...
In such familiar waters, the Red-scaled Eels were firstly rare and hard to encounter, and secondly, even if one were lucky enough to find one, ordinary fishing nets would be torn apart. Catching one was a matter of both luck and strength.
Of course, if one ventured into the dangerous regions of the Wild Marsh, Red-scaled Eels were not that rare. However, those wild, unclaimed lands held untold dangers, and even those who had reached the Spirit Platform Realm could risk their lives in such a place.
With the capture of Wang Dinghai's Red-scaled Eel, the atmosphere suddenly reached its peak, and the fishermen quickly repaired their nets, continuing their work with renewed vigor.
Wang Dinghai then personally led Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui, sailing back to Dingpu Ferry, where they met up with a few of the household guards and returned to the Main Residence.
It was late, and after washing up, they went to bed to rest.
That night, Wang Shouzhe began to explore the state of Profound Martial cultivation. With the integration of memories, he became somewhat familiar and soon entered the proper track of cultivation.
The cultivation technique practiced by Wang Shouzhe was called the Qi Refining Chapter of the "Wang Family's Xuan Yuan Technique," said to be a technique passed down from the very first ancestor of the family.
This technique cultivated a Xuan Yuan energy that was balanced and even-tempered, with no outstanding strengths but also no fatal flaws. However, the more one cultivated into the advanced stages, the thicker the mysterious energy became, and they would discover its exquisite points.
Qi Refining Realm!
It was the process by which practitioners of Profound Martial refined mysterious energy and used it to temper and strengthen their bodies. Pure mysterious energy flowed through the meridians and acupoints, warming and nourishing them, stimulating each acupoint while generating invisible energy fluctuations in a wondrous rhythm. These fluctuations spread through the body, causing the surrounding blood and qi to vibrate.
The more acupoints the mysterious energy flowed through within the body, the stronger the rhythm of blood and qi became, until twelve acupoints were connected by mysterious energy in a closed loop, bringing the consumption of mysterious energy to its limit and the blood and qi rhythm to its peak.
Suddenly!
A cool sensation spread from the tailbone throughout Wang Shouzhe's entire body in an instant, making his scalp tingle, as if his soul were about to float away, while a misty aura rose from the top of his head.
The process lasted for about ten breaths, the intense rhythm of the internal blood and qi receded like a tide, transforming into an invisible energy that converged towards the lower abdomen.
A breath of foul air was expelled from his mouth, and within the empty Qi Sea, a new stream of mysterious energy emerged like a bubbling spring, quickly filling the Qi Sea.
At this moment, Wang Shouzhe could already vaguely feel that the newborn mysterious energy in his Qi Sea had grown slightly stronger than before, and the energy that had been slightly exhausted from the day's exertions seemed to have recovered somewhat and felt even more powerful.
This completed one cycle of cultivation of the "Xuan Yuan Technique." The cultivation of a Profound Martial practitioner was a very long and gradual process, with every strong individual building their strength bit by bit.
However, during this process, the consumption of blood and qi was enormous, and Profound Martial practitioners had to supplement their diet and consume Dan medicine to increase blood and qi. Otherwise, such cultivation would not only be detrimental to the body but could also lead to a deficit in blood and qi, causing the body to collapse.
The deeper a Profound Martial practitioner delved into cultivation, the greater their demand for food and nutrition, which is why Profound Martial practitioners established prominent families to seize wealth and amass abundant resources for their own use.
Fortunately, recently Wang Shouzhe had been well-nourished, with robust blood and qi that had yet to be refined.
Considering his condition, he immediately began the second cycle...
By the time dawn broke, Wang Shouzhe had completed four cycles of cultivation in around four hours. At this point, he felt exceptionally spirited, as if he had boundless energy within him, and he could clearly sense some progress in his cultivation realm.
Only the previously abundant blood and qi in his body had been greatly consumed, and he could feel a sensation of "hunger" emanating from within. This hunger was distinct from the usual feeling of an empty stomach; it was mysteriously and acutely different.
