Chapter 25: Innate Secret Art: Body Penetration

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As Mu Ye listened to Zhenhua lament the current state of the Body Sect, he knew perfectly well that its decline was an indisputable fact. Even so, he refused to concede aloud.

“What do you know? Quality matters more than quantity!” He folded his arms and declared righteously, “One friend like you is enough for me, Mu Ye!”

“As a divine smith, you alone possess connections greater than those of an entire family with ten thousand years of history. Why should I trouble myself befriending anyone else?”

Zhenhua was taken aback at first. Then, amused by the roundabout flattery, the corners of his lips curved upward.

“When you put it that way... it really does make sense!”

As the only divine smith in the world, he did indeed have the confidence to say such a thing.

What did it mean to be a divine smith?

It meant possessing the standing to negotiate with the entire Douluo Federation as an equal.

Though the Xu Family was an ancient clan with ten thousand years of heritage, the Xu Family of the present day was no longer the imperial house of the Sun-Moon Empire from ten thousand years ago. It still lacked the qualifications to negotiate with the Federation on equal terms.

“See? I knew you felt the same way.” Seizing the opportunity, Mu Ye pulled out a stack of long strips of white paper.

“These past few days, I used your name to purchase some celestial treasures at the auction house in Heaven Dou City. They’ll be used to help our disciples cultivate the Body Sect’s Innate Secret Art.”

“Here’s the bill. Sign it.”

Zhenhua instinctively accepted the stack of invoices. His fingers flew through them as swiftly as someone rifling through a deck of cards.

Then his eyes widened, as though he had just watched a succession of black Federation cards sprout wings and fly away before him.

“You...” Zhenhua turned toward Mu Ye and ground out through clenched teeth, “From this day forth, don’t even think about taking a single penny of wages from me. You’ll work honestly as my chef for the rest of your life!”

...

The cultivation chamber.

“Zhao’er, have you ever heard of the Innate Secret Art?” Mu Ye asked as he added the prepared celestial treasures to the medicinal bath.

“No.” Xu Zhao told a small lie.

He had read about it, so naturally he knew what Mu Ye meant by the Innate Secret Art.

But this was a closely guarded secret of the Body Sect.

During the sect’s heyday ten thousand years ago, even ordinary Body Sect disciples had no idea such a thing existed. And now, as a six-year-old child who had only just joined the Body Sect, Xu Zhao had no reason to know what the Innate Secret Art was.

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Hearing this, Mu Ye began proudly introducing the Innate Secret Art.

“Our Body Sect possesses two hereditary secrets that are never taught to outsiders: the method of second awakening one’s martial soul, and the Innate Secret Art.”

“The method of second awakening is the foundation upon which our Body Sect was established. It is also an absolute art that every Body Sect disciple must master.”

“As for the Innate Secret Art, it is the supreme technique that enables the Body Sect to truly stand at the pinnacle of this world.”

“Once one cultivates the Innate Secret Art to its highest realm—the Immaculate Golden Body—the strength of one’s physical body becomes sufficient to rival that of a legendary divine artifact.”

“The notion of rivaling a divine artifact may sound somewhat abstract. Put it this way: replace ‘divine artifact’ with ‘divine-grade metal.’ The Heavenly-Forged metals produced by that old fellow Zhenhua are one type of divine-grade metal.”

By the time Mu Ye finished speaking, he had also added all the prepared celestial treasures to the medicinal bath.

He looked toward Xu Zhao, his tone turning serious.

“In essence, the Innate Secret Art is a process of body tempering.”

“Body tempering consists of four stages: Body Penetration, Marrow Cleansing, Reconstruction, and the Golden Body. Once all four stages are completed, one can not only cultivate the Immaculate Golden Body, but also undergo the third awakening of the Body Martial Soul.”

“Its only flaw is that the Innate Secret Art consumes far too many resources. It is the most voracious resource-devourer of them all!”

“The resources our Body Sect has accumulated over nearly a century were all fed to your senior brother. We have nothing left to spare for you.”

