Free Web NovelChapter 153: Chapter 152: Observing the Phenomenon and Understanding Its Meaning, Five Poison Internal Refining
’Putting myself in Dad’s shoes, staying in Shenghai would indeed be unpleasant...’
Fu Juemin suddenly felt a sense of relief.
"...When the time comes, we might not close all the shops here. I’ll leave one in your name, and you can help me look after it... Wanrong is very interested in this sort of thing and wants to go to France to study fashion design. I’ve already agreed..."
Just as Fu Guosheng was speaking, a few gunshots suddenly rang out from the street in the distance, followed by a chorus of startled cries and a small commotion.
Fu Juemin took two steps forward, joining Fu Guosheng in looking toward the source of the disturbance.
Before long, the Qinglian Gang member sent to investigate came jogging back to report. It turned out that a patrolling Patrol Police officer had casually taken a few apples from a street vendor’s stall without paying. A visiting Martial Artist couldn’t stand by and watch, so he stepped in to argue with the officer on the vendor’s behalf. They came to blows, and the Martial Artist ended up getting shot dead in the street...
"Things like this have been happening almost every day recently..."
Fu Guosheng, who had been listening from the side, couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
"...Isn’t it all because of that guy surnamed Zhao and his Shenghai Martial Arts Association, attracting a whole horde of reckless brutes from out of town."
A Qinglian Gang member muttered quietly on the side, "Just because they know a bit of boxing, they think they own the world... They should take a look at what kind of times we’re living in."
Listening to their conversation, Fu Juemin suddenly remembered something and asked Fu Guosheng, "Dad, is Uncle Tong still around?"
Fu Guosheng shook his head. "He left a message a few days ago, went out, and hasn’t come back..."
’That’s right, Li Tong was going to find the current successor of the Formless Sect.’
’With him gone, Dad’s last pillar of support, his last shred of security... has completely vanished.’
Thinking of this, Fu Juemin spoke softly, "Dad, when are you planning to leave?"
"I’ve booked tickets for a ship next month..."
Fu Guosheng paused, then added, "During this time... remember to come home for dinner when you have a chance."
Fu Juemin said nothing more, just nodded gently.
"Okay."
.....
On the second day after becoming his disciple, Fu Juemin officially began to study the Five Beasts Skill with Ye Zhenren.
If he was initially willing to become a disciple, it was because he felt Ye Zhenren’s Martial Dao strength was impressive, his attainments in the Five Beasts Skill were profound, and his insights were unique—far surpassing the five "Transmission Masters" he had sought out before. Calling him "master" wouldn’t be a loss.
Then, when Ye Zhenren officially imparted the "Form and Intent Integration Technique," he felt that becoming his disciple was truly worthwhile.
The Form and Intent Integration Technique is the Five Beasts General Outline and the true core Cultivation Technique of the Five Beasts Skill.
One could say that the Five Beasts Skill with and without the "Form and Intent Integration Technique" might as well be two different Martial Arts.
The Five Beasts Form and Intent Integration Technique consists of three progressive parts: "Observing the Phenomenon and Understanding Its Meaning," "Borrowing Illusion to Cultivate Truth," and "Five Qi Returning to the Origin."
The first level, "Observing the Phenomenon and Understanding Its Meaning," explains the essence of cultivating the Five Forms of Dynamic Skills.
"Observing the Phenomenon and Understanding Its Meaning" demands one to abandon clumsy imitation of the Five Beasts’ outer forms and instead focus on capturing their survival instincts and spiritual essence... To put it more plainly, it is about grasping the most vibrant and life-filled instant of the Five Beasts, forgetting the form to grasp the intent, and pointing directly to the foundation.
Fu Juemin finally understood the meaning of "a true teaching can be passed in a single sentence, while a false one fills ten thousand scrolls."
He had been stuck at the Entry Level of the Five Beasts Skill for so long, studying the Five Directions Beast Cage day and night and having the Five Meridians Transmission Masters demonstrate it time and again, yet he still couldn’t grasp the key.
But after receiving the inheritance of the "Form and Intent Integration Technique" and Ye Zhenren’s guidance, he smoothly mastered the Entry Level of the "Tiger" and "Bear" forms from the Five Forms of Dynamic Skills on the very same day.
The "Deer Form" and "Ape Form" followed naturally.
Only the final "Bird Form" gave him a bit of trouble...
「Ink Garden, Mei Lin.」
Snow had fallen all night in the Western Realm the day before, blanketing this stretch of Mei Lin in silver.
Gnarled branches were wrapped in heavy white, crimson buds faintly showing their color beneath the snowy shell. The entire grove resembled a frozen ink wash painting, so still that one could hear the faint rustle of snowflakes falling from the branches.
Dressed in black training clothes, Fu Juemin stood quietly beneath an old plum tree, his gaze fixed on a spot not far away.
—It was a long-tailed tit, unfortunately struck by snow that had slipped from a branch.
More than half its body and one of its wings were pinned firmly beneath the clump of snow, leaving only its small, round head and its other desperately fluttering wing exposed.
Fu Juemin had been watching it struggle for a long time, but he had no intention of helping.
After countless failed attempts, the tit seemed to have exhausted its strength.
It suddenly fell still for a moment, then let out a hoarse, sharp chirp. With a soft POOF, the mound of snow pinning it down was miraculously loosened by this burst of flapping wings.
