Xiazhen Town.
After settling his elderly aunt in, Chu Ning returned to the backyard of the patrol office.
He had gotten used to living in the patrol office, but the courtyard where his elderly aunt was now staying was right next door, separated only by two walls.
In the brocade box, the Tongjin Elixir emitted a fragrance, which Chu Ning did not rush to consume; instead, he chose to first examine his teacher's notes.
A cursory glance and Chu Ning's pupils contracted slightly.
Wow, the teacher was so fierce.
The notes had been written by the teacher from the start of his martial arts practice, all the way to becoming a martial master, a period that spanned only two years.
The teacher began practicing martial arts at fourteen and became a martial master at sixteen.
[I entered the second layer of Bull Demon Strength in three days, the third layer in a month, the fourth layer in three months, and stepped into the fifth layer in six months, extremely smoothly, without any bottlenecks.]
[I observed my classmates, they were all mediocre.]
[Children of the privileged were all inferior to me.]
Looking at these words, it seems that the teacher was also a bit of a show-off in his younger days, somewhat similar to Zhao Qin, the introverted type.
Setting aside some aspects of the teacher's words, Chu Ning seriously absorbed the teacher's insights on martial arts, with many previously unclear aspects now becoming crystal clear.
Captured by the topic, Chu Ning directly swallowed the Tongjin Elixir on the table, and then went to the courtyard to begin practicing his punches under it.
[Dark Energy has been present in the body since the beginning of martial arts practice. A martial master is one who can reveal this Dark Energy within their body to their own awareness; only when it is self-perceivable can one control it.]
[To breakthrough to martial master, the best method is to do it in one go!]
These were the insights on the breakthrough to martial master and cultivating Dark Energy recorded by the teacher in the notes.
At this moment, Chu Ning had that surge of determination, and he did just that.
According to the teacher's notes, many people were cautiously preparing herbs and even choosing auspicious days to cultivate Dark Energy, which ironically made it more difficult to succeed.
After a few sets of punches, Chu Ning found that two streams of energy had emerged within his body, continuously flowing through his entire physique.
One of the energies came from the Tongjin Elixir, the other from the Longevity Fruit.
Chu Ning had now fully understood the nature of the Longevity Fruit's release of energy.
It was like a capricious top-ranking boss.
First, it needed a reward to reach the top, followed by consistent, modest rewards each day. However, if it noticed someone competing for the top spot, it would not hesitate to reward more than its competitor.
In short, it insisted on maintaining its top position.
Chu Ning's punches made a cracking sound, like a whip lashing through the air, snapping sharply.
Once, twice, three times...
He didn't know how many times it took for those two streams of energy to be completely absorbed.
Only when the sky began to lighten and the rooster crowed did Chu Ning stop punching and walked over to a water jar in the yard, gently tapping it, causing the jar to shatter.
Success!
Chu Ning's eyes shone; his Bull Demon Strength had broken through to the fifth layer, and he had finally cultivated Dark Energy he could control.
However, before he could even rejoice, he felt a vast amount of energy suddenly surge within him, striking all his meridians. This energy was brought forth by the Dark Energy.
"Damn, did the top boss go all out this time with a hefty reward?"
This was Chu Ning's last thought before fainting, and as he lay unconscious on the ground, his body began to convulse, accompanied by sounds.
Bone-rattling and skin-thrashing!
Unlike Chu Ning's previous breakthroughs in Bull Demon Strength, which also involved bone-rattling and skin-thrashing but only during the actual breakthrough for a short while, his body now sounded like endless firecrackers exploding.
...
...
When Chu Ning woke up again, he found that an hour had passed.
After inspecting his body internally, excitement appeared on his face.
The strength of his body had increased by at least fifty percent.
Most importantly, the breakthrough was successful, and he had cultivated Dark Energy.
Chu Ning could clearly feel the Dark Energy circulating throughout his body, impacting his meridians.
As it flowed, the pores in the skin and muscles connected by those meridians trembled slightly.
