Chapter 53: Cultivating in Secrecy (Part 2)

  This time in cultivation, the physical pain did not decrease at all, but after completing the cultivation, that feeling of fatigue was much lighter. Unlike the first time, I didn't need to lie on the ground for half an hour before being able to move, and instead could struggle to get up and start massaging my acupoints as soon as I finished the movement.

  After the massage, he immediately regained his energy, but did not feel hungry; it should be that the medicinal diet took effect, and these precious medicinal materials were indeed extraordinary.

  Xiao Ziyang didn't feel a strong sense of hunger until after he had exercised continuously for three times. Then, another big pot of meat soup went into his belly.

  The cultivation lasted until sunset, and all five large pots of meat were gone into Xiao Ziyang's belly. After finishing the last meal, Xiao Ziyang drank a pot of medicinal soup that had been simmered for a day, and was about to leave with another pot when he saw Er Zhu looking at him with a terrified expression in his eyes, as if guessing what he was thinking. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not some kind of monster, I just need to eat this much because I'm practicing a special external skill." After saying that, he walked out with a very amusing expression.

  Xiao Ziyang arrived at the practice room, where a large bronze cauldron was placed in the center. The cauldron was half-filled with water, and under it was a brazier with charcoal burning brightly. The water in the cauldron was steaming hot. Shanzi and Xiaohei were watching the brazier. Xiao Ziyang poured the medicinal soup and dregs into the cauldron, then tested the water temperature with his hand, feeling slightly scalded. He took off his clothes and jumped into the cauldron.

  The scalding hot water made Zuo Purple Sun's skin itch and ache, but he endured it. Gradually, he felt a thread of cool air seeping into his body through the pores on his skin, while a wave of heat radiated from his stomach. The cool air and heat met in various parts of his body, seemingly engaging in a fierce battle within him, bringing about itching, numbness, pain, acid reflux, and an indescribable feeling that tormented his heart and body.

  The feeling grew stronger and stronger; Xiao Ziyang felt as if countless small insects were crawling all over his body, gnawing at his muscles and bones, and it was as if countless ropes were pulling inside him, making him feel like he had entered hell. Xiao Ziyang gritted his teeth and endured with all his might, large drops of sweat rolling down his forehead one after another.

  When he felt that he could no longer endure, he took a deep breath and plunged his head into the hot water. He didn't come up for air until he was about to suffocate, then he resurfaced, gasped for air, and sank back down again. After an hour had passed, the unbearable pain that made Xiao Ziyang wish he were dead slowly began to subside.

  Xiao Ziyang crawled out of the copper cauldron, and under the curious gaze of two children, he walked out unsteadily; Xiao Ziyang now only wanted to fall headfirst onto his bed and never get up again.

  However, Xiao Ziyang's rationality soon took over, and he stumbled to the medicine room. Seeing that Er Zhu had already cleaned the pot, he instructed Er Zhu to pour half a pot of water into the five-mouthed large pot, add Liu Shu's chopped wild game meat and his pre-prepared five packets of medicinal materials into the pot, and let them watch the fire on the stove.

  After instructing the two pillars and three people, Xiao Ziyang returned to his bedroom with a sigh of relief, fell onto the big bed with a thud, and almost as soon as he touched the bed, he entered dreamland.

  The next morning, Xiao Ziyang sprang out of bed with a burst of energy, feeling like he had an endless supply of vitality coursing through his veins.

  Xiao Ziyang started a new day of training after hastily eating his medicine.

  Winter has gone and spring has come, half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. In this half year, Xiao Ziyang has already practiced the first five chapters of "Zi Yu Sheng Yan", from the fourth chapter onwards, he began to require some medicinal materials that have requirements for years, such as blood ginseng over ten years old and twenty-year-old Fengtou Shouwu, which are extremely precious. This made him spend nearly 30,000 taels of silver in this year.

  But all of this is worth it, "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" is indeed a cultivation secret book, although the cultivation process is extremely difficult, but the effect is very obvious, he can almost feel his body changing rapidly every day.

  His strength is now almost double what it was when he first came to Nanba County, with at least 8,000 catties of force between his arms. The giant stone lock weighing a thousand catties was tossed back and forth by him like a shuttlecock, and the tree trunks as thick as a bowl were easily uprooted by him with just a slight effort.

  His muscles and bones also became more solid like iron!

  In the past six months, Xiao Ziyang did not give up on his martial arts training. Every day at noon, a time for practicing swordplay became the most hard-won rest time in his intense daily training. In these six months, under the guidance of "Wu Jing", he has mastered the Five Tigers Broken Gate Knife Technique passed down by his adoptive father to perfection, and even made some changes to this knife technique under the guidance of "Wu Jing", making it even more powerful.

  Today, Xiao Ziyang took a day off to celebrate the completion of the fifth chapter. After going down the mountain, he had a good time drinking old wine from a calabash, hired a fishing boat and sailed on the Fenyu Lake, enjoying the scenery while tasting the fine wine and feeling the comfort that he had never experienced in over a year.

  The night at Fenghe Mountain was extremely quiet. Since Xiao Ziyang had cultivated the "Purple Jade Smoke", his sleep had become extremely deep, and he never had dreams at night. However, tonight he suddenly woke up from a very deep sleep; it seemed that there was a sudden, invisible danger pouncing on him, and in his sleep, he suddenly jumped out of bed, with all his hair standing on end.

  He jumped up and took a defensive posture, looking around, when he found that nothing had happened, he rubbed his numb arms in a strange way and sat back on the bed.

  "How strange! What's going on? I didn't have a nightmare just now, so why did I suddenly feel my heart racing?" Xiao Ziyang muttered to himself in confusion. He put on his clothes, slung the sword over his back and headed out the door. As he reached the entrance, Xiao Ziyang turned back again.

  He opened the locked cabinet at the head of the bed, took out a long cloth package about 1.7 to 1.8 feet in length and an arrow vial from the bottom of the cabinet, and unfolded the cloth package, revealing a long bow folded into three sections.

  Xiao Ziyang unfolded his bow arm, lightly strung it, pulled it tight, and shook his head in dissatisfaction. This bow was one he had bought for over a hundred taels of silver at the Famous Sword Pavilion before leaving Shangyuan City.

  That five-stone strong bow bought in Shuo An City was discarded by him when he came down the mountain. Although the Western Liang State does not prohibit people in the martial arts world from wearing knives and swords, strong bows and crossbows are absolutely forbidden. In the mountains, it's far away from the emperor, so using them secretly doesn't matter, but if you want to bring a strong bow through the states and prefectures, that would be asking for trouble.

  ;