The wool here has been largely harvested, and it's difficult to gain a large number of skill points in a short period. My parents probably can't stand me making excuses to stay here and not return anymore, so I have to leave and find a new place!
I won't inform acquaintances here; it's too much trouble.
I'll leave as soon as I decide to. Now is the time.
Anyway, the house is rented, and I have no attachments!
When Ding Yun first walked out of the forest, she did consider going home. However, after sending a letter of safe arrival, she received a response from her parents through their messenger.
The letter stated that it was dangerous outside and urged her to return for a arranged marriage.
But if she went back for an arranged marriage and to raise a family, how could she fulfill the original host's requests?
Therefore, Ding Yun could only resort to delaying tactics.
She used various excuses to avoid returning.
The reason she needed to leave quickly this time was not only because the opportunities here were almost exhausted, but more importantly, her parents might soon lose patience.
They might send someone to forcibly bring her back.
With both factors combined, Ding Yun quickly made the decision to leave and immediately began packing.
Then, she quietly left, concealing her departure from everyone.
She was afraid that a group of people would come to see her off or express reluctance to see her go, which would not only expose her whereabouts but also delay her.
Therefore, she had to embark on a spontaneous departure.
After leaving, Ding Yun did not immediately head to other cities for free medical consultations. Instead, she specifically visited several nearby notorious bandit strongholds and, using her master-level poison skills, eliminated them before officially departing.
After all, only then could the wool be considered fully harvested!
Initially, Ding Yun hadn't considered completing the task of punishing evil and eliminating villains to gain skill points. This was mainly because she felt her abilities were insufficient to deal with such wicked individuals.
It wasn't until this departure that she suddenly realized she didn't necessarily have to confront them head-on. Her level nine poison skills weren't just for show; couldn't she use them deviously?
So, she took the opportunity to do so.
She planned that if it succeeded, that would be best.
If it failed, it wouldn't matter.
As it turned out, Ding Yun had both underestimated the power of her poison skills and overestimated the vigilance of those bandits.
She easily wiped out all the nearby bandits.
She herself gained over six hundred skill points at once, a veritable windfall.
After completing the task, Ding Yun couldn't help but sigh that the speed of earning skill points by saving people was nowhere near as fast as killing them. They were incomparable. She had racked her brains and even spent a considerable amount of money, spending half a year treating illnesses and saving lives, yet she hadn't accumulated a hundred skill points.
However, after two days of reconnaissance and one day of administering poison, a total of three days spent eliminating a few bandit dens, she gained skill points equivalent to three to five years of treating illnesses and saving lives.
How could anyone remain calm?
Who wouldn't be tempted?
Why bother treating illnesses? Let's just punish evil and eliminate villains!
If level nine poison skills weren't enough, she could simply level them up to nineteen. Even someone practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill could be poisoned to death.
After eradicating the bandit dens, Ding Yun not only obtained a large number of skill points but also a hoard of basic martial arts manuals, as well as a significant amount of gold, silver, treasures, and food.
The food was too heavy, so Ding Yun didn't take it.
She only took a few of the gold and silver treasures, and the rest she found ways to distribute. Only the martial arts manuals that looked unremarkable were kept for perusal on her journey, to pass the time and to understand how martial arts worked and how they differed from her own cultivation of the health-preserving qi-gathering technique.
Ding Yun was well aware that it would be difficult for her to obtain high-level manuals through legitimate means. Nor did she believe she would be the protagonist, easily encountering fortuitous opportunities and obtaining peerless divine skills to become invincible.
Therefore, she intended to rely on her golden finger.
She planned to try and understand the essence of martial arts and then, using her medical skills and martial foundation, create her own manual. It didn't need to be fast-cultivating, just balanced and peaceful, avoiding any qi deviation. The rest could be entirely handed over to her golden finger for attribute points and upgrades. She believed that as long as it reached a certain level, it would undergo a transformation, no less than divine martial arts manuals.
The martial arts manuals found in the bandit dens were
Ding Yun's starting point for understanding martial arts.
Although these basic martial arts manuals were relatively weak, they made it easier for Ding Yun to understand
the core of internal energy within martial arts.
In just over half a month, Ding Yun had flipped through all the manuals and pondered thoughtfully:
"It seems to be the same old internal and external martial arts system.
