An hour passed.
Lin Sheng closed the book, his brows furrowed into a knot on his face.
"This Ape Embryo Skill seems a bit abnormal."
Rubbing his chin, he was somewhat speechless.
According to the records above, this Ape Embryo Skill is suspected to have originated from a first-rate martial art.
Simplified from a first-rate martial art, in terms of power and other aspects, it seems significantly stronger than ordinary second-rate martial arts.
However, the requirements for cultivation are also more stringent.
It requires special medicines to assist in cultivation, otherwise the progress is extremely slow, and forcefully cultivating even carries the risk of Qi Deviation.
Moreover, even with secret medicines assisting cultivation, successfully cultivating this technique has some drawbacks for the cultivator.
For example, cultivating this technique, especially in the later stages, will cause a certain burden on the cultivator's Physique, leading to some unavoidable internal injuries in the cultivator's body.
When the cultivator becomes old and weak, these internal injuries will manifest, and at that time, the cultivator will endure immense pain and die in agony.
Another crucial point is that long-term use of secret medicines will cause irreversible effects on the body, making progress slow when cultivating other martial arts, or even making it impossible to Cultivate other martial arts at all.
"This martial art has many drawbacks. Although its power is stronger than ordinary second-rate martial arts, the drawbacks are also somewhat significant."
Lin Sheng had already thoroughly read through this book, and there was not a single bit of specific information about the secret medicines mentioned.
"Without secret medicines, it means it's difficult to Cultivate. This point is indeed very troublesome."
"Moreover, this technique doesn't seem like a righteous martial art, and this final side effect is also a big problem."
Lin Sheng thought to himself, he didn't actually care about the distinction between righteous and evil martial arts. For him, as long as it could improve his strength, it was a good martial art.
"With so many restrictions, it's no wonder Liu Yuanshan had the complete cultivation method on him."
After a brief contemplation, he had already made a decision.
He would naturally Cultivate this martial art that had been delivered to his doorstep, even if it had some drawbacks, it was still a genuine second-rate martial art.
Moreover, in his opinion, these two drawbacks might be possible to avoid.
As for the effect of this secret medicine, he also had some guesses in his heart.
However, he would only know the exact details after personally trying it out.
Soon in the courtyard, Lin Sheng began to practice according to the introductory cultivation stance of the Ape Embryo Skill.
With the foundation of White Ape Leg Technique, he didn't feel any difficulty cultivating the initial chapters of this Ape Embryo Skill.
However, in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a crisp sound of bones came from within Lin Sheng's body, his muscles tensed, yet a subtle vibration emanated from beneath the muscles.
"This is..."
Feeling the abnormality in his body, Lin Sheng did not stop his movements but continued to Cultivate. His body moved slowly in the courtyard like an old ape, and the qi and blood within his body circulated continuously according to the qi and blood circulation route of the Ape Embryo Skill.
Another incense stick's time passed, and the crisp sounds of bones rang out one after another, the frequency becoming much tighter, his muscles becoming even more tense, and even the qi and blood within his body seemed to have a hint of restlessness.
"As expected, it won't work."
At this moment, Lin Sheng stopped his movements and did not continue cultivating.
The various reactions feedbacked by his body were clearly not good signs. In this situation, if he continued to Cultivate, he might suffer serious injuries before even successfully entering the introductory stage. Even if he could luckily succeed in entering the introductory stage, subsequent cultivation would inevitably lead to abnormal movements of qi and blood within his body, causing qi and blood to surge back, damaging his meridians, and even resulting in Qi Deviation.
"It seems this secret medicine is indeed a prerequisite."
Lin Sheng thought to himself, recalling his fight with Liu Yuanshan, the other party didn't seem to have used the Moves of the Ape Embryo Skill.
In a life-and-death struggle, the other party would definitely not hide anything. The reason he didn't use it was probably because he hadn't successfully cultivated this technique.
"It seems that Liu Yuanshan might not have known about the secret medicine that goes with this technique, or he might have just obtained this technique not long ago and hadn't had time to Cultivate it."
"Without the accompanying secret medicine, the value of this technique will undoubtedly be greatly reduced, and there is little need to Cultivate it. However, this situation is for others, but for me, it's not necessarily the case..."
Lin Sheng sat by the stone table in the courtyard, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the rough tabletop, as if deep in thought.
"The fundamental reason why this technique is so overbearing and demanding is that it has extremely high requirements for the cultivator. It's not just about having talent; your innate talent and bone structure must be compatible with this technique. Otherwise, even someone with extraordinary talent cannot Cultivate it."