“Fortunately, you are Zhenhua’s disciple. That fellow lacks everything except money.”

Aside from its exorbitant cost, the Innate Secret Art had another drawback: cultivating it was extraordinarily, excruciatingly painful.

But in Mu Ye’s eyes, that hardly counted as a drawback.

Because the Innate Secret Art consumed so many resources, only the most gifted prodigies in the Body Sect were qualified to cultivate it.

And if one could not endure even a little hardship, what kind of supreme prodigy would one be?

“Before beginning body tempering, however, you need to use celestial treasures to establish a solid foundation.”

As he spoke, Mu Ye reached through the flesh and lightly squeezed Xu Zhao’s tendons and bones.

“You were born into the Xu Family and have never lacked celestial treasures to nourish your body since childhood. Your physical foundation is excellent—truly among the finest of your generation. But to cultivate the Innate Secret Art, even that foundation is not enough.”

He pointed toward the jade-clear medicinal liquid in the wooden tub.

“This medicinal bath was developed specifically for the Innate Secret Art. It can improve your physical constitution with the least expenditure of medicinal power while producing the greatest effect. Its properties are gentle and will not damage your foundation in the slightest.”

“Of course, because the formula has been passed down for a very long time, many of the celestial treasures it requires have become rare in this era. They not only require the right channels to obtain, but every one of them costs a fortune.”

Xu Zhao stood before the wooden tub, reached in to test the water, and asked curiously,

“How expensive is ‘a fortune’?”

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Born into the Xu Family, Xu Zhao had never lacked money and possessed no clear understanding of its value in this world.

“Fifty million Federation credits,” Mu Ye replied. “One medicinal bath costs fifty million. Before beginning body tempering, you need twelve baths to forge a perfect foundation. That comes to six hundred million Federation credits—and that is already the discounted price obtained through Zhenhua’s identity.”

“Moreover, that is only the cost before body tempering begins. The expenses afterward are even greater. Completing just one of the four stages, Body Penetration, would conservatively cost at least fifty billion Federation credits.”

Six hundred million! Fifty billion!

The corner of Xu Zhao’s eye twitched.

Even though he had little concept of money in this world, the sheer magnitude of those figures was enough to make anyone’s heart tremble.

“All right. You have to soak in this while it’s still hot. Get in.” Mu Ye lifted his chin and pointed toward the tub impatiently.

“Yes, Teacher.” Xu Zhao answered. Then he turned toward Mu Ye and raised his palm slightly. Invisible spatial elements began to gather and circulate in silence.

“But before that, please allow your disciple to escort you out.”

Before he had finished speaking, silvery-white spatial power had already enveloped Mu Ye.

Given the difference between their strengths, Mu Ye could have interrupted the spatial teleportation with a single thought if he had wished. But he offered no resistance, merely laughing and scolding him,

“You little rascal, are you shy...?”

Before he could finish, his entire body vanished from the cultivation chamber.

After confirming that Mu Ye had been teleported away, Xu Zhao’s gaze narrowed slightly.

He tapped a fingertip lightly, and a beam of pure white light suddenly appeared in the void behind him. The instant it touched the ground, it transformed into an extraordinarily majestic six-winged white wolf. Its silvery fur shimmered with a moonlit sheen throughout the chamber.

“Moonhowl,” Xu Zhao ordered simply, “stand guard at the door. Don’t let anyone in.”

The white wolf gave a low whine in response, then padded lightly to the doorway. Its six wings folded slightly as it stood watch like a loyal guardian.

Only after completing all this did Xu Zhao take an exquisite folding screen from his storage soul tool.

With a flick of his wrist, the screen unfolded precisely around the wooden tub, instantly blocking the view from outside.

Not until he had confirmed that the tub was completely concealed and his privacy secure did Xu Zhao calmly and unhurriedly remove his clothes. He then lowered himself into the medicinal liquid, warm and smooth as jade.

The medicinal energy seeped gently into every limb and bone like countless warm currents. Xu Zhao immediately gathered his mind and circulated the power of his two martial souls, absorbing the medicinal energy within the bath.

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