Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Fang He
The opening of the Yuan Absorption Form was somewhat similar to the Iron Bull Skill. Both involved adjusting one’s breathing rhythm to guide Qi Blood along a specific path.
The difference was the direction. The Iron Bull Skill focused on impacting the internal organs; each breath felt like a hammer striking an anvil, leaving the abdomen sore and bloated after practice. The Nourishing Essence Skill was the exact opposite. The Qi Blood flowed gently along the meridians and muscles, never rushing or colliding, like being immersed in warm water.
With the complete Spell guiding him in his mind, and having already gotten a rough feel for the first form’s framework, Li Yuan learned quickly.
In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, his Qi Blood could complete a full circuit following the path of the Yuan Absorption Form. Although it was still a bit stiff, it was smoother than when he had first practiced the Iron Bull Skill’s first form.
After practicing it a few times, Li Yuan didn’t pause, moving directly to the second form—Nourishing Breath.
The breathing rhythm of the Nourishing Breath Form was slower than the Yuan Absorption Form, and the path the Qi Blood traveled was longer and more drawn out. The focus was on allowing the Qi Blood to naturally nourish the muscles and tendons along the way as it flowed back from the extremities.
Without the infusion, just finding the correct nodes for the Qi Blood’s return flow would have taken several days of trial and error. The Spell in Li Yuan’s mind marked every node with perfect clarity; all he had to do was follow it.
The only problem was stamina.
Cultivating the Nourishing Essence Skill wasn’t as intense as the Iron Bull Skill, but its strength lay in its duration. Each form required maintaining Qi Blood circulation for a long time, so the stamina drain was gradual and cumulative.
Fortunately, the "Self-Generating Qi Blood" trait was always active. His Qi Blood recovered fifty percent faster than usual, so after a short rest following each form, most of his fatigue would vanish.
Under normal circumstances, this difference in recovery speed wouldn’t be significant. But during high-intensity, continuous cultivation, a fifty percent boost meant his rest time was drastically shortened, allowing for much denser practice sessions.
Li Yuan maintained a rhythm of practicing one form after another. Yuan Absorption, Nourishing Breath, Blood Nurturing—after completing the three forms with two short breaks in between, his stamina would quickly return to full.
Three hours later, Li Yuan concluded his practice and let out a long breath.
[Nourishing Essence Skill: Initiate (0/200)]
He had successfully reached the Initiate stage of the Nourishing Essence Skill. It was a bit slower than when he had started the Iron Bull Skill, but it was countless times faster than studying it manually.
After finishing his practice, Li Yuan didn’t get up immediately, instead remaining quiet for a moment to feel the changes.
The most direct change was that his Qi Blood was more abundant than before.
It wasn’t a matter of how much more he had, but that the way it flowed had changed. Before, when his Qi Blood circulated, it would weaken by the time it reached his extremities; his fingers and toes would occasionally feel cold. Now, the Qi Blood reached his fingertips with power to spare, and his entire body was warm from head to toe.
At the same time, he could perceive his own Qi Blood much more clearly.
Previously, when circulating his skill, he had to rely on a vague feeling to guess where his Qi Blood was going and how fast it was moving. Now, it was like he had a rough map; which channel the Qi Blood flowed through and where it weakened were all much clearer than before.
Li Yuan lay down and rested with his eyes closed for a while, then began to circulate the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
’Cultivation is the foundation of everything.’
In the morning, Li Yuan had just opened his eyes when he heard footsteps outside his wooden door.
This was followed by three knocks on the door, neither hurried nor slow.
Most of the people living in this area were peripheral Cultivators of the Wang family. They weren’t strangers to each other, but few would take the initiative to come knocking.
Li Yuan got up, unlatched the bolt, and pulled open the wooden door.
A stranger was standing outside.
He looked to be in his early thirties, with a medium build and broad shoulders. His skin was tanned dark, and a faint, old scar, already healed and turned white, ran across his cheekbone. He wore a set of plain, grayish-brown short clothes, neither new nor old, with the cuffs tied tightly and a sheathed short knife tucked into his belt.
’He isn’t from the patrol team or the administration office. At least, not anyone I know.’
The other man spoke first, cupping his hands in a fist-and-palm salute. "Apologies for the disturbance. My surname is Fang, name is Fang He. I just moved in next door."
Fang He turned slightly and gestured with his chin toward the wooden hut next door, which had been empty for a long time.
Li Yuan glanced over. The hut’s window was indeed open, and a worn-looking travel bag sat by the door.
