Chapter 14: Great Success in Health Cultivation Techniques (Please bookmark and follow)

As the words fell, Shan Wuju suddenly thought of Wei Tu’s background as mentioned in Li Yaozu’s letter, and felt that everything made perfect sense.

As a servant in the Li household, the only martial arts one could possibly come into contact with were the common, dime-a-dozen health-cultivation exercises.

Every sophisticated style of fist and foot combat had a clear lineage of masters; it could not be faked.

A martial artist only needed to name their style, and other masters could immediately guess which estate or famous teacher they had studied under.

The circle of martial artists was neither particularly large nor particularly small.

"First, settle in and work as a long-term laborer. If you perform well, I will teach you a few sets of fist techniques."

"It’s getting late."

Shan Wuju glanced at the sky and said.

Hearing this, Wei Tu felt a slight disappointment, but he did not take it too much to heart.

If Shan Wuju were to teach him martial arts right now, he would truly be treating him as a personal disciple, and Wei Tu did not believe that a single letter from Li Yaozu could have such a significant effect.

If it could, Li Yaozu would not have given away such a favor for nothing.

Following this, Shan Wuju, who was sitting on a straight-backed chair under the eaves, squinted his eyes, pressed his lips against the mouthpiece of his water pipe, and blew into it forcefully.

Ash scattered onto his robