Chapter 54: Bloodline Awakening, Dragon Mountain Emerges From Seclusion
The White Ape had always thought himself just an ordinary ape, but Ning Qi told him that the reason he hadn’t become an exotic beast was because the bloodline in his body was too powerful and difficult to awaken.
This made him expectant while also yearning for the day his bloodline could awaken.
In recent times, the True Martial Sect had been continuously suffering enemy attacks. He saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart, but there was no way he could help. Although his cultivation was fast, he was only in the Body Tempering Realm after all. In such matters, he truly couldn’t be of much help, at most just helping with patrols.
And now.
He finally had a way to quickly become powerful.
As long as he awakened his bloodline, his strength would surely leap forward, and afterward he could become even stronger by continuously excavating his bloodline. Plus, with the martial arts Ning Qi taught him, his growth speed would be much stronger than that of ordinary exotic beasts.
“Please teach me, Teacher!”
The White Ape respectfully bowed.
He had always adored and been grateful to Ning Qi. If not for Ning Qi bringing him back, he would still be just an ordinary White Ape in the mountains, at most a bit smarter than other beasts.
Ning Qi smiled faintly and began to explain.
“The so-called Ape King True Body starts from the heart. Visualize the Ape King, condense the flesh body, with divine sense penetrating…”
The White Ape sat cross-legged on the ground.
He listened as Ning Qi slowly explained, utterly engrossed, feeling as if a door to a new world was slowly opening.
The mysteries between the flesh body and the mind unfolded before his eyes.
Ning Qi’s voice had stopped, but he didn’t even notice, still maintaining his cross-legged, eyes-closed posture. His mind was full of the secret technique just explained.
A long time passed.
Only then did the White Ape awaken from that mesmerized state.
His eyes were full of adoration, looking at Ning Qi as if gazing at a heavenly god.
“Student thanks Teacher for imparting the dharma!”
Ning Qi just smiled and nodded, encouraging him:
“With your talent, if you diligently practice, you should see results in two months.”
With that, he turned and left with hands behind his back.
Now Ning Qi was already seven years old, like a little youth. The posture of hands behind his back looked somewhat amusing, but in the White Ape’s heart, it was profoundly unfathomable.
The White Ape’s greatest desire was that one day he could gain Ning Qi’s true recognition and become his disciple.
Others didn’t know Ning Qi’s prowess, but the White Ape, who spent day and night with him, naturally knew a bit. He felt that for a peerless figure like his teacher, if he wanted to become an inner disciple, he must double his efforts.
Otherwise, even if Ning Qi agreed, he himself would have no face for it.
“Student will definitely double his efforts!” The White Ape’s eyes were firm beyond measure.
…
After imparting the dharma.
Ning Qi did not stop his own progress. Although the Ape King True Body was a secret technique tailored for the White Ape, it could also be used for himself. Ning Qi continued comparing the differences between his own flesh body and the White Ape’s flesh body.
As long as he figured out the principles, he could easily apply it to himself.
While steadily advancing toward the Nine Stacks Realm, Ning Qi was also continuously accumulating. Creating techniques was his daily activity. To this day, he had created so many large and small martial arts secret techniques that he couldn’t even count them all. Some were placed in the Scripture Depository, others temporarily unrecorded.
One night.
Ning Qi stood in the mountain forest, his perception amplified to the extreme.
After confirming no one was around, he began.
His originally short body expanded like it was being inflated, in the blink of an eye exceeding two meters, still continuing to inflate at an astonishing speed, finally steadily stopping at over three meters.
Like a small giant!
If not for the Daoist robe being made of extremely special material, it would probably have burst apart completely. Even so, it was now tightly clinging to the expanded body, looking somewhat strange.
But Ning Qi’s focus wasn’t on that.
He was sensing his powerful strength.
At this moment, he moved casually, hands uprooting boulders and hurling them out, smashing fierce pits into the mountain body, or uprooting massive trees by the roots. The pleasure of releasing that strength made him want to let out a long howl.
But he held back.
Although this place was some distance from the True Martial Sect’s mountain gate, if the commotion was too great and attracted everyone, it wouldn’t be good.
There was something odd in Ning Qi’s eyes.
“Such strong power, at least five times stronger!”
This was somewhat exaggerated.
One must know, Ning Qi’s own flesh body was already extremely terrifying. Now in this special state, with the flesh body five times stronger, probably one punch could easily blast apart the White Mist Realm.
This was precisely the result of Ning Qi’s efforts this period.
It was also the Ape King True Body, but he had optimized it more suitably for himself after combining it with the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art.
After testing for a while longer, Ning Qi slowly reverted to his main body.
“It’s a pity that the Ape King True Body state only strengthens the flesh body. If my inner strength could also become five times stronger, I’m afraid I could even hard clash with the Core Elixir Realm?”
