Heaven-and-Earth Essence, a Remarkably Fine Appearance

Luo Fang was horrified. Oh no, oh no. What virtue or ability did Li Xian possess to deserve such good fortune? His ancestors' graves must be smoking. He'd actually caught Madam Wen's eye.

I offended him terribly before. In the future... in the future... life is going to be truly difficult.

His heart felt as though it were being scorched over a fire.

Yet he didn't dare make the slightest sound.

At Madam Wen's command, Li Xian raised his head. Though he was young, his features were well-defined and striking, and he was quite handsome.

"Not a bad face."

Madam Wen didn't hold back her praise. She nodded and said, "It's just too youthful. If you grow a few more years, you'll be even more to my taste."

Pang Long remarked casually, "Madam, I told you long ago that this lad is the handsomest guard in the household."

Li Xian replied modestly, "I wouldn't dare." But inwardly, he thought, When did you ever say that? How come I don't know?

As he raised his head, he finally got a proper look at Madam Wen.

Perhaps Madam Wen had already reached the realm of Bone Recasting. There wasn't the slightest trace of martial training about her.

Her figure was graceful, and she possessed an air of dignified elegance. Her skin was fair, yet carried a faint, cold, distant sheen.

He didn't dare look too closely at the details of her features or clothes.

Li Xian only glanced at her, not daring to examine her carefully. But he did notice a beauty mark beneath her right eye.

It lent her face an added touch of charm.

He thought to himself:

I'd heard them say Madam was extraordinarily beautiful. Seeing her today, I find they weren't wrong. In both my lives, I've only ever seen a woman like her once.

But having seen her today, I can say that though she is exceptionally beautiful, she is still just a "person." She isn't nearly as mysterious as they made her out to be.

He lowered his head again. All he could see was the white hem of Madam Wen's skirt and the toes of her White Boots beneath it.

"Every stitch here must be worth its weight in gold."

Li Xian muttered to himself.

Compared with Madam Wen's looks, he cared more about this outfit and how much it was worth.

Next came the distribution of meat and Decoction. Madam Wen had always rewarded merit and punished faults fairly. She had called Li Xian over not because she appreciated him, much less because she valued him.

How could someone like her value a mere guard? She simply rewarded merit and punished wrongdoing. That was all.

Li Xian knew this very well. He felt neither joy nor sorrow. This little portion of Essence Food had taken two times risking his life to earn.

He deserved it.

"Pang Long, take a piece of meat and give it to Li Xian," Madam Wen ordered.

"Yes!"

Pang Long did as he was told. He placed a piece of Essence Food about the size of a knuckle in Li Xian's palm, still coated in milky-white soup.

The moment it touched his hand, Li Xian felt a tingling numbness.

That was enough to show this food was no ordinary thing. Its potency was intense.

After the meat had been distributed, Madam Wen waved her hand. "Distribute the remaining Decoction as usual."

With light steps, her figure drifted away and disappeared in an instant.

"Li Xian, you've rendered great service by obtaining this Essence Food. Go ahead and ladle yourself three bowls of Essence Soup. Eat it with the meat."

Pang Long spoke plainly.

"Alright!"

Li Xian didn't stand on ceremony. He filled three bowls with Decoction, and the moment he caught its clear fragrance, he couldn't help swallowing.

This was the original broth. After being simmered for two days and one night, it had grown thick, almost like soup gelatin.

The Decoction given to the other guards had all been diluted, mixed with other medicines, and boiled again. Compared with the original broth, its effects were much weaker.

That was why Pang Long had told Li Xian to ladle out the soup and drink it on the spot.

Li Xian lifted the large bowl and gulped it down.

The moment the soup entered his stomach, it turned into fine streams of warmth that quickly spread through his internal organs. An indescribable comfort filled his whole body.

[You drank a bowl of Snow Demon Monkey Essence Soup.]

[Consumption skill proficiency +29]

But right after that, Li Xian's expression changed. Those fine streams of warmth flowed through his flesh and muscles like water washing through the crevices between mountain rocks.

They carried away grime while nourishing his body.

But immediately afterward, they began rapidly flowing out of him.

