Whoosh!
Lu Sui's chest swelled, and his lips parted slightly as he slowly exhaled a breath of hot air.
It shot straight ahead, concentrated and undispersed, lasting a full three to five breaths!
"Bolstered by Qi and Blood, my strength knows no bounds!"
Lu Sui gently curled his five fingers together. The scorching Qi and Blood coursing through both arms surged like a mighty river, swift and fierce!
Veins bulged one after another, like little snakes slithering beneath his skin, desperate to unleash overwhelming force!
"This punch would carry at least as much power as ten years of someone else's hard training."
Lu Sui even felt a powerful urge to throw back his head and howl, venting the feelings in his heart.
The comfort and exhilaration brought by this free-flowing Qi and Blood and tremendous increase in strength were simply too immediate.
It felt as good as a dedicated gym beast suddenly smashing through his bench-press limit one day!
He was filled with a sense of accomplishment!
"Breath nourishes the body, filling out the muscles and making them supple and coordinated;
Qi and Blood strengthens the bones, and it can bolster courage too. When your body is strong, that cowardly streak disappears.
No wonder they say, 'Great skill breeds great courage.' Without enough ability of your own, it's easy to shrink back and give way when trouble comes."
As Lu Sui experienced the subtle changes in his mentality, understanding flashed in his eyes.
Having advanced from "nourishing Breath" to "strengthening Qi and Blood," his physique had grown increasingly sturdy.
His chest and back, and both sides of his waist and hips in particular, felt as though a fire had been lit there, constantly radiating heat.
"The Breath nestled three inches below my navel has turned into a fist-sized flame.
With a thought, I can circulate and guide it into both arms, increasing my strength."
Lu Sui rose, walked around the desk, and strolled outside.
When he practiced his stance again, the effects were entirely different!
Within a few changes of posture, the flame three inches below his navel leaped up, and warm currents poured into both arms.
In less than half a quarter-hour, sweat appeared on Lu Sui's forehead. That warmth gradually came to a boil, like bubbling water, burning him until he bared his teeth and his skin turned red.
"The Qi circulation booklet Uncle Wen gave me clearly states that Qi and Blood must be tempered through searing heat! 'Tempered through searing heat'-what a precise choice of words."
Lu Sui could distinctly sense the flame within him driving his Qi and Blood, like a bronze furnace packed with firewood and burning fiercely!
Bit by bit, that vigorous fire forced the "dregs" out of his muscles, skin, and membranes, making his body tougher and more powerful by the day.
Whooo.
Autumn nights were cool, and a cold wind swept past, yet Lu Sui felt no chill at all.
He quietly held his stance for two quarter-hours, only stopping when he was panting with exhaustion.
His Qi and Blood seemed to have condensed a little further!
"Clear through and through!"
Lu Sui's gaze shone, his eyes bright as great stars.
With his Qi and Blood flowing freely, the longer he practiced the Turtle-Snake Stance, the more relaxed and comfortable he became.
"Young master, come inside first. It's windy out here; don't catch a chill."
Xiaotang beckoned, then turned to instruct Xiaohuan:
"Have the servants heat a tub of water right away and attend the young master's bath. Use Doctor Lu's prescription as usual, with some of the finest medicinal ingredients."
"All right."
Xiaohuan nodded like a chicken pecking grain, then scurried off with tiny steps.
"Young master, wipe off your sweat."
Seeing Lu Sui approach, Xiaotang offered him a handkerchief.
"You even know about 'breaking through barriers' in martial practice?"
Lu Sui had clearly heard Xiaotang and Xiaohuan whispering nearby earlier.
He took the handkerchief and gave himself a quick wipe. As his Qi and Blood settled, his flushed skin soon returned to normal.
"Yes, young master. This servant has heard people speak of the four stages and twelve barriers of the Fleshly Body Realm.
Internal Nourishment has three barriers: Breath, Qi and Blood, and Force Tempering.
Above that, Fetus Embracing also has three barriers: Spirit Strengthening, Meridian Condensation, and Aperture Penetration.
Only by condensing Qi meridians and ingesting rare treasures with one's own body can one nurture a sacred fetus. Experts like that are called 'martial arts masters.'
If they can open their apertures and reach spiritual communion, they rank among the grandmasters, roaming the Nine Ridges and Ten Mountains with scarcely an opponent."
This girl certainly knew her stuff!
Lu Sui raised his brows and studied Xiaotang closely.
