Every Movement Was a Fist, Every Breath a Technique

The next morning, the sun had yet to break free of the horizon's restraint. The sky was still dark and gray, while tiny snowflakes drifted down slowly, laying a thin frost over the Martial Academy's blue-brick ground.

Wang Yue had already left early to avoid the others. He wore the new training uniform Xu Li had brought back the previous night. It was two sizes larger than his old one and could finally barely cover his more than 1.9-meter frame. The cuffs and trouser legs were still a little short, but they were enough for daily use.

He crossed the training grounds with light steps and headed straight for the Martial Academy's dining hall. After his gifted physique had remade his bones and constitution, his body's demand for energy had skyrocketed. When he restored his Blood Qi last night, his stomach had already been completely empty.

Pushing open the dining hall doors, he was met by a wave of heat mixed with the fragrance of meat. More than a dozen trays were neatly arranged atop a long wooden counter, each holding large chunks of braised beef, dark red in color and still faintly steaming.

There were whole roasted chickens as well, their skins golden and crisp, grease dripping from their surfaces.

There were stir-fried vegetables too, though the green was nearly impossible to see among them.

Wang Yue swallowed and hurried to the counter. Picking up a bowl and chopsticks, he first served himself a huge bowl of braised beef.

The moment the beef entered his mouth, its juices burst across his tongue. The meat was springy and firm, without the slightest toughness. Its supreme freshness brought a savory fragrance he had never tasted in his previous life. The Martial Academy used fresh ingredients every day.

Yet after one bite, his hunger was not eased in the slightest. Instead, it was thoroughly stirred awake. Wang Yue felt as if there were a bottomless pit in his stomach. This little beef was not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

He simply set down his bowl and chopsticks, lifted the tray of braised beef from the counter, and placed the entire thing on his own table. The tray was half a meter wide, and the beef within was piled like a small mountain.

The cooks in the kitchen saw the scene through the serving window and instinctively stopped working, but none dared to speak up and stop him. The Martial Academy's rules only required them to ensure every disciple received food. As for how much a disciple ate at once, or how they ate, no one interfered.

Wang Yue ignored the gazes around him and grabbed huge pieces of beef, stuffing them into his mouth. His teeth moved at astonishing speed. He barely chewed before swallowing it all into his stomach.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the tray of braised beef had been swept clean. Even the sauce at the bottom of the tray was mopped up with steamed buns and eaten clean.

He then reached for the tray of roasted chickens beside it, picked up one whole chicken, and bit down. The crisp skin mixed with tender chicken meat, filling his mouth with fragrance.

In my previous life, I think I saw someone perform "three bites for a whole pig." Here I was, actually turning it into "three bites for a whole roasted chicken." A strange thought flashed through Wang Yue's mind, but his hands did not stop. Even the tiny chicken bones were crushed between his teeth and swallowed. To Wang Yue, digesting chicken bones was no different from digesting meat.

Even after swallowing several whole roasted chickens and an entire tray piled with beef, his abdomen remained flat, barely swelling at all. It was as though the food he ate had instantly transformed into energy and silently merged into his body.

What he himself did not notice was that while he ate at high speed, his breathing rhythm had quietly changed. Every swallow was accompanied by a long inhalation.

Every chew corresponded to a short exhalation. Between each breath in and out, it perfectly matched the Harmonious Flow Fist's Breathing Method, even faintly carrying the rhythm of a Breathing Method at the highest level.

If Wang Shuo had been present and witnessed this scene, he would have been utterly shocked. Wang Yue's current state was precisely the martial path's exceedingly difficult realm of "every movement was a fist, every breath a technique." Even while eating, he unconsciously circulated the Breathing Method. This meant his comprehension of martial arts had already far surpassed disciples of the same level.

Only after sweeping through three trays of meat in succession did Wang Yue finally feel seven-tenths full. That panicked, starving sensation gradually faded away.

Seven-tenths full—just right for some rice porridge to settle his stomach.

He set down the last chicken carcass he had gnawed clean, walked over to the porridge barrel, picked up a large bowl, and ladled himself a brimming serving of millet porridge.

One bowl, two bowls, three bowls... Only after drinking the fifth bowl of porridge did Wang Yue set down his bowl. He wiped his mouth in satisfaction and let out a full belch. "I've never eaten so heartily before!"

He looked up at the small window in the corner of the dining hall where Blood Nourishing Soup was distributed.