His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose—the nine apertures of the human body-were like nine drainage holes.

"Commander Pang, this..." Li Xian looked at him in confusion.

"You felt it too. An ordinary Clay Embryo can't hold on to this energy." Pang Long smiled. "But it's still beneficial, and this is a rare opportunity. It's good to let you experience it in advance."

Li Xian drank the second bowl.

Just as before, the soup entered his stomach and turned into invisible streams of warmth, spreading through his flesh and muscles. Then it passed through his skin, and drained away through his nine apertures.

This energy was formless.

It came with substance, but vanished without a trace.

Though he couldn't hold on to it, it seemed to nourish his body as it flowed through his flesh. Li Xian felt full of vitality. His strength, bones, and meridians... all seemed tougher.

He drained the third bowl.

Though the energy had dispersed, Inner Qi kept welling up from his Dantian.

Li Xian's heart stirred. As my Inner Qi circulates, it seems able to influence the course of this energy a little.

Could it be that I have to reach Qi Circulation Through the Heavens before I can barely hold on to this energy?

Unfortunately, this stuff was like a gust of wind. It blew in, making his whole body feel refreshed, but before he could react, it had already dispersed.

"Essence Food is the most precious thing."

"When I was your age, I didn't even know what Essence Food was."

"You could say you're lucky: you ran into a Snow Demon Monkey and nearly lost your life."

"But you could also say you're unlucky: at such a young age, you're already eating Essence Food. In neighboring Qingning County, plenty of wealthy families have children practicing martial arts. They're rich beyond measure, yet even when their children are in their teens, they may not have the chance to use Essence Food to strengthen their bodies."

Pang Long sighed with deep feeling.

The Essence Food was only about the size of a pinky knuckle, translucent and glistening like a piece of fine jade.

Li Xian swallowed it in one bite. His body shuddered, his skin flushed, and his Blood Qi surged rapidly, like a mighty river rushing along.

From all over his body came a series of cracking sounds.

[First time consuming Snow Demon Monkey Essence Food]

[Consumption skill proficiency +70]

[Skill: Consumption]

[Proficiency: 398/500 Initiation]

[Description: A tiny Clay Embryo, broken and laughable. It can eat, but cannot retain what it consumes; there is nothing to be done. You have continued consuming Heaven-and-Earth Essence Treasures and caught your first glimpse of the secrets of eating. Your absorption has improved slightly.]

Pang Long said:

"This energy is called Heaven-and-Earth Essence. It's essential for advancing toward Bone Recasting."

"You can't retain Heaven-and-Earth Essence, but the medicinal properties contained in the meat are enough to transform your constitution."

"Just rest today. Don't practice martial arts or train your fists. Let your muscles and bones adjust on their own."

The Heaven-and-Earth Essence quickly dissipated, but the medicinal potency contained in the meat continued nourishing his body.

Li Xian lay on his bed, his surging Blood Qi spilling out. Perhaps because he was so young, he felt a restless heat that made him want to claw at himself.

"I only ate a small bite, and it's already this effective."

"I really wonder how Commander Pang and Madam... deal with it."

This was the most peaceful day Li Xian had ever had.

By the next morning, Li Xian was rinsing himself with cold water beside the well.

He washed away the sweat and felt refreshed all over.

To his surprise, he seemed to have grown taller. Li Xian had been malnourished before, and compared with other martial artists his age, he had been somewhat scrawny and undersized.

After he became a guard, he gradually caught up in height, but it had only been a little over a month, so the change had been limited.

But early that morning,

he was astonished to realize that he had grown a full inch in a single day, and his body had become much sturdier.

"Good heavens, is it really this potent?"

Li Xian threw a punch into the air and performed a Wild Bull Fist. Its power and force were more than thirty percent greater than before.

[Wild Bull Roar, fists strike like a bull, proficiency +3]

The difference wasn't in his mastery of the fist technique.

Li Xian hadn't used Inner Qi either.

Rather, the improvement in his muscles and bones meant that gathering strength, punching, and retracting his fist flowed together far more smoothly.

"Besides that, my Inner Qi has increased quite a bit too."

"I wonder how far I am now from Qi Circulation Through the Heavens?"