Moves Like a Swimming Dragon, Strength Like a Fierce Tiger, Body Like Iron and Steel

Inside the rental house on the outskirts, Li Ye switched on the dim yellow hanging lamp. Looking at the piled-up rice, he spread his feet slightly, adjusted his breathing, and circulated the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate. He condensed his qi and blood until it formed a Skin Membrane. It lasted only an instant before he exhaled a stream of white vapor that reached no higher than his chest.

"That completely condensed the remaining qi and blood," Li Ye murmured.

With the Five Flavors Chopsticks, all the food he had eaten today had added 150 points of qi and blood. Including what he already had, he should have had 240.

But cultivating the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate had consumed a great deal.

A single circulation merely meant down 7, up 2. Two sets of circulation became down 18, up 2.5. But completing a full martial arts circulation was even more outrageous: his qi and blood dropped by 30, yet only rose by 3!

He had practiced quite a few times today. Whether he circulated normally or slowly, the decrease was the same—roughly the equivalent of six rounds, exactly 180. He had eaten for nothing all day and even lost a little qi and blood on top of it.

But the حساب could not be calculated that way. He fell first and then rose; the qi and blood he gained was the strength brought by the martial art.

He had lost 180, then gained 18. Those 18 points were the martial art's enhancement of his qi and blood.

This martial art required a tenfold conversion rate to cultivate!

As for the 60 points of qi and blood that had remained, they had also been converted during that circulation, becoming 6 points.

He now had only 24 points of qi and blood.

And it was the purest power of the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate.

The numerical representation of qi and blood was merely a convenience he had created for himself through his authority, allowing him to feel it more directly. It was not truly data.

Now that he wanted to continue advancing through martial arts, he naturally had to change his method.

"Condensing qi and blood with the purest martial art takes ten times as much as ordinary qi and blood. But if I follow this path and condense it until it surges, reaching the Nine Dragon Gate, I should be able to break through directly, and besides—"

He clenched his fist, a smile rising to his face. "I'll be very strong!"

It just meant he would need to eat even more.

These ten tons of rice had originally been meant to help him leap the dragon gate once more. But now, if he used martial arts to condense it, it could only add 30 points of qi and blood.

To break through the Second Dragon Gate, he would theoretically need a hundred tons of rice. That was truly beyond what he could afford.

Fortunately, he could mooch meals every day now, and his appetite could gradually increase as well. He could wait until he had enough qi and blood, then condense it all in one stroke and break through the Second Dragon Gate.

Rather than relying on pure qi and blood to break through, he would store it up as food for his martial arts.

"Time to eat!"

Li Ye tore open the bag of rice and began cooking.

The outskirts were exceptionally quiet at night. Only the dim yellow light from that single house shone out, along with a moving silhouette visible through the window.

For the days that followed, Li Ye kept strictly to his routine.

He ate first thing in the morning, circulated his martial art after eating, then followed Xu Yanwu's instruction and began practicing techniques.

In the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate, one's movement technique moved like a swimming dragon, while Lightness Skill required stepping on the air beneath one's feet and rising straight upward. This was harder than movement techniques. It was not simply jumping high, but stepping on the air one foot after another until one rose into the sky.

Before mastering it, he trained on the iron stakes arranged from low to high, leaping repeatedly as he grasped the feeling of stepping on air.

Though it was more difficult than movement techniques, it was actually the first thing Li Ye learned.

Lightness Skill placed greater emphasis on control over qi and blood, so it was not particularly difficult for Li Ye.

Even though he could initially only step on the air three times, that was merely because his realm limited him.

After he mastered the methods of movement techniques and Lightness Skill, Xu Yanwu began teaching him other moves.

The Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate used no weapons. It emphasized fists and feet, and its claw techniques were especially outstanding.

Whether dragon or tiger, both used claws.

This part was not difficult, but it required persistence. Once he grasped the techniques for exerting force and built muscle memory, then engraved them into his bones through long practice, the moves would be considered mastered.

Li Ye had even turned the Pest Control Bureau into part of his daily routine: practicing martial arts and eating, eating and practicing martial arts.

24, 40, 57, 75, 95, 120

His condensed qi and blood rose higher each day, and the food served to him also increased day by day. At night, he would return to the rental house and deal with the remaining rice as well.

Half a month after beginning martial arts training, Li Ye's qi and blood finally surged once more, breaking through to the Second Dragon Gate.

Under his numerical system, the qi and blood requirement from the Second Dragon Gate to the Three Dragon Gate became 450.

At noon that day.

Boom!

Above the iron stakes, a figure shot into the air at tremendous speed. His foot stamped the air hard enough to create a ring of air, allowing him to rise another level on the air itself. Once his left foot landed, his right foot immediately replaced it and stamped again, carrying him upward in succession.

Like a swimming dragon ascending into the heavens, stretching out its claws to tread upon clouds—yet the rings of air beneath his feet carried an explosive sense of power.

