Cultivation Was Addictive

Duan Rong used the key to release the mechanism and unscrewed the furnace lid. At once, an even richer, strange fragrance rushed into his nostrils.

Duan Rong was slightly intoxicated, a wave of numbness washing over him.

Using a towel as padding, Duan Rong gripped the rings on either side of the copper furnace with both hands and poured the brewed black medicinal liquid into a ceramic basin he had washed beforehand.

After draining the liquid clean, Duan Rong took out the bamboo rack from inside the copper furnace and dumped the dregs into a basket in the corner. He then rinsed the furnace with clean water, poured the wastewater outside the door, replaced the lid, and put the copper furnace back where it belonged.

Only then did Duan Rong walk to the Stone Table. Looking at the pitch-black medicinal soup, he pinched his nose and gulped it down.

The medicine smelled strangely fragrant, yet tasted exceptionally bitter.

After a whole basin of medicinal soup went down his throat, Duan Rong felt as if the bitterness had wrung out all his bile. Tears and snot came in fistfuls.

"Why is this medicine so bitter?!"

Duan Rong immediately scooped up a ladle of water and poured half a ladle down his throat, finally washing away some of the bitterness in his mouth. By then, dawn had begun to break. He returned the key to the Old Man, then headed to the Martial Arts Field and found a secluded corner.

"Let's see whether you're any use."

Duan Rong's gaze was calm. He bent his legs into an archer's stance, lowered his hips as if sitting on empty air, loosely embraced the air before his chest with both hands, then closed his eyes and assumed the Hun Yuan Stance.

Duan Rong stood like that for a full three shichen, even missing breakfast.

Only when fierce hunger gnawed at his stomach did he finally open his eyes, exhale, and disperse his cultivation.

Delight shone in Duan Rong's eyes. This medicine was not merely effective—it was powerful.

He had stood for three shichen without feeling the slightest depletion. His qi channels surged like subterranean fire, and a steaming, surging sense of power filled his chest and organs!

Duan Rong left the Martial Arts Field and Yuan Shun Escort Agency, then went to the roadside for a large bowl of Beef Offal Soup and three sesame flatbreads. Only after his stomach was round and warm did he wipe his mouth and leave.

Having filled his belly, Duan Rong returned to the Martial Arts Field and continued his stance training!

This time, he stood until it was nearly Shen Time. It was almost time for his appointment with the courtesans of Flower Shadow House.

Duan Rong could only disperse his cultivation. He could not exactly stand them up.

Duan Rong could still feel the medicinal power surging through his body. He even felt that he could keep standing without pause, all the way until Zi Hour at midnight.

People said cultivation was tedious, but Duan Rong felt that cultivation was addictive!

This feeling of power advancing by leaps and bounds constantly stimulated one with positive feedback. How could it not become addictive?

Who did not want to grow stronger?

Duan Rong returned to his dormitory, wiped away his sweat with a towel, and transformed into a walking clothes rack. Under the strange stares of everyone at Yuan Shun Escort Agency, he left the agency and arrived beneath the Old Locust Tree opposite Flower Shadow House.

The moment Duan Rong reached the Old Locust Tree, he saw that the courtesans had already gathered there waiting for him.

As soon as Duan Rong arrived, they began chattering their greetings, and soon the place was filled with laughter and playful noise.

"Everyone, line up. One at a time," Duan Rong said as he set down his things.

Once he had set up his easel, he swept his eyes over the crowd. Besides the six courtesans who had specifically welcomed guests the night before, there were another seven or eight courtesans who had clearly come after hearing the news.

Duan Rong selected ten people from the line, then said to the courtesans behind them, "Today ends with Sister Chun Ming. The sisters behind her needn't line up. Come early tomorrow instead."

"Why...?"

"We've been waiting for so long..."

"Painter Duan, you can't play favorites!"

The courtesans at the back were clearly unhappy. They had all come out to wait together. They had merely yielded their places a little while lining up—so why would he not paint them now? Was this not bullying honest people?

"It isn't that I won't paint you sisters. I can only finish ten paintings in one shichen. If I keep painting after that, Flower Shadow House will be opening. If I delay business, Mama Hu will smash my stall. Won't you sisters be punished along with me?"

The noisy courtesans fell silent the moment Duan Rong invoked Hu Huanhuan. They could only curse under their breaths and leave in disappointment.

Duan Rong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Three women made a play; ten women made a hornet's nest!

Not to be provoked, not to be provoked!

Duan Rong immediately ground the pigments, mixed the dyes, and threw himself into creating.

Duan Rong had not noticed it while standing in his stance just now, but now that he was sitting there painting, his heart pounded wildly without stopping. His eyes also kept drifting toward the courtesans' necks and chests.

Bursts of heat rose in his lower abdomen as well.

Could it be because of that medicine?

Not necessarily! I'm at an age when my blood and qi are vigorous. This is normal! Perfectly normal! Duan Rong reassured himself inwardly.

Duan Rong forcibly suppressed the fire in his heart and hurried through his work. By the time Flower Shadow House opened its doors, he had finally handed the last painting to Chun Ming. Only then did two Tortoise Slaves emerge from Flower Shadow House's doors, yawning.

The Tortoise Slaves of Flower Shadow House worked in shifts as well.

Watching Chun Ming leave happily with her painting, Duan Rong touched the inner pocket of his clothes. In just that one shichen, he had earned another hundred taels of silver.

Duan Rong packed up his stall and returned to the escort agency in his walking clothes rack state.

He first put away his things in the dormitory. It was only the third quarter of You Hour, just in time for dinner. After eating in the Middle Courtyard dining hall, Duan Rong went to the Martial Arts Field.

The Martial Arts Field was most crowded in the evening. As Duan Rong passed through it, quite a few people whispered among themselves about him.

Duan Rong paid them no heed. He went straight to his usual spot and resumed the Hun Yuan Stance on his own.

This time, Duan Rong stood until Zi Hour at midnight.

When Duan Rong opened his eyes and dispersed his cultivation, all around him was silent. The lanterns beneath the eaves cast a dim yellow light...

In the Phoenix Tree not far from where Duan Rong stood, weary crows had already tucked themselves into their nests, seemingly asleep...

Duan Rong silently calculated. He had begun his stance training at Mao Time that morning, and it was now Zi Hour. Aside from the one shichen he had spent at Flower Shadow House, he had stood in his stance for a full nine shichen.

Yet he still did not feel the slightest depletion in his body.

"That prescription Guan Yun gave me really works!"

Moreover, Duan Rong discovered that whenever he practiced the stance and his inner breath clashed with the medicinal power, the symptoms of his wildly pounding heart disappeared.

Although he still did not understand what was causing his heart to race so madly, his most urgent cultivation problem had now been solved, leaving him in excellent spirits.

Duan Rong returned to the dormitory courtyard, stripped naked, and washed himself clean by the well before burrowing beneath the blanket on his bed.

By the oil lamp, Duan Rong casually grabbed a book, intending to read a few pages before sleeping.

When he flipped it open, he found that he had taken the Secret Manual of the Second Level of Inner Breath that Xiao Zongting had given him that day.

Duan Rong had intended to switch to another book, but then he noticed that the handwritten script in the Secret Manual was graceful and delicate, while the paper and ink carried a faint fragrance.

Duan Rong's eyes immediately lit up. This was probably copied out by Xiao Baijiao!