Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Efydatia
After devouring the energy bar, Luo Yunyang took out the Heaven-Battling Ape-Dragon Chart and carefully studied the breathing methods shown there.
Thanks to Chi Hen’s memories, Luo Yunyang was now very familiar with the breathing methods of the Heaven-Battling Ape-Dragon Chart. After pondering over it meticulously, Luo Yunyang raised his Mind Attribute to 220. Out of his remaining 29 points, he allocated 25 to his Constitution and left Speed and Power two points each.
Thanks to this distribution, Luo Yunyang’s body was now able to support the consumption of his Mind Attribute. With 220 Mind Attribute Points, Luo Yunyang was able to detect all of Chi Hen’s mistakes while cultivating.
After verifying the cultivation of these breathing methods once more, Luo Yunyang sat down cross-legged on his bed and started to slowly control his breathing.
During this round of cultivation, he raised his Constitution to 220 and lowered his Mind to 25.
As he used those breathing methods, Luo Yunyang found himself sinking into an empty space. He could feel a sun and a moon suspended higher up. Two sources of power, one gold and one silver, that originated from the cores of the sun and the moon flowed into his body.
Thanks to the breathing methods, these energies travelled throughout his body and stimulated every single one of his cells.
Although the two energies entered his body at the same time, the paths they took inside his body were different. They were like two parallel lines that never intersected.
His cells started growing and the vitality of each cell became stronger, so Luo Yunyang could clearly sense that, as the two vital energies circulated through his body, the frigid and burning Qi left some traces inside him.
When the two energies flowed into his source core, Luo Yunyang’s entire body felt really nice. He recognized this feeling, as it had appeared many times in Chi Hen’s memories.
Luo Yunyang opened his attribute regulator impatiently. He wanted to see what the results of his first cultivation would be.
Power: 91 (Fire: 17, Ice: 16, Wood: 5)
Speed: 11
Mind: 63
Constitution: 80 (Golden Body: 18, Fire: 1, Ice: 1)
His new Constitution Attributes made Luo Yunyang ecstatic!
Ever since he had used the golden body fluid, he had become more and more conscious of the importance of his Constitution. Cultivating the breathing methods of the Heaven-Battling Ape-Dragon Chart had produced these new Constitution Attributes, which was something he was really happy about.
Luo Yunyang wondered if cultivating his wood system would give rise to a Wood Constitution Attribute.
He took out the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” manuscript, which Chief Instructor Lu had given him, and looked through it quickly.
Compared to the breathing methods of the Heaven-Battling Ape-Dragon Chart, these cultivation methods were much simpler. No matter how Luo Yunyang looked at it, he believed that there weren’t any offensive moves among this set of techniques.
The manuscript could be summarized in one sentence — The power of all living things becomes the power of longevity.
However, compared to other breathing methods, Luo Yunyang felt that the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” didn’t seem bad. Cultivating it actually meant being able to absorb vital energy from any source.
After a simple look through it, Luo Yunyang decided to cultivate these techniques, even though it seemed like the base lacked vital energy.
He would have to head into the forest, which was brimming with vitality and all sorts of fresh, delicious food.
Luo Yunyang took out his communication device and let Xu Zhong know what he would be up to before heading into the forest outside Base 7. Thanks to his previous experience, he reached the C-grade dire beast territory in no time.
“All living things form a cycle that grows and multiplies without end. One needs to assimilate oneself with the world in order to become immortal…”
Luo Yunyang recited the ways of the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” and placed his hands on a huge tree. The moment he used the manuscript, he could sense the large amount of vital energy contained within that tree.
Luo Yunyang wanted to channel this vital energy into his body and replenish his source core.
After deciding on this plan, he started to absorb all the vital energy. Suddenly, he realized that, even though he had used the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity”, he still wasn’t able to absorb the vital energy.
Was his wood system’s power too little? This thought flickered through Luo Yunyang’s mind as he recalled the contents of the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity”.
He made various adjustments by using his attribute points before raising his Power to 200 straightaway.
As a result, his wood system’s points became 11, and his Fire and Ice points became 35 and 33 respectively.
When he transferred the points of these two elemental attributes to his wood-based system source core, its points became 79.
As he recited the chant and used the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” once more, Luo Yunyang felt a full-bodied vital energy flow from the huge tree into his body.
The power was really placid, yet when it entered Luo Yunyang’s body, it felt extremely invigorating. The feeling was so pleasant that Luo Yunyang wanted to fly.
Suddenly, he really felt as if he could fly up in the sky.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes…
An hour passed before Luo Yunyang moved his hands away. The huge tree that had had its vital energy sucked away remained as green as ever, but Luo Yunyang had a feeling that it wouldn’t live much longer.
