Chapter 10: The Ancient Technique
"Qi is the energy of heaven and earth..."
Xiao Chen quietly read the first page of the manual.
The words were old.
Some of the ink had already faded with time.
Yet every sentence seemed to contain a mysterious feeling.
As Xiao Chen read, he felt as though an entirely new world was opening before his eyes.
According to the manual, a very long time ago, humanity had once lived peacefully.
There had been no wars.
No sects.
No cultivation.
At that time, humans had been weak.
They had lived simple lives.
They farmed the land.
They hunted animals.
They built villages and kingdoms.
Everything had been calm.
Everything had been peaceful.
Until one day...
The beasts of the world began to change.
Some animals suddenly grew larger.
Others became faster.
Others developed intelligence.
Some beasts could breathe fire.
Some could split mountains.
Some could fly through the sky.
They became stronger.
Smarter.
More violent.
These evolved creatures were later called spirit beasts.
At first, humanity did not understand what was happening.
They believed the beasts were simply becoming more dangerous.
But very quickly, they realized the truth.
These were no longer ordinary animals.
They were monsters.
Entire villages were wiped out overnight.
Forests became forbidden lands.
Mountains became nests for terrifying beasts.
Countless cities fell.
Countless kingdoms were destroyed.
The world became a land of blood and death.
Nearly ninety-nine percent of humanity was wiped out.
The survivors could only hide.
They hid in caves.
They hid underground.
They fled from one place to another like hunted prey.
It was a disaster that spread across the entire world.
A calamity.
As Xiao Chen read this part, he could almost imagine it.
He imagined endless spirit beasts running across the land.
He imagined cities burning.
He imagined rivers of blood.
The image made his body turn cold.
"At the end of their despair," Xiao Chen read softly, "the remaining humans prayed to the heavens."
They begged for power.
They begged for a way to survive.
They begged the heavens to save them.
For years, they prayed.
Some died while praying.
Some lost hope.
But eventually...
The heavens answered.
Humanity was given a mysterious energy.
An energy that later generations would call Qi.
Qi flowed between heaven and earth.
It existed in mountains.
It existed in rivers.
It existed in plants, beasts, wind, and fire.
It was everywhere.
The only problem was that ordinary humans could not absorb it.
Only after countless years of research did humans finally discover a method.
That method was cultivation.
Qi allowed humans to grow stronger.
It allowed them to fight spirit beasts.
It allowed them to survive.
The first cultivators used Qi to strengthen their bodies.
Later, stronger cultivators learned to use Qi to split mountains and rivers.
Some could travel through the sky.
Some could live for hundreds of years.
Some could destroy entire cities with a single attack.
As Xiao Chen read further, his breathing slowly quickened.
So this was the path of cultivation.
This was the power he had always dreamed about.
But using Qi was not simple.
The manual explained that the human body contained countless tiny pathways called meridians.
These meridians connected to the dantian.
The dantian was the center of the body.
It was where Qi gathered and was stored.
However, most of these meridians were naturally blocked.
That was where cultivation manuals came in.
Cultivation manuals taught cultivators how to guide Qi through the body.
They taught them how to open blocked meridians.
They taught them how to absorb the energy of heaven and earth.
The more meridians a cultivation manual could unlock...
The more powerful it became.
Some low-level cultivation manuals could only open a few pathways.
Others could open dozens.
Legend had it that the strongest cultivation manuals could open all the hidden pathways in the human body.
Xiao Chen's eyes slowly brightened.
So this was cultivation.
It was not just about becoming stronger.
It was about opening the body and allowing heaven's energy to enter.
He continued reading.
After years of research, cultivators had divided strength into different realms.
The first realm was called the Body Strengthening Realm.
It was the foundation of all cultivation.
There were nine levels within the Body Strengthening Realm.
The first three levels strengthened the upper body.
Arms.
Shoulders.
Chest.
The fourth to sixth levels strengthened the lower body.
Legs.
Feet.
Waist.
And the seventh to ninth levels strengthened the internal organs, muscles, bones, and blood.
The stronger the foundation...
The stronger one would become in the future.
If someone built a weak foundation, they would eventually hit a wall.
But if someone built a strong foundation, their future achievements would be limitless.
Xiao Chen slowly lowered the manual.
His eyes were shining.
For the first time in his life, he truly understood what cultivation meant.
It was not simply about strength.
It was a path.
A path to change fate.
A path to stop being weak.
A path to never again be forced to kneel beneath someone else's pressure.
At that moment, the ancient voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Done."
Xiao Chen blinked.
"Done with what?"
"I found your cultivation technique," the voice said proudly.
"This so-called Azure Sky Cultivation Manual is nothing but garbage."
"What I am about to give you is a cultivation technique so terrifying that if the outside world discovered it, rivers of blood would flow."
Xiao Chen's expression immediately became serious.
The voice continued proudly.
"This cultivation technique is not something a tiny sect like the Azure Cloud Sect could ever imagine."
"Even the strongest experts in the world would go crazy for it."
"Entire empires would slaughter each other just to obtain one page of it."
"Listen carefully."
"The technique I am giving you is called..."
"The Heavenly Dragon Sovereign Art."