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Regardless of the reason behind Lilith’s agreement to learn White Jade Style, Elder White was eager to explain it.

“Before explaining White Jade Style, you must first know the characteristics of battle-qi. The so-called battle-qi, the fighting spirit, has only one main function and that is strengthening.”

Elder White stretched a finger out, instilled battle-qi in it and then gently thrust forward. It directly made a hole in the huge stone slab he used to train his hands with.

“Whether it’s a physical body or a weapon, they can be strengthened with battle-qi to increase power, speed, and hardness. It’s extremely difficult to accurately control battle-qi. It can’t be too far away from the user, or it’ll quickly dissipate. This is also why most warriors only fight in close combat while long-range weapons like bows are mostly used by mages.”

“Is it okay to instill battle-qi on a weapon and then throw it out quickly?”
“Yes, but as mentioned, the battle-qi will quickly dissipate. Therefore, the further you throw the weapon, the less powerful it becomes, even to the point that it makes no difference with throwing a normal weapon. This has very little practicality.”

Elder White swung his sleeve fiercely. It conjured up a strong wind that knocked down the stone slab in front of him.

“But it’s still very useful in knocking your enemies back when you’re in a pinch.”

He stepped lightly onto the stone slab with one foot and continued, “Aside from being difficult to control over a distance, battle-qi also has another characteristic — it can’t fuse with physical objects. Hence, the so-called channeling battle-qi is actually covering the surface of a physical object with battle-qi to strengthen it. That includes the user’s physical body. Battle-qi can only cover the surface of the body and once it’s forcibly broken…”

Elder White stamped his foot hard. The stone slab instantly shattered under his foot. Not only that, a deep footprint was also left on the ground underneath it.

“Then the user’s fragile body would end up like this — unable to withstand even a single blow.”

“But…” Lilith was puzzled. “If battle-qi can’t fuse with physical objects, then how does a human body store battle-qi?”

“That’s a good question. As expected of you, junior martial sister, to be able to ask the crucial question,” Elder White gave her worthless flattery.

“Then we’ll have to talk about the thing that exists not only in the human body but also in demonic beasts — dantian and meridians. The dantian is located in a person’s abdomen and it can store battle-qi. Meridians are in every part of the body. When battle-qi is used, it travels through meridians and is released through the microscopic pores in the skin. This is why for humans, damaged meridians meana losing their cultivation realm. Much like how water will naturally drain in a leaky bucket.”

“If battle-qi is released that way, then what about magic?”

“It’s the same with magic. This is why it’s extremely difficult to cultivate both magic and martial arts at the same time. Since battle-qi and magic are inherently difficult to blend together, it’s extremely challenging to harmonize both of them in the dantian. Those who are capable of this are undoubtedly rare geniuses.”

“Do these have anything to do with that White Jade Style thingy that I’m going to learn?”

“Yes, it has a great relationship with it. Going back to the point about battle-qi can only cover the surface, the user’s body will be exposed to great danger as soon as the battle-qi protecting it is forcibly broken. In my opinion, this method is extremely wasteful of battle-qi. Hence, the White Jade Style is an alternative way of using battle-qi.”

Elder White lifted his hand. Under Lilith’s gaze, his dry palm gradually glowed with the luster of a jade and then turned smooth.

“Forcibly fusing battle-qi with the physical body to strengthen it. This is White Jade Style.”
“But didn’t you mention that battle-qi can’t be fused with physical objects?”

Lilith frowned in confusion.

“Correct. Rather than saying it can’t, it’s more precise to say that it’s difficult to fuse with physical objects. Battle-qi is a kind of energy that is extremely difficult to control yet easily dispersed. Coming into contact with physical objects would activate its tendency to disperse. When it is dispersed, it will give off a burst of great energy that could destroy the physical object that fused with it.”

“So then isn’t your so-called White Jade Style very dangerous?”

Lilith asked seriously. She didn’t want to explode in the middle of her training.

“It’s definitely dangerous for normal people. One slip up and it could destroy your meridians, rendering all your efforts useless. However, for someone like you with an extremely powerful physical body, the White Jade Style is pretty much tailor-made for you.”

Elder White picked up a stone. He crushed it easily like it was a piece of tofu, and then slowly grind it into a very fine powder in his hand.

The powder slid off of his palm like a thin veil.

“It’s extremely difficult to fuse battle-qi with physical objects, but once that physical object can suppress battle-qi, it will lead to a completely different result. When the two are fused, a powerful, controllable and indestructible force bursts forth. In order to suppress the untamable battle-qi, a powerful physical body is needed.”

Elder White sighed softly and continued, “And this is a paradox. Learning White Jade Style is for the sake of strengthening the physical body but without a powerful physical body, it is impossible to cultivate the White Jade Style.”

“If that’s the case, then how did you manage to learn White Jade Style?”

