Chapter 23: Comprehensive Improvement

Only he remained inside the room.

Shen Yi lay on the bed and summoned the panel.

Regarding martial arts cultivation, he was still a complete novice who knew nothing, yet he had learned many things from a woman's mouth: what Gathering Qi Pills, Condensing Liquid Pills, and the Jade Liquid Realm were.

His thoughts could not help but begin to wander into reverie.

Moments later, Shen Yi took out that meat ball, wanting to verify his idea.

This thing was slightly smaller than a chicken egg.

He closed his eyes and held it in his mouth; a fishy bitterness spread from the tip of his tongue, yet the breath of heaven and earth contained within attracted him like honey.

Immediately following, Shen Yi began to pour lifespan into the Wind and Thunder Subduing Demon True Scripture.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Six Hundred and Seventy-Two Years】

【First Year: You spent seven months removing the dregs from the Beast Essence, taking only its essence, while not forgetting to absorb the breath of heaven and earth; your cultivation made rapid progress】

【You successfully filled the sixth aperture; the Wind and Thunder Subduing Demon True Scripture reached minor completion, yet the essence within the Beast Essence continued to pour in endlessly, and you filled the seventh major aperture】

【You comprehended Blood Fiend (Incomplete) from the Beast Essence】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Six Hundred and Seventy-One Years】

The pouring of lifespan had only just begun, yet surprise and shock surged in Shen Yi's eyes.

His idea was indeed correct.

As long as the precious medicine remained in the body, it could influence the process of martial arts deduction.

But he had not expected the effect to be so terrifying.

How long had it taken to fill two apertures before? A full twenty years.

One Beast Essence entering the abdomen was equivalent to twenty years of bitter cultivation.

This also solved Shen Yi's inner doubt: that a mortal's lifespan topped out at a hundred years, and even if the mortal body was perfected and one stepped into the initial realm, the total lifespan increase was merely forty years.

Yet demons often lived for several hundred years; even the yellow weasel, whose realm was lower than his own, had over five hundred and seventy years of life left.

With this ebb and flow, demons could simply outlast human experts until they died.

Looking at it this way, the essence of martial arts cultivation was still plundering; if one foolishly sought from heaven and earth all day long, by the time hair and beard turned white, one would likely still be in the early stage of the initial realm.

"What exactly is this Blood Fiend?"

Shen Yi looked at the panel; beneath the current martial art, a line of text had suddenly appeared.

【Blood Fiend (Incomplete): By devouring demon Beast Essences, you suffer corruption erosion; comprehending it and taking it for your own use, the breath of heaven and earth within your body carries a corrosive effect】

After reading the description, Shen Yi suddenly recalled the demonic technique of the yellow weasel.

Indeed, if his realm had not been far higher than the opponent's, once the breath within his body was exhausted, his fate would likely have been the same as that pile of bones, turning into pus water.

"It can be considered a barely adequate addition to offensive means."

Shen Yi calmed his mind and continued to pour in demon lifespan.

【Twenty-Seventh Year: You filled the eighth major aperture; since the breath within your body was excessively full and tainted with your scent, conflicting with the pure breath of heaven and earth, cultivation progress slowed】

【Forty-Ninth Year: All nine of your apertures were full; the Wind and Thunder Subduing Demon True Scripture reached great completion】

Perhaps due to being wealthy and bold, Shen Yi did not feel heartache and prepared to fill it completely in one go.

【Seventy-Second Year: You finally filled the tenth aperture; in your eyes, this world gradually became clear】

【One Hundred and Fourth Year: When water overflows, your body has already become saturated and can no longer hold even a trace of extra breath; twelve apertures full; the Wind and Thunder Subduing Demon True Scripture reached perfection】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Five Hundred and Sixty-Eight Years】

If practicing a technique was considered a safety net that would inevitably reach perfection, then deducing a new technique was no different from drawing lots.

Shen Yi hesitated for a moment, set aside three hundred years for other uses, and poured the remaining portion entirely in.

