Cultivating Inner Strength

By the time Jiao Yu had led them through the various sections of the Northern Pacification Bureau and returned to their residence, it was already late.

"This courtyard has just been cleaned up. You can move right in. There are three side rooms, one for each of you. There's a well in the yard, and a kitchen out back if you want to cook."

Once they entered the courtyard, Jiao Yu introduced it to the three of them.

Wei Xuanfeng looked around and nodded to himself.

As expected of the Demon Suppression Directorate—even the staff housing was better than his own doghouse.

Looking at the large bed, he clicked his tongue. Four or five people could sleep on it without feeling cramped...

After a brief look around, Jiao Yu gestured for the three of them to sit in the courtyard.

"While there's still some time before dark, I'll tell you about the Body Tempering Art."

At the mention of a cultivation technique, Wei Xuanfeng and the other two immediately sat upright.

"Don't be so nervous." Jiao Yu stretched lazily, and her full chest surged at once. "This Body Tempering Art—you only need to get started with it and cultivate some inner strength. After that, don't keep practicing it."

"Hm?" The three of them were puzzled.

"What's there to be puzzled about? Would Sister Jiao lie to you?" Jiao Yu smiled. "This internal art was made for cannon fodder. Progress is incredibly fast in the early stages, but as for the price... I'm sure you understand."

"It's lifespan..." Fox Murong, always the most concerned with her own interests, blurted out instinctively.

"Hey! Don't ask what the price is. If you've guessed it, don't say it." Jiao Yu cut her off. "Of course, if you think you can afford that price, you can still learn it. After all, cultivating this Body Tempering Art for three years can match ten years of someone else's bitter training."

After saying that, she licked her lips.

Wei Xuanfeng hurriedly turned his head away.

When this woman wasn't smiling, she was dignified like a noble lady.

But when her expressions grew lively, she became indescribably seductive and provocative.

He had almost blurted out, Then I'll practice it...

What was going on?

He had been lustful in his previous life too, but he had never let women affect his state of mind.

So why, after transmigrating, had he been teased by three women in a row...

Could it be...

He'd fucked too little, and this body hadn't become desensitized yet.

So his lower head was affecting his upper head?

Next, Jiao Yu explained in detail what inner strength was, as well as the introductory mnemonic for the Body Tempering Art.

Wei Xuanfeng listened in a fog, as though he had gone back to high school biology class...

The Body Tempering Art was the Demon Suppression Directorate's foundational cultivation technique. True to its name, it helped martial artists temper their bodies.

Naturally, the tempering process was also exceptionally brutal.

It was like doing the splits before learning to dance. A proper internal art was like a dance teacher, slowly and methodically helping you ease into the split.

But the Body Tempering Art was like a bear, directly using its W skill—Furious Bite—to wrench you apart with savage force.

In the end, you would cultivate inner strength either way. As for whether you got injured in the process, that was up to heaven...

And Wei Xuanfeng had also understood something else.

No one had ever relied on the Body Tempering Art to cultivate all the way to the Martial Ancestor realm...

Even peak Martial Master realm experts were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

It was clear just how severe this internal art's drawbacks were.

"I've said everything that needed saying." After taking a sip of tea, Jiao Yu rubbed her cheeks. "Although the drawbacks of cultivating this internal art outweigh its benefits, at least it does have some benefits. Three days. All of you had better cultivate inner strength within three days. If you can't, heh heh..."

With a cold snort, she turned and left.

"You're leaving already, boss? Stay for dinner." Fox Murong eagerly rose to support her.

"No need."

The moment Jiao Yu left, Wen Shihan headed straight for her own room.

With a bang, the door shut, leaving only Wei Xuanfeng and Fox Murong in the courtyard.

"What a blockhead. She didn't even say goodbye." Fox Murong muttered.

"Compared to saying goodbye, she probably wants to beat you up more." Wei Xuanfeng smiled.

From their time together that day, he could clearly sense Wen Shihan's hostility toward Fox Murong.

"Hmph. If we really fought, it's not certain who would come out worse off." After snorting, Fox Murong looked at Wei Xuanfeng. "Old Wei, what do you say? Want to grab a late-night snack?"

"No. Boss Jiao has already spoken. If we can't cultivate inner strength in three days, there'll be no good fruit for us to eat."

With that, Wei Xuanfeng ignored Fox Murong and went straight into his room.

Beauty was an embellishment to life, while strength was its foundation.

So he would not neglect his cultivation because of Fox Murong's coquettish charm.

The side room was simple and clean, with every piece of furniture one could need.

When he changed into his flying fish uniform that afternoon, he had washed himself as well.

Now he could not be bothered to wash up again and simply sat cross-legged on the bed.

After listening to Jiao Yu's instruction, Wei Xuanfeng roughly understood the principles behind cultivating inner force.

After long-term training, martial artists had long since stored essence and gathered qi within their bodies.

All internal cultivation methods, including the Body Tempering Art, were in fact meant to help martial artists find the qi within their bodies, then sort it out, guide it, draw it in, and cultivate it.

The difference between a good internal cultivation method and a poor one was simply efficiency.

Half an hour later...

Wei Xuanfeng, who had kept his eyes closed all this time, suddenly felt a burst of delight.

His Myriad Arts Insight had kicked in!

