Drawing Blood

As the only son in his family, Wu Ming was also the recipient of everyone's hopes. For years, his family had saved up, and starting from when he was sixteen, they supplied him with abundant food. Although meat was almost never on the menu, he was generally able to eat his fill of ordinary grains every meal.

Wu Ming, naturally, wouldn't waste such an opportunity. From the age of sixteen until now, a full year and a half, he had barely left his home, never venturing outside the village. He dedicated himself entirely to martial arts, striving to condense pure yang blood energy.

However, reality was ultimately different from imagination.

During this year and a half, despite practicing with all his might, Wu Ming had remained largely stagnant.

Clan leader Wu Qu had once told him that for ordinary impoverished families like theirs, condensing pure yang blood energy and stepping onto the threshold of martial arts was exceedingly difficult. This was due to a lack of money, insufficient meat supplements, and no funds for medicinal recipes that replenished blood energy. Therefore, to condense blood energy, one could only rely on their own physique, what was known as 'aptitude.'

According to Wu Ming's careful understanding, this so-called aptitude wasn't about bone structure or anything like that, but rather a more direct ability: 'digestion and absorption.'

Ordinary poor people lacked money and meat supplements. To condense blood energy, they naturally had to draw sufficient nutrition from ordinary grains. Thus, those with stronger digestion and absorption abilities found it easier to condense blood energy, while those with weaker abilities found it harder.

In the entire Wu Village, with over a hundred households, almost every male descendant would attempt martial arts and condense blood energy upon reaching sixteen. However, those with truly exceptional talent who managed to cultivate blood energy were few and far between, less than one in a hundred.

At least the Wu Ming of this life was not among those with exceptional talent.

He took some coarse grains from a cloth bag.

Wu Ming retrieved another shriveled cloth bag from the side of his bed. He then felt inside and pulled out several dried large red dates. He weighed the few remaining red dates in the bag and shook his head almost imperceptibly.

He thought about his previous life. Although he was also a nobody at the bottom, he hadn't reached the point where he couldn't afford meat. Even red dates were precious items in his family, solely for his consumption. Moreover, his cultivation had remained stagnant for a year and a half, which was bound to be disheartening.

A moment later.

A pot of mixed grain porridge was cooked.

Liu Shi and Wu Yu each took only a small bowl. As for the few red dates, they didn't touch them at all, leaving them all for Wu Ming.

Looking at the red dates in his bowl, Wu Ming had a jumble of thoughts. Perhaps he truly lacked aptitude in this life, and maybe he shouldn't pursue martial arts. If he had simply worked diligently and thought of ways to earn money, he might have been able to improve their living situation.

However, these thoughts were fleeting.

Not to mention that his family had scrimped and saved to support his martial arts practice for over a year and a half. Even if he felt the chances were slim, his family wouldn't let him give up. Furthermore, he had the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in his mind, whose origins were unknown, making it even less likely for him to be resigned to an ordinary life.

After the meal.

Wu Ming went out into the courtyard alone. Facing the rising sun, he stood tall, one hand hanging down to support his dantian, the other raised high above his head. Simultaneously, his left knee was slightly bent, and his right leg was raised horizontally, resting above his left knee, assuming the posture of the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance.

The Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance was a basic stance that helped in drawing and condensing blood energy. In this world, it was practically universally practiced. Generally, regardless of status, martial arts training began with this stance.

"Drawing blood as a foundation, pure yang dispels evil."

After assuming the stance, Wu Ming closed his eyes and recited the incantation in his heart.

The incantation of the stance itself didn't have any direct effect, but it contained profound truths of martial arts cultivation. The so-called "dispelling evil" wasn't about vanquishing external demons, but rather about viewing one's own distracting thoughts and emotions as demons. Using the stance as a foundation, one suppressed these distracting thoughts, concentrated their mind, and sensed the rhythm of their own qi and blood, drawing it in to condense blood energy.

Martial arts cultivation in this world was based on nurturing blood energy. Once a surge of pure yang blood energy could be condensed, it could serve as a foundation to slowly temper the body, greatly improving one's physique. Ordinary individuals, even three to five of them, would find it difficult to get close, and with a sharp weapon, one could even battle demonic creatures.

Powerful strength was the root of the starkly different status of martial artists.

And so, Wu Ming maintained his stance, completely still, as if he had merged with his surroundings. Unknowingly, his own thoughts seemed to vanish, his perception of the outside world completely erased, and all his senses withdrawn inward.

At this moment, Wu Ming could clearly sense his heartbeat. With each beat, blood flowed through his body, and at the same time, surges of vigorous blood energy erupted. However, this blood energy was completely uncontrollable, scattered, and unable to be condensed.

"Condense blood, draw qi."

Wu Ming's will converged into a single point, attempting to guide the scattered blood energy within him, bit by bit, to gather and collect, then direct it towards his dantian in the abdomen. The entire process was like dragging a cart through mud, arduous to the extreme.

After an unknown amount of time, Wu Ming's eyes suddenly snapped open. He instantly felt his strength drain away, and he collapsed onto the ground, sweat pouring down like rain. In just a moment, his inner garment was completely soaked with sweat.

"So close, always so close."

Wu Ming sat on the ground, gasping for breath. After a short while, he finally recovered his breath, his brows furrowed tightly.

As long as he could smooth out the scattered qi and blood throughout his body, guide and gather it, and return it to his dantian, he would have completed the first stage of blood condensation and stepped onto the threshold of martial arts. However, he always got stuck at the final step of returning it to the dantian.

