"Who poisoned us? Why did they poison us?
While pondering, a surprised voice suddenly came from his ear: 'Huh?'
It was Yang Kai's voice! Su Mu hated Yang Kai to the bone, so how could he not recognize it?
It was him! So it was Yang Kai who poisoned us. Damn it! We only wanted to teach you a lesson, yet you resorted to such a ruthless measure. How cruel!
Su Mu wanted to curse, but his consciousness quickly faded.
Damn it, am I really going to die in such a muddle-headed way? What a pity, my ambitions and grand plans have yet to unfold, and now they end here. Heaven is truly unfair, unfair to talent!
Yang Kai walked briskly to the group, squatted down, and removed their masks, recognizing every face.
Thinking it over, Yang Kai quickly understood their intent. They were likely fed up with his torment and came to retaliate with a surprise attack.
But they were quite unlucky.
Yang Kai weighed the incense burner in his hand, finding the situation both funny and troublesome.
It was purely an accident. Usually, every night before sleeping, Yang Kai would store the incense burner in the black book, but tonight he was too exhausted from extended cultivation and fell asleep accidentally, leaving the incense burner out with unspent herbs still inside. Su Mu and his group had the misfortune of inhaling its scent.
The incense's aroma was potent. The first time Yang Kai inhaled it, he collapsed after just three steps. Given his formidable constitution, how could Su Mu and the others fare any better?
Without the support of Yang Kai's unique physique, they would need several days to recover.
Although Yang Kai's negligence played a role, it was Su Mu and his group's carelessness that was the root cause. If they had held their breath the moment they smelled the incense, they wouldn't be in such a sorry state.
'Sigh, why did it come to this?' Yang Kai sighed, storing the incense burner in the black book, and looked at the fallen group with a troubled expression.
After some thought, Yang Kai dragged them out and randomly tossed them aside, then returned to his hut to continue resting.
This incident reminded Yang Kai of the urgency to break through the Body Tempering Stage. The incense burner could only be used outside now, but once he reached the Opening Meridian Stage, it wouldn't be an issue. At that point, the incense burner could exert its effect even within the black book, as long as his inner energy could connect with the black book.
For the next few days, Yang Kai practiced diligently, conserving the use of herbs, yet they continued to dwindle.
Three days later, as Yang Kai finished his Body Tempering routine, he inhaled the eastern purple air at dawn. The energy in his meridians suddenly surged, like tiny bugs crawling and dancing within his meridians.
Yang Kai's expression became serious as he concentrated on the sensation.
The surging energy stimulated his flesh and blood, making his whole body feel a mix of numbness and pleasure. He couldn't tell how long this lasted, but suddenly, Yang Kai felt a lightness in his body and warmth in his abdomen. At the same time, the surging energy vanished without a trace.
His mind focused, the warmth in his abdomen seemed to come alive, joyfully moving about.
Inner energy! Finally, he had taken this step, reaching the seventh level of the Body Tempering Stage, where inner energy was produced. This was the most obvious sign.
The first strand of inner energy is always born in the dantian. At this stage, the inner energy is negligible and cannot support a warrior in battle, as using it would deplete it, and regathering it would be a laborious process due to unopen circulation channels in the body.
However, since inner energy had formed, a warrior could begin practicing martial techniques.
Martial techniques are fundamentally different from basic skills like long fists and whip kicks. They utilize inner energy and are essential for a warrior's combat.
The same punch from a sixth-level Body Tempering warrior is vastly different from that of a seventh-level warrior using inner energy. If a sixth-level warrior can punch with a force of 200 pounds, a seventh-level warrior using inner energy can deliver a blow of 500 or even 1,000 pounds.
Typically, warriors avoid using martial techniques at the Body Tempering Stage due to the difficulty of recovering inner energy. Only at the Opening Meridian Stage can they freely use inner energy in battle, as they can quickly replenish it even if depleted.
The key is the ability to rapidly recover.
Thus, starting from the seventh level of the Body Tempering Stage, warriors must expand and strengthen their inner energy.
The most common method is to practice martial techniques!
Each martial technique requires inner energy to flow through several, sometimes dozens of, meridians in a specific sequence to form the technique.
Cultivating martial techniques enhances inner energy, opening the body's circulation channels to reach the Opening Meridian Stage, a universal practice for all warriors.
Yang Kai was no exception.
Realizing he had reached the seventh level, Yang Kai calmed his excitement and hurried back to his hut to summon the black book.
He turned to the fourth page and began to sense it.
Over the past days, each breakthrough had him attempting to unlock the fourth page, but never succeeding. Yang Kai speculated that only upon reaching the seventh level, a pivotal point in the Body Tempering Stage, would the fourth page change.
His guess was correct!
Within moments of focusing, golden light spots appeared on the fourth page, just like before, and entered Yang Kai's mind.
New information emerged in his mind: the True Yang Technique! This was the gift from the black book for this breakthrough. Upon closer inspection, Yang Kai found the technique peculiar.
The True Yang Technique differed from ordinary martial techniques, which have fixed forms and can only vary within a limited scope. Exceeding that scope renders them ineffective.
But the True Yang Technique had no fixed forms, allowing for infinite variations, essentially having no set moves.
This was the first difference.
The technique was also simple to practice but had specific requirements.
It had to be practiced in an environment rich in Yang energy.
Yet, when this technique was cultivated to a certain level, the True Yang energy in the body would condense into a liquid form in the dantian.
No other technique or method could achieve this because every warrior's body has a saturation point. Once the limit is reached, additional inner energy cannot be stored unless one breaks their limits.