After shifting through the air seven or eight times, Li Ye twisted his body and landed lightly. He then slipped into the gaps between the iron stakes, winding through them like a snake. He rapidly passed through to the end, spun without the slightest pause, turned back, and struck an iron stake with a claw.

Creak!!

A dull crash mingled with a bizarre warping sound. A deep claw mark appeared in the iron stake, which was as thick as a thigh. The once-straight stake bent backward, showing just how tremendous the force had been.

Only then did the figure come to a halt. He exhaled a breath of turbid air through his nose, but unlike before, it did not turn into a jet of white vapor; his breath had merely become longer and deeper.

"Moves like a swimming dragon, strength like a fierce tiger, body like iron and steel. This is only the Second Dragon Gate, yet the signs are already emerging."

Pan Zhengyang, who had been watching from the side, clicked his tongue repeatedly and looked at Xu Yanwu. "I always thought you only started becoming monstrous at the Nine Dragon Gate."

"With pure martial arts condensation, the higher the realm, the fiercer it becomes. The Second Dragon Gate cannot be underestimated either."

Xu Yanwu said indifferently, "Besides, if it did not have this much power, you would not feel the sting of spending your money."

At that, Pan Zhengyang clutched his chest and put on a heartbroken expression.

"Li Ye, time to eat," Xu Yanwu said to Li Ye before the iron stakes without even looking at Pan Zhengyang.

"Coming, Master."

After regulating his breath for a moment, Li Ye smiled at the two men and walked over.

But he did not head toward the stone table. There were only a few dishes on it, meant for Pan Zhengyang and Xu Yanwu to eat together during Pan Zhengyang's visit.

As for his meal—

Li Ye walked over to a huge cauldron half as tall as a person. Taking out the Five Flavors Chopsticks with his right hand, he supported the bottom of the cauldron with his left and effortlessly lifted it up. Holding it directly before his face, he tilted the rim and used his chopsticks to guide the food into his mouth.

Starting two days ago, the place where Li Ye's food was served had changed from the broad stone table to a huge cauldron.

Just as Pan Zhengyang had once said, Li Ye's meals could now truly be called "Bell Chimes and Cauldron Feasts."

After so many days of pretense and gradually increasing his appetite, the two no longer prepared ingredients to aid digestion for him. Everything he ate now was hearty, substantial fare, mixed into one pot and cooked directly.

How it tasted did not matter. With the Five Flavors Chopsticks, even the most unpalatable food could become delicious.

Even two cigarette butts tossed inside would taste good!

The advantage of such a massive appetite was that after three meals a day, Li Ye could now increase his qi and blood by around 200 points, which translated into 20 points of martial arts progress.

The downside, though—

"He eats a hundred thousand yuan of mine every day."

Pan Zhengyang was not pretending to be heartbroken. He truly was heartbroken.

With his connections, obtaining these ingredients was not terribly expensive; they certainly did not cost as much as they would outside. But they were not cheap either. With Li Ye's appetite, he spent an average of one hundred thousand yuan a day.

"If this keeps going until the Nine Dragon Gate, I'll have to sell my collection," Pan Zhengyang cursed.

Money was not a problem. His family had a deep foundation; at worst, he could sell off some of the collectibles he had acquired in the past.

"Who said anything about reaching the Nine Dragon Gate?" Xu Yanwu said.

"Hm? If he does not reach the Nine Dragon Gate, you'll be dead soon. You have only this one successor—aren't you going to raise him properly?" Pan Zhengyang asked in surprise.

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "There's no need. A martial artist raised on handouts, no matter how strong, will still lack a certain drive. Besides, how long can you support him? Forget Martial Arts University—even if he enters a martial arts program, he will still need to undergo trials. The Three Dragon Gate will be enough. He'll be able to protect himself."

"Director Pan, you've helped me enough already."

While eating, Li Ye also looked up and joked, "If you keep helping me, too much favor will turn into enmity. If I can't repay you someday, I'll have to kill you."

"Get lost! Your feathers haven't even grown in yet, and you're talking about killing people? Do you have that kind of ability? Do you think this is our era back then?"

Pan Zhengyang rolled his eyes, then nodded and said to Xu Yanwu, "Fine, we'll listen to you. Three Dragon Gate it is."

Li Ye grinned, then lowered his head and continued devouring his food.

Director Pan's immense kindness could never be repaid.

He had given him a Magic Treasure, handled his troubles, let him collect a salary for nothing, brought him a master who taught peerless martial arts, and supplied him with three costly meals every day.

Li Ye had only done Pan Zhengyang a small favor, yet received such enormous returns. Even if a big shot like Pan Zhengyang did not care, Li Ye himself was deeply satisfied.

A person could not be so shamelessly greedy.

With authority and martial arts, would he be unable to find ingredients?

Were not most of these ingredients obtained from demons and monsters anyway?

And if all else failed, he could simply spend more time eating!