvious Energy" realm to the "Hidden Energy" realm.
The moment his realm improved, Ben felt as though a lock had been broken inside him.
In martial arts terms, it was as if the meridians in his body had been opened!
The warm current generated from learning the Ancient Sword Blood Technique instantly converged toward his dantian, forming internal force.
Hidden Energy!
It was also called "Internal Energy"!
Once internal force was generated in a martial artist's body, it signaled a world-shaking change.
At that moment, Ben felt his body was full of power.
If previously, in the Peak of Obvious Energy realm, his punch force was 2,500 pounds, now in the Hidden Energy realm, his punch force was at least 6,000 pounds!
This was just from being promoted to Hidden Energy.
Seeing that he still had some Spirit Energy Points left, Ben decided to use them again to upgrade the Ancient Sword Blood Technique.
To upgrade from Hidden Energy to Transforming Energy required a full 2,000 Spirit Energy Points. Ben was far from that amount!
After a while, Ben's attributes appeared as follows:Name: Ben Shanhe (Ben)Age: 19 years oldMartial Arts: Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt (Transcendent), Iron Sand Palm (Transcendent), Cloud Chasing Step (Transcendent), Ancient Sword Blood Technique (Proficient)Current Realm: Hidden EnergyCurrent Martial Arts Points: 3,871Available Spirit Energy Points: 141Ben had used up nearly two thousand Spirit Energy Points in one go. Upgrading from Peak of Obvious Energy to Hidden Energy used 800, and upgrading the Ancient Sword Blood Technique to "Proficient" consumed 600 points.
Though the consumption was heavy, the results made Ben incredibly satisfied!
The Hidden Energy realm greatly enhanced his strength.
Especially the Ancient Sword Blood Technique, which brought even more obvious improvements.
After practicing the Ancient Sword Blood Technique, the speed of internal force generation was extraordinarily fast, as though it was endless. Ordinary fists and feet now had amazing attack power. His defense was also greatly enhanced. The Blood could automatically protect his body and deflect external attacks.
If the Ancient Sword Blood Technique was practiced to the highest realm, it could even achieve an "Indestructible Body!"
Additionally, the Ancient Sword Blood Technique was a healing holy scripture. The Blood was immune to all poisons and was especially effective against cold and yin martial arts internal forces.
The Ancient Sword Blood Technique complemented Ben's Iron Shirt, Iron Sand Palm, and other techniques.
This made Ben's destructive and defensive power reach an astonishing level.
"Huff!" Ben exhaled, revealing an extremely satisfied smile.
He turned to look at the nearby alley, raised his palm, and struck out with one swift movement.
"Huff!"
The sound of air tearing rang out.
A Blood actually flew out from Ben's palm and entered the alley.
Although the Blood dissipated after flying more than ten meters, it still frightened Emima, the old beggar.
This kid had only obtained the Ancient Sword Blood Technique for two or three minutes and had directly practiced it?
What kind of monster was this? What terrifying talent was this?
What was even more shocking was that Ben had clearly been at the Obvious Energy realm before. He had instantly broken through and cultivated internal energy?
If it weren't for the facts right in front of him, Emima would've thought he was dreaming!
What martial arts prodigy, one in a million? That wasn't even enough to carry Ben's shoes!
"Brother, how is it?" Ben looked at the old beggar with a smile.
Emima gave him a deep look.
Then, he opened his bag and revealed a pile of martial arts secret manuals.
"Choose! I only hope you can keep your word. One day, if you can see the divine within, and your body is flawless, remember to kill all those demons."
Ben was curious but focused as he began looking through the manuals. "See the divine within? Whole body flawless? What kind of realm is that? I only know that after Hidden Energy, there's Transforming Energy, Blood Exchange, Innate, and Spirit Refinement. I haven't heard of such a realm."
"Above Spirit Refinement is Seeing the Divine!"
Emima replied, "The so-called 'seeing the Divine' is just a figure of speech. The correct term is 'breaking the self, seeing the Divine and becoming Imperishable!' It means that a martial artist's divine sense is strong enough to introspect, to observe everything within their body at any time, keeping the body in a perfect, flawless state."
"This realm has many names, such as 'Seeing the Divine,' 'Immaculate'… However, hundreds of years ago, the common people called this realm 'Land Immortal!'"
Speaking of this, Emima sighed. "Unfortunately, Land Immortals haven't appeared for hundreds of years. If there were any, how could those demons run rampant?"
Ben was listening attentively but couldn't help asking, "Emima, is it necessary to reach the realm of Land Immortal to deal with the monsters in the imperial court?"
"What? You don't even know the strength of those extraterrestrial demons, and you dare boast so shamelessly?" Emima gave Ben a knowing look and said, "The weakest of the extraterrestrial demons have innate power. Especially that old witch sitting in the palace. She has at least the cultivation of the peak Spirit Refinement realm. If you can't see the Divine, don't go looking for her!"
Ben's face became serious at Emima's words.
However, he was still deeply curious about the old beggar's true identity.
A person who knew so much and possessed so many martial arts manuals couldn't be simple.
Ben wanted to ask, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.
Since Emima presented himself as a beggar, he probably didn't want to reveal his identity.
If Ben asked too many questions, it would be nothing more than trouble.
"Hey! Kid, you've been looking for so long. Have you chosen yet?" Emima urged, "I'm in a hurry to go back and eat!"
Ben smiled and continued browsing the manuals. After thinking for a while, he said, "I'm not too familiar with these martial arts, so how about you introduce them to me, Emima?"
Emima didn't introduce them but said to Ben, "Judging by your appearance, you seem to prefer the path of forceful martial arts. In that case, I recommend you learn the 'Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms!' It just so happens that you've learned the extremely Yang Ancient Sword Blood Technique, and the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms is also a Yang technique. The two are a perfect match!"
Ben nodded, accepting the old beggar's suggestion.
He trusted Emima wouldn't trick him. Plus, the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms was indeed a renowned martial art.
Ben had heard of it for a long time!
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