Cultivation Technique

The night was deep, and apart from the footsteps of the patrolling gang members and the sound of the river lapping against the shore, there was no other noise on the dock. Lin Mo sat cross-legged in his simple hut, the dim light of the oil lamp illuminating his serene face.

On the small table before him lay the incomplete scroll of the "Records of the Netherworld." The pages were neither paper nor silk, but cold to the touch, possessing a strange resilience and gleaming with a dark luster. The text was not in the common regular script, but in a more ancient and twisted seal script, interspersed with numerous diagrams of the human body's meridians and obscure annotations.

Lin Mo, a top assassin in his previous life, had a wide range of interests and had also studied ancient scripts, which he could barely decipher. He studied it word by word, completely immersed in it.

This "Records of the Netherworld" indeed has a deep connection to the Netherworld lineage techniques he encountered in his previous life, but it is far more profound and, more... eerie. Its core is not the absorption of the primordial energy of heaven and earth, but rather the manipulation and refinement of the yin energy and deathly stillness that exist in the world. The corpse energy, miasma, underground yin veins, and even the killing energy of the battlefield, which ordinary martial artists would avoid at all costs, can all become the resources for this technique.

"No wonder..." Lin Mo understood. "When I was reborn, I was in a mass grave, where the corpse energy was extremely dense. The meridians of this body were unusually unobstructed, which may be why it passively absorbed a large amount of corpse energy and resonated with this 'Records of the Netherworld,' thus concealing that mysterious power."

He continued reading, and the fragment recorded the cultivation methods for the first three levels. The first level, "Guiding Inner Sha into the Body," required finding a place where Yin Sha energy gathered at a specific time and following a unique method to guide the Yin Sha energy into the meridians, initially tempering the physical body and internal strength. The second level, "Condensing Sha into Qi," allowed the refined Yin Sha energy to be condensed into a more destructive Qi. The third level, "Shadow Avatar," already involved the realm of illusory body transformation, extremely profound, but the fragment's description here was vague and severely incomplete.

However, even these first three levels filled Lin Mo with immense danger. The Yin energy was violent and chaotic; the slightest carelessness could erode his mind, damage his meridians, or even turn him into a monster driven only by killing. The cultivation method explicitly stated that specific medicines were needed during practice to harmonize Yin and Yang, protect the meridians, and suppress the backlash from the Yin energy.

Lin Mo's gaze fell on the names of the mentioned medicinal herbs: "Yin Ning Grass," "Corpse Moss," "Boiling Bone Flower," "Hundred-Year Earth Milk," "Red Sun Fruit"... The first few were all cold and even highly poisonous in nature, while the latter two, one yin and one yang, played a crucial role in harmonizing and protecting. These herbs were all rare and hard to find. If he hadn't now controlled the black market's medicinal herb supply chain, it would have taken him countless days and efforts to gather them all.

"The cultivation method and the channel, what a coincidence..." Lin Mo tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes. Was this luck, or some kind of invisible force?

Without further hesitation, he decided to immediately begin practicing the first level of the "Netherworld Record". Although the medicinal herbs were not yet complete, he already possessed a large amount of unrefined corpse energy within his body, which he could first try to guide to verify the authenticity of the technique and lay the foundation for subsequent formal cultivation.

As midnight approached, the time of day when yin energy was at its peak. Lin Mo didn't choose the docks or towns, where the atmosphere was chaotic and the yin energy impure. He quietly left the hut, his figure disappearing into the night like a ghost, heading towards an abandoned mortuary he remembered passing by on his way here.

The mortuary was located on the outskirts of the city. It had fallen into disrepair over the years, with crumbling walls and overgrown weeds all around. Even before approaching, a thick, rotten, and chilling aura wafted over you. This place was the final resting place for many unclaimed corpses or those who had died far from home. Over the years, the malevolent energy here was far beyond what was usually present.

Lin Mo sneaked into the mortuary and found a relatively intact morgue. Although most of the coffins were rotten and the bones had turned to dust, the deep, deathly stillness and malevolent aura were almost tangible. He sat cross-legged in the central open space, calmed his mind, and began to circulate his internal energy according to the first level of the "Netherworld Records," the method of "drawing evil energy into the body."

At first, the originally peaceful internal energy in his meridians became sluggish and difficult to circulate. But as the method continued, the invisible cold aura around him seemed to be attracted and began to gather towards him in wisps, penetrating through his skin pores and into his meridians.

