Three Flow States

Thinking of this possibility, Jiang Che immediately tried to enter the Flow State.

However, he had already entered the Flow State twice in a row while practicing boxing earlier.

Now his head throbbed painfully, and he could no longer succeed.

"Looks like, with my mental energy, I can only enter the Flow State twice a day. Any more than that won't work."

Having figured it out, Jiang Che decided to try again the next day.

After refining the last trace of Qi-Blood, Jiang Che left the Martial Arts Hall.

It was still early, so he headed straight for the western part of the city.

Counting the days, it was time for him to make forged calligraphy and paintings at Wonderful Heart Studio.

He felt a faint unease about forgery.

Although the shopkeeper had previously said that he specifically sold them to people who used fake calligraphy and paintings to decorate their facades, rather than deceiving customers.

It was still forgery, after all.

Something that could not be brought into the light.

Now that he had become a martial artist, the forces within the city would soon come into contact with him.

With an affiliated stipend, the pressure on his income would lessen considerably.

At that point, he would not have to rely so heavily on forgery income.

He decided that after earning this batch of money, he would stop.

After passing through several streets and alleys, Jiang Che arrived at the familiar West Market Street.

But when he reached the entrance of Wonderful Heart Studio.

He found the doors tightly shut.

He knocked, but no one answered.

"Strange, it's still early..."

He thought to himself.

"Forget it. Maybe something came up. I'll come back tomorrow!"

Jiang Che decisively returned home.

The next day, at White Cloud Martial Hall.

Jiang Che entered the Flow State and finished a set of Layered Cloud Fist, then did not continue.

He faintly felt Qi-Blood forming in his abdomen.

He hurriedly went over and sat down on a meditation cushion.

Entering the Flow State!

In an instant, he felt his mind empty to an extreme degree.

At the same time, the Qi-Blood in his dantian gradually calmed.

In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, all the Qi-Blood had been completely refined!

"The effect is actually this good!"

Feeling the obedient Qi-Blood in his lower abdomen, Jiang Che was stunned.

Though he had never taken any secret medicine.

He felt that meditating in the Flow State was no less effective than secret medicine!

His heart immediately burned with excitement.

This meant he could spend more time practicing martial arts and going out to do other things!

It was only that he could enter the Flow State for extended periods only twice a day.

Once for martial arts practice, and once for meditation.

Otherwise, he could progress even faster!

Before long, A-Shan came over carrying medicinal soup again.

The three of them each bought a bowl.

When it was Jiang Che's turn, he shook his head again.

After Zhang Xiong finished his medicine, he walked over. "Jiang Che, are you out of money? Do you need me to lend you some?"

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang, but there's no need for now!" Jiang Che said with a smile.

"We're fellow disciples now. If anything comes up, you have to tell me." Zhang Xiong patted his shoulder.

Jiang Che nodded, a warmth rising in his heart.

It was just that he truly had no use for it.

After finishing practice and returning home, Jiang Che went to Wonderful Heart Studio again.

The result was that it was still closed.

"Really strange..."

Jiang Che shook his head and turned to go home.

Jiang Ling did not know what she was mending, acting all mysterious about it.

After the two finished dinner, Jiang Che had nothing else to do and saw that he still had quite a bit of the paper and ink he had bought before.

So he began practicing calligraphy again.

As he wrote, Jiang Che suddenly discovered that his heart seemed to have grown calmer.

The anxiety, pressure, and panic that had built up inside him during this time all seemed to have lessened greatly.

Moreover, his head no longer seemed to ache and swell.

"Huh?"

He was somewhat shocked.

He had not expected calligraphy to have such an effect.

After entering the Flow State twice in one day before.

He would spend the entire day in a muddled, swollen-headed state.

Only a full night's sleep could restore him.

"Could it be..."

A possibility suddenly occurred to him.

His eyes sharpened.

At once, time seemed to stop.

A mosquito flew past before his eyes.

Jiang Che could clearly see its flight path.

It seemed to crawl slowly through the air.

Smack!

Jiang Che stared blankly at the pool of blood on his palm.

He had actually successfully entered the Flow State once again!

"In that case..."

