Chapter 1 The Four Spirits Jade Liquid Pill

The spiritual pill was called the 'Four Spirits Jade Liquid Pill,' and it was made by mixing four types of spiritual plants with spiritual honey and beeswax. There were three pills in total, each with four effects: healing, qi enhancement, spirit nurturing, and evil dispelling. The pills were like jade pearls, round, fragrant, and quite adorable.

When a pill was held in the mouth and urged with spiritual power, it could slowly heal minor injuries, accelerate the circulation of spiritual power, nourish the soul, and remove evil toxins from the body.

Whether it was the name or the effects, it sounded like a healing pill?

In reality, it was not. This was a ferocious tiger-wolf drug for desperate situations!

After taking a pill, any injuries, internal qi stagnation, soul damage, or poisoning could be temporarily suppressed. Even a person on the verge of death could forcibly muster their last breath and have a brief moment of clarity. If one was in perfect condition, their qi would be increased by 30% out of thin air, greatly increasing their strength.

This bottle of spiritual pills, if placed outside, might be more valuable than a spiritual weapon.

"Not a cultivation pill, but a pill for fighting to the death in a disadvantageous situation... but this is also good. As expected of a pill, at least this kind of compound effect cannot be compared to directly swallowing spiritual materials."

It was already late at night, and Su Zhou returned to his tent, turning on his flashlight to examine the bottle of pills and the accompanying instruction manual: "Precautions for taking the pill... This pill tastes good, but it cannot be taken continuously. Excessive blood qi agitation will cause digestive tract spasms and gastrointestinal colic. The wording is quite modern... Hmm? Tastes good?"

Although he was quite tempted, Su Zhou also knew that he couldn't taste the spiritual pill at such a tense moment. He flicked the light of his flashlight and looked at the secret technique sent by Grandmaster Han Xiaoqian.

A rare 'Innate Secret Technique'.

"This technique was obtained by my sect from the tomb of a senior in the past. The senior was nameless, but according to the design of the tomb, it can be inferred that he should have been a master of the military from 1,200 years ago. This secret technique was his reliance on the battlefield without defeat, so he engraved it in the place of inheritance, waiting for future generations."

This was what Grandmaster Han had said at the time. This Grandmaster, who looked like the oldest of the three, was full of reminiscence when he said this: "Seventy-eight years ago, everyone in my sect wanted to cultivate this technique, but they couldn't enter due to insufficient talent. Later, during the exchange between the hundred schools, very few were able to cultivate this technique... Although it is an innate secret technique, it is not too rare. Which sect doesn't have something passed down from ancient times? It's just that it can't be cultivated or used in this era."

"But in recent years, the world's primordial qi has returned to vitality, and there are young heroes like Grandmaster Su. I think it's worth a try."

[Innate Secret Technique] was indeed very attractive. To translate it, it was at least a transcendent-level spiritual skill inheritance.

Although Su Zhou already had the supreme fundamental cultivation method, Sacred Geometry, he really didn't have any spiritual skills that he could use directly - the Three Universal Styles were too universal, essentially a method of using spiritual qi, rather than a skill.

Just Shot and Thousand Mile Walk were two, but one had to be used with a bow and arrow, and the other was an action buff, and had little to do with universal combat spiritual skills - he only had these two skills in total.

"Let me see what it is..." Opening the manual, Su Zhou carefully flipped through it... Compared to modern simplified characters, the characters used by the Righteous Army of a Hundred Schools were more complex, but there was nothing that he couldn't understand. Soon, he finished reading it, and then narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Interesting - it's a bit similar to Condensing Qi in the Body and Controlling Qi to Break Through the Sky."

The secret technique was called 'Zhou Shen Lan Jia' (Surrounding Mists Armor). As the name suggested, it was to stir up internal qi into a whirlwind, like armor, to defend the whole body.

