This could not be blamed on Lan Ling. He was genuinely an inexperienced virgin, brimming with vigorous yang energy. Just a few days earlier, he had undergone an incredibly seductive trial, and now he had shared such intimate closeness with a peerless beauty like Mentor Niya.
For the previous three days, he had been travelling without ever truly falling into deep sleep. Today, lying down, he had finally sunk into a proper slumber. Experiencing a wet dream under such circumstances was perfectly normal.
When Lan Ling woke up, he and Ye Jingyu stared at each other in stunned silence. Then he abruptly yanked the blanket over himself and shouted loudly, “You… how could you do this? This is an invasion of my privacy!”
“You have already wasted several days. Get up quickly. We are proceeding to the third step of initiation: Dragon Force control,” Ye Jingyu said coldly. She twisted her slender waist, turned around, and walked out of Lan Ling’s room.
She was wearing tight leather clothing, and her figure was truly explosive. As she walked, the swaying curve of her waist, hips, and legs was simply devastating. Lan Ling hurriedly pressed the blanket down lower with his hands.
…
The third step of martial initiation, and also the final one, was Dragon Force control.
Once Dragon Force control was achieved, one could move on to genuine combat martial training.
“After completing the second step of Dragon Force ignition, you can ignite Dragon Force at any time and place. However, the moment it is ignited, it floods into your limbs and bones, then dissipates without a trace,” Ye Jingyu explained. “The third step, Dragon Force control, means using your mind to gather Dragon Force at a single point, then instantly unleashing it through your body’s meridians at a specific location. For example, when fighting with a sword, you must erupt Dragon Force into the hand gripping the sword. When sprinting, ignite it in both feet. When you need to lock onto an enemy with your mind, circulate mental Dragon Force in your brain.”
Lan Ling understood. When power is scattered, no matter how strong it is, it serves no purpose. But when concentrated at a single point, even the weakest force becomes unstoppable.
For instance, even a needle, with only a pound of strength behind it, can easily pierce a human body.
Lan Ling asked, “How can one tell when Dragon Force control has been completed?”
“Dragon Force control has no limit,” Ye Jingyu replied. “A martial artist spends their entire life refining control over Dragon Force. At the beginning, one can only control and utilise perhaps one-tenth of it. As cultivation advances, gradually one masters fifty percent, seventy percent, eighty percent, and so on.”
Lan Ling understood. Merely having a high level of Dragon Force was not enough; the rate of utilisation was equally crucial.
Ye Jingyu continued, “The sign that the third step of initiation has been completed is when you use your mind to control Dragon Force, circulate it through all the meridians of your body, and finally return it to the heart, completing one full cycle.”
Lan Ling asked, “How long does it usually take to complete the third step of initiation?”
Ye Jingyu answered, “Among the three steps of initiation, the third is the most critical and the most difficult! Even those with the highest talent require around two months. When Dragon Force circulates through the entire body, it is extremely hard for the mind to lock onto and gather the countless strands of energy. They constantly dissipate and leak away.”
Then she gave Lan Ling a sideways glance and said, “Of course, you are a freak. How long it will take for you, I have no idea.”
Lan Ling remarked, “I have noticed that mental talent seems extremely important. It is required in almost every aspect.”
“That is obvious,” Ye Jingyu said. “Among the five great talents, mental talent is absolutely the core. If a martial artist has high mental talent, even if the other four talents are somewhat lower, they can still become a top expert. But if mental talent is low, no matter how high the other talents are, their lifelong achievements will remain severely limited.”
The essence of martial arts in this world lay in using the mind to control Dragon Force, transforming it into the body’s own power.
“Follow me…” Ye Jingyu led Lan Ling into a quiet chamber, then sat cross-legged.
She had trained in martial arts for years, so her hips and waist were naturally wide and supple. Her buttocks were round and perky. The moment she sat down, the curve of her waist and hips was breathtakingly alluring.
Lan Ling sat down cross-legged and quickly lowered his gaze, trying his best to avoid looking sideways.
Ye Jingyu said, “There is no verbal formula for this third step of initiation. Use the second step to ignite a strand of Dragon Force. Then use the first step’s Dragon Force sensing to inwardly observe that strand. Next, use your mind to capture as much of the Dragon Force as possible, gather those scattered strands of energy together, and begin controlling it. Move it from the heart region to the middle dantian, then down to the lower dantian.”
At this point, Ye Jingyu paused.
Lan Ling asked, “And then?”
Ye Jingyu replied, “This is the most crucial step. The lower dantian is the core convergence point of all the body’s meridians. Whether you wish to send Dragon Force to your hands, your feet, or your brain, it must pass through the lower dantian. Moving Dragon Force from the heart to the lower dantian alone already requires more than a month for most people. Of course, you are a freak, so I have no idea how long it will take you. When you complete this step, tell me, and we will continue with the second half of Dragon Force control.”
