Chapter 41: A Successful Freeload

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: A Successful Freeload

Before Chen Yuqing could speak, Cui at her side already had her eyes wide. "Chen the Pill Master! You’re being far too greedy! You want to read through all four? Are you trying to get the other three for free?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yue looked calmly at Chen Yuqing and said, "Steward Chen, I believe I mentioned this last time at the pharmacy. When we are discussing official business, could you please make her keep her mouth shut?"

"You!" Cui’s chest heaved violently. She pointed at Chen Yue, about to retort sharply.

Chen Yuqing raised a hand to stop Cui. She gave Chen Yue a deep look, a light flickering in her phoenix eyes.

"Alright."

Chen Yuqing finally nodded slowly. "You may look through all four Secret Manuals. However, you may only do so right now, inside this room. After you’ve finished, you must make your choice immediately. Once you’ve chosen, you may not go back on your decision, and you are forbidden from leaking even the slightest detail of what you have read."

A smile appeared on Chen Yue’s face. He cupped his fists and said, "Steward Chen is wise. Once I have made my choice, I will naturally not go back on it. As for leaking the technique... since I will be receiving it as a gift, it goes without saying that my lips will be sealed."

"Good." Chen Yuqing said no more, simply standing quietly to one side and watching Chen Yue with a calm gaze.

Chen Yue didn’t stand on ceremony, first picking up the manual for Stepping on Snow Without Trace.

He read with incredible speed, his eyes sweeping over the pages. In his mind, he used his underlying knowledge of the Floating Light and Shadow Technique to process and understand the new information. Next came the Nourishing Essence Skill, and finally, the Mountain Shifting Force and Stone-Splitting Fist.

In a very short time, Chen Yue had flipped through all four Secret Manuals, already attempting to fuse them in his mind with his own cultivation techniques.

A moment later, Chen Yue gently placed the last manual, Stone-Splitting Fist, back on the table.

"Well? Have you come to a decision?" Chen Yuqing asked.

Chen Yue’s gaze swept over the four Secret Manuals once more, finally landing on the one with the blue cover, Stepping on Snow Without Trace. He reached out and picked it up. "I choose this Body Technique, Stepping on Snow Without Trace."

A flicker of understanding crossed Chen Yuqing’s eyes. ’Choosing a Body Technique is indeed a wise and practical decision.’

’In a world fraught with danger, possessing an outstanding Body Technique is crucial for pursuit, escape, and evasion alike. Moreover, Body Techniques are relatively self-contained and less likely to conflict with other cultivation techniques.’

"Very well."

Chen Yuqing nodded, gathered the other three Secret Manuals from the table, and tucked them back into her sleeve. Then she said to Chen Yue, "The ingredients for the Blood Circulation Pills will be delivered shortly. From today onward, it’s twenty-five pills a day, without fail."

"Alright." Chen Yue nodded.

Chen Yuqing said no more and turned to leave the room, taking the still-pouting Cui with her.

The door closed, leaving Chen Yue alone in the room.

He looked down at the Stepping on Snow Without Trace manual in his hand, then recalled the general contents of the other three cultivation techniques he had just committed to memory. The corners of his mouth curled up in an irrepressible smile.

「Outside, in the corridor.」

Cui was still fuming. She lowered her voice and grumbled to Chen Yuqing, "Miss, how could you agree to let him look at all of them? What if he secretly memorized the other three and cultivates them in private? Wouldn’t that be letting him get away with a huge bargain?"

Chen Yuqing’s pace was unhurried. She shook her head upon hearing Cui’s words. "The path of martial arts is hardly so simple. By reading a secret manual once, one might remember some diagrams of the moves and the written incantations, but the crucial points of Qi Blood circulation within are by no means something that can be mastered in a single viewing."

"Attempting to cultivate based on a hazy memory will, nine times out of ten, cause one’s Qi Blood to flow in reverse, leading to injury. What’s more, he looked at four cultivation techniques from different disciplines all at once. His mind must be a mess; how much could he possibly remember? If he tries to cultivate them rashly, he will only end up harming himself."

Hearing her mistress’s logical analysis, Cui, though still unhappy with Chen Yue’s attitude, knew that she had a point. She could only purse her lips and mutter under her breath:

"I just can’t stand his attitude... He has nowhere else to go and is completely dependent on our Chen Family’s protection, yet he’s still being picky and haggling. Miss, if you ask me, we should have just raised his daily quota of Blood Circulation Pills to thirty!"

Chen Yuqing stopped walking for a moment and glanced sideways at Cui. "His ability to consistently refine high-quality Blood Circulation Pills—that is his value. If he were to leave our Chen Family, there are other families in Youlin County who would be willing to offer him sanctuary."

