Nourishing Life Technique: A Beginner's Grasp

When Jiang Ping finished practicing the third time, the Nourishing Life Technique's number rose from 17 to 27.

He was almost completely certain that he was a genius.

What ordinary person could be this absurd? At this rate, he might reach the First Level today.

Why would he need the ten days described by his Destiny?

Of course, every gain came with a loss.

Jiang Ping felt that his stamina had been drained to a frightening degree. After three rounds, he was exhausted beyond measure, even more tired than after a day of hard labor. His stomach had begun to growl as hunger set in.

"This must be what the Head Escort meant by saying that eating has to keep up with training. Strengthening the body requires a great deal of nourishment, otherwise the body will be dragged down."

He pondered inwardly.

He had made tremendous progress, and naturally, his consumption was tremendous as well.

"The Martial Artists of Yang City often say, 'Martial arts are a Money Pit.' That is absolutely true. If you want to grow stronger, you have to pour a great deal of silver into nourishing your body."

Jiang Ping was also glad that he had not chosen to spend another four years steadily practicing martial arts at a Martial Arts Hall.

Otherwise, his talent would have remained hidden for another four years, and he would not have gotten free beef to eat.

"After three rounds, half of you still haven't mastered all the movements. You're stupid beyond belief."

The Head Escort's scolding rang out right on cue.

With the Head Escort's guidance and rousing words, half the group had finally memorized the movements completely. Of course, some were still a little slow-witted and continued to make mistakes.

"If you make even one mistake, you won't achieve the slightest effect!"

"The Escort Agency is training escorts capable of standing on their own, not stupid wastes. I'll guide you through one last time. If you still make mistakes, forget about having beef for lunch. If you want to eat it, spend your own money."

Liang Sheng's voice was icy, and the faces of the few slow or somewhat lazy young men changed drastically.

"The Escort Agency is spending silver to cultivate you. Don't dream of being served fine food and drink every meal. What we want are fine talents and Uncarved Jade, not fools."

Escort Huang, watching the scene from the side, could not help but sneer.

The Escort Agency was spending its own silver to train real escorts. This was not a place for trash to freeload.

Time passed.

When everyone finished the sixth round of the Nourishing Life Technique, Head Escort Liang indeed left without looking back.

Escort Huang then read out the names of twenty or thirty people. "You still have mistakes. If you fail to meet the standard before lunch, beef will not be provided. Of course, before then, you may come to me for guidance. One Coin per session."

At those words, their expressions shifted slightly.

They were reluctant to spend that money.

"Brother Qian!" Sun Zheng looked pitifully at his Old friend. Qian Dele merely smiled. "Easy enough. I'll teach you."

"Tiegen, help us." Luo Tiegen's two fellow villagers looked toward him.

Luo Tiegen looked somewhat hesitant. He had indeed learned the movements, but he wanted to use the time before lunch to practice a few more times so he would not fall behind others. If he used his half-baked understanding to guide others, his own cultivation progress would be slowed.

When Luo Tiegen saw his roommate slumped on the ground, an idea immediately came to him. He said at once:

"Brother Jiang, could you help guide these two fellow villagers of mine?"

At that moment, Jiang Ping was panting heavily, drawing in great breaths of air.

After six rounds, the Nourishing Life Technique's proficiency had risen to 56, and his progress toward the First Level was already more than halfway complete.

Likewise, the consumption was immense. Jiang Ping felt ravenously hungry. Without food to replenish his strength, it would be difficult to continue practicing.

Luo Tiegen had noticed exactly that. He had long known that Jiang Ping had mastered all the movements before him, so guiding his fellow villagers would be no trouble.

But how could Jiang Ping be in the mood? He was already tired as a dog.

"Spending one copper coin won't hurt, and I suggest you ask Escort Huang for guidance instead. That would be more suitable." He waved his hand.

He sincerely meant it as advice. They had all only begun learning today. How could their understanding of the Nourishing Life Technique compare to Escort Huang's?

Moreover, Escort Huang only charged one Coin for guidance. That was quite generous, with no intention of deliberately squeezing them dry.

Perhaps he wanted to use that one Coin to make those who did not know the technique learn it properly.

Unfortunately, too few understood his intention. Most still chose to ask friends or roommates who had learned it to help correct their movements.

Besides, even if Jiang Ping agreed to guide them, if these two still practiced incorrectly, they might turn around and suspect that he had deliberately led them astray. Wouldn't he be the one taking the blame?

