Chapter 15: Cultivation

 Warm sunlight streamed in through the cracks of the window, with tiny specks of light dotting the tidy room. The novel continues.

 In the room, the boy ** his body, sitting cross-legged in the wooden basin, his hands clasped together, forming a strange mudra in front of him, his eyes tightly shut, breathing steadily and powerfully.

 The wooden basin was filled with azure liquid, and as it swayed slightly, it surprisingly reflected little flickers of strange light, quite magical.

 The boy's chest rose and fell gently, his breathing rhythmic, and as the training time stretched on, the azure liquid in the basin gradually emitted a faint stream of air, which carried a hint of blue, slowly rising and finally, along with the boy's breath, drilling into his body.

 As the air entered his body, the boy's delicate little face seemed to suddenly emit a glow akin to warm jade.

 As if sensing the increasingly abundant fighting energy within, a faint smile of contentment appeared on the boy's small face.

 After tasting sweetness, the boy didn't stop there; his eyes remained tightly shut, his fingertips completely still, focusing his mind and energy, maintaining the best state for cultivation, greedily absorbing the gentle energy from the blue liquid.

 The blue liquid stained the boy's skin, trickling in through the pores, nourishing his bones, cleansing his meridians…

 Under the boy's endless demands, more and more airflow drifted out from the basin, until finally, it subtly obscured the boy's ** body.

 Cultivation slowly passed in a relentless grind of forgetting sleep and food, as the sunlight streaming in from the window gradually weakened, and the hot temperature slowly decreased.

 In the wooden basin, the boy with his eyes tightly closed inhaled the last trace of airflow into his body, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, and after a moment, his pitch-black eyes suddenly opened.

 In his black eyes, a white light flashed as usual, but this time it carried a hint of light blue color.

 Slowly exhaling a mouthful of stale air from his chest, the boy blinked energetically, then suddenly stood up, letting the cold splashes of water trickle down his body. He lazily stretched, feeling the surge of fighting spirit that had been dormant for three years, and murmured, almost intoxicated, "At this rate, it」ll probably take another two months to break through to the fifth stage of fighting spirit..."

 Since he finished preparing everything last time, Xiao Yan had been holed up in his room for over half a month. During these two weeks, aside from eating, drinking, and other basic needs, he had pretty much lived a secluded life focused on his training.

 However, although the days of training were a bit dull, for Xiao Yan, who had endured three years of disdain and ridicule, it was just a trivial matter.

 The mockery he endured for three years made him clearly understand just how important strength is in this land...

 Although life is tough, the results from his training are truly heartwarming.

 The spiritual liquid refined by Elder Yao had a potency that far exceeded even Xiao Yan's and Elder Yao's expectations. They originally thought that even with the power of the spiritual liquid, Xiao Yan would need at least a month to reach the fourth level of fighting spirit, but to their surprise, he managed to cut that time in half...

 Even Elder Yao couldn't help but be amazed by Xiao Yan's training efficiency. Although it was somewhat related to the fact that Xiao Yan had walked this path before, this speed is still ridiculously fast, isn't it?

 You have to know that cultivating fighting spirit is particularly difficult at the foundation level. It's not uncommon for people to spend ten or even twenty years just to reach the first level of ten segments of fighting spirit... Of course, once you become a true fighter, your cultivation speed will greatly accelerate. Before becoming a fighter, you might only be able to increase your fighting spirit by one segment in a year. However, after entering the fighter realm, you might shoot up several segments in just one year...

 In comparison to this extremely uncoordinated training, Xiao Yan's performance over the past half month has indeed been somewhat shocking.

 Climbing out of the wooden basin without any reservations, Xiao Yan glanced back at the now lighter blue liquid. This was because the energy contained within it had been absorbed by him. He helplessly shook his head and muttered to himself, "Can this still support another half month of training?"

 Wiping off the water stains on his body, Xiao Yan casually put on a neat outfit, then climbed onto the soft bed and pulled out the pitch-black iron piece from under the pillow.

 The rust spots on the iron piece had been carefully cleaned by Xiao Yan, and overall it gleamed a bit, emitting a faint glow, giving it a somewhat mysterious vibe.

 Over the past half month, besides burying himself in training, Xiao Yan had focused all his remaining energy on the low-level mysterious combat skills contained in this iron piece.

 During this half month, under the guidance of the Medicine Elder, Xiao Yan gradually grasped some of the techniques for the absorbing palm, but due to the thin fighting energy in his body, he had yet to see any substantial results, which left him a bit regretful.

 …...

 With both palms clamped around the iron piece, Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes, and with his soul perception, he skillfully probed into the black iron piece along his arms.

 As Xiao Yan's breathing steadied, the room once again fell into tranquility.

 After a long period of silence, at a certain moment, Xiao Yan on the bed suddenly opened his eyes wide, his right hand slightly curled, forming a claw shape, and the thin inside him quickly rushed through several specific meridians and acupoints in his palm under the control of his consciousness, finally bursting out with a pulling force.

 "Bang..."

 Where his palm pointed, a blue-and-white vase on the table suddenly shook a few times before crashing to the ground, shattering into pieces with a crisp sound.

 "Sigh, although the is of the mysterious level, the is too weak to exert much power at all." Looking at the destruction he caused, Xiao Yan pouted and muttered helplessly to himself, "At this rate, to create a pulling force that can move a person, I'd need at least seven segments of to make it happen."

 "Forget it, let's check the family fighting hall to see if there are any handy low-level fighting techniques. This Absorbing Palm isn't much use in a short time. Now that I can cultivate fighting energy, I can't just train like a fool anymore..." With a sigh, Xiao Yan got out of bed, glanced at the unresponsive black ring in his hand, and then walked to the door, pushing it open.

 Squinting his eyes a bit, after slightly adapting to the somewhat scorching sunlight, Xiao Yan carefully closed the door behind him and leisurely strolled along the gravel path towards the backyard.

 On both sides of the gravel path, lush green willow trees were planted, their vibrant greenery refreshing the mind.

 Turning around a corner, a burst of laughter from girls came from another small path.

 Disturbed by the sudden noise, Xiao Yan frowned slightly, his gaze shifting towards the sound, watching the group of girls giggling as they approached.

 Surrounded by several beautiful young girls, a girl with a somewhat enchanting appearance was pouting her lips and smiling lightly, her charming demeanor making the few innocent girls beside her feel a bit inferior.

 This girl was Xiao Mei, who had stolen the spotlight at the testing square that day.

 With a calm glance at the beautiful girl who used to call her 'cousin' incessantly, a hint of sarcasm flashed across Xiao Yan's youthful face as she gently shook her head, retracting her gaze without any lingering feelings.

 Reaching the end of the path, Xiao Mei's rather seductive laughter suddenly diminished as she spotted a boy not far to her left...

 The setting sun poured down from the horizon, casting a captivating glow on the boy with his arms resting behind his head and a calm expression on his youthful face.

 A pair of somewhat soul-stirring eyes stared at the approaching boy, watching the subtle curve on his small face that was hard to tell if it was a smirk or a smile, and for a moment, Xiao Mei felt a strange sense of daze...

 Three years ago, that boy often had that intoxicating curve at the corner of his mouth.