Chapter 262: Dao of Acupoint & Kindling of Nanming Ignis

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

“Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints? What do you mean by that?!”

Junior Leopard heard the word “acupoint” from the Stranger who passed down the Nine Heaven Yuan Yang Technique to him. However, Junior Leopard didn’t know the meaning of the word. Fortunately, since he had reached the third form of Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique and gotten some insights for the Dragon Flying Technique, Junior Leopard had acquired unbelievable benefits from the Stranger by exchanging the mental cultivation method of this technique with him. Now hearing what the Green Spirit said, Junior Leopard could be sure that the Stranger hadn’t lied to him.

“Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints basically means the nine acupoints of a real dragon!” the Green Spirit said. “You should know that nature produces millions of creatures and these creatures reproduce and evolve into their own species with unique features. Most unfair, each living creature is born with different power. The law of the jungle becomes the first principle among the world!”

“L”Law of the jungle?!”Junior Leopard thought to himself, “Indeed, I can’t complain about the difference of inborn power in each spirit!”

“Quite right! Can’t complain! What’s more, that is nature. It is not easy to change destiny. Those who are born to be weak, can be killed in one stomp. While those who are born to be strong, can create a new world with a mere casual act. Nature is far from fair. All living creatures have struggled for just an illusory chance to survive!” The Green Spirit seemed emotional when saying this and his voice became far-reaching. “All creatures can practice, whether they are flying birds, walking animals or crawling insects. Everything could go for that slim chance to be alive. Even the grass and the stones, if they got the chance, they could also practice. There are evils, demons, immortals and strangers existing in nature. Because of their congenital limitations, their practices are different. All living creatures have acupoints inside their bodies. And the so-called acupoint functions as a place to store and transform the essence of the world!”

“Dantian?!”

“Dantian. To you humans, Dantian is the acupoint. Actually, the acupoint is more than Dantian!”

“Dantian is only one kind of the acupoint. And you humans belong to the acquired living creatures. That is why you only get one acupoint. Some creatures have more than one acupoint!” said the Green Spirit.

“What is ‘congenital’ and what is ‘acquired ‘?!”

“Creatures that have fur, antlers or are born from eggs or embryos all belong to the ‘acquired’. Even your ancestors, the primitive ancestors still belong to the acquired. As for the congenital, even in the antiquity times, you could easily count them. Real dragons belong to the congenital. So they have nine acupoints!”

“Nine acupoints equals nine Dantians!”

“Not equal, but similar! It would be similar to you humans having nine Dantians!” The Green Spirit corrected him, “In this case, they can store at least nine times more pneuma than you can. And in fact, the amount of the pneuma stored in each of their acupoints is much more than yours!”

“So you’re saying humans can also practice several other Dantians?!”

“You got it! So do the demonic cultivation!” the Green Spirit said. “Even back in the antiquity times, aside from the few living creatures grown out of the congenital seeds which were left by the primitives, the rest of the demonic cultivation all belonged to the acquired group who had only one acupoint, just like you humans do. Nevertheless, your ancestors were so smart that they found a way to Refine Acupoints during their practice. In this case, living creatures of the acquired group also had the chance to have the other acupoints in addition to the Dantian. But it was too dangerous to practice. One mistake could cost even the highest level of the practicers. A better way did not come out until the necromancer appeared!”

“A better way? What’s that?!”

“The necromancers believed that all living creatures are interrelated and have the same principles. And they believed that the congenital group and the acquired group had similarities in their body construction. Though the primitive ancestors’ Refine Acupoints method had enormous benefits, its risks were also unbearable for the common people. So they figured out a method to seek how the congenital living creatures practiced, and based on this they could use backward induction to find their acupoints. Considering their own physical features, they created a new way of sensing the acupoint. And finally, necromancers also found that among all the living creatures, the real dragon group had the most similar acupoints to those of human beings. These are also the easiest to practice!”

“Is it the Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints?!”

“Yes! It’s the Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints, one of which is the Dantian!” the Green Spirit said, “I can teach you how to Sense Acupoints and Refine Acupoints. But I don’t know the mental cultivation methods that were secretly passed down within the dragon family. So I recommend you practice your own Dantian firstly. As for the others, you can wait until you have the mental cultivation methods of the Real Dragon Mysterious Method!”

“I do have a mental cultivation method for the Real Dragon Mysterious Method!” Junior Leopard thought. He said, “The storage capability of the congenital living creatures’ acupoints is much larger than those of the acquired group. This means Refine Acupoints can not only increase the amount of acupoints but also the storage capability of the Dantian for the pneuma, right?!”

“Right! That’s it!”

As they were talking, the Green Spirit passed Junior Leopard the ways of Sense Acupoints and Refine Acupoints at the same time without concealment.