’The administration office recently sent out a notice saying they would rent the empty houses in the residential area to Loose Cultivators. Looks like people are already moving in.’
"Li Yuan." He nodded in acknowledgment.
Fang He’s gaze paused for a moment on Li Yuan’s waist. As someone who frequented the market square, he naturally recognized the waist token.
"I just moved in, so I came over to say hello."
Fang He’s tone became a bit more serious.
Li Yuan took half a step back, leaning against the doorframe. He showed no intention of inviting him in, but he wasn’t turning him away either.
"I’m with a Demon Beast hunting team. The team ran into some trouble in the mountains and got scattered, so I came to the market square to stay for a while."
’A Demon Beast hunting team.’ Li Yuan’s interest was piqued.
Many Demon Beast hunting teams operated in the outer Yuanheng Mountain Range. They ranged from as few as three to five members to as many as a dozen, specializing in hunting Demon Beasts for Spirit Stones and materials. Among Loose Cultivators, they were a relatively organized group.
He’d heard a lot about hunting teams being scattered in the market square recently, but most of it was second or third-hand news, full of exaggerations.
"The rumors outside have been pretty wild recently, saying that large numbers of Demon Beasts are migrating out of the mountains and that several hunting teams have been wiped out," Li Yuan said.
Fang He scoffed and reached up to touch the old scar on his cheekbone.
"It’s serious, I’ll give you that. The Demon Beasts from the deep mountains are indeed pushing outwards, and their range of activity in the periphery is much larger than it was half a year ago. But as for a massive Demon Beast invasion and hunting teams being completely annihilated... it hasn’t gotten to that point."
Fang He paused, then lowered his voice.
"Of the teams that were wiped out, two of them heard that something valuable had appeared near a mineral vein deep in the mountains. They got greedy and rushed in recklessly, and never came out. Another team got into a fight with a rival hunting team over territory; after they finished off the Demon Beast, they started killing each other. Only one hunting team was actually wiped out because the increasing number of Demon Beasts led them to encounter several powerful ones at once."
"The teams that honestly stuck to hunting Demon Beasts in the outer regions didn’t suffer such heavy losses. In fact, some teams actually earned more because of the increased number of Demon Beasts."
Li Yuan leaned against the doorframe without replying, but in his mind, he was comparing this information with what he’d heard on the streets.
The rumors from the Loose Cultivators outside painted a picture of the sky falling in the Yuanheng Mountain Range, with hunting teams dying one after another.
Fang He described the situation as serious but controllable. There was a significant gap between the two accounts, but as someone who had experienced it firsthand, Fang He’s version was more credible.
"How did your team get scattered?" Li Yuan asked.
Fang He waved his hand dismissively. "Bad luck. We ran into a Unihorned Snake Badger that was about to break through to Tier Two. The thing was molting, so it was extremely irritable. We didn’t have enough people and couldn’t win, so the captain told everyone to scatter. One died, two were injured, and the rest of us fled on our own."
When he mentioned that one had died, Fang He’s tone was completely flat, as if he were commenting on the nice weather.
Li Yuan gave him another look.
’In the business of Demon Beast hunting, death is commonplace. To be able to speak of it in such a tone, a person is either used to it, or they’re just hard-hearted.’
"How long will you be staying in the market square?"
"Depends on the situation." Fang He stretched his neck. "Once things quiet down outside, the captain will find a few people to form a new team and head back into the mountains."
Li Yuan nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.
Fang He didn’t seem inclined to chat further either. He gave a fist-and-palm salute and turned to head back next door.
Li Yuan watched Fang He’s back as he entered the wooden hut next door, then closed his own door.
After resting for most of the morning, Li Yuan straightened his clothes and went out on patrol.
Li Yuan walked along East Street toward North Alley. When he reached the middle of the alley, a small stall set up against a corner caught his attention.
A clean white cloth was spread over the stall, on which sat several small bags of grain in various colors—some greenish, some pale yellow. There was also one bag of jade-white grains, plump and full, that emitted faint fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.
White Jade Rice.
Li Yuan’s steps faltered for a moment.
The last time he’d seen White Jade Rice was when he was collecting rent in the Spirit Field District. Uncle Wang had given him a bundle, but he’d had to turn it all in later, receiving ten percent of its market value in Spirit Stones.
At the time, the system had detected that White Jade Rice could be equipped. The trait was "Five Grains Qi Nourishing," and it could boost stamina recovery and Qi Blood.
