Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Late Stage of Skin Refining
Clutching the chocolate, he returned home. His aunt, Tao Ying, had already left for her night shift. Yang Shen had the keen sense that his aunt’s work hours had been increasing recently.
’I wonder if it has anything to do with me quitting my job at the milk tea shop...’
’Sigh... One step at a time.’
Yang Mo and Yang Man were at the dining table doing their homework. With no Supplements to support their Martial Arts practice, no money for after-school tutoring, and no allowance to go out and play, their days were always dreary and dull.
After sitting down, Yang Shen glanced at his sisters’ math papers. He estimated it was ninth-grade material. ’Yang Mo and Yang Man really do have a talent for math,’ he thought.
He was the same way; he’d always been good at math since he was a kid. ’Too bad it’s only worth 70 points on the college entrance exam...’
Yang Shen first took out two glasses. To the puzzled gazes of Yang Mo and Yang Man, he pulled a bottle of "Source Energy Forest" from his schoolbag.
’Swiped it from Director Liang.’
Yang Mo and Yang Man’s expressions slowly came to life, and they finally broke into smiles. "Brother! You bought a drink?!"
Yang Shen gave a cool smile. "That’s not all. A drink is nothing."
He whipped out two chocolate bars. In that moment, Yang Shen’s figure seemed incredibly tall and grand.
At least two meters tall!
His two sisters finally beamed with joy. They jumped up and hugged Yang Shen. "Yay! Chocolate!"
Yang Shen placed his hands on his hips, enjoying his two little sisters’ adoration. The two little girls hung from his sturdy arms as he spun them around, and for a moment, the sound of their laughter was endless.
Their family had always been full of laughter, but after their Uncle passed away, a sound like this hadn’t been heard in the house for far too long.
After spinning them around a few times, Yang Shen set his sisters down. He pulled two 50-yuan bills from his pocket and pressed them into Yang Mo and Yang Man’s hands. This was money he had specifically set aside from the 800 yuan he’d earned at the milk tea shop.
Yang Mo and Yang Man were in the sixth grade. Yang Shen had been through elementary school himself. He knew that without a bit of spending money in your pocket, you couldn’t hold your head up high.
However, their reaction was strange. He had thought his smooth little combo would make Yang Mo and Yang Man dizzy with joy, but instead, his sisters’ smiles faded.
The bolder of the two, Yang Man, took Yang Shen’s hand. She gently pried it open and placed the money back in her brother’s palm.
Yang Shen asked, confused, "What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you have your own little stashes of cash? They should have run dry long ago, right?"
Yang Man shook her head. "No... Momo and I had saved up over 90 yuan, but we gave it all to Mom."
Yang Mo also shook her head. "We don’t spend money. We have breakfast and dinner at home, and lunch at school."
"That’s right, we don’t spend money anymore."
The two little girls returned to their seats. Looking at the opened "Source Energy Forest," they greedily picked up their glasses and savored it in small sips.
They smiled at Yang Shen as they drank, their little feet swinging restlessly under the table.
But they didn’t unwrap the two chocolate bars.
Yang Shen sighed. He pushed the two bills back in front of his sisters.
Kids also want to lighten the family’s burden, to even take on responsibility.
But if they actually have to, it means the adults have failed in their duty.
They say an elder brother is like a father. After his Uncle’s death, Yang Shen’s attitude toward his two little sisters had changed. They used to be "rivals" who would fight over snacks, but now, he had been forced to grow up.
Before getting the system, the best he had hoped for was to attend a vocational college, get a government subsidy, and earn enough to pay for his two sisters’ tuition.
Not everyone can become a "pillar of the state."
But a family, without any warning, will sometimes need a man to become its "supporting beam."
"Take the money. Just don’t spend it recklessly. But you should always have something for emergencies. If your aunt and I need it, we can ’borrow’ it from you, right?"
