Chapter 90

Although Hu Gao had never fought against a martial artist at the first stage of the Body Integration Realm, he could infer from Han Chong's offensive power, which was said to be able to resist a first-stage Body Integration Realm martial artist, that his own strength was probably not far off.

However, these were minor details. For Hu Gao, the biggest隐患 (hidden danger) now was that his life-bound totem, the Bloodlight Snake, had not yet played a significant role. According to Elder Hu Feng, this would seriously affect Hu Gao's future cultivation.

As night fell, the Longjia Mountains echoed with the roars of various beasts, one after another. It was now deep into the night, and by dawn, a large number of martial artists would likely gather outside the Fire Beast Forest, waiting to enter.

Looking up at the clear, water-like sky, Hu Gao sighed deeply. They say life is lonely like snow, and the path of martial arts cultivation is no less lonely!

Hu Gao internally examined his qi sea, which had already reached the ninth stage of the Condensation Shadow Realm. His qi sea seemed to have grown much larger than before, but compared to the legendary small world created by Confucius and Mencius, it was still a world apart.

The premise for creating an internal world is to break through the chaotic energy, which is common knowledge. However, yuan energy appears to be just a simple accumulation of energy in the qi sea, so where does the chaos come from?

Could it be that yuan energy also has yin and yang attributes, as the Daoists of his previous life said, where yin and yang intersect to form a chaotic state?

Hu Gao suddenly slapped his forehead, regretting that he, a穿越者 (穿越者, time traveler), had not even thought of this! The so-called compatibility between martial artists and yuan techniques is essentially the coordination between one's yuan energy and the yuan technique. Since elemental yuan techniques, like those in his previous life, have a concept similar to the five elements, the yuan energy in the body is likely the same.

As Jile said, the Northern Branch excels in combat and elemental yuan techniques, leading to their brutal nature. Conversely, perhaps it is precisely because their yuan energy is more yang in nature that they can more easily master this type of yuan technique.

A martial artist's physique and divine soul determine their talent, which in turn determines the characteristics of the heavenly energy they convert into internal yuan energy. This energy is inherently complex and requires martial artists to use yuan techniques created later to release a single type of energy, achieving a certain effect. For example, the Liqing lineage excels in healing, and this energy can, in turn, nourish their physique, making them younger!

Thinking about this, Hu Gao suddenly felt enlightened. His original body belonged to the Liqing lineage, so his yuan energy had powerful healing capabilities. This means that the jade pendant might not have any healing function at all; it might just amplify the characteristics of his yuan energy!

However, this explanation can be applied to the five elements but is still difficult to perfectly correspond to yin and yang. Hu Gao had never seen anything like the light and death yuan techniques described in Western fantasy in the library before, but this might be related to the continent he was on. Perhaps the human physiques in the Eastern and Western continents of the Totem Continent are vastly different, leading to differences in the yuan techniques they excel in!

From chaos to yin and yang, and from yin and yang to the five elements, to establish a small world within the qi sea, one must reverse-engineer the chaotic energy and re-evolve this process, achieving true destruction and creation to manifest the true form of the totem like Confucius and Mencius did in the Condensation Shadow Realm!

What the heck, what kind of freak was Confucius and Mencius! To think of such a method, they truly deserve to be the foremost of the Ten Sages!

In his previous life, there was a saying that knowledge is power. The reason the aristocratic families of the Huaxia nation could hold power for thousands of years was due to a relatively closed knowledge system. The same applies to the Totem Continent. A martial artist's ultimate achievement depends on the successful knowledge system developed by their predecessors, allowing them to go further.

Ningcheng is still too small, or perhaps Hu Gao's current knowledge is still too narrow, which is why he has so many confusions in his cultivation. It seems he must find more books related to the cultivation system in the future!

Hu Gao is not a sage. Although he has understood many principles, without the guidance of a sage, it is a dream to independently complete this process.

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Confucius and Mencius have their own path, but it is not the only path to success! Just like the four deities, Wang Zhong and Li Hu, who could achieve success with ordinary totems, they also opened their own paths to ultimate success.

Hu Gao no longer dwelled on these thoughts. He began to carefully observe the Bloodlight Snake in his qi sea. Without Xiao Wu, this guy seemed even more listless than before. In theory, as his realm improved, its body should have become more solid.

Abnormality is a sign of something strange. The Bloodlight Snake, ranking in the top ten of the mutated totem list, is not simple. Although it has not shown any power yet, one thing is certain: once Hu Gao successfully researches a certain ability of the Bloodlight Snake, it will be extremely terrifying, revealing its fearsome reputation.