“But this can be a direction for future efforts, striving to make this Ape King True Body secret technique even stronger.”
“If one day it reaches the level of Dharma Image Heaven and Earth, that would truly be a supernatural power!”
Ning Qi was somewhat expectant.
In some myths from his previous life, immortals fighting would manifest dharma images, infinitely tall and far, containing immeasurable mighty power. Perhaps one day he could also achieve that.
The White Ape was the best observation subject.
Letting the White Ape cultivate the Ape King True Body, then with bloodline feedback, perhaps it could cause unexpected changes in this secret technique.
Next.
Ning Qi let the White Ape cultivate on his own. Although he anticipated the day the White Ape succeeded, he wouldn’t force it too much—everything by heart.
But the day the White Ape mastered the Ape King True Body came much earlier than Ning Qi’s estimated two months.
Snow was falling heavily.
The White Ape had succeeded and was waiting outside Ning Qi’s room early in the morning. Seeing Ning Qi come out, he immediately respectfully said:
“Teacher, Student has mastered the Ape King True Body!”
Surprise appeared in Ning Qi’s eyes.
Then he nodded in satisfaction.
Half a month earlier than expected—it seemed the White Ape had put in great effort.
“Come, try it.”
The White Ape hesitated somewhat.
Because Ning Qi had said not to show martial arts in front of others, he worried that making too much noise here would let others see.
Ning Qi saw his thoughts and smiled:
“No harm. If anyone comes, I can detect it.”
Every time Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters came, he sensed them from far away.
Hearing this.
The White Ape hesitated no longer.
Under Ning Qi’s expectant gaze, he circulated the Ape King True Body. In an instant, Ning Qi’s eyes became astonished. He saw the White Ape’s body expand at a visible speed. Originally about the same height as Ning Qi, but in a flash, it was nearly two zhang tall!
This was even more exaggerated than when Ning Qi had circulated the Ape King True Body before.
The current White Ape.
Could no longer be called a little monkey, but a two-zhang-tall giant ape, with pure white fur without any dryness, instead extremely glossy. The body muscles bulged high, displaying a sense of power.
Not only that.
Golden color was even more obvious in the White Ape’s pupils, carrying some divine anomaly!
The White Ape’s face was extremely excited, seeming to want to roar, but he forcibly suppressed this instinct.
Ning Qi examined the current White Ape and asked:
“Tian Sheng, how do you feel now?”
The White Ape’s heavy buzzing voice rang out:
“Teacher, I feel better than ever. I feel my power has become so much stronger, and it seems like a magical power is emerging from within my body.”
Ning Qi’s eyes flashed, especially lingering on the White Ape’s golden pupils for a moment:
“Is this the bloodline? As I speculated before, the flesh body’s rapid strengthening forced the bloodline’s awakening. Just don’t know what kind of bloodline Tian Sheng has—perhaps Master will know.”
He continued asking:
“Do you feel it’s easy to maintain this state?”
Yuan Tiansheng scratched his head and said:
“Feels okay. If not intense combat, I can even maintain it indefinitely!”
Ning Qi was somewhat surprised.
One must know, when he maintained the Ape King True Body state, it required continuous energy consumption. With his flesh body foundation, at most a few hours before needing to rest. Unexpectedly, the White Ape could maintain it indefinitely.
“So it seems, after bloodline awakening combined with Ape King True Body, some changes occurred. To some extent, this state is also Tian Sheng’s true body, so maintaining it doesn’t take effort, just more consumption in intense combat.”
Ning Qi was somewhat delighted.
He liked such unexpected changes.
Although the Ape King True Body was created by him, after combining with the White Ape’s bloodline, it could have new changes, giving him more inspiration.
“Come, test your current power.”
Ning Qi stood with hands behind his back.
The White Ape didn’t hesitate.
Any hesitation would be disrespect to his teacher. His bit of power hurting Teacher would be a joke.
Yuan Tiansheng took a deep breath, right arm muscles suddenly expanding, carrying ten thousand jun momentum, suppressing like a great mountain. No fancy moves, only absolute power’s sense of oppression.
But Ning Qi was calm and composed.
Left hand still behind his back, then slowly raising his right palm.
That giant palm like a boulder was easily stopped in Ning Qi’s palm. The visual impact was utterly shocking, but the disparity in power made the White Ape even more reverent. He had thought in this state he might slightly shake Teacher, but now in such close contact, he realized how lofty and awe-inspiring his teacher was.
Ning Qi slowly withdrew his palm, nodding in approval.
“Not bad, already thirty thousand jin of force. When you reach Body Tempering Perfection, with further bloodline development, perhaps eighty or ninety thousand jin.”
Although in giant ape state, it was quite impressive.