Why should he agree to something so thankless and exhausting?

Besides, Luo Tiegen himself had mastered all the movements but would not teach them. Instead, he called on Jiang Ping to do it. He really knew how to take advantage.

"Th-this..." Hearing Jiang Ping's words, Luo Tiegen's two fellow villagers looked troubled. Paying one Coin for a single session of guidance was still not worthwhile to them.

Seeing Jiang Ping refuse, Luo Tiegen had no choice but to teach them himself.

In the blink of an eye, noon arrived.

"Luo Da Niu, Li Si..."

Escort Huang had those who had previously failed to perform the movements correctly demonstrate them once more. Then he read out eight or nine names and sneered.

"You really are stupid. If you had asked me to teach you, a few Coins would have been enough for you to learn everything. Yet you were too stingy, insisting on practicing by yourselves or having other half-baked fools guide you. You thought you had saved money, but you didn't realize that one bowl of beef in the dining hall costs Ten Coins."

At those words, their faces turned pale, and their intestines were green with regret.

"What a pity for Da Niu. He only got two movements wrong. With a little more time, he would have made it." Luo Tiegen patted his fellow villager's shoulder.

Luo Da Niu gave a soft "Mm." He glanced at Jiang Ping. He should have listened to his advice earlier.

"The rest of you, go eat first. After they have collected their food, you fools who failed to practice correctly may go in."

Escort Huang's words sounded again, and most of them immediately entered the dining hall in excitement.

Jiang Ping was among them.

He had been hungry for a long time. At last, he could eat.

After collecting his food, Jiang Ping casually found an empty table and began wolfing it down.

Once the bowl of beef went down his stomach, he felt warmth spread through his entire body, a sensation he had never experienced before.

He had merely eaten a bowl of beef, yet he felt as if the food were soaking into his spleen and stomach, nourishing his limbs and every channel. The exhaustion from practicing the Nourishing Life Technique seemed to have dispersed at that moment.

"So this is how it feels after practicing a technique."

Jiang Ping thought.

His only regret was that this meal was not very filling. He dearly wanted another serving of beef.

Thinking of this, he glanced around and discovered that several people had taken two portions of beef.

These people were not among the Top Five in Fist Force, but they had chosen to pay for extra meat. Clearly, they had taken the Head Escort's words to heart and used eating to support their training.

Jiang Ping also wanted to nourish his training with food, but he touched his pocket and could only shake his head helplessly.

After the meal.

Everyone either sat or stood in the shade beneath the trees beside the Training Ground.

Escort Huang had only given them a quarter of an hour to rest before they had to continue practicing, so no one returned to the dormitories.

After all, the Head Escort had said that the best time to practice the Nourishing Life Technique was after a meal.

From now on, their practice periods would likely be the three points after meals.

A quarter of an hour passed quickly.

Head Escort Liang arrived.

He led everyone through the Nourishing Life Technique once more, said a few words, and then hurried away.

This time, even Escort Huang no longer remained behind to supervise.

"A master leads you through the gate; cultivation depends on the individual," someone said solemnly.

Everyone nodded involuntarily, deeply agreeing.

The Escort Agency was training them, but it could not guide and supervise them at every moment.

Whether they could produce results from here on would depend on themselves.

As the tedious practice continued, time gradually passed.

Jiang Ping was the first to feel his strength give out.

After only three rounds, he felt incomparably exhausted. Even his feet were unsteady, trembling slightly.

Of course, the result was gratifying:

[Nourishing Life Technique First Level (72/100)]

He was only one-third away from mastering the First Level!

"If I could replenish myself with another serving of beef right now, I'd probably enter the First Level very soon."

At this moment, Jiang Ping's eyes were filled with longing for beef.

Unfortunately, his purse was too small to hold even this bit of food.

He simply stopped practicing and headed for the dormitory.

The Head Escort had said that eating had to keep up with training. If he forced himself to practice, he would damage his body.

Jiang Ping had no money for an extra meal, so he could only return and rest.

Half an hour after he left, several more people ran out of strength and chose to stop and rest.

"These people have all learned the Nourishing Life Technique, but they share one thing in common: they had no beef at lunch, so they tired out quickly."

Liu Wensheng, one of the Top Five in Fist Force, watched them and pondered inwardly.

"What those two escorts said was right. Eating must keep up with training. Beef is crucial." Liu Wensheng had realized the importance of beef to martial arts practice.