Only after his gaze had made this bedchamber maid, whose particular duty was teaching bedroom matters, blush across her pretty face did he look away.
"You know quite a lot, Xiaotang. What did your family used to do?"
Even many apprentices who paid to enter martial arts schools might not know the four stages and twelve barriers of the Fleshly Body Realm.
Yet Xiaotang could recite them offhand. The only reasonable explanation was an unusual family background.
"We ran a small business that wasn't fit for polite company. Later, we fell on hard times, and only then came beyond the pass..."
Xiaotang seemed to find it hard to speak of. She lowered her head, unwilling to say more.
Could she be the 'fallen-on-hard-times female lead' archetype?
Lu Sui's heart gave a jolt. With Xiaotang's looks, figure, speech, and knowledge, she undoubtedly stood like a crane among chickens among the maids, exceptionally outstanding.
Most remarkably, she not only kept the maids of the inner household obedient, but could also deal calmly with the other courtyards, never letting those spiteful, loose-tongued matrons and older serving women gain the slightest advantage.
A born talent for inner-household intrigue.
Lu Sui's thoughts turned, but he asked no further questions.
When he had some free time another day, he could ask Uncle Wen or Second Steward Duan.
There was no need to dig down to the roots right now.
Since Lu Yulin dared to place Xiaotang beside his son, her background must at least be clean, with no hidden dangers.
"Young master, Chief Steward Dou sent you a book. He said it was found on that sinister practitioner named Yuniang, and thought you might be interested."
Seeing that Lu Sui did not press her, Xiaotang secretly sighed in relief and reached into her bosom, taking out a yellowed paper book.
"Chief Steward Dou also said that the Witchcraft and Gu Art harms the body. Eldest young master should only read it to gain some understanding."
Uncle Wen knows me!
Holding the yellowed paper book between two fingers, Lu Sui was delighted.
The ancient temple deep within his consciousness immediately stirred.
[Fragment of the "Complete Record of the High Shaman's Ghost Capturing" available for recording] [Time required: twenty-four hours]
Inside the bathing room.
Hot vapor wreathed the room in a hazy mist.
"So comfortable."
Lu Sui rested his hands on the rim of the waist-high bathtub, half sitting and half reclining, enjoyment written across his face.
As a young master, he had a dedicated hot-water room and bathing room in his courtyard, the former for heating water and the latter for soaking.
Bathing in a wealthy household came with plenty of refinements. The maids first filled the tub, beneath which lay a layer of pebbles, and continually added charcoal to heat it and maintain the temperature.
A small incense burner stood nearby, giving off the scent of pine resin. It could hardly be called anything but extravagant.
"Young master, is the water temperature all right?"
Xiaotang's voice came from behind him.
Besides the soothing fragrance of pine resin, Lu Sui caught a faint, delicate scent, though he did not know what rouge or powder it came from.
He drawled lazily:
"Just right."
So this was the immortal-like life young masters enjoyed!
This transmigration wasn't for nothing!
"Young master, you're getting sturdier and sturdier. This servant can barely knead your muscles anymore."
Xiaotang's fair, tender little hands settled lightly on Lu Sui's shoulders and began massaging them with gentle care.
Just as she said, after reaching the step of "strengthening Qi and Blood" and opening its flow through both arms, Lu Sui's body had clearly become much stronger.
Firm slabs of muscle covered his shoulders and back, resilient and springy, and his shoulders were about a finger's width broader than before.
The change was plain to see!
"Let Xiaohuan do it next time. She may seem a bit silly, but she has strong hands."
Lu Sui spoke with his eyes closed.
Quite a few medicinal ingredients had been added to the bath: astragalus and codonopsis, crushed and simmered into a decoction to gently replenish Qi and Blood, as well as morinda root, eucommia bark, and others to help strengthen his sinews and bones.
This tub alone cost nearly eighty taels of silver.
After he soaked for a short while, the Qi and Blood within him began churning on its own, circulating throughout his body.
A fragment of the Complete Record of the High Shaman's Ghost Capturing? It should fall under the [Arts] category. But twenty-four hours is a bit of a long wait.
Lu Sui tilted his head back slightly, wanting to recline more comfortably, only for it to meet something soft, springy, warm, and smooth. As though resting on rich, yielding flesh, his head actually sank in a little.
"Mmh~"
Xiaotang's massaging hands stopped, her earlobes red as crimson pearls.
Although she was a bedchamber maid tasked with teaching bedroom matters, the young master had not yet reached the age for such things!
Surely we can't do anything improper?