Hu Gao began to mobilize the yuan energy in his qi sea, enveloping the Bloodlight Snake. He had no other thoughts; he just wanted to see if the phantom-like Bloodlight Snake would gradually solidify under the infusion of yuan energy.

However, it was clear that the result would not be positive. He enveloped the Bloodlight Snake with yuan energy for a full half an hour, but there was no change.

But he did not give up. He continued to run the secret technique of the Returning Yuan Qi Flow, converting heavenly energy into more yuan energy, which surged into the qi sea like a tide, rushing toward the Bloodlight Snake.

Quantity leads to quality. As time passed, it seemed as if a gust of wind was blowing in Hu Gao's qi sea. He felt that the yuan energy was being absorbed by something and could not return.

"What is this?"

Hu Gao's expression changed slightly, as if he had thought of something. "Could it be that the Bloodlight Snake is absorbing yuan energy and solidifying itself?"

At this moment, there was no need to guess. He observed for a moment and saw that the Bloodlight Snake had opened its mouth, swallowing large amounts of yuan energy with each opening and closing.

"This absorption speed is too fast, isn't it?"

Hu Gao did not have time to think about why the Bloodlight Snake suddenly started absorbing yuan energy. He was completely stunned by the speed. At this rate, it would take less than half a minute for all the yuan energy in his body to be completely absorbed.

As the qi sea became like a dried-up river, Hu Gao was quite helpless. Fortunately, after absorbing the yuan energy, the Bloodlight Snake did not take any further action. Otherwise, he would not know what the consequences would be. If he were drained by his life-bound totem, it would be a ridiculous joke in the history of the Totem Continent.

Fortunately, after absorbing the yuan energy, the Bloodlight Snake did not take any further action but coiled up again, shrinking into a ball, and fell back into a deep sleep.

What the heck! Is this a cycle of eating and sleeping? Hu Gao was speechless. Could it be that his gluttonous nature had infected both totems, turning them into gluttons?

Just as Hu Gao was about to give up, something seemed to touch his mind. He felt as if a voice was telling him, "Yuan energy! Yuan energy!"

Could it be that the Bloodlight Snake is trying to communicate with me?

Without hesitation, Hu Gao grabbed a handful of Yuan Gathering Pills and began to cultivate frantically. The previously dry qi sea began to fill up again. This time, the Bloodlight Snake did not directly absorb the yuan energy but acted like a suction cup, absorbing all the yuan energy around it.

The suction force gradually increased, and a whistling sound began to emanate, as if Hu Gao's body had become a bellows. At a certain moment, a crisp sound echoed inside his body, as if something had been broken through.

In the next moment, the yuan energy in the world seemed to be completely activated. Yuan energy within at least a hundred meters gathered toward him, surging into the qi sea and forming a black hole around the Bloodlight Snake. Even Hu Gao himself could not see what the Bloodlight Snake had become inside.

Finally, when the black hole was about to burst, a violent explosion occurred. Like elemental annihilation, all the yuan energy returned to calm.

The external energy stopped converting, and the yuan energy in the qi sea also dissipated, returning to Hu Gao's body's meridians. The fog cleared, leaving the Bloodlight Snake, which had grown thicker by a circle, in the qi sea, raising its head and flicking its tongue.

Upon closer inspection, the Bloodlight Snake had become much more solid and more spiritual. Its blood-red eyes were brighter, as if they could draw one in.

Most importantly, Hu Gao noticed that a layer of skin had shed from the Bloodlight Snake...

What the heck! This totem actually sheds its skin like a snake in his previous life, which means his Bloodlight Snake is a totem that can grow?

Hu Gao was completely stunned. He felt something had changed in his mind. Perhaps this transformation had truly established a connection with his Bloodlight Snake. Moreover, he noticed that the energy from the world continued to automatically flow into his body and convert into yuan energy, much faster than before.

After a moment of contemplation, Hu Gao realized the problem and was shocked: "It's the acupoints! All the acupoints in my body have been opened, and now I can gather a large amount of energy from the world with every movement."

This change in his body was significant. Hu Gao had never heard of anyone opening all their acupoints during the Condensation Shadow Realm. According to books, the most talented person in the Longhua Kingdom only managed to open all their acupoints at the sixth stage of the Body Integration Realm. The fastest on the entire Totem Continent to open all acupoints was at the fourth stage of the Body Integration Realm.

In other words, Hu Gao had broken the record for opening all acupoints on the Totem Continent. This record would shock anyone.