Once again it was a full moon night, coupled with the heavy snowfall from two days ago, the world appeared bright and clear.
In this moonlit night that resembled daytime, a figure was swiftly darting through the mountains.
In the places he passed, only a faint trace was left on the snowy ground, which was barely discernible unless looked at carefully.
As he flew up to the treetops, the branches laden with thick snow only trembled slightly, hardly disturbing any snowflakes.
Finally.
After sprinting for more than a dozen miles, the forest gradually thinned out, and suddenly, a lake appeared ahead.
By now, the lake water had already frozen, leaving an ice surface spanning several miles.
Upon reaching the edge of the lake, Zhao Ya stopped, calming his slightly boiling Qi blood after the rapid run for several miles, then stepped onto the ice surface.
Zhao Ya was not here in the middle of the night at the lake deep behind the Azure Dragon Temple to admire the scenery.
He reached the center of the lake, gently stomped on it with his foot, and found the ice surface very solid. So he squatted down, brushed away the snow on the surface, revealing the ice layer below.
The lake water was clear, and even though it was frozen, the flowing water beneath could still be seen.
This was the spot.
Zhao Ya chose his position and pulled out some Black Flood Dragon Dried Meat that he had prepared earlier from his pocket, putting a handful directly into his mouth.
After chewing slightly, the dried meat entered his stomach and transformed into pure Qi blood.
Then Zhao Ya held his breath and concentrated, first drawing a circle on the ice with his finger, and then suddenly punched the center of the circle.
With a crack sound, the two to three-meter thick ice surface shattered instantly, and the lake water surged out, forming a two-meter diameter hole.
Zhao Ya quickly took off his outer clothes, leaving only a pair of shorts, then wrapped his clothes in oil paper, placed them aside, took a deep breath, and jumped into the icy lake water with a splash.
It was the middle of the harsh winter, and in the deep mountains, the lake water was indeed bone-chilling.
Even Zhao Ya, upon entering the water, had his muscles instantly tense up and become rigid.
However, soon, the Heart Devotion and Red Transformation Talent of his heart was activated.
Accompanied by a drum-like heartbeat, the scorching Qi blood flowed throughout his body, withstanding the external cold.
Zhao Ya’s body quickly descended, soon reaching the bottom, where he sat cross-legged, face up, gazing at the specks of starlight that pierced the water and finally landed at the lake’s bottom.
The Hua Gai Siqing Talent of his lungs had also been activated, and although the external breathing was cut off, the internal breathing continued unimpeded, becoming even more active due to the pressure.
In this isolated environment, Zhao Ya’s mind became unprecedentedly clear.
In a seemingly intentional but unintentional guidance, the starlight within his Dantian connected with the starlight outside, and as the two merged, Zhao Ya felt, although not breathing, starlight continuously flowed through his mouth and nose, endlessly converging into his Dantian.
This sensation was extremely mysterious, and Zhao Ya naturally immersed himself in it.
Just like that, over a quarter of an hour passed, and Zhao Ya’s body suddenly burst out like an arrow, scaring away the fish swimming around.
A five to six-meter distance was covered in an instant; the previously opened hole had already formed a thin layer of ice, but this couldn’t stop Zhao Ya.
With a crisp crack, Zhao Ya’s head broke through the ice surface, then he slowly exhaled a breath.
Whew!
A grey column of air shot out three to four meters before it gradually dissipated.
Then Zhao Ya took another deep breath and dove back underwater to continue his training. Repeating this cycle for over two hours, on his ninth emergence from the water, Zhao Ya climbed out.
By now, the moon had sunk in the west, and the east was tinged with the white of dawn, the coldest time of the day.
Coupled with the incessant mountain winds, even fully armed, a regular person could be frostbitten going out.
Yet, with just a pair of shorts and drenched all over, Zhao Ya seemed unfazed. A few punches dispersed the water vapor on his body, then he opened the oil paper package and put on his clothes.
After doing all this, Zhao Ya again took out a handful of Black Flood Dragon Dried Meat, tossed them into his mouth, soothing his hungry stomach while opening the attribute panel.
Name: Zhao Ya. Age: 20 years. Remaining lifespan: 1888 (+ 321 days) years
Skills: Eight Vajra Longevity Skill (Peak Performance 99%)
Five Tiger Fist (Returning to the Essence 99%)
Wind-Slaying Saber Technique (Extraordinary to Saint)
Light as a Feather (Returning to the Essence 99%)
Spirit Turtle Hibernation Technique (Returning to the Essence 72%)
Great Stone-Throwing Hand (Peak Performance 99%)
Great Vajra Fist (Peak Performance 99%)
Golden Body Armor Technique (Returning to the Essence 54%)
Little Five Paths Chasing Soul Leg (Peak Performance 99%)
Little Arhat Fist (Peak Performance 3%)
[Gallbladder unlocking progress: 94%]
By this time, it had only been a month since Zhao Ya joined the Azure Dragon Temple.
Yet in this brief month, Zhao Ya’s martial arts skills had once again made breakthrough progress.
Firstly, his lifespan had increased by several hundred years, and he was on the verge of breaking the two-thousand-year threshold.
Through systemic training, the unlocking progress of the gallbladder had reached over ninety percent, likely to be fully unlocked in a few days.
Next, the Little Arhat Fist learned after joining the temple had advanced to Peak Performance at an almost miraculous speed.
