Three notifications popped up in succession, and Gu Shao'an stopped cultivating after exhausting all his inner force.
Looking at the three notifications before him, Gu Shao'an felt a warm glow in his heart.
Having a cheat really was nice.
Looking again at the proficiency of the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, Gu Shao'an was not surprised.
It was, after all, a superior martial art. Even with the Sudden Enlightenment trait effect triggered, it was impossible to reach the heavens in a single step.
Gu Shao'an's body was young to begin with, brimming with vitality. Even after cultivating until he was drenched in sweat, he did not feel tired in the slightest.
However, practicing martial techniques also consumed inner force, and the more profound the martial art, the greater the expenditure of inner force during training.
Gu Shao'an did not have much inner force to begin with, and this half hour of training had nearly depleted the inner force in his dantian.
But that also made it the best time to cultivate an internal cultivation method.
Gu Shao'an promptly sat cross-legged where he was, and the Original Inner Force within his dantian began to circulate slowly.
Congratulations, player. You have practiced the breathing technique for half an hour. Achievement Points +1.
A thought stirred in Gu Shao'an's mind.
Emei Nine Yang Skill First Level (Beginner): Proficiency: 73/100.
At his current pace, in another two days, Gu Shao'an's Emei Nine Yang Skill First Level would enter the realm of Lesser Mastery.
Yet the inner force in his dantian still could not be considered abundant.
It had only just reached one hundred strands, and its rate of growth was not particularly fast.
Only by raising the proficiency of his internal cultivation method and practicing the subsequent methods could he accelerate the efficiency of condensing inner force.
"Grrr~"
Just as thoughts raced through Gu Shao'an's mind, a faint sound suddenly came from his stomach.
The hunger that felt as though he had gone nearly a day without eating made Gu Shao'an rub his belly.
"Junior Brother."
At that moment, Zhou Zhiruo's cheerful voice reached Gu Shao'an's ears.
She hurried toward Gu Shao'an with a wooden tray in her hands.
On the tray were several dishes and steamed buns.
Seeing this, Gu Shao'an froze briefly before quickly rising and taking the tray from Zhou Zhiruo.
Before Gu Shao'an could speak, Zhou Zhiruo, her forehead beaded with fine sweat, said softly, "Third Senior Sister noticed earlier that you were cultivating and guessed you might be hungry, Junior Brother, so she had someone from the sect bring you some food."
Hearing this, Gu Shao'an looked around, but did not see Bei Jinyi anywhere.
Guessing Gu Shao'an's thoughts, Zhou Zhiruo smiled and said, "Third Senior Sister has already returned to her own courtyard to cultivate."
Gu Shao'an said, "I did not expect Third Senior Sister to be so thoughtful."
Zhou Zhiruo nodded. "Though Third Senior Sister is not the strongest, she is the most attentive and gentle, and the most approachable. You will understand once you have known her longer."
As she spoke, Zhou Zhiruo sat beside Gu Shao'an and simply watched him eat.
Gu Shao'an did not stand on ceremony and began eating right in front of Zhou Zhiruo.
In the martial world, it was commonplace for martial artists in inns or restaurants to order several pounds of meat at a time.
That was because condensed inner force came from a person's Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and every thread of inner force refined consumed a portion of one's own energy.
As a result, martial artists often ate far more than ordinary people.
If the energy replenished from outside was insufficient, the progress of cultivation would inevitably be affected as well.
Although the amount of food Gu Shao'an ate was not particularly large, the porridge had medicinal herbs mixed into it and could also restore vitality.
Young men were still growing and naturally had large appetites.
Not to mention that Gu Shao'an was starving at the moment.
In less than a quarter of an hour, he had cleaned every last bit from the tray.
After Gu Shao'an finished eating, Zhou Zhiruo took a pill bottle from her robes.
"Inside are Emei's Qi Recovery Pills. Third Senior Sister said they are all refined from medicinal ingredients and are specifically for internal cultivation. From now on, Junior Brother, take one whenever you cultivate your inner arts, and it will prevent the depletion caused by condensing inner force."
"Other Emei disciples receive a fixed monthly allotment, but we do not have such restrictions. Once we run out, we can simply collect more from the pharmacy."
Hearing the effects of the Returning Origin Pill, Gu Shao'an's eyes lit up.
With this item, he could save quite a bit of time.
He then smiled. "Thank you, Shijie."
Zhou Zhiruo shook her head, her little face full of seriousness. "I am your shijie, so taking care of you is only natural. Junior Brother, do not say such formal words again in the future."
Even after the upheaval in her family and the hardships of learning martial arts, Zhou Zhiruo's heart remained pure and kind, her childish innocence not yet faded.
Who could dislike such a considerate, innocent, and beautiful shijie?
Gu Shao'an also knew that Zhou Zhiruo had wanted to come play with him every day these past few days.
But because he was cultivating, she had not dared disturb him.
Therefore, Gu Shao'an chatted with Zhou Zhiruo about all sorts of things for a while, then taught her a childlike nursery rhyme. Only then did she leave with light steps, carrying the wooden tray.
After Zhou Zhiruo left, Gu Shao'an rose once more and continued cultivating.
The sun rose in the east and set in the west. The mountains remained the same, the rivers and lands remained the same, and so did the wind.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside the room, Gu Shao'an sat cross-legged in blue-and-white robes, a jade belt around his waist, his inner force continuously circulating according to the first level of the Emei Nine Yang Skill.
After a month of arduous cultivation, compared with the wisps of inner force within him a month ago, faint and sparse as clouds and mist, Gu Shao'an's inner force was now like curling smoke, stronger by an immeasurable amount.
Although every person possessed the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principal Meridians, like the veins of leaves, they might seem identical but in truth contained subtle differences.
All internal cultivation methods in the world had been created by predecessors according to their own circumstances. Since later practitioners had different meridians, the effects of cultivation naturally varied as well.
Yet with the proficiency panel, Gu Shao'an could continuously make adjustments based on the amount of proficiency gained after each cultivation session, allowing his inner force to achieve the optimal effect when circulating according to the Emei Nine Yang Skill.
Naturally, his cultivation efficiency could also become higher.
As his inner force circulated slowly, Gu Shao'an condensed several more strands of inner force.
However, as these strands appeared, a Hidden Meridian near his Hand Lesser Yin Heart Meridian seemed to reach the limit of its endurance and was forcefully blasted open.
With this Hidden Meridian opened, the circulation speed of the inner force within Gu Shao'an's body abruptly increased severalfold.
A notification also appeared before Gu Shao'an.
Congratulations, player. Emei Nine Yang Skill First Level has successfully entered the Perfection realm. Achievement Points +500.
A moment later, as the Original Inner Force successfully entered this Hidden Meridian and thoroughly opened it, subtle changes quietly occurred each time the inner force within Gu Shao'an's body completed a cycle.
If someone could inject true qi into Gu Shao'an's body, they would certainly discover that the inner force inside him had begun condensing into thread after thread that seemed almost tangible.
This was precisely the Inner Force Threads that appeared only after the Emei Nine Yang Skill First Level reached Perfection.
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