Snowfall!

The first month of the year.

Wind and snow drifted through the air.

Chen Jichuan often saw snow in the Great Yan World, but Chen Shaohe was thrilled. Watching the heavy snow fall, watching heaven and earth turn white, he found it all wonderfully novel.

Ever since entering Black Prison, he had never seen snow again.

"Fourth Brother."

"Let's go outside and build a snowman!"

Chen Shaohe urged him for the third time.

He paced back and forth outside the room, itching to give it a try.

Chen Jichuan looked outside and saw snowflakes carpeting the ground, but it was only a thin layer. It probably was not enough to build a snowman. He said to Chen Shaohe, "There's too little snow. Wait a while longer."

"Oh."

Chen Shaohe answered quietly, somewhat dejected. Then he sat cross-legged near the outer side and watched the snow fall. As he watched, his low spirits lifted again, his eyes brimming with delight.

Chen Jichuan smiled.

He closed his eyes and circulated his internal force.

After saving Sheng Dayang, he had obtained the cultivation methods for Divine Pounce Blade and Ghost-Fall Sword from Xu Lang and the others. Later, disguised as Deng Ai, he had helped Sheng Dayang kill a Fifth Rank expert of the Li River Gang and obtained the fifth and sixth layers of the Divine Pounce Blade cultivation method.

After many days of hard cultivation.

Divine Pounce Blade had already reached the sixth layer.

He cultivated both internal and external arts.

Chen Jichuan had trained bitterly for decades and long possessed many insights. He also understood much about the differences between the two kinds of arts.

The Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts encompassed countless martial arts of the Great Yan World. From external to internal styles, all of them were "moving arts"—

Fists moved, feet moved, the body moved, the heart moved, the spirit moved, intent moved.

Thus.

One began with fist and foot techniques, first training the skin and flesh, then the tendons and bones, and finally strength. Once the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones were solid and one's strength formidable, one had to begin comprehending Hidden Force. Otherwise, blindly cultivating Manifest Force would make the fourth and fifth levels the limit.

"Manifest Force at its peak is the fifth-level realm."

"But in truth, once one reaches the third level, one can begin comprehending Hidden Force."

Chen Jichuan had cultivated through one lifetime and condensed a Dao Fruit.

These days, as he contemplated the Dao Fruit and constantly recultivated to verify his path, he had gained many insights.

Judging by his experience in recultivation.

Those with stronger martial talent could comprehend Hidden Force once they trained Manifest Force to the third level. Take him, for instance: after recultivating once, every key to Hidden Force was already in his heart. When he reached the third level again, with sufficient strength and a robust body, he naturally struck out with Hidden Force.

"Levels one through three are Manifest Force."

"Levels four through six are Hidden Force."

"Back then, with no road ahead of me, I blindly labored and cultivated until Manifest Force reached the fifth level before comprehending the mysteries of Hidden Force. In truth, I took a detour."

Chen Jichuan summarized inwardly.

Train Manifest Force to the third level and produce Hidden Force, thus reaching the fourth level. With Hidden Force tempering the organs and body, inner and outer became one, and one's strength improved faster.

In this way.

The external branch of moving arts trained the body, bones, and strength.

The internal branch of moving arts trained hard force and soft force, transforming them into Hidden Force.

This formed a cultivation system for the internal and external branches.

For now, it was somewhat crude.

But as cultivation continued, and as experts of the Great Yan World and the martial world constantly exchanged and clashed, sparking ever more flames, it would sooner or later be refined step by step.

Chen Jichuan had planted a seed in the Great Yan World. Sooner or later, it would bear sweet, delicious fruit.

Beyond internal and external martial arts.

There were also mental methods and internal arts, such as Divine Pounce Blade.

Such arts required, first, calming the mind; second, visualization; and third, perseverance.

Steady the mind.

Visualize Qi Sensation Realm.

Use intent to guide qi, circulate it according to the cultivation method, and let the breath grow stronger and condense without cease. Then internal breath transformed into internal force, and its power greatly increased. This was the process of refining essence into qi. It also required plentiful food; otherwise, the body would not be harmed, but cultivation progress would slow considerably.

