After the Windy Snowy Days, Cooking Essence Food Again

Everything had temporarily settled down.

Li Xian returned to his quarters, sat cross-legged on the bed, and recalled Pang Long's words.

"Essence Consumption's First Realm is elusive and traceless. Seeing Madam Wen make her move today truly opened my eyes."

"Such a demon, yet she killed it effortlessly with only a flick of her finger. I suppose I caught a glimpse... of Bone Recasting combat."

"These things are ultimately too far from me. Qi Circulation Through the Heavens is my current goal!"

He immediately calmed his mind.

He guided the Inner Qi within his Dantian, condensing it into threads that wound through the acupoints and slowly spread through his meridians.

Li Xian had learned three martial arts in total: the Major Accomplishment fist art Four Directions Fist, the Minor Accomplishment incomplete fist art Wild Bull Fist, and the Initiation leg art Clearwind Leg.

Inner Qi came from martial arts.

It gathered within the Dantian.

This Inner Qi would be consumed, but as long as he ate and rested, it would naturally recover to its peak, like an endless stream of life force.

He condensed Qi into threads and let it travel through his body.

When the Qi had passed through eighty-one acupoints, his Dantian was already completely empty. His Inner Qi had run dry, and he could not guide it through the great circuit of acupoints. Naturally, he could not achieve "Qi Circulation Through the Heavens."

"Looks like I'm still very far from Qi Circulation Through the Heavens."

"But as long as I persevere, I'll still be able to touch this level, to hook it with my fingers!"

With a goal in mind, Li Xian's eyes shone like snow.

He wished he could leap from bed and begin practicing martial arts at once, but the quarters were cramped. With four beds laid out, there was no room left over.

He had escaped death today and was indeed exhausted, so he could only rest for a day. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next day.

Around the hour of the dragon, Li Xian woke naturally.

[Skill: Sleep]

[Proficiency: 278/500 Initiation]

[Description: You have gradually mastered the knack of sleeping and can ignore the surrounding clamor, sleeping straight through until dawn. During sleep, your energy, blood vitality, and all other bodily energies will slowly be restored.]

He opened the window a crack.

Wind mixed with snow rushed in all at once, and the temperature immediately dropped sharply.

"Who the hell opened the window in weather like this? Did a donkey kick their bra—" Bao Yongkang, who shared the quarters with him, was struck full in the face by a blast of cold wind.

He instantly shuddered, all sleepiness gone. In his fury, he instinctively started to curse.

But when he saw that it was Li Xian, he immediately swallowed the rest of his words. With an awkward smile, he pulled up his quilt and went back to sleep.

Though it was a day of fierce wind and heavy snow, Li Xian had no desire to waste time. Martial arts remained constantly on his mind.

The quarters were narrow, with room for only four people to rest. There was simply nowhere for Li Xian to spread out his fists and kicks.

And he would disturb Kong Sun, Bao Yongkang, and Jia Jie's rest. Li Xian was not so overbearing in his conduct.

Then an idea struck him, and he looked outside.

"Who says you can't practice martial arts in a raging snowstorm?"

He tied a rope around his waist, a little over two zhang long, fastened the other end to the door, and entered the wind and snow alone.

Braving the biting wind and violent snow, he began practicing martial arts.

[Heaven and earth are cold, yet your heart burns like fire. Your circumstances are harsh, yet your will is firm. You diligently practice Four Directions Fist in the cold wind. Proficiency +9]

[You first glimpse the vastness of heaven and earth, your every beat of effort swelling into ten thousand surges of strength. You refine Clearwind Leg amid sudden snow. Proficiency +11]

He continued cultivating bitterly without pause.

Kong Sun, Jia Jie, and Bao Yongkang could only mutter that he was a freak, a beast. In weather like this, he was still practicing martial arts.

"No wonder he stood out. Master Li is Master Li."

Kong Sun wanted to imitate him too, but after taking just one step outside, he shivered from head to toe with cold.

Forget practicing martial arts or punching—he could barely take two steps.

Frost had formed on Li Xian's eyelashes, and the cold had split his skin, yet his expression remained extraordinarily resolute.

Practicing fists in the snow was indeed extremely difficult to adapt to. With heaven and earth frozen over, even the circulation of Inner Qi seemed to encounter a faint obstruction.

His movements were stiff and lacked flexibility.

