"It enhances the body and Spirit by creating a unique frequency, similar to an electromagnetic one, through training."
"Bright Strength is trained externally, Dark Strength internally, and Transformative Strength is the unification of both."
"Upon reaching the Great Perfection of the Peak of Huajin, one gains the embryonic form of a Martial Dao intuition, and their instincts begin to transform."
’If the first three types of strength are primarily physical, then Danjin must be where the Spirit cos into play.’ This, however, was rely Qi Suian’s speculation, not established fact.
His understanding was limited, after all. He had only reached this conclusion by studying the bodies of Cao Li and Cao Luan.
In life, Cao Luan had only just reached the initial stage of Dark Strength. One had to admit, the path of Ancient Martial Technique was far too reliant on talent.
The talented could reach Transformative Strength at a young age, while the untalented might struggle to even grasp the fundantals of Dark Strength.
As for Qi Suian’s own talent—he certainly had none. He wasn’t a native of the Ancient Martial World, so how could he possibly possess any Ancient Martial Talent?
While others had talent in varying degrees, Qi Suian simply had none to speak of.
But to Qi Suian, it didn’t matter that he had no talent. All that mattered was that his enemies did.
Especially since he had the corpse of Cao Li, a Danjin Grandmaster. Though Cao Li had only just entered the Danjin realm and had been unable to utilize many of its miraculous abilities, that didn’t matter. Qi Suian wasn’t interested in the Danjin level itself; he wanted to study how to generate that force.
Ancient Martial Technique manuals never explained the ’how’. They just instructed you to follow a repetitive cycle of training, nurturing, and combat thods, comprehending them until you finally broke through.
There was no deep analysis of *why* you did things, or what the specific benefits were.
You were simply expected to follow along.
This created a problem: eight out of ten Ancient Martial Artists had the education level of an elentary school student.
They could barely read; for everything else, they just followed the ancient tos.
This led to a common situation: once a martial artist had mastered a particular manual, their only options were to switch to a different school or stagnate.
Few ever considered innovating; they would just assu their own talent was lacking.
’Then again, it made sense.’ Switching to an Ancient Martial Technique with a higher ceiling was much faster than trying to innovate on your own.
After all, creation is never easy, and success is never guaranteed.
’So that brings to the problem: how do I generate this force...?’ Qi Suian now roughly understood the operational logic of Bright, Dark, and Transformative Strength.
Once he had that force, he could start cultivating the Soul-Devouring Fist and the Soul-Devouring Palm.
Normally, one had to cultivate first to generate even the first wisp of force. Since it was grasped through external training, the Cultivator’s movents and power were very pronounced—they could be seen and felt directly. This was called Bright Strength.
It wasn’t a matter of first having the force and then figuring out how to turn it into Bright Strength. Bright Strength *was* the initial stage of the force.
Therefore, Qi Suian’s entire premise was wrong.
But he had no choice. If he didn’t have sothing, he would just have to figure out how to make it himself.
’Use the Profound Virus?’ Qi Suian quickly ca up with a substitute. He didn’t have the specific frequency of the force, but he had sothing similar.
’If I combine it with Slanting Wind and Drizzling Rain, plus the three top-tier Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques, it should work.’
’The only problem is, I have no idea what the hell I’ll end up creating.’
To be honest, Qi Suian wasn’t very confident. Compared to the Power of the Limit, Ancient Martial Technique had a higher ceiling and a far more complex system.
The Power of the Limit was still in a crude, exploratory stage, whereas Ancient Martial Technique already possessed a complete, established lineage.
Fortunately, the Soul-Devouring Fist and Soul-Devouring Palm he obtained were top-tier Martial Daos. Evil as they were, if he had started with sothing like Swallow Wing Fist, Qi Suian would have probably given up on Ancient Martial Technique altogether.
Swallow Wing Fist wasn’t bad, but for Qi Suian, it was far too conventional.
’Still, it would be a good thing if I can get the Profound Virus, specialized hormones, and my cells to fuse into a single, unified whole.’
The biggest problem with Qi Suian’s body was that while its components seed interconnected at first glance, they actually all operated independently.
He’d always wanted to integrate them all, but he never really had the opportunity.
While it was true that Ancient Martial Technique had a higher ceiling than the Power of the Limit, its principles and effects offered Qi Suian a great deal of help.
It could help him combine his various abilities into a fully integrated whole.
And what if it affected his future?
He didn’t know the answer to that. But if he didn’t seize this chance to grow stronger, he wouldn’t have a future to worry about anyway—he’d be dead.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
If he really held back for the sake of an uncertain future, then even if he survived this apocalypse and wiped out every other survivor, what would happen in the next one? The doomsday ga might just bring in Cultivators from a Xianxia world.
What would he do then?
The future wouldn’t get any easier, only more unforgiving.
So he shouldn’t worry about how it might affect the future. He had to focus on whether he could survive the present.
’This is a huge project. The number of projects on my plate just keeps piling up.’
’To study Ancient Martial Techniques, I’ve even had to cut back on my research of the Blood Moon tissue samples.’
Qi Suian could only sigh. He had no good solution for this.
[Hunting ti has arrived. Postpone?]
The AI interrupted his thoughts.
Ti was limited, so Qi Suian had to manage his schedule carefully.
After all, he couldn’t only think of himself; he also had to consider the fuel required for the Tai Sui God’s evolution.
