Steady Progress

After eating meat for three consecutive days, Li Su felt a change.

The internal energy within his body no longer felt as piercingly sharp. It wasn't that the effect of the energy had diminished, but rather that his capacity to endure it had grown.

Not only that, he could sense his physical strength increasing.

It wasn't the kind of change where something that felt heavy yesterday felt light today; it was a form of improvement difficult to describe in words, a feeling of becoming stronger.

As proof, he was getting hungry faster.

On the first day, a single pig trotter was enough to fill him up.

By the third day, he felt he could eat another half.

Faced with Li Su's situation, Monk Tianming simply increased the amount of meat, telling Li Su to keep eating until he was full.

A week later, Li Su arrived at Monk Tianming's meditation room once again.

Tianming took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to Li Su. "You don't need to eat meat today. From now on, whenever you practice and feel that needle-like sensation in your body, take one pill. Wait for the sensation to subside before continuing your practice. There are one hundred pills inside; come find your master when you run out."

Taking the bottle, Li Su nodded and returned to his normal rhythm of life.

What was inside the bottle was likely a supplement to assist in the practice of Arhat Gong.

Returning to the place where he usually cleaned and practiced, Xuanci and the others had already arrived and were deep in their training.

Li Su thought for a moment, picked up his tools, and began his daily cleaning.

About an hour later, after putting all his tools away, he sat down and began to practice Arhat Gong.

After nearly two weeks, accompanied by his closed-eye visualization, Li Su quickly fell back into the rhythm.

The true energy within his body welcomed a training session it hadn't experienced in a long time.

Contemplating the Arhat to refine energy.

The form of the Arhat was like fire, burning incessantly, beginning to temper the true energy within Li Su's body.

Feeling the true energy diminish bit by bit, Li Su opened his eyes an hour later, a strange look in them.

The speed of refining energy had increased.

To be precise, the visualization of the Arhat had become easier. Previously, he could only see it hazily, and any attempt to focus would consume vast amounts of energy and leave him exhausted; now, he could see it with greater clarity.

Was it because of his physical strength?

His true energy hadn't changed much, yet the visualization was easier than before. The only possibility was that the continuous intake of meat over the past few days had provided rich nutrition, allowing his body to be fully strengthened.

Essence, energy, and spirit—no wonder the ancients often linked these three together.

When energy is full, essence is vigorous; when essence is full, the spirit is robust.

Taking a deep breath, Li Su couldn't help but smile. Because of the unexpected developments with Arhat Gong, everything was now back on track. Although he had exposed some things, it was clear that without doing so, let alone the medicine in his pocket, even those seven days of pig trotters would have been impossible.

Although being famous meant it would be difficult for Li Su to continue his practice in silence, it didn't matter. To gain something, one must always pay a price, right? Besides, he had Xuancheng and Xuanci standing in front of him to take the heat.

After all, although he had mastered Arhat Gong, in terms of actual martial arts, he couldn't beat Xuancheng, the strongest, or even Xuanci, who was slightly weaker, let alone the likes of Xuannan.

Li Su stood up, walked down the steps, and began to practice with Xuanci and the others.

Naturally, he was still practicing the most rudimentary Arhat Fist.

Xuanci and the others were unfazed. Although they didn't understand why Li Su was so fixated on Arhat Fist, they knew that while Shaolin Arhat Fist was merely an introductory technique, it didn't mean its potential was low. At the very least, even Xuancheng found it difficult to take three moves from Monk Tianming's Arhat Fist.

Therefore, even though Xuancheng had achieved a certain level of mastery in the Great Strength Vajra Palm, he had begun to seriously practice the introductory Vajra Palm in turn. After all, simple did not mean easy to learn.

Morning lessons, chores, practicing fist techniques.

One day, another day, and another.

In ancient times, there were no distractions.

Because of the presence of the martial arts fanatic Xuancheng in their group, everyone was quite diligent.

Xuanci, in particular, despite his naturally lively nature, possessed the pride of a young man. Having been suppressed by Xuancheng since they began their training, he was naturally unwilling to accept it.

Once the gap began to show in their Vajra Palm practice, he started training even harder. Basically, as long as Xuancheng didn't leave, he wouldn't leave either. Although it was unknown how long this diligence would last, it undoubtedly greatly stimulated Xuannan and the others.

At this stage, they weren't high monks who had let go of everything; they were just a group of young boys.

Basically, after the morning lessons ended, they would begin their training, spending nearly four hours a day doing so.

Not only that, Li Su gradually discovered that their group enjoyed considerable preferential treatment within Shaolin Temple.

Not only were their masters and uncles easy to talk to, but the work assigned to them was also minimal. For over a year, the tasks they had to perform always revolved around their training area. They weren't assigned chores like fetching water or chopping wood, and during meals, they were essentially allowed to eat until they were full.

After a period of time, Li Su roughly understood.

It was likely that the eight of them were the leaders of the Xuan generation in Shaolin Temple—or, to put it in more common terms, they were like "true disciples."

Thinking about it, it made sense. Shaolin Temple wasn't a temple in the modern sense, but one of the martial arts sects. Internal matters aside, the external competition was absolutely fierce. Naturally, they would focus on cultivating talented disciples within the sect. Look at Xuanci; he could become the "leading brother" in his thirties and summon so many martial artists to Yanmen Pass to intercept Xiao Yuanshan. These were all experts; without Shaolin Temple's deliberate cultivation, how could he have such great prestige?

Don't say they weren't experts; they absolutely were. They might not be able to beat Xiao Feng or Xiao Yuanshan, but who were those two? Even Xiao Yuanshan, before he went to Shaolin, was a commander of the Liao Dynasty's imperial guards; his martial prowess went without saying.

The biggest drawback of practicing Arhat Gong had been overcome, so Li Su naturally increased the intensity of his training.

He became increasingly focused, especially on his practice of Arhat Fist.

As his spirit was bolstered by his physical body, the cultivation of Arhat Gong became increasingly smooth, and the qi cultivated from practicing Arhat Fist eight times a day was simply not enough to refine.

Thus, it increased to ten times a day, then twelve, then eighteen.

Not only that, but the more qi he cultivated, the more he naturally refined, and Li Su's true qi grew rapidly, in turn beginning to constantly stimulate his body to further strengthen itself; Arhat Gong received further corrections, becoming increasingly miraculous.

Of course, Li Su was different from Xuancheng; he was not the type to practice endlessly just because he could. He understood the principle of balancing work and rest very well, and in this first life, he did not expect himself to be invincible under heaven—no, it should be said that within the World Fragment, he did not expect such a thing at all. Everything served only the reality outside.

After increasing his training for a period of time, Li Su began to adjust himself.

Based on the medicinal pills in his hand, he would take one every three days, practice Arhat Fist twelve times a day, and cultivate Arhat Gong for one hour.

As he slowed his movements and found a balance point, although his speed decreased significantly, his cultivation became effortless.

Gradually, ever so gradually.

That Arhat became clearer and clearer; not only could he see it with absolute clarity whenever he visualized it, but Li Su began to see the details bit by bit—the one after another Arhats in the space surrounding the main Arhat.

Facing this situation, Li Su roughly understood.

The completion of Arhat Gong should be reached when one is able to see all the Arhats.

It took him nearly a year to complete a cycle of Arhat Fist, and based on the current situation, Arhat Gong should be completed in a year at the fastest, or two years at the slowest.