Black Essence

Zhuang Jin and Qian Wende argued. Xiang Qichen tried to interject with the air of the dormitory boss, only to be silently rebuffed by Zhuang Jin and left in an awkward spot.

Of the two remaining men, Lin Hong watched the scene without saying anything, standing to one side and not involving himself. To him, Zhuang Jin and Qian Wende were both roommates he had only just met, with neither being closer nor more distant than the other, so naturally he would not speak up. Still, he had his own set of scales in his heart, observing everyone's character through this matter.

"Hey, calm down, both of you. Isn't it just a bed? If you want it, Dezi, then how about..." Xiong Lei spoke up at this moment, trying to smooth things over and preparing to give up his own bed.

"Brother Xiong!" Zhuang Jin interrupted.

Not everyone could live by the rule of you being good, me being good, everyone being good. More often than not, your weakness and concessions would only make people think you were a soft persimmon, easy to pinch.

Xiong Lei failed to grasp Zhuang Jin's meaning. He waved a hand and said, "It's nothing, just a bed. Dezi, you're afraid of the cold. If you want to sleep in the lower bunk, shall we switch?"

"That sounds great! Thanks, Brother Xiong! You're really generous, Brother Xiong!" Qian Wende immediately climbed up along the pole, settling the matter on the spot.

After all, Xiong Lei's bed was even better than Zhuang Jin's. And now he was actually foolishly... well, generously giving it up. What an unexpected delight.

Seeing this, Zhuang Jin's eyelid twitched. He felt the weary exhaustion of trying to carry someone who could not be carried. Xiong Lei, your family may slaughter pigs, but you can't be a pig teammate!

He had already resolved the matter, yet Xiong Lei had insisted on butting in to muddle the waters. Fine, now the other man had checkmated him with a single sentence and even taken the chance to give Zhuang Jin a veiled jab.

"Brother Xiong, no need for you to do it. I'll move it!" As Qian Wende spoke, he immediately rolled up Xiong Lei's bedding and eagerly carried it to the lower bunk by the door, then moved his own bedding over.

"Damn, did you have to be this eager?!" Seeing Qian Wende act with such swift decisiveness, Xiong Lei froze for a moment before laughingly cursing him.

Watching this, Zhuang Jin knew Xiong Lei's laughing curse was not anger. Rather, it was the sense of achievement and satisfaction that came from being needed. Qian Wende was smiling as well, his face piled high with smiles. Zhuang Jin could more or less guess the other man's thoughts: while secretly pleased with himself, he was calling Xiong Lei an idiot in his heart.

That was indeed the case. At this moment, Qian Wende was secretly sighing to himself, Xiong Lei really is an idiot who's easy to talk to—more easygoing than I imagined. I can take advantage of him more in the future.

Since things had come to this, Zhuang Jin said nothing more. He lowered his head and silently made his bed, though another thought arose in his heart: he had previously only thought Xiong Lei was honest and easygoing, but now it seemed he was somewhat... stupid, unable to distinguish whose side he should be on.

He wondered whether he should be more cautious in the future and keep a little distance.

Qian Wende quickly finished making his bed, clapped his hands, and stood up. "Brother Xiang, Brother Lin, Brother Xiong, Brother Zhuang, shall we go eat together?"

One had to admire this fellow's thick skin. He had just been in a conflict, yet in the next breath he could affectionately call out "Brother Zhuang" again and again.

"You go ahead. I've already eaten." Zhuang Jin politely declined. After watching the group leave the dormitory, he took his Black Essence Powder and headed for the Training Ground as well.

Upon arriving at the Xuan-grade Training Field, Zhuang Jin saw that compared to Yellow Rank Number One Training Field, where he had trained as a Martial Student, this place had a row of Quiet Rooms beside the grounds. They had clearly been set up to facilitate the practice of Quiet Cultivation.

Zhuang Jin took out and opened a packet of Black Essence Powder. A medicinal scent, bitter yet faintly sweet, wafted toward him. According to Uncle Chang, the Black Essence Powder we use is of inferior grade, but each packet still contains one ten-year-old Black Jade Grass, with potent restorative medicinal power.

Do not underestimate medicinal herbs aged ten years. People often spoke of medicines being decades or even centuries old, but the truth was that even ten-year-old herbs were quite difficult to obtain. Those great medicines aged decades or centuries were extraordinarily precious, more like luxuries, and were rarely used. Black Essence Powder, on the other hand, was a daily consumable, and there were so many martial practitioners.

As Zhuang Jin considered this, a thought occurred to him. If they relied on ordinary planting and cultivation, it would probably be a drop in the bucket, impossible to supply so many martial practitioners. How does the Shen Family manage it?

Perhaps this extraordinary world has other methods, allowing herbs grown for one year to possess the efficacy of several years? He could not figure it out, so he temporarily set the question aside.

Zhuang Jin withdrew his thoughts and looked at the Black Essence Powder. It was called "powder" because the various medicinal ingredients had been mixed, pounded, and ground into fine dust. He took a small sip, chewed it, and swallowed.

One could only say that Black Essence Powder truly deserved to be called an advanced version of Qi Channel Opening Soup. It was exceedingly bitter upon entering the mouth, like swallowing coptis whole. Not long after he swallowed it, his entire body turned scorching hot, while a knife-scraping pain came from his Five Viscera and Six Entrails.

