はたから見て、俗な言い方をすれば、自分は、淫売婦に依って女の修行をして、しかも、最近めっきり腕をあげ、女の修行は、淫売婦に依るのが一ばん厳しく、またそれだけに効果のあがるものだそうで、既に自分には、あの、「女達者」という匂いがつきまとい、女性は、(淫売婦に限らず)本能に依ってそれを嗅ぎ当て寄り添って来る、そのような、卑猥で不名誉な雰囲気を、「おまけの附録」としてもらって、そうしてそのほうが、自分の休養などよりも、ひどく目立ってしまっているらしいのでした。
I am confused about the parts marked in the bold.
...淫売婦に依って女の修行をして ...
Can I translate 「女の修行」as 'learning about women' ?
... 淫売婦に依るのが一ばん厳しく、またそれだけに効果のあがるものだそうで ...
What does「依る」signify here ? I understood this as 'according' (to the prostitutes)
Would the above be a close to correct translation of the block of Japanese text ?
My translation for the above sentence If you look closely, to put it in layman terms, the prostitutes thought I was learning about women. On top of that, I got remarkably good recently. According to the prostitutes, learning about women from prostitutes is a really difficult thing in itself but getting good only through that was quite something. Soon, I was getting followed by women. As if by instinct (not limited to prostitutes), women would sniff me out and try to get close to me. That kind of indecent and shameful atmosphere was so called "service" from them. It was more of an eyesore than a break to get away from it all.
Thank you :)