191 An Alternative Path
In the forest, a faint golden arrow suddenly broke through the air and shot toward a huge black bull.
The raging bull stomped its hooves, and the mountain rocks crumbled like a whirlwind as it dodged to the side.
The arrow grazed the bull’s back and shot into a huge rock.
The mountain rocks crumbled, and the bull was instantly blasted into a bloody mess. Half of its body was in tatters, and its eyes rolled back before it stopped breathing.
A figure flew over and stood in front of the tattered black bull’s corpse. He said guiltily, “It’s my fault for not being able to leave your corpse intact. I’m really sorry.”
In fact, Jiang Ming’s archery skills were quite good in the mortal world. However, the Thunderous Bow was obviously much more difficult to control than ordinary bows.
“Moreover, the Thunderclap Technique still needs some time to work with the Thunderous Bow!”
When Jiang Ming was practicing at home, he was using the Thunderclap Technique while activating the Thunderous Bow. However, when it came to a real battle, the enemy would not wait for him to use the technique before taking action.
Therefore, Jiang Ming could only abandon the external movement of the Thunderclap Technique and only rely on its internal breathing technique to form a resonance with the Thunderous Bow
This was quite difficult.
“However, when I use this bow normally, I don’t have to use it with the Thunderclap Technique. Its power is already strong enough. I can reserve this move for a final killing blow after more practice.”
Jiang Ming picked up a flying sword, and with a few slashes, he cut off a few large pieces of fresh beef from the intact part of the bull’s body.
“Not bad, I can make a beef hotpot!”
In a cave excavated by a flying sword, Jiang Ming set up a table and cast the Misty Rain Technique in a big pot. The pot was filled with spirit rain and sprinkled with all kinds of medicinal herbs. Then, he lit a fire and put the pot on top to cook slowly. He washed and cut the beef at the side.
After a while, a medicinal beef hotpot was ready.
The moonlight shone down, and the forest was quiet. There was food and wine in the cave, and he was free.
“It’s really good!”
Jiang Ming was in a relaxed mood. He picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of beef with satisfaction. He put it into his mouth and enjoyed this moment of peace.
He recalled that when he first started out in the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest, he was very lucky to even have a broken pot that could cook things. He had never thought that he would have such a different life now.
The demonic bull was comparable to a cultivator in the late stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Jiang Ming shook his head and continued to eat happily. He was even more determined to become stronger. One day, he would become the strongest in the universe.
“I don’t want to control the universe. I just want to be powerful enough to always relax. I just want to be a carefree person who’s not afraid of being caught. When that day comes, I won’t have to hide my secrets anymore. Everyone will say that I’m immortal, and they’ll be envious of me.”
As he thought about it, Jiang Ming also became playful and happy.
After a short while, he devoured all the meat, and it turned into a surging wave of spiritual energy that spread in his body. Jiang Ming’s body felt very hot.
“The meat of a late-stage Qi Refinement Realm demonic beast is indeed a great tonic.”
All these years in Xiaoqian Mountain, he had been very cautious. Even if the Jade Pavilion sold demonic beast meat of this level, the price was outrageously high. Jiang Ming had never bought it himself. He had only had a few pieces when eating out with Feng He and the others. However, due to the price, they got the tiniest slices of meat. He could barely taste it.
“I have to use this power to temper my body!”
Jiang Ming stood up and walked out of the cave. Facing the moonlight, he began to practice the Thunderclap Technique. The spiritual energy of the demonic meat quickly integrated into his flesh and blood, tempering his body to become more powerful.
“The meat of these demonic beasts is still the best for tempering the body.”
Jiang Ming looked surprised. Over the years, he had not stopped his cultivation of martial arts. However, his physical body and blood Qi seemed to have reached a bottleneck. The speed of his improvement was getting slower and slower, and in recent years, it had almost stagnated.
It was not until today, after eating dozens of pounds of demonic beef, that Jiang Ming felt his blood Qi improve again.
“However, this is still not fast enough. Looks like I’ve already touched that bottleneck. If I don’t break through this crucial barrier, I won’t be able to become stronger!”
Jiang Ming was not surprised. He had read a lot of books over the years and had some understanding of the path of cultivation.
The body refining of martial arts was indeed a cultivation path different from the path of immortal cultivation.
In terms of sheer strength, First Class martial artists, Dao Masters, and Grandmasters corresponded to the early, middle, and late stages of the Qi Refinement Realm. However, martial artists could not use talismans, magical weapons, and other things. This, they could not compare to immortal cultivators.
According to the records, if a martial artist’s blood Qi was strong enough, they could completely break through the Grandmaster bottleneck and enter a new world!
If Jiang Ming could make such a breakthrough, his power as a martial artist could undergo a tremendous change. Even without the help of external objects, his combat power could be comparable to that of the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
This kind of cultivation path was also known as an alternative path to the Foundation Establishment Realm!
“This path is very difficult. However, fortunately, I’ve already taken the first step.”
The first step on this path was to connect one’s martial arts skills to their soul. This was a level beyond the conception stage of martial arts. The power of the soul would merge with the blood Qi of the body and merge with the conception of martial arts. Thus, causing the blood Qi to transform and become purer and more condensed. It could be comparable to the spiritual energy of an immortal cultivator.
Jiang Ming had already completed this step in the mortal world. He just did not know he did. Now, in the world of immortal cultivation, he understood.
However, this first step was enough to stump almost everyone. The soul of an ordinary person was extremely weak. Even the soul of a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator was only slightly stronger and could only read a Jade Slip at most. To integrate it into one’s blood Qi was almost impossible.
Only the soul of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could leave the body several feet away and detect their surroundings.
Jiang Ming thought about it.
He realized if he wanted to improve on this path, he needed to formulate a new recipe for the Spirit Clearing Soup. His current recipe was not strong enough, and at his level, it was nothing more than a regular soup.
He threw this matter to the back of his mind and continued to think about an alternative path to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“The first step has been completed, and only the second step is left. I might be able to build a different kind of foundation this way.”
Jiang Ming’s eyes flickered. In the past few years, his vitality had not grown much, and he had never thought about it in this way.
However, the increase in his blood Qi today was incredible.
If he could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm of martial arts first, his strength would improve further, and he would be more confident in finding a Foundation Establishment Realm technique for immortal cultivation.