"But why was that Little White Face so exhausted that he went straight back to the dormitory too?" He recalled Jiang Ping. That fellow had eaten beef, yet he had looked utterly worn out.

Not until he saw several more people who had also eaten beef but chose to return to the dormitory to rest did he understand.

"They can't endure the hardships of martial arts practice."

Seeing himself drenched in sweat yet still persisting with the exercises, Liu Wensheng felt relieved and no longer paid attention to the others.

When there were a hundred people, there were a hundred different kinds, each with their own way of living and aspirations.

After dinner.

This time, not only did the Head Escort fail to appear, even Escort Huang was nowhere to be seen.

Clearly, whether they learned the technique or not depended solely on themselves.

Still, everyone followed the two escorts' instructions and practiced after eating.

Jiang Ping was among the crowd practicing the Nourishing Life Technique, working with great focus.

At Xushi, as he practiced for the third time.

[Nourishing Life Technique First Level (100/100) → Nourishing Life Technique Second Level (0/100)]

There was no imagined surging of blood and vitality, no sensation of strength suddenly soaring.

It was merely an ordinary instant, unnoticed by anyone.

If there was any sign at all, it was perhaps that he could vaguely sense a thread of blood and vitality flowing within his body. As he continued practicing the Nourishing Life Technique, that blood and vitality coursed through his body as if running. The longer he practiced, the more exhausted he felt.

Other than that, there were no further signs.

Still, Jiang Ping was delighted. This meant he had mastered the First Level, his Fist Force had risen by twenty jin, and he had begun closing in on the Top Three in Fist Force.

Most crucially, it had taken him only one day to go from nothing to entry level, and that was under circumstances where his food and practice did not match up.

His talent was plain to see!

When he finished the third round of the Nourishing Life Technique, his proficiency rose by another four points. The Second Level was also on its way.

After practicing the Nourishing Life Technique one more time, Jiang Ping, feeling only exhaustion, decided to end his training and return to the dormitory to sleep.

He naturally would not show off. On his first day in this world, he had firmly engraved the word "caution" in his heart.

Without a powerful background or exceptional strength, revealing his talent too early would easily invite jealousy.

The escorts of the Escort Agency traveled far and wide, and they would surely make enemies. If he established himself as a genius too soon, he might be strangled in the cradle by their enemies.

The gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out. It was better to be steady in life.

After returning to the dormitory, Jiang Ping bathed and rinsed his mouth, then lay directly on his bed. Before long, steady Breathing Sound came from him.

But he did not sleep until dawn in one stretch. After sleeping for a while, he was disturbed into tossing and turning.

The other nine returned to the dormitory one after another, and the noise was rather piercing.

In his drowsiness, Jiang Ping heard his roommates discussing the Nourishing Life Technique.

As they talked, one of them asked about everyone's training progress.

"It's only the first day. What effect could there be?" Luo Tiegen waved his hand.

"What about you?" Sun Zheng continued asking, going through them one by one.

Everyone was somewhat speechless, but they still shook their heads, indicating that they had felt nothing unusual.

Qian Dele, however, said loudly, "I've felt something. I'm confident that I'll sense blood and vitality within a few days."

Hearing this, everyone looked somewhat surprised, and quite a few immediately began flattering him.

After all, he had been the first to master the movements, so he must have produced some results.

As an Old friend, Sun Zheng was naturally happy for him too. As if recalling something, he looked above himself. "There's still one person we haven't asked."

Lying on his bed, Jiang Ping was still groggy, with only his consciousness slightly clearer.

Of course, in that instant, he had already made up his mind: if this person truly dared to wake him by slapping him, he would absolutely swing a slap at him with over one hundred and sixty jin of force.

He would make him a test subject for the effects of the Nourishing Life Technique's First Level.

Jiang Ping could be cautious and keep a low profile without showing off, but that did not mean he could let others bully him.

He was already irritated from being disturbed. Was he supposed to endure someone deliberately waking him too?

If he endured it this time, the others would surely think he was easy to push around, and trouble would only keep coming.

In truth, Sun Zheng had already moved. He planted his feet on the bed and was about to straighten himself when someone spoke to stop him.

"He's sleeping. It wouldn't be good to disturb him. We can ask tomorrow."

Sun Zheng still straightened his body and looked at Jiang Ping, whose eyes were closed.

But in the end, he made no further move. He withdrew back into his own bed and said, "True. We'll ask tomorrow."