Cultivation

Li Yuan's Residence

Inside Lord Li's residence, a flock of maidservants giggled and laughed, peeking at the young man who had entered the manor in pairs, their eyes roaming over him.

Few people were usually allowed into this residence. Even those who came were merely guests, unlike Li Yuan, who held a special status.

Li Yuan swept his gaze over the maidservants as well.

They were all beauties, each with her own charm.

Some were gentle, some lively, some shy, some seductive, some fiery; some plump, some slender, some tall, some short. Though they might not have been peerless beauties, this was truly a land of tenderness.

With only a little imagination, one could picture what Lord Li's life was like after returning home.

Li Yuan could not help but sigh inwardly. A martial warrior of even slightly higher rank was practically a local emperor.

These women were not his master's wife, but they were all his teacher's women. He did not look at them further and simply followed the beautiful married woman named Xi Yan into the rear courtyard.

"Lord Li usually cultivates here. Yesterday, he told us that if you came, we were to bring you here."

"Thank you, Aunt Yan."

Li Yuan spoke and surveyed the rear courtyard.

It was much larger than the backyard in his shantytown.

Overall, it resembled a small Martial Arts Stage. At its center stood a raised stone platform paved with hard black rock. On one side of the platform was a weapon rack holding all eighteen kinds of weapons, while the other side held several suits of iron armor and special equipment, reminding him of the "sandbag leg weights" and "gym equipment" from before his transmigration.

There was a small alley on the left, with quite a few metal humanoids standing inside.

Following his gaze, Xi Yan introduced, "That is Puppet Alley. Once your cultivation has reached a certain level, it can serve as a place for actual combat."

"Puppets?!"

Li Yuan was somewhat surprised. "Aunt Yan, could you let me have a look at these puppets?"

"Of course. Lord Li said you may use everything in this place." The beautiful woman smiled, then swayed her hips as she headed toward the alley.

Li Yuan glanced eastward again. There seemed to be a large room there, but a thick black cloth hung over its entrance, and a faint stench of blood drifted from within.

"Aunt Yan, what's in the east?"

"Demon Beasts raised by Lord Li."

"Demon Beasts?!"

Li Yuan's horizons broadened at once.

This world had both puppets and Demon Beasts?

Li Yuan watched the beautiful woman walk straight into Puppet Alley. The puppets did not react, so they clearly were not voice-controlled—or perhaps their mechanisms had not been activated.

Then he saw the beautiful woman beckon to him.

He hurried over.

Xi Yan crouched behind a puppet and fiddled slightly with three combination gears. When the combination pointed to "526," a cover sprang open, revealing two simple levers behind it.

"One is for movement, and the other is for attack.

Movement can be set with a range, speed, and even a route.

As for how to set them, only Lord Li knows.

The puppets here have all been preset. Their routes are limited to the rear courtyard's Martial Arts Stage, and they will not go elsewhere."

Li Yuan pondered briefly and asked, "What if someone carried this puppet out of the rear courtyard? What would it do?"

Xi Yan: ?????

Li Yuan said, "Please continue."

Xi Yan said, "As for attacking, once a route has been set, the puppet becomes extremely sensitive to sounds within the area covered by that route. The moment it detects movement somewhere, it will immediately pounce over and attack."

Li Yuan looked at the iron lump and reached out to tap it. It was actually solid, and its material did not seem to be mere steel. Perhaps other secret metals had been added, forged through some special process.

He asked, "How does it attack?"

Xi Yan said, "Once its attack is activated, the puppet will extend six arms, each gripping an Iron Rod, and wildly strike at people.

Lord Li said that more advanced puppets can even be equipped with skills. In other words, they would not attack randomly, but according to a particular skill.

But we do not have such puppets here."

Li Yuan asked curiously, "Are there even stronger puppets?"

Xi Yan said, "I don't know about that. Lord Li never said."

Li Yuan said, "Could you activate one and let me see?"

Xi Yan said, "It's better not to. Once activated, we cannot turn them off. Lord Li said you may only use the puppets here for training after reaching Rank Eight, but that will take at least three or four years."

