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Among the six types of Cultivation Techniques:
Internal Skill Cultivation Techniques primarily include methods for Cultivating Internal Energy.
External Skill Cultivation Techniques mainly consist of Body Tempering and defense-enhancing Cultivation Techniques.
Lightness Skill encompasses all footwork, evasive Moves for shifting and dodging, and methods of borrowing force for lightness.
Force Skill primarily includes Cultivation Techniques for controlling and applying one's own strength, such as Internal Energy, borrowing force, neutralizing force, deflecting force, and applying force.
Basic Cultivation Techniques cover fundamental knowledge like breath holding, Acupoints, healing, and other essential Cultivation Technique principles.
Attack Cultivation Techniques are the most complex among the six types, encompassing various martial arts for offense and defense, such as fist, palm, leg, sword, and whip.
If further subdivided, Attack Cultivation Techniques alone could be broken down into seven or eight categories.
Among the six types of Cultivation Techniques, Shi Quan's first choice was an Internal Skill Cultivation Technique, and this choice was also the quickest.
Though there were many Internal Skill Cultivation Techniques, Shi Quan had already made his choice during the sorting process.
Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill.
This Internal Skill Cultivation Technique is the strongest Cultivation Technique within the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures. It absorbs the essence of Heaven and Earth, with Yin and Yang mutually generating each other, dividing Internal Energy into Yin and Yang forces. It can circulate automatically, mutually nourishing itself, continuously, growing stronger with each battle. It is also the Internal Skill Cultivation Technique most compatible with the many martial arts within the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures.
Additionally, with a trace of Yin and Yang force obtained when extracting the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures, his Cultivation of Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill would be twice as effective with half the effort. Not only could he quickly get started, but it was also the most compatible Internal Skill Cultivation Technique for him.
Internal Skill Cultivation Techniques are the most important among all Cultivation Techniques; the choice of other Cultivation Techniques depended on Shi Quan's personal preference.
Any martial art recorded in the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures is profoundly mysterious. Even a lower-tier martial art, when Cultivated to a deep level, greatly benefits the Cultivator.
Soon, Shi Quan made his second choice. He chose a relatively basic Body Tempering method from the External Skill Cultivation Techniques: Muscle and Marrow Cleansing.
The Muscle and Marrow Cleansing method, with Yin and Yang forces mutually generating each other, has the effect of strengthening the body. When Cultivated to a deep level, it can achieve immunity to all poisons and diseases. Although it is an External Skill Cultivation Technique, it is actually a method of internal refinement.
The reason Shi Quan chose this martial art was because the Muscle and Marrow Cleansing method has a very special effect: it can help the Cultivator stimulate and enhance their own potential. It can be said to be a mandatory Cultivation Technique for Foundation Establishment.
The beginning of all things is difficult. After making the initial choices, subsequent choices became much easier.
Next, Shi Quan selected another Body Tempering Cultivation Technique from the External Skill Cultivation Techniques: Indestructible Divine Skill.
Indestructible Divine Skill is one of the top-tier Body Tempering methods recorded in the Scriptures. The entire body becomes as hard as steel, indestructible, with the strength of a Vajra, and the body is impervious to harm. Although it appears rigid and fierce, it also balances Yin and Yang, functioning normally without the stiffness and immobility seen in techniques like the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Shirt.
According to Shi Quan's idea, he didn't want his Life-preserving Cultivation Technique to turn into the suicidal 'Iron Body' from One Piece.
At this point, the External Skill Cultivation Techniques selection came to an end.
Lightness Skill was also relatively simple; he directly chose Nine Shadows Shift. This Nine Shadows Shift is actually an upgraded version of the Spiral Nine Shadows from the Nine Yin Manual.
Nine Shadows Shift is also one of the most advanced Lightness Skills in the Scriptures, integrating body movement, footwork, and Protective Aura. It allows one to rise several zhang from flat ground and even fly thousands of miles in the air. A natural Protective Aura surrounds the body, combining offense and defense. When Cultivated deeply, it can even conjure nine illusory figures, making it impossible to distinguish the real one.
One Lightness Skill, Nine Shadows Shift, was sufficient. Shi Quan's gaze quickly fell upon the Force Cultivation Techniques, and he soon made his choice: the Force Cultivation Technique, Heavenly Star Shift.
Heavenly Star Shift, utilizing the principles of Taiji Yin and Yang, uses force to shift and deflect enemy Moves and force, emphasizing deflection and subtle force. Powered by abundant Nine Yin and Nine Yang Internal Energy, it forms positive and negative Qi walls. No matter how powerful an external attack, it will only be cleverly deflected and absorbed by centrifugal force, like a clay ox entering the sea.
Although he already had the Body Tempering Cultivation Technique Indestructible Divine Skill and the Lightness Skill Nine Shadows Shift, Shi Quan still chose the defensive-oriented Heavenly Star Shift for his Force Cultivation Technique.
