Chapter 2 The Necessary Conditions for Cultivation

Great Zhou, abundant with martial artists.

Although not all prestigious families house martial artists, every prestigious family certainly has martial artists.

This saying widely spread in Great Zhou, sufficiently elucidates the status of martial artists there.

It was said that the royal family of Great Zhou was ruled by a Great Grandmaster who had subdued the world's fate for five hundred years, thus sustaining the royal status for such a long duration.

This was a piece of street news that the original self had once heard inadvertently; its authenticity was dubious.

For in his memories, there were also sayings that a Great Grandmaster could live for no more than three hundred years, which contradicted the former statement.

But regardless of which, both were captivating enough—who wouldn't desire a lifespan of three hundred years?

However, what Wang Sheng most needed now was the martial might of a martial artist.

Facing a family like the Sun Family, which had a martial artist, unless he himself became a martial artist with sufficient martial power to make them wary of engaging, believing that the effort they put in was not worth the gain, only then might they give up.

Only when he had become a strong martial artist would the Sun Family truly give up and even come to his door very politely to apologize, casually speaking of misunderstandings.

If his strength far exceeded that of the Sun Family, they would apologize very fearfully and even bring the person who handled the matter for him to deal with at his discretion.

Such were the benefits of becoming a martial artist in this world.

These were the bits of information Wang Sheng had searched from his memory, almost universally known as "trivial tidbits."

Practicing martial arts was the best solution to problems.

With the help of a progress bar for one month to reach a First Grade Martial Artist, he could temporarily settle troubles.

But while this method sounded simple, it was actually difficult to implement.

Everyone knew that practicing martial arts could change one's fate, but why were martial artists still a minority?

Two reasons.

One was resources—rich in armament, poor in literature was more than just an empty phrase in any world; martial artists below Grandmaster level primarily refined Qi-Blood, but Qi-Blood did not materialize out of thin air.

Without sufficient resources to replenish Qi-Blood, one would only train oneself to death.

Thus, the vast majority couldn't even take the first step.

Once the financial issue was resolved, the second barrier would need to be faced.

In this world, common knowledge about martial artists was widespread.

But why was it still said that only prestigious families guaranteed to have martial artists?

Because one criterion of prestigious families was to possess a Cultivation Technique capable of cultivating martial artists!

Without a Cultivation Technique, there was no way to cultivate the power of Qi-Blood.

That is to say, even if you were wealthy, without a Cultivation Technique, you couldn't cultivate your own martial artist and thus could not be considered a prestigious family.

A Cultivation Technique was the foundation on which prestigious families stood, and would not be easily disclosed.

As for those martial artists outside, some had tremendous fortune; such martial artists would become the next prestigious family or be absorbed by one.

Otherwise, they were merely minor figures who became martial artists due to some coincidental opportunities, mostly First or Second Grade martial artists with little influence.

These two barriers were like the abyss in front of Wang Sheng.

It seemed he couldn't traverse either of them.

He had neither resources nor a Cultivation Technique.

"Is it still a dead end?"

Wang Sheng felt somewhat disappointed.

But soon, he came up with something.

His progress bar meant that as long as he tirelessly worked towards something, there would definitely be a harvest.

Even breaking through in a skill could bring about significant changes.

How about practicing martial arts?

Would refining the martial arts in his memory to a breakthrough lead to changes?

Like radio gymnastics? Or military boxing? Or the martial arts from his previous life's memories?

These things, others might not remember, but Wang Sheng was no ordinary person.

Having watched his parents suffer from illness since childhood left him with a deep impression.

Therefore, from a young age, Wang Sheng had been extremely disciplined, seeking various theoretically health-preserving martial arts as soon as he grew a bit older.

His friends mocked him, thinking he was being juvenile—why practice martial arts at all?

Wang Sheng just smiled and didn't explain; he was simply afraid of dying, and that was all.

Thanks to his good memory and many years of practice, he still remembered quite a bit.

Perhaps, by continuously practicing, he could generate progress bars for these martial arts, and combining with the barrier-breaking effect of the progress bar, who knows, maybe he could turn the fake into the real.

"This might just work!"

Hope in the midst of despair, as it was.

"Assuming this method works, then there's only one problem left to solve, resources."

For many people, Cultivation Techniques are essential, but for Wang Sheng, it was resources that mattered the most; without addressing this issue, he couldn't dare to practice martial arts.