The movement of qi and blood incurred losses. Every time he gathered qi and blood and transported it to his dantian, the excessive loss prevented him from completing the final step, causing it to dissipate outside the dantian.

"My aptitude shouldn't be among the absolute worst. Judging by my current situation, I'm always just one step away. If I had a medicinal recipe to nourish qi and blood, or some meat rich in qi and blood, I might have a chance to break through."

Wu Ming repeatedly reviewed his entire cultivation process.

If his aptitude were truly terrible, he wouldn't even be able to gather qi and blood. If his aptitude were exceptionally high, he would have easily condensed blood. His current situation seemed to be somewhere in the middle, neither here nor there.

If he had been born into a wealthy family in the city, or even a slightly more well-off family, perhaps he would have already completed blood condensation and entered the realm of martial arts. But unfortunately, in this life, he was born into an impoverished family. Being able to fill his stomach every meal and also have a few extra red dates was already the limit of his family's capabilities, and even maintaining that was somewhat difficult.

"Should I find a way to get some meat?"

As the thought crossed his mind, Wu Ming recalled the tragic death of Wu Sijiu and couldn't help but shake his head again.

For ordinary people like him who hadn't condensed blood energy, venturing into the mountains or going to the distant river was extremely dangerous. Moreover, meat wasn't something that guaranteed success after just one meal; it would at least require a period of consistent consumption.

Only those special medicinal recipes for nourishing qi and blood might help him succeed with a single dose. But the problem was that such recipes were far too expensive. He had once asked Wu Qu, and Wu Qu had said that the cheapest nourishing recipe would cost at least forty taels!

Forty taels of silver was almost equivalent to two to three years' worth of food for a family of four.

Practicing martial arts, was burning money!

These were the exact words of Clan Leader Wu Qu.

Wealthy families could burn money to accumulate blood energy, but the poor could only rely on their own bone structure and aptitude.

Wu Ming pondered for a long time but still had no profitable ideas. The main reason was that this world was vastly different from his previous life, as evident from aspects like martial arts, blood energy, and demons. Much of his prior knowledge was not applicable here.

Moreover, even if there were applicable knowledge, as a commoner, any ideas he came up with would only be exploited by others.

In a world where strength reigned supreme, only power was fundamental.

"Hoo."

After resting for a moment, Wu Ming stood up, walked to the water vat, picked up the ladle, and gulped down a large drink.

Drinking raw water was common sense in his previous life, but the current Wu Ming was helpless. This wasn't his previous world, and to boil water, he needed fire, and to make fire, he needed firewood.

Here, the mountains and rivers were all claimed by owners. Cutting firewood on the mountain required payment. For wealthy families, this small amount of money might not be much, but for the poor who couldn't even afford to eat, boiling water was a luxury they couldn't afford.

Wu Ming knew this was not ideal, but he could only ignore it. After all, once pure yang blood energy was cultivated, one's qi and blood would be full, and they would be immune to illness. Conversely, if they couldn't cultivate it, their lives would be spent in poverty and struggle, making such concerns trivial.

As his thoughts shifted, Wu Ming recalled the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in his mind.

He felt this diagram must have an extraordinary origin. If he could borrow its power, escaping his current predicament would likely be effortless. However, every night when he slept, he tried to explore and study it but could never grasp the key.

A moment later.

Wu Ming shook his head, casting aside the chaotic thoughts. He glanced at the water in the vat, which was only a shallow layer.

"There's not much water left. I'll go fetch some while it's still light."

He looked at the sun, then immediately grabbed his shoulder pole, slung two old wooden buckets over it, and walked towards the back of the village.

Behind Wu Village, there was a well. The village's daily water supply relied mainly on this well. Only when large amounts of water were needed for washing clothes would they go to the nearby river in front of the village. Although that river had an owner and was patrolled daily, only fishing and gathering were prohibited.

Soon.

Wu Ming arrived behind Wu Village.

Besides him, there was a young man of similar age by the well, also carrying two old wooden buckets. Seeing Wu Ming approach, the young man smiled honestly and greeted him.

"Brother Wu Ming, you're here to fetch water too."

"Mm."

Wu Ming nodded slightly and said, "I heard the clan leader has been mentoring your training recently? How's it going?"

The young man before him had grown up in Wu Village with him and was familiar to him. He also bore the surname Wu, with the given name 'Zhong'. However, Wu Zhong's family was closer to the clan leader, Wu Qu. Wu Qu was Wu Zhong's paternal uncle, hence the different treatment they received from Wu Qu.

As for Wu Ming, Wu Qu had only imparted the stance and mental cultivation methods for guiding qi and blood, offering minor guidance. But for Wu Zhong, he personally taught him, basically mentoring him every day.

Wu Ming harbored no resentment about this. On one hand, it was normal for there to be differences based on closeness. On the other hand, he and Wu Zhong were childhood friends and had a good relationship. If Wu Zhong were fortunate enough to cultivate blood energy and become a martial artist, it would be beneficial to him.

"Uncle said I'm practicing well. If I continue like this, I should be able to achieve it in another six months."

Wu Zhong scratched the back of his head, smiling honestly. He then proactively moved aside, saying, "Brother Wu Ming, you go ahead and fetch water."

"It's alright, there's no need to distinguish who goes first."

Wu Ming smiled and put down his buckets and shoulder pole.

"Okay."

Wu Zhong grinned and walked to the side of the well.

Gurgle.

A bubble suddenly emerged from the bottom of the well. The bubble popped, and a faint wisp of black energy quietly dispersed.