"We still haven’t fully ascertained the motives of those bandits, and Li Lie’s death was suspicious. These are troubled times. Twenty-five pills is enough to alleviate the pharmacy’s urgent needs, but not so much that it will drive him away. I have this matter under control. Do not speak of it again."

Cui’s heart trembled under Chen Yuqing’s slightly stern gaze. She quickly lowered her head and answered, "Yes, Miss. This servant was wrong."

Chen Yuqing said nothing more. Her figure, along with Cui’s, gradually vanished into the deep corridors of the Chen Mansion.

...

A servant led Chen Yue to a courtyard in the front of the mansion. The yard wasn’t large, but it came fully equipped with a Pill Furnace, an Herb Cabinet, and a complete set of tools, obviously prepared for him to perform alchemy on a long-term basis.

Chen Yue first familiarized himself with his surroundings before sitting down in front of the prepared Pill Furnace.

He didn’t immediately begin refining the Blood Circulation Pills. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused, repeatedly recalling and analyzing the four cultivation techniques he had just read.

The Light Body Ascension techniques and Breath Control of Stepping on Snow Without Trace; the "Central Justice and Peace" and foundation-nourishing philosophy of the Nourishing Essence Skill; the technique of tempering sinews and bones and stimulating potential from the Mountain Shifting Force; the fierce and direct method of generating force in the Stone-Splitting Fist...

All of these details, like scattered pearls, were continuously deconstructed and analyzed as he attempted to compare and merge them with his existing cultivation techniques.

Fusing a cultivation technique was, of course, not a task for a single day. Often, it was more akin to wild speculation, but with the panel, such flights of fancy were guided onto the correct path.

A moment later, Chen Yue began refining Blood Circulation Pills.

For him, refining Blood Circulation Pills at the Perfection Realm was already as natural as breathing. He only needed to pay attention at a few key junctures, leaving most of his Heart Spirit free to remain immersed in the analysis and fusion of the cultivation techniques.

Time flowed by quietly amid the leaping of the Pill Fire and the storm brewing in his mind.

As night once again enveloped the Chen Mansion and all fell silent, the midnight ripple appeared right on schedule.

[Daily Settlement]

[Diligently analyzed and attempted to fuse cultivation techniques. Fusion successful. New cultivation techniques obtained: Mountain-Suppressing Essence-Stabilizing Technique, Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step]

[Consumed Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, resulting in minor Marrow Cleansing and Bone Forging.]

[Diligent cultivation. Cultivation +15]

...

[Skill: Mountain-Suppressing Essence-Stabilizing Technique (Great Success 1205/2133)]

[Skill: Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step (Great Success 75/3211)]

[Skill: Breath Concealing Technique (Minor Success 32/600)]

[Skill: Antitoxic Pill (Minor Success 12/1200)]

...

A massive wave of insights regarding the cultivation techniques and pill formulas flooded into Chen Yue’s Sea of Consciousness.

Mountain-Suppressing Essence-Stabilizing Technique!

This was a brand-new Body Refining Technique, formed by using the Perfection Realm Mountain Shattering Technique as a foundation. It integrated the gentle, stabilizing, peaceful, and enduring characteristics of the Nourishing Essence Skill, as well as the techniques for tempering muscles and bones and stimulating potential from both the Mountain Shifting Force and the Stone-Splitting Fist.

It not only retained the immense power characteristic of the Mountain Shattering Technique but also greatly enhanced Qi Blood recovery speed, the body’s resilience, and the stability of his foundation.

Judging from the 2133 experience points required to reach the Great Success realm, as shown on the panel—a number that was the result *after* being reduced by the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill—its quality clearly surpassed the original Mountain Shattering Technique.

Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step!

This technique used the Great Success Realm Floating Light and Shadow Technique as its core, deeply integrating the exquisite Breath Control and complex terrain-adapting skills of Stepping on Snow Without Trace to create an even more profound Body Technique.

It possessed both the instantaneous bursts of speed and agility of the Floating Light and Shadow Technique, while also incorporating the sustained lightness and terrain utilization of Stepping on Snow Without Trace. This allowed the Body Technique to be used not only for dodging and weaving but also as a formidable means of attack or escape.

Its experience requirement to reach the Great Success realm was a staggering 3211 points, making it the second-highest-level technique Chen Yue had learned so far, far surpassing his previous Body Technique.

’So it works, even if I only read through it once!’ A wave of immense joy washed over Chen Yue.

’Even memories from a superficial reading can be combined with my existing techniques to create new, more powerful ones.’

As he felt the intricate operational pathways of the two new cultivation techniques in his mind, and the tingling sensation as his body instinctively began to fine-tune itself to the new Qi Blood paths, Chen Yue’s eyes filled with delight.