His gaze burned.

Practicing calligraphy could speed up the Flow State's internal cooldown!

He could practice more boxing!

The next day, Jiang Che came to the Martial Arts Hall.

He entered the Flow State twice in a row, using both times to practice Layered Cloud Fist.

Before long, he felt Qi-Blood surge within his abdomen, bringing a faint pain.

So he bid the hall master farewell early and hurried home to practice calligraphy.

Once his head no longer ached and swelled, he entered the Flow State again and began meditating.

Very quickly, the Qi-Blood surging in his abdomen settled down.

"It works!"

Jiang Che was extremely excited.

He tried continuing to write calligraphy.

However, this time, he could no longer restore his mind.

"Looks like three times is the limit... but that's enough!"

Jiang Che knew he could not be too greedy.

Three Flow States a day was already exceedingly rare.

For several days in a row, Jiang Che continued like this.

During that time, Zhang Xiong again asked whether Jiang Che needed money. He was fairly well-off and could lend him some, but Jiang Che still politely declined.

Seeing Jiang Che refuse the medicinal soup and leave early every day, Gong Yulei could not help feeling contempt.

"Looks like this guy has given up."

Now, the Qi-Blood of all three of them was increasing at an astonishing rate.

Their skin was also gradually growing thicker.

Gong Yulei in particular had even vaguely reached the major accomplishment stage of the first layer of the Blood-Qi Realm!

In contrast, Jiang Che's Qi-Blood remained pitifully scarce.

Luo Kun was somewhat disappointed by this as well.

However, he soon stopped paying attention to Jiang Che.

Because his attention was now entirely focused on Gong Yulei.

This disciple practically advanced by a realm each day.

He had only seen such a cultivation speed in the genius disciples of Azure Cloud Sect back then!

"Perhaps he really can fight for a place at Azure Cloud Sect..."

At the thought of this possibility, a trace of anticipation immediately welled up in Luo Kun's heart.

Jiang Che did not care about the strange looks from others.

It was just that he now faced a very serious problem.

Although he could efficiently refine Qi-Blood.

And, thanks to calligraphy, could enter the Flow State twice a day for martial arts practice.

He had not replenished himself with food during that time, and his innate Qi-Blood had been weak to begin with.

As a result, he felt his body growing increasingly depleted.

Although, after earning five taels of silver from that forgery job, he bought some meat to eat every day.

And the Martial Arts Hall cafeteria's food was fairly plentiful as well.

For a martial artist who had broken through to the Blood-Qi Realm.

Ordinary food, though somewhat useful, could not completely replace tonics.

"Brother, why do you have dark circles under your eyes? Haven't you been sleeping well?"

One day, Jiang Ling looked at Jiang Che's eyes and asked worriedly.

Jiang Che froze, then found a bronze mirror and looked.

Sure enough, the dark circles under his eyes were severe. He looked quite unwell.

"No, this can't go on!"

Cold sweat streamed down his back.

If he did not consume something to replenish his Qi-Blood soon, he might damage the foundation of his body!

It was not that he did not understand this principle.

It was simply that he had not yet broken through to the Blood-Qi Realm before.

With only his daily diet, his progress had been slow, but it would not harm his body.

Besides, he had not had the money to buy nourishing items.

So he had grown accustomed to it.

Now that he had broken through to the Blood-Qi Realm, continuing to eat as he had before was far from enough.

He also gained a deeper understanding of the relationship between food supplements, boxing practice, and secret medicine.

First, one's innate physical constitution, along with special nourishing foods and tonics, formed the basis for Qi-Blood.

Then came boxing techniques.

In essence, boxing techniques were converters.

They were "devices" that transformed the body's energy and nutrients into Qi-Blood.

It was just that different people had different conversion efficiencies, determined by their natural aptitude.

Finally came secret medicine.

The Qi-Blood trained through practice was incomparably violent and could easily damage the meridians.

Therefore, secret medicine or meditation was needed to refine it.

Only then could it be freely wielded.

Thus, the three formed a dynamic balance.

Constantly improving one's strength through round after round of refinement—this was the principle of Qi-Blood cultivation.

"So the key is nourishment!"