Chapter 3

Cultivation has never been a pleasant thing. Boredom is secondary; the process of gathering and condensing spiritual energy and then sensing the immortal spirit acupoints is truly a painful one. The spiritual energy seeping into the body feels like someone is constantly pricking you with a needle.

However, Yang Junshan soon discovered something that delighted him. Originally, he intended to replace the *Fu Tu Ling Jue* with the *Wu Tu Ling Jue*. The first step should have been to convert the *Fu Tu* spiritual energy accumulated over the past year into *Wu Tu* spiritual energy.

But during the cultivation process, Yang Junshan found that while he was re-condensing and converting the *Fu Tu* spiritual energy, he was also absorbing the faint spiritual energy that had escaped from the spirit well and condensing it into *Wu Tu* spiritual energy. In other words, Yang Junshan could actually multitask during his cultivation!

After much thought, Yang Junshan attributed this to his past life. In that world, although Yang Junshan had mediocre talent and a bumpy life, he had managed to push his cultivation to the fourth level of the Martial Realm.

Perhaps it was because of his past life that Yang Junshan possessed a perception and mental maturity far beyond his current age, allowing him to easily multitask during cultivation.

Sometimes, even Yang Junshan couldn't tell if he had truly been reborn with his past life's experiences or if it was just a prophetic dream. However, one thing he was certain of: that dream-like experience had a very real impact on him.

For example, his mature mindset far beyond his peers, the *Wu Tu Bao Jue* he had just cultivated, and his ability to multitask mentally.

Yang Junshan continued cultivating until the moon was high in the sky before he had to stop, not because he was bored, but because his body had reached its limit in condensing spiritual energy.

His physical body was still not strong enough; otherwise, with his willpower far surpassing that of his peers, he could have continued for longer. Still, at twelve years old, being able to draw a one-stone mulberry wood bow was quite impressive.

The next morning, Yang Junshan got up early and saw his younger brother, Yang Junping, and his younger sister, Yang Junxin, already practicing a set of boxing techniques in the front courtyard.

This set of boxing techniques was called the "Mang Niu Quan" (Fierce Ox Fist), a traditional boxing technique passed down in the Yang family, primarily used to strengthen the body. Every Yang family child had to learn this technique from a young age to toughen their bodies, including the seven-and-a-half-year-old Yang Junxin.

Seeing Yang Junshan come out of the house, Yang Junxin, who was already panting from practicing the Fierce Ox Fist, stopped and called out, "Big Brother, you're being lazy again! You always sleep in!"

Han Xiumei, who was making breakfast, poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "Little girl, no slacking off. Your big brother had his immortal spirit acupoints tested and worked hard last night, so he naturally woke up a bit later. When your second brother and you turn ten and have your immortal spirit acupoints tested, you'll also practice at the spirit well in the backyard at night."

Yang Junshan splashed some cold water on his face, made a funny face at his little sister, and then joined his younger siblings in practicing the Fierce Ox Fist.

Yang Junshan's Fierce Ox Fist was different from his younger siblings. With each punch, he let out a loud shout, like a newborn calf. He used his feet, waist, arms, and even his neck, and his eyes were wide open from the shouts, showing a fearless spirit.

In comparison, Yang Junping's Fierce Ox Fist was more like a skinny ox, lacking strength; while Yang Junxin was like a newborn calf, stumbling and just learning to walk, performing only the basic movements.

However, despite his superior skill in the Fierce Ox Fist compared to his younger siblings, today's practice was different. Perhaps because of his past life's experiences or the cultivation of the *Wu Tu Bao Jue* last night, Yang Junshan felt a significant increase in the power and fluidity of his Fierce Ox Fist, as if he had been practicing for a long time.

Yang Junshan's improvement in boxing quickly caught Han Xiumei's attention, and even his younger siblings noticed the difference, stopping their practice to watch him.

"Ha—, Ha—!"

With each punch, Yang Junshan let out a loud shout, feeling every muscle in his body being engaged, the tendons bulging under his skin. He could clearly feel his strength and resilience increasing.

In fact, the Fierce Ox Fist was not a high-level body-strengthening technique; it could only toughen the skin and flesh, at best being a decent lower-grade body-strengthening technique.

In his past life, Yang Junshan knew a middle-grade body-strengthening technique called the *Di Gun Quan* (Ground Rolling Fist), which was much better for strengthening the tendons and bones than the Fierce Ox Fist. However, this technique required lying on the ground and performing different rolling movements, which looked quite awkward.

After finishing a round of the Fierce Ox Fist, Yang Junshan was drenched in sweat. He rinsed himself with cold water, and Han Xiumei said happily, "Shan'er, you've really practiced the Fierce Ox Fist to the point where it's ingrained in your skin and flesh!"

