Spirit and Body Cultivation
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[Harmony Lake Secret Manual (Spirit Gathering Realm Edition) can now be accessed via Host's memory bank.]
Shi Long woke up with the two system messages hovering in front of him. He still had a slight headache from the downloading process but for the sake of checking the Harmony Lake Secret Manual, he endured it and lifted his body to sit up.
'How long did it take?'
He still remembered that it was night when Ling Xia left and only a few minutes after that, he fell unconscious once more; courtesy of the hateful system.
The sky was still blanketed by stars and the brightly lit moon, illuminating the place he was in. Judging from the position of the moon and the stars, he determined that only 2 hours passed after he lost consciousness.
Because he had no talent in cultivation, Shi Long spent his time reading in the Outer Court's Book Vault during his nine years in the sect. Unfortunately, he didn't find any solution to his problem there. Instead, his head became filled with every miscellaneous knowledge he was allowed to read – mostly common knowledge which included some books concerning the movement of the stars.
'6 hours more before the sun peeks out from the east.' He muttered before fixing his sitting position.
After the series of unluckiness and pain brought mostly by the system, he was finally about to taste the first fruit of being a System Holder.
Shi Long made sure that there was no immediate danger or something that could disturb him before closing his eyes. From the depths of his mind, he started focusing on the downloaded knowledge about the Harmony Lake Secret Manual.
The Harmony Lake Secret Manual. Its introduction was about how Spirit and Body should become one, in other words, it advocates harmony and unity between the two. It proposes that a cultivator should cultivate both Spirit and Body as one and not focus on only one of the two.
Compared to his current cultivation method, the Heart of Mighty Dragon which only advocated the cultivation of Spirit for when one could soar into the skies as a Mighty Dragon casting off its Mortal Body, the Harmony Lake Secret Manual expounded about keeping the two as equal, Great Unity begets Oneness. Oneness begets the only Dao. And that Dao will lead the cultivator to ascend and become a complete Immortal who excels in both the Spirit and the Body.
It then detailed both the stages of Spirit Gathering Realm and the equivalent Body Cultivation.
1st to 3rd Stage of Spirit Gathering corresponds to Impervious Flesh.
4th to 6th Stage of Spirit Gathering corresponds to Blood Impermanence.
7th to 9th Stage of Spirit Gathering corresponds to Indomitable Bones.
10th to 12th Stage of Spirit Gathering corresponds to Immaculate Organs.
"Wait. 10th to 12th Stage? The Heart of Mighty Dragon is only up to the 9th Stage. After that is the Spirit Condensation Realm. Is this cultivation manual fake?" Shi Long blurted out after reading up to that point. Even though he was stuck at the 3rd Stage of Spirit Gathering Realm, it was common knowledge that there were only nine stages to it. After reaching the 9th Stage, a cultivator would have enough spiritual qi to try and breakthrough towards the next major realm.
[Everything the System produced was genuine.]
[Host does not need to worry about fraud.]
[The System has its dignity!]
As if reading his mind, a series of system messages answered Shi Long's doubt.
"Dignity, yeah, right! Try electrocuting me again!" Shi Long snapped.
But the system ignored him.
Giving up on that pointless argument, he lowered himself and humbly tried asking the system about the 10th to 12th Stages of Spirit Gathering Realm.
However, he was met with silence once more.
He noticed. The System will only answer him whenever he becomes in doubt of its capability and ingenuity, other than that it will not react.
Shi Long sighed and stood up. If the Harmony Lake Secret Manual was really genuine and it could let him reach the 12th Stage of Spirit Gathering Realm then he decided to gamble his future on it.
When he joined the Mighty Dragon Sect as an Outer Court disciple, he was provided with a standard cultivation technique, the Heart of the Mighty Dragon.
If the disciples could find a better cultivation technique for themselves, the sect never prohibited the replacement of the standard cultivation technique. That was why Shi Long didn't think twice about changing his cultivation method. It's not that the Mighty Dragon Sect was naïve, they just believe that their cultivation technique was superior to the others. Even if a disciple became a spy for another sect, they had their methods to smoke them out.
Having decided that, he sat up in a lotus position and concentrated. By reciting the mantra of the new cultivation technique, he started to draw spiritual qi from his surroundings.
[Host has replaced Heart of Mighty Dragon with Harmony Lake Secret Manual as your cultivation technique]
[It is recommended for the Host to use a Spirit Gathering Pill to realign your current cultivation to suit your new cultivation technique.]
