Chapter 72: 《Cirg Innate One Qi Through the Five Viscera》

  aeterism

  Danlin Town was a settlement built around the Crimson-Leaf Greenwood. At its core y farmnd huts used to cultivate all kinds of preedial spirit pnts, and numerous workshops and pharmaceutical factories encircled the Crimson-Leaf Greenwood. The residential area stood in the ter, while the outerm was occupied by the strongholds of various majangs and the ercial district.

  The farther oured toward the interior, the taller the buildings grew. Most structures ier ercial district were single- or two-story low-rise homes, whereas the major corporate workshops encirg the Crimson-Leaf Greenwood featured high-rises t nearly a hundred meters.

  Huo Qing’s residence was located just beside the ercial district. It was the home he had ied from his parents.

  The Day-Tiger Gang’s base was not far away, separated by only three streets. Acc to local rumor, he had been born into the old gang uhe Tiger at High Noon fg.

  Although a bloody battle had takehe previous night, the atmosphere iow rather calm.

  After all, at its core, it was merely a rge-scale brawl in a live-ammunition arena, with partits dispatched by various fas and corporations.

  People did die and bleed on that stage, and it looked terrifying. Yet ohe fighting ended and the powers that be decided how to divide the spoils—who lost and who wohing simply cluded.

  Just as when Huo Qing received the “cease-fire” annou earlier, everyo about their lives as usual, as if nothing had happened.

  Although the dead might have felt differently, they no longer had any capacity to speak.

  The roads in Huo Qing’s neighborhood were dry and tidy, paved with seamlessly fitted pale yellow bricks. Though the buildings were old, they were not dirty or disanized, which differed from what An Jing had expected.

  Yet, given that it was the iance left by Huo Qing’s parents, it was not all that surprising.

  Huo Qing treated An Jing to a roadside stall heir home that sold ftbread and offal soup.

  Inside a small shelter propped up by a simple frame stood a rge stove and a giant pot. Intense fmes rose beh it, and the broth ed within, releasing a rich, entig aroma.

  “This master’s cooking skills are top-notch,” Huo Qing praised enthusiastically. “I’ve traveled to many towns, but I’ve never had soup fresher or more fragrant than this.”

  While Huo Qing spoke so highly, An Jing g the cook. He appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old, with a tanned, sturdy fad sinewy muscles, busily slig half-cooked iines and tripe uhe shelter.

  The old man sliced these ingredients into thin strips and tossed them into the pot. When he saw new ers arrive, he greeted them with a straightforward, ho smile.

  The person serving dishes beside him was likely his daughter or daughter-in-w. She, too, had a tanned fad a robust figure. In town, not many people was masks or rain cloaks anymore.

  After Huo Qing pced their order, the cook dled two bowls of soup, added ents, sprinkled on freshly chopped scallions and ground pepper, then took two ftbreads from aove, paired them with red spiced salt, and pced everything on a small table uhe shelter.

  As soon as the dishes were brought over, An Jing caught aig aroma. The milky-white broth was topped with vibrant scallions, and the ftbread’s wheaty st, mingled with pu pepper, made one’s mouth water.

  “Sigh… what kind of life was I even living?!”

  Seated at the table, Huo Qi out a sigh like a dejected strategist, then hastily picked up his bowl of soup and took a big slurp. After setting the bowl down, he said with heartfelt emotion, “I really thought I was a go night. Right before dying, I kept thinking I’d never get aaste of Old Liu’s soup!”

  “Yet here I am, still alive and able to drink it. It truly feels like I’ve been given another shot at life.”

  “Well then, Little Huo, why stay with a gang?” Clearly, Huo Qing was on familiar terms with everyone here. The old cook cast him a sideways gnd said with a genial smile, “You’re not suited for that kind of life. Why would a little mb insist on running with wolves?”

  “Heed an old man’s advice: you’re still young enough to tinue your studies. Once you get into a city school, you bee the face of some pany—that’s the path you should pursue.”

  Huo Qing said nothing; he merely shook his head, and the old cook stopped trying to persuade him. An Jing took a sip—mutton soup—and found it fresh and fvorful. After a few gulps of the hot broth, warmth spread throughout his body.

  He picked up a ftbread, sprinkled some chili salt over it, then took a bite. Its chewy texture paired perfectly with the hot soup. It was indeed a true pleasure, especially for An Jing, who hadn’t had a proper meal in days.

  —No wohe first thing on Huo Qing’s mind after narrowly esg death was to e here for soup and ftbread. It really was no surprise!

  “Big Bro, you’re eating that the wrong way.”