“No wonder the golden-robed man gave me so many benefits that day. It turns out he wanted to detect his acupoint using the Real Dragon Mysterious Method!” Junior Leopard thought to himself.

“What is the relationship between this Sense and Refine Acupoints with my Level Eight cultivation?!”

“Surely they’re related! With level eight cultivation, you are gonna have iron-strong Internal Qi. And you may also produce the Real Essence Source. Once the Source is made, you will step completely into Level Nine. At this level, the Real Essence Source will be nourished carefully. If you have more than one acupoint before condensing the Real Essence Source and going into Level Eight, you will definitely yield twice the results with half the effort in your future practice. If you only have one acupoint when you step into Level Eight, even if you have the other acupoints later, each acupoint will still need to condense into the soul source. What’s worse, even if the later sources came out, it will be hard to integrate with your original Real Essence Source. The later ones will also need to be purified and refined which is indeed troublesome. The best way is to have all the acupoints ready before you step into Level Eight. Moreover, your internal qi has already integrated with the evil fire of the primitive dragon chimera. If your Internal Qi can be completely transformed into the evil fire of the primitive dragon chimera, even though this is not one of the congenital nine fires, you will still enjoy endless benefits. The evil fire is also quite famous and as good as the Tusita Fire. If you can make a few more acupoints ready and plant this evil fire in all of them, your future achievement will be unmeasurable!”

“There are so many techniques!”

“There are more than you can imagine! The Sense Acupoints and Refine Acupoints are just a small part. Once your cultivation reaches the corresponding level and you step into the big three realms and your Internal Qi transforms into the Real Essence, you will understand how important it is to have a solid foundation!”

Junior Leopard nodded with a smile on his face. This was a major lesson.

Junior Leopard had some leisure time in the following days to practice his Dantian following what the Green Spirit had said. After several days, he obtained excellent results. His Dantian experienced wonderful changes, plus others he hadn’t even noticed before. Of course, as the Green Spirit mentioned, Refine Acupoints was not a thing that could be done in one day or one night. It was dangerous and would take a long time. Junior Leopard, practiced it very carefully.

One day, just as Junior Leopard finished his daily practice, he felt refreshed and his Dantian seemed to have advanced just as the Green Spirit said.

As Junior Leopard was immersed in his happiness, he frowned suddenly. Renzhen Cuo lifted the curtain and came in. “Your Excellency, the Cao man is here to visit again!”

“Let him in!” Junior Leopard answered. Cao, a protector, belonged to the Sect of Flame and was mastered by a Venerable of the sect. Junior Leopard didn’t understand why he wanted to be in his territory. A few days ago, Mr. Cao had informed him that his Venerable master together with his wife would visit soon. Full of curiosity, Junior Leopard waited for a few days for them. This was his personal territory. The appearance of a Level Seven master from the Sect of Flame, in any case, was disturbing for him.

“Your Excellency, Mr. Zhou. My respect!”

Guided by Renzhi Cuo, Cao Zhi showed his respect when seeing Junior Leopard.

“Don’t bother! You are from the Sect of Flame. Hearing you call me ‘Your Excellency’, ‘Your Excellency’, it makes me feel uncomfortable!”

It was ironic. The Sect of Flame followers were all rebels who planned to kill the officers, particularly those who served for the imperial court. Cao Zhi, as a protector of the Sect of Flame, greeting a man ‘Your Excellency ‘ so respectfully would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

CCao Zhi’s look stiffened. A trace of embarrassment flitted across his face. “Your Excellency just likes joking around!”

“I never joke. I’ve waited here for days. Why hasn’t your Venerable Master come yet? If he isn’t coming, I will leave. After all, I don’t have much leisure time!” Junior Leopard’s words revealed some maliciousness.

“Please forgive me, Your Excellency! Please!” Cao Zhi felt horrible deep inside at this young master’s dark look, though he could not tell whether Junior Leopard was really angry or not. “My Venerable arrived this morning. I’m here to invite Your Excellency to visit him!”

“I should go to visit him?! “Junior Leopard grinned with an unpleasant look. Cao Zhi was hit by invisible stress all of a sudden. He felt depressed with a feeling like he was being choked. When he came to, he was soaked with cold sweat. With feeble knees, he flopped onto the ground. His feet were unable to bear his weight because of fear.

In recent years, Junior Leopard had become much more mature. He’d gained a higher cultivation and more knowledge about the world. He also had a wider vision which made his behavior much more powerful and influential. Normally, his power would not be that strong; he usually wore a smile. But when he was in a bad mood, like now, his Qi power would show up. His inborn Divine Sense, his Fiery Eyes and the Heavenly Magic Eye, carried a shocking feature which had integrated into his bones. Cao Zhi, a Level Four martial master who had just stepped into the Bone-Forging Realm, could barely stand it. His whole soul was suddenly shocked. It happened only for a short time, but to him, it seemed like it was a lifetime. It was a good thing he was in the bone-forging realm, if he was a rookie in the Skin-Toughening Realm, he definitely would have pissed himself unconsciously.

