Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 3 Azure Dragon Divine Qi Curse

The Book of Immeasurable Merit also contains four divine mantras: the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra, the Black Tortoise Divine Gang Mantra, the White Tiger Divine Soldier Mantra, and the Qilin Divine Hero Mantra.

Gao Wu didn't know what the four divine incantations were for. His experience from his previous life was completely useless, since the Book of Immeasurable Merit was just an ordinary ancient book back then.

Judging from its name, the White Tiger Divine Weapon Mantra seems well-suited for combat. He tried channeling merit to bless the White Tiger deity, but there was no response. The same was true for the other deities.

Clearly, 10,000 merits were not enough to activate the divine form, so Gao Wu stopped worrying and directly added 10,000 merits to the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra.

The Azure Dragon image on the Book of Boundless Merit shone brightly and entered the depths of Gao Wu's brow.

It has a blue dragon with deer antlers, an ox head, a snake body, and a fish tail. Its entire body is covered with blue-gold scales, and its four feet resemble phoenix claws.

The azure dragon soars and dances, its movements divine and agile, its aura majestic and imposing.

In a daze, Gao Wu seemed to merge with the Azure Dragon, swimming in the blood-red river, hovering atop towering white pillars, and soaring over pulsating crimson mountains...

After a while, Gao Wu opened his eyes. He sat up, clenched his fists, and exerted force, feeling as if the power he had gathered was about to burst out from between his fingers.

His mind was exceptionally clear, and he was brimming with boundless energy, in a state he had never been in before.

Silently reciting the mantra to summon the Book of Immeasurable Merit, one sees that the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra has reached the minor completion stage.

Since awakening at the age of fourteen, Gao Wu has practiced the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra dozens of times every day. With the accumulation of merit, he has only reached the third level of mastery after four years.

Just like the Nine Forms of the Dragon, it took him four years to reach the second level of proficiency.

It might sound like it's not very good, but being proficient at this level is actually quite impressive. The other members of the Ninth Middle School martial arts team are at about the same level in terms of martial arts skills.

The saying goes, "practice makes perfect." Once you reach a high level of proficiency, you've mastered many subtle techniques and variations, far surpassing the average person.

The third level of mastery represents reaching a truly professional level.

Gao Wu believed that the third realm corresponded to an advanced martial artist. The fourth realm, the minor completion realm, was sufficient to correspond to a martial artist who had awakened their source power!

Since Emperor Qin Liuhe ushered in a new era, a century has passed, and martial arts have established a complete system.

Countless practices have proven that a sufficiently strong physical foundation is necessary to awaken one's source power.

Only advanced martial artists possess the basic conditions to awaken their source power.

Generally speaking, only specialized martial arts departments in higher education institutions offer the complete knowledge and techniques for awakening Source Power. The chances of an ordinary person awakening Source Power on their own are extremely low.

Once a martial artist opens their Source Aperture to obtain Source Power, they can easily surpass the limits of the human body, leaping and soaring with unparalleled power, and even resist modern firearms with their Source Power field.

At this stage, one would be revered as a samurai.

One out of a hundred warriors might not be a single samurai!
Gao Wu's goal is to enter the top martial arts academy in Beizhou and strive to become a warrior.

He has no talent in other areas, but with the Book of Boundless Merit, he is destined to forge a path in martial arts.
Having survived the horrific accident, Gao Wu set an ambition: to become the strongest person in the world and destroy all strange beasts and evil creatures!
For him, his past life was like a long, drawn-out dream. This life is his true existence, his very foundation!

He currently has high scores in martial arts at the middle school level, and he is still a very, very long way from being admitted to a university through the guaranteed admission program.

The requirements for getting into the martial arts department of a top university are very strict, and the competition is extremely fierce, much more difficult than the college entrance examination for ordinary students.

Getting into a second-rate university isn't difficult, but it almost completely cuts off any path to advancement.

Fortunately, this accidental rescue earned him some merit, allowing him to cultivate the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra to the minor completion stage ahead of schedule.

Gao Wu first summoned the Book of Boundless Merit, and saw that his physique had increased by 1.7 points, reaching 10 points.

Each improvement represents a roughly 50% increase. This means his physical condition is 7.5 times stronger than that of an average healthy adult.

The improvement in his physical condition also increased his lifespan to 130 years.

This is not an exaggeration; ordinary people who take good care of themselves can live to be a hundred years old. Not to mention his incredibly strong physique. Proportionally, his lifespan should reach seven or eight hundred years.

