Chapter 24

【Recipe: Nine Oxen and Two Tigers]

【Level: Ten Capitals (Upper)]

【Quality: Excellent (Upper)]

【Evaluation: Human strength has limits, but the universe is boundless. Emulate all things to strengthen yourself. Contain nine oxen, then add two tigers, to achieve greatness]

【Effect of Consumption: Consuming it will grant the ‘Divine Seed’ ‘Nine Oxen and Two Tigers’]

【Required Ingredients (2/11)]

Recipe?

Nine Oxen and Two Tigers?

Ten Capitals?

Staring at the golden text shimmering on the cauldron wall, Yang Yu’s heart surged with emotion, making it hard for him to control himself.

The Nine Oxen and Two Tigers are easy to understand, but what does this ‘Divine Seed’ mean?

Could it be some kind of divine power?

“Who is that old woman? Where did this recipe come from? That pig?”

Yang Yu stared blankly, his thoughts flying everywhere.

After a long while, the golden text dimmed, and at the bottom, a line of small text appeared:

【Cannot be refined]

“I still need nine more ingredients. I need to speed up the search.”

Looking at the recipe, Yang Yu slowly exhaled.

Over these few months, although he had not given up on searching for ingredients, his progress in refining was not fast, so he did not put much effort into it.

Now, however, he had a strong desire to gather the ingredients and refine this recipe to see what this so-called Divine Seed really is.

Nine Oxen and Two Tigers…

…

That night, Yang Yu spent the entire time in the Cauldron of Gluttony.

He either studied the recipe or practiced the ‘Old Mother’s Breath Control Technique,’ with the latter being his main focus.

Although the ‘Breath Control Technique’ was deeply imprinted in his mind, he still suppressed his thoughts.

When dawn broke, he changed his clothes, fetched water for the old woman, and prepared breakfast before setting out to Wei He’s courtyard.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the old tree was covered in white frost. The old monkey named Wangcai, perched on a branch, saw Yang Yu and chirped as it jumped down to open the door.

Wei He’s door was tightly shut, and Yang Yu did not disturb him. He walked into the courtyard and began to practice his strength.

After the blood change, his strength had greatly improved, and he could even lift the stone roller that Hu Wan used for strength training, though it was still a bit strenuous.

Several attempts later, he still could not match Hu Wan’s ease and casualness.

“You’ve only changed your blood, not transformed your body,” Wei He’s voice came from behind.

Yang Yu put down the stone roller and greeted him.

Wei He, hands behind his back, circled Yang Yu a few times before nodding and saying, “You’ve passed this stage.”

“How do you feel after the blood change?” Wei He asked.

“The senses are much sharper, strength has increased by about thirty percent, and speed is probably similar,” Yang Yu replied.

He was not idly playing with the stone roller but was familiarizing himself with his new strength after the blood change.

As Wei He said, changing the blood is not the same as transforming the body.

There was an increase in strength, but it was not as significant as he had imagined.

“Not bad,” Wei He seemed in a good mood, “We are all flesh and blood, limited by our bodies. Even with elixirs and magical medicines, strength must be built up step by step.”

Yang Yu nodded.

By the standards of his previous life, the amount of strength depends on muscle structure and function, which are subtle and gradual changes.

He could accept this.

“After the blood change, you can truly begin to learn martial arts,” Wei He sat in a large chair and tapped his pipe on the armrest, “There are countless martial arts in the world, but their essence is the same: external training of the tendons and bones, internal cultivation of qi. The methods for training the tendons and bones are not significant; this qi is the most crucial thing.”

Wei He spoke eloquently, and the content was similar to what Wang Fobao had said the previous night.

What made Yang Yu chuckle was that Wei He highly praised ‘qi’ but glossed over external training techniques, just as Wang Fobao had said he did not know how to train the tendons and bones.

“Human energy is limited; how can one excel in everything? External and internal training must ultimately be chosen one over the other.”

At this point, Wei He paused slightly, pulled out a secret manual from his pocket, and handed it to Yang Yu, “This is the ‘One Qi Technique’ that I have learned. Since you can read, I don’t need to explain much. Take a look first, and if you have any questions, come ask me.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Yang Yu took the ‘One Qi Technique’ with both hands.

“Although this technique is not of high rank, it is the most stable and generally does not cause any problems. It is much safer than the techniques taught in the city’s martial arts schools.”

Wei He continued speaking, but Yang Yu nodded in agreement while shaking his head inwardly.

Stable means slow, right?

As Wang Fobao said, cultivating qi is like running; the better the technique, the faster the internal qi accumulates and circulates.

The faster it is, the easier it is to fall, but if you crawl slowly on the ground, you are less likely to fall.

“Don’t go out; just stay in the courtyard and read. You can also try the ‘One Qi Technique’; it is the most stable, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Don’t be impatient. Hu Wan, who has good potential, took one and a half months to cultivate his first strand of internal qi…”

After a few casual instructions, Wei He seemed tired, yawned, and slowly returned to his room.

Yang Yu watched him go back, but his peripheral vision caught the gleaming ghost-head saber on the table inside the room.

This saber, it is said, has been used by Wei He’s family for three or four generations. He was almost certain that it was an excellent ingredient.

With this thought, Yang Yu did not waste time and opened the ‘One Qi Technique.’

“What is this….”

Yang Yu was a bit confused.

The handwriting was messy, and the drawings looked like broken matchstick figures, far inferior to Wang Fobao’s Iron Crotch Technique.

After a long time, Yang Yu finally finished reading the first few pages, about three hundred words, and his temples throbbed uncomfortably.

“Would anyone else be able to understand this?”

Putting down the book, Yang Yu rubbed his temples, inwardly criticizing.

Wei He’s handwriting was messy, and the drawings were poor, but the text was also filled with local dialects from Black Mountain City.

If you weren’t a local, you wouldn’t even be able to read it, let alone practice it.

‘Could the terms in the Iron Crotch Technique also be dialects, and Wang Fobao’s annotations be translations?’

With this strange thought, Yang Yu sat on the ground in a posture with his five points (head, hands, and feet) facing the sky.

He then relaxed his mind and sensed the heat flowing through his body.

After the blood change, the blood seemed to carry heat, greatly enhancing cold resistance, as Wei He and Wang Fobao had said.

This is ‘qi being generated.’

Without this foundation, no matter how talented one is, it is impossible to extract even a tiny bit of internal qi from the blood.

“Exhale!”

“Inhale!”

Yang Yu closed his eyes and sat in meditation, adjusting his breathing. In his mind, the ‘One Qi Technique’ and the ‘Old Mother’s Breath Control Technique’ flowed simultaneously.

Wei He might have belittled the importance of external training, but he was right about the importance of ‘internal qi.’

According to the ‘Old Mother’s Breath Control Technique,’ this ‘internal qi’ determines the height and power of all martial arts.

In a battle between two people, if no external force is involved, the one with more qi will live, and the one with less will die.

There are few exceptions.

Exhale!

Inhale!

As he thought, Yang Yu gradually lost his杂念, entering a state of半睡半醒, with only the ‘breath control’ technique flowing in his mind.

After an unknown amount of time, in a daze, Yang Yu caught a warm current of air.

This current drifted aimlessly throughout his body, and wherever it passed, the blood flow accelerated.

Soon, all the blood in his body was boiling.

“Is this the qi sensation?”

The intense heat instantly woke Yang Yu up.

He looked at the sky; the sun was setting, and the sky was dark but still had some light.

In just half a day, he had actually generated the qi sensation?!

Could he really be a genius?!