At the same time, he also felt some "soreness and discomfort" in his acupoints and meridians. Experience told him that, under such circumstances, even if his Qi and blood were still vigorous, he could not continue cultivation. He needed to let the overburdened acupoints and meridians recover naturally.
However, progress was also pleasing. By combining the memories and experience of his previous life, Wang Shouzhe was able to judge his current condition. He felt that if he could make such progress every day, he would have the chance to break through his limits and reach the seventh layer of the Vital Energy Refining Realm within three months.
Unfortunately, achieving such an ideal state under normal circumstances was almost very difficult. After a considerable amount of Qi and blood was consumed, supplementation and accumulation through ordinary food alone was incredibly slow, and a substantial amount of Spirit Rice and Spirit Food was necessary.
Even though Wang Shouzhe was ranked first in the family's cultivation resource allocation, he could only be allotted five pounds of White Jade Spiritual Rice, five pounds of Spirit Fish Meat, and five pounds of Spirit Horned Yak meat per month!
Such a large amount of high-energy premium ingredients would at most allow him to have five meals, averaging a replenishment only once every six or seven days. In addition, as the first in line for the family's focus on cultivation, he also had a monthly share of one Little Pei Yuan Dan.
The Little Pei Yuan Dan was a higher-grade cultivation resource than Spirit Food; however, its price was ten Qian Gold per pill, which made it extremely expensive. For clan members further down the cultivation sequence, they could only apply for one from the family to assist in their breakthrough when they were about to advance to the next cultivation stage.
If he could eat Spirit Food at every meal and have a Little Pei Yuan Dan every day, Wang Shouzhe estimated his cultivation speed would skyrocket...
"Family Head, your breakfast has arrived," Wang Gui, a servant, knocked on the door from the outside.
"Come in."
Wang Shouzhe got up from the bed. Meanwhile, after entering, Wang Gui placed the breakfast to one side, first poured clean water for the Family Head to wash and brush his teeth, and then set up the meal boxes one by one.
"Eh? A large bowl of Jade Spirit Rice Porridge, steamed Red-scaled Eel marinated fish pieces?" Wang Shouzhe looked at the sumptuous breakfast with a hint of surprise. In addition to the two precious Spirit Foods, there were various pastries, snacks, and side dishes for the porridge.
He knew this was not an everyday meal setup; having Spirit Food at every meal would indeed rapidly supplement Qi and blood and maximize cultivation progress. However, there was a principle of diminishing marginal utility involved.
Especially when consumed at every meal, it would inevitably lead to a lot of nutritional waste and decrease the ratio of cost to benefit.
The Wang family was too poor to afford such a luxurious cultivation method, and the family had its rules; even the Clan Leader couldn't arbitrarily suck the blood of other clan members.
"Family Head, this came from Miss Xia He, who is next to Madam Gongsun," Wang Gui replied earnestly, "She said that after Madam Gongsun rose early, she personally prepared this breakfast. She also asked me to convey a message from Madam Gongsun, that the Family Head is currently at a critical juncture for breaking through to the advanced stage of the Vital Energy Refining Realm and shouldn't be overly modest."
Indeed!
Wang Gui's words confirmed Wang Shouzhe's guess; this was Madam Gongsun Hui economizing from her own rations to give to him. Especially the phrase not to be overly modest, which blocked any of Wang Shouzhe's refusals.
Let it be, let it be, he shouldn't let down Madam's kind intentions.
Moreover, he believed that the future of the family would get better and better, at least with his efforts from yesterday, the future profits of Wang Dinghai's fishing and hunting squad would more than double, which would greatly ease the family's strained resource situation.
After eating a meal of Spirit Food, his slightly deficient Qi and blood immediately replenished a bit. Following that, with the digestion and conversion of those foods, his Qi and blood would become even more abundant.
After eating his fill, Wang Shouzhe pondered a visit to the other family businesses. Whether he liked it or not, he was completely bound to the Ping'an Wang family.
And as the helmsman and Clan Leader, he naturally had to be fully aware of every facet of the family. Only in this way could he take into account the overall situation and find ways to revitalize this declining family.
...