Really going to eat trees?

"Hmm? You didn't understand?"

Seeing Zhao Tiezhu hesitate, Zhang Yuxian's expression turned cold.

"I..." Zhao Tiezhu was speechless. He felt Zhang Yuxian was toying with him.

Did this Lord Zhang hear my earlier mockery of Yi Yun and decide to mess with me on purpose?

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, he didn't dare to talk back to Zhang Yuxian.

At this moment, the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp looked at Zhao Tiezhu with sympathy. They all knew what Zhao Tiezhu had said to Yi Yun when he was being boastful earlier.

Who would have thought the retribution would come so quickly!

Seeing Zhao Tiezhu's predicament, the two burly men who had loudly declared they would eat stone rollers and drink dry East River water now had their legs trembling.

They wished they could slap themselves. Why had they been so glib before, rabidly following Zhao Tiezhu? Retribution might fall upon them soon too!

They could at least gnaw on a locust tree, but how could they possibly eat a stone roller?

"Zhao Tiezhu, what are you still standing there for? I told you to eat the tree, did you hear me!"

Lian Chengyu saw Zhao Tiezhu's reluctant expression and yelled at him.

Lian Chengyu didn't care about the reason; he just assumed it was Zhang Yuxian's order. Orders from an envoy must be followed, and besides, it wasn't him who was suffering.

"I... I..." Zhao Tiezhu's face was contorted in misery. He finally made up his mind and said with pain, "I'll eat..."

He crouched down and, steeling himself, broke off a piece of wood.

Seeing that the wood was sturdy enough to build a house, Zhao Tiezhu felt like crying. Am I a termite?!

Noticing Lian Chengyu's displeased look, Zhao Tiezhu felt like he was being led to an execution. He closed his eyes and shoved the wood into his mouth to chew.

The texture was so bad it was almost heavenly and hellish at the same time.

Zhao Tiezhu felt like his throat was being scraped raw. After finally managing to swallow a piece, he looked pleadingly at Zhang Yuxian, as if to say, Is that enough?

However, Zhang Yuxian simply said coldly, "Continue!"

Zhao Tiezhu almost fainted!

He was skilled at lifting stone rollers, chopping trees, and driving stakes, but eating wood was simply torture!

"Lord Zhang, may I ask what kind of secret technique this is?" Lian Chengyu initially thought Zhang Yuxian was just messing with Zhao Tiezhu, making him fulfill his boastful words.

But now, he wasn't so sure. Perhaps Zhang Yuxian was really making Zhao Tiezhu eat wood as part of some secret technique.

If that were the case, he might have to eat wood himself later, so he had to ask for clarification first.

Zhang Yuxian's attitude softened slightly towards Lian Chengyu. He said, "This secret technique is called the 'Elephant Swallowing Art.' It's a method for training the stomach and digestive system! Those who master the Elephant Swallowing Art can consume vast amounts of food and drink at each meal. It's even rumored that masters can swallow an elephant, hence the name of this secret technique."

When the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp heard this, their expressions became incredibly interesting. So, the Elephant Swallowing Art was actually a technique for eating.

Wasn't this just a glutton's skill? Could this really be considered a secret technique?

Seeing the expressions on the faces of the Warrior Reserve Camp members, Zhang Yuxian knew what they were thinking.

He said dismissively, "You ignorant ants dare to judge and speculate about the army-suppressing techniques of the Brocade Dragon Guard! How laughable!"

"Training the stomach is extremely important for Martial Practitioners! If your lungs and heart are good, you might have longer endurance and be better at fighting. However, being good at fighting is not as important as being good at cultivation. A good digestive system greatly benefits cultivation!"

"Martial Practitioners in the Mortal Blood Realm, whether you're lifting stone rollers, fighting, or climbing trees, where does your strength come from? It all comes from food!"

"Some Martial Practitioners with well-trained digestive systems have terrifying appetites. They can eat a whole cow in three days. If you eat more, you naturally absorb more nutrients, your bones and flesh grow stronger, and your strength naturally increases."

Zhang Yuxian's voice boomed, and Yi Yun's heart stirred.

Indeed, the energy released by Martial Practitioners was terrifying. This energy couldn't come from nowhere; it had to have a source. For Martial Practitioners in the Mortal Blood Realm, their energy source was food.

Food was energy, so eating more naturally brought great benefits.

Especially for noble children from prominent families who had mediocre innate talent. They couldn't get much Savage Bone Essence during cultivation, so they had to rely on eating Savage Beast Meat to improve their strength.

Some people were full after eating seven or eight jin of Savage Beast Meat a day. What was the point of that? They might as well go back to the secular world and manage the family business.

Those formidable individuals could eat two hundred jin of Savage Beast Meat a day and still only be eighty percent full.

All this beast meat was digested into energy, its essence extracted, and they cultivated desperately. Only then could they hope to reach higher realms.

Therefore, having a good digestive system and eating a lot naturally gave one an advantage!

Thus, the basic secret technique Zhang Yuxian taught was the Elephant Swallowing Art.

It was a foundational secret technique for martial arts!

Zhang Yuxian continued, "Martial practitioners from large families practice the Elephant Swallowing Art to consume Savage Beast Meat. Your Yunhuang is resource-scarce, and you struggle to get enough food, but practicing the Elephant Swallowing Art is still useful!"

"With a strong digestive system, you can fully absorb the nutrients from whatever you eat!"

"For ordinary people, after eating grains, much of the essence is wasted during absorption by the digestive system and eventually excreted as feces.

"Dogs eat human feces, flies and maggots breed in cesspools, and dung beetles roll feces into balls to raise their young! All of this contains a large amount of unabsorbed nutrients!"

"If you can't even fully absorb the nutrients from grains, let alone heavenly treasures!"

"Without a good digestive system, even if you're given heavenly treasures, you won't be able to digest them!"

"After mastering the Elephant Swallowing Art, no matter what you eat in the future, you will digest it more thoroughly! If you encounter a famine, you can eat bark, grass roots, and Guanyin Soil, and still digest them into life-sustaining nutrients!"

"From today onwards, for every meal, you will eat tree roots, tree trunks, and Guanyin soil. After you're full, you will practice the Elephant Swallowing Art using the method I taught you, churning your intestines to digest these most difficult-to-digest foods into nutrients!"

After hearing Zhang Yuxian's words, the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp were speechless. So, they all had to eat that.

For these three days, they could only rely on eating wood and Guanyin soil as their meals!

Originally, they had thought that Zhang Yuxian had hunted many ferocious beasts, and they might be able to benefit from it, feasting heartily.

However, reality was cruel. Now, not only could they not eat ferocious beast meat, but they couldn't even have rice porridge.

The members of the Warrior Reserve Camp all had bitter expressions, and no one was willing to actually eat trees.

At the very least, they needed a period of adjustment.

Just as everyone was looking at each other, Yi Yun had already stepped out of the line, crouched down beside the large locust tree, broke off a branch, and ate it, leaves and all.

Practicing martial arts isn't about enjoyment; it's about facing hardship, setbacks, and life-threatening danger.

Let alone practicing martial arts, back when Yi Yun was in his previous life, he knew that some children practicing acrobatics, dance, or gymnastics, their teachers would kneel on them to stretch their backs. That kind of suffering was unbearable for many adults.

In this other world, behind the glory of peerless experts, there must be arduous effort. Just eating some wood and Guanyin soil is nothing at all.