Chapter 24

After leaving Linglong Pavilion, Chen Xi did not linger and hurriedly arrived at Qingxi Wine Building.

Seeing Chen Xi return after just one day, Old Man Ma couldn’t help but feel somewhat gratified. "The kid is pretty good, knowing to seize the time to improve his culinary skills..."

"I want to seclude myself in the small black room for cultivation," Chen Xi made his request.

Although the assassination attempt by Manager Wu was thwarted by Luo Chong’s accidental intervention yesterday, Chen Xi did not feel any relief. The sense of crisis in his heart only increased.

To protect himself, he had to resign from his job of making talismans and planned to stay in Qingxi Wine Building from now on, practicing culinary skills while cultivating martial arts.

Hearing this, Old Man Ma was even more pleased. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, I’ll prepare all the ingredients for you. I look forward to the day you advance to the Two-Leaf Spirit Chef level."

Chen Xi secretly sighed in relief and nodded. "I will work hard."

Soon, Chen Xi returned to the small black room. Looking at the mountains of ingredients piled around, he muttered, "With these ingredients, I can not only practice my culinary skills but also replenish my true essence and nourish my body. Plus, it’s quiet and safe here, free from external disturbances. Spending the evenings cultivating martial arts here would be excellent..."

Without wasting any more time, Chen Xi began to sort and categorize the ingredients, dividing them according to their properties and flavors.

With the experience from last time, Chen Xi handled these tasks with ease. It didn’t take long for him to organize all the ingredients in the room.

He then approached the cooking station and began to cook.

Chen Xi’s culinary skills had already reached the One-Leaf Spirit Chef level. Whether it was knife skills, fire control, or the pairing of flavors, he had a deeper understanding.

However, to advance to the Two-Leaf Spirit Chef level, he needed to cook dishes that would greatly benefit innate realm cultivators. This was still quite challenging for Chen Xi.

Fortunately, with Old Man Ma’s support, Chen Xi didn’t have to worry about a shortage of ingredients. Even if he failed, he could keep trying, gradually finding his own path in culinary arts.

The kitchen knife flashed like snow, and after cutting the ingredients, Chen Xi controlled the spirit fire, pouring the ingredients into the iron pot and cooking them carefully.

His wrists were steady and flexible, his expression focused. He continuously shook the iron pot and spoon in a peculiar rhythm, the various ingredients rolling in the hot oil like waves crashing, creating a beautiful sight.

Chen Xi clearly felt that this time, his cooking was much smoother and easier than before. He could sense every subtle change in the ingredients in the pot.

"It must be because of the daily visualization of the Fuxi divine statue. This feeling is exactly the same as when I was creating those new talismans!" Chen Xi marveled inwardly, fully appreciating the value of the visualization technique.

Sizzle!

In a moment of distraction, the ingredients in the pot burned completely.

Chen Xi quickly refocused, not daring to let his mind wander again.

However, even so, he spent the entire afternoon in failure. Without guidance, relying solely on his own exploration was clearly a very difficult task.

He fed all the failed dishes into his stomach, both to analyze the reasons for failure and because, although the dishes were unsuccessful, they still contained a large amount of spiritual energy, which could replenish the true essence in his dantian.

As night fell, Chen Xi stopped his actions and began to meditate.

Practicing culinary skills for the entire afternoon had greatly drained his mental energy. As soon as he sat down to meditate, his mind quickly entered a state of tranquility and peace.

Rushing true essence flowed through his meridians like a mighty river.

This true essence was condensed from the spiritual energy contained in the ingredients he had consumed throughout the afternoon. Stored in his body, it was like a collection of miraculous elixirs. As soon as Chen Xi began to circulate his cultivation technique, the true essence rapidly transformed into pure energy, surging into his dantian.

After an hour, Chen Xi woke up from his meditation, sensing a noticeable improvement in his cultivation. He couldn’t help but feel delighted. If he continued to cultivate at this pace, he would likely advance to the Ninth Level of the Innate Realm within a month!

Reaching the Ninth Level of the Innate Realm required only the accumulation of sufficient true essence to open the Purple Mansion in his dantian, laying the foundation for the Dao. At that point, he would become a true cultivator on the path to immortality, capable of flying through the air and manipulating magical treasures, with a significant transformation in his strength!

"However, to pass the first level of the trial mountain as mentioned by Senior Ji Yu, I must also bring my body cultivation technique to the Purple Mansion level. I have only reached the Third Level of the 'Zhou Tian Xing Lu Duan Ti Zhi Shu,' still two levels away from the Innate Realm, let alone the Purple Mansion level... I wonder when I can advance to the Innate Realm, let alone the Purple Mansion level..."

Chen Xi pondered for a moment, then took out a treasure pouch from his chest.

The treasure pouch was a gift from Qin Hongmian, entrusted to Luo Chong. It contained thirteen basic body cultivation techniques. The 'Fuhu Duan Gu Claw,' 'Dragon Form Leg Technique,' 'Damo Da Shou Yin,' and 'Jin Peng Body Technique' that Chen Xi had seen in Linglong Pavilion were all included. Adding the 'Da Bong Fist' he had purchased for over a hundred essence stones, there were a total of fourteen body cultivation techniques.

