"Focus."
Sensing Tifa's distraction, Ryuji immediately spoke up to remind her, and only then did Tifa snap out of that hazy, dazed state.
"O-Okay… got it!"
Her body felt warm and comfortable all over, but Tifa still did her best to focus her mind on following the circulation of the life force flowing through Ryuji's body, coordinating with the life force he had injected into her to begin controlling her internal organs.
At its core, this training method was simply teaching Tifa how to control her own body, slowly allowing her to become familiar with the sensation. Combined with the training of Zangan-style martial arts, she would naturally come to master Life Return.
As for whether the Life Return achieved through this kind of training would be powerful…
Ryuji could only say that in the world of One Piece, Life Return truly could be considered a path of development in itself, because even Devil Fruit abilities ultimately depended on the development of the body. And once someone mastered Life Return, it was also incredibly useful for the precise control of one's abilities.
But for people like him and Tifa, who already had their own paths, Life Return belonged merely to the realm of techniques.
It was an extremely useful skill and training method, not a philosophy or road to follow.
So, as long as it was practical and effective, that was enough.
"Exactly like that. This allows the intestines to move rapidly and absorb sufficient nutrients, but during the process, you must provide your cells with enough nutrition and energy. Try using the energy of your qi to command your cells to repair the ones that should normally be discarded, rather than directly allowing normal metabolism to replace them…"
Whether it was qi, magic, or life force, they were all fundamentally versatile forms of energy.
Once extracted and controlled, they possessed miraculous properties: capable of repairing cellular damage and preventing cells from being prematurely metabolized away.
But what was interesting was that before these energies were actively extracted, cells themselves would never utilize them.
And the reason for that was genetics.
Because according to genetic programming, most humans didn't actually need to live that long. As long as they reproduced and raised their offspring to adulthood, that was already considered sufficient.
There was no need for an excessively long lifespan.
So, no matter how much nutrition a person consumed, the body wouldn't use it to create new stem cells or repair DNA telomeres. Instead, it would simply turn into things like blood lipids, fatty liver, and other useless accumulations.
Because there was no need to give humans premium specifications.
As long as they functioned adequately, that was enough.
So, when it came to insufficient lifespan, humanity really had nobody to blame except the people responsible for designing humans in the first place.
After all, they'd even forgotten to install a reset button into humanity, forcing them to rely on external systems like reincarnation to maintain and recycle the species.
And because of that, cultivation became even more meaningful.
The moment someone began cultivating, magic training or qi training they had already started stepping beyond the category of ordinary humans.
However, if someone forcibly extracted too much life force, their cells would also die prematurely, ultimately shortening the individual's lifespan.
That was why people who force themselves to push their limits were usually short-lived.
Meanwhile, Ryuji's Dragon Fire was naturally rich in life force, meaning he never had to worry about exhausting his cellular division limit.
After being burned by those flames, even damage to DNA telomeres could be repaired.
In theory, as long as Ryuji didn't deliberately seek death, simply bathing himself in dragon fire every day would allow him to live for several hundred years.
This thing was just that unreasonable.
So, Tifa quickly entered the proper state and began to control her internal organs according to Ryuji's guidance.
The sensation felt incredibly strange to her.
It was almost like being able to consciously control the growth of her fingernails and hair. In fact, as long as she infused her hair with her spirit and life force, she could even manipulate her scalp and hair follicles to move her hair as though it were an extension of her arms!
But despite that, the intense hunger eventually forced Tifa out of her focused state, and she hurriedly clutched her stomach.
"Ugh… I'm sorry, Mr. Ryuji, but I… I really can't take it anymore…"
Holding her stomach, Tifa only felt that although her entire body was pleasantly warm and comfortable, carrying the satisfying feeling of having exercised thoroughly, but her stomach felt completely empty, as though she hadn't eaten anything at all earlier.
"Yes, that's perfectly normal. Oh, by the way, if you properly practice the technique I'm teaching you, you can maintain a great figure. And if your mastery becomes deep enough, and your understanding of the human body is sufficient, you can even stay young forever."
Ryuji raised a finger while continuing his explanation about the power of Life Return.
Even he himself hadn't yet reached the level of cellular-level Life Return control, but if Tifa could master the Zangan Style to its peak and then supplement it with enough Life Return training, she would eventually be capable of controlling things like endocrine functions and bone growth; essentially reaching the same level he was currently at.
At that point, one could basically decide their own appearance and height.
As for why people like Charlotte Linlin still aged…
Ryuji could only assume either that they had long abandoned their Life Return development, or that like himself, they simply hadn't reached the level necessary for cellular manipulation.
Or perhaps...
They simply didn't know.
"But at your current level, you still can't do that. So, I'll help you train it a bit more personally… As for your hunger, that's completely normal. Training Life Return consumes enormous amounts of meat."
As he spoke, Ryuji summoned his Dragon Fire to repair the accidental damage Tifa had caused within her own body before pointing toward the kitchen.
"So, let's go eat something first. Don't worry, if you train Life Return properly, even if you somehow became a big fat woman, you'd still be able to slim back down to your current beautiful figure within two or three days."
~~~~~~~~~~
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