  Halfway through the meal, Huo Qing saw An Jing just gulping down the food like an ordinary person. He froze for a moment, then quickly asked, “What’s going on? Why are you eating like a regur person?”

  “What do you mean? Is there a special trick to it?”

  An Jing wasn’t a having his meal interrupted. He assumed he must have revealed yet anap in his knowledge somehow.

  But it didn’t matter. As long as he didn’t appear awkward or tehers would supply the reason themselves.

  Just like now, Huo Qing wasn’t suspicious of An Jing; he simply assumed the barbarian tribe An Jing came from was too primitive. “A true eater values the essence. One should ire of fis or coarse ming. If you just gulp it all down, you waste too muutrition.”

  “Master Liu’s cooking teique is extraordinary, and so are his chosen ingredients. Though the offal came from rock sheep and might normally be sidered cheap, it tains far more vital essehan the diseased or rotte served at many smaller shops.”

  At this point, Huo Qing even raised a finger, ear guidao truly be from these great ingredients, you have to circute your cultivation teique and absorb their vital essence!”

  With that, Huo Qing proceeded to demonstrate how he circuted his vital essence.

  He swallowed the food, allowing the vital essehin his body to flow and gather in his stomach, aiding in its ing and grinding. The carefully directed Innate One Qi funed like a massive internal millstone, further breaking down the already-chewed ingredients—thus extrag even more “vital essence.”

  In this way, the same amount of food yielded more vital essence, and cultivators no longer had to worry about the stant burden of meals, thereby redug wastage of resources.

  “So that’s how it works—this must be the inal form of ‘fasting!’”

  Watg Huo Qing’s demonstration, An Jing suddenly uood.

  It was evidently a type of cultivatiohod, a way of nourishment. Taken to its extreme, it would rely on Innate One Qi to directly digest the Spiritbane Qi of Heaven ah—precisely the principle behind “those who feed on qi attain spiritual radiand loy!”

  “In my era, there were ‘food cultivators’ skilled in this path, but I never learned such a nourishihod,” the Sword Spirit admitted didly.

  He seemed about to say more, but An Jing soled Him inwardly with a grin. “You’re a sword; it’s only natural you wouldn’t know these humahods of nourishment.”

  “You really know how to eat—and your cultivation is quite solid.” In truth, An Jing was impressed. Huo Qing’s flow of qi, he found it surprisingly plex yet highly effective, clearly beyond the norm for typical food cultivatiohods.

  “This is my family’s body-nourishment teique, 《Cirg Innate One Qi Through the Five Viscera》. It’s pletely different from the usual ‘Nourishing Life by Iing Qi Method’!”

  Huo Qing was quite proud of it; it was the only secret teique he had seriously devoted himself to. “Everything in this world is tra—guns are external objects, sword cases are external objects, even good deeds and money are external. They all vanish eventually.”

  “Only what you’ve ed and made part of yourself truly belongs to you. That’s why I value eating well above all else.”

  “A sword belongs to you as well!” In the Sea of sciousness, the Sword Spirit felt indignant at Huo Qing’s words.

  Even so, He ceded that Huo Qing’s perspective represented oimate tradition. “These food cultivators have been stubborn sint times, always saying ‘only what you’ve swallowed is truly yours.’ So should you just eat everything?!”

  “A true gentleman employs external objects as aids. A sword is also part of a cultivator’s being!”

  “More importantly, An Jing, you should really learn from this young man. He’s practically penniless, yet he’s mao develop a solid foundation, no doubt thanks to this nourishihod. It’s worth your while to study it!”

  “Uood.” An Jihe same. “They, as cultivators, aren’t fully aware of its deeper potential, seeing it only as a way to more effitly use nutrients from food. But I know that for martial artists of the Huaixu Realm, this would be nothing short of miraculous!”

  Before An Jing could inquire further, Huo Qing spoke up first. “I still don’t know your name, but you saved my life.”

  With a furrowed brow and a weary face, the gang atant looked at An Jing sincerely and said, “Such a great favor should be repaid a hundredfold, but as you see… I don’t have a single to my name.”

  “After thinking it over, since I possess nothing else of value, all I offer you is this secret teique as a small token of my gratitude.”

  With that, he took a jade slip from his pocket and pced it oable.

  “This…”

  An Jing raised his eyebrows. He was never one for false modesty, so he simply reached out, took the jade slip, and exami closely.

  There was no doubt that the jade slip taihe body nourishment teique “Cirg Innate One Qi Through the Five Viscera*.”

  (End of Chapter)

  *This will be shortened iure.