From the Grandmaster realm, martial artists could use their internal force to control the atmosphere, turning it into qi shields to defend against arrows. Among them, the best, like Li Daoran, could condense qi into spiral qi blades around their bodies, which could be used for both offense and defense. Without even making a move, he could roll himself into a spiral ball and charge into the crowd, sweeping a bloody path through ordinary soldiers.

Of course, this usage also consumed a lot of internal force. Even Su Zhou, who had the support of the Heavenly Cycle, probably couldn't maintain it for more than half a minute... But that little time was enough to lead an army out of a battle formation and secure victory.

Compared to Li Daoran's internal qi spiral, the Surrounding Mists Armor was more refined and profound. It required the condensation of 'mist seeds' in sixty-four locations around the human body. Then, the mist seeds would spontaneously absorb the primordial qi of the world, or be infused with one's own internal force, condensing into rapidly rotating whirlwind armor pieces. When sixty-four armor pieces were condensed around the body, the 'Surrounding Mists Armor' would be considered a small success.

After that, mastery was simply about increasing the number and hardness of the armor. At its peak, one could even condense 360 major Heavenly Cycle mist seeds and condense qi into substance, which was incredibly powerful.

The reason why this cultivation method was difficult to cultivate was simple: the concentration of spiritual qi in the world hadn't reached the point where mist seeds could automatically absorb the primordial qi of the world to form armor. If one used their own internal force to infuse it, one couldn't even use half of its power until they reached the Grandmaster realm... Even if they could use it, they couldn't condense the complete sixty-four pieces.

As for why Su Zhou could analyze it so thoroughly in such a short time... it wasn't just because of the Wisdom Fruit, but also because he saw many familiar things.

"The Grand Craftsman's 'Condensing Qi to Control Objects' is essentially a branch of 'Controlling Qi to Break Through the Sky.' It is a technique of controlling one's own spiritual power, and then controlling the spiritual power of the world."

"Grandmaster Weilie's 'Just Shot Technique' is also somewhat related to 'Controlling Qi to Break Through the Sky.' It is to first control spiritual power, condense it on the arrow, and requires some skills of 'Condensing Qi in the Body,' except that the body is not my own body, but the arrow itself."

"Even the 'Thousand Mile Walk' movement technique given by Grandmaster Li Daoran is actually using spiritual power to create a labor-saving 'spring' structure in the lower body, and this spring structure does not need to apply too much force to spontaneously generate more forward force - it is also composed of two basic techniques, so I can easily understand it."

Su Zhou's expression was solemn as he looked at the manual in his hand: "Yala is absolutely right! The Three Basic Styles, one method understood, all methods understood! This 'Surrounding Mists Armor,' to put it bluntly, is to control one's own spiritual power and condense semi-automatic spiritual power structures in various parts of the body. When needed, it can be stimulated with spiritual power to absorb the spiritual power in the surrounding atmosphere and condense into a rapidly rotating whirlwind armor, deflecting attacks."

"And this kind of semi-automatic spiritual power structure, to use a term I'm familiar with, is a kind of [Passive Skill] [Solidified Spell]. This is also the foundation of the transcendent rank, which can permanently reside several powerful transcendent effects on the body. When needed, it can even be automatically triggered to defend against sneak attacks - just like this mist armor. If it is cultivated, even if someone is attacked with a high-power sniper rifle, it can deflect the bullet, and at least it can reduce most of the power. Compared to the internal force shield that needs to be stopped and controlled, it is more than just one level stronger."

--If I have this technique, what do I have to fear from bullets, let alone arrows?

That being said, Su Zhou still felt that the cultivation of the mist armor was a bit difficult. Unlike the Just Shot and Thousand Mile Walk, he could initially apply it freely after practicing for a few days: "Although I have mastered the core techniques, condensing mist seeds is a slow process... But I don't need to immediately master it completely. I just need to condense a few pieces on the vital points such as the ears and temples, which won't take much time."

No sooner said than done, Su Zhou immediately turned off the flashlight and planned to close his eyes and begin cultivating this technique.

"Hey, Su Zhou." But at this moment, Yala poked her head out of his hair and said faintly: "We should be able to return to Earth now."