“Your, Your Excellency! You, you misunderstood!”

Though not frightened to death, Cao Zhi still could not smooth himself, “My venerable is not belittling Your Excellency. It’s, It’s that he tru-truly cannot stand up!”

“What? Can’t stand up? !”Junior Leopard stared at this Cao Zhi with a puzzled look. “Tell me the details! What happened?!”

“My Venerable master met a tough enemy and was seriously wounded! Thank god he’s still alive! He’s resting at the Young Master’s with extremely bad injuries. He can’t get out of bed and falls into a coma from time to time!”

“What?!” Junior Leopard paused. He felt speechless. He wasn’t expecting this. All the Sect of Flame Venerables were strong masters. A master lying in bed, unable to stand because of the injuries incurred by another man, this was big news. Filled with curiosity, Junior Leopard changed his demeanor. “So that’s the situation. I misunderstood you! Let’s go visit your Venerable. I’m really wondering what on earth your aim is in doing all these things!”

…

…

It was late Autumn. In this desolate and cold land, the north wind was blowing like a knife, though winter hadn’t come yet. Very few people settled in the small town. In this gloomy weather, few people were wandering the street at dusk. Following Cao Zhi and looking at the humble stone houses, Junior Leopard was thinking that he should construct a square.

A square was not popular in this world. In fact, nobody knew this kind of stuff. In his previous life, officials had been addicted to constructing squares, the bigger the better. Back then, Junior Leopard had been merely a common civil servant working in an office. He could hardly be counted as an official, an assistant at most. He had often sworn privately when reading the news. Now, in this life, it was his turn to master this little town. Seeing the empty streets and scarce passers-by, he felt as if walking in a slum. Something was missing. He decided he wanted to construct a square with a sculpture. It would be a psychological compensation for his previous life.

Cao Zhi interrupted his thoughts. “Here we are, Your Excellency Zhou!”

Junior Leopard stopped. He looked around and found that it was the same stone house he had passed by that day. With a smile, he said, “Well, let’s go inside and see!”

Inside the small stone house, it was dim and dark with gloomy lighting. It emitted an odd smell.

“Poison?!”

Though the fishy smell was not that strong, Junior Leopard still felt his Poison Cold Shield reacting. He sensed what it was immediately.

Your Excellency, this is the Madam!” Caozhi introduced.

“Zhou Bao’ s respect!”

The Venerable’s wife looked like she was in her early twenties. She had a good-looking face and not bad cultivation. She had reached Level Four, but she looked pale and tired now.

“Your Excellency flatters us!” said the Madam. She bowed toward Junior Leopard, “Our unexpected visit here must be very rude, but we really didn’t have any other choice. We beg Your Excellency’s forgiveness!”

Junior Leopard raised his eyebrows and didn’t know what to say. “This f*cking Venerable and his Madam had no acquaintance with me at all. Now they came to my territory inexplicably and say words I don’t understand as if we have a good fellowship,” he thought.

Junior Leopard wanted to know the details since the whole thing was not that simple. He said, “Don’t mention it! We all struggled in Jianghu and we all come across bad times. Helping each other is common sense. And luckily, I’ve had some leisure time recently. Well, could you inform me your names, please?!”

“I’m Cao Xuetang. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Excellency!” a tired and hoarse voice came out from behind the white-dressed Madam.

“So you are Mr. and Mrs. Cao!” Junior Leopard greeted them and cupped his hands together in salute. “If I’m guessing right, Venerable Cao must have been poisoned!”

Before Cao Xuetang could open his mouth, Madam Cao had already stood aside to allow Junior Leopard a clear view of the situation.

Cao Xuetang didn’t look old. He was in his robust thirties, but terribly pale at the moment. There were three obvious bruises on his body, the worst one on his forehead with smelly black blood oozing out. The whole thing was quite terrible.

“It’s true! I turned my back for a second, I was attacked. Sorry to trouble you!”

“Never mind! So what was your intention in visiting me?!”

Cao Xuetang was about to answer. Two coughs burst, and a gulp of blood burst out from his mouth. Though the blood was pressed back reluctantly, a violent cough was unavoidable. He could barely say a word. He turned to his wife for help.

