Chapter 18: Scorpion Tiger Meditation Technique
Previously, Zhang Peng had only guided Chen Ming through the most basic Spirit Master Meditation Method and the understanding of meridians, things that could only be considered entry level knowledge known throughout the entire Spirit Master world.
After all, Zhang Peng had originally intended to hand Chen Ming over to Hate Douluo as a Disciple in order to make Hate Douluo owe him a favor, so naturally he had no reason to teach him the truly valuable things that could not be found elsewhere on the continent.
But now, through a twist of fate, Chen Ming had become his Disciple instead. Because of that, Zhang Peng began teaching him the cultivation experience and Meditation Methods he had personally comprehended.
10,000 years ago, Spirit Master Meditation Methods were merely meditation and did not involve meridians. Even the Meditation Method Yu Xiaogang created based on his own understanding was only judged by Tang San to possess the prototype of an internal skill. Back then, Spirit Masters' understanding of meridians was narrow and simple. At the very least, the vast majority of Meditation Methods did not involve the application of meridians at all.
But after 10,000 years of development, combined with the constant changes brought about by the "advanced concepts" of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Spirit Masters' exploration of meridians and Spirit Power flow had become much deeper.
Meditation Methods were no longer merely techniques for guiding energy by relying on the instincts of the Martial Soul as they had been before. They now truly involved the use of meridians as part of their operation.
10,000 years ago, the difference between Meditation Methods mostly came from accumulated experience. In essence, they were only detailed refinements built on the same foundation.
But nowadays, Meditation Methods had truly developed into different schools and directions. Different attributes and different Martial Souls had each produced Meditation Methods most suitable for their own traits and characteristics.
This was also one of the reasons why Spirit Masters in this era cultivated much faster than they had 10,000 years ago. Highly efficient and specialized Meditation Methods allowed Spirit Masters with the same level of talent to cultivate faster, while the emergence of the Spirit Core made it easier for Spirit Masters who had previously been stuck below the Titled Douluo stage to break through their bottlenecks.
With both of these added together, along with the continued development of various fields such as pharmacology over the course of 10,000 years, the general increase in cultivation speed during this era had naturally become inevitable.
Unlike the common Meditation Methods found on the continent, the unnamed Meditation Method that Zhang Peng had created based on the insights from his own Martial Soul was darker and more aggressive.
If an ordinary Meditation Method could produce 1 unit of energy in a single circulation, then Zhang Peng's Meditation Method would only produce 0.7 units, and its operation was far more complicated.
However, the special characteristic of this unnamed Meditation Method was not focused on the quantity of energy, but rather on refining the purity of one's own Spirit Power. Those 0.7 units of energy would therefore be much purer. Moreover, after long term cultivation, one's spiritual power would also receive a subtle boost.
And once this Meditation Method was fully mastered, the speed of its operation could be increased further, greatly reducing the amount of time needed for a single circulation.
In theory, a sufficiently skilled cultivator could even reach the point where they completed 2 circulations in the time it took an ordinary person to complete 1. By rapidly cycling through circulations, they could obtain both faster cultivation speed and purer energy than ordinary people.
However, because the Spirit Power flow of this Meditation Method was highly complex and delicate, reaching that level required spiritual power far beyond that of an ordinary person.
It could be said that this was a Meditation Method with an extremely high ceiling, but its threshold for entry was equally high. Its concept was beautiful, but also extremely radical.
Zhang Peng had originally thought Chen Ming was not especially suited for this method. But after guiding him through it once, Chen Ming vaguely managed to grasp several points of its essence. After stumbling through practice for a few hours, Chen Ming was already able to complete 1 full circulation without outside help.
Although the time he spent on that circulation was more than 3 times that of an ordinary one, Chen Ming had undeniably reached the entry level standard. With repeated practice, the speed of his cultivation would also continue to improve.
Zhang Peng pressed his fingers together like a blade and lightly slit open the Mighty Deer's throat. Blood immediately began pouring from its neck. Under Zhang Peng's guidance, Chen Ming started devouring the blood while circulating the Meditation Method to guide the Spirit Power within his body.
As the Spirit Power circulated, Chen Ming gradually began to understand the brilliance of this unnamed Meditation Method.
Evil Spirit Masters could quickly gain energy through the talent of their Martial Souls, but they also accumulated impurities extremely quickly.
This Meditation Method took a radical route by using the Meditation Method itself to assist the process of devouring.