But that was not what surprised him the most; the biggest surprise was that he discovered not just one strand of Dark Energy inside him, but seven.
"According to the teacher, Dark Energy should at least unleash five times one's own strength. With my seven strands, doesn't that mean my punch could now weigh seven thousand pounds?"
Hiss!
Chu Ning took in a breath of cold air; indeed, it was terrifying.
"No, that's not the right calculation. Above a martial master is a Martial General, above that a Grandmaster, and above that a Great Grandmaster. If strength were to simply multiply like this, a punch from me would nearly cause the earth to tremble and the mountains to shake by now; that seems a bit too exaggerated."
"Hard to test strength right now, let's try the Ape Leap Step."
Chu Ning was certain that his strength had definitely broken ten thousand pounds, but it was difficult to quantify that exactly.
"In all those martial arts or fantasy novels I've read, tossing around tens of thousands of pounds, even to the single digit, that's just nonsense, isn't it? What were they calculated with?"
Chu Ning complained softly. It was feasible to calculate the weight of stone blocks by weighing them beforehand, but how could you calculate the force of a punch that precisely?
Attempting the Ape Leap Step, Chu Ning lightly touched his foot to the ground and leaped atop the two-meter-high backyard wall; previously, he would have needed to push off the wall with his hands to get over it.
This was not the limit of what the Ape Soaring Step could achieve.
After hopping back and forth across all the courtyard walls in Xiazhen Town, Chu Ning arrived at the next-door old aunt's residence, shared porridge with her in the morning, and then headed for Daning County.
Daning County school.
"You've developed Dark Energy?"
Liu Junshan grabbed Chu Ning's arm, and his expression became strangely complicated the next moment, "You said you've only developed three strands of Dark Energy?"
Chu Ning blinked innocently.
"Such a young age, and yet such a heavy sense of caution," Liu Junshan released Chu Ning's hand, "Even if you want to conceal your strength, you should at least hide the Dark Energy first."
"Old..."
"Hiding one's talents is also a good thing, no need to explain," Liu Junshan's face flickered with a hint of reminiscence, if he had understood this principle at Chu Ning's age, many things would have turned out differently.
"You're here to ask about how to continue training after developing Dark Energy, aren't you."
"Mhm, the disciple is a bit confused right now, and also unsure about my own strength."
"Not sure about your strength?" Liu Junshan seized the key point, "Exactly how strong are you?"
"One thousand eight hundred jin."
"?"
"Two thousand jin."
Liu Junshan glared, "What is the actual number?"
"True... truly two thousand jin, but that was the strength a month ago, it should have increased a little bit this month."
Liu Junshan: ...
After taking a deep breath, Liu Junshan calmed his emotions and curiously asked, "Have you ever been persecuted, bullied by someone?"
"Not... not really," Chu Ning made up an excuse for himself, "When my father was still alive, he once told me to never reveal all my cards and to always keep something back for myself."
"Your father was right."
Liu Junshan nodded, "In the future, when dealing with others, maintain a strength of one thousand five hundred jin, and as for the Dark Energy, just reveal three strands."
"Teacher, I plan to hide the fact that I've developed Dark Energy for another year," Chu Ning added.
The corner of Liu Junshan's mouth twitched; he didn't quite know how to evaluate his disciple anymore.
When others stepped into the Martial Master Realm, who wouldn't want to proclaim it so everyone knows? But his disciple was different – planning to hide it for a year first, then only reveal less than half of his actual strength.
People often get addicted to showing off their sanctity in front of others, but he had never heard of someone getting addicted to concealing their abilities.
"That's all up to you."
Liu Junshan didn't care any longer. He took Chu Ning as a disciple, but he had no intention of using Chu Ning to compete for prestige.
"After stepping into the Martial Master Realm, the first step is to be able to proficiently control Dark Energy. Once you achieve this step, you begin to use Dark Energy to impact the meridians and finally unblock all the meridians throughout the body, which marks the entrance into the Martial General Realm."