Yang Junshan naturally knew his level and smiled, "I guess I've finally gotten the hang of it. After all, I'm going to Bai Que Mountain, and I need to make some progress!"

Mentioning Bai Que Mountain, Han Xiumei clearly didn't like it, but seeing her son's joy, she didn't want to dampen his spirits. She forced a smile, "Rest a bit. Wait for your father to come back for breakfast. Today we have spirit rice soup and spirit wheat cakes, as much as you want!"

Hearing this, his younger brother and sister jumped with joy. Although the Yang family was well-off in Tuqiu Village, they didn't eat spirit rice and spirit wheat for every meal. This was probably because Yang Junshan was going to Bai Que Mountain the day after tomorrow.

Spirit rice and spirit wheat are considered lower-grade spirit herbs. They are easy to grow, have a high yield, and contain a small amount of spiritual energy that is easy to absorb, making them the main food for cultivators.

However, the high yield is relative to other spirit herbs. Spirit farmers, who mainly grow spirit rice, face many harsh conditions compared to ordinary farmers. Therefore, it's not easy for ordinary spirit farmers to achieve self-sufficiency with spirit rice, and most still primarily grow ordinary crops, supplemented by spirit rice.

The Yang family, though well-off in Tuqiu Village, only had spirit rice and spirit vegetables for lunch, a mix of spirit rice and ordinary rice for dinner, and ordinary meals for breakfast, except during the busy farming season.

After finishing a round of the Fierce Ox Fist, Yang Junshan didn't see his father, Yang Tiangang, and asked, "Mother, where's Father?"

Han Xiumei pointed to the back of the house and said, "He's in the backyard. Today is the market day in Huangtu Town, and he's preparing to go to town. He's feeding the pack beast now."

"Today is the market day?" Yang Junshan's face lit up. "I'll go with Father!"

Han Xiumei had an expression as if she had expected this and said, "Our little pack beast is already as tall as a person. It should be able to carry you, as long as your father agrees."

Yang Junshan chuckled, took the mulberry wood bow his father had given him a few days ago, and easily drew it to full length. This bow, which required more than one stone of strength, could only be drawn to seven-tenths of its length when he first got it, but now he could draw it fully with ease.

He took a quiver of bamboo arrows and set up a straw target fifty paces away in the courtyard, then began practicing his archery.

However, the moment he drew the bow, Yang Junshan felt that his archery skills had improved significantly, just like his Fierce Ox Fist. Following a familiar yet long-lost feeling, he shot seven arrows in a row, each hitting the center of the straw target.

Under normal circumstances, despite practicing archery for over a year, hitting the center of the target three to five times out of ten arrows at fifty paces would be quite good.

Yang Junshan thought to himself that his sudden improvement in the Fierce Ox Fist this morning had already surprised his mother, and his cultivation at the spirit well until midnight probably hadn't escaped his parents' notice. If his archery skills also improved dramatically, his parents might start to doubt if he was still their son.

Yang Junshan couldn't help but smile bitterly and deliberately missed a few shots. Out of a quiver of thirty arrows, he hit the center of the target eighteen times, and the rest landed around the center. Despite this, it was still one of his best performances in archery.

"Quite an improvement!"

After retrieving the arrows from the straw target, Yang Junshan saw his father, Yang Tiangang, standing at the courtyard gate, clearly having watched him practice.

Yang Tiangang tapped the ashes out of his pipe, picked a blade of grass from the fence, and cleaned the pipe, smiling. "I was a bit worried about your safety at Bai Que Mountain, but it seems you have some confidence in yourself."

Yang Junshan smiled proudly. "Of course, if I didn't have confidence, I wouldn't dare to take the risk at Bai Que Mountain."

Yang Tiangang tapped Yang Junshan on the head with his pipe. Yang Junshan had been prepared and tried to dodge, but he still couldn't avoid it. The tap was not light, and Yang Junshan winced in pain.

Yang Tiangang chuckled. "Don't get too cocky. At Bai Que Mountain, you won't have a stationary target. Shooting live targets is different from shooting stationary ones."

Yang Junshan naturally understood this. In fact, if he practiced for a day or two, he could recover a fraction of his past life's skills, which would be enough to handle the challenges at Bai Que Mountain.

Yang Tiangang flicked his thumb, and a shiny object flew towards Yang Junshan.

Yang Junshan caught it and saw a round object with a square hole, emitting a faint and pure spiritual energy. He was delighted. "A jade coin!"

Yang Tiangang turned and walked back into the courtyard. "Eat breakfast and come with me to the market. This jade coin is a reward for you. Buy whatever you like."

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**End of Chapter**