Obtaining fourteen body cultivation techniques in a single day, Chen Xi was greatly excited. He eagerly began to read through them.

The 'Fuhu Duan Gu Claw' was a technique specifically for training finger strength, with swift and powerful moves, capable of shattering rocks and breaking wood.

The 'Dragon Form Step' consisted of eight steps: Trapped Dragon Step, Swimming Dragon Step, Frenzied Dragon Step, Flying Dragon Step, White Dragon Step, Soaring Dragon Step, Golden Dragon Step, and Lotus Dragon Step. These steps corresponded to the eight basic steps: advancing, walking, leaping, retreating, withdrawing, sidestepping, turning, and curving. Known as the Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon, they were both offensive and defensive, with wondrous and unpredictable changes.

The 'Damo Da Shou Yin' involved forming hand seals, with powerful and concentrated force, making the hands as red as blood, enhancing the power of the palms and allowing them to burst with astonishing strength.

The 'Jin Peng Body Technique' was renowned for its speed, faster than lightning, a widely known lightness technique. At its highest level, it could dodge a barrage of arrows without a scratch.

...

After reading through several techniques, Chen Xi found it increasingly difficult to choose. Each one seemed to be what he needed, and none of them were something he disliked.

This feeling was painful, like facing a table full of delicious dishes and not knowing where to start.

"What are you hesitating about? I’ll ask you, what do you most want to learn?"

A voice filled with沧桑 (cang桑) sounded in the room, and with it, Ji Yu, with hooves as black as ink and a single horn on his head, suddenly appeared in the room.

"You can come out?" Chen Xi was greatly surprised.

"Who told you I couldn’t come out? These things don’t matter. What matters is, what do you really want to learn?" Ji Yu lazily shook his head, his body flashing with a dark light, transforming into a gaunt old man with a refined and transcendent demeanor.

Chen Xi was taken aback, falling into thought.

Ji Yu did not disturb him. Choosing which martial technique to practice was crucial for one’s combat strength. Some were skilled with swords, others with knives, and the key was whether the technique suited them.

After a long while, Chen Xi suddenly spoke, "I want to learn the most powerful offensive technique and the fastest escape technique."

Ji Yu was taken aback, half-smiling, "Do you want to hear my opinion?"

Chen Xi nodded, openly admitting his thoughts. In his view, with the mysterious Ji Yu, he only needed to state his desires, and following Ji Yu’s advice would be the right choice.

"You’re not bad."

Ji Yu rarely praised, but he did so now. Then, he became serious and said, "Martial techniques have no inherent strength or weakness. For divine and demon body cultivators, offensive power is manifested through divine techniques. For qi cultivators, if we talk about the most powerful offensive technique, it would be sword techniques."

"Divine techniques are unique to divine and demon body cultivators, like the 'Dharma Body of the Earth,' 'Mountain in the Palm,' and 'Dharma Flower Golden Body,' which have the power to boil the sea and burn mountains. Generally, qi cultivators cannot learn them, but there are exceptions. Some strong cultivators who practice both body and qi techniques can also master divine techniques."

"Similarly, the techniques qi cultivators use with true essence also have terrifying power, especially when combined with magical treasures, making them formidable."

"However, one thing is universal: regardless of the martial technique or cultivation method, it all depends on body techniques. The greatest advantage of body techniques is the ability to move freely in and out of battle, avoiding danger."

"Now, do you know which martial techniques you should practice?"

"Divine techniques, sword techniques, and body techniques!" Chen Xi answered without hesitation. After listening to Ji Yu’s analysis, his confusion was suddenly cleared, like a sudden enlightenment, making him instantly understand what he wanted.

He was now cultivating both body and qi. For body cultivation, he would focus on divine techniques, for qi cultivation, he would focus on sword techniques, and body techniques would be for survival.

Ji Yu nodded. "Not bad, but the most important thing for you now is to refine the techniques for generating power in your body. This is the foundation of all cultivation methods."

Saying this, Ji Yu walked to Chen Xi, bent down, and picked out the 'Da Bong Fist' from the fourteen jade slips.

"These techniques are really quite poor, but this one is relatively comprehensive, though it still has many flaws. I’ll help you refine it."

Ji Yu frowned, then touched the jade slip with his finger. After a moment, he handed it to Chen Xi. "Once you can use this fist technique with complete mastery, you will have grasped the techniques for generating power in every joint of your body."

Chen Xi took the jade slip but didn’t rush to read it. Instead, he pointed to the other jade slips on the ground and asked, "What about these techniques? Should I learn them?"

"They’re just leftovers, not worth practicing," Ji Yu answered decisively.

Chen Xi was a bit reluctant. These techniques were gifts from Qin Hongmian and were all the martial techniques he owned. Throwing them away seemed a bit wasteful.

More importantly, although he had a clear direction for cultivation, he lacked the necessary techniques. The thought of spending essence stones to buy techniques for divine, sword, and body cultivation made him a bit anxious.

An empty purse is a killer!

Wait!

He had a living monster who had lived for a million years by his side. Did he need to worry about these issues?

Chen Xi’s eyes lit up, and he looked up at Ji Yu.

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