External martial arts mainly involve stimulating one's potential through special methods. It's better if there are medicinal supplements; at least there won't be so many hidden injuries, and one can gradually progress further.
If one can cultivate to the Xiantian realm,
it can greatly repair past hidden injuries.
Without medicinal supplements, one would likely either die suddenly or not live to old age, succumbing to qi and blood deficiency in their forties, with hidden injuries erupting, dying in agony. It seems there's a reason why external martial arts are looked down upon. Regarding lifespan alone, even if those who cultivate external martial arts reach the Xiantian realm,
they are unlikely to live past eighty.
Even if they transition from external to internal cultivation and develop internal energy, that internal energy is not health-preserving; the more it's used, the more it harms the body."
"Internal energy mainly involves refining essence into qi. It also requires substantial eating and drinking to increase one's qi and blood. Without medicinal supplements or sufficient meat, one will either be unable to cultivate or will cultivate with qi and blood deficiency, leading to death.
The most basic Small and Great Heavenly Cycle circulation is actually the most nourishing technique for the body.
Unfortunately, the cultivation speed is too slow, and the internal energy cultivated is too balanced and peaceful. Without breaking through to Xiantian, there is little destructive power. Even for those with exceptional talent, relying on the most ordinary Small and Great Heavenly Cycle circulation to reach the Xiantian realm would likely take at least a hundred years of life. But how can ordinary people live so long without breaking through to Xiantian? It's simply impossible.
Powerful martial arts techniques are generally shortcuts, cultivating only a portion of the meridians and acupoints. They are powerful but also affect lifespan. Even if one breaks through to Xiantian, it's difficult to reach the maximum lifespan. The more extreme the path, the faster the cultivation speed, but it also places higher demands on the physique. Otherwise, extreme cultivation doesn't increase cultivation speed but directly courts death.
Unless one has a constitution like the Extreme Yang True Body, forcefully cultivating Extreme Yang martial arts will only result in burnt meridians and death. Therefore, most sects practicing Yang-attribute martial arts only dare to tread the path of Lesser Yang or Pure Yang, rarely the path of Extreme Yang and Nine Yang.
The situation is basically the same for martial arts of other attributes.
Daoism, on the other hand, mainly aims for longevity, so its considerations are more thorough. It's willing to cultivate slower in the early stages to practice more meridians, not neglecting any of the five elements, to ensure a longer lifespan later.
The health-preserving qi-gathering technique I'm currently cultivating
is actually the most primitive qi-refining technique. In terms of accumulating strength for a later breakthrough, it's even more extreme than Daoist martial arts. No matter how much Daoist martial arts accumulate for a breakthrough, at least they can cultivate internal energy in the early stages. But this health-preserving qi-gathering technique is constantly accumulating in the early stages, constantly gathering enough primordial qi within the body.
Only when a certain realm is reached
will the accumulated primordial qi over many years be used to mend the heavens, repair physical deficiencies, and transform the acquired body into a Xiantian body, achieving a Xiantian physique.
However, most people die before they can accumulate enough primordial qi. If I didn't have the golden finger for attribute points, it would have been impossible for me to reach the tenth level, the critical point for transformation, so quickly.
So, I am actually in the Xiantian realm now.
It's just that the primitive qi-refining technique only focuses on longevity and does not pursue the power of internal energy or condense internal energy.
Everything is used to nourish the body's origin,
seeking to live longer.
That's why it's like not having practiced martial arts. Upon successful cultivation, one only has a longer lifespan and better health.
No other special characteristics are displayed.
If this is the case, should I still cultivate martial arts? Forget it, I'll still cultivate. I'm not here to live a few more years. The core is to complete the original host's requests. Without practicing martial arts, relying solely on poison skills, it's likely difficult to complete the original host's two requests.
For martial arts, I'll start with the most basic ones first.
Only the basic internal martial art of Small and Great Heavenly Cycle circulation.
Anyway, I have a lot of skill points now, enough to spend!"
After a period of contemplation and internal struggle, Ding Yun ultimately decided to cultivate martial arts. She then found a new city to settle down temporarily, without engaging in free medical consultations or anything of that sort.
She simply found a place to enter secluded cultivation.
She would transform the skill points into nourishment for her own progress.