Absorbing a Mouthful of Innate Spiritual Qi

The matter of conscription had a very large impact on Phuc Trach Village. Old people had lost their sons, children had lost their fathers, women had lost their husbands. This caused Phuc Trach Village, which was already not populous, to instantly lose much of its vitality.

The Tran family, however, was not affected.

Tran Mac's expression was extremely calm. Perhaps having seen too much, he felt himself becoming more and more indifferent.

After the cellar was dug, Tran Mac's time also became more leisurely. He once again began practicing his dao daily, and additionally, the time he spent teaching Truong Ha dao practice also became more abundant.

In the blink of an eye, four days later.

After finishing breakfast.

Boom!

The familiar boiling sensation appeared again. The blood within Tran Mac's body once again began to blaze. A surge of excess internal strength circulated with his blood, roaming around his body cycle after cycle, bringing about unknown changes.

Tran Mac, fearing to startle Han An Nuong and Tong Man, quickly entered the main bedroom.

In that instant he entered the main bedroom, wisps of scorching hot air began to rise from his nostrils, ears, mouth, and other areas, his skin turning crimson.

If Tran Mac were to take off his clothes, he would discover his entire body's muscles bulging, the veins on his arms and forehead beginning to stand out.

And at this moment, the internal strength generated within his body no longer merged into his flesh and bones but surged into his five zang and six fu organs.

Tran Mac's heartbeat was accelerating, a stinging, burning sensation came from his eyes, his ears emitted a ringing sound, and the meridians within his body began to rapidly expand.

"Huff... huff..."

Tran Mac's breathing was like an ox's. White steam emanated from his forehead, his cotton clothes billowed without wind, and his aura, visible to the naked eye, continuously rose, gradually manifesting an astonishing oppressive force.

"Ah..."

As an itch arose in Tran Mac's throat, he involuntarily let out a roar. His body began to rapidly cool down, and his heart also returned to its normal beat.

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

In the main room, Han An Nuong was helping Tong Man braid her hair. Hearing a loud roar from the inner room, she immediately entered with concern to check.

Tran Mac heard Han An Nuong but paid her no mind. Instead, his nose twitched, sniffing. In an instant, faint smells he couldn't detect before now all flooded his nasal cavity.

His five senses had sharpened.

His sense of smell was more acute than before; his hearing and sight also had clear improvements.

Tran Mac quickly called up his system panel.

[Name: Tran Mac.]

[Age: 17.]

[Cultivation Technique: Blood Nurturing Technique (already at major success, absorb a mouthful of innate spiritual qi to break through stages).]

[Realm: Viscera Refining (seventh rank).]

[Strength: 135.]

[Skill: Demon-Breaking Dao Technique (consummate 83248/1000000).]

"135."

Tran Mac clenched his fist, his breathing even becoming a bit more rapid.

Through what he understood from Wu Shan last time, in terms of individual strength, in the entire Binh Dinh County, he was afraid that only experts within the yamen could defeat him.

"No, if there's a chance, I must find out the strength of the most powerful person in the yamen."

Tran Mac set a goal for himself in his heart.

"Uncle." Han An Nuong, seeing Tran Mac hadn't answered, waved her hand before his eyes but was caught by Tran Mac.

"Sister-in-law," Tran Mac finally responded.

"Uncle, what's wrong with you? You seem so lost in thought," Han An Nuong said with concern.

Tran Mac took Han An Nuong's hand, lifted it, and kissed the back of her hand, saying in a warm voice, "Sister-in-law, I'm fine, just remembered something."

In his heart, however, he was pondering, "Absorb a mouthful of innate spiritual qi to break through stages" – what did that mean?

The system didn't give a single hint.

For a self-taught cultivator who had started halfway, it was truly incomprehensible.

But based on his understanding from novels before he transmigrated, it should be a type of cultivable gaseous energy.

However, the books in this world had no explanation for innate spiritual qi.

A barrier indeed.

This matter might be a small thing for the great gentry clans; a few sentences of explanation would make it clear.

But for a martial artist who had clawed his way up from the bottom, it could be a lifelong barrier.

This made Tran Mac think of those martial artists guarding the entrances of grain shops.

These great families monopolized resources, forcing those martial artists to have no choice but to submit and become their dogs.

Even those novels described sect disciples as being stronger than scattered cultivators.

Firstly, sect disciples had the sect as their background. Secondly, they had teachers, which could save them many detours.

Scattered cultivators, however, could only rely on their own enlightenment.

"Ultimately, do I still have to go and be a dog for those gentry clans?"

"No, I don't believe I can't find out by asking around."

A martial artist has his pride. When he first entered a rank, he disdained being a dog for others. Now that he had broken through to the seventh rank, if he went to be a dog for someone, Tran Mac himself would look down on himself.

In that case, he could only use money to pave the way.

It wasn't to buy any cultivation methods or martial arts, just to ask what innate spiritual qi was and how to absorb it.

It was equivalent to buying information with money; that shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Having previously paid silver for conscription avoidance, he didn't have much money on hand now.

"That's right, the weather has warmed up, the snow on the mountains has long since melted. I can go hunting in the mountains."

Tran Mac released Han An Nuong, walked out of the room, looked at Tong Man who was clearing the table, and said with a smile, "Little Man, go find your Brother Thuy Ca for me. Just say I have something to see him about."

...

By the time Truong Ha arrived, Tran Mac had already packed up and picked up his Tang Dao.

Truong Ha was stunned: "Brother Mac, are you going out?"

Tran Mac nodded: "The snow on the mountains has melted. It's time to hunt a few prey to supplement the household income."

"Brother Mac, then I'll go with you."

"No need. I called you over to help me look after the house a bit."

After giving his instructions, Tran Mac headed up the mountain.

As a result, just as he reached the outskirts of the mountain.

The system reacted.

[Captured a wisp of grass-wood spiritual qi. Absorb? Once absorbed, it cannot be replaced.]

A prompt appeared in Tran Mac's mind.

His heart pounded. Just now, he was still wondering what this innate spiritual qi was and how to absorb it.

Now, a pillow had arrived just when he needed it.

Just as he was about to absorb it, he noticed the sentence "cannot be replaced."

This made him hesitate.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze brushed his face. Although the weather had warmed up a bit, it was still somewhat cool.

The system reacted again.

[Captured a wisp of Little Azure spiritual qi. Absorb? Once absorbed, it cannot be replaced.]

Tran Mac was slightly startled.

This so-called innate spiritual qi actually had many types.

In his initial understanding, he had thought it was a single, specific type of gaseous energy.

Thus, he hesitated even more.

Since innate spiritual qi had many types, there must be good and bad ones. If he chose a bad one and couldn't replace it, it could be a matter that affected his entire life.

"I must be careful. I still need to go into town and ask around."

Thinking of these things, Tran Mac took a deep breath and headed deeper into the mountains.

Entering the deep mountains, the branches and leaves here were dense. Sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves, striking the dewdrops on the meadow grass, creating a multicolored spectacle.

[Captured a wisp of water spiritual qi. Absorb? Once absorbed, it cannot be replaced.]

"Another type of innate spiritual qi."

Tran Mac twisted and turned, heading even deeper. Right now, he was, on the contrary, not anxious to find prey. Instead, he wanted to see how many types of innate spiritual qi he could discover in this mountain forest...