Big Pendulum

The fat man named A Bao had quite a gift for gab. Whenever he described something, his words poured out like a surging river, endless and eloquent!

On top of that, he was a descendant of the Maritime Affairs Office's naval forces, the Local Bully of HunZhou Island—a pure street loafer.

Though he was not particularly capable himself, he had a wide network of connections, broad experience, and knew a little about everything.

Starting with this storage treasure as his entry point, he used it to explain the wider picture, describing the economic affairs of HunZhou Island in a fairly organized manner.

Jing Qian listened carefully, occasionally raising his own questions and exchanging views with him.

And so, a successful symposium got underway.

Throughout the process, Jing Qian accumulated his understanding of this new world bit by bit, making preparations.

Ten days was precious time. If he merely chatted, it would be far too wasteful.

He stood on the deck, stretched his body, and firmly assumed a boxing stance.

The "Jing Family Eight Trigrams Sword" combined practice and combat into one, making it an exquisite form of internal martial arts.

Naturally, it could not compare with this world's extraordinary path, but it was not without its merits.

From the knowledge he had seized, Jing Qian had sorted out more than twenty Essence Nourishing Methods.

They included more specialized methods such as Medicinal Refinement, dietary supplementation, Body Tempering, and Essence Absorption—practically everything one could want.

However, compared with the internal martial arts of his previous life, this world's secret Essence Nourishing methods placed greater emphasis on seeking results from external sources.

When it came to developing the physical body without relying on the power of primordial qi, they truly were not as meticulous as internal martial arts.

Thus, once Jing Qian had settled down somewhat, he immediately drew out precious time to use internal martial arts to begin his own path of Essence Nourishment.

That was right. He was Determining Destiny first and nourishing his essence afterward—the exact opposite of other cultivators.

One should not assume that because he had already Determined Destiny and his Destiny Essence cultivation was advancing at lightning speed, he could simply skip the Essence Nourishing stage.

In Jing Qian's understanding, forging a powerful physical foundation was of paramount importance, no matter when or where, no matter which world one was in.

Since he had the conditions, the methods, and the time, he naturally would not miss the opportunity.

This physical body had been irrigated into being with powerful Destiny Essence Magic Power.

That inevitably left him with the worry that he had forced the seedlings to grow by pulling them upward.

Therefore, he had already made a long-term plan: he would invest resources to the greatest extent possible to nurture his physical body.

At present, this boxing stance of his was the secret method for nourishing the body passed down by the "Jing Family Eight Trigrams Sword"—the "Subduing Dragon Stance," most suitable for young children taking their first steps and learning to hold a stance.

Taking advantage of the calm voyage across the sea, Jing Qian happened to use this stance technique as the starting point for tempering his physical body.

Once the boxing stance was established, force arose of its own accord. Jing Qian felt the muscles throughout his body gradually tighten, coiling around his spine into a great dragon.

Immediately afterward, an immense amount of Destiny Essence Magic Power surged out from the sea of consciousness between his brows.

It transformed into pure Innate Primordial Qi and spread throughout his body.

He knew clearly that this was an extremely inefficient and wasteful way to use Destiny Essence.

But only a body nourished and tempered by this most basic and purest primordial qi was worthy of Jing Qian's true trust.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and rested in stillness, no longer moving as he let his qi and blood intermingle with primordial qi and surge through his body.

Seeing that Jing Qian had stopped responding, A Bao gradually halted his explanation.

But Jing Qian spoke up directly:

"Don't stop. I'm listening!"

"If I don't tell you to stop, keep talking. Talk for the full ten days!"

The fat man had no choice but to continue.

Fortunately, he was also a cultivator who had just entered the Determining Destiny Realm. Otherwise, he would not have had the stamina to support ten days of lecturing.

As for Jing Qian, listening to the information A Bao recited while cultivating and accomplishing two things at once was something he could easily do at his current level of cultivation.

The growth of his spiritual sense had comprehensively increased the speed of his thoughts.

Combined with the abundant infusion of primordial qi, he could practically achieve photographic memory.

He was even practicing the Essence Extraction Art while holding the stance and listening to the lecture.

That was already accomplishing three things at once!

Time slipped quietly by. A Bao went from economics to politics, from military affairs to people's livelihoods, from government offices to the streets and markets, and from ordinary mortals to cultivators.

At Jing Qian's request, he even spent two days separately giving a focused explanation of everything he knew about the Jing Household.

This information greatly aided Jing Qian's upcoming plans.

Only when the agreed-upon ten days had arrived did Jing Qian withdraw his boxing stance, finally allowing A Bao to rest.

A Bao collapsed straight onto the ground, his features haggard and wasted, no longer wanting to say a single word.

In stark contrast was Jing Qian, whose Divine Will was complete and whose muscles and bones were loose and limber.

It might have only been ten days, but with the aid of primordial qi, he had easily mastered this stance technique at an introductory level.

The improvement to his physical body was secondary. Jing Qian's control over his own body had already reached an entirely new realm, and he was extremely satisfied!

Looking at the fat man before him, he raised a hand and beckoned. The Tide Destiny drove a stream of water to fly out of the sea and land in his palm.

The stream of water gathered into a ball, and inside it was unexpectedly wrapped a strange Water Dragonfly Insect.

Jing Qian then asked:

"Fellow Daoist, do you recognize this thing?"

The moment he saw Jing Qian take out the insect, A Bao's expression changed at once. He was no longer wearing that aggrieved look of someone who had suffered endless torment.

Just as he was about to explain, Jing Qian did not give him the chance. He shot out a strand of thread and sewed his mouth shut.

Jing Qian easily bound him completely with the thread before saying:

"In ten days, you released one hundred and twenty-four Water Dragonflies. You're truly persistent!"

"However, I never intended to let you survive in the first place. Only once you're dead will no one know that I impersonated someone."

"Since you were the one who struck first, don't blame me!"

With that, he manipulated the threads before him, drew upon his Magic Power, and poured it into A Bao's body.

By now, Jing Qian had thoroughly read the inherited "Morning and Evening Destiny Breaking Scripture," and he had gained a new understanding of its core Destiny, Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits.

This Destiny possessed the characteristics of both Lifeform Destiny and God-Ghost Destiny, making it exceptionally adept at attacking a cultivator's soul and consciousness.

When cultivated to a profound level, once the threads stuck to an enemy, they could manipulate the enemy's soul and turn him into a puppet.

However, ever since Jing Qian had refined Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits, he had rarely used this ability.

Instead, he found its secondary ability—the manipulation of threads—far easier to use.

At this very moment, he was treating A Bao as a target for experimenting with Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits.

As his Magic Power poured in, A Bao's body trembled again and again.

Then, in the next second, he was actually pulled into motion by the threads.

At first, Jing Qian was not very familiar with using Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits to control a living person.

As a result, A Bao's movements were incredibly stiff, like those of a wooden puppet.

But gradually, as Jing Qian's proficiency increased, A Bao's movements also became smoother and smoother.

Jing Qian's control over Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits was rapidly improving!

Capturing an enemy of the same ninth rank for the first time could be considered a crucial milestone in his cultivation of Sewing Souls and Weaving Spirits.

With a thought from Jing Qian, a new thread extended from each of his hands and landed on A Bao.

The number of threads he could control had reached four, directly doubling!

His control over A Bao had also entered an entirely new realm.

Ignoring A Bao's venomous gaze, he forcibly tugged him across the vast blue sea and performed a Big Pendulum!

Only afterward did he completely tear apart A Bao's soul, erasing him on the spot.