Whenever you start writing about the mind, things get all mysterious and weird. So, to avoid confusing everyone, let's skip the whole inner demon and password drama for now and just save it as a cliffhanger. Let's zoom out and look at this adventure from a bigger perspective: The biggest question is—what can these two actually do in this world?
No Meat Pill, so Dragon Elephant training is a no-go.
Inner demons looming, so Bright Wisdom training is off the table too.
With both body and mind unable to level up, there’s really only one option left.
"By the way, what’s up with that Life-Taking Stone?" The Queen was super curious. "Trading life for power—what does that even mean? And what’s this ‘only true god descendants can handle it’ nonsense? Is this thing really that hardcore?"
Exactly. The only path left for the two of them now is cultivating internal energy. But honestly, that’s a pretty solid path. Based on Teacher Yang’s own experience, once your internal power goes up and you pair it with brute strength, the results are wild. Since both of them are already kind of beefy, if they really want to patch up their weak spots and hit a breakthrough, they’ll need at least Innate-level internal energy.
Let’s check their internal energy stats: Teacher Yang—Bright Jade Technique, ice-cold attribute, thirty-six years of cultivation. On the martial arts scene, that’s barely entry-level, but for him, it’s still not enough. The Queen—Supreme Six Harmonies Skill, blazing-hot attribute. Cultivation... cough, cough, actually only nine years...
"How come your internal energy’s only nine years?" Teacher Yang was baffled.
"Easy for you to say!" The Queen felt totally wronged. "We both have tricky constitutions, but you’re on the spirit-to-energy path—your mental power’s strong and gender doesn’t matter, so you breeze right through. I have to refine ‘essence’ into energy, and all my foundation techniques revolve around, well, the lower three gates, so my obstacles are doubled! Don’t say I don’t know how to adapt—I do, but if I mess around, I’ll end up dead!"
True, Teacher Yang’s internal energy path is just a matter of constitution, no gender issues. But for the Queen, cultivating Supreme Six Harmonies Skill comes with major gender-based obstacles right from the start. Plus, all those fancy herbs Teacher Yang got from the Herb Shop weren’t for nothing—just the Udumbara Elixir gave him a huge boost. Meanwhile, the Queen’s stuck in the Misty Peak chamber, only able to snack on Secondary Meat Pills, which doesn’t help her internal energy much. After all that, Teacher Yang’s internal energy is way ahead of the Queen’s.
How could anyone put up with that?!
So, time to bust out the cheat code. This cheat’s been sitting in the inventory forever—heavy, clunky, takes up space. If we don’t use it now, it’ll be a total waste.
So, in a spot with beautiful mountains and clear water, Jack whipped out the Life-Taking Stone and plunked it right on the ground. The moment The Queen felt its weird radiation, she raised an eyebrow in surprise: “This strange energy... hey, it actually works!”
The Life-Taking Stone looks wild—like two yin-yang fish chasing each other in a circle. It gives off a weird kind of radiation from the inside out, and that energy is seriously bad news for any plants or animals nearby. Leave it out here for a while, and all the grass and trees will wither and die. ‘Life-Taking’ isn’t just a name, it’s a warning.
But on the flip side, this radiation does have its perks. It’s like how people get a burst of energy when facing danger—except here, every cell in your body is thrown into a ‘get strong or die’ survival bootcamp. If you can’t handle the radiation, you’re toast. But if you can, it’ll trigger hidden potential at the cellular level.
But there are two catches. First, it’s useless for Refining Spirit into Qi methods—you need a technique that turns raw life force into internal energy. So if someone cultivating Bright Jade Technique tries to trade life for power, they’re just being dumb. Second, you need serious physical strength. Early-stage Dragon Elephant? Don’t even touch it. If you’re at Dragon Elephant Fourth Level, you can sit near the stone. At Dragon Elephant Sixth Level, you can sit right on top of it.
For Teacher Yang right now, the radiation would still hurt his body, but his recovery is so good that the long-term ‘lowered life cap’ effect is pretty minor. As for The Queen, her ‘one dragon force’ is just enough to handle this radiation. One dragon force—that’s a whole different league. Maybe that’s what the Southern Wasteland carvings meant by ‘descendant of true gods.’
"So, starting today you’re just gonna sit on that stone and behave yourself?"
"Yep."
"So you’re just gonna be in seclusion all day, no drama, just training?"
"Yep."
"So all the annoying stuff like food and water is on me?"
"Yep."
"And I have to analyze martial arts and update the notebook?"
"Yep."
"Plus I’m the bodyguard, quartermaster, and sparring partner?"
"Yep."
"You seriously don’t think there’s anything wrong with this setup?"
"Not at all. I think it’s perfect—no matter how you look at it, this arrangement is awesome."
Honestly, The Queen’s so-called ‘closed-door training’ in the Misty Peak chamber was just for show. Her real goal was using the Great Emotion-Cutting Method to find Jack, and cultivating Supreme Six Harmonies Skill was just a side quest. Now, she’s finally started some real, serious training.
She didn’t care about any ‘five hearts to the sky’ meditation rules—she sat however she wanted, rolling around and flopping on the Life-Taking Stone in every possible pose. It might look sloppy, but these freestyle positions aren’t pointless. Like the legendary Shaolin Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, if your focus is strong and your mind is pure, every meridian and every breath can sync up with your movements for even better results.