“Here is the thing. We are actually here for an item!” the white-clothed madam said with a bitter smile, full of uncertainty in her words. Her husband had been attacked. He was not only a Level Seven expert but also the venerable master of the Sect of Flame. Though he might not have completely won Zhou Bao over, at least he would have respected them. Although they’d come here to ask Junior Leopard for help, the truth was that it was a cooperation. But now her husband had been poisoned and was in danger of passing away anytime. Jianghu was a very practical and sophisticated place. If you lost your power, you had no right to speak. Now the cooperation they had planned was transformed into asking for help. In this situation, unprovoked, they humbled themselves in front of Junior Leopard. It was somewhat unnerving and she hesitated to start the conversation.

“An item? What item? I can hardly believe that there is anything good in my barren little territory!” Junior Leopard smiled and thought to himself, “If we did have something precious, it would definitely not be your turn to have it!”

“It’s a long story!” murmured by Madam Cao.

“It’s ok! Take your time. I have plenty of time!” Junior Leopard smiled.

“We came to your territory mainly for the kindling of the Nanming Ignis!” Madam Cao answered directly without any concealment.

“The kindling of the Nanming Ignis?!” Junior Leopard felt a throb in his heart.

He did have some knowledge about the kindling. It was a mysterious object with a prestige second only to the spiritual stone.

Like the spiritual stone, there were different types. People in the world who practiced the Fire Way Method of the Five-Way Method would surely benefit considerably even by acquiring just one kindling.

Followers of the Sect of Flame practiced the Ignis Mysterious Skill and the Ignis Skill was their introduction technique. Just like the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique, the Ignis Mysterious Skill was also a fire method. During practice, if anyone could get a good kindling, he could acquire twice the results with half the effort. Because Junior Leopard had good luck, he had gotten the demonic fire of the Primitive Dragon Chimera by accident. It had advanced his Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique considerably. Moreover, he had also practiced to the third form which hadn’t been achieved by anyone else in the last ten thousand years. He had learned the mental cultivation methods that had been secretly passed down within the genuine dragon family. He believed the demonic fires helped him substantially.

As a mysterious object, kindling of the Nanming Ignis was not easy to find. Junior Leopard was surprised to hear that they wanted it.

If the kindling of the Nanming Ignis did exist in his territory, they could search for it secretly. Why did they want him to join?

He didn’t know them at all. What made them think he would help them instead of stealing the kindling from them?

“We came here intending to ask cooperation with his excellency for the kindling of the Nanming Ignis. Unexpectedly, someone got the news and made a secret attack on us in the end!” the woman explained angrily. She was grinding her teeth.

“That’s how the world works! People get envious. My question is, why did you come to me?!” said the Junior Leopard.

“Firstly, the item is in your territory. Secondly, I alone, don’t have the ability to get it. So we wanted to work with you! But…(coughing)!”

Before his voice died away, he had another burst of coughing.

Now, Junior Leopard was puzzled again, “Your Venerable, pardon me for saying this, but I really wonder why you think I would work with you. We’ve never met before!”

“I have the qualification to work… aheck… work with you!” Cao Xuetang coughed desperately and explained in an intermittent way, “The great Venerable, Prince Xiaoming, knew about my visit here and he wrote you a letter. You will understand af-after reading the letter!

“Prince Xiaoming?!” Junior Leopard grinned and recalled the memory of when Prince Xiaoming, the nancy boy, had hooked up with Wang She in the geocentric fire vein. He also remembered he owed Prince Xiaoming a large amount of Earth Fire Yuan Essence. Thinking of this, Junior Leopard felt weak immediately.

“So Venerable Cao and Venerable Prince Xiaoming are acquaintances! No wonder!” Junior Leopard took the letter from the lady and smiled, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Venerable Prince Xiaoming! Is she okay?!”

“Venerable Ming is doing well all the time!” Madam Cao replied instantly, flashing a bit of curiosity in her eyes, “Your Excellency knows well about Venerable Ming?!”

“We met just one time, only once!” Junior Leopard replied and didn’t want to discuss it further.

His reply seemed quite normal. But to the couple, it was surely abnormal. Prince Xiaoming was one of the great Venerables in their sect and also a Level Nine master. For his young age, he behaved very arrogantly. He would leave without a glance at even the Sect Master let alone the other common Venerables. Outside the Sect, he didn’t have any friends. As for Cao, since his father had once helped Prince Xiaoming’s family, Prince Xiaoming treated him slightly differently. Normally, they didn’t have any interaction, but this time, it was really important, so Cao had gone to Prince Xiaoming for help. Cao had intended to ask Prince Xiaoming to get the Nanming Ignis for them. Prince Xiaoming didn’t do it himself, rather, she wrote a letter to Junior Leopard and promised that Junior Leopard would help them after reading it. Until now, they hadn’t known that the most influential strong young master was a good acquaintance of Prince Xiaoming.

Junior Leopard had already opened the envelope and unfolded it. It was not long and contained just a few words. With one glance, Junior Leopard’s look changed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep