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Chapter 80: Cultivation Notes
Chapter 80: Cultivation Notes
The Age-Guarding Sect's cultivation techniques are treasures, not something to be casually imparted.
And these notes, recorded through personal trials, are undoubtedly treasures among treasures. How could they be so easily stolen?
This isn't some past-life marketing of success!
Hearing this Junior Sister's words, Hu Ma had no good feelings at all, only a heightened sense of vigilance.
Slightly pursing his lips, he suppressed his suspicions and said coolly, "Sis, don't joke around. I'll just slowly learn from the Innkeeper."
"Hu Ma is such a sincere person..."
But this Wu He, seeing Hu Ma's refusal, covered her mouth and laughed, then left the room.
The stench in the room was carried away by the wind, and Hu Ma mused to himself, vaguely thinking, could this be some kind of loyalty test? It seems to offer something to me, but if I take it, it would prove my moral integrity is lacking?
That's a bit childish, isn't it?
The Old Shopkeeper has already agreed to impart me the cultivation techniques, so why is he still doing this?
Unable to guess the reason, he could only put it out of his mind for now. At night, he still quietly practiced his techniques.
Now, inside his Life-bound Spirit Temple, he could see that his left hand was already glowing with a golden light, indicating that the refinement of his left hand had been successful.
Of course, the cloth wrapped around it had not yet been removed, for fear the Old Shopkeeper might see it.
Not only his left hand, but his right leg had also faintly begun to show golden traces, a result of his attempts.
Having completed his left hand, he was now refining his right leg. The Old Shopkeeper had only given him these two techniques, and his expectations were that Hu Ma would be able to refine these two parts by the beginning of next spring.
This realization brought up a question for Hu Ma: would he soon run out of parts to refine?
At his current pace, his right leg would also be refined quickly. What would he do then, just wait and stop?
After all, the Old Shopkeeper hadn't taught him any other techniques!
This way, the advantage of his quick refinement would be lost.
The Old Shopkeeper said to refine in four months, and Hu Ma had refined in forty days, but it hadn't helped. Without other techniques, he could only wait until the four months were up to learn more.
But Hu Ma soon discovered that refining different parts of the body had some similarities and some stark differences.
The fine details were worlds apart.
He could apply the technique for refining his left hand to his right hand, with some adjustments, and it would work reasonably well.
With the Life-bound Divine Statue’s guidance, Hu Ma could make some adjustments himself.
Receiving the technique for refining his left hand was equivalent to receiving the technique for his right hand, and the same applied to both legs.
However, it wouldn't work for refining his muscles, membranes, or organs.
Then there was the issue of Blood Food. His rapid cultivation speed also meant a rapid consumption of the Alchemical Furnace.
He could see his original Three Pillars of Daoist Power had already been reduced to two and a half. If this continued, he would soon be down to two, or even one.
Theoretically, the more he refined, the slower his consumption of the Alchemical Furnace should become.
But ultimately, he still needed to obtain more Blood Food...
...Thinking this, perhaps Second Pot Elder Brother's suggestion was quite necessary?
"Hu Ma..."
Just as he was deep in thought, a cold gust of wind hit his face, jolting Hu Ma awake from his slumber.
In the past, such a cold gust would have startled him, but now, with his deeper Daoist Power and bolder heart, he could sense that this wind carried no malice.
Opening his eyes, he saw Little Red Apricot crouching by his bed, her gaze wary of Outside the Window. She slowly placed the Red Wooden Sword beside him, then hid behind him, making no sound.
"Someone's coming?"
Hu Ma understood and knew that the person coming was likely not Zhou Datong.
Little Red Apricot was quick-witted! She had put down the wooden sword to avoid detection. If it were Zhou Datong, she wouldn't bother.
Slowly sitting up, Hu Ma quietly approached the window. The room was dark, but outside, there was a faint starlight, though the night was still dark and gloomy. As he neared the papered window, he caught a faint stench, and Hu Ma suddenly heard a soft giggle.
This sound was extremely close, only separated by a layer of window paper.
Without this paper, it would be like nose-to-nose, face-to-face.
"Is it that woman?"
Hu Ma was inwardly startled, but before he could react, the giggle faded away, and Little Sister Wu He's light voice echoed:
"Don't be scared, Elder Brother Hu Ma. Take a good look..."
"..."
Hu Ma took a deep breath, opened the window, and saw two black, stenching objects on the window sill.
He didn't rush to touch them but instead turned to find a fire striker, lit the oil lamp, and brought it over to examine. He saw a thin notebook on the window sill.
It didn't look very old, and there were no words on the cover. Beside the notebook, there was a bowl of black paste.
Hu Ma glanced at it and recognized it immediately—it was a bowl of Taisui, even fried in oil!
"What is she up to?"
A strange feeling welled up in Hu Ma's heart.
