Time slipped by, the years flew past.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
Shrek City, the backyard of Ping'an Pharmacy.
Afternoon sunlight slanted over the courtyard wall, bathing the entire expanse of blue brick in warm gold. The bamboo leaves in the corner rustled in the breeze, casting a scatter of tiny shadows.
In the wide-open backyard, a petite figure stood at its center.
It was Xiao Xiao.
Her dark green hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. She wore a light blue-green blouse, tailored to fit and accentuate her slender waist.
Below, she wore a dark skirt that allowed her to move freely, leaving her slender legs bare, along with a pair of lightweight, soft-soled cloth shoes.
Half a year had passed. Xiao Xiao was still petite, but she no longer looked as frail as before.
Her small frame had taken on a balanced shape, as if carefully honed. Every inch was just right, combining a young girl's softness with the resilience expected of a Soul Master.
At that moment, a small black cauldron revolved slowly above Xiao Xiao's head.
The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.
Intricate inscriptions were carved into its body, which now trembled constantly. Rings of black ripples spread outward, carrying a crushing force that bore down on Xiao Xiao like an invisible mountain!
Yet Xiao Xiao didn't back down in the slightest. Her delicate face was set with concentration, and sunlight gleamed in her jade-green eyes as she gritted her teeth and persevered.
Beads of sweat ran down her cheeks and skin, dripping onto the blue bricks and spreading into small, dark stains.
Xiao Xiao remained utterly focused, unaffected in the slightest. She planted her feet in a horse stance, legs firmly braced against the ground, center of gravity lowered, knees slightly bent, and back straight.
Her hands alternated between opening and closing as she pushed out her palms. Her movements were neither fast nor slow, each one crisp and clean, without the slightest unnecessary sway.
Wrapped in immense pressure, Xiao Xiao's breathing remained long and steady. Every breath fit perfectly with her movements, like precisely meshing gears, with not a gap between them.
Jiang Ci'an stood very close by.
With his arms crossed, he simply sat there, his golden pupils faintly gleaming as he watched Xiao Xiao's every move without shifting an inch.
Under Perspective, Xiao Xiao's body was like a map brought to light; nothing escaped his notice.
He could clearly see the contraction and relaxation of her muscles with every movement, and the flow of the world's vital energy into her body with every breath. He could also see her Soul Power slowly circulating through specific meridians.
These routes were completely different from those used in traditional meditation. Though they still centered on the dantian and used the Ren and Du meridians as their framework, they were more diffuse and intricate, spreading through every inch of her limbs and body.
As Soul Power passed through, her muscles trembled faintly, her bones hummed softly, and her fascia slowly stretched. Bit by bit, the process was nourishing Xiao Xiao's body.
And that was only one part of it.
This special method of exercise and breathing also drew in the world's vital energy.
The world's vital energy entered her body with each breath, naturally transforming into Soul Power and circulating through her meridians as it nourished her body.
At the same time, her powerful body drew in even more vital energy, turning it into more Soul Power and increasing her cultivation.
The two complemented each other. While tempering Xiao Xiao's body, they also raised her cultivation at an astonishingly impressive rate.
This was no longer just body training. It was body training and meditation at the same time—and it was even more efficient!
And this was the version he had finally made usable after half a year of countless failures in the Virtual World, where he had made Tang San explode hundreds, even thousands of times.
He called it—
"Martial Way."
At first, Jiang Ci'an had wanted to call it "body cultivation," but later realized that the name wasn't quite right.
In his understanding, body cultivation focused on the physical body and neglected energy.
His "Martial Way" wasn't like that.
"Martial Way" cultivated both the inner and outer self.
Just like Xiao Xiao, who was practicing it now.
Under the pressure of the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, every move Xiao Xiao made tempered her body. At the same time, relying on that pressure and a special breathing technique, she tempered the Soul Power inside her body, steadily advancing her cultivation.
The two went hand in hand in perfect harmony, and the method was no less efficient than ordinary seated meditation!
To put it more precisely, if the efficiency of an ordinary meditation method was set at 1, then practicing the Mysterious Heaven Skill could raise it to around 1.2 to 1.4.
But this "Martial Way" practice, like the one she was doing now, had an efficiency of 1.5!
And it also trained the body in the process.
There was no doubt that this method, which he had named the "Body Tempering Method," was a true method of cultivating both the inner and outer self in harmony—and one that could greatly accelerate cultivation!
It was also the entry-level cultivation method for the "Martial Way" he had envisioned.
For a time, Jiang Ci'an spent so much of every day in the Virtual World constructing the "Body Tempering Method" that he was there even longer than he was in reality. It wasn't until three months ago that he finally managed to put together a rough version.
Back then, the "Body Tempering Method" had an efficiency of only 1.1 to 1.2, barely better than ordinary meditation. It was probably even inferior to the advanced meditation methods refined over generations by some powerful factions.
Fortunately, every beginning was hard. Once the basic framework was in place, later improvements came much more easily.
As Tang San, that brave contributor in the Virtual World, put his Mysterious Heaven Skill foundation to use and exploded hundreds, even thousands of times in a row, the "Body Tempering Method" was constantly improved, until it reached its current efficiency of 1.5.
And for Jiang Ci'an, this was still only the beginning.
The framework of the "Martial Way" had only just been built; it was still far from complete.
Jiang Ci'an had plenty of patience and more than enough chances to make mistakes. He could fill it in and hone it bit by bit, letting it grow into the form he wanted. That would take time...
Time drifted by, and the afternoon sun grew more and more glaring.
At one point, Xiao Xiao stopped moving.
She exhaled softly, then raised a hand and beckoned. The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron above her head trembled, turned into a streak of black light, and sank into her palm.
The black ripples disappeared, and the oppressive force lifted. Xiao Xiao visibly relaxed.
She paused for a moment, as if waiting for the Soul Power surging inside her to settle. Then she turned her head and saw Jiang Ci'an smiling at her from the shade.
His gaze was gentle, bringing with it the familiar sense of security she knew so well.
Xiao Xiao paused without meaning to, her eyes flickering slightly. Even the fatigue in them seemed to fade a little.
Why did she suddenly want to grow up faster?
Xiao Xiao blinked, unable to help secretly wondering to herself.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Xiao hurried over to Jiang Ci'an, about to say something.
But Jiang Ci'an seemed to have been expecting her. He held out a clean towel and asked gently,
"Are you tired?"
Xiao Xiao didn't try to act tough. She nodded meekly, looking pitifully exhausted.
Taking the towel and wiping the sweat from her face, Xiao Xiao naturally sat down beside Jiang Ci'an, then leaned straight against him, limp with exhaustion.
"I don't want to move anymore..."
Her voice was soft and sweet, but she sounded utterly drained.
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