But still incomparable to Ning Qi’s supreme foundation back then.
Ning Qi, without using any secret techniques or martial arts, had one hundred thousand jin with a single arm.
The White Ape reverted to his original state, scratching his head embarrassedly:
“I feel better than ever in this state, just a bit hungry.”
Ning Qi nodded:
“Should be due to bloodline awakening. I’ll have Senior Disciple Brother prepare more food and precious materials for you. This period your strength will leap forward. From now on, since your bloodline has awakened, you don’t need to be as cautious as before. Slowly revealing a bit to Senior Disciple Brother and them is fine.”
Previously not letting the White Ape show in front of people was caution, to avoid others knowing he practiced stance technique.
But now with bloodline gradually awakening and the exotic beast identity as cover, showing strength was no big issue.
Ning Qi stared at the White Ape’s golden pupils.
Some powerful exotic beasts would awaken talents. He felt the White Ape’s golden pupils might be one, because the White Ape had just said that now if he focused, moving objects would seem slower. But for this talent to fully awaken, it needed a certain degree of bloodline development.
He felt the White Ape’s golden pupils talent would be very strong.
If he could research it clearly, the gains would be considerable.
“But with my current inner strength intensity, I can only probe to this extent. For deeper changes involving heavenly beast bloodline, I need to become stronger—probably Gang Yuan Realm won’t suffice.”
Ning Qi could only temporarily suppress this thought.
Next.
The White Ape’s strength changed almost daily, Body Tempering progress surging.
In just a few days.
He had already broken through from Organ Refining Completion to Marrow Refining.
Then onward, with bloodline awakening like divine aid.
At this rate, perhaps Body Tempering Perfection next year.
But even now, as long as the White Ape showed Ape King True Body state, he could crush most Body Tempering Perfection martial artists.
Luo Wentian and others came upon hearing the news.
They all knew the White Ape had awakened his bloodline.
Ning Qi hadn’t hidden it from them—after all, the White Ape’s rapid growth this period needed massive resources.
“Tian Sheng doesn’t know what bloodline it is, but just after awakening it’s already so powerful?”
The true disciples’ eyes were full of joy.
In the distance, Yuan Tiansheng showed Ape King True Body, power abundant, astonishing everyone. They all thought this was the White Ape’s talent.
They checked various classics records, ruling out most known ape exotic beast bloodlines.
Such as Heavenly Reaching Ape, Iron Arm Ape, White Giant Ape, Silver Eared Ape, etc., none matched what Yuan Tiansheng now showed.
Ye Qinghe sighed:
“There are myriad exotic beast bloodlines in the world, and special ones appear from time to time. Tian Sheng might be one of them. Can only wait for Master to come out of closed-door cultivation to see if he recognizes it. Who would’ve thought, the little monkey who couldn’t even beat a Gibbon back then is now so powerful.”
The White Ape honestly scratched his head.
The congregation all praised him.
In their view, with the White Ape’s aptitude, once grown, he would absolutely become a major foundation of the True Martial Sect!
Ning Qi just smiled and watched.
The original White Ape had strength but could only suppress it bitterly. Now he could finally show it openly. As long as not telling others about stance technique, ordinary killing martial arts were no big problem.
That only involved power usage.
But from now on if stepping into Inner Yuan Realm or Gang Yuan Realm, he’d need to be careful again.
On this.
The White Ape himself was very clear.
Though sometimes naughty, he knew priorities.
Time passed.
Yuan Tiansheng awakening bloodline caused quite a stir among True Martial Sect disciples. The congregation was excited and happy for him, but the White Ape had only shown Ape King True Body in front of the true disciples.
Slowly.
The hype gradually faded.
The White Ape still got along with the disciples as before, but now with a new activity: he could spar with True Martial Sect disciples to gain practical combat experience.
Yuan Tiansheng’s strength steadily advanced.
Ning Qi likewise.
After the White Ape awakened bloodline, he probed the changes in Ape King True Body, constantly adjusting this secret technique.
Thus.
In the blink of an eye, it was year end.
This year’s True Martial Sect Year End Grand Competition was clearly much quieter. The previous events had still impacted the True Martial Sect considerably. Although the storm had gradually subsided, disciples remained vigilant daily, fearing the enemies were just lulling them.
“Master still hasn’t come out of closed-door cultivation. Wonder if his state of mind was affected.”
After the grand competition ended, Ye Qinghe said somewhat worriedly.
Dragon Mountain Daoist had been in closed-door cultivation for nearly a year.
But at that moment.
Ning Qi was the first to look toward the back mountain, followed by Jiang Baishan, then the many true disciples.
Everyone sensed that special fluctuation.
Joy appeared in Ning Qi’s eyes.
“Could it be Master is about to break through?”
