The room's door was shut tight, and the windows were closed.
Li Shuidao sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, his mind focused as he immersed himself in cultivation.
A faint glow drifted around Li Shuidao, forming a pale yellow curtain of light that enveloped him.
The meridians inside his body surged, as though countless tiny currents of energy were coursing through them, making faint sounds.
Using a unique breathing technique, Li Shuidao inhaled and exhaled his true essence, and a vast surge of qi coursed through his entire body.
Guided by his thoughts, Mana flowed through his meridians, ring after ring, like thousands upon thousands of golden chains winding around inside him.
Gradually...
He felt a force brewing within his body.
The force lay dormant in his dantian, exactly where the Qi Gathering point for the first form of the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art, Golden Toad Embracing Carp, was located.
Golden Toad Embracing Carp gathered qi; Water Toad Dragon broke through barriers; Jade Toad Gazing at Moon brought ascension.
The Golden Toad Qi Locking Method could not only conceal one's cultivation, but also help the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art gather Mana.
Only by gathering qi could one break through; only by breaking through the barriers and connecting the meridians could one achieve true ascension.
The two internal-breath cultivation arts had always complemented each other...
Time slipped by in silence...
Wisps of white smoke rose from the top of Li Shuidao's head, like smoke from an incense burner.
Suddenly.
He opened his eyes, and both his Mana and his breath naturally drew in.
Knock, knock, knock...
Someone knocked at the courtyard gate.
Li Shuidao first pushed open the room door, then went out into the courtyard, lifted the gate bar, and opened the gate.
His senior sister, Jiang Xue, stood outside. She flicked her wide sleeve and said, "It's broad daylight, and you've got the door shut so tight. What are you doing in there that you don't want anyone to see?"
"I was meditating and practicing," Li Shuidao hastily explained.
"Madam is waiting for you at the beast pen. Looks like she's going to the Marketplace again. Hurry over," Jiang Xue said.
"Are Master and Mistress going to the Marketplace together, or is Mistress going alone?" Li Shuidao suddenly asked.
"Madam is going alone."
At the beast pen...
There was only one elegant White Feather Crane, along with Qin Yue'e.
She wore a simple white silk dress, the fine silk hugging her slender figure like a blooming white lotus.
Delicate golden embroidery adorned the dress, winding around her slender waist in a dreamlike pattern.
Her sleeves hung loose and natural, fluttering lightly with an ethereal grace.
A white lotus hairpin gleamed faintly atop her head, complementing her glossy black hair.
Her features were as lovely as a painting. A faint blush colored her cheeks, and her soft pink lips parted in a tender smile.
It wouldn't be wrong to call her a fairy from a painting.
When she saw Li Shuidao, Qin Yue'e smiled radiantly.
"Xue'er, you may go back. I'm going to the Marketplace," Qin Yue'e instructed.
"As you command." Jiang Xue turned and left.
Li Shuidao mounted the White Feather Crane, and they rose into the air, wings spread wide.
Qin Yue'e stood gracefully on the crane's back, her figure light as if she had descended from the clouds into the mortal world.
As the White Feather Crane soared through the vast sea of clouds,
Qin Yue'e sat down, pressing herself close against Li Shuidao's back, feeling his warmth and strength.
The breeze brushed gently across their faces, stirring Qin Yue'e's long hair.
Li Shuidao kept his gaze fixed ahead...
The White Feather Crane beat its wings, leaving a streak of white across the blue sky like a mark on paper.
Qin Yue'e leaned her head gently against Li Shuidao's shoulder, savoring his presence...
"Madam, please don't," Li Shuidao said. He truly couldn't take it anymore, so he had to speak up.
A shy expression appeared on Qin Yue'e's face. She knew why Li Shuidao had said that.
"There's no one here but the two of us. Let your mistress dote on you for a while," Qin Yue'e said, gazing at Li Shuidao tenderly, her eyes hazy.
"Madam, we've reached the Marketplace!" Li Shuidao hurriedly changed the subject.
The White Feather Crane circled above the mountain valley.
Poison Dragon Ridge was only this large; with a single flap of its wings, the White Feather Crane could reach the Marketplace with ease.
The White Feather Crane landed, and Qin Yue'e dismounted, her gaze tinged with resentment.
Li Shuidao pretended not to notice.
Qin Yue'e turned and headed for the Marketplace. In the past, whenever she rode the White Feather Crane there alone, she would reward Li Shuidao with a Qi Circulation Pill, claiming it was a gift from an elder.
But even after giving him several Qi Circulation Pills, Li Shuidao still refused to take things further with her. Now Qin Yue'e had decided to stop giving him any.
She refused to believe Li Shuidao could resist the temptation of rapidly improving his cultivation.
Anyone who had grown used to rapidly increasing their cultivation with pills would never be able to resist that temptation.
"Madam!" Li Shuidao suddenly called out.
A triumphant smile appeared on Qin Yue'e's face.
"Go on, what is it?" Qin Yue'e asked, already certain of victory, though she pretended not to know.
"Madam, how long will you be browsing the Marketplace?" Li Shuidao asked.
"About an hour," Qin Yue'e replied.
"Then... could this disciple come pick you up in an hour?"
Qin Yue'e paused for a moment. She knew Li Shuidao wanted to use that time to practice the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art, so she scoffed, "Go on, then. Come get me at Spirit Beast Valley in an hour."
"Thank you, Madam." Li Shuidao rode the flying crane into the sky.
A short while later...
Li Shuidao flew the White Feather Crane to a secluded valley.
It was a quiet and pleasant valley.
Flowers and grass grew lushly, and a stream burbled along.
An old tree stood in the valley, half withered and half flourishing. Its bare trunk was as large as a house.
Beside the stream, the White Feather Crane crouched lightly and pecked at the little fish in the water, hunting on its own.
This place was well hidden...
The White Feather Crane could feed here by itself without any danger.
Li Shuidao took off his wide black robe, along with the undergarments beneath it.
A Jade Toad leaped into the water and, after a few bounds, reached the entrance to the valley.
The Jade Toad kept watch at the entrance, so no one could wander into the valley while Li Shuidao was cultivating and lead away the precious White Feather Crane.
He couldn't afford to lose that big white bird...
Li Shuidao bundled up his clothes and hid them in a hollow behind the tree.
Then he sprang forward and plunged into the clear, icy stream.
The stream wasn't deep, but it was deep enough to submerge Li Shuidao completely.
Divine Ability: Water Breath Technique.
Li Shuidao sank quietly to the streambed. He held his hands slightly apart, slowly embracing the empty space before his chest like a golden toad as he felt the current flow. Each breath brought nothing but icy stream water.
It was much easier to hold Golden Toad Embracing Carp underwater than at the surface. The longer he could hold the posture, the better its effect at concealing his Mana; that would make cultivating his arts twice as effective with half the effort.
After a long while...
Water Toad Dragon!
His body moved lightly, like a toad stretching its limbs underwater.
His gathered Mana coursed through his entire body like a swimming dragon...
After completing one cycle, Li Shuidao stood up from the stream, naked.
His brows knitted together...
The results of his cultivation really were worse, nowhere near as good as when he had taken a Qi Circulation Pill beforehand.
Now he was out of Qi Circulation Pills...
"Good riddance," Li Shuidao said to himself. His brow relaxed, and he looked much more at ease.
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