Chapter 92 A New Cultivation Method
*Lick.*
I licked my lips.
It was a breathtaking sight, so much so that I unconsciously let out a sound of excitement.
My mouth was already watering.
The Compsognathus old man flinched in surprise, but it was hard for me to conceal my desire for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
To think I’d discover this mural in such a hidden corner.
No matter how you looked at it, it looked identical to what the Heavenly Demon supposedly left behind.
Of course, it was possible that this wasn’t the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
In the cave where the Utahraptor had been sleeping, there had also been traces left by the Heavenly Demon on the mural. According to Baek Yeonyeong, while it was true that the Heavenly Demon had left those marks, it wasn’t something that could be called the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The martial arts created by the Heavenly Demon, while undoubtedly impressive, didn’t quite merit the name “Divine Art.”
Of course, since the Heavenly Demon’s standards were so high, even a technique he considered lacking was invaluable to someone like me, who was a beginner in martial arts.
Moreover, there were items nearby that looked like elixirs.
Maybe I could secretly take one with me when I left.
Whatever it was, it made my mouth water.
At the same time, a question arose.
The entrance to this cave was extremely narrow.
And no, the interior didn’t expand either.
The space was so small that it was more of a crack in the rock than a cave.
But there was a mural left by the Heavenly Demon here?
I narrowed my eyes and carefully examined the cave.
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t make sense of it.
There were no special devices, and it didn’t seem like the structure had changed.
In other words, the cave hadn’t changed since the time the Heavenly Demon carved the mural.
Think back to the murals in the Silver Dragon Cave and the Utahraptor’s hideout.
The passages were carved at heights so high that even the elongated Komodo-Lania could barely reach them.
But now, the carvings were at a height smaller than a Green Basilisk.
What kind of being was the Heavenly Demon to make such things possible?
“Gegek.”
I glanced at the Compsognathus old man.
He was looking at me with a curious expression.
He must have noticed my fascination with the mural.
Yes, even this old man wouldn’t know what was written on that wall.
He seemed to have some knowledge of martial arts, but that was a passage directly carved by the Heavenly Demon.
He probably brought me here just to show me the drawings below, but since my attention was fixed on the top part, he must have thought, *Ah, this guy knows something.*
“Kekek.”
The old man’s expression softened slightly.
How should I put it?
Maybe he would forgive my sins?
Or perhaps he thought I was a more useful guy than he initially thought.
It was the kind of expression you’d see when your disapproving father-in-law learns that your salary is higher than expected.
I had only one thing to say.
“Gegek….”
I don’t know anything.
“Kek?”
Naturally, I couldn’t read the characters used here.
Occasionally, I’d recognize a familiar Chinese character, but that was very rare.
With most of the text being unfamiliar, how could I possibly interpret those profound passages?
Unless it was a beginner’s diagram drawn beside it.
That one looked like someone practicing breathing techniques.
That was about the extent of what I could decipher.
The traces of the Heavenly Demon, blending straight and curved lines, were too profound for me to comprehend.
If only I could bring Baek Yeonyeong here.
Still, I should try to commit it to memory.
Later, when I meet Baek Yeonyeong, I could either bring her here or carefully draw out the lines with my claws, and she might be able to tell me something.
“Kek!”
*Thwack!*
As if saying, *I knew it,* the old man smacked me on the head.
I felt like my skull had caved in.
“Ke, Keek?”
Was that really okay?
The Compsognathus old man looked a bit flustered at first but then cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.
My face was going to turn into a triangle.
“Kekek.”
The old man rummaged through his scales and pulled out a familiar item.
[A fragment of a high-level Core]
A high-level Core!
So the old man does understand the concept of rewards.
I wasn’t sure if it was a reward for cracking my head open or for protecting his domain.
Just as I was about to bow my head and accept it, something dawned on me.
…Wasn’t that the core from the Megatherium?
I snapped my head up and glared at the old man.
The way he averted his gaze suggested I was right.
That was mine to begin with!
While I was busy…no, while I was checking the damage, he must have taken it.
But since he had saved me the trouble of refining it, I would generously accept it.
After all, I was planning to take one of those elixirs I saw earlier.
The core was of a high grade.
High, huh.
It wasn’t a low rank by any means, but something felt lacking.
The core I obtained after defeating the Cockatrice was a top-grade core.
The Megatherium had been an even tougher opponent than the Cockatrice.
Of course, the Cockatrice’s main weapon was petrification, while the Megatherium relied on its sheer size and strength, so they were fundamentally different.
Their combat power might be similar.
No, even if I considered them equal, their power was comparable.
The Megatherium and the Cockatrice were equally powerful.
The Cockatrice was a creature from legend.
And the Megatherium was a creature that had undoubtedly existed in ancient times.
As a living being, the Cockatrice might be considered of higher rank.
Then again, just because something is strong doesn’t necessarily mean the core is of high quality.
If that were the case, hunting an elephant should yield at least a mid-level core.
High-level is still good.
With that mindset, I swallowed it.
As expected, there was no immediate change in my body.
Consuming a core didn’t instantly absorb its energy into my inner power.
It seemed to be something that gradually accumulated over time.
Maybe, like with the Dilophosaurus, in a desperate situation, I could burn it all at once to gain immense power.