The “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” wasn’t bad. If it could be used to absorb an adversary’s vitality, that would be a really beautiful sight…
However, this was only a dream. After all, no opponent was a plant that would stay obediently in one spot and let Luo Yunyang absorb their vital energy. What sort of fool would just sit there and wait for death?
When all the vital energy was assimilated into his source core, Luo Yunyang considered his cultivation of the “Youthful Emperor’s Secret Art Of Longevity” complete. By that time, the sky had already darkened.
A C-grade wolf-like dire beast was howling at the sky. Luo Yunyang wouldn’t be kind to the beast, which had run in front of him to show off. He suddenly leapt in the air and charged towards it.
Although wolf meat wasn’t that nice, Luo Yunyang was famished, so he couldn’t afford to be picky.
Luckily, he had packed a lot of things for his cultivation in the woods. As a wolf thigh was roasted over the fire, Luo Yunyang took out all sorts of bottles and jars.
“Damn, that’s good. I’ll just stay here for the next few months!” Luo Yunyang muttered to himself as he took a huge bite out of the roasted wolf thigh.
At Base 7, time was something that couldn’t be seen or grasped. The flow of time couldn’t really be felt either, because there were simply no seasonal changes over there.
“I heard that just yesterday, Sun Miaomiao manifested a source power on her sword and sliced through a piece of no.7 titanium tungsten steel. Really impressive!”
“That’s not all. Two days ago, she challenged Lin Changjian, an elite who is nearly a grade-two martial master, and defeated him. That is really formidable.”
“In my opinion, Sun Miaomiao probably has the strongest combat ability among this batch of newcomers.”
“I think that Guan Wanli is also rather impressive. Besides awakening a high-grade source core, he also has a family-imparted technique that’s a very strong defense. I heard that a few days ago, his body acted like black iron. He didn’t even suffer a scratch, even though someone used an axe to chop him up.”
All sorts of discussions were taking place by the main gates of Base 7. The people chatting were the sentry guards. The guards lacked the ability to enter the forest, so all they could do in their free time was gossip.
“Oh, I forgot. Is there any news on Luo Yunyang? He hasn’t appeared in quite some time,” a soldier said softly.
“Although he awakened a high-grade source core, its combat strength is garbage. Just think about it. If you try to hit someone but patch them up instead, then what kind of combat strength does this source core even possess? I think that his decision to enter the forest wasn’t bad.”
“I heard that there has been quite a number of people who have left the Ardent Sun Group.”
The soldier, who had been chatting happily, suddenly turned his head and saw a young man walking over from a distance. The young man was in full Rising Dragon Army uniform, and there seemed to be a slight swagger in his step as he walked.
When the soldier who had been talking spotted him, he immediately remembered who he was.
“Greetings, sir!” The soldier saluted the young man quickly when he recalled Luo Yunyang’s rank.
“Alright, soldier. Are you busy now?” Luo Yunyang asked him indifferently.
“I will be relieved of my sentry duty shortly, sir. I’m not busy!” Although the soldier felt some apprehension deep inside, his voice was still loud and clear.
“Very good. Since you like to gossip, I would like you to run 100 laps around Base 7 when your sentry duty ends. If you train your lungs, you will be able to talk more the next time you are on sentry duty.”
Although Luo Yunyang didn’t seem the least bit angry, the soldier looked crestfallen after hearing his words. That smiling officer was really goddamn scary. He could be smiling as he stabbed someone in the heart with a knife!
“Damn, that fellow is really inconsiderate,” one of the sentry guards lamented after Luo Yunyang had walked away.
Luo Yunyang didn’t notice the soldier speaking, as he had already caught sight of Xu Zhong’s particularly bright, conspicuously bald head.
“Ha ha ha! You are really great, Yunyang. Come on, let me take a look at the Rising Dragon Army’s youngest state scholar ever.”
Being an elite martialist was a symbol of status in the Da Alliance, so different elite ranks received different benefits.
Those benefits could be as important as cultivation resources, or as insignificant as free education for one’s offspring. All these things were closely related to one’s elite rank. According to a common saying, which was actually very true, women of a high elite status would rarely marry a man of a lower elite status.
The highest elite rank was S, but that didn’t mean that there was no higher honor than that.
Any resident of the Da Alliance’s 13 Eastern Cities that surpassed all elite statuses was called a state scholar.
This title originated from the saying “a state scholar has no equal”.
Meanwhile, any resident of the Da Alliance’s 17 Western Cities that surpassed all elite statuses was called an Epic. Although the evaluation of these ranks was not set in stone, if a martialist wanted to become a state scholar, the most basic requirement was becoming a martial grandmaster.
Being a martial grandmaster was the criterion for becoming a state scholar.