[The System can provide the Host with a loan of 1 middle-grade Spirit Gathering Pill for only…]
"No!"
Before the system finished writing its last line, Shi Long brushed those messages away.
'Loan? And who would guarantee him that the system wouldn't swindle him of his future Leech Points? Any system-related item is a bane.' Shi Long snarled in his mind.
The System couldn't really blame Shi Long. The guy has already experienced a lot of misfortune. Heck. He even experienced more pain from the system or literally every pain he felt today was provided by the system, not by other elements. Anyone would be as cautious as him.
After rejecting the system's suggestion, Shi Long spent a few minutes contemplating his next move. Suddenly a detail that he neglected flashed in his mind.
"The ointment and the pill!" He blurted out. Dragging his bandaged body to the location where Ling Xia placed it.
Ling Xia left him those two but what kind of pill was that?
Another detail then flashed in his mind. The additional items listed in the Leech Store. He then zoned his focus to one particular entry.
"High-grade Spirit Gathering Pill!! Heavens! I neglected a high-grade Spirit Gathering Pill!' Shi Long impatiently reached for the neglected pill.
A high-grade Spirit Gathering was vastly different from a low-grade one! He hadn't even seen an actual intermediate-grade pill, much less a precious pill like that.
Opening his palm, the crystal white marble-sized pill from earlier has turned dirty white and there was now a noticeable crack on its surface wherein a hint of spiritual qi was gradually leaking out of the pill.
Shi Long's unluckiness strikes again.
[After two hours of being exposed to the world, the pure high-grade Spirit Gathering Pill has been eroded and cracked.]
[From high-grade, it degraded back to middle-grade Spirit Gathering Pill]
[Host is lucky. You don't need to take a loan anymore.]
'Lucky my ass!'
Shi Long picked the cracked pill up and immediately popped it in his mouth before sitting in a lotus position.
Before wallowing about his misfortune, Shi Long decided to concentrate and start guiding the large amount of spiritual qi along his opened meridians and towards his flesh and skin.
The spiritual qi which traveled in his meridians realigned his cultivation to suit the Harmony Lake Secret Manual's method while those that seeped into his skin and flesh started tempering his body. It was written in the manual as part of the Body Cultivation. Before progressing to the 4th Stage of Spirit Gathering Realm he needed both his Spirit and Body to be in unity.
Along with the movement of his muscles and the crackling of his skin, Shi Long felt the changes that were happening in his body. Despite that, he fully focused on guiding the spiritual qi produced from popping the former high-grade Spirit Gathering Pill to temper his body.
As it was the cultivation of one's body, Shi Long once again fell under immense pain. His face contorted in an ugly grimace as he put his all in enduring to scream.
He's in the middle of a forest. Magical beasts could be drawn by his voice if he screamed. That's instant death for him given that he had no avenue to defend himself.
Hissss~
His whole body sizzled as his flesh slowly developed to its most optimal state.
Body Cultivation was an arduous path that only a few trod on it. It's too painful and difficult for a normal cultivator to do it.
Further in that path, he needed not just spiritual qi but various herbs and treasures for the subsequent stages.
As the overflowing spiritual qi gradually was gradually consumed by Shi Long, his body bulged a bit as he successively attuned his own Spirit Cultivation to his Body Cultivation, harmonizing the unity between the two.
Early-stage Impervious Flesh!
Late-stage Impervious Flesh!
Peak-stage Impervious Flesh!
Three hours later, Shi Long opened his eyes and roared before delivering a punch to the nearest tree.
Bang! Crack!
Without even hitting the tree with his fist, the resulting shockwave hit the tree, breaking the trunk into pieces and tumbling down to the ground.
His strength has undergone a massive change! If a 3rd Stage Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator could be said to possess the strength of 4 Lions. That punch just now possessed the strength of 12 Lions!
"This is… The harmonious coexistence of both Spirit and Body Cultivation was this potent…" Shi Long was undoubtedly surprised at the result. He blanked out for a moment before his lips curved in an extremely satisfied grin before rejoicing inwardly.
The pain he accrued from being electrocuted by the talisman was fully healed. Shi Long believed that he was back at his peak. No. Not just a peak but he reached a higher summit.
CRACK!
Unfortunately, Shi Long's celebration was short-lived. From behind him, the cracking sound of having stepped on dried branches rang out.
Because of the noise generated from the fallen tree, he attracted the attention of a magical beast!
His incredible misfortune worked against him for the umpteenth time!