Coming Into His Own

Should he begin cultivating now?

Looking at the prompt in his Supernatural Ability vision, Lu Qing chose yes this time.

The next moment, a flood of information surged into his mind.

All manner of insights into the Body Nourishing Fist rose within him like enlightenment poured straight into his head.

Combined with his master's earlier guidance at the Half-Mountain Courtyard, Lu Qing began practicing the Body Nourishing Fist almost instinctively.

First form, second form, third form...

His master seemingly had not named the individual moves of this set of Body Nourishing Fist, so Lu Qing could only refer to them by order.

He practiced slowly and somewhat clumsily. After completing the ninth form, he was just about to perform the tenth when a wave of soreness swept through his body.

Though he knew every key point of the tenth form's cultivation in his mind, putting it into practice with his body proved exceedingly difficult.

Lu Qing recalled his master's warning and understood that the moves beyond the ninth form were not something his current body could withstand.

If he forced himself to practice them, he would likely injure his body instead.

He immediately stopped attempting the tenth form and returned to the first.

Thus, Lu Qing practiced the first through ninth forms of the Body Nourishing Fist over and over.

Guided by the insights in his mind, his movements gradually changed from clumsy to smooth.

If someone had been watching from the side, they would have noticed.

When Lu Qing performed the set for the first time, his movements were still extremely stiff. Even his forms came out crooked and slanted, and he could barely keep his footing.

But by the second time through, his movements had clearly become more connected, and his forms much more proper.

By the third time, they had begun to take shape, no longer looking so awkward.

The fourth time...

The fifth time...

With every round Lu Qing practiced, he made progress visible to the naked eye.

By the ninth round, his forms had become exceptionally fluid. Each move flowed naturally into the next, his movements precise and pleasing to the eye.

It was as though he had immersed himself in this fist art for a long time already.

When he finished the ninth round, inspiration suddenly struck him. Rather than continuing, he slowly drew the form to a close.

Once he had finished, Lu Qing exhaled a breath of hot air.

His breathing felt smooth, his mind calm, and warmth spread throughout his entire body, leaving him deeply comfortable.

Delight filled his heart. He knew that he had finally grasped a little of the knack behind the first through ninth forms of the Body Nourishing Fist.

So long as he continued practicing without fail, he should be able to enter the Qi Blood Realm his master had spoken of before long.

At the same time, Lu Qing also gained some understanding of how his Supernatural Ability's technique-simulation function worked.

To put it plainly, even after the Supernatural Ability successfully simulated a technique, it could not allow him to directly master that technique.

Rather, it guided him by presenting the essential points and insights of the technique's cultivation in his mind.

This allowed him to use those insights to comprehend the technique more quickly.

But if he wanted to truly master it and make the skill part of his body, he still had to personally put in the bitter effort of cultivation.

Just like now, his mind held a great many cultivation insights regarding the Body Nourishing Fist.

Yet he still needed to practice it again and again before he could digest those insights and strengthen himself.

"Grrr..."

A rumble came from Lu Qing's stomach.

Feeling the hunger in his belly, he knew that his earlier fist practice had drained his body considerably.

Recalling his master's previous instructions, he returned to the house and took down a strip of cured meat he had made some days ago.

He then pulled a river fish weighing roughly two or three jin from the bucket in the kitchen, one he had caught only yesterday.

After that, he went into the courtyard and picked a handful of wild vegetables.

The greens he had planted some time ago had only just poked up a small stretch of green shoots. Otherwise, he would not have needed to eat wild vegetables.

With all the ingredients ready, Lu Qing began preparing the meal.

He first washed the pot and steamed some rice. Once the rice was nearly done, he began cooking the dishes.

Before long, a plate of Wild Vegetable Stir-fried Cured Meat and Steamed Fish were ready.

Just as he placed the food on the table, he saw Xiao Yan emerge from her room, rubbing her eyes.

"Xiao Yan, you're awake. Are you hungry? Big Brother was just about to wake you."

The little girl touched her stomach and answered seriously, "I think I'm hungry."

"Then come eat if you're hungry," Lu Qing said with a smile.

Children truly were remarkable. Before going to sleep, she had clearly eaten pastries at his master's place.

Yet she had barely slept for any time at all before she was already saying she was hungry.

Only after a bowl of rice entered his stomach did Lu Qing feel his hunger ease somewhat, and he let out a long breath.

Other than those first two days after waking up, he had not felt this hungry in a long while.

One could well imagine just how much energy his earlier fist practice had consumed.

At this meal, Lu Qing ate several bowls of rice and cleaned every last bit of the dishes, leaving nothing behind.

After eating, Lu Qing followed his usual routine and reclined in the lounge chair, digesting his food while thinking things over.

A great deal had happened today, and he needed to sort it all out.

First was the change in his status.

He had finally become the Old Doctor's disciple. With this identity, he at last had a sliver of foundation in this Otherworld.

He no longer drifted like duckweed without roots, unaware of how he ought to walk the road ahead.

Second was the information about Martial Artists that his master had told him.

The Martial Artists of this world were even more powerful than Lu Qing had imagined.

From his master's descriptions alone of Martial Artists at the various levels of the Acquired Realm, Lu Qing could tell that they were practically inhuman, each possessing astonishing strength and formidable survival abilities.

Not to mention the Innate Realm Experts at even higher levels.

From what his master had said, Innate Realm Experts seemed to be beings capable of suppressing an entire nation's Destiny Fortune.

Martial arts could actually allow an individual to cultivate to such terrifying heights. It was impossible for Lu Qing not to yearn for it.

Thus, he decided that in the days ahead, he would focus primarily on martial cultivation, with the study of medicine as a secondary pursuit.

After all, he possessed a Supernatural Ability. Balancing both was not difficult for him.

Since he intended to train in martial arts, he needed to consider all other matters thoroughly as well.

After that meal just now, Lu Qing estimated that as his mastery of the Body Nourishing Fist gradually deepened, his appetite would likely grow greatly once he officially entered the Qi Blood Realm.

If that happened, the nutrition in his daily meals would have to keep up.

As the saying went, scholars could be poor, but martial artists had to be rich. Maintaining the daily consumption required for martial training would surely cost no small amount.

He wondered how long the silver earned from selling the Red Moon Carp would last.

Lu Qing decided that in a few days, he would go to the Strange Fish Fishing Spot again and try his luck.

If his luck was good and he could catch another one or two rare fish, then he would not need to worry about money.

After thinking through these matters, Lu Qing finally remembered the original owner's parents.

Judging from Grandpa Zhang's words, the deaths of the original owner's parents clearly concealed another truth.

However, Lu Qing had no plans to investigate the matter for the time being.

Unless he achieved something in martial cultivation and became strong enough in the future, he might look into the truth for Xiao Yan's sake.

For now, he should first live his own life in peace.

After pondering in the lounge chair for a while, Lu Qing had considered everything that came to mind.

Feeling that he had more or less finished digesting his meal, he finally took out the book his master had given him before he descended the mountain.