The snow scattered. Freed, the tit shot away with a mix of ecstatic relief and panicked imbalance—lurching yet incredibly swift. After a few frantic turns between the plum branches, it quickly vanished into the vast sky.
Fu Juemin watched the entire process. The moment the tit broke free from the snow, it was as if something in his mind had also been suddenly unblocked.
The instant he successfully mastered the final Bird Form of the Five Beasts Skill’s Five Forms of Dynamic Skills, Fu Juemin felt the white ball of air formed by Innate Primordial Qi in his Dantian suddenly expand.
He opened his character panel and was stunned to see that his original 15 points of [Life] had now become 16.
It had increased by 1 point.
The Cultivation Technique column now displayed the words [Five Beasts Skill (Entry Level: Life +2)]. Just as Fu Juemin had expected, the Five Beasts Skill indeed increased the rarest of Attributes, [Life]. Moreover, it gave a 2-point boost right at the Entry Level, almost catching up to the Pharmacist Skill’s entry bonus.
Since Fu Juemin’s Pharmacist Skill had already reached Great Success, it was no surprise that 1 of the 2 Life points from mastering the Five Beasts Skill’s Entry Level was overwritten.
’When I reached Entry Level in the first four forms, a refreshing qi was born in my five viscera. Now... this refreshing qi has become even more harmonious and distinct.’
According to Ye Zhenren, the cultivation of the Five Beasts Skill is divided into five realms—Form Movement, Spiritual Resemblance, Transformation, Integration, and Returning to the Origin.
He was now in the second realm, "Spiritual Resemblance." Among the disciples of the Five Victories Boxing Hall, he was the only one to have reached this realm. The others hadn’t even mastered the Techniques of the Five Forms of Dynamic Skills. Ye Zhenren’s most outstanding disciple, Liu Songyang, had only just managed to touch the threshold of "Spiritual Resemblance."
This just went to show how peculiar Ye Zhenren was.
You could say he was principled—and he certainly was. Even when he was so poor he could barely feed himself, he still clung to certain traditional rites, absolutely refusing to "betray his teachings for performance." Just offering him money wasn’t enough; he insisted Fu Juemin formally become his disciple before he was willing to teach, otherwise he would rather let the legacy of a Top Level Martial Arts rot in his hands.
And yet, these principles of his were constantly compromised in the face of reality. Perhaps because he had received "too many" benefits from Fu Juemin, he truly held nothing back in his teaching. He put on no airs of a master in front of Fu Juemin, and his attitude was even more sincere than that of the five Transmission Masters Fu Juemin had previously sought...
Having formally reached the Entry Level of the Five Beasts Skill, Fu Juemin gradually began to grasp the true meaning of the phrase "A Pharmacist is a Master of Five Beasts and has Immunity to Five Poisonous Creatures."
The Five Beasts Skill and the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique—one righteous and one strange, one complex and one simple—corresponded respectively to the positive and negative aspects of yin, yang, and the five elements. One nourished the body while the other damaged it, complementing each other. With the Pharmacist Skill reigning in the center to govern and harmonize them, the three formed a perfect and balanced whole.
’Now that I’ve reached the Entry Level of the Five Beasts Skill, the network of Vitality throughout my body has been initially established. Next, I just need to fill in the gaps one by one to form a Protective Qi Membrane and officially step into the Tongxuan Realm...’
With Fu Juemin’s current Defense Force, having a Protective Qi Membrane or not didn’t actually make much of a difference. The main thing was that only by surmounting this hurdle could his Martial Dao strength continue to improve—that was the most crucial part.
Amidst the snowy plum grove, a majestic figure over two meters tall walked up silently, carrying a wooden tray from which steam gently rose.
On the tray presented by Big Cat, there was a bowl of hot soup, a bowl of honey sprinkled with a few osmanthus petals, and a small dish of something pitch-black, like ink pellets.
Fu Juemin drank the soup first.
The soup was provided by Ye Zhenren, a special Body Refining Medicine Soup to aid in the cultivation of the Five Beasts Skill.
Given Fu Juemin’s current constitution, the soup’s supplementary effect was actually negligible, but since arranging for it was just a matter of saying the word, he drank it anyway.
The main item was the ink-black pellets served alongside the soup. Each was the size of a pigeon’s egg, its dark color mottled with spots. A sniff revealed an indescribable, foul stench.
These were the "Poison Pills" required to cultivate the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique. Ever since his Pharmacist Skill reached Great Success, he had directly adopted the fastest and most domineeringly fierce cultivation method: the "Five Poison Internal Refining Method."
Every week, ships from the Qinglian Gang’s Cao Yun Hall transported crates of poisonous materials from the Southwest and other regions. They were then prepared and refined in the gang’s apothecary, crafted into "Poison Pills" exclusively for Fu Juemin’s training.
Despite its small size, the cost of a single Poison Pill surpassed that of many precious nourishing medicinal pills.
Fu Juemin casually picked up a Poison Pill, dipped it into the small bowl of osmanthus honey, and put it directly into his mouth.
The Poison Pill entered his stomach and instantly transformed into a greasy, foul stream of heat, which then merged into his Poisonous Killing Qi.
The second poison aspect Fu Juemin chose to cultivate was the "Centipede Aspect," and the Poison Pills he consumed contained mostly centipede venom.
The "Internal Refining Method" progressed rapidly. With no need to worry about his body’s detoxification and recovery, Fu Juemin’s second Poisonous Seed was already close to being fully formed.
