Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 284: Chapter 284. Speeding up Cultivation

Yong Baili complied with Amon’s wish. He taught Amon how fast the counterclockwise spin of the focused aether was needed. This technique was much trickier than the disruptive technique because Amon couldn’t simply go full power. If the spinning were too fast, it would have the opposite effect.

Using his Spirit Stage sense, Yong Baili could detect the power and speed of the aether focused on Amon’s finger. He gave Amon a cue every time Amon hit the right spinning speed. Amon memorized the sensation and tried to maintain this tempo. It was easier said than done. The concentration required to maintain such a small measure of aether was extreme.

He failed to perform any stimulating poke in his two hours of learning. By then, An Guan came into the room.

”Sorry, kids. Got to go,” Yong Baili said.

Amon didn’t mind. He had learned the basics. All he needed to do was practice until he got used to the techniques. As for Tuang Yin, she managed to do a successful disruptive poke two hours after they started. Unlike Amon, she didn’t go directly to learn the stimulating technique. She continued to practice the disruptive technique.

Amon returned to his residence to do his training. Tuang Yin chose to remain in the practice building to train. She stayed there because she wanted a teacher nearby in case she needed to ask questions.

*

Amon spent the following months cultivating and practicing the meridian point techniques. He mastered the disruptive technique. He could already channel the aether onto his finger instantly before using it to poke the meridian points in his body. To do that to opponents, however, was another matter.

As Tao Su advised, poking an opponent’s meridian points was much more difficult than his own. He tried this technique during his regular sparring with Xin Wuming and Yang Li. He had a very low success percentage. When Xin Wuming activated his Iron Skin, the meridian point techniques were completely useless. The energy from the poke failed to penetrate deep enough to affect Xin Wuming’s meridian points.

For now, he decided not to use this technique on an opponent during real combat.

He, however, had another application for this technique, which helped him greatly. That was why he focused on practicing this meridian point technique. To do what he planned, he needed to be able to do the stimulating technique smoothly.

After a few months of practice, he could already perform it without error, provided there was no interference and he was in no hurry. This meant he could not use this in real combat as well, even when he was using the technique on himself.

However, his plan for this technique was not for combat.

On the day when he was ready, he used the stimulating technique and poked himself. His two fingers moved around his body, poking multiple spots. He didn’t move especially fast because he prioritized accuracy over speed.

He felt the area where he poked expanded, even when there was no change to his physical body. When he was done poking all the required spots, he felt a burning sensation from within him. The sensation was intense, but he refused to get overwhelmed. He focused his mind and used the Drown Heart Pulsating Art, his divine cultivation art.

He could feel the aether that entered him multiplied from what he normally experienced. The aether rushing into him was like a flood through a broken dam. It was almost suffocating, but he concentrated on keeping his cultivation art under control.

What he did was what Tao Su explained about using the stimulating technique to strengthen an art. While Tao Su meant combat art, Amon had read from the Pyramid Library book that this technique could also be used for cultivation art. The method was the same. One needed to identify the meridian points utilized by the cultivation art and then target these points.

The degree of control was much more complex, though. While using the meridian point technique to enhance combat arts like martial arts or arcane arts only lasted for one attack, cultivation art was continuous. One needed to maintain the expanded meridian points to keep it in the state, and it was extremely taxing.

The overflow of aether helped the meridian points remain expanding, like flowing water through a gate that kept the gate open. If anything, one would find it hard to shut the gate while the water was flowing.

This constant expansion of the meridian points gave Amon untold pain. Yet, he persevered. If not for his willpower, he would have given in and let his meridian points shrink back to their original sizes. He would then have to redo the technique all over again.

In the first few days of using this technique, he could only maintain it for an hour. He had to rest for a few minutes before redoing it again. The length by which he maintained the condition grew after repeated usage.

Even though he used a stop-and-go process like this, it still helped to speed up his cultivation speed by a lot. Thus, he continued applying this technique to his cultivation.

He also practiced using the stimulating technique when executing his art. Every art had different spots to poke depending on how the aether flowed when the art was executed. He had no problem identifying and memorizing all the meridian points for each of his arts. He practiced with each of them.

One thing he noticed was that although the arts did increase in power after getting stimulated, the consumed aether was also more. This meant if one constantly used this technique in combat, one would find the aether in his energy core running out faster than they should.

Anyway, he didn’t think he could use this technique in battle anytime soon. He was still not fast enough to execute the stimulating technique. It would just open him up for an attack.

Amon also used the technique when cultivating Evil Soul Tempering. He alternated between cultivating divine and infernal cultivations, giving them equal cultivation time. While he wanted to improve his infernal cultivation, he could not dismiss his divine cultivation. His main combat power came from divine cultivation, after all. He would get left behind by the other students if he did.

Thanks to this meridian point technique, his current cultivation speed did not lose to when he only focused on divine cultivation. Thanks to his basement’s aether density, cultivation pills afforded by his wealth, the spirit herbs from his plantation, and his ability to need no sleep, his average cultivation speed was still faster than the average cultivators. Regarding his infernal cultivation, its growth was even faster due to the extra boost from his black aetherium stone and the stimulation from his much stronger normal energy core.

As time passed, his tolerance for using the meridian point technique in cultivation art improved. He could maintain the condition for as long as six hours without pausing. This helped increase his cultivation speed further.

He taught this cultivation method to Xin Wuming, Tuang Yin, and Yang Li. Interestingly, they had trouble incorporating this method. They couldn’t keep their meridian points expanded for long. Even Yang Li, whom Amon believed to have a steel will, could sustain the condition for only five minutes.

Amon did believe he was better than everyone else in terms of willpower, but not by such a large margin. He suspected his demon body might have something to do with this situation.

Probably, using the meridian point technique in cultivation art was not common because it was impracticable. That’s why Tao Su didn’t mention it during his lecture. Yet, the book from the Pyramid Library did, so this method was common once upon a time. Amon decided not to fuss about it. It was good enough that he could utilize this method.

*

At the beginning of the second year of the junior class, Amon’s black energy core experienced another breakthrough. His infernal cultivation was now at the Beginning Wicked Stage of the Acolyte Realm. This stage was equivalent to the Strength Stage of divine cultivation.

Around this time, Xin Wuming came to him bearing troubling news. The Sewer Snakes finally threw away all pretenses. Dao Se led his members and invaded their territory without warning. The Demon Gang members fought back valiantly, but many were killed.

Thankfully, Xin Wuming followed Amon’s advice. Most of the slain members were low-level members. The important ones were kept away from old hideouts known by Sewer Snakes members. High-ranking members were also told to be vigilant against the Sewer Snakes so they had the time to respond. They organized everyone to regroup before planning to strike back.

Unfortunately, the Alley Advocates also attacked. Considering the timing, it was clear the two underworld organizations had an agreement for this assault. The Demon Gangs couldn’t defend their territory and were forced to retreat.

In a short time of one night, the Demon Gang lost half their territory.