Water Lord Profession, Experience Gained

Morning had come to Tianjin, but the thin mist had yet to clear.

In the old locust tree behind the Ye Residence, several birds he could not name chirped away.

Bare-chested, Qin Geng practiced Monkey Form atop the plum-blossom stakes.

He curled up like a hedgehog, then stretched out like a long-armed ape. With every movement and pause, his spine rumbled faintly, and his sinews and bones sang together.

He trained straight through the morning.

When Qin Geng finished, he exhaled a long breath of white vapor.

In the cold air, it formed a straight white ribbon that lingered for three feet.

"Beautiful technique."

Xiao Wei, who was sweeping nearby, stared wide-eyed and could not help praising him.

"Want to learn some too, Brother Wei?"

Qin Geng smiled. "The one nearest the water gets the moon first."

"Forget it. I don't have the drive to study that hard. All I want in this life is enough to eat and clothes to keep me warm."

Xiao Wei shook his head with a laugh.

Qin Geng let it pass. He grabbed a towel from the rack and wiped his face. His stomach felt as though it were on fire, and every organ inside him howled for food.

The food at the Ye Residence was beyond reproach: a huge basin of specially prepared medicinal meat and several enormous bowls of fine rice. Qin Geng ate it all.

He stood on no ceremony, wolfing everything down until not a scrap of meat or drop of broth remained.

Yet when he set down his chopsticks, the ravenous fire had only eased a little. It had not gone out.

Using Hidden Force to continue tempering his flesh and blood took patient, grinding work—and a war of attrition.

Every trace of force he transformed drew nutrients from