With his Insight attribute as high as 42 points, he had actually comprehended the Body Tempering Art in its entirety!

[Martial Arts: Black Dragon Grappling Hand (Minor Mastery) Grand Ancestor Saber Technique (Minor Mastery) One Reed Crossing River (Beginner) Body Tempering Art (Initial Glimpse)]

I'm sorry, Myriad Arts Insight.

I was too loud before. Barking like a dog.

At this moment, Wei Xuanfeng finally understood why Myriad Arts Insight could stand alongside Heaven's Motion as a red trait. This level of comprehension...

He was absolutely a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts genius!

After closing the system, Wei Xuanfeng continued sitting with his eyes shut. He vaguely sensed that something within his body was stirring restlessly.

This was...

Qi!

The moment Wei Xuanfeng realized this, he immediately steadied his mind and silently contemplated the Body Tempering Art's mental cultivation method.

The heart and lungs belonged to yang; only there could qi be refined.

He carefully controlled those wisps and threads of qi, slowly guiding them between his heart and lungs.

But the instant the qi entered his heart and lungs, agonizing pain swept through his entire body!

Fuck!

Wei Xuanfeng was in such pain he nearly died, yet he did not dare move recklessly.

He feared that if he moved, this current of qi would blow his heart and lungs to pieces.

Damn it, it really was made for cannon fodder. Couldn't it be a little gentler...

The night passed without incident...

Early the next morning, Wei Xuanfeng slowly opened his eyes.

After a single night, a thread of inner force had already condensed within his dantian.

Though that thread of inner force was still exceedingly tiny, so faint it seemed almost nonexistent, it was enough to send Wei Xuanfeng into wild delight.

According to the Body Tempering Art's description, being able to condense inner force into form on the first day meant one possessed exceptional talent and had great hope of cultivating to the Martial Grandmaster realm.

If Boss Jiao found out that he had cultivated inner force in a single night...

Wei Xuanfeng was already looking forward to seeing that beautiful woman's face filled with shock...

The moment he stepped outside, he saw Wen Shihan drawing water by the well to wash up.

She wore only a chest binding on her upper body, her smooth shoulders and toned abdomen completely exposed to the air.

Even though he had seen and touched them before, the sight still made Wei Xuanfeng's blood surge.

"Wen Shihan, your eyes..."

Wei Xuanfeng stepped closer to get a better look.

Wen Shihan did not understand why, but neither did she avoid him.

Within her beautiful eyes, it seemed as though a restrained gleam of essence was flowing.

"Essence contained within the eyes—a sign that a martial artist has cultivated inner force." Fox Murong had emerged at some point and sidled up beside Wei Xuanfeng. "Look at mine."

A fragrant breeze wafted into his nose, and Wei Xuanfeng instinctively looked over.

The gleam in Fox Murong's fox eyes was even stronger. Looking closely, her irises were wine-red, making her appear especially bewitching.

"You mean both of you cultivated inner force in one night?" Wei Xuanfeng pinched Fox Murong's chin, intending to inspect her more closely.

Comparisons really could infuriate a person.

Even with the boost from Myriad Arts Insight, he had only managed to cultivate inner force in one night.

How had these two girls also managed to cultivate something in a single night!?

Could it be that I'd run into three once-in-ten-thousand geniuses!

"Scumbag, you're not bad yourself!" Fox Murong said with a coquettish laugh as she flashed away. "Hurry up and report to the office. I can't wait to see Boss Jiao's shocked expression. Three once-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigies all at once—tsk, tsk, tsk... If I were her, I'd wake up laughing from my dreams."

"You shameless hussy!"

With a cold snort, Wen Shihan headed straight out the door.

Fox Murong was not angry in the slightest. Instead, she grabbed Wei Xuanfeng and chased after her.

"I'm a shameless hussy, you're a scumbag—so what does that make her?" she asked, looking at Wei Xuanfeng.

Wei Xuanfeng was in no mood to answer.

"I really miss how, during the previous assessment, she was like a little brat trailing behind me, calling me Sister Murong this and Sister Murong that," Fox Murong sighed, talking to herself. "What a pity—I let down that trust... Old Wei, do you think she'll stab me in the back when we go on missions later?"

"I don't know whether she will, but you definitely would," Wei Xuanfeng said irritably. "Of course, so would I."

He had long since put a label on Fox Murong.

She was someone he could sleep with, but absolutely could not trust.

Much less turn his back on!

"Haha, kindred spirits." Fox Murong narrowed her eyes with a smile. "No wonder I felt such an affinity the first time I saw you."

"Quit making conversation out of nothing. Let's go."

When they reached the office, the three of them collected and strapped on their Embroidered Spring Blades, signed in for duty, and then headed to the mess hall.

Jiao Yu was sitting at a table with several blade catchers, drinking porridge while boasting and shooting the breeze.

"Sister Jiao, your three little followers are here," one of the blade catchers reminded her.

Jiao Yu looked over at the sound of his voice, and the steamed bun in her hand immediately fell to the floor.

"Good heavens, these three aren't followers... They're my damn ancestors!" Jiao Yu cried joyfully. "Old Yang, get out here!"

At her loud roar, a plump burly man came running out of the mess hall.

"What is it, Sister Jiao?" Old Yang wiped his grease-smeared hands against his chest.

"An extra meal! Bring out the meat dishes!"