So, generally speaking, he would go out to hunt Desolate Beasts during the hottest part of the day, and when the temperature began to drop, he would return to continue his research.
"Don’t postpone. Let’s head out now."
"Is it another degree hotter today than the day before yesterday?" Qi Suian asked.
While controlling the Tai Sui God to pack up Qi Suian’s research equipnt and supplies, the AI replied.
[Correct. The rate of temperature increase has not yet surpassed two degrees, but it has accelerated compared to before.]
[If the data projections are correct, this rate will accelerate again soon. You need to make preparations as soon as possible.]
"I can’t just install an air conditioner on the Tai Sui God, can I..." Qi Suian grumbled.
[Your idea is quite fitting.]
Qi Suian’s expression froze when he heard that. "Are you serious?"
He was already short on so many modules; he couldn’t possibly install an actual air conditioner.
[To be precise, a heat-dissipation or temperature-regulation module. I recomnd the forr. Survival should be your top priority.]
[Due to the Tai Sui God’s insufficient number of evolutions, the Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell may prove inadequate against the coming high temperatures. An additional module is required to compensate.]
Qi Suian’s face darkened. If the temperature didn’t keep rising, what he had now would indeed be sufficient.
But there were no ’ifs.’ The fact was the temperature was rising.
"Fine. Have you acquired one?" Qi Suian asked.
[Yes. We already obtained a corresponding module when we left Liebo Mansion.]
The AI was always well-prepared.
"Fine, do what you said," Qi Suian said, his expression softening.
It was mainly the AI’s line about survival being the top priority that convinced him.
"But if the temperature gets even higher, will the Tai Sui God be able to take it? The prerequisite for dissipating heat is being able to withstand it in the first place." Qi Suian suddenly noticed a blind spot.
If the temperature shot up to three, four, or five hundred degrees, even an SSS-rank module like the Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell would lt.
After evolving to SSS-rank, it was dragged down by the Tai Sui God to the point it couldn’t even compare to the original Sand Worm Shell. It was a classic case of an incompetent general wearing out his entire army.
[Your life is the highest priority.]
[Once the temperature reaches a certain threshold, I will control the Tai Sui God to take you deep underground. This will be done to guarantee your survival to the best of my ability.]
The AI couldn’t do much about it. The Tai Sui God was a Gold-devouring Beast; there was no way for it to grow strong enough in a short ti to withstand terrifying temperatures of several hundred degrees.
It was even more difficult for Qi Suian to grow. He was indeed getting stronger, but it was completely unrealistic for him to gain the power to resist such high temperatures in a short period.
It was more reliable to focus on the Tai Sui God’s growth.
At least the Tai Sui God could gain evolutionary energy simply by being fed resources as fuel.
This was unlike Qi Suian. Every step he took was a struggle to break through the inherent limits of his race; it wasn’t a simple, straightforward path of growth.
The upper limit for humans from the Profound World was fixed. Without choosing the Divine Spirit Container Technology or the Immortal Surgery, the limit was 1 point, maybe 1.1 at most for an outstanding individual. Qi Suian, however, was forging a completely different path.
Therefore, Qi Suian could only expand his own limits bit by bit. He had no predecessors to learn from and no path to follow. He was on his own.
"Alright, I’ll listen to you." Qi Suian mused that if the temperature really reached several hundred degrees, this was indeed their only option.
And this high temperature of several hundred degrees was a conservative estimate; it could be even higher. By then, the entire planet’s surface might turn into a sea of lava.
The heat would seep downwards. Without sufficient heat dissipation, Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God would be truly done for.
That was why the AI had made preparations in advance.
Apocalypses caused by natural disasters had always been terrifying.
Man-made disasters like zombies couldn’t wipe out all the survivors, but the Blood Moon’s earth-moon impact directly killed off the first batch of survivors completely.
As Qi Suian was speaking, the AI was already controlling the Tai Sui God to hunt Desolate Beasts.
"Low armor, but high fire resistance." Qi Suian watched as the Tai Sui God killed a Desolate Beast in just a few moves and tossed it into the lting Furnace.
The battle was over in less than two minutes.
This was for two reasons. First, this particular Desolate Beast’s body temperature was relatively low. Second, the AI had acquired the combat thods from four Ancient Martial Techniques—Swallow Wing Fist, Soul-Devouring Fist, Soul-Devouring Fist, and the Soul-Devouring and Spirit-Eating Evil Skill—and had updated its combat model, becoming even more formidable.
"Ancient Martial Technique truly lives up to its na as a killing art. It’s just not very effective against animals," Qi Suian muttered.
He knew the theory of the combat thods, but he hadn’t put it into practice yet.
"Also, most combat thods require force as their foundation. Without it, they’re just simple techniques with limited application."
"Only the AI can make it work. Anyone else trying to use Ancient Martial combat thods without force would just be performing flashy, useless moves." Qi Suian could see the flaw.
In the ti it took Qi Suian to analyze all this, the AI had already killed three more Desolate Beasts for fuel. At this stage, the Ancient Martial Techniques were far more useful in the Tai Sui God’s hands than in his own.
"But then again, how can Desolate Beasts grow and reproduce with such scarce resources?"
Qi Suian could only think of two possible food sources: other Desolate Beasts and humans.
’Unless they don’t actually need to eat. Maybe they can live just by sunbathing.’
Unfortunately, Qi Suian had too many projects on his hands. The research on Desolate Beasts could only be pushed aside, letting them serve as fuel for now.
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