For others, this way of practicing martial arts was actually like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, rushing for quick success.

Take Clearwind Leg, for instance.

What this leg art trained was the word "lightness," like Clear Wind Brushing Willows. Its movements did not necessarily need to be fast, but they had to be smooth.

Yet kicking amid wind and snow left one's joints and limbs stiff. No matter what, it was difficult to achieve smoothness.

Practicing like this would produce the opposite effect.

He might even regress the more he practiced.

But Li Xian was different. His Heaven Rewards Diligence fate allowed every measure of effort to yield an equal measure of reward.

As long as the method was right, his martial arts could only advance and would never retreat in the slightest.

"In weather like this, isn't it precisely my..."

"Chance to surpass everyone else?!"

The thought suddenly came to Li Xian, and he felt that although heaven and earth were cold, they contained boundless hope. He could devote vast amounts of time each day to practicing martial arts.

No one disturbed him, so his progress naturally came swiftly.

[Four Directions Fist] could gain [260] proficiency in a day, while [Clearwind Leg] could gain [190] proficiency in a day.

"Master Li, please sit, please sit. Warm yourself up."

Kong Sun and the other two were thoroughly convinced. Whenever Li Xian returned to the room, they immediately gave up the warmest spot.

Anyone with eyes could see it.

If a person like this did not die, he would surely climb higher still. Better to curry favor with him quickly.

"It's fine. You don't need to accommodate me."

Li Xian waved his hand, utterly casual.

After warming himself, he went outside to practice again. Once he was frozen beyond endurance, he returned to warm himself by the fire.

Again and again, over and over.

Four days later, the wind and snow showed signs of weakening, and Li Xian inwardly sighed at the pity of it.

[Four Directions Fist]

[Proficiency: 1591/5000 Major Accomplishment]

[Description: You practiced fists amid wind and snow, comprehending the ultimate art "Wind Listening, Position Sensing" from the principles of Four Directions Fist. It complemented the trait "All-Around Hearing" perfectly. Your fist intent was vast yet restrained, gradually drawing closer to Perfection.]

[Clearwind Leg]

[Proficiency: 419/1000 Proficiency]

[Description: When your leg strikes, a clear wind rises. Your leg strength has increased.]

Over these past days, all his martial arts had made considerable progress.

Li Xian was quite delighted by these gains. But there was also something less than ideal: the food was far too simple. Unable to go outside these past few days, they had eaten nothing but dry rations mixed with hot water, making do with a simple meal.

Martial artists ate, nourished, trained, and soaked themselves; "eating" came first.

Without meat to replenish the body's blood vitality, martial arts progress would be affected.

At noon that day.

The wind and snow finally subsided. The guards streamed out of their quarters, breathing a sigh of relief.

Long-awaited sunlight spilled across the earth. The snow piled before the door had already reached more than a zhang high. Li Xian had been standing atop those snowdrifts to practice these past few days.

"Ah! We can finally get out!"

Bao Yongkang shouted loudly.

Li Xian stepped into the sunlight of his own accord, enjoying the warmth against his skin. A faint heat spread through him, indescribably pleasant.

"Though fierce wind and heavy snow let me practice martial arts freely... in the end, sunlight is still better."

Li Xian stretched lazily, and his bones crackled pop, pop. His body seemed to contain immense strength.

Then he heard the sound of a gong in the distance.

Luo Fang was gathering the servants again. This great snowstorm had left thick ice and snow piled both inside and outside the estate.

The servants would have plenty to do. For the next few days, they would likely have only one task: clearing away the ice and snow.

As soon as the wind and snow stopped, Pang Long came over eagerly, walking toward the group with a smile on his face.

"Perk up, all of you. Li Xian, pick a few guards and quickly follow me somewhere."

Pang Long said heartily.

"Commander Pang, what is it?" Li Xian asked.

"It's a good thing! Hahaha!" Pang Long draped an arm over Li Xian's shoulder and laughed. "Madam is opening the cauldron again to cook Essence Food!"

"When Madam eats meat, the rest of us get to drink the soup."

"There's also a huge pile of snow in the estate, just waiting to be put to use!"

At this point, Pang Long lowered his voice and said to Li Xian, "Knowing Madam's temperament, you've earned merit this time. I'm afraid you'll receive a larger share of the Essence Food!"