Chapter 1008: Cultivation Technique Deduction

Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold, Chen Clan Martial Arts Training Ground.

The sun hung high, a scorching golden ray scattered down.

On the orderly blue stone training ground, rows of young men and women stood with upright postures, perfectly aligned, breathing in unison, their movements precisely synchronized.

The sound of their breathing and the wind from their punches rose and fell, making the surrounding air buzz.

Chen Hua mingled within the ranks, moving in harmony with the others, each move stable and practiced with finesse.

“Five Poison Immortal Palm, refines strength with poison, drives poison with inner strength, consists of three layers, advancing progressively.”

Chen Hua subconsciously swept his gaze over his companions.

In the palms of his peers, faint greenish water-like poison light lingered, delicate green patterns spread and flowed along the palm lines, exuding a subtle aura of sinister poison.

This was the sign of having a firm foundation in the entry stage of the Five Poison Immortal Palm, with inner strength rooted.

In his heart, he silently reviewed the classification of the three layers of the cultivation technique, clearly organized:

“When the green patterns spread across the entire palm and the poison strength solidifies without dispersion, that marks the First Layer—Jade Palm.”

“Beyond that, when the poison strength sinks into bones and blood, and the palm color fades from green to pitch black as ink, that is the Second Layer—Black Gold Palm.”

“Uncle Chen Si, who once saved me from a Gu poison outbreak, had reached this realm, making him a top expert among worldly martial artists.”

“As for the Perfection in the Third Layer, when the essence of the Five Poisons merges into one, and the palm manifests a multicolored poison light, this is the ultimate end of this martial art.”

Reflecting on this, Chen Hua couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

“This palm technique was passed down by the Immortal Master of the entire Celestial Ridge Immortal Stronghold.”

“Though it’s named the Five Poison Immortal Palm for killing and defense, it’s more like a herbal picking technique tailored for the villagers.”

Chen Hua secretly shook his head; the greatest function of this cultivation technique is to temper the body and cultivate a poison-resistant constitution to fearlessly pick herbs in the deep mountains and serve the Immortal Master.”

“After all, it’s just ordinary worldly martial arts.”

“Even if cultivated to the Third Layer Perfection, it’s still like an ant shaking a tree when compared to true Immortal Magic, vulnerable against it.”

“Immortal Dao!!”

He felt yearning in his heart, his thoughts drifting, involuntarily recalling the annual Ascension Conference of the stronghold.

In the past years, he had participated full of hope only to be rejected.

“I have no aptitude for cultivation!!”

“In such a large immortal stronghold, among tens of thousands of villagers and over a thousand clansmen, only a mere dozen are tested to have cultivation qualifications and are taken as disciples by the Immortal Master.”

“This opportunity is truly too harsh.”

Chen Hua slightly sighed deep inside.

If not for the gray mist palace being his golden finger, he would have given up entirely, trapped in this dark cultivation cage.

The cultivation world treats mortals like ants.

Without becoming a cultivator, one cannot escape the Gu insects in the body, forever to be manipulated by the Immortal Master, becoming tools for generations, seeing no way out.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Everyone in the field collected their punches and stood at attention, their breaths gradually calming down.

Uncle Chen Si, leading the team, glanced at the training results of the crowd. He nodded slightly, his voice steady as it spread:

“Alright, today’s practice ends here, disperse for the meal.”

With these words, the once solemn martial arts training ground suddenly became lively.

The young men and women shook off their fatigue from practice, all delighted, clustering together, rushing toward the clan public kitchen.

“Today we have braised beef! What a treat!”

The practice of martial arts heavily taxes physical energy, and after half a day of training, everyone’s stomachs were hollow and unbearably hungry.

Chen Hua followed the crowd to the public kitchen, feasting heartily. The steaming meat entered his belly, washing away fatigue, warmth flowing through his whole body.

The ethos of the Chen Clan is excellent, with strong cohesion.

Even an orphan like him, with no parents or support, had always been carefully looked after by the clan, growing up with no lack of food or clothing, securely.

He sighed inwardly:

“Such a clan, I couldn’t compare to it in my previous life!!”

After lunch, with the sun at its peak.

Chen Hua returned to the clan dormitory, exchanged a few words with his roommates, then excused himself to rest, closing his eyes to meditate.