"And the effect of the so-called secret medicine should be to use medicine to temporarily make the cultivator's strength adaptable to this technique... If that's the case, then the effect of Body Possession will undoubtedly be more suitable than secret medicine!!"
Having figured out the key, Lin Sheng didn't hesitate and immediately switched to Body Possession White Ape.
Previously, the exotic beast he possessed during cultivation was the Horned Owl, his purpose being to personally experience the feeling of cultivating this technique without the secret medicine.
Now that he had experienced it, he naturally had to switch to the more suitable White Ape.
As his thought moved, the blood-colored mark on his chest immediately transformed into a miniature White Ape.
Last night, when the man in black investigated his body, he was genuinely worried that the other party might notice the differences in his body. Fortunately, he didn't detect anything unusual, which relieved him a lot. After all, if a strange object like the mountain and sea scroll were discovered, things would truly be troublesome.
As the White Ape possessed his body, Lin Sheng immediately assumed a stance, activated the qi and blood within his body, and began cultivating the Ape Embryo Skill.
And this attempt was indeed as he had expected; there was no abnormal situation during the cultivation process like before.
"As expected."
Lin Sheng muttered inwardly, and without stopping, he continued to Cultivate.
This practice continued directly until late at night.
His movements became faster and faster, his breathing was long and deep, yet it maintained a strange rhythm.
Suddenly, he swung his hands, his two arms like long whips storing power, his whole body's muscles trembled, and a crisp sound burst out.
Snap—
"I've entered the introductory stage!"
Lin Sheng wiped the sweat from his forehead, a smile appearing on his face.
Cultivating after Body Possession White Ape was a completely different feeling; he actually successfully entered the introductory stage in just two hours.
Moreover, since he didn't take the secret medicine, it naturally wouldn't cause any other extra burden on his body, so he basically avoided the two drawbacks of this martial art.
He reached out and clenched his fist. After all, he had just entered the introductory stage, and the improvement was not obvious for him at the moment. Even so, he felt that his strength had increased slightly, and his flexibility had also improved a bit.
It is a second-rate martial art after all. The improvement should be more obvious after reaching minor completion.
He carefully felt the changes in his body, but in the end, his brows still furrowed slightly.
At this moment, he had stopped cultivating, but the qi and blood within his body still seemed a bit restless.
It wasn't until the time it takes for an incense stick to burn that it finally calmed down.
It should be known that this situation had never occurred when he cultivated White Ape Leg Technique and Raging Bull Fist.
After all, after becoming a Martial Artist, especially after entering the Forging Tendons Realm, one already has good control over their own qi and blood. Logically, after stopping cultivation, the qi and blood should quickly calm down, and this situation shouldn't happen.
"This situation?"
Lin Sheng furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment.
"Restless qi and blood is a major taboo in martial arts cultivation. If qi and blood remain abnormally restless for a long time, one can easily suffer injuries if not careful."
"Although the abnormality of qi and blood within my body is not obvious now, it's just a trace, and it won't have much impact in a short time. However, as my cultivation of this martial art deepens, the abnormality of qi and blood may worsen..."
"However, cultivating the first three layers should still be within the safe range."
The Ape Embryo Skill technique is divided into five layers in total.
He has now entered the first layer, which corresponds to the introductory stage.
The second layer corresponds to the Body Tempering Realm, and the third layer after that is Forging Tendons Early Stage.
The last two layers correspond to Forging Tendons Late Stage and Blood Transportation Early Stage respectively.
With the effect of Body Possession White Ape, it is enough for him to Cultivate to Forging Tendons Early Stage. As for continuing to Cultivate further, it may cause some damage to himself.
"It should be that the rank of the White Ape is too low, and the changes brought by Body Possession are not enough to support the cultivation of this second-rate martial art."
Soon, Lin Sheng reached a conclusion.
"It seems I also need to gather information about other ape-type exotic beasts during this time."
Having thought this, Lin Sheng had no intention of continuing to Cultivate. He looked up at the full moon in the sky.
Instead, he went back into the house to get some ingredients and started a fire to cook.
Before long, a burst of fragrance rose from the courtyard.
Lin Sheng also took out some fruit wine from the room and placed two wine cups on the stone table in the courtyard.
"Simple food and drink, Senior, if you don't mind, you can have a taste."
Lin Sheng raised his wine cup and spoke lightly.
"You knew I came?"
A hoarse voice suddenly came from the top of the wall. As the voice fell, he had already arrived and sat down opposite the stone table.
He unceremoniously picked up the wine cup and drank it in one gulp, then picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the dishes on the table.