"Too bad I won't get to drink the Blood Nourishing Soup until the day after tomorrow." Wang Yue smacked his lips regretfully, then turned to leave the dining hall. For the rest of the time, he planned to return to his room and continue restoring his Blood Qi, striving to extract Gifted Talent as soon as possible.

As for lunch, after thinking it over, he decided to have Xu Li bring him a portion. Although one portion brought by Xu Li would definitely not be enough for his current appetite, it was still better than cultivating on an empty stomach.

Wang Yue pushed open his door and had just returned to his room when he felt a warm ripple rise from his abdomen. The huge amount of meat he had eaten during the day was no longer merely the source of fullness. It had transformed into hidden energy, flowing slowly through his meridians like trickling streams, waiting for him to draw it out and refine it.

He sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed and lightly pressed his fingertips against his lower abdomen, silently calculating. The meat he had eaten in that meal was enough for an ordinary Martial Academy disciple for three days. The energy it converted into was not as pure as Blood Nourishing Soup, but it won in sheer quantity. All things considered, its nourishing effect was actually about the same as an ordinary disciple drinking one bowl of Blood Nourishing Soup.

"The enormous changes brought by this physique are only the tiniest tip of the iceberg." Wang Yue's lips curved upward. He did not waste any more time and immediately assumed the opening stance of the Harmonious Flow Fist, beginning his cultivation inside the room.

He first circulated the Harmonious Flow Fist's Breathing Method. The sound of his long inhalations echoed through the quiet room. With every breath in, he could draw the energy in his abdomen along his meridians and gather it into his Blood Qi. With every breath out, he compressed and condensed that energy, merging it into his seven strands of Blood Qi.

As the Breathing Method circulated, his fist stance slowly unfolded as well. He did not deliberately pursue speed or power. Instead, he paid particular attention to the transitions between moves and the coordination of his Blood Qi. After Gifted Talent remade his bones and constitution, his comprehension talent for fist techniques had greatly improved. Details that had once required repeated contemplation could now be mastered with only a little practice.

After completing one round of the Harmonious Flow Fist, Wang Yue did not stop. He switched to the first form of the Blood Dragon Secret Method and began regulating his Blood Qi.

After eating and cultivating throughout the day, most of the Blood Qi in his body had already recovered. The newly condensed seventh strand of Blood Qi had also stabilized considerably. When he circulated the Blood Dragon Secret Method, his Blood Qi moved nearly twice as fast as before, and the secret method's tempering effect on his Blood Qi became even more apparent.

From dawn until dusk, the sound of fists cutting through the air never ceased inside the room. Only when the sky beyond the window had fully darkened did Wang Yue stop moving and slowly exhale a breath of turbid air.

He wiped the thin sweat from his brow and felt the abundant Blood Qi within him, nodding in satisfaction. After a day of cultivation, not only had his Blood Qi fully recovered, but his seventh strand had also grown a little stronger. He was another step closer to the Blood Condensation Realm's eighth strand of Blood Qi.

But the moment he stopped cultivating, hunger struck him again. The high consumption brought by Gifted Talent far exceeded his expectations.

Wang Yue smiled helplessly, put on his outer robe, and once again slipped out under cover of night, heading straight for the dining hall. Fortunately, to make it easier for disciples cultivating at night to replenish their energy, the Martial Academy dining hall deliberately left behind some cooked food for disciples to take whenever they wished.

This time, he swept through another two trays of meat and several large bowls of rice before finally suppressing his hunger and returning to his room.

At midnight, when all was silent, Wang Yue lay on his bed without falling asleep. Instead, he continued circulating the Breathing Method.

In the dim room, his chest could clearly be seen rising and falling faintly with every breath.

When he inhaled, his body expanded slightly, as if drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him. When he exhaled, his body slowly contracted again, expelling the turbid air within. The entire process was natural and smooth, carrying a strange rhythm.

That day, he had deliberately controlled the intensity of his cultivation and had not overdrawn his body. The Blood Qi within him had remained full and perfectly balanced throughout.

The Blood Qi Wang Yue refined today was not used to cultivate the Blood Dragon Secret Method, but was instead fed into the panel.

Each strand of Blood Qi reduced the cooldown by three days. Three strands were invested today. Twenty days remained!

Feeling the full, perfectly balanced Blood Qi within his body, the corners of his mouth could not help but rise. "It seems that after practicing martial arts for so long, I've finally begun to see the first signs of success."

The energy he refined each day could now not only support his cultivation, but also greatly shorten the cooldown for extracting Martial Souls.

"I truly look forward to the day I finish extracting every talent.

How far will I have reached by then?"