Li Yuan nodded.

Three or four years—was that the time needed to reach Rank Eight with a cultivation method and talent?

He remembered it.

"Aunt Yan, may I see the Demon Beast?"

"That Demon Beast will awaken when it sees light. But... you can lift a corner of the cover and take a look."

Li Yuan said no more. He quietly approached, grasped a corner of the heavy black cloth, lifted it slightly, and looked inside.

In the darkness, a hazy, oppressive outline lay at the far end of a cage. He could vaguely see only a mass of deathly pale mist, above which floated the numbers "40~150."

Li Yuan let the cover fall and asked, "Aunt Yan, what Demon Beast is that?"

"A Smoke Spirit Horse. Lord Li said it is a Rank Eight Demon Beast."

"My teacher is a Rank Seven martial warrior, right?"

"Lord Li is Rank Seven."

Li Yuan nodded.

The overall strength of Demon Beasts seemed somewhat different from that of humans, yet they appeared stronger than humans overall.

Rank Seven Lord Li was "135(200)~140(210)."

Yet this Smoke Spirit Horse was "40~150."

The fluctuation in those numbers was enormous. He had no idea what caused it.

He let out a breath and said, "Thank you, Aunt Yan. I'll cultivate here by myself for a while."

"If you need anything, Young Master, simply instruct us."

"I understand."

Xi Yan gave a graceful bow, turned, and left.

Li Yuan then walked onto the Martial Arts Stage, took out the cultivation method, followed the postures within to circulate his qi and regulate his breathing, then sat cross-legged.

After sitting for a while, he stood up and took a heavy suit of iron armor from the equipment nearby. After putting it on, he sat cross-legged again, slightly arching his body and curling himself up as much as possible before circulating his qi once more.

Drawing breath became somewhat difficult, as though all the air would leak out if he let his guard down for even a moment.

Li Yuan finally understood what "gathering qi as heavy as a mountain" meant.

He endured as best he could before finally exhaling a breath of turbid air.

For now, his cultivation posture was only the most basic one.

To truly master it, he would need to assume a yoga-like posture, wearing heavy armor over his entire body while keeping his body off the ground, curled into a ball. He would take in large amounts of air, compress it, then follow the cultivation method to direct it and push his blood in endless cycles, until that wisp of mysterious special blood was produced.

During this process, he could supplement his training with the first form of the Spring and Autumn Saber.

As evening approached, Li Yuan returned to the Black Market's north gate and returned the cultivation method to Lord Li.

Master and disciple discussed the details of cultivation for a while longer. Only when the evening clouds filled the sky did Li Yuan bow in farewell and hurry toward South City.

Li Yuan had just reached the Dock Area by the lake in South City when he saw a young man in casual clothes jump down from a boat.

"Brother Cai!"

The young man came back to his senses. Seeing Li Yuan drenched in sweat, he revealed a trace of envy, then clasped his fists. "Brother Li, are you heading back?"

"Yes. It'll be dark soon, and my wife is still waiting at home for me to eat."

"Heh." Cai Ze was somewhat speechless.

His wife was waiting for him to eat?

Was that something a Ranked Martial Warrior should say?

"On the other hand, Brother Cai, you're still coming to the Black Market so late? The Black Market hasn't been very peaceful lately," Li Yuan kindly reminded him.

Cai Ze smiled. "They are merely a few sewer rats hiding in the shadows."

As he spoke, his gaze kept darting around.

Li Yuan could tell at a glance that he was carrying out a mission.

Although Cai Ze was not very strong, he clearly had some backing in the Blood Saber Sect. Combined with his earlier recommendation and several previous tests, Li Yuan could be certain that Brother Cai was handling affairs for some important figure in the sect.

He did not ask further and clasped his fists. "Then take care, Brother Cai. In a few days, I'll treat you to drinks. We won't talk about sect matters—only romance, fine wine, and bold aspirations."

Cai Ze smiled and pointed at him from afar. "Romance, huh? You said it!"

After spending these days together, he had come to understand Li Yuan's character. He was someone worth befriending; Cai Ze's recommendation had not been in vain.