Once his mind settled completely, with a thought, his consciousness detached from his body and entered into that exclusive gray mist palace space of his.

“Continue practicing!!”

Chen Hua landed and immediately began practicing punches, continuing to hone the Five Poison Immortal Palm.

He had already discovered one peculiar feature of this space: practicing here grants miraculous assistance, enabling cultivation progress to advance by leaps and bounds.

…

Time flew by within the gray mist space.

He was unaware of how much time had passed, but Chen Hua stopped his punches and stood, a resplendent kaleidoscope of light rose from his palm, multicolored poison patterns interwovenly swirling, gentle and restrained without any violent leakage.

The Five Poison Immortal Palm reached Third Layer Perfection!

“Finally achieved!”

A hint of delight flashed across Chen Hua’s eyes.

In the outside world, the Five Poison Immortal Palm requires decades of grinding and numerous resources to reach Perfection.

With the help of the golden finger, it took only fifteen days for him to achieve the Perfection Realm, something countless martial artists spend their lives unable to reach.

It’s worth noting that many elders in the clan who have arduously cultivated for fifty or sixty years remain stuck at the Second Layer Black Gold Palm, never reaching the Third Layer Perfection.

With a thought, the cultivation panel quietly surfaced:

[Cultivation Technique: Five Poison Immortal Palm]

[Level: Ordinary Martial Arts · Superior (consisting of three layers)]

[Current Realm: Third Layer (Can be deduced)]

Chen Hua couldn’t help but marvel inwardly:

“Truly a martial art bestowed by a cultivator.”

“Among mundane martial arts, it’s already considered top-tier. In the worldly martial arts realm, it’s definitely a supreme martial art capable of dominating a generation.”

“But this is the real cultivation world, where there are limits even to the strongest mundane martial arts.”

Chen Hua did not hesitate any longer, commanding within his heart:

“Deduce the cultivation technique!”

Buzz——!!

The gray mist palace gently trembled, and endless principles flowed, instantly dissecting the foundation of the Five Poison Immortal Palm and reconstructing the cultivation technique’s framework.

In the next moment, three distinct paths of extraordinary evolution clearly appeared before him.

[Path One: Nether Centipede Soul Grasping Art (Mundane Martial Arts · Limit)]

[Annotation: The Nether Centipede, king of myriad poisons, adept at corroding souls. When the technique is perfected, it refines a thousand centipede poison beads, allowing poison miasma to spread extensively. When miasma touches the body, it follows the blood vessels deep inside, breeding gu centipedes in the opponent’s organs, consuming flesh. It can also refine nether poison pupils, penetrating spiritual flesh directly to assault the sea of consciousness, disrupting the divine soul and fragmenting heart thoughts. Although a mundane martial art, it can even strike down immortals.]

[Path Two: Cold Centipede Undying Body (Mundane Martial Arts · Limit)]

[Annotation: The Cold Centipede, derived from an unusual species, embodies the essence of yin cold longevity. Upon success, it forms a cold jade fetal body, with boundless vitality; skin, flesh, tendons, and bones can spontaneously regenerate from severe injuries, and lost limbs can slowly regrow using essential qi. The technique deeply cultivates to solidify the foundation, nurturing vitality, with a lifespan of one hundred and eighty years, reaching the utmost limits of mundane life expectancy.]

[Path Three: Yang Snake Transformation Record (Mundane Martial Arts · Limit)]

[Annotation: The Yang Snake, a small dragon, conceals the opportunity for transformation into a dragon. Upon mastering the technique, it can refine an innate spiritual aperture, completely transforming, generating creation. Then, it can absorb heaven and earth spiritual qi, entering the Way through martial arts, stepping onto the immortal path, transcending the mundane.]

Confronted by three paths of limit-breaking martial arts, Chen Hua’s gaze burned intensely as he evaluated them one by one, quickly weighing pros and cons in his heart.

“The first path, Nether Centipede Soul Grasping Art, with extensive poison miasma invasion, is considered disaster-level combat power within the worldly realm and can even assault the divine soul, possessing capital to strike down immortals, unrivaled in slaughter.”

“The second path, Cold Centipede Undying Body, is equally commendable with limb regeneration and an undying body, boasting one hundred and eighty years of lifespan. In the worldly martial arts, it would certainly establish a grandmaster legend, a martial arts myth.”