The mixed energy would flow through a route far longer than that of an ordinary Meditation Method. During that process, the impurities within the energy would be stripped away as much as possible. The useful but rough portion would remain in the body to strengthen Qi and blood, while the truly unusable waste would be directly expelled.
From the perspective of normal Spirit Master cultivation, this Meditation Method was very unconventional. It was only slightly better than ordinary methods, difficult to learn, and far inferior to those Meditation Methods that had been refined over thousands of years for specific Martial Souls.
But when used for cultivation through devouring, it became an excellent support. It was something that even many top tier Meditation Methods could not accomplish, a special method that had reached an almost unbeatable extreme in cost effectiveness between speed and quality.
Furthermore, the arrangement within Zhang Peng's cultivation room was also highly unusual. The pervasive evil aura, combined with the dark attribute crystals spread across the ground, formed a special field.
This field allowed Chen Ming to maintain a cold sense of calm during cultivation. While slightly increasing both his cultivation speed and its effectiveness, it also greatly stabilized his state, making him less likely to suffer Spirit Power deviation and allowing him to carefully observe both his own condition and the changes in his Spirit Power.
Devouring blood and flesh, meditating and cultivating...
After repeating this process several times, Chen Ming finally began to feel a swelling sensation within his meridians, while his mind itself started to feel hollow.
Although his body remained in excellent condition, it was as though he had been hollowed out at the level of the Spirit itself. Even his emotions seemed to be growing faint and indifferent.
He felt that his meridians had already reached their limit, yet he still instinctively wanted to continue that mechanical cultivation. It was as if he had forgotten the meaning and purpose of cultivation, and was now cultivating merely for the sake of cultivating.
Seeing this, Zhang Peng carried Chen Ming out of the cultivation ground. Only after returning to his room did Chen Ming slowly recover from that strange and eerie state.
"The cultivation ground can greatly increase both the speed and stability of your cultivation, and it can stimulate the growth of your spiritual power. But it will also subtly erode your will."
"For you, once you reach a certain limit, you will lose your emotional fluctuations and keep sitting inside the cultivation ground until you become a dried skeleton."
"This time, it is only because you cultivated for too long and were affected by it. After a few days of rest, you will recover. In the future, remember to keep your cultivation in balance. Otherwise, once you suffer a backlash, it will be easy for you to go to extremes, or even die."
Zhang Peng took out a few books and a set of bedding from his storage Spirit Tool and placed them in front of Chen Ming.
"These are various storybooks about Spirit Masters, along with an illustrated guide to Spirit Beasts. During this period, you can read them to replenish your Spirit. Once your condition improves, I will continue guiding your cultivation."
After leaving a few simple instructions, along with food, water, and the partially consumed Mighty Deer in Chen Ming's room, Zhang Peng quietly departed.
To be honest, Zhang Peng himself felt that taking in Chen Ming as a Disciple had been somewhat impulsive.
But he had found it difficult to stand by and watch someone be forced down the path of becoming an Evil Spirit Master.
Yes, he could watch someone naturally become an Evil Spirit Master, but he could not bear seeing someone pushed into it because of their talent, especially when he himself had been playing the role of the person doing the pushing.
If he were to say it plainly, Zhang Peng even felt somewhat conflicted himself. But there was nothing to be done about it...
Just like how he had never considered himself an Evil Spirit Master back then, yet had eventually been labeled as one because his talent and strength aroused the jealousy of others. After being defeated by Dragon God Douluo Mu En, he had no choice but to go underground and associate with the many freaks of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Sometimes Zhang Peng felt that both his life and his personality had been twisted in some inexplicable way, but he did not know who he could blame. In the end, he could only conclude that perhaps his temperament had always been somewhat strange.
Among the upper ranks of the Holy Spirit Cult, there were the 8 Great Elders and the 12 Consecrated Elders. Leaving aside the Cult Leader and the Supreme Cult Leader, the proportion of semi-Evil Spirit Masters and non-Evil Spirit Masters at the Titled Douluo level was actually much higher than that of true Evil Spirit Masters.
In a sense, the very existence of the Holy Spirit Cult, and the condition within it, was itself a twisted reality.
A group of people labeled as guilty had gathered together, and no one truly knew what should be done about everything, so they simply muddled through day by day.
Some of them were truly guilty. Some had not been guilty at the beginning, but had eventually committed crimes. And some had remained innocent from beginning to end.
If not for the fact that there were no other paths in this World, and if not for the fact that those inside the Holy Spirit Cult who once tried to change things had all "mysteriously" died, then with the state of its internal contradictions, the Holy Spirit Cult would have split into countless factions long ago.
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