"hiss--"

A chilling, deathly power surged into his meridians, causing Lin Mo to gasp involuntarily. This feeling was far more painful and bizarre than any cultivation technique he had practiced in his previous life. The Yin energy was like countless tiny ice needles, scraping against the inner walls of his meridians, bringing tearing pain wherever it passed, and a violent, despairing negative emotion attempted to assault his mind.

He kept his mind clear, and the unwavering will he had honed through countless life-and-death trials in his past life came into play at this moment. He guided the mysterious power hidden within him—a power originating from the mass grave and sharing the same source as the "Records of the Underworld"—as a vanguard, making contact with the introduced Yin energy.

When the two met, they did not repel each other, but instead quickly combined like water and milk blending together. That mysterious power was like a catalyst, a furnace, initially taming and purifying the violent Yin energy before it flowed into his own internal energy cycle.

The pain remained, but it became bearable. After merging with this purified Yin energy, the nature of the internal force began to change. Its color seemed to become deeper, and it carried a chilling aura when circulating, while its power was noticeably enhanced.

However, just as he was beginning to adapt and preparing to increase his guidance, a sudden change occurred!

Perhaps it was due to the excessive Yin energy being drawn in, or perhaps the power of the "catalyst" was being consumed too much, but a portion of the unrefined and mixed Yin energy suddenly went out of control, like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, rampaging through his several secondary meridians!

"Pfft!" Lin Mo felt a sweet taste in his throat, and spat out a mouthful of blood, his face instantly turning pale. Those meridians were burning and stabbing with excruciating pain, as if they were about to break. Even more terrifying, hallucinations flooded his mind, countless gruesome faces and mournful howls filled his consciousness, and a violent impulse to destroy everything almost overwhelmed his reason.

"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in Lin Mo's mind, realizing he had been too hasty. Forcibly drawing evil energy into the body without the aid of medicinal herbs was far more risky than anticipated.

He acted decisively, forcibly interrupting the operation of the "Netherworld Record" and instead activating the relatively balanced and peaceful internal energy cultivation method of his family, which was originally practiced in this life. The gentle internal energy flowed through, slowly soothing the damaged meridians and dispelling the invading, mixed evil energy.

At the same time, he bit his tongue, and the intense pain invigorated him, forcibly suppressing the violent killing intent.

After a full half-hour of meditation, Lin Mo's pale face regained a sliver of color, and the turbulent blood and qi within his body gradually calmed down. The damaged meridians still throbbed faintly, but were no longer a serious problem. The illusions and killing intent in his mind also receded like a tide.

He opened his eyes, a flicker of fear crossing his gaze, which was quickly replaced by a deeper resolve.

"The Record of the Netherworld... is indeed domineering and bizarre. Without the aid of medicinal herbs, cultivating it is extremely dangerous." He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, feeling the faint but definitely present new internal energy within his body, carrying a chilling attribute. "But its power is also undeniable. On my first attempt, my internal energy has already become pure and refined."

This adventurous attempt, though resulting in some injuries, verified the authenticity of the cultivation technique and its connection to his own abnormal meridians. More importantly, it made him deeply aware of the indispensability of auxiliary medicinal herbs.

"Yin Condensation Grass, Corpse Moss, Bone-Rotting Flower... with the channels at hand, collecting these shouldn't be difficult. But the 'Hundred-Year Earth Essence' and the 'Crimson Sun Fruit'..." Lin Mo frowned slightly. The Hundred-Year Earth Essence is the essence of the earth's veins, extremely yin and pure, capable of neutralizing the violence of yin energy; the Crimson Sun Fruit, on the other hand, is fiery in nature, able to protect the heart meridian and resist the erosion of the mind by evil energy. These two items are even rarer and more precious than the previous cold and yin medicinal herbs.

He stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff body. The chilling atmosphere within the mortuary seemed to have lessened slightly because of his recent cultivation. Looking out the window, the sky was still pitch black; dawn was still some time away.

"I must gather the medicinal herbs as soon as possible," Lin Mo resolved. His injuries needed healing, and his cultivation couldn't be delayed. The shadow of his enemies had already appeared, the four great families were eyeing him covetously, and the black market itself was far from peaceful. He needed greater strength to deal with everything.

He quietly left the mortuary, just as silently as he had arrived, and returned to the dockside hut. In the days that followed, he used his identity as a minor leader of the Canal Gang as cover, secretly collecting the medicinal herbs needed for cultivating the "Record of the Netherworld" through the channels of "Mo Xuan," while silently practicing his internal energy to heal his injuries. At the same time, he carefully studied and digested every word and sentence in the fragment of the "Record of the Netherworld," preparing for his next formal cultivation session.

The path of power has been laid out, and though it is fraught with thorns and dangers, he has no choice but to forge ahead.