After checking the Fate Panel,
Su Xinghe gained a fresh understanding of the martial arts he had mastered and formed a new cultivation plan.
He recalled that wondrous sensation in the consciousness space while observing the fist technique earlier. If it really worked, it would become another tremendous reserve of strength besides the Fate Panel.
He focused his attention on the consciousness space in his mind.
Taking control of the Silver Figurine, he began practicing the newly learned Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art.
The first attempt failed.
But Su Xinghe understood where the problem lay.
Back at Elder Xie's place, the Silver Figurine in the consciousness space had still been practicing the Golden Ape Fist. He already knew that technique inside out, so naturally, succeeding had been easy.
Having found the reason, he settled his mind and concentrated on practicing.
Again and again.
Before he knew it, he became immersed in it.
He forgot the time, and even the purpose of his test.
Diligence Makes Up for Dullness: practice a hundred times a day. Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art: experience +1
The sudden notification in his mind startled Su Xinghe out of his absorption in learning the new technique.
It worked!
Without resting, he struck while the iron was hot and took control of the Silver Figurine again.
He practiced the fist technique while sensing the changes in his body.
This time, he immediately discovered its marvelous workings.
The moment the Silver Figurine began its fist routine, the qi-blood within his body automatically circulated according to the internal method. It surged and churned just as it did when he practiced himself, before seeping strand by strand into his muscles, skin, and membranes, completing the transformation of his body.
Ten minutes later.
Diligence Makes Up for Dullness: practice a hundred times a day. Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art: experience +1
It really worked! Joy welled up in him.
Suddenly, a familiar pang of hunger struck.
Su Xinghe left the consciousness space in his mind and turned his gaze to the Fate Panel.
He carefully compared the efficiency of the two cultivation methods in terms of the increase in his martial realm progress bar and qi-blood consumption.
He found that whether he practiced in person or controlled the Silver Figurine within the consciousness space, the speed of his martial realm advancement and his qi-blood consumption were exactly the same.
Considering that he currently had only one Silver Figurine, its practice efficiency was no different from his own.
This meant that cultivating in the consciousness space offered no additional benefits beyond the convenience of practicing anytime, anywhere.
The best way to improve efficiency would naturally be to turn the other three Silver Fish in his spirit sea into Silver Figurines as well, so they could practice the Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art together.
The problem was that a breakthrough in the Listening to Tides Art currently required a hundred thousand experience points, which was clearly not a goal he could achieve anytime soon.
It was a vicious circle.
It seemed he still had to proceed steadily, one footprint at a time.
Seeing that it was still early,
Su Xinghe took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill and swallowed it, beginning his test of its effects.
It did not dissolve in his mouth and felt icy cold.
It carried a pungent spiciness that stung his nose,
and felt just like... taking a Rendan pill to ward off summer heat.
Barely ten breaths after the pill reached his stomach, fresh qi-blood began boiling up in his abdomen. It felt just like when he stirred his qi-blood himself.
No wasting it. Time to get practicing!
Only after completing twenty-four repetitions of the fist routine did he begin to feel his qi-blood running low and an unbearable hunger in his stomach.
Just then, it was time for the Martial Arts School's apprentice benefits.
Su Xinghe followed everyone into the dining hall.
A bowl of Bone-Strengthening Soup went down, filling his stomach with heat and sweeping away his fatigue.
The Qi-Replenishing Pill had the same effect as the Bone-Strengthening Soup: each completed fist routine increased his Inner Tempering progress by 0.2 percent.
Over the course of a single morning, his progress bar reached an astonishing 55 percent.
However, Elder Xie had said he could only take one pill a day, which left him in something of a dilemma.
With his fate traits bolstering him,
Water-Tight and Unyielding made him pay little attention to such peripheral details.
Still, he had to exercise the necessary caution.
Su Xinghe planned to take another pill after returning home that night and see how it went.
That would leave an entire day between doses, so even if he failed to recover in time, the impact would not be too great.
In any case, the Bone-Strengthening Soup in the afternoon would sustain another two hours of accelerated progress.
He could use the remaining time to push ahead with the Listening to Tides Art. Ideally, he would get the second Silver Fish to leap out of the sea and undergo its transformation.
He remained fairly cautious when it came to martial cultivation.
The following morning, he made time for a visit to Huichun Hall.
The old physician shook his head as he delivered a stream of admiring remarks, praising him until his face flushed red. It all boiled down to being young and strong, in the prime of life, with a harmonious family and a happy marriage...
With his worries laid to rest, Su Xinghe secretly took another Qi-Replenishing Pill that afternoon after exhausting the effects of the Bone-Strengthening Soup.
For a time, his qi-blood surged wildly, and his martial realm advanced by leaps and bounds.
At dusk.
When Su Xinghe returned to the little courtyard on Narcissus Street beneath the evening glow, he discovered an unfamiliar young woman in his home.
"My brother's back!"
With a delighted cry, Su Haitao approached him, holding the hand of a young woman with slightly dark skin.
"Yu'er, this is our brother."
Su Xinghe also studied the young woman before him.
She was not tall, but her figure was slender and graceful. Dressed in plain gray cloth, with two ponytails reaching her chest, she gave an impression of brisk competence.
She looked about twenty, with an oval face tapering to a delicate chin.
She raised her head, swept a quick glance over Su Xinghe, then immediately lowered it again.
Her eyes were bright, her gaze carrying a trace of girlish shyness.
Yang Huaiyu.
The name immediately surfaced in Su Xinghe's mind. His mother had mentioned it when the Yang Family came to propose the marriage last time.
"Elder brother, sorry for the trouble..."
Yang Huaiyu kept her head lowered, a blush spreading over her wheat-colored cheeks.
Su Xinghe naturally knew what trouble she meant, but he did not mind in the slightest now. From what he could see, this future sister-in-law did not seem difficult to get along with.
"Hello, little sister Yang."
Since she had not married into the family yet, he did not quite know how to address her.
Then he suddenly paused inwardly.
Wasn't she supposed to be tomorrow's bride?
He turned to his younger brother.
"Didn't we agree we'd go fetch the bride tomorrow...?"
Su Xinghe was a little bewildered. He had already arranged for leave with Elder Xie.
An amused male voice came from beside the three of them.
"I visited Huaiyu's uncle a few days ago and delivered the betrothal gifts."
It was his father, Su Cheng.
As his footsteps drew closer, he entered the front hall.
"Huaiyu's family lives over a hundred li away. It's a long journey, so fetching the bride would be a little inconvenient. Her grandfather and uncle brought her over this morning. They'll stay at the old house tonight and help keep an eye on the dowry."
Su Xinghe blinked. So they could do it this way, too.
Since his younger brother was getting married tomorrow, he took a hundred taels from his private savings and gave them to his father.
The family had suffered a great deal to support his pursuit of martial arts. Now that he had the means, he had to repay them properly.
Even if he could not give them great wealth and status, he could at least ensure they never had to worry about food, clothing, shelter, or travel.
He also needed to put helping his younger brother learn martial arts on the agenda as soon as possible.
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