Duan Rong returned to the Escort Agency and found a secluded corner in the Martial Arts Arena. He held a piece of Blood Deer Antler in his mouth and began standing in the Pile Skill position.
Duan Rong could clearly feel a warm current flowing with the saliva, reaching his stomach and spreading throughout his body...
"Blood Deer Antler... it really is top quality!"
With the surging medicinal strength of the Blood Deer Antler nourishing his body's blood channels, Duan Rong realized that his Pile Skill could keep going indefinitely.
An hour, two hours...
Duan Rong noticed a subtle change occurring in the movement of his Inner Breath!
It wasn't faster but more nimble!
The Inner Breath in his meridians was thin as a hair, like a wandering thread!
But with every passing hour, a new thread joined the Inner Breath.
The thread-like Inner Breath was gradually expanding!
By dusk, Duan Rong had stood in that secluded corner for an entire day without moving, like a stone statue.
Throughout the day, he had held three pieces of top-quality Blood Deer Antler!
The affectionate afterglow of evening painted the entire Martial Arts Arena with soft yellow hues, enveloping Duan Rong in the twilight mist rising from his head!
Suddenly, Duan Rong dispersed his skill and exhaled, spraying out a stream of white breath as thick as a baby's arm, which traveled forward a fraction of a yard before dissipating!
At the same time, Duan Rong pressed his hands down in air in front of him, stopping at his Dantian.
"With this speed, the First Level of Inner Breath will soon be achieved!"
Actually, the First Level of Inner Breath is the easiest among the Inner Breath Four Realms to achieve.
During cultivation, the First Level extracts the residual Innate True Essence remaining in the meridians.
The Innate True Essence stored in the minutiae of the meridians gets stimulated by the medicinal power and merges into the Inner Breath.
According to the way Duan Rong practices, the First Level of Inner Breath could be achieved within a few days.
Of course, for a normal Martial Artist, it would never be this fast.
The route of Inner Breath circulation is immensely complex.
Even if one can barely control Inner Breath when starting to practice Inner Power Heart Method, seamlessly completing one circulation is not easy.
The meridians twist and turn, and a single mistake can waste the whole circulation, requiring a restart from scratch.
Duan Rong, on the other hand, operated with ease like a seasoned driver, completing one circulation after another—truly extraordinary!
At dinner time, there were few people left in the Martial Arts Arena. Duan Rong wiped the sweat off his forehead and went to the canteen for dinner.
After dinner, Duan Rong returned to the Martial Arts Arena.
Even though he had spent the whole day in Pile Skill practice, thanks to three pieces of Blood Deer Antler, Duan Rong didn't feel tired.
He wanted to test his forms again, practice melding energy with strength, and continue the Pile Skill!
Duan Rong drew his saber and performed one move after another!
This time, Duan Rong clearly felt the difference—not just a sharper sound slicing through air!
More importantly, with the coordination of Inner Breath, techniques he had not understood before revealed their true meaning.
The techniques were not mere show; they were meant to coordinate the Inner Breath to exert force!
Only when the Inner Breath reaches a certain realm can you understand the pauses and rotations within the techniques.
Xiao Zongting's words echoed again in Duan Rong's ears: "Martial Arts, use Techniques as Combat Methods, base Inner Power Heart Method as foundation, center Spiritual Power as core!"
At least at this moment, Duan Rong felt like he understood the first half of the sentence!
Moreover, upon realization, Duan Rong suddenly thought, the National Martial Arts of his previous life being called a mere show was possibly due to the loss of Inner Power Heart Method inheritance!
Without Inner Power Heart Method, original killing techniques degraded into mere performance acts!
For, without Inner Power Heart Method, the pauses and rotations within techniques lose all significance.
Duan Rong completed the full sequence three times in a single breath, invigorated and drenched in sweat!
And at this time, it had only been a little over twenty days since he devoured the Artifact Spirit of Zhao Mu's weapon.
Having completed the sequence, Duan Rong felt a great sense of relief, as if the lingering shadow of killing had completely dissipated at this moment!
He sheathed his saber, held another piece of Blood Deer Antler in his mouth, and stood in Pile Skill position for another two hours before returning to his lodging.
