Body-Nurturing Method

The next day.

When Yu Ziqing arrived at the underground Mushroom Forest, a Jinlan Mushroom had just begun to sway and collapse, a little later than the usual felling time.

That Hungry Ghost had not gone far, either. It was right beside the Jinlan Mushroom that had been cut down.

The moment it saw Yu Ziqing, it immediately clasped its hands and bowed deeply in an awkward salute. It looked as though it had secretly learned the gesture somewhere, but had never used it before; even its body seemed stiff with strain.

After bowing once, the Hungry Ghost immediately retreated, disappearing into the darkness.

At a glance, Yu Ziqing saw that the wooden bowl he had left there yesterday was gone.

Yu Ziqing chuckled. This Hungry Ghost had praised him for being clever yesterday, so how come it did not even know to return the bowl after finishing its meal?

What was this? After eating this meal, it did not want another?

It did not even know the difference between being full for one meal and being full every meal. It was worse than a cat.

The wooden bowls in the village were quite precious nowadays. The woodified trunks of the Jinlan Mushrooms were too coarse. They were fine for firewood, but useless for anything else, while usable trees were hard to find even aboveground.

As for outside the village, all life lay dead and silent. Forget ordinary trees—even withered weeds were difficult to find.

Yu Ziqing had been willing to give a wooden bowl to this Hungry Ghost because he had seen that it might have a chance to take the righteous path. Only then had he been willing to grant it a little opportunity. It was also one of the few things Yu Ziqing could afford to give away.

The first time Er Han had mentioned that there was a Starvation Ghost here, fierce and somewhat unusual, Yu Ziqing had guessed that it was probably a Hungry Ghost.

The people here truly had trouble distinguishing between a Starvation Ghost and a Hungry Ghost.

A Starvation Ghost was a kind of Ghostly being, while Hungry Ghosts were a category of Ghostly beings.

The Starvation Ghosts and Hungry Ghosts in the village probably did not look all that different, which was why they had confused the two.

There was one crucial distinction that Yu Ziqing understood far more clearly than anyone else. The Starvation Ghosts of this world, just as the Village Chief had said, suffered eternal hunger yet could never starve to death. They could never eat, unable to live and unable to die. After being tortured into madness, they would actively seek death—that was the normal course.

In many people's eyes, killing a mad Starvation Ghost even counted as an act of kindness.

Hungry Ghosts were different. At first, Hungry Ghosts were basically the same as Starvation Ghosts, but sometimes, Hungry Ghosts actually had a chance to eat something.

It was just that these "sometimes" did not come easily.

That foolish Hungry Ghost had not come to return the bowl, but Yu Ziqing did not mind. The opportunity had already been given; everything that followed was merely a minor detail.

And so the days continued. There was little change, yet Yu Ziqing was content with it, finding it quite comfortable. In less than a month, after eating his fill every day and getting proper nourishment, his ribs—which had once looked ready to pierce through his skin and come out for some air—were no longer so obvious.

After chopping down the Jinlan Mushrooms each day, he no longer had to shamelessly ask the kitchen aunties to carry them for him.

The kitchen aunties were becoming craftier and craftier. Every time they came to help carry a Jinlan Mushroom, they would learn a recipe from him. Later, they even began learning how to press oil.

If this continued, Yu Ziqing would have no choice but to try washing out starch and making cold rice noodles...

Dragging the Jinlan Mushrooms out from underground was a bit strenuous, but if he took it slowly, one person could barely manage it.

On a small hill not far away, the Village Chief watched Yu Ziqing and chuckled. Only after seeing Yu Ziqing enter the kitchen did he turn to Er Han beside him.

"What do you think of him?"

"His cooking is delicious." Er Han answered without thinking. Seeing a change come over his grandfather's expression, he hurriedly added, "Young Master Yu is pretty good. Besides cooking well, he knows a lot, and he's a good person too. It's just that his body is a little weak. He can't even carry one Jinlan Mushroom."

"Mm. His cooking is indeed delicious. I never imagined that Jinlan Mushrooms could be prepared this way. It's truly a pity to have him dig mines..."

"Grandpa, with Young Master Yu's physique, how could he possibly dig mines?" Er Han immediately grew anxious.

The Village Chief said nothing. Looking at his son's expression, he was delighted. After laughing, he pointed toward the kitchen.

"That's true. It would be a waste. The mine won't miss one person, and his body is too weak. If you have some free time, go teach him some boxing and help him build up his strength. Otherwise, if he encounters danger in the Mushroom Forest one day, he won't even have the strength to call for help."

"Sure thing! I'm free right now." Er Han beamed and happily ran toward the kitchen.

The Village Chief watched from afar. After a long while, he restrained his smile and let out a long sigh, a trace of unconcealable worry appearing between his brows.

Meanwhile, Er Han rushed to the kitchen door and pulled faces at Yu Ziqing, who was working inside.

"Er Han, have you been so hungry that your nose and eyes are cramping?"

"Of course not. I have something to ask you." Er Han stretched out his neck and sniffed. The fragrance of oil made him give up on saying it right away. "Young Master Yu, you cook first. I'll wait until you finish working."

"Sure."

After they finished the meal, Er Han dragged Yu Ziqing toward the Back Mountain.

"Er Han, tell me first—what are we going to do? Aren't we forbidden from going to the Back Mountain?" Although he said this, Yu Ziqing did not slow his steps.

