Opening the yellowed tome, it seemed as though a faint breeze swept past.
"Take the Five Animals as forms, temper and forge the true spirit bones."
This simple sentence encompassed the true essence of the Five Animals Body Forging.
Continuing to turn the pages, An Le began skimming through it. The tome contained not only written records, but also illustrated movements.
The Five Animal Body Tempering Technique was divided into five parts: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. Each of the Five Animals contained different moves, fifty-four in all: Thirteen Tiger Styles, Nine Deer Styles, Nine Bear Styles, Ten Ape Styles, and Thirteen Bird Styles.
Each illustration came with explanations, along with methods of practice involving mutual generation and mutual restraint.
After looking through it once, An Le found every illustration lifelike, displaying the animals' forms and Divine Intent to the fullest.
He returned to the first page and began reading carefully. His foundation in martial cultivation was practically nonexistent, so naturally he had to begin from the start.
The first realm of Martial Body Tempering was Opening Qi and Blood.
Blood flowed through the human body without cease, forming the foundation of human strength. Yet blood circulation was driven by an unnamed force, and that force was the treasure hidden within the human body.
Tempering the body and refining qi and blood meant strengthening this force, granting one supreme power to split mountains, shatter stones, bar rivers, and sever seas!
An Le was utterly absorbed. Spirit refinement methods and body tempering methods were entirely different paths, yet there was a reason to cultivate both together. If one's spiritual power was strong, it could naturally drive the circulation of qi and blood, making Opening Qi and Blood easier.
In truth, however, most cultivators first opened their qi and blood, then sensed its circulation to temper their minds and step into Entering Stillness.
The world called this the Inner Vision Samadhi Method, a comparatively orthodox method for cultivating spiritual power and body tempering together.
Of course, An Le had already successfully entered stillness, so he had no need to follow the path of Inner Vision Samadhi. Instead, he needed to use his spiritual power to open his qi and blood in reverse!
"For tiger practitioners, place the four limbs on the ground; cast forward three times, retreat two times; stretch the waist long, raise one foot toward the sky, then return to the stance and proceed. Forward and back, seven times each..."
An Le studied the written annotations, using the illustration beside them as reference to comprehend them.
Because An Le's Cultivation Genius Dao Fruit had been enhanced by three strands of Time Qi, his comprehension had improved considerably. Though he no longer had the Sword Dancer's additional blessing, he did not find it too difficult to grasp.
After finishing his study and committing it to memory, An Le began practicing the tiger forms of the Five Animal Body Tempering Technique in his room.
He lowered his body like a fierce tiger pouncing down, placing all four limbs on the ground. Following the movements in the illustrations, he corrected his posture bit by bit, making every stance as precise as possible.
He practiced the Thirteen Tiger Styles move by move. With the Cultivation Genius Dao Fruit's enhancement, his mind was exceptionally clear. Combined with the faint perception granted by entering stillness, he could finely adjust and control the relaxation of his muscles and the angle of his arms.
Even the bend of each finger was precisely controlled!
"Huff, hiss, huff, hiss..."
As An Le practiced the tiger forms, he exhaled and inhaled rhythmically. It resembled a breathing technique, yet it differed from the basic qi-guiding breathing method he had bought from the bookstore. It carried the feeling of imitating a fierce tiger's breath.
Meanwhile, his muscles, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and more were stretched by the movements, faintly giving rise to varying degrees of soreness and stabbing pain.
Before long, he was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through.
An Le panted heavily. Having barely finished the Thirteen Tiger Styles, he felt the flow of blood within him quicken. It seemed qi was rising inside him, pushing his blood into motion!
The room was too cramped, yet An Le continued practicing the tiger forms tirelessly, using his spiritual power to correct mistaken movements.
Before he knew it, the night had deepened until it was so black he could not see his own fingers.
Yet within the room, An Le panted heavily, his eyes bright as moonlight scattering down.
After who knew how many rounds of practice, An Le felt a distinct current of qi rise within him. His spiritual power could even control this current, driving his blood to circulate rapidly and generating strength!
"Where qi arises, blood moves!"
"The first realm of body tempering, Opening Qi and Blood, is complete!"
In the darkness, An Le laughed freely. Feeling the powerful strength surging from within, An Le felt that he could now fight one-tenth of Girl Zhuifeng!
With the Dao Fruit's blessing, cultivation no longer seemed difficult.
He lit the lamp.
The room brightened. An Le moved the table and chairs back into place, his brows drawing together slightly. "The room is too small. I can't properly stretch out while practicing. I need to find a larger place to live."
"Tomorrow, after returning from painting at Lin Manor, I'll visit the Estate Agency and find a bigger courtyard."
An Le rose, fetched some water, and took a bath, washing away his fatigue. He sat cross-legged on the bed but did not choose to sleep. Instead, he took out a book, kept the lamp burning, and began reading.
Cultivation was indeed important, but the imperial examinations were of paramount importance as well. They were the key to whether An Le could climb high and see far.