But after brief contemplation, he made a decision and gently shook his head:

“Unfortunately, this is the cultivation world, using martial arts to strike down immortals is merely against lesser immortals.”

“I choose the third path, Yang Snake Transformation Record!”

In a flash, the path ahead was determined in his mind.

Suddenly, vast, profound cultivation technique information flooded into his sea of consciousness, myriad meridian routes, creation mysteries, and transformation principles fully unfolded and imprinted on his heart, needing no contemplation, instantly understood.

With the completion of cultivation technique deduction, the original Five Poison Inner Strength within his body began to be replaced and transformed entirely.

The old poison strength scoured the meridians, transforming and converting completely.

Brand new yang-oriented Snake Dragon True Yuan circulated through new meridian routes throughout his body, cleansing the marrow, reshaping the foundation.

After a long time, the transformation throughout his body was completed entirely.

A refreshed cultivation panel appeared:

[Cultivation Technique: Yang Snake Transformation Record]

[Level: Mundane Martial Arts · Limit (Total Five Layers)]

[Current Realm: Second Layer]

Chen Hua focused inwardly, perceiving the immense power hidden within, and his lips curved slightly:

“Truly a limit-breaking martial art. My original Five Poison Immortal Palm had reached perfection, yet this conversion of cultivation barely brought me into the Second Layer!”

“Moreover, the benefits of powerful techniques are evident, as my combat power not only did not diminish but even progresses progressively higher than before.”

He carefully assessed the characteristics of the true yuan within him, increasingly satisfied:

“Additionally, this Yang Snake True Yuan, inherent with dragon attributes, can conceal or reveal, expand or contract, exceedingly restrained, perfectly concealing its presence.”

“Unlike the original Five Poison Immortal Palm, with obvious poison patterns, I never dared to manifest my cultivation from the palace, fearing detection or anomalies.”

“From now on, with this kind of disguise, things have become considerably easier.”

…

Time flows by silently.

Since Chen Hua deduced the Yang Snake Transformation Record, altering his cultivation foundation, a full six months had passed.

During these six months, he practiced boxing and worked alongside the clan’s members by day, displaying nothing remarkable or suspicious.

Each night when it was silent or at midday during rest, his consciousness would retreat to the gray mist palace to begin cultivation.

At this moment, within the gray mist palace.

Chen Hua sat cross-legged in the center of a vast sea of mist, traces of gold snake and dragon patterns subtly circulating between his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, as fine and hidden as dragon scale markings, veiled within his skin texture, revealing no edge.

After a long time, his eyes abruptly opened!

A pure and extreme golden yang light briefly flashed in his eyes, then quickly returned to calm, reserved and without trace.

The latent snake dragon true yuan throughout his body returned as one with a roar, and the organs, tendons, muscles, and skin membranes completed the final layer of transformation.

[Cultivation Technique: Yang Snake Transformation Record]

[Level: Mundane Martial Arts · Limit]

[Current Realm: Fifth Layer (Deduction Available)]

Chen Hua slowly raised his hand, feeling the profound transformation within, and infinite emotions welled up in his heart.

Even with the support of the gray mist space, he still spent a full six months to completely perfect this limit-breaking martial art.

Chen Hua whispered with a light sigh:

“Merely relying on the aptitude of worldly mortals and a century of lifespan, there’s likely no one who can achieve this martial art’s fifth layer perfection before their lifespan runs out.”

Ordinary mundane martial arts, reaching the third layer is already the end; the fourth and fifth layers are considered myths unreachable by mortals.

Concluding his thoughts, he focused inwardly on introspection.

At this moment, his physical body had already transformed fundamentally; his tendons and bones were like glazed casting, blood and qi like a dragon, and common weaponry simply could not harm him at all.

And the most crucial transformation had occurred deep within the Dantian!

An innately warm, entirely golden aperture that emitted pure yang qi was firmly rooted in the core of the Dantian.

Chen Hua gazed at the newly formed spiritual aperture within him and finally smiled:

“The path of mundane martial arts has reached its end.”

“Next, is truly the first step of cultivation—gathering qi into the body and knocking on the door of the Immortal Dao!”