He had wanted to look around the Back Mountain for a long time, but he had always restrained his curiosity. Aside from places he had to go for daily life and work, he had never taken the initiative to visit anywhere else, lest he invite trouble.

He was merely an outsider who had not arrived long ago.

When they reached the Back Mountain, Yu Ziqing saw quite a few graves. An eerie chill permeated the air. Everyone who died in the village was buried in the Back Mountain, and the people who had previously come here to steal White Meat had dug it out from this place.

That was why the Back Mountain had always been a sensitive place in the village. No one usually dared come here alone. With suspicion falling on anyone near the scene, it was easy to create misunderstandings.

Er Han led Yu Ziqing through a large stretch of graves. Most of them looked quite old; only a few had mounds whose soil still appeared somewhat fresh.

When they reached a place with no more graves, they went around another small hill and immediately saw a large expanse of charred-black stone, several hundred zhang across.

Upon approaching, they could clearly see footprints of varying depths all over it.

"Young Master Yu, Grandpa thought your body was too weak. He was worried that if you ran into bugs while chopping mushrooms, you might shout... Uh, you wouldn't be able to catch them, so he asked me to bring you here to practice boxing and toughen your bones. Watch closely."

Er Han did not even ask whether Yu Ziqing was willing. In his eyes, this was a wonderful thing, so he simply began practicing.

Er Han leaped onto the Black Stone, and his entire bearing changed in an instant. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his normally foolish gaze turned sharp. With a low shout, both feet suddenly sank an inch into the Black Stone, and a heavy pressure surged toward them.

Yu Ziqing's gaze sharpened. It was as though he had suddenly encountered a vicious beast. Instinct born from his bloodline made him instinctively retreat two steps beneath that oppressive force.

Er Han acted as though he had not noticed. He focused on his practice, every punch and kick brimming with ferocity, while a hint of antique bronze began to appear on his skin.

Yu Ziqing also keenly noticed that as Er Han practiced his boxing, wisps of nearly imperceptible black qi continuously seeped from the Black Stone beneath his feet and were absorbed by him.

As time passed, more and more of that black gas emerged, billowing like rolling wolf smoke. Er Han huffed and puffed, absorbing it all.

Yu Ziqing was certain this was not Qi Refining cultivation. Those black wisps were certainly not any gaseous substance he had imagined, either.

This was the method of nourishing the body that Old Yang had mentioned.

By ordinary standards, Er Han truly was an ordinary person. He had never begun genuine cultivation. He was not a cultivator, and among the many paths of cultivation Old Yang had spoken of, there was no such method.

He was simply nourishing his body. It was just that the way he nourished it was somewhat outrageous. If he unleashed his full strength in a punch, those four heretical Shepherds from before would probably have had their heads smashed apart.

Two incense sticks' worth of time passed, and everything returned to calm. Er Han walked out with a foolish grin, scratching his head.

"Young Master Yu, don't blame me. Once I started practicing, I forgot that I was supposed to teach you..."

"It's fine. I'll watch it once first; that's the normal procedure. After that, you can teach me slowly. By the way, what is this set of boxing called?"

Yu Ziqing was not pretentious. If he had the chance to learn a method of nourishing the body that even Old Yang had specifically mentioned, and he did not study it properly, would he not be a complete fool?

"What do you mean, what's it called? It's just called boxing."

"..."

Fine, boxing it was. The name was not important.

After he stepped onto the Black Stone and began practicing, Yu Ziqing felt something similar to when he exercised normally. The muscles throughout his body tensed and exerted force, his heartbeat accelerated, and his breathing quickened, except that the sensations were far more pronounced now.

The resistance hindering his growth gradually dispersed as the boxing unfolded. The obstruction he felt when he could no longer lift more weight at the limit of strength training also slowly weakened, until it vanished completely.

Several days later, after learning the entire set of boxing, he finally found the most precise description once he had completed the whole routine, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

Chains.

The chains restricting his body from becoming stronger vanished during the practice. He could easily break through the limits of a mortal, yet by the definitions of the various cultivators, he was still a mortal.

At last, he had a method he could practice and learn. Yu Ziqing felt he could not demand too much. As long as it made him stronger, that was enough.

Outside the Jinlan Mine, amid the frozen world of ice and snow, a cavalry unit waited at the entrance.

Every horse was covered in a layer of scale armor, and the riders were fully armed as well. The group remained silent, steaming breath continuously rising and scattering the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

The man at the front had sharp brows and bright, starry eyes. He wore a black outfit suited for movement and a vermilion cloak. His back was straight as he gazed into the distance, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Set up camp outside. I'll go in and retrieve the goods myself."

He leaped down from his warhorse, glanced at the barren hillside to the left, then at the Locust tree forest to the right, and stepped toward the middle.

But before his foot could land, the Tiger Head Belt Hook hanging at his waist trembled slightly. A flash of radiance flickered across it, and a phantom tiger head sprang out, letting out a low growl toward the front.

The newcomer stared at the path in the middle, his brows drawing tightly together. He looked left, then right, before taking a scroll from his robes. Holding it in one hand, he walked toward the Locust tree forest on the right.

As he entered the forest, a layer of faint light spilled from the scroll and enveloped his entire body.

Yet the strange Locust tree forest seemed not to notice his existence at all. Its aura continued to circulate within, without the slightest change.

In no time, he passed through the Locust tree forest and disappeared into the mist.