Internal Skill Cultivation Technique: Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill; Internal Refinement Method: Muscle and Marrow Cleansing; External Skill Cultivation Technique Body Tempering: Indestructible Divine Skill; Lightness Skill: Nine Shadows Shift; Force Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Star Shift.
In Shi Quan's view, whether it was External Skill Cultivation Techniques, Lightness Skill, or Force Cultivation Techniques, their purpose was to preserve Life and contend with enemies. If he wanted to kill or defend against enemies, he could choose to learn from the Attack Cultivation Techniques later.
Moreover, these five Cultivation Techniques already form a very complete set, allowing for resistance, offense, and escape.
The martial arts in the Scriptures are extraordinarily profound. These five martial arts were already enough for him to study. He also needed to learn some basic martial arts from the Basic Cultivation Techniques, such as Acupoints. Furthermore, he would have the support of Martial Spirit Abilities later. From the current perspective, primarily Cultivating these five martial arts was sufficient.
"The Cultivation Techniques Tang San Cultivates seem to be the Internal Skill Cultivation Technique Mysterious Heaven Skill, the hand-training method Mysterious Jade Hand, the grappling method Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, the agility method Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and... the eye-training method Purple Demon Eye."
Shi Quan, who had intended to finish his selection, suddenly frowned. Remembering Tang San's Purple Demon Eye, he realized he seemed to have overlooked one point: martial arts related to the Martial Spirit. This was not a Wuxia World; there were quite a few Spirit Masters with spiritual abilities in Douluo Continent. Indestructible Divine Skill would be useless against spiritual Spirit Masters.
"It seems I still need to search again."
Thinking of this, Shi Quan once again searched in his mind. Since it was a spiritual martial art, Shi Quan originally held no hope, as he couldn't recall any martial arts in his memory that involved the Martial Spirit or Soul.
However, he didn't know until he searched. Shi Quan never expected that the Scriptures actually contained martial arts related to the Martial Spirit, and more than just one or two.
For example, Soul Shifting Great Law, Soul Subduing Technique, and so on.
After reviewing them, Shi Quan did not choose an offensive type of martial art like Soul Shifting Great Law. Instead, he chose a very special martial art called Concentrated Soul-Suppressing Technique.
Concentrated Soul-Suppressing Technique: Nine Yin nourishes the Martial Spirit, Nine Yang condenses the Soul, gathers momentum, and concentrates the mind. When Cultivated to a deep level, the Internal Energy combines with one's own Martial Spirit to form a substantial pressure, used for suppression and deterrence against opponents who are highly skilled in martial arts but lack strong willpower. It specifically suppresses the enemy's morale and establishes one's own invincible momentum, achieving the effect of subduing others without fighting.
He had the Spirit Martial Spirit, which specializes in Soul attacks. Offensive Martial Spirit Abilities would be provided by the Spirit Martial Spirit's spirit ring later. The momentum-gathering and mind-concentrating uses of Concentrated Soul-Suppressing Technique were more compatible with the Spirit Martial Spirit and more practical compared to hypnotic or offensive martial arts like Soul Shifting Great Law and Soul Subduing Technique.
The original five martial arts now had a new addition: the spiritual martial art, Concentrated Soul-Suppressing Technique.
Shi Quan opened his eyes again, only to realize that everyone else in the dormitory, except him, had already fallen into their respective dreams.
Outside the dormitory, the bright moon hung high in the sky; it was already late at night.
Rubbing his aching head, selecting these six martial arts from so many had consumed a lot of Shi Quan's mental energy.
After a brief rest, Shi Quan didn't delay further. He sat cross-legged again, in the five-heart-facing-heaven posture, and began Cultivating by circulating the spirit power within his body according to the first level of the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill Cultivation Technique.
He hadn't noticed before, but as he circulated his spirit power, Shi Quan realized his spirit power seemed to have decreased and become somewhat different. Inside his body, there seemed to be two distinct forces: one was the mutually generating Yin and Yang force, and the other was his original spirit power.
"Where is my spirit power?"
Shi Quan's brows furrowed tightly. He suddenly thought of a possibility: Internal Energy and spirit power seemed unable to coexist. Tang San seemed to have said that if a Spirit Master wanted to Cultivate his Mysterious Heaven Skill, everything had to start from scratch.
"Doesn't that mean I have to discard the spirit power I painstakingly Cultivated for three months?"
Thinking of this, Shi Quan couldn't help but show a wry smile. If it were his Innate Level 1 spirit power from before, starting over would be no big deal.
It wasn't easy to consume Martial Soul Awakening Liquid, raise his talent to Level 4, and then through three months of arduous Cultivation, raise it to Level 5. Now, to be told that everything had to be overturned and restarted, he felt like cursing.
But as things stood, in order to Cultivate the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill, let alone Level 5, even a few levels higher would be worth it to him.
He focused his mind on his Dantian, guiding the Qi from his Dantian upward along the Governing Meridian, then downward along the Conception Meridian back to the Dantian. This continued for twelve cycles of the Small Heavenly Cycle.