This naturally owed to Zhao Ya’s profound foundation, but most importantly, it was thanks to Guo Luming’s careful guidance.
In fact, it wasn’t just the Little Arhat Fist; Zhao Ya felt both his leg technique and lightweight skill had gained new insights. Although not yet breaking through, they were just a step away from doing so.
What was lacking was only a higher-level cultivation technique.
As long as the Little Arhat Fist reaches the peak performance level, Zhao Ya has a premonition that his Great Vajra Fist and Five Tiger Fist will both have breakthroughs.
But these are not the main points.
Zhao Ya opened the human body outline map.
He saw that the Dantian position was completely occupied by starlight, burning fiercely like a rising star.
Zhao Ya knew that through his persistent efforts, the Star-devouring True Power seed in his Dantian had finally been successfully nurtured. Next, he should open the meridians and refine the acupoints.
This speed was also due to a technique Zhao Ya discovered in the Azure Dragon Temple’s library.
The book seemed to be an ordinary boxing manual, nothing special, and Zhao Ya had treated it as just another fist technique.
Unexpectedly, there was a hidden surprise within this seemingly ordinary boxing manual.
The author shared a unique training method: choose a deep pool, embrace a heavy stone, sink to the bottom, and practice the fist technique there.
This method would yield results with half the effort.
Such an inconspicuous hint provided Zhao Ya with inspiration.
What if he practiced fist techniques or even the Star-devouring True Power underwater?
With this idea, Zhao Ya ventured out at night and finally found a lake in the back mountains.
After breaking the ice surface, Zhao Ya jumped in with little preparation.
Though he only persisted for less than a quarter-hour the first time, the gains were enormous.
In that short time, Zhao Ya’s proficiency in practicing fists underwater was several times more than on land.
However, this was only possible for Zhao Ya.
Other martial artists would definitely not dare to be so reckless.
In cold water, the circulation of Qi blood is greatly hindered, and any carelessness could lead to mishap.
But Zhao Ya was fearless because, with the resilience granted by the Five Organ Talent, his resistance to cold was extraordinarily high.
After a few experiments and preparations, Zhao Ya could stay at the cold lake bottom for more than a quarter of an hour.
Moreover, Zhao Ya joyfully discovered that compared to the small gains from fist training, cultivating the Star-devouring True Power was the best choice.
In such harsh conditions, his potential seemed to be greatly developed, absorbing star power at an astounding speed.
Zhao Ya was initially puzzled because the starlight penetrated the ice and water surface; shouldn’t there be a loss?
Later, Zhao Ya realized.
In fact, the ice layer acted as a lens, gathering all the starlight together.
Upon discovering this, Zhao Ya hardly rested, going to the lake in the back mountains every night to cultivate, finally making encouraging progress as the year-end approached.
Upon thinking of this, Zhao Ya slowly exhaled, suddenly feeling that under the moonlight, his mind and body were clear and pure, without a hint of impurity.
Though the scene was fleeting, Zhao Ya still saw the dense network of meridians and Qi blood within his body.
"Is this introspection?"
Zhao Ya murmured, feeling it was similar to the human body outline map, except the meridians and Qi blood seen through introspection seemed real-time, even showing the flow of Qi blood.
Furthermore, in this fleeting moment, Zhao Ya saw the brilliant starlight seed in his Dantian, along with a faint True Power nurtured within.
This True Power was peculiar, entirely azure-colored, exuding vitality and a sense of majesty.
Azure Dragon True Power!
Zhao Ya immediately recognized the faint True Power.
In fact, during this time, Zhao Ya had not only been practicing fists but also encountered the cultivation method of Azure Dragon True Power for the first time.
Initially trying it with a trial attitude, Zhao Ya did not feel anything significant, yet unexpectedly, a faint True Power had already arisen.
The training method of Azure Dragon True Power is actually simple: visualize the Azure Dragon Root Map.
This root map is essentially the huge Azure Dragon engraved on the cliff wall.
Zhao Ya deliberately chose a quiet night to study the cliff wall closely.
The cliff’s Azure Dragon gave Zhao Ya a feeling of majesty and mystery, yet also vitality.
It perfectly matched the faint True Power in his Dantian.
Remembering this, Zhao Ya recalled something Guo Luming once said.
The Dantian True Power across the world, including Azure Dragon True Power, is different for everyone, although various sects have different cultivation methods.
For example, Azure Dragon Temple visualizes the Azure Dragon Root Map, while Wanghai Tower visualizes the Tidal Wave Map.
But all methods aim to find the foundation of True Power tailored to oneself through visualization.
Just like Zhao Ya’s Azure Dragon True Power filled with vitality, some discover Azure Dragon True Power filled with slaughter.
There’s rarely an identical Dantian True Power; subtle differences always exist.
Zhao Ya was uncertain about the consequences of cultivating two major True Power methods simultaneously.
Additionally, he hadn’t heard of anyone doing so.
This thought urged Zhao Ya to visit the second or even the third floor of the library.
For though the first floor had numerous books, many were too basic.
It was said that the second floor contained books mainly for martial artists in the Postnatal Five Realms, precisely what Zhao Ya needed.
To access the second floor, one required sufficient sect contribution.
Thus, Zhao Ya thought he should check the sect’s Contribution Department.
He packed his things and quickly disappeared into the mountains and forests with a few leaps.