Chapter Fifteen: Supreme Demonic Art, the Devouring Whale Method

Su Yi understood in his heart that this cool breath was the first current of inner energy—or true qi—that he had formed within himself through the system’s foundation-building.

“There are currently no resources available for exchange. Would you like to deduct fifteen percent of your enhancement to grant the host mastery of the ‘Whale Devouring Method’?”

Though it stung a little, Su Yi steeled himself and made his choice. The descriptions those bandits had given of the black-clad elder’s methods had already given him some conjecture about the ‘Whale Devouring Method,’ and the system had said this technique was the highest secret of the Primordial Demon Sect, one of the top lineages in this world. Sacrificing twenty-five percent of his enhancement to gain such a divine art, Su Yi felt, was well worth the price.

A thunderous roar echoed in his mind. Before his eyes, countless phantom characters shifted and flowed, diagrams of human meridians and a torrent of knowledge poured into his brain all at once. Every key point in cultivation, every perplexity and difficulty, became instantly clear without a teacher.

In but an instant, Su Yi had fully grasped the ‘Whale Devouring Method,’ a divine art that most would take years—even a lifetime—to integrate. It was no exaggeration to say that, aside from his cultivation level, Su Yi’s understanding of the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ now rivaled that of the founder of the technique and the most outstanding disciples of the Primordial Demon Sect throughout history.

As the system completed its instillation, Su Yi not only learned the ‘Whale Devouring Method,’ he had also mastered its first stage. The true qi within him had formed into a faint cyclone. Activating the method, this cyclone split into threads that gathered in his limbs, and Su Yi could feel his strength increase noticeably.

Having achieved the first layer of the Primordial Demon Sect’s supreme secret art, Su Yi, by inner power alone, could now stand among the very peak of third-tier martial experts.

He looked around, spotted a boulder by the stairs ahead—about the size of two people’s arms encircling it—walked over, took a deep breath, and with a powerful motion, lifted it straight from the ground.

After his extreme enhancement, Su Yi’s precision of perception was far beyond ordinary. He could sense that his strength now was at least eighty percent greater than before.

A worthwhile exchange indeed! Su Yi rejoiced inwardly.

After mastering the ‘Whale Devouring Method,’ Su Yi finally understood why the system had rated it as the highest secret art of a top-tier sect like the Primordial Demon Sect.

Because this method was truly extraordinary.

The name “Whale Devouring” spoke for itself: like a whale swallowing the sea, its greatest strength lay in its ability to absorb and convert the inner power of others for oneself. Whether to heal injuries or to rapidly increase one’s own power, so long as enough inner strength was absorbed, there would be no bottleneck within a given realm. One could easily leave opponents of the same rank far behind.

This was why disciples of the Primordial Demon Sect had always been the strongest among their peers on the martial stage. While other sects’ disciples were painstakingly building their foundation through endless hard work, the scions and saintesses of the Primordial Demon Sect could already stir up bloody storms in the martial world—often even challenging veteran masters, existing on an entirely different level.

Of course, such a formidable technique was not without its drawbacks.

For example, although practitioners of the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ could absorb another’s power for their own use, if the absorbed inner strength was too weak compared to their own, it would have no effect at all.

This explained why the black-clad elder—Elder Duan Yan of the Primordial Demon Sect—drained the previous chief of Shuiyun Fortress but spared the other dozen bandits. The former chief, while obscure, was at least a third-tier expert, while his underlings were mere rabble with crude, superficial skills.

Another major flaw of the method was that it was a classic demonic technique—rapid progress in the beginning, but increasingly difficult advancement later on. The further one went, the more insurmountable the obstacles became, enough to dash the hopes of even the most brilliant talents.

By contrast, orthodox sect techniques were hard to begin and slow to progress, but because their foundations were solid, breaking through to higher realms became much easier in the later stages than with demonic arts like the ‘Whale Devouring Method.’

Furthermore, since practitioners of the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ relied on absorbing others’ power, their own and foreign inner energies would clash inside them. With time, this led to the risk of inner power backlash; even if nothing happened ordinarily, when using more than sixty percent of their strength at advanced levels, the pain would be as if their bodies were being cut by knives. The more power exerted, the greater the agony—a veritable method of self-torment. This explained why so many Primordial Demon Sect experts were notoriously temperamental.

Thus, a vicious cycle emerged: because progress with the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ became ever harder later on, practitioners had to raise their level as quickly as possible early. To do that, they needed to absorb others’ inner power. But the more frequently this was done, the more likely backlash would occur—a classic case of drinking poison to quench thirst, yet savoring it all the same.

Were it not for these flaws, with the ‘Whale Devouring Method’s’ cheat-like ability, the Primordial Demon Sect would have long since unified the martial world for generations.

In short, the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ was a power of immense might, but with no shortage of drawbacks as well. Knowing all this, Su Yi felt no regret. He understood that, in this world, risk and reward often walked hand in hand, and this method was the best fit for him at present.

According to the information he had gathered, orthodox sect techniques all required practitioners to build their foundation from childhood—the older one was, the harder it became, and progress was painstakingly slow. To reach a level where such skills could actually enhance combat strength could take an eternity.

Moreover, having mastered the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ through the system’s capabilities, Su Yi was now intimately familiar with every trick and secret of the art. As long as his cultivation level rose, even if he could not break through effortlessly, it would still be many times easier than for disciples of the Primordial Demon Sect.

Weighing all factors, even after paying a total price of twenty-five percent enhancement, Su Yi still felt his decision had brought him enormous gains.

Having obtained the ‘Whale Devouring Method,’ Su Yi was more than satisfied. After stowing the manual back in his pack, he took out two other books he had found in the stone chamber. One had no title and was filled with miscellaneous notes on poisons and the black-clad elder’s techniques, which Su Yi skimmed over without much interest. The other was the ‘Willow Wind Sword Art,’ complete with instructions and illustrations. Su Yi guessed this must have belonged to the ill-fated “Returning Willow Sword” from the day before.

He put both books away, then used the lightness skill he had just learned from the ‘Whale Devouring Method’ to leap lightly down the slope.