Immediately, a string of identical notifications appeared, leaving his brain completely dazed.

【First Year: Even though your realm is perfect, you believe that if you do not advance, you will retreat; every day you continue to diligently temper yourself, ceaselessly seeking from heaven and earth...】

【Tenth Year: You continue to seek...】

【Twentieth Year: You are still seeking...】

Line after line of notifications leaped up rapidly, only to be pushed out by the next one.

This repeated an unknown number of times.

A slight sweat seeped from Shen Yi's palms; just as he could not help but want to stop, a line of text clearly different from the previous ones finally flashed before his eyes.

【One Hundred and Thirtieth Year: Perhaps heaven rewards diligence; within your first major aperture, a wisp of breath suddenly condensed, turning into jade dew that dripped down】

【One Hundred and Fiftieth Year: The second drop of jade dew appeared】

【Two Hundred and Sixty-Eighth Year: Nearly half of the breath within your first major aperture had turned into jade dew】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Three Hundred Years】

Shen Yi's expression was complex; only then did he barely realize what had actually happened.

Condensing qi into liquid; connecting this with what Lin Baiwei had said about the Jade Liquid Realm, it was not hard to guess that this should be the change of the next realm.

Perhaps when all the breath in the twelve major apertures turned into jade liquid, one would have officially stepped into the next realm.

The problem was, he had not found the path!

During the deduction, he had used the dumbest method ceaselessly, simply piling up time to force the breath within his body to transform.

How many demon lifespans would it take to fill just one major aperture?

It could not even be called getting half the result with twice the effort; it was simply wasteful squandering.

Shen Yi closed his eyes and felt the changes within his body, discovering that the jade dew, aside from being thicker than ordinary breath, seemed to have no further effects.

He sighed and shifted his attention to the remaining martial arts techniques.

The remaining three hundred years were prepared for them.

Saber techniques, fist techniques, movement arts.

Shen Yi was replaying his earlier battle with the Yellow-Skinned One in his mind — what he lacked most right now was clearly offensive techniques.

He chose the Demon-Subduing Saber Art.

【Year One. Even though, for your current realm, this saber art has already grown far too crude and shallow, you still pick it back up, and just as you did when you first set foot on the martial path, you begin to practice it properly and upright.】

Whether it was because too much had been lost before, and ill fortune had at last run its course.

Before long, Shen Yi's brow smoothed out.

【Year Forty-Six. You swing the final saber-stroke, and feel a舒畅 through your whole body; the crude, shallow moves meld together in your mind, gradually becoming something brand new.】

【Year Fifty. You have already comprehended an entire set of saber techniques, but for some reason feel it is still not enough; you gaze at the mist curling around your fingertips and fall into thought.】

【Year Fifty-Five. You have comprehended the Initial Realm — Blood-Fiend Saber Art.】

【Remaining Demon-Folk Lifespan: two hundred and forty-five years.】

【Initial Realm · Blood-Fiend Saber Art (Entry)】

Under the infusion of countless lifespans, the realm of the saber art began to climb at a tremendous pace — from Entry to Perfection.

……

By the time the roosters crowed.

In the Bai Yun County government office, the duty room was actually packed full of constables.

Chen Ji stood in the middle, beside him thirteen dog-demon heads.

In the seat of honor sat an old man, hair and beard both white, dressed in a blue round-collared robe; his eyes were closed, and his bony, skin-and-bones hand gripped the armrest tightly, the veins on the back of his hand twisting up savagely.

"Liu Dianli, slaying demons is also part of our duty…" Song Changfeng explained softly.

Hearing this, the old man slowly opened his eyes; his gaze swept over the demon heads on the ground, then quickly moved away, as if he dared not look a second time.

He waved his hand: "This old man has no such ability — it is your doing, it is his doing, it is Lord Shen's doing… Since that is the case, then let him take charge of all demon matters as well."

As he spoke, Liu Dianli suddenly rose, and in a furious rage kicked over the table before him.

"Leave it all to that one man alone!"

(End of chapter)