Yang Shen smiled. "Until then, you two are the Yang Family’s little treasury. With math skills as good as yours, don’t you dare miscalculate the accounts!"
Yang Mo and Yang Man were stunned for a moment, but they eventually accepted the money. They definitely wouldn’t spend it recklessly. They would keep it safe for their brother and mom.
"Brother, aren’t you going to your part-time job today?"
Yang Shen shook his head. "I’m not working part-time for now. I’ll come home to spend time with you every day, and then study at night."
He said he’d spend more time with his sisters, but in reality, Yang Shen couldn’t think of what to do for these few hours...
There was nothing to do at home, and everything outside cost money...
Caught between the options of tutoring them on their homework and playing house with them, Yang Shen slapped his thigh and made a decision: he would teach his sisters Cultivation!
Yang Shen didn’t have a way to check if they had a Spiritual Root yet, but teaching them some of the basics was no problem.
So, Yang Shen used the same story as before: he had stumbled upon a mysterious, century-old "Ancient Skill" at the school gate, and he would teach it to Yang Mo and Yang Man.
The three of them would keep it a secret for now. Once they made some real progress, they would give their aunt a surprise.
This story wouldn’t fool their aunt, but it was enough to completely bamboozle the two little girls.
Yang Shen tidied up the living room, and taught his two sisters the basic meditation posture along with some fundamental knowledge.
He didn’t just recite the Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique word-for-word. Instead, he translated it into terms a Cyan Blue Star People could understand.
And he limited it to the content of the first level.
Sure enough, Yang Mo and Yang Man soon found the sticking point.
"Brother, are you saying this ’Ancient Skill’... can absorb ’Source’ from thin air into the body?"
Yang Shen snapped his fingers. ’Just as I thought. This is the first question every Cyan Blue Star person has when they encounter Cultivation.’
For most Cyan Blue Star People, it was like a person being able to absorb "heat" from the air instead of needing to "eat."
Source, like heat, was everywhere, but there were very few ways the human body could utilize it.
Even an elementary schooler could understand that this was "unreasonable."
"Yes, that’s why I said this ’Ancient Skill’ is something special. Don’t make a big deal about it when you practice. Maybe one day it will be our Yang Family’s exclusive Cultivation Technique."
’It’s only the first level anyway. It’s better to talk it up a bit with kids. As long as it gets the job done.’
Unfortunately, however, from 8:00 to 11:00, right up until the children’s bedtime,
his two sisters failed to achieve any results.
Back then, Yang Shen had received it like an infusion from the system, as if he had practiced against a bot 1,000 times. But getting his two sisters to understand and digest the Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique was nowhere near as easy.
Yang Shen wasn’t worried. Even if it took a few years, he would slowly guide his sisters. Unless he could confirm they had no Spiritual Root... in which case, having them fully commit to "Martial Arts practice" wouldn’t be a bad alternative.
This was where the advantage of Cyan Blue’s Martial Arts became apparent... it wasn’t picky about who could practice it.
Aside from those with congenital disabilities, theoretically, everyone was qualified to practice Martial Arts.
The dividing line between a "Martial Arts Practitioner" and a "Non-Practitioner" wasn’t a complete lack of talent. It was more about "financial resources" and "selection."
In other words, it was a matter of return on investment. It wasn’t that they couldn’t practice, but that it wasn’t worth it.
But for Cultivation, if you didn’t have a Spiritual Root... it was impossible, no matter how hard you tried.
After getting his two sisters to brush their teeth and wash up, he herded them back to the bedroom.
With the lights off, Yang Mo and Yang Man lay in bed, the blanket pulled up over their little faces so only their eyes showed. In the dimness, they whispered, "Brother... are you coming back to sleep tonight?"
This was also Yang Shen’s bedroom. The family only had two rooms in total. The three of them had shared a bunk bed since they were little. The two sisters slept together on the larger bottom bunk, while Yang Shen slept alone on the top.