With the Life-Taking Stone fired up, every cell in her muscles, bones, skin, and organs sprang to life. When people get hurt, their wounds heat up while healing. Right now, Jill’s whole body was unconsciously heating up, radiating waves of warmth like a furnace—she was even stirring up little air currents. Her Supreme Six Harmonies Skill internal energy was zipping through her meridians, more lively than ever.
The whole ‘one day equals a year’ saying about the Life-Taking Stone is a bit much, but the speed boost is the real deal. On her first day of training, Jill smashed through her second barrier and hit ten years of acquired internal energy. You could even hear little crackling sounds as she broke through. Because of her yin-yang constitution mismatch, she couldn’t just rocket ahead in one go, but her progress was still lightning fast.
While The Queen was in seclusion, Teacher Yang was also training hard—but in a different field. He didn’t have to guard Jill’s side 24/7, so he wandered the mountains, picking herbs to keep up with her crazy energy drain, and constantly analyzing martial arts techniques in his mind. All those half-remembered secret manuals and random fighting moves finally got some quality study time.
He spent every day wandering the mountains, quiet and natural, but in his mind it was nonstop sword fights. Sometimes he’d snap off a branch and practice a move—maybe it looked ordinary, but the next move could be pure genius. "In Cold Jade Demon God mode, using the sword as a finger and striking out with vibration force is seriously clever."
With a flick, the branch cracked with a bang, shattered by the vibration force, and a faint air wave shot out. Jack pondered the pros and cons of the move, thinking about ways to improve it, and casually munched on a piece of ginseng as a snack.
Of all the techniques he was analyzing, the most valuable and energy-intensive were definitely the Supreme Six Harmonies Skill, Bright Moon Divine Skill, and Wedding Dress Divine Skill. These three covered essence-based, blood-based, and spirit-based approaches, each with their own quirks and pros and cons. Since Jack wasn’t an innate master yet, he couldn’t fully grasp true qi or innate techniques. Still, after pouring in a ton of effort, he learned a lot.
Supreme Six Harmonies Skill is famous for being super yang and super tough, but Jack thought its best feature was the ‘go berserk and get younger’ effect. That’s its real value. Staying young and fresh is a Freewind Sect specialty, but Supreme Six Harmonies takes it to the next level.
Every time Empress Tianshan rejuvenated, people called it a calamity, but it was really a rebirth, an opportunity. As people grow up, they mature but also get stuck. Whether it’s the mind, body, or meridians, it’s all the same. Old wounds and hidden problems are huge obstacles when you want to level up.
Normally, nobody can turn back the clock and re-examine their path from a pure starting point. But the best thing about Supreme Six Harmonies Skill is exactly that ‘do-over’ chance. Jack knew there were still plenty of challenges, surprises, and accidents in the process, but he was sure this rejuvenation effect was worth digging into. For now, he could only do the early analysis—when it came time for martial arts showdowns, he’d have to study it even deeper.
Wedding Dress Divine Skill, hailed as the Southern Wasteland’s greatest treasure, was even called the ‘Imperial Dao Technique’ by Wind Wushang. After his initial analysis, Jack realized this skill was no joke. If Supreme Six Harmonies Skill is all about ‘domination,’ then Wedding Dress Divine Skill is about ‘fierceness.’ It’s like a wild stallion—hard to control, blazing hot, but incredibly effective. Early tests showed its internal energy was simple and brutal, not much finesse, but the attack power was off the charts.
Bright Moon Divine Skill, a supreme technique that cultivates ultimate yin and cold energy, was even more worth Jack’s deep dive. He still had a deadly cold pellet in his lower dantian—whether he survived this ordeal depended entirely on Bright Moon Divine Skill.
Beyond these, the secret manuals from the island caves were also worth studying and revising. He couldn’t just tear into the top-tier techniques yet, but he could practice on entry-level skills like the Freewind Mind Method. Especially that one—after some thought, Jack had already tweaked it in several places. The future empire would be built on strength, so the foundation had to be rock solid. Before tackling the big problem of ‘egg refining and qi transformation,’ Jack was already working on smaller, easier challenges.
Chuixue Sword Style, Heavenly Immortal Beyond the Heavens, Deadly Thirteen Swords, Heavenly King Ghost-Slaying Blade, and even Wind Wushang’s ‘Life on the Line.’ Countless exquisite martial arts and special moves swirled in his mind, blending together like forging weapons—each was a top-grade ingredient. When the timing was perfect, he’d refine and merge them all, creating his own unique martial art.
This paradise-like world was the best place for secluded training—he could roam free between heaven and earth, not trapped in some tiny chamber. And he didn’t have to worry much about getting interrupted or ambushed. This period of total focus was precious: every day brought new discoveries, every day brought new gains. Before he knew it, two months had flown by.
Rumble, rumble—a waterfall crashed down from above.
"Ha!" A roar echoed, full of unstoppable force.
Bang! A jet of water shot skyward like a white dragon, nearly a hundred meters high. In the wild spray, two figures separated. The platinum-blonde woman flew to the boulder on the shore, flipped midair, and landed steadily on the rock.
The black-haired man stood in the middle of the pool, tall and steady, rising and falling with the waves. Look closer—he was actually standing on the water, floating like an immortal.