"When the body's meridians are unblocked, Dark Energy can flow unimpeded within the body, and any part of the body can burst forth with your strongest power. Moreover, every time a meridian is unblocked, it gets widened and becomes more resilient due to the impact of Dark Energy, and one obvious characteristic is that your body becomes as tough as copper and iron, impervious to ordinary swords and spears."
"Unblocking the twelve main meridians is very difficult. Most Martial Masters choose to impact only one because the blood essence of a person is limited, and Dark Energy mainly relies on the nourishment of blood essence. Attempting to impact all twelve meridians at once is too difficult, yet unblocking just one can triple one's strength."
...
...
Listening to his teacher's explanation, Chu Ning had an understanding of the path of martial arts training after developing Dark Energy.
Before Dark Energy is developed in the early stages, one increases their strength through nutritious foods or medicinal herbs, then harnesses this strength to cultivate a strand of Dark Energy inside the body with the aid of Martial Heart Methods.
Once Dark Energy is cultivated, the next step is to nourish and strengthen this Dark Energy to impact the meridians.
The reason why most martial artists barely have a strength of over a thousand jin is not that they can't increase their power but that one can't have both fish and bear's paw.
Dark Energy is nourished by blood essence. Consuming nourishing foods and medicinal herbs can increase one's vitality, and martial artists refine this vitality into blood essence to nourish Dark Energy. If this vitality is not refined, it will gradually be absorbed by the body, increasing one's physical strength.
However, since the human body has its limits, if the meridians are not unblocked, much of this vitality will be wasted and cannot be converted into strength. But if turned into blood essence, it won't be wasted. Any Martial Master knows which option to choose.
Of course, the more Dark Energy, the better. It not only increases one's strength but also prepares for the breakthrough to the Martial General Realm in the future.
There are impurities within the human body, and although initially unblocking a meridian is quick, the impurities from that meridian may circulate to the others. This makes unblocking additional meridians more difficult as you progress, with it becoming increasingly challenging.
Most martial artists don't have a choice, and to put it bluntly, even if one opts to unblock all twelve meridians, success is not guaranteed. It's more realistic to choose to unblock just one meridian.
After absorbing this information, Chu Ning continued to ask, "Teacher, how does one refine blood essence to nourish Dark Energy?"
"There are two methods. One is to continue practicing Bull Demon Strength; with diligent training, vitality will gradually transform into blood essence. If one is an exceptional martial arts prodigy, producing dozens of drops a day is not a problem."
Chu Ning's mouth twitched. He was well aware of his own martial arts talent: he was not cut out for it. His progress up to this point was entirely reliant on the safety net.
"This path is not suitable for you," Liu Junshan said, knowing what Chu Ning was thinking. "In my view, the reason you were able to break through to the Martial Master Realm and have seven strands of Dark Energy is probably due to the full effect of the Elixir you took that year. Those top-tier nobles also consume such Elixirs in their youth, and with the breakthrough to Dark Energy, the full effect of the Elixirs bursts forth, resulting in multiple strands of Dark Energy."
"Teacher, are there many such Elixirs?"
"One Elixir costs ten thousand gold, and one must already be a martial arts genius with a constitution far beyond ordinary people to consume it. Even within the Liang Dynasty's eight main families, only direct descendants can afford it," said Liu Junshan indifferently. "The Elixir you took was a little less effective, but still worth a fortune. I am somewhat impressed that your father managed to get such an Elixir for you."
"The love of parents for their children leads them to make long-term plans, it seems my father also went through great hardships to find such an Elixir for me," said Chu Ning, his face brimming with emotion while inside he thought, "The Longevity Fruit that can add ten thousand years to one's life must be worth more than any ten thousand gold Elixir, so I should still be able to rely on such safety nets."
Liu Junshan didn't pursue this matter further. If parental love alone could achieve that, then everyone in the world would be as preeminent as dragons.
It can only be said that Chu Ning's father achieved something that many Martial Generals could not.
"If the first method is not suitable for you, then you are left with the second," said Liu Junshan.
PS: Brothers, whenever there's a bit about setting description, my word count is higher, isn't that considerate? How about your votes and continued readership...