The stall owner was a middle-aged woman in her forties, dressed plainly with an honest face. She looked like a Spirit Farmer from the Spirit Field District.
Li Yuan crouched in front of the stall and picked up the bag of White Jade Rice, weighing it in his hand.
Translucent text floated before his eyes:
[Detectable Equippable Item: White Jade Rice (Requires one jin)]
[Trait Preview: Five Grains Qi Nourishing (White) — Increases stamina recovery speed by fifty percent, significantly increases Qi Blood.]
[Permanence Condition: Consume a total of 10 jin of the same type of Spirit Grain.]
[Current Equipment Slots (2/2). Replace currently equipped item?]
The advantage of Spirit Grains like White Jade Rice was that they could be stored for a long time. Unlike pills, which had expiration dates, a Spirit Grain’s quality wouldn’t degrade for a year or two as long as it was stored properly.
"How much for the White Jade Rice?"
The middle-aged woman held up one finger. "One Spirit Stone per jin."
’A bit more expensive than before.’ The bundle Uncle Wang had given him during the last rent collection was estimated at about half a Spirit Stone per jin at market price. The price had nearly doubled.
’Herbal medicine prices went up, and Spirit Grain prices followed. Nothing has been spared.’
Li Yuan felt the Spirit Stones in his sleeve. After a moment’s thought, he took one out and handed it over.
’White Jade Rice can be stored. It’ll be useful eventually.’
The middle-aged woman took the Spirit Stone, carefully weighed out one jin from a bag on her stall, wrapped it in Oil Paper, and handed it to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan put the White Jade Rice in his sleeve, got up, and left.
By the time he finished the rest of his patrol route, the sun was already starting to set in the west.
Li Yuan returned to his residence, sat on his bed, and began to cultivate.
Four hours later, with a thought from Li Yuan, the panel appeared.
The cooldown for the Iron Bull Skill was over.
[Equipment Unequipped: Nourishing Essence Skill]
[Self-Generating Qi Blood (White) trait is temporarily disabled.]
[Note: After unequipping, the same piece of equipment cannot be re-equipped for twenty-four hours.]
A book appeared in his palm out of thin air. The feeling of being immersed in warm water faded from his body, and the speed of his Qi Blood recovery slowed down perceptibly.
Li Yuan took out the Iron Bull Skill book.
[Cooldown for this equipment has ended. It can now be re-equipped.]
’Equip.’
The book dissolved into light and merged into his body. The five forms of the Iron Bull Skill’s Spell became clear in his mind once again.
Deep within his abdomen, that familiar warmth surged again, enveloping his internal organs—resilient and dense.
’The Organ Fortification is back.’
[Current Equipment Slots: 2/2]
[Equipped Items: Meridian Opening Pill, Iron Bull Skill]
[Acquired Traits: Circadian Acceleration (White), Organ Fortification (White), Spiritual Qi Filtration (White) (Permanent), Cleansed Body (Gray) (Permanent)]
Everything was back to normal.
Without delay, Li Yuan stood still in his room and practiced the first four forms of the Iron Bull Skill. His Qi Blood washed over his internal organs, and with the boost from Organ Fortification, each form was smoother than it had been the day before.
After finishing the Iron Bull Skill, Li Yuan practiced the first three forms of the Nourishing Essence Skill twice from memory.
Without the boosting infusion from having it equipped, the details of the Spell were indeed a bit hazy. He had to make repeated adjustments to find the right Qi Blood nodes for the third form, Blood Nurturing. But the foundation he’d built from reaching the Initiate stage was still there, so it wasn’t like he was completely lost, as he had been when first studying it from the book.
After practicing the two mortal-grade Cultivation Techniques, Li Yuan sat down cross-legged and began circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
Spiritual Qi entered his body, pure and free of impurities, and his cultivation cycles spun rapidly.
The three white-grade traits each performed their function: Spiritual Qi Filtration removed impurities, Circadian Acceleration sped up the circulation, and Organ Fortification provided a stable foundation.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian was abundant, though still some distance from being full. Every cycle brought a tangible increase in his Spiritual Power.
Outside the window, twilight deepened. The only sound in the wooden hut was the rhythm of even breathing.
With a thought, the panel appeared:
[Iron Bull Skill: Initiate (170/200)]
[Nourishing Essence Skill: Initiate (14/200)]
Both Cultivation Techniques were progressing steadily.
Li Yuan closed the panel and continued his cultivation.