At the well, he pulled up a bucket of water and washed away the stench of sweat with cold water, before slipping naked into the blanket on his bed.
Although Duan Rong was quite exhausted, he didn't sleep immediately. Instead, he lit an oil lamp and, under the dim light, drew a book from the pile of miscellaneous books at the head of his bed and read with keen interest.
These were books Duan Rong had specially picked at a book stall; they contained some of the knowledge he was most curious about in this realm.
Though some things were common knowledge, for someone like him, an Outer Heaven Demon, common knowledge was precisely what he needed to understand.
Duan Rong flipped through three books until yawning endlessly, his eyes started to feel discomfort, and he finally closed the books reluctantly, blew out the lamp, and lay down on the bed.
In the dark bed, Duan Rong closed his eyes and pondered.
He had long known from the original host's memory that this realm was ruled by sects and consisted of the land of Nine Provinces.
But not until today did he gain a rough understanding from the books about the basic information of the Nine Provinces Eight Sects.
Taiyi Sect, dominating Qingzhou, was where he currently resided, and deemed the sect he was most familiar with.
Apart from Taiyi Sect, the other seven sects were the Carefree Alliance, Dharma Image Sect, Celestial Derivation Sect, Divine Intent Sect, Hundred Machines Institute, Wuji Palace, Cyan Sun Sect.
And among these Eight Sects, the most powerful was the Cyan Sun Sect.
One sect occupying two regions, reigning over the world's sects!
And the leaders of Cyan Sun Sect adopted a strategy described in the books as "sect equilibrium policy!"
The so-called "sect equilibrium policy" means whenever any of the other seven sects begin to grow stronger, Cyan Sun Sect would contact surrounding sects to employ vertical and horizontal tactics to weaken them!
Thus, they could maintain balance among the other seven sects, while consolidating their own dominance!
With the power of seven sects, they counter the might of seven sects!
Truly superb in strategy!
Thanks to this policy, Cyan Sun Sect has remained the top sect of the Nine Provinces for thousands of years!
As Duan Rong pondered these thoughts, he slowly fell into a deep sleep...
The next day was the examination day, as Xiao Zongting had stated three days earlier.
After breakfast, Duan Rong and Kong Bin were already standing in Xiao Zongting's courtyard.
The two of them waited a whole incense stick's time before Xiao Zongting limped out from the back yard dragging his smoking pipe.
Xiao Zongting settled and puffed out a smoke ring, saying, "How is your understanding of Inner Power Heart Method progressing? Come, practice a bit, let me take a look."
Kong Bin sighed upon hearing this, his eyes imperceptibly glancing at Duan Rong, then closed his eyes and stood in Pile Skill position.
He knew he couldn't compare to Duan Rong, but as the saying goes, you have to practice regardless.
Xiao Zongting glanced at Kong Bin and nodded lightly. Kong Bin had managed to begin controlling Inner Breath—not bad for just three days.
Xiao Zongting's gaze swept past Kong Bin and settled on Duan Rong standing idly there, "Hey, kid, why are you standing there dumbfounded? I asked you to practice so I can see, did you not understand?"
After the alley killing, Duan Rong's psychological resilience seemed to have risen; the oppressive aura originally emanating from Xiao Zongting had diminished greatly.
Could that oppressive aura actually be a form of killing intent?
Upon hearing Xiao Zongting's voice, Duan Rong shifted his mind back to the present scene.
He had long decided for today's examination; there was no need to hold back—I, the splendid renegade!
Duan Rong turned his head towards Xiao Zongting with a clear smile, suddenly drawing his saber and using Inner Breath to perform the Five Tigers and Sheep Saber sequence, move after move.
The sound of the saber splitting through air interwoven with the flapping sound of his sleeves in the wind!
"Inner Breath exertion!"
Xiao Zongting was shocked, coughing repeatedly from a mouthful of thick smoke...
Only after Duan Rong finished his sequence did Xiao Zongting's coughs gradually subside.
Wiping away the tears brought on by his coughing, Xiao Zongting gazed at Duan Rong with a complex expression.