Alright, I had swallowed the core.
The passage on the mural was something the Compsognathus old man didn’t understand either.
So why had he brought me here?
Was there something he wanted to tell me?
He probably felt bad about cracking my head open and gave me the core as compensation.
“Geck.”
Just say it.
The Compsognathus old man looked at me with a surprisingly serious expression.
“Kekekek!”
He shouted something that was hard to understand without the status window’s help, then grabbed my arm.
He then started feeling me all over.
Just like when Baek Yeonyeong had grabbed me while teaching me martial arts, the Compsognathus began pulling at my body.
Why was this old man doing this?
If it were Baek Yeonyeong or the Snake Queen, maybe, but I had no interest in being touched by a man.
At least bring Tus, Pus, Nephila Jurassica, or Shikshik.
“Gegek.”
I let out a very uncomfortable sound.
But even so, I didn’t attack the Compsognathus.
He was technically my father-in-law on paper, so how could I commit such a disgraceful act?
Given that he had brought me here, it seemed like he had something prepared.
The old man tapped on my scales.
It felt strange.
It was like something hot was boiling up inside me.
“Ge… Geek!”
Where do you think you’re touching?
Even Baek Yeonyeong hasn’t touched that spot.
The Compsognathus old man was tapping on one of the scales on my chest.
The hot sensation grew even more intense.
If I were to visualize it, it would be fire.
It surged stronger than the flames of the Fire Carp.
What on earth was this?
I lowered my head to look at my scales and noticed that one of them was oddly reversed.
Right.
It was a Dragon’s Reverse Scale.
…Did I really have a reverse scale?
No, I knew I had one.
But that was just the name of a skill.
I hadn’t known there was an actual reversed scale on my body.
I had never touched the reverse scale before.
Its exact location was hidden among the scales on my chest.
In other words, even if my chest were attacked, the other scales would protect it.
Especially when I was larger, it would be even safer.
The scales themselves would grow bigger.
Since my body was covered in dragon scales, I hadn’t realized I had a reverse scale.
But what about now?
With the old man flipping through my scales with his hands, it was easy to find the reverse scale.
Of course, he wasn’t touching the reverse scale directly.
He was only tapping the scales around it.
Still, it gave me a feeling I had never experienced before.
It was literally as if fire was about to burst out of my mouth.
Right.
The reverse scale wasn’t a weak spot of the dragon.
It was a sensitive area that, when touched, would anger the dragon and lead it to kill the person who dared to touch it.
The Compsognathus seemed aware of this fact, as he only touched the scales around the reverse scale.
It was an unpleasant feeling, but not enough to make me
angry—just an awkward state.
“Gerrrr….”
I growled, expressing my discomfort.
No matter how much of a father-in-law he was, this was too much.
If the Snake Queen had been the one touching it, I would have welcomed it with open arms, but this was different.
If he accidentally brushed against the reverse scale, I might bite him.
As I thought about this, the old man withdrew his hand from my scales.
But once ignited, the fire within wasn’t easy to extinguish.
The hard-to-dissipate fire filled my body.
“Gerrrr….”
The Compsognathus took a step back and looked at me as if observing.
After a few minutes of watching me, he confirmed that I wasn’t doing anything and then sat down on the spot.
Then, the old man assumed the lotus position.
I wasn’t surprised.
Considering he was a dinosaur who practiced martial arts and had deep inner power, it wasn’t strange for him to take such a position.
But why now?
Why bring me to this place?
Was he trying to warn me to be careful with my reverse scale?
Was it necessary to bring me to this dark cave and demonstrate it physically?
No, there had to be another reason.
The core I just consumed.
The passage and drawing on the mural.
The old man’s lotus position.
And the strange feeling I got from having my reverse scale touched.
If I had to describe it, it was a feeling close to anger.
The old man was guiding me.
He was deliberately amplifying the fire within me, then calming my agitated mind through meditation.
Only now did I realize why he had brought me here.
When I first succeeded in the Minor Heavenly Circuit, I obtained a cultivation method.
*White Orchid Heart Technique*
*A very basic inner cultivation technique. It has the potential to evolve into any other cultivation method.*
The White Orchid Heart Technique.
Whenever I used inner power directly, without relying on the status window, I always depended on this White Orchid Heart Technique.
However, its efficiency was never that high.
Compared to the elixirs and cores I had consumed, its output was always lacking.
If I had to rank it, the Nine Yin White Bone Claws would be top-grade, and the White Orchid Heart Technique would be low-grade.
Among my skills and martial arts, the most lacking one was this cultivation method.
In a way, obtaining a new cultivation method was probably the most urgent need for me.
If I could handle my inner power more efficiently, it would strengthen all my other techniques as well.
But I had no place to learn it.
Learning from Baek Yeonyeong was impossible because, as she said, our body structures were fundamentally different.
The same went for the Snake Queen.
I needed someone with a similar body structure, deep inner power, and goodwill toward me.
I either had to find such a person or comprehend a new cultivation method on my own.
“Kekek.”
And now, such a person was sitting in front of me in the lotus position.
The White Orchid Heart Technique.
Literally, a technique like a white egg.
A very basic technique whose evolution was uncertain.
It was time to break out of that egg.