"The internal breath of the first three layers of mental methods and internal arts is rather scattered and has not condensed into a single force. It can be used, but only to a limited extent. Its nourishment of the body is also weak, and its strength often falls short of those cultivating internal and external martial arts."

"But at the fourth through sixth layers, it can rival them. Internal force feeds back into the flesh, making the body and bones stronger through subtle influence, and can extend one's lifespan to some degree. Explosive power and endurance are strengthened as well."

Every inch had its strengths.

Every foot had its shortcomings.

External martial arts were powerful indeed, but they damaged the body, and few practitioners lived long lives. By their forties or fifties, they began declining. By sixty, they were beset by illness, their martial ability far inferior to what it once was.

Mental methods and internal arts, however, grew richer and mellower with age.

"I cultivate both arts, and I have comprehended Hidden Force. My weaknesses are mended, my strengths enhanced. Among those of the same level, my combat power is among the very best."

Chen Jichuan circulated his internal force.

His dense internal force flowed slowly through his meridians like great rivers. With his own meager strength, it was difficult to drive it, making the process laborious. This was a sign that his internal cultivation had reached a certain depth and progress had slowed.

For ordinary people.

They either consumed medicinal soups, medicinal meals, pills, and the like, or endured bitter cultivation and grueling hardship.

Chen Jichuan was different.

He had Origin Force. Threads of Origin Force dispersed into his meridians, swept up and dissolved by the vast internal force, increasing it considerably. At this rate, it would not be long before he reached the peak of the sixth layer and struck at the Innate Realm with his sword!

Circulate.

Strengthen.

After several cycles.

Today, the time was ripe.

"Hoo!"

Chen Jichuan stopped cultivating and exhaled a breath of white vapor.

When he opened his eyes, Chen Shaohe was nowhere to be seen. Chen Jichuan rose and walked into the outer room. Amid the drifting snow, a dark little figure was crouching in the courtyard with his back to the door.

Perhaps hearing movement inside.

Chen Shaohe turned around. Seeing that Fourth Brother had finished practicing, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of bright white teeth.

"Fourth Brother, look."

He shifted aside, revealing that on a bluestone slab cleared in the middle of the thin snow cover stood a lump of snow whose shape was impossible to make out at first glance.

Chen Jichuan stepped closer to inspect it.

Only then did he see clearly.

This lump of snow was actually two crooked little figures stacked together, one carrying the other on its back.

Chen Jichuan froze.

He looked at Chen Shaohe and saw him chuckling foolishly. An indescribable feeling rose in his heart. Covering it with a smile, he said, "You're not much good at building snowmen. Let Fourth Brother show you how it's done."

"Alright!"

"Fourth Brother, hurry!"

Chen Shaohe's eyes lit up, and he laughed even more happily.

Snow drifted across heaven and earth.

After the snow came clear skies.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the second month.

Nearly a month had passed since Sheng Dayang entered Black Prison.

These days.

Including the days before that.

Chen Jichuan did not have many Spirit Stones, but through Fang Dong, he had acquired quite a few Clam Pearls.

A single Clam Pearl contained more than ten points of Origin Force at most, and only seven or eight at least. The Li River Gang had a Water Mansion filled with swamps and rivers, where countless river clams grew, along with many Clam Pearls.

Grind Clam Pearls into powder and scatter it over paddy fields, and it made excellent fertilizer.

A bountiful harvest was guaranteed.

Grind Clam Pearls into powder, dissolve it in water, and drink it, and one could also use the Clam Pearls for cultivation. But this method of consuming them raw had pitifully low efficiency.

Swallowing one Clam Pearl was not even as effective as a Small Restoration Pill.

Fang Dong was a resourceful man.

He accepted missions from White Jade Capital, exchanged merit points for silver, then used the silver to buy these Clam Pearls. Going back and forth, buying and selling, he could earn half the profit from two merit points per Clam Pearl.

So he became even more diligent.

He was making a fortune, his coffers overflowing—far beyond Sheng Dayang, who was still suffering, toiling, trembling with fear in Black Prison.

On this day.

As usual, Fang Dong met with Liao Hua, seventh of Yan Tower's Heavenly Dipper Sequence in White Jade Capital. Not only did he bring thirty-one Clam Pearls, he also brought important news—

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month, asking for recommendation votes.