He put away the Black Essence Powder and began practicing Stance Training to refine its medicinal power. Very quickly, compared to the Qi Channel Opening Soup he had consumed as a Martial Student, an immense surge of Inner Breath was generated within his body.

Zhuang Jin immediately went to one side, found a Quiet Room, and entered, preparing to practice the Quiet Cultivation Manual. He had already read through the booklet he had received. Thanks to reviewing Acupoints and meridians every night before, he knew this knowledge like the back of his hand. In his view, the Quiet Cultivation was not especially difficult to learn.

After silently reciting it several times and making certain there were no omissions, he finally began circulating his cultivation, cautiously cycling and purifying the Inner Breath he had just refined through the first meridian.

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had used Quiet Cultivation to condense the Inner Breath refined from the Black Essence Powder. The Inner Breath within his first meridian had grown considerably, and his entire body felt warm and toasty, like a furnace. The stabbing pain in his Five Viscera and Six Entrails from taking the Black Essence Powder had completely vanished, replaced by an indescribable sense of comfort.

So this is the effect Master Ping mentioned—refining the medicinal power of Black Essence Powder to make up for injuries?

He rose and moved about a little. The restoration of his physique might have been too subtle for him to feel, but he did sense that his body seemed a trace lighter. His eyes brightened. I understand now. During this process of Quiet Cultivation, the Inner Breath cycles through every Acupoint along the meridians. It not only condenses Inner Breath and repairs damage, but also strengthens bodily functions. As days and months accumulate, even without mobilizing Inner Breath, a martial practitioner's physical abilities will far surpass those of ordinary people.

I'm only at the One Meridian Realm and have just begun practicing Quiet Cultivation. If someone reaches a profound realm, like the Fourth Meridian, Seven Meridians, or even higher, then after cultivating Quiet Cultivation year after year, how far would their physical enhancement reach? It has probably already attained an inhuman level.

After his moment of reflection, Zhuang Jin turned his attention back to Quiet Cultivation and looked at the booklet containing the essential principles of the Quiet Cultivation Manual. This Quiet Cultivation isn't difficult. It just requires patience and bitter effort.

According to this, once the Inner Breath in the first meridian has been condensed to the utmost limit and can progress no further, when circulating it produces a swelling sensation, one will sense the bottleneck of the second meridian, the Hand Shaoyin Meridian. Just as with breaking through the first Martial Practitioner Bottleneck, breaking through this second bottleneck makes one a Two-Meridian Martial Artist.

Based on the progress of refining Inner Breath through the combined movement and stillness cultivation he had just practiced, he calculated silently. If my Provisions are sufficient and I cultivate five hours every day, I'll complete the accumulation of the One Meridian Realm by the end of next month. At that point, others will have bottlenecks, but I won't. I'll be able to directly break through to the Second Meridian!

The key lies in having sufficient Provisions. At my current One Meridian Realm, one packet of Black Essence Powder should be enough for about three days of cultivation. There are forty-two days until the end of next month, so I'll need fourteen packets of Black Essence Powder—seven taels of silver.

Thinking of this enormous expense, Zhuang Jin's teeth immediately began to ache. He silently calculated his assets. The fifty-odd copper coins left over from before need not be mentioned; they're merely scraps and bits. This month's Monthly Stipend is one tael, the Shen Family's reward for saving Bi Kai is one tael, Hou Yong's compensation is three taels, and Bi Father paid ten taels to buy out the favor, making fifteen taels in total. The Monthly Stipend is collected on the first of every month. Registering with the Shen Family this month was a special circumstance, so I can receive another tael on the first of next month, making sixteen taels.

Sixteen minus seven leaves nine taels. Hmm, and that doesn't include the martial skill Black Fiend Palm. If practicing Black Fiend Palm also requires buying corresponding medicine packets...

Only when running a household did one learn how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt were. Zhuang Jin keenly felt the truth that scholars could be poor but martial artists had to be rich. Practicing martial arts truly cost a fortune. The huge sum he had painstakingly saved would shrink by nearly half just to support him until the end of next month. Yet he did not begrudge it. Money was meant to be spent, and when spent on himself, the strength it became was real and tangible.

As for being so loose with money now—what if he spent it all? Was that not a concern for two or three months later? When future worries came, he could worry about them then. Surely, when the cart reached the mountain, there would be a road; he had to trust in his future wisdom!

Speaking of the present, it's fortunate Bi Father paid those ten taels to buy out the favor. Otherwise, I'd still be a little short. Then my cultivation progress might be delayed because I lacked the funds to keep my Cultivation Provisions supplied... If I fell just short and could not break through to the Second Meridian by the end of next month, missing the four-month Self-selected Mission reward, that would truly be unbearable.

Now that Provisions aren't a problem, if I still can't reach the Second Meridian by the end of next month, then it'll be my own fault. Mm, let's set a small goal: break through to the Second Meridian next month!

Zhuang Jin's gaze was resolute. Looking at the Black Essence Powder, he took another small sip, went outside to refine it through Stance Training, then returned to the Quiet Room shortly afterward to condense it with Quiet Cultivation. Thus he repeated the cycle over and over, diligent without cease.