"The wine is average, but the dishes are quite good."
"I guessed." Lin Sheng said with a smile.
He had some awareness of this man in black when he possessed the Horned Owl earlier.
Although he didn't know his exact location, he knew that the other party should be somewhere around his residence.
"Guessed? Hmph." The man in black snorted, a pair of shining eyes under the black robe sweeping over Lin Sheng.
"The martial art you were just practicing seems a bit interesting. Bring it over, let me take a look."
Lin Sheng readily took out the Ape Embryo Skill from his Arms and handed it over.
Taking the technique, the man in black quickly flipped through it. His sallow face slightly furrowed.
Soon, as if he had seen something, he closed the book and threw it back to Lin Sheng, saying.
"This martial art has huge drawbacks, far from being as simple as described in the book. Even with the so-called secret medicine mentioned in the book, it's impossible to Cultivate it to the end and step into the Blood Transportation Realm."
"Unable to step into the Blood Transportation Realm?"
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes and asked directly.
"That's right, it's not that you can't step into the Blood Transportation Realm, but when you step into the Blood Transportation Realm, you will definitely suffer Qi Deviation, your body and spirit will collapse, and you will die on the spot."
The man in black seemed to have long anticipated Lin Sheng's reaction. He picked up the wine cup, took a slow sip, and said lightly.
"The founder of this martial art should have coincidentally seen the cultivation method or incomplete chapters of the Six Intent Ape Demon Heart Scripture in the past. Unfortunately, they could not meet the cultivation conditions and did not have the Bloodline, so they had the method but could not Cultivate it. That's why they took a different approach and explored a cultivation method from the Six Intent Ape Demon Heart Scripture."
"To be able to derive such a second-rate martial art from that Ape Demon Heart Scripture, the creator of the technique did have some ingenuity and talent, but unfortunately, that's all there is to it."
The man in black's few light words contained quite a bit of information, which made Lin Sheng's heart stir.
"Is the Six Intent Ape Demon Heart Scripture a first-rate martial art?"
He asked at the opportune moment.
Regarding the cultivation method of this Ape Embryo Skill, after reading it, he indeed had a feeling of something unfinished, as if the path ahead was incomplete. Hearing the man in black say this, he understood.
The person who created this technique probably did not complete its creation.
"First-rate martial art? Hmph."
Hearing Lin Sheng's words, the man in black just sneered, his tone full of disdain.
"What can a first-rate martial art be counted for? This Ape Demon Heart Scripture is far more than that, otherwise, how could the Ape Demon Sect back then dominate an area..."
"Not a first-rate martial art, could it be!!"
Lin Sheng's face showed surprise.
"That's right, the Ape Demon Heart Scripture is a true technique that surpasses first-rate martial arts. It was the guardian technique of the Ape Demon Sect in South Qi over a hundred years ago, and it's considered decent among true techniques."
When the man in black said this, he seemed to lose much interest in this topic. His gaze fell on Lin Sheng.
"It's you, though, you actually cultivated this technique to the introductory stage. If I hadn't already checked twice, I would really want to check you again."
"Although this Ape Embryo Skill is not the true Ape Demon Heart Scripture and doesn't have the strict Bloodline requirements of cultivating a true technique, it still requires the Physique and bone structure to be compatible, along with special medicines to assist in cultivation. You actually entered the introductory stage in such a short time. It seems you might have a trace of Bloodline from an ape-type exotic beast."
The man in black seemed to be talking to Lin Sheng and also talking to himself. He seemed certain of this guess and nodded in confirmation.
"That should be the case. You might have a slightly denser ape Bloodline than ordinary people. Although this Bloodline is so faint that it's basically negligible and cannot be considered true Bloodline power, it is still stronger than that of ordinary people. That's why you can show extraordinary comprehension in this Ape Embryo Skill, and your reactions are also stronger than ordinary people."
"Also, the leg technique you cultivated should also be somewhat related to apes to achieve great success in a short time. However, that hand technique doesn't seem quite like it..."
Listening to the black-robed man's words, Lin Sheng didn't react much, just listened quietly.
It had to be admitted that the black-robed man's eyesight was extremely accurate.
He basically guessed his situation with remarkable accuracy in just a few words.
After muttering to himself for a while, the man in black seemed too lazy to think about these things anymore. He picked up a piece of beef from the table, put it in his mouth, and then changed the subject.
"Alright, let's not talk about these anymore. Now, do you want to join us? Of course, your brother has always not wanted you to get involved, you should know this."
"However, the benefits of joining us are quite numerous... even beyond your imagination..."