Shi Quan's understanding of Meridians and Acupoints was only theoretical. When it came to actual practice, it was naturally not as simple and clear as the theory. Fortunately, Shi Quan had the assistance of his Spirit Martial Spirit, which allowed him to easily multitask, simultaneously following the Cultivation Technique descriptions in the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill and the knowledge of Meridians and Acupoints in his mind, circulating the spirit power within his body.
Ordinary people Cultivating the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill first need to use special locations or treasures to Cultivate a trace of Yin and Yang Internal Energy containing Yin and Yang force before they can Cultivate normally.
But Shi Quan was different. Because he had a trace of Yin and Yang force within him, and when he received the Legacy of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures, this trace of Yin and Yang force had automatically circulated within his body, converting a portion of his spirit power into Internal Energy. Therefore, Shi Quan had already achieved entry into the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill before he even began Cultivating it.
Now, Cultivating naturally flowed smoothly. It was just that he himself was not yet familiar with the Meridians and Acupoints. Although he knew the theories of these basic knowledge points, he needed time to digest and master them.
After one cycle of the Small Heavenly Cycle, Shi Quan had already spent a full quarter of an hour on just that one cycle. Such a Small Heavenly Cycle needed to run for a full twelve cycles. After twelve cycles, the Internal Energy would then need to undergo twenty-four more complex cycles of the Great Heavenly Cycle. Only then would one complete circulation be considered done.
After all, it was his first time Cultivating, and he also needed to digest the basic theoretical knowledge in his mind. After this one round, the night, which had been bright with the moon, was now replaced by the rising sun in the east.
Watching the golden light spill over the World from outside the window, he exhaled a mouthful of stale Qi. Shi Quan's mood also became surging. A night of Cultivation did not make him feel tired at all; instead, he felt an indescribable sense of invigoration.
Most importantly, after one circulation of the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Skill, Shi Quan keenly noticed that the spirit power in his body had not dissipated, but had transformed into his Internal Energy during the Cultivation Technique's operation. This was good news for him, at least his painstakingly Cultivated spirit power would not be directly wasted.
It was already morning, and Shi Quan did not continue Cultivating, not because he didn't want to, but because his stomach wouldn't allow it.
He had already missed dinner last night due to receiving the Scriptures' Legacy, and combined with a night of Cultivation, he was truly hungry.
It was still early, and most people in the dormitory were still sleeping. After Shi Quan got out of bed and changed into Nuoding Academy's uniform, he quickly tidied up and then walked straight to the cafeteria without delay.
Coincidentally, as Shi Quan went downstairs, he met Master and Tang San.
Shi Quan held no unfounded malice towards this so-called protagonist. He always adhered to the philosophy of 'if you don't provoke me, I won't bother with you.' Now that they met, he casually greeted them: "Good morning, Tang San, Master. Are you two also going to the cafeteria? Want to go together?"
"No need, we have other matters." Master also hadn't expected to meet other students from the Academy so early in the morning, and it happened to be Shi Quan, who had the same Martial Spirit as Tang San.
Shi Quan knew that Master was preparing to take Tang San to the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts and obtain a spirit ring. He was not surprised by Master's answer, so he nodded and quickly walked towards the cafeteria without looking back.
Tang San watched Shi Quan's retreating figure. "Shi Quan is quite diligent, getting up so early."
"With his talent, if he can maintain this diligence and has a bit of luck, he might reach the rank of Spirit Elder," Master nodded, evaluating him lightly.
Tang San suddenly asked, "Teacher, you said his Blue Silver Grass should be a mutated Martial Spirit. What do you think his mutation direction is?"
As soon as this was mentioned, Master's face showed a knowing expression, and he confidently said, "I investigated a bit. Shi Quan's Martial Spirit is inherited from his mother's Blue Silver Grass, and his father's Martial Spirit is a special mutated Earth Martial Spirit."
Tang San said, "Teacher, do you mean Shi Quan's mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit originated from his father?"
Master nodded approvingly at Tang San and explained, "Blue Silver Grass itself is inherently weak, making it difficult to mutate with other Martial Spirits. Even if it mutates, it cannot take a dominant position; it will only be swallowed. Therefore, common Martial Spirits like Blue Silver Grass almost never have the possibility of mutation.
Shi Quan's situation is also a very special case; even I have encountered it for the first time. Shi Quan's father's Martial Spirit is mutated Earth. Earth, in other words, is the ground beneath our feet. Plants grow on the Earth, and the Earth nourishes plants, providing a Foundation for their growth.
I speculate that Shi Quan's Blue Silver Grass is likely such a case. The mutated Earth nourished his Blue Silver Grass, thus resulting in his unique mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit. The direction of his Blue Silver Grass's mutation is most likely towards Life or resilience. However, based on his Innate spirit power and Martial Spirit, its appearance shows no abnormality, and with Level 1 spirit power, his mutation degree is not high; it might just be slightly stronger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
After listening to Master's explanation, Tang San's eyes sparkled, and he admired Master even more, feeling fortunate to have a renowned teacher.