He put down the oil lamp, stood silently for a while, and only after he was certain there was no lingering smell did he turn to look at Little Red Apricot.
Little Red Apricot squatted in the bedding, dazed, and said, "Let’s go!"
Hu Ma let out a sigh of relief, using a cloth to pick up the notebook. He flipped through it briefly, and his heart was shocked.
Inside the notebook, it clearly recorded the cultivation methods for different parts of the body for the Age Keepers, from hands to feet, nothing was missing. Not only did it detail the cultivation methods, but it also included some personal techniques.
The handwriting was bold and powerful. Hu Ma had seen the cargo contract written by Innkeeper Wu, and it matched the style in the notebook, but not entirely.
Roughly looking through it, there were some parts that were clear and elegant.
"Wrong..."
The more he read, the more shocked he became. Was this woman serious?
She actually stole the Innkeeper’s cultivation notes and gave them to him, hoping he would cultivate quickly?
Even some parts seemed to be added by her.
Most importantly, besides the notebook, there was also a bowl of stewed meat. Hu Ma had tasted this Green Taisui many times from Second Uncle.
Although Hu Ma didn’t think much of this half bowl of Green Taisui,
it was still a treasure for any apprentice, enough to last them nearly a month.
Why was she so good to him?
Because he was handsome?
... Let’s rule out the most likely option first!
Hu Ma wasn’t stupid and had the experience from his past life, but he couldn’t figure out what she was after.
In the silent and desolate night, he looked at the notebook and a strange idea sprang to mind. He was currently lacking a cultivation method, and here it was, right in front of him. Should he read it or not?
Read it!
Hu Ma’s heart sank, and he opened the notebook, quickly flipping through it.
Little Red Apricot had been chased out and was keeping watch on the roof.
Hu Ma had no idea if the content in the notebook was real or fake, or how much of it was true and how much was false.
But he decided to memorize as much as possible quickly.
Anyway, when he started cultivating, he could verify everything through his Life-bound Divine Statue, right?
As for the bowl of Green Food, he didn’t rush to eat it.
...
He read until the sky turned Fish Belly White. Hu Ma put the notebook away, washed his face early, and arranged the tasks for the apprentices in the outer courtyard. Once they were all busy, he took the opportunity to enter the inner courtyard.
He saw that the Old Shopkeeper was already up, slowly practicing his movements in the courtyard. He didn’t seem worried about Hu Ma watching and didn’t greet him, just slowly finishing his routine.
Only then did he take the towel handed to him by the old servant, wiping his face as he said, "What’s the matter?"
"Yesterday, Junior Sister played a joke on me."
Hu Ma took out the notebook wrapped in cloth and handed it to the Old Shopkeeper, smiling bitterly, "She gave me this and a bowl of Green Food..."
The Old Shopkeeper looked at the notebook and was not at all surprised. "You read it?"
"I flipped through it."
Hu Ma said, "It didn’t seem proper, so I closed it."
The Old Shopkeeper smiled and asked, "What about the bowl of Green Food?"
Hu Ma replied, "I ate it."
"Girls grow up too fast..."
The Old Shopkeeper laughed, "That was meant for me to eat in the morning to nourish my body, but she stole it for you, along with the notebook. But you don’t need to worry. Since she gave it to you, go ahead and read it."
"Normally, I should be guiding you through your cultivation, but we’re busy here, and I don’t have the energy. So, just read it..."
"Regarding the Green Food..."
He paused and smiled at the old servant, "From now on, stew a bowl for him every three days."
"Better than him stealing mine."
"..."
The old servant agreed and left, leaving Hu Ma feeling a wave of surprise.
From the Old Shopkeeper’s words, it seemed he knew everything and approved?
Not only was Hu Ma not happy, but he felt a sense of alarm.
What did the Old Shopkeeper mean by "girls grow up too fast"?
Anyone else in the Village would be overjoyed to hear such words, but not Hu Ma.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and no such thing as an easy windfall.
Although his heart was on high alert, Hu Ma’s expression showed surprise and joy, and he said repeatedly,
"Thank you, Innkeeper..."
"..."
Thank goodness he had been in the university drama club’s reserve team in his past life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to act so subtly.
With the notebook in hand, Hu Ma had the official permission to read it.
Even more, according to the Innkeeper’s words, he was given the freedom to try cultivating on his own, with the Green Food as a supplement.
But Hu Ma didn’t dare to relax. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he kept this alertness in his eyes. Every apprentice in the Village wanted to take a closer look at the Junior Sister, and Hu Ma instinctively wanted to avoid her.
Of course, he only thought about avoiding her in his mind and couldn’t show it too obviously. Whenever he saw her, he still had to greet her with a smile.
Even if she mentioned something she wanted to eat, he would try to bring it to her...
... Is this what life with a woman is like?
It’s exhausting! It was much more fun staying with Second Uncle and the apprentices.
(End of Chapter)
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