If he wanted to rank among the Jia Bang Jinshi, reading was indispensable. Skill was honed by diligence and wasted in play; if he failed because he had not practiced enough questions and fell from the list, he would regret it bitterly.
The night was deep, the candlelight dim.
The young man's recitation accompanied the silent night, lingering around the beams without end.
The next day.
After resting briefly for an hour, An Le rose. He practiced the Thirteen Tiger Styles several times in the cramped room, working up a sweat and generating strength, before tidying himself up, changing into blue robes, and heading out.
A new day left An Le refreshed and invigorated. He could begin drawing in Time Qi again, and he could not help feeling somewhat impatient.
Amid the greetings of the waiter and innkeeper, An Le left the inn.
A fine drizzle had unexpectedly begun to fall from the sky. Spring weather had always been like this, but spring rain was as precious as oil, making it rather pleasant.
Holding the oil-paper umbrella gifted by the innkeeper, An Le strolled down the long street. Lin'an Prefecture's streets were bustling, and even the drifting spring rain could not dampen the pedestrians' enthusiasm for wandering the market.
Walking over the bluestone road, he arrived by West Lake.
Pines lined the mountain face in a thousand layers of green; the moon dotted the heart of the waves like a single pearl.
West Lake beneath the spring rain was even livelier, its rain carrying greater poetic charm. Scholars and poets held Oil-Paper Umbrellas as they strolled along the embankment, reciting poems or admiring the scenery. Looking toward the flower boats upon the lake, where song and music never ceased day or night, their eyes brimmed with fervor and anticipation, hoping for a lovely figure aboard one of the boats.
Following the crowd, An Le naturally counted as one of these scholars and poets.
He was extremely familiar with this side of West Lake and found his old spot. In truth, he could have gone up Wanghu Tower. He had lacked the money before, but now that he carried ten Primordial Spirit Treasures, he could afford it.
But there was no need. He waited quietly beside the white jade railing along the lakeside embankment.
A familiar sound of something cutting through the air came from above.
Against the gray-blue sky veiled in fine rain, a peerlessly beautiful woman in a white dress and face veil arrived by Sword Control.
The sword light was clear and cold, slicing apart the tangled spring rain.
She was Fairy Yun Rou, the foremost Flower Queen upon the lake, a Female Sword Immortal fallen into the dust of the mortal world.
An Le stood holding his oil-paper umbrella, his gaze passing through the fine rain as he looked at this peerless woman of the mortal world.
Why had this woman, who had condensed an inner core at eighteen, fallen into the dust of the mortal world?
An Le still could not understand it.
But An Le was grateful to the Female Sword Immortal. It was precisely because she had dazzled West Lake that he, An Le, could quietly harvest Time Qi.
With that thought, An Le's heart stirred, and he drew a strand of Time Qi from Fairy Yun Rou, who was still riding her sword.
Fairy Yun Rou's face was half-concealed behind her veil. Her eyelashes trembled lightly as her gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, meeting An Le's eyes.
It was not that she had sensed An Le shearing her like a sheep, but because she noticed the subtly stirring qi and blood around him, as well as the spiritual power that spilled out and folded back within.
A cultivator who had only just opened his qi and blood—somewhat weak.
Yet the spiritual power spilling from him was quite condensed. Clearly, the Spirit Refinement Method he cultivated was of a high grade. Anyone who possessed such a method surely had no ordinary status.
Fairy Yun Rou gave An Le a slight nod, then landed upon a Flower Boat. Several scholars and poets around An Le thought the fairy had greeted them, and could not help growing excited, their chanting of poetry rising several notes higher.
An Le froze for a moment, naturally realizing that Fairy Yun Rou had been acknowledging him. This counted as the first true intersection between them.
The corners of An Le's lips lifted into a faint smile. He nodded in return, then quietly sheared another strand of Time Qi from the fairy.
Unfortunately, both strands of Time Qi were gray rather than gold, unable to condense into a Dao Fruit.
Fairy Yun Rou had no further interaction with An Le. She soon entered the Flower Boat, her figure vanishing from sight.
Having gathered his wool for the day, An Le did not linger any longer.
In truth, there were dozens of flower boats on West Lake, and cultivators did occasionally come by. Yet cultivators were not like these idle scholars and poets, crowding together by the embankment and putting on airs of elegance.
Within prosperous and extravagant Lin'an Prefecture, there was a pleasure district specifically for cultivators called Lin Hua Pavilion. That was where cultivators often frequented, and many of the flower boats on West Lake were actually properties of Lin Hua Pavilion.
Holding his umbrella, An Le passed through the crowded long streets and headed toward Lin Manor.
But after taking only a few steps, he heard someone calling from afar.
An Le turned around in puzzlement and saw a familiar figure striding through the bustling crowd.
A saber hung at his waist, and he wore fitted black clothes.
This person was Huang Xian, the Black Office constable who had brought him to Lin Manor.
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