And the The Clark Family Qi Cultivation Technique, with its fierce qi and blood and robust physique, is dominated by forcefulness—completely the opposite.

That’s precisely why, when the Elder Richard saw him wanting to learn it, his face was full of regret.

After all, even if you manage to master this thing, it’s not very powerful—can’t even handle embroidery...

However, for Henry Clark, if you’re dead, what’s the point of being able to punch a continent into the sea?

Standing quietly in the room, feet turned inward, arms encircling as if holding a round ball, he followed the cultivation method from the book, focusing his mind. Spiritual energy, under his guidance, once again seeped into his skin and muscles.

Physical constitution enhanced, lifespan: +0.01, +0.01, +0.01...

Henry Clark’s spirits lifted.

As expected of a longevity technique—much more reliable than the “The Clark Family Qi Cultivation Technique”...

At the Body Tempering stage, drawing spiritual energy into the body is only the first step; it must also be fused with muscles, organs, bones, and skin to complete the tempering.

Controlling the spiritual energy as required, he guided it through each organ.

Body damage, lifespan: -0.01, -0.01...

Suddenly, a line of glaring text appeared before his eyes.

A negative value—meaning it’s harmful to the body...

After cultivating for a while longer, Henry Clark understood.

This “Turtle Origin Technique” can increase one’s lifespan, but the effect isn’t that great.

After finally gaining a bit, further cultivation would reduce it again—so it all cancels out in the end...

Probably not even as useful as laughing heartily...

No wonder those who exercised or practiced Tai Chi in his previous life still got sick and died all the same... Turns out, you can’t just keep increasing your lifespan forever!

He stopped, speechless, rubbing his brow. As Henry Clark pondered whether there was a better way, a thought struck him.

“What if... I modify it, only cultivating the +0.01 part and not the -0.01 part—wouldn’t my lifespan keep increasing?”

There’s a bug!

Other people can’t see their lifespan while cultivating, so they don’t know how to change it—but he’s different!

Since cultivation affects lifespan, as long as he keeps practicing the parts that increase it and avoids the parts that decrease it, wouldn’t he achieve his goal and greatly extend his life?

It’s possible!

Eyes growing brighter, Henry Clark once again assumed his stance, splitting his focus to constantly monitor the changes on the Longevity Chart.

Inhale! Exhale! Inhale! Exhale!

The surrounding spiritual energy surged in once more.

-0.01...

No, the spiritual energy can’t go down this route—it’s not healthy. Change it.

+0.01...

That’s it!

As he made more and more adjustments, Henry Clark found that his lifespan was indeed steadily increasing, and he was filled with excitement.

Inside the human body, the meridians are complex. Even a master at the Grandmaster level would need years of relentless effort to modify a cultivation technique.

For ordinary people, it’s almost impossible!

It’s like heading to a destination, but every step brings dozens of forks in the road. Choose the wrong one, and all your previous efforts are wasted. In such a situation, even the most skilled would be lost. But for Henry Clark... no matter how many forks there are, as long as he sees +0.01, he knows he’s chosen the right path!

With this method, it took less than an hour for the entire “Turtle Origin Technique” to be completely revised.

Out of two hundred energy circulation routes, he actually changed ninety-seven of them... nearly half!

After finishing all the modifications, Henry Clark memorized the correct routes, assumed his stance again, and began cultivating.

Zzz zzz zzz!

The revised technique felt completely different from before. The movements were still slow, looking almost lazy, but the speed of spiritual energy absorption was on a whole new level!

Not only that, the tempering of muscles and organs was far superior to the “The Clark Family Qi Cultivation Technique.” In the blink of an eye, all the surrounding spiritual energy was absorbed, rapidly converging inside his body. The speed was so fast, it formed a funnel-shaped vortex.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

His muscles snapped crisply, like a whip cracking in the air.

“This is... Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound?”

Henry Clark was stunned.

At the peak of the third stage of Body Tempering, a martial artist’s muscles will emit roars like tigers and dragons, signaling an imminent breakthrough. In his previous life, he’d trained bitterly for five years at this stage and never achieved it...

Could it be that just practicing a health-preserving technique is enough?

“Let’s see how many times it’ll sound...”

He continued.

The first three martial stages—sensing qi and condensing breath—are just about perceiving and moving spiritual energy, like transporting materials to build a house. Body Tempering, though, is laying the foundation—the most crucial step.

Normally, three thunder sounds mean you can break through to the fourth stage, Spirit Valley. Four sounds mean exceptional talent and a solid foundation. Five sounds—only a genius can achieve that. As for six, that’s a once-in-a-century occurrence.

The clan’s ancestor who reached the Grandmaster level was at this tier. Currently, the best in the clan, his father Thomas Clark, only managed five sounds.

Henry Clark continued to use the revised Turtle Origin Technique, absorbing spiritual energy and tempering his body.

His organs churned again, and his muscles snapped once more.

Pa pa pa!

Another three sounds!

That made six in total... already at the ancestor’s level.

His eyes shone with excitement.

Whether the foundation is solid or not doesn’t matter much... The main thing is, when the thunder sounds rang out, he saw a string of +1, +1...

His lifespan soared!