Lu Chen lowered his head and kept silent, looking too cowed by the scolding to talk back.
Foreman Wang cursed him a few times, but seemed to find it rather dull.
His eyes shifted as he recalled yesterday's flawless materials, and another idea took shape in his mind.
The kid was useless, but his skill at processing materials was the real deal.
If he could get the boy to serve him wholeheartedly, that would be a good thing too.
He would give him a taste of sweetness, but not too much. He had to keep the boy forever hopeful, yet unable to leave his side.
With that thought, Foreman Wang rummaged for a long while through a dusty wooden chest in the corner. He casually pulled out two tattered, yellowed booklets and tossed them at Lu Chen's feet like rubbish.
"Here. This is the Turtle Breath Meditation Method. They say it's a fragment from ancient times, and that mastering it can prolong your life and make your breathing long and steady. But it's badly incomplete, and I haven't heard of anyone mastering it in decades."
"This is the Body Evasion Steps, another low-grade basic movement technique. Only the first three forms remain. Use it to stretch your limbs, so you don't stiffen up and die in the Corpse Handling Room one day."
After speaking, he took a small paper packet from his drawer, poured out a few dark-red pills, wrapped them in a scrap of paper, and tossed them to Lu Chen.
"This is your reward for handling the Vengeful Fox yesterday: Blood Activating Powder. Make it last. This stuff is good."
Lu Chen knew that, by the rules, handling a demon devil like a Vengeful Fox should earn him at least a full packet—around thirty pills of Blood Activating Powder.
What Foreman Wang had given him wasn't even a fraction of that.
But his expression didn't change in the slightest. He simply picked up the two tattered booklets and the pitifully small amount of medicinal powder with great care, tucked them into his robes, and bowed deeply to Foreman Wang.
"Thank you for the reward, Foreman Wang! Your subordinate... Your subordinate is deeply grateful!"
"Get out, get out. You're in the way." Foreman Wang waved impatiently.
Lu Chen left the room bent over, as if granted a reprieve.
Back in the gloomy Corpse Handling Room, he bolted the stone door shut. The respect and gratitude vanished from his face in an instant.
He took the things from his robes and set them on the stone bed.
The two booklets were indeed in terrible shape, with curled corners and a musty smell.
The writing in the Turtle Breath Meditation Method was blurred, and many parts of the pages had been eaten through by insects. Its so-called circulation diagrams were broken and disjointed, impossible to follow from beginning to end.
The Body Evasion Steps was even simpler. It had only three pages, each showing a little figure in an awkward pose.
An ordinary person who got their hands on something like this would probably curse on the spot.
But Lu Chen's eyes gleamed with excitement.
He picked up the Turtle Breath Meditation Method and focused his mind.
"System, infuse the Turtle Breath Meditation Method!"
This time, he didn't recklessly stake everything as he had before. Fifty-six years of demon devil lifespan had to be spent where it counted.
He decided to test the waters first.
"Invest one year of demon devil lifespan."
[Command confirmed. Beginning infusion of the Turtle Breath Meditation Method...] [Year One: You attempt to practice the Turtle Breath Meditation Method according to its incomplete diagrams. Because the method is incomplete and its pathways unclear, you repeatedly stray onto the wrong paths, making almost no progress. Only at the end of the year do you feel that your breath may be slightly longer than before.]
The panel's feedback made Lu Chen's heart sink, but then he was delighted.
It worked!
The effect was slight, but the system really could work out the correct method from this pile of scraps!
That was enough!
"Keep infusing!" A ruthless glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes. "Add another five years!"
He wanted to see just how far six years of hard practice could take this incomplete technique!
[Command confirmed. Continuing infusion...]
The words on the panel refreshed rapidly. It was as if an untiring version of himself had appeared in Lu Chen's mind, day after day, year after year, sitting cross-legged and breathing in the quiet virtual chamber as he felt out the broken meridian pathways.
Countless failures, countless wrong turns, countless surges of qi and blood.
Any ordinary person would have given up long ago—or suffered a cultivation deviation and died.
But none of that was a problem for system infusion.
[Year Two: You learn from your failures and begin trying to piece the broken pathways together...] [Year Four: You work out a relatively complete circulation route, though it is still riddled with errors...] [Year Six: After more than ten thousand attempts and revisions, and through sheer perseverance, you finally manage to restore part of the key pathways and guide your breath into your dantian.] [The Turtle Breath Meditation Method has reached Beginner level!] [Current martial arts: Demon Suppressing Saber Technique (Great Mastery), Turtle Breath Meditation Method (Beginner)]
When the words on the panel finally settled, Lu Chen's eyes snapped open.
He drew a deep breath.
It was longer and deeper than any breath he had ever taken. The world's vital energy in the air seemed drawn by an invisible force, seeping into his body in fine wisps and slowly sinking into his lower abdomen, following a warm passageway that had only just been opened.
A faint current of warmth quietly formed in his dantian.
It was still weak, but it was real!
That meant he no longer had to rely solely on brute physical strength. He had truly set foot on a path where he could cultivate and build up power!
Six years of lifespan for reaching Beginner level in an incomplete technique.
That was a steal!
Lu Chen returned to the gloomy Corpse Handling Room and bolted the stone door shut, completely cutting off the noise and prying eyes outside.
The look of respect and gratitude vanished from his face, replaced by a deep, steady calm.
He placed the two tattered booklets and the pitifully small amount of Blood Activating Powder on the stone bed.
Reaching Beginner level in the Turtle Breath Meditation Method had already given him a taste of its benefits. The faint warmth in his dantian was the foundation of his path beyond the ordinary.
But Lu Chen knew full well that inner power alone wouldn't be enough. Without movement skills, he would still be a sitting duck.
Foreman Wang's seemingly casual pat still made him uneasy. If he hadn't redirected the force in time, he would have been half-crippled by now.
His gaze fell on the other, even more battered booklet: the Body Evasion Steps.
"The Demon Suppressing Saber Technique focuses on killing, and the Turtle Breath Meditation Method lays the foundation. The Body Evasion Steps are what will keep me alive."
Lu Chen's gaze sharpened. His mind was made up.
Without hesitation, he focused his mind and issued a command to the Bronze Tome floating in his consciousness.
"System, infuse the Body Evasion Steps!"
Having learned from his previous attempt, he was even more decisive this time.
"Invest eight years of demon devil lifespan!"
[Command confirmed. Beginning infusion of the Body Evasion Steps...] [Eight years of demon devil lifespan consumed. You dodge and weave within a tiny space, tireless, stumbling and experimenting countless times. At last, you master the only three remaining forms and grasp a trace of the essence of turning and shifting.] [The Body Evasion Steps have reached Minor Mastery!]