As it is mentioned, the first 3 stages, are mainly strengthening the body and developing foundation, the 4th to 6th stages focus on developing a sense of inner Qi in the body. Even though he could try other methods, this was the most acceptable from all the records he had read, and something universal like this was a good direction to go.
The 7th to the 9th ranks is mainly about transformation of internal energy. (The 9th rank for instance has three categories each before the entry to the next big realm. Each stage is said to be a hurdle, and can slaughter those below them very easily.)
Inner strength is also based on foundation, in the first three stages as it is called inner strength implying it comes from within the body.
The exercise was indeed simple for him to grasp, and he planned to only focus on the first level. This way, it would be easy to hunt prey in this place to survive, besides, he had only some basic understanding that food was the biggest resource in the first four stages of martial realm.
Putting everything else aside, Situ also speculated that the others in the group would sooner figure out things or come up with their rules of operation and the best way for him to handle the situation is to be among the first people to.
But all this depended on strength, perhaps in the previous life, he might have operated under the illusion that being a good chess player, one could manipulate others, but the situation before he died allowed him to understand something. 'So, what you were good at schemes without enough power to back it up.'
He was not going to be those guys that act like advisors scheming against others, it brought no excitement to his life at all.
He was going to use the principles of chess in his martial arts, when he reached a point it was usable.
In this way, he did not seem that tangled, and started to practice the martial arts he had designed, and he did this for a few hours before going to sleep.
His body was sour in the morning, but he still pushed himself to wake up, resuming, his punching and squats. At the same time, some breathing method seemed to have been added that brought about some rhythm.
By the time Xiaohe woke up, he had already practiced for a few hours and was thinking about the best way to get their provisions in the future.
Obviously, hunting was the key, but he had some hesitation as he had seen all those scary monsters, on their path to this place. But they still had some food to consume, as for the fruits, they could easily locate those but when practicing martial arts, the meat was a necessity. He however did not believe that traps he could set up could even shake the monsters all. That attempt would be no different from Suicide on his part, and thus he had to think about it more clearly,
With nothing coming to mind, he went back to the temple and did something he never tried on all the other places, that was to search through the depilated building.
He did not know why all those temples he had seen seemed to have been destroyed by something. So, his curiosity seemed to have stemmed up, when he had already accomplished one of his goals, to create a technique.
When Xiaohe was still struggling with her creation of the technique, he was moving around in the ruins, searching, hoping to obtain something like in those novels such as some legacy, but he was disappointed.
"It seems like I'm not some son of destiny. Well, lets focus on what is important." Looking at Xiaohe still struggling on the side, he moved close and decided to help out.
The stronger his helper was the better it would be for him and at the same time, he did not seem to be interested in waiting for trouble to come looking for him before he realized the danger, of this place.
So he started to guide his maid, by providing with vague advice letting her sort the rest out herself which seemed simple for her.
Four months in, he was standing close to a dear like creature's body.
On the side, Xiaohe was dragging a cart, made of four wheels, and resembling a raft, once the dear was placed on it, they started heading back.
In this moment, one could see there was some pressure being generated from their blood, as they had succeeded in stepping in the path of cultivation.
Situ was already at the third rank of a martial artist while the maid Xiaohe had reached the second stage.
With the resources from the forest including the meat they were hunting their strength seemed to have no issue increasing.
Along the way, Situ also pilled some fruits on the carriage, and after arriving, one could see some basic structure that resembled wooden sheds.
With Situ's capabilities in his previous life, he might know a lot but did not have skills in creating houses.
The dear was removed from the cart, and all the fruits too, and Situ picked them up as though hugging them, before going to sit under a tree.
He started to eat them slowly with eyes closed, at the same time he was thinking about some scriptures he had read in the past.
He was thinking about his next step, but did not seem to have a way out unless he comprehended more, as transformation required from the third to the fourth level, he did not know, but could tell this was going to be difficult.
So he was just sitting there trying to comprehend the scriptures while at the same time, using the technique he had created to improve his blood Qi.
The energy from the food consumed was slowly being added to the blood, and this made him stronger while just sitting there.
If he were to put all his attention on energy conversion from consumption, he should achieve the peak of third level, but he was not in a rush, since he always felt like something was missing.
Even his current realm, had an issue with this place their parents seemed to have abandoned them, as he felt the danger in this place would only increase with the passage of time.
In that case, he had to study the scriptures more to gain something them to think of the best way to enter the fourth rank.