As she spoke, Ye Jingyu pointed with her finger at her own heart, then moved downward to the middle dantian at the centre of her chest, and continued all the way down to the lower dantian.
With her figure so explosive, watching her hand trace across her own alluring body made Lan Ling’s face burn red and his heart race uncontrollably.
Ye Jingyu immediately became speechless and said, “Fine, close your eyes. First calm your mind. There are so many beautiful maids in the residence. Summon one to serve you in bed as soon as possible, so that in the future you will not lose composure every time you face a woman’s body. I really wonder where that romantic master who seduced Niya has gone.”
These words made Lan Ling wish he could burrow straight into the ground.
He knew he should not be like this, but… ever since childhood, he had always been this way. Whenever he was near other women, even slightly close, his face would flush and his ears burn.
He appeared to be an utterly pure and innocent virgin. Yet he knew everything there was to know, and he had even dared to sneak touches and kisses from his sister Lan Kou. He was even ruthless enough to spend months plotting someone’s murder. But most of the time, he maintained this harmless, obedient, and well-behaved appearance.
Closing his eyes, Lan Ling circulated the Moon Reflected in Water Technique. Very quickly, his entire being grew completely still, his mind and spirit fully concentrated into a single point.
Once a person entered a state of deep focus, their mental power retracted entirely, leaking not a trace outward. Ye Jingyu easily sensed this state and said, “Next, use the second step of initiation to ignite Dragon Force.”
With a thought from Lan Ling’s consciousness, the demon star energy immediately appeared within his mental illusion. In the pitch-black illusion, a hazy glow lit up.
The light of the demon star had already become extremely faint.
“Release the energy,” Lan Ling commanded with his mind.
The demon star contracted slightly, then instantly released thousands upon thousands of strands of radiant energy.
“Immediately use your mind to capture them. The more, the better,” Ye Jingyu instructed.
Lan Ling promptly released his mental power to seize those countless strands of energy light.
However, the speed from release to dissipation was far too fast. Before Lan Ling could capture anything, the energy had already vanished completely.
“Master, if the sole purpose is to complete the third step of initiation, I can directly obey your command and move this energy to the dantian, circulate it through the body, and return it to the heart,” the demon star said. “In that case, you could finish the third step in less than a quarter of an hour.”
If he did it that way, it would probably shock Ye Jingyu completely once again.
“Is there any need for me to do it that way?” Lan Ling asked. This was a genuine question, not a rhetorical one.
Having grown up witnessing the ways of the world, he was not the least bit hypocritical. If deception or shortcuts proved useful, he had no qualms about using them and felt no significant moral burden.
The demon star replied, “I recommend that you complete the third step of initiation according to your own talent.”
“Why?” Lan Ling asked.
The demon star explained, “I can provide you with immense energy, but there is one thing I cannot do in your place: cultivate mental power. Therefore, you must train your mental strength yourself.”
Mental power was the core of martial arts, but its supreme position stemmed from the need to use the mind to control Dragon Force. Yet for Lan Ling, with a mere command of his consciousness, he could instantly order the demon star energy to perform any attack with near one hundred percent efficiency. It seemed as though mental power was not particularly important.
Lan Ling voiced his reasoning. “I do not need to use mental power to control force. Why should I still cultivate mental strength?”
The demon star answered, “The power of the mind is not limited to controlling Dragon Force. Locking onto enemies, perceiving the environment, and many other abilities require strong mental power. In the highest levels of combat, battles become entirely contests of mental strength.”
Lan Ling was momentarily stunned. He had already held mental power in very high regard, yet he had still underestimated its importance. No wonder it was the absolute core of martial arts.
“Then how is my mental talent?” Lan Ling asked.
The demon star replied, “If the full score for mental talent is one hundred, yours should be around seventy-five.”
Lan Ling asked, “Is that a high score?”
“High. One in a thousand,” the demon star said. “But… it is still not at the pinnacle of the world.”
Lan Ling felt a slight pang of disappointment. After all, mental power was far too important, and he only had seventy-five points.
One in a thousand already sounded impressive, but the environment he now found himself in demanded that he reach one in ten thousand, or even higher.
The demon star continued, “Master need not be discouraged. Not only can I devour bloodline Dragon Force, I can also devour mental power. Therefore, as long as you are willing, and as long as you hunt down enough suitable prey, you can possess incomparably powerful mental strength, even surpassing the great saints of the Divine Dragon Temple.”
Lan Ling was instantly speechless. This demon star was truly heaven-defying. Not only could it devour power, it could also devour mental strength. He seriously wondered whether the demon star itself was some kind of black hole.
Lan Ling could not help asking, “Then what kind of prey possesses the highest mental power?”
The demon star answered, “Naturally, human mental-type experts, especially those sorcerers and mystics.”
Lan Ling immediately thought of the Nine Spirits Sorcerer who had changed his face for him. A shiver ran through his body, and he shook his head.
Killing and devouring mental power? That was simply far too evil.