"Damn nightmare."
Because of the nightmare's interference, Lin Feng had no intention of going back to sleep.
That feeling of wanting to sleep but sleeping poorly, drifting off only to be startled awake, was even more torturous than insomnia.
Ai!
With a sigh, Lin Feng shook his head helplessly. The situation had already spiraled beyond his control, agitating and depressing his mood.
If he'd known things would turn out like this, maybe he would have chosen to give up refining the Nightmare back then.
Lin Feng had the confidence that even if he couldn't refine the Nightmare, he could still become a strong one.
If, on Awakening Day, he'd refined a Ninth Grade demon spirit, he could have joined an S-level club, gotten a hefty signing bonus, with a bright future ahead—no worries, no fear, no threat to his life.
His big sister wouldn't have had to worry about marriage, and his family could have happily moved to a big house, wouldn't have to go to bed early every day, finally living the dream life they longed for.
"What's the point of thinking so much? There's no medicine for regret in this world."
Shaking his head hard, Lin Feng tossed those unrealistic thoughts from his mind. His once somewhat confused gaze turned instantly resolute.
It seemed like he regretted it, but even if given another chance, Lin Feng would still choose to refine the Nightmare.
After all, it was a being that ranked in the top seven on the Exotic Beast Chart.
This level of demon spirit could only be encountered by luck.
Lin Feng, longed to become a genius!
In his previous life, Lin Feng was an Eighth Grade martial artist. An Eighth Grade martial artist is also called a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
But, unable to refine a demon spirit, he'd never actually stepped onto the path of a true powerhouse.
Even in Jiang City alone, there were at least a hundred people whose overall strength surpassed his.
So, even after living two lifetimes, apart from gaining a bit more confidence and composure, Lin Feng never arrogantly thought he would be invincible in the world.
In the eyes of outsiders, or even his mother, breaking through to Body Cultivation Realm Seventh Rank at sixteen—his talent was nothing short of outstanding.
But only Lin Feng knew: the reason he could stand out among his peers wasn't talent, but effort and sweat.
His martial arts talent was actually quite ordinary, no better than Ya Ge or Gao Hai.
To surpass his peers, he paid twice the training cost that others paid.
His childhood wasn't filled with many beautiful memories.
His father's decisive departure forced him to mature early, to realize sooner how hard and cruel life could be.
To change his fate, his only hope was the college entrance exam.
Now, faced with the exam, he trained even more fiercely.
Not only did he push himself at school, he even cut his sleep down to just five hours a night.
Beyond that, high-intensity training without the support of resources to nourish and repair his body inevitably left Lin Feng with some hidden injuries.
In Body Cultivation Realm, every breakthrough made the Qi and Blood more vigorous, the body stronger—hidden injuries might disappear, but before breaking through, they might just as easily turn into disabilities.
So for Lin Feng, cultivation was not simply for a good job in the future, but a gamble with his life on the line.
For his family, to change fate, Lin Feng had stepped onto the gambling table long ago.
As someone with mediocre aptitude, Lin Feng knew deeply the kind of resources and treatment enjoyed by the geniuses of big clans.
Take Ye Qiu for example.
That Ye Qiu was born into a wealthy family—money and resources meant little to him. A super genius by birth, with the powerful Ye Clan behind him; people like Lin Feng could only watch his back in silence.
And compared to the ancient Glory Races with long histories, even Ye Qiu would be envious of the resources they had.
Members of those clans bathed in Heaven and Earth Spirit Liquid prepared by their elders from birth. As long as they showed talent, pills and demon beast flesh were limitless.
They didn't even need to attend Awakening Day.
From the day they were born, their elders had already prepared the demon spirit they would refine in the future—Eighth Grade, Ninth Grade, even ones from the Earth Chart were not rare.
Even if he tried cultivating all over again, Lin Feng wasn't sure he could surpass them completely.
Compared to those people, his only advantage was the memory of the next 21 years. That was his greatest wealth.
It meant that as long as he seized his chance, he could rise swiftly to the top.
And the Nightmare was his best opportunity to soar!
Even knowing that refining the Nightmare was dangerous, he wasn't willing to give up this once-in-a-lifetime chance.
And that was only part of it. Even more important was another worry buried in Lin Feng's heart.