Clearly, 130 years old is already a limit.

The most direct benefit of his improved physique is that it makes him more resilient. It's almost impossible for a martial artist of the same level to defeat him in the arena.

Moreover, his strong physique allows him to withstand all kinds of extreme training.

The benefits of this are enormous.

Even more remarkably, the Nine Forms of the Dragon were actually elevated to the level of mastery.

The Nine Forms of the Dragon are a martial arts cultivation method based on imitating the shape of a dragon. In a trance, he transformed into a blue dragon, which allowed him to feel the divine intent of a flying dragon in the sky, thus enhancing the Nine Forms of the Dragon. This makes perfect sense. He initially chose the Nine Forms of the Dragon as his main cultivation method because of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra. Now it seems like a wise choice indeed.

Although it was impossible to conduct detailed tests, Gao Wu felt that his strength, reaction time, and endurance had all improved slightly.

Gao Wu was pondering the changes brought about by the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation when there was a rapid knocking on the door.

Shen Yue's impatient voice came through the door: "Old Gao, open the door now!"

He added, "Something good has happened!"

"What good thing?"

Gao Wu lazily opened the door and let Shen Yue in, then lay down on the bed.

The two were too familiar with each other; he didn't need to be polite.

Shen Yue dragged a chair to the bedside and sat down, his thin face full of excitement: "That girl isn't a student of this school. She had just arrived at the infirmary when a group of people came and took her away. Judging from their manners, this girl comes from a very wealthy family!"

He added with a touch of melancholy, "I wonder what's wrong with such a rich girl!"

"This..." Gao Wu felt something was strange. The girl seemed calm and rational, with stable emotions, and didn't seem like the kind of person who would easily contemplate suicide.

Moreover, it's baffling that someone would specifically come to the Ninth Middle School to jump into the lake.

There might be some special reason behind this, but it has nothing to do with him and there's no need to investigate it further.

He casually asked, "What kind of good thing is this?"

“The girl has nothing to do with the school. Your courageous act of jumping into the water to save her is positive news and brings honor to the school.”

Shen Yue said, "In this way, the school won't stop the video from spreading, and they'll even give you some rewards. They might even help promote it! The more famous you become, the more opportunities you'll have to perform in the martial arts league!"

Gao Wu thought about it and realized that this made perfect sense. No matter what the reason, if a student commits suicide at school, it is a huge scandal for the school.

The Ninth Middle School is considered a second-rate middle school in Dongjiang City, but it is also a school directly under the state government and has influence in the media and the internet.

We will never allow scandals to spread.

Now, the school will actually promote his heroic act of saving lives, since it's a good thing that brings him recognition.

He remarked with some admiration, "You're quite sensitive for your age!"

"These are the basic qualities we need to create short videos online. I learned my lesson after making mistakes a few times..."

Shen Yue realized something was wrong after saying that. He pointed at Gao Wu and said with a laugh, "I'm two months older than you, what are you pretending for!"

Gao Wu gave a perfunctory bow and said, "You're right, I was wrong."

"Honestly, this is your chance to get ahead."

Shen Yue was very concerned about Gao Wu's situation. He said enthusiastically, "I'll edit the video properly when I get back, add some high-energy music and captions, and it'll definitely make you a minor celebrity!"

He worked on short videos on Kuaishou for two years. Although he never became famous, he gained valuable experience and developed his own judgment about short videos.

This heroic rescue, both in its subject matter and video content, is very impactful and should attract a lot of attention. For him, this is also a great opportunity to gain followers.

"You're my brother!"

Gao Wu was very grateful for this and said generously, "When I become famous, I'll treat you to a buffet!"

He doesn't care much about empty fame; what he really needs is the merit that short video dissemination can bring.

"Honestly, that girl is really beautiful, and her family is rich. You really got a great deal this time!" Shen Yue said with envy. "You rescued her, and now you can easily become her boyfriend—you've got both her and your money!"

"We've long since transcended vulgar interests and are wholeheartedly dedicated to serving the people. We're not that kind of person!" Gao Wuyi emphasized sternly.

"Pooh!"

Shen Yue was in a hurry to edit the video. He gave Gao Wu a disdainful look and left in a hurry.

(Thanks to the two patrons, Rose Sky and Brother, I'll make a note of this and add extra chapters for them after the book is published~ Thank you all for your rewards and monthly tickets, I'm so touched, I bow to you all~)

(End of this chapter)