In the past, the two of them would often sneak up to his bunk in the middle of the night.
Yang Shen whispered back, "I’m not coming back. I have to cultivate the ’Ancient Skill.’ You two go to sleep."
Yang Mo and Yang Man nodded.
The two of them whispered in unison, "Brother..."
"Hm?"
"You can do it!"
Yang Shen smiled. He felt like his two sisters had regained some of their "liveliness."
After closing the door, the time from around 12:00 AM until the next morning was Yang Shen’s own Cultivation time.
He was now what you might call an "Immortal Martial Dual Cultivator." He replaced sleep with five hours of Cultivation, getting Spiritual Qi for free, and spent two hours practicing his punches to strengthen his Qi and Blood Value.
Today, however, he had a special project to undertake.
In the dim living room, Yang Shen didn’t even turn on the lights to save on the electricity bill.
’Cultivation doesn’t require sight.’
Yang Shen took a porcelain vial from his pocket. He tipped out a peanut-sized, jet-black Elixir Pill. A refreshing herbal fragrance filled the air.
’Let’s see what this is all about... I wonder if it tastes good.’
Yang Shen popped the Pill from his palm into his mouth. He immediately felt a current of "Source" gush out as a warm stream.
’Just as I thought. The Peiyuan Pill is similar to Cyan Blue’s "High-Source foods," and its effects seem to be far better than any food!’
He knew he shouldn’t waste any time. He quickly sat in a full lotus position, with his hands cupped before him as if holding the moon.
With each breath, he slowly began to circulate the Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique.
A faint, fluorescent glow emanated from Yang Shen’s eyes, hidden beneath his eyelids.
In the dead of night, his only companions were the cold floor and the chirping of insects outside the window...
He sat like that... without moving for five hours...
At 5:00 AM, at the buzzing alarm of his "Di Di Boy," Yang Shen opened his eyes.
He looked down, a hint of surprise in his eyes...
He had expected the gains to be significant, but not *this* significant...
He looked down... The Di Di Boy displayed...
Tonight, he had gained a total of 15 points of Qi and Blood Value.
His total had actually reached "92.4"...
Of these 15 points of Qi and Blood Value, around 5 came from absorbing it out of the air, while the remaining ten were all thanks to the Peiyuan Pill...
Yang Shen was secretly amazed:
’A single Peiyuan Pill can provide ten points of Qi and Blood Value... Even those expensive ’High-Source Supplements’ don’t have this kind of efficacy, do they?’
’Of course, this isn’t to say that Cyan Blue’s ’High-Source Supplements’ are completely inferior. After all, most ’High-Source Supplements’ can be mass-produced. Some popular versions have enormous sales volumes, selling hundreds of millions of bottles a year—enough to circle Cyan Blue two and a half times if you lined them all up.’
’But Alchemy is the noblest of the ’Hundred Skills of Cultivation.’ It requires not only a precious heritage but also talent...’
’If only the advantages of both sides could be combined...’
Yang Shen took out the vial of Peiyuan Pills. He thought, ’I’d better not eat them all. Who knows when I’ll get more. I should save a few to study their composition later when I have the chance...’
’Besides, my Qi and Blood Value is already increasing too quickly... A 5-point increase was fine before, and a dozen or so points was still acceptable.’
’If it shot up by a hundred points in a short time... I’m afraid someone would notice something was up.’
’I’ll take them slowly, or use them to help me break through bottlenecks when I hit a wall... I might not even be able to fully digest these 15 points of Qi and Blood Value today... It might take two or three days.’
Having made up his mind, the Peiyuan Pills became much more precious in Yang Shen’s eyes. He put them away carefully.
But then, he remembered something...
’A Qi and Blood Value of "92.4"... That means once I consolidate these unsettled gains...’
’I’ll have firmly stepped into the "late stage of Skin Refining."’
’And I’ll be sprinting toward the Bone Refining realm!’
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