He practiced martial arts solely to survive; if cultivation led his Qi-Blood to be deficient, causing his own death, that would be a huge joke.

"..."

Wang Sheng felt that life was full of ups and downs...

Was this playing him?

Could it be necessary to go into the mountains to find suitable resources—

Aren't the mountains full of treasures?

Of course, this thought could only be entertained briefly, and he needed to find something practical.

"Let's see how much money I still have. Maybe I can buy some meat to solve the problem and achieve the level of a First Grade Martial Artist. It shouldn't require too much resources, right?"

Wang Sheng had practiced martial arts in his previous life, but only to maintain his health, so he never delved deeper.

The martial arts in this world were something he had even less familiarity with, as a complete novice; thus, he didn't know how much money it typically required.

He followed the memories in his mind to where the money was hidden and dug it out.

"Well, I'm unexpectedly wealthy!"

Wang Sheng had thought the original owner of the body didn't have much money, but upon counting it, he found quite a lot.

"It's about fifty taels in total!"

In this world, the purchasing power of silver was similar to that of the early Ming Dynasty—one tael of silver could buy about two hundred kilograms of rice, nearly 380 kilograms.

A modern person couldn't eat that much in a year.

From this comparison, it was clear how much money the original owner had.

Wang Sheng quickly found the reason for having saved so much money in his memory.

The original owner began planting chrysanthemums at ten and sold them every year and occasionally went hunting in the mountains to earn some extra cash.

Additionally, he was the type who made sure he was full even if his family wasn't, and he didn't have any bad habits, so he saved quite a bit of silver every year.

Now at the age of 21, saving fifty taels over approximately eleven years was not impossible.

"Isn't it said that the harder you work, the luckier you get? It turns out that's all lies."

If he were truly lucky, the original owner wouldn't have been targeted by the Sun Family.

Wang Sheng was just reflecting momentarily; right now he needed this silver to solve an urgent problem and ought to be thankful to his predecessor.

With fifty taels of silver, he could even buy over a thousand kilograms of pork.

For a First Grade Martial Artist, a thousand kilograms of pork should be sufficient to replenish his Qi-Blood.

Even if it ultimately wasn't enough, so long as his strength increased a bit, entering the mountains to hunt wild beasts would become easier, using their meat as a supplement.

As for what to do if he spent all fifty taels of silver—that wasn't for Wang Sheng to worry about right now. If not used now, should he save it to buy his freedom later?

Using it to solve difficulties was the right choice.

"Now that resources are taken care of, what about the Cultivation Technique problem?"

The Cultivation Technique was still just an idea; with resources sorted, the Cultivation Technique also needed to be finalized.

Wang Sheng pondered a lot and finally decided to adopt the Taoist Inner Core Skill.

Inner Core Skill is a Taoist term, which might be unfamiliar to some.

But if described as "Refining Essence to Qi, Refining Qi into God, Refining God and Returning to Void, Refining Void and Merging Dao," many would understand.

Right, he never intended to choose martial arts as his Foundation Method, but rather the Immortal Law.

Since he was using Golden Finger to advance his progression anyway, why choose martial arts that lacked ambition!

And Inner Core Skill was the Immortal Law Method Wang Sheng was most familiar with, so it naturally became his choice.

Of course, another key reason for choosing this method was the Refining in "Refining Essence to Qi."

The Refining of Inner Core Skill is about harvesting the great medicine of the human body. The human body is said to have infinite potential, but without a strong physique, where would the "great medicine" for you to harvest come from?

The way of Qi-Blood among this world's Martial Artists could nurture oneself—"great medicine" was thus available.

Moreover, Inner Core Skill has a phase before Refining Essence to Qi, the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment.

Hundred Days Foundation Establishment aims to locate physical weaknesses, complete oneself, and establish a solid foundation for potential skyscrapers of cultivation.

In addition, within the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment of Inner Core Skill, there's a phase called Qi Rushing to the Disease where this "Qi" can also be substituted by Qi-Blood Power.

What's needed to impact the disease is a kind of power, not necessarily a specific one, and Qi-Blood Power is also feasible.

The most critical aspect of Inner Core Skill is to determine one's own Foundation Method.

A single Qi-Blood solves two problems.

Why not choose Inner Core Skill?

As for methods to increase Qi-Blood, Wang Sheng had them in his memories too, still practicing an ancient Guiding Skill from his previous life that very morning.

That was one connected to Inner Core Skill... the "Eight Pieces of Brocade!"