Chapter 12 Learning the Nine Skills, Refining Qi-Blood

Fortunately, Chen Dahe did not notice anything unusual.

Seeing that there was no sign of Shen Fang inside the house, Shen Qing guessed she must have gone to their aunt's house.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Qing took two hunting crossbows, pulled out a feathered arrow, and walked out.

Considering that there was already meat at home, he carefully locked the door before leaving.

Shen Qing walked through the snow to his uncle's house, knocked on the door, and called out, "Uncle, Aunt, are you home?"

Moments later, there came the sound of rustling from the door.

Creak.

The old wooden door opened.

Shen Xiaohu, seeing it was Shen Qing, turned around and called into the house, "It's Brother Qingzi."

Hearing that it was Shen Qing visiting, their aunt looked displeased, sitting on a chair doing needlework without even raising her head.

"Little brother," Shen Fang, who was helping their aunt with work, sighed with relief when she saw Shen Qing return safe and sound.

Shen Qing glanced around the house and asked, "Where is uncle?"

Shen Xiaohu replied, "He went up the mountain with Shanwa some time ago. I suppose they should be back soon."

Shen Qing acknowledged with a sound and placed the two wild rabbits on the ground, saying, "Today, I hunted a few hares on the mountain and brought them for you, Aunt."

"Brother Qingzi, you should take them back. It's not easy for you and eldest sister, and we have Dad, so we still have food," Shen Xiaohu quickly picked up the wild rabbits on the ground and shoved them back into Shen Qing's hands.

Shen Qing declined, "I hunted quite a few this time, and there's still more at home. It's not that valuable."

His strength was slightly greater than Shen Xiaohu's, so Xiaohu couldn't refuse and had to give up.

"At least you have some conscience," their aunt scoffed.

"Mom," Shen Xiaohu said with a bit of resentment in his voice.

His aunt, Mrs. Wang, rolled her eyes at him but said no more.

Shen Qing put the wild rabbits back in place and then took out some arrows from under his arm, handing them to their aunt. "I happened to find the arrows I lost the other day, so I'm returning those I borrowed to you and Uncle."

Mrs. Wang bit off the thread and said, "Just put them on the table. I'll tell your uncle about it later."

"Okay," Shen Qing said as he placed the arrows on the table. "If there's nothing else, I've disturbed you for long enough. Eldest sister, let's go home together."

Saying this, Shen Qing was about to turn and leave, but Mrs. Wang stopped him, "Hold on."

"What is it, Aunt?"

Mrs. Wang placed a mended old coat on Shen Qing and sized him up, saying, "It seems to fit just right."

"What's this about, Aunt?"

Mrs. Wang said, "I noticed you've been wearing that yun robe for a long time, and many parts are already short. I made a new one using your brothers' old clothes for you to wear."

"This..."

"Stop dawdling and go back quickly."

Mrs. Wang directly issued a dismissal.

Over the time spent together, Shen Qing had come to know his aunt's temper well, so he didn't say more and led Shen Fang back home.

On the way, Shen Fang complained in a low voice, "Qingzi, just one would have been enough. We don't have much food either at home. When we have more later, we can give more to Aunt's family..."

Shen Qing did not respond and opened the door, letting Shen Fang inside.

As soon as they entered, Shen Fang's muttering stopped abruptly at the sight of the pile of wild deer inside.

Shen Fang's eyes were filled with disbelief, "Qingzi..."

"Just lucky, caught an extra foolish deer," Shen Qing said with a half-smile as he looked back at Shen Fang. "Sister, do you know how to cook deer meat?"

...

As it turned out, Shen Fang was not only proper in appearance, but her culinary skills were also commendable.

Under her hands, the deer meat became firm and elastic after being smoked with firewood. Each bite revealed the toughness and chew of the meat fibers.

A slightly burnt aroma formed on the surface of the smoked meat, which combined with the tender meat. Although primitive, it made Shen Qing eat with great relish.

The siblings hadn't eaten so indulgently in a long time. They ate heartily, devouring the roasted wild deer meat as if it were a feast.

Even so, there remained plenty of deer meat, and even after feasting, they had only eaten a small portion.

With the leftovers, and winter preventing spoilage, Shen Qing planned to take half to the county to sell for some silver coins.

After filling their bellies, Shen Fang conscientiously went about house chores, while Shen Qing, relishing some rare free time, took out the martial arts book "Nine Skills" to study it carefully.

This martial art was an entry-level practice, merely refining Qi and Blood to lay the foundation for martial masters to cultivate martial arts.

The whole book covered nine stance exercises without any techniques or lethal moves.

It was somewhat akin to the longevity martial art, the Eight Sections of Brocade, from his past life.

Considering the cultivator's comprehension, the entire booklet was primarily presented in simple illustrations, easy to follow and practice.

However, Shen Qing knew such martial arts appeared easy, but mastering the basics could be quite challenging.

Often there were many subtle details easily overlooked, and mastery or failure often lay within these details.

After reading through once, Shen Qing understood the general practice methods; he began cultivating the first four stance exercises depicted in the book (Hunyuan Stance, Mao Dun Stance, Tuo Ying Zhuang, and Floating Cloud Stance).

He placed the blue booklet on the table, opened it to a page, and stood in the Hunyuan Stance as described.

At first, he felt no discomfort, but after just a few breaths, a dull ache emerged beneath his waist and knees, becoming more pronounced.

Shen Qing kept a straight face, gritting his teeth to endure.

After a while, his entire body's muscles trembled slightly with each breath, as if an invisible force was circulating within him.

As his breathing deepened, Shen Qing's body began to tremble, and the Qi-Blood beneath his skin began to surge.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Shen Qing focused his mind.

Before his eyes, a drop of ink spread, revealing inky characters.

[Skill: Nine Skills (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 0/100 points]

[Status: Cannot be advanced]

[Note: A skill for refining Qi and Blood. Continued practice can increase progress, achieving Great Perfection of Qi and Blood with immense strength.]

Seeing the ink characters appearing before his eyes, Shen Qing couldn't help but smile, and the worry in his heart finally settled.

It seemed that his Water Ink Panel could enhance not just minor skills like Bow Technique and Hunting, but martial arts as well.

Now that he could display the martial art Nine Skills in his line of vision, continued cultivation would ensure constant progress and improvement.

Given some time, he could master the Nine Skills to Great Perfection.

With this thought, Shen Qing felt invigorated.

Even though his forehead was beaded with sweat, he seemed oblivious, fully immersed in his cultivation.