“I’m a special case. Before I became a martial practitioner, I was purely a man of prowess who only knew how to train my body and I didn’t even have battle-qi. Although I later acquired a powerful physique, I suffered from a lot of sequelae. After all, that kind of training had been proven to be unsuitable for humans. I later fell off a cliff when I was chased by an enemy. I thought I was a goner, but I miraculously survived and found a cave at the bottom of that cliff. I entered the cave and…”

“You found a ring and an old man with a white beard?”

Lilith suddenly interjected.

“What ring? What old man?”

“Never mind, go on.”

Elder White shot Lilith a strange look, but continued speaking.

“After I entered the cave, I found a secret manual in it, which is the White Jade Style that I’m going to impart to you, and also a lot of other valuable natural treasures.”

“I see. If this was another story, you’d be the protagonist, senior martial brother.”

“What protagonist?”

“N-Never mind, go on.”

Elder White had a confused look on his face. Why did this little girl keep spouting strange stuff that this old man couldn’t understand?

Nevertheless, he continued explaining. “I used the treasures in the cave to cure the ailments that I suffered for years. At the same time, after damaging and renewing my meridians countless times, I finally successfully cultivated the White Jade Style. I left the cave and killed all my enemies, making those guys who used to look down on me see me in a new light.”

T-That’s… really a clichéd storyline.

Lilith thought to herself.

“So senior martial brother isn’t the creator of this skill.”

“Of course, this old man isn’t some divine genius who could think of such a novel martial skill. It’s better to say that before learning White Jade Style, I’m just a pitiful man who couldn’t even conjure up battle-qi and could only do physical training.”

Elder White sighed ruefully.

“Sure enough, Heaven never barred one’s way and granted this old man another chance to do things over. But since I found the secret manual of White Jade Style in my most desperate time, then I have the obligation to pass it down. This is why I’ve been looking for a successor over these years, but to no avail. After all, there are too few humans whose bodies could meet the requirements.”

While saying that, he turned his gaze to Lilith. His burning gaze was enough to make Lilith’s skin crawl.

“When I met you, I knew that you are my one and only!”

“Don’t be disgusting, you old pervert!”

Elder White brushed Lilith’s insult off. Lilith wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the old man seemed to be getting more excited. He looked no different than those fanatical cultists. The only thing he was missing was just the outfit.

“Believe me, believe in this old man! Given your powerful physical body, you’ll definitely be able to cultivate this skill successfully! You are the savior of my life, the brightest star in my heart!”

“F̲U̲C̲K̲ OFF!!!!”

“And it’s not just because of your physical body, there’s also another reason as to why this martial skill is destined to be yours, junior martial sister.”

“What is it?”

“Well… You’re rich!!!”

Elder White danced around while he continued speaking, “It’s inevitable that learning this martial skill will require many natural treasures. First, it is to speed up the fusion of battle-qi and physical body. Second, it can heal internal injuries. Since you’re so rich and own so many treasures, I’m sure the Heavens sent you here to learn this skill!”

“……”

This old man must have lost his mind.

“That being said, I still have one problem.”

“Just ask, I’ll definitely answer to the best I can.”

“The principle of this skill is to fuse battle-qi and physical body, right? But I’ve no battle-qi.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Elder White shook his finger to assure Lilith.

“Every creature has battle qi as soon as it is born. This is also why warriors outnumbered mages. So even for people who have never trained their battle-qi like you, it still exists in your body. It’ll also continue to nourish you and strengthen your already powerful physical body to an absurd level. It’s just that the amount of your battle-qi will be extremely small since you’ve never cultivated it. Even so, cultivating this skill is enough. I didn’t go from one to a hundred back then. I also took small steps to eventually achieve the saint realm.”

“Oh, good to hear that.”

“Yes. Everyone will have battle-qi in their body, unless the magic power in their body is so abundant that it pushes out all the battle-qi in it.”

“……”

Lilith was suddenly quiet.

“What’s wrong?”

Elder White frowned when he sensed something was off.

“You were saying that too much magic in the body will push out battle-qi?”

“That’s right. Why?”

Lilith scratched her head and spoke awkwardly, “If that’s true, then… I might really not have battle-qi in my body.”

“Nonsense!” Elder White fumed. “Your body is so powerful, it must be nourished by battle-qi. How can there be no battle-qi in your body? That must be an excuse to trick me because you changed your mind on learning it!”

“No, no! I really might not have battle-qi in my body!” Lilith retorted.

However, Elder White wasn’t buying it.

No battle-qi? Who is she trying to trick? You’re saying that your body is already that powerful when you came out of your mother’s womb?

But this time, Lilith really wasn’t lying to Elder White…

Because dragons were so powerful that they should be illegal.

Putting aside their naturally powerful body, what coursed through the veins of these nearly invincible dragons wasn’t battle-qi but…

Magic. Pure magic.

Coupled with their talent in Dragon Language Magic, almost all of them were self-propelled artillery in dragon form.

Not only that, they were self-propelled artillery that was fond of close-quarters combat.

Therefore, as a Dragon Princess and a super rare genius, the magic power in Lilith’s body was as high as the ninth level as soon as she was born.

She was only a step away from attaining the saint realm.

It was abundant… so abundant that it couldn’t be more abundant.