Making a Roasted Chicken with Bare Hands, What a Sin

Xu Yan practiced on the hillside, constantly honing his skills based on his insights. The ground was pockmarked with craters from his strikes. It wasn't until late at night, with his Blood Essence considerably depleted and fatigue setting in, that he reluctantly returned to the village.

The following morning, Xu Yan, full of vigor, returned to the hillside to cultivate once more.

Boom!

He unleashed a palm strike, and dirt flew up three yards away, forming a new pit.

"The power has increased again. My insights are correct, though I'm still only scratching the surface. I can further enhance my palm force."

Xu Yan looked at the craters on the ground, his heart filled with excitement.

This palm strike was already twice as powerful as it was before he began cultivating the Dragon Subduing Palm.

He had finally moved beyond a fighting style reliant solely on brute strength.

"Let's go see how my foolish disciple is progressing with his training."

Li Xuan approached with a leisurely stride.

"Master!"

Xu Yan quickly bowed respectfully.

"Hmm."

Li Xuan glanced at the numerous pits of various sizes on the ground, all created by Xu Yan's training.

A flicker of joy appeared in his heart: "Has he gained some insight? Judging by the power of these pits, they can't be created by brute force alone. Although he hasn't even begun to grasp the Dragon Subduing Palm, he will surely succeed with it in time."

"Master, I have had a realization," Xu Yan said. He raised his hand and struck out with a palm, and with a rumble, a hole appeared in the ground.

Li Xuan's face remained calm, but inwardly he marveled: "This disciple's comprehension is truly remarkable. He has grasped how to emit Blood Essence in a specific way, causing a surge in power.

"He must be comprehending the first line of the incantation, right?"

He then spoke, "Your progress indicates you have talent for cultivating the Dragon Subduing Palm. However, you must always remember that enemies will not give you time to gather your strength. You need to achieve a state where your palm moves with your mind.

"Only when you can manifest dragon-shaped palm force will you have truly begun to grasp the current stage.

"Calm your mind, meditate more, and practice more."

Xu Yan's heart jolted: "That's right. Every time I strike, there's a brief moment of gathering strength, even if it's very short. But in a battle between experts, life and death are decided in an instant.

"My direction of comprehension is correct, but it's not deep enough. I still need to work harder."

He bowed respectfully: "Disciple thanks Master for your guidance!"

"Hmm."

Li Xuan nodded, then turned and departed with his leisurely steps.

He couldn't stay too long, nor could he offer unsolicited advice. If his disciple's questions stumped him, it would be too embarrassing!

Therefore, Li Xuan took a look at Xu Yan's training progress and then turned to leave.

In the time that followed, Xu Yan spent his mornings practicing the Dragon Subduing Palm, his afternoons comprehending and practicing movement techniques within the Bagua diagram, and his evenings cultivating his Blood Essence Cultivation Technique to enhance his strength.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

The hillside was now densely covered with pits of all sizes, and Xu Yan's progress with the Dragon Subduing Palm was immense.

He could now manifest his palm force swiftly with a mere thought, striking at will.

Currently, when he unleashed a palm strike, the palm force transformed from Blood Essence resembled a torrent as thick as a calf's leg, slamming into the ground with incredible speed and force.

Moreover, the palm force was supremely yang and supremely rigid, incomparably fierce.

Its power had increased by more than threefold compared to before he began cultivating.

However, he still hadn't managed to condense dragon-shaped palm force. What he produced was merely an ordinary torrent of Blood Essence. Even with the threefold increase in power, he still hadn't truly mastered the Dragon Subduing Palm.

At this moment, Xu Yan was contemplating the incantation of the Dragon Subduing Palm and summarizing his cultivation experiences over the past half month.

"How do I condense dragon-shaped palm force? And why must it be condensed into a dragon shape?"

"How can I truly begin to master it?"

Xu Yan fell into deep thought.

An image of a true dragon appeared in his mind.

He circulated his Blood Essence, and a torrent of it surged from his palm. Under his control, the Blood Essence gradually began to change into a dragon shape.

However, it ultimately transformed into a palm force resembling a python, far from the shape of a dragon.

"I understand now. Condensing the dragon shape is about controlling one's own Blood Essence. Only by improving the control of Blood Essence can one condense the dragon shape.

"If I can achieve a dragon-shaped palm force that is indistinguishable from a true dragon, perhaps that is the great completion of the Dragon Subduing Palm."

"At this stage, what I need to do is condense it into a dragon shape, with horns, whiskers, and claws..."

With a clear direction, Xu Yan's subsequent practice of the Dragon Subduing Palm began by mobilizing his Blood Essence to condense it into a dragon shape.

However, each time he managed to form a horn, he couldn't form the claws, and his Blood Essence would collapse uncontrollably.

Xu Yan realized that to condense the dragon-shaped palm force, he first needed to enhance his control over Blood Essence, which was also a prerequisite for mastering the Dragon Subduing Palm.

"Upon mastering the Dragon Subduing Palm, my palm force will surge again, and its strength will be under my command, rather than being almost uncontrollable like it is now."

Once Xu Yan understood the key to cultivating the Dragon Subduing Palm, he began to experiment with how to improve his control over Blood Essence.

Three days later, although he had made some progress in controlling his Blood Essence, he was still far from being able to condense the dragon-shaped palm force.

"Master, how can I improve my control over Blood Essence?"

Xu Yan couldn't help but ask during a meal break.

Li Xuan's hand paused slightly. How to improve control over Blood Essence?

How would he know?

Of course, as a Master, he couldn't answer like that.

He glanced at the chicken leg in his bowl and immediately had an idea. He said, "Disciple, the fact that you understand the importance of Blood Essence control shows you've reached a bottleneck."

"Blood Essence comes from within yourself. How can you improve control? By putting every bit of Blood Essence to practical use, by controlling Blood Essence at will?

"You can try using Blood Essence to roast meat."

Li Xuan tore off a piece of meat from the chicken leg and said while eating, "Roasting meat with your bare hands is a supreme skill. Cooking meat with Blood Essence requires a very high level of control over it.

"Roasting it to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, roasting it just right, is not easy.

"See this chicken leg?"

Li Xuan tore off the remaining chicken leg and put it into his own bowl, continuing, "When you can use your hands to roast a chicken leg and cook it through, while the meat outside the leg remains raw, your Blood Essence control will be considered passable."

Xu Yan listened thoughtfully and sighed inwardly, "So, cultivation is actually in the small details of life. I'm still far behind; Master's realm is too high.

"How could I not have thought of this?"

He stopped eating and said, "Master, this disciple understands!"

"It's good that you understand!"

Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

Xu Yan excitedly ran to the chicken coop, grabbed a chicken, skillfully plucked and slaughtered it, and then held it in his palm.

Blood Essence surged, and the scorching Blood Essence instantly enveloped the chicken.

A sizzling sound arose. Just as the aroma of cooked meat wafted out, when the Blood Essence was withdrawn, the chicken in his hand had turned black and burnt.

It was inedible.

Xu Yan scratched his head, summarizing his experience, and grabbed another chicken. He plucked and slaughtered it, placing it in his palm to roast with Blood Essence.

He burnt another chicken.

After finishing his meal, Li Xuan took a leisurely stroll through the village and saw over a dozen burnt chickens discarded at Xu Yan's feet.

And in his hand, he was roasting a freshly slaughtered chicken.

"What a disaster!"

Li Xuan's mouth twitched. How long had it been? He had already ruined over a dozen chickens. If he didn't stop him, the entire flock would be ruined by tomorrow!