In 21 years, would that bloody massacre happen again?
Would it come even earlier?
Had that young man in White Clothes also, like him, come back to the past?
Lin Feng could take his family and escape the coming disaster in advance.
But after all, those were hundreds of millions of lives—he couldn't just watch them slaughtered.
So, refining the Nightmare, relying on its innate abilities—with demonic talents, maybe he could change the course of history.
Even if he couldn't, at least he'd have peace of mind, and wouldn't be jerked awake by nightmares anymore!
"Begin cultivation." Having thought it all through, Lin Feng was no longer lost.
To him, his current top priority was to make money; only with money could he refine the Nightmare.
It was already close to 1:00 a.m.—there was no way to earn money at this hour, so Lin Feng could only seize the time to cultivate.
The stronger his body, the more vigorous his Qi and Blood—when the time came, his chances of successfully refining the Nightmare would also be higher.
Lin Feng carefully moved his small bed to the corner, not daring to make a sound. His room was tiny—less than seven square meters. There was barely any space to move.
Of course, on such a quiet night, Lin Feng had no intention of practicing fist techniques either.
In the Body Cultivation Realm, since the meridians were too fragile to practice cultivation techniques, whether for ordinary people or the rich and powerful, everyone uniformly trained the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques mandated by the country.
Lin Feng was no exception.
The Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques could be called the greatest masterpiece of the era of martial arts revival.
Countless martial powerhouses and scientists had worked together, blending traditional martial arts, Ancient Yoga body techniques, human biology, and more. Day after day, pouring their hearts and souls, they had produced this jewel of wisdom.
If not for the appearance of the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques, martial artists could never have become commonplace, and humanity would have been unable to survive the rampage of demon beasts.
The Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques are the foundation of martial arts—using the language of Ancient Martial, they're equivalent to Foundation Establishment.
But they're much simpler, and safer and more effective, than ancient martial arts like the 'Tiger Bone Demon Refining Fist' and similar body refining fists.
The Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques have already been popularized to every student. Not hard to say, not that easy either.
After all, it's just thirty-six different movements.
The hard part is control!
Control of the body and of the mind.
Mental control is the key.
To train in the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques requires full concentration. The first ten movements are okay, but after the tenth, control of the mind becomes more important—any stray thought could cause failure.
And controlling the movements is not just a matter of imitation—if that were the case, any acrobat could do it. Good-looking, standard postures are useless if they have no effect.
To achieve body tempering effects, one must perfectly control every movement, channeling Qi and Blood so that every muscle and bone moves in precise rhythm. That is the key to success in the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques.
At the center of the room, Lin Feng sat on the floor, performing a series of strange movements—for example, pressing his hands to the floor, right leg kicking upward like a scorpion; or twisting his body together like a snake coiling and wrapping around itself…
Somewhat resembling Ancient Yoga, somewhat resembling the primal stances of beasts—every movement was unusual, each pushing the physical limits.
As Lin Feng stretched into each posture, what seemed common at first began to show a certain rhythm and charm. At the same time, his body felt alternately hot and cold, Blood Qi surging through, his temples bulging as heat rushed to his head, leaving it heavy and clouded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lin Feng could even hear his heartbeat echoing inside him—steady and powerful.
Meanwhile, his skin grew taut and firmer, his muscles writhing madly, every fiber trembling. Bones throughout his body gave off sharp cracking pops; his breathing slowed, his internal organs seemed to blaze like a furnace, endlessly radiating heat.
"Huff, huff..."
When it came to the 27th movement, Lin Feng's breathing grew ragged, brows knitted, his face twisted in pain. His body trembled, naked flesh flushed red, steaming with heat, vapor rising from his skin.
If anyone saw this scene now, they'd surely be stunned.
At Jiangxin First Middle School, the strongest senior students could only manage up to the 14th movement in the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques.
To reach that step, they would have to be Ninth Rank body cultivators.
But Lin Feng could perform the 27th movement—what did that mean?
You had to know that at Jiangxin First Middle School, the martial arts teacher who taught the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques—as a Second Grade martial artist, he could only do the 19th movement, and nowhere near as smoothly as Lin Feng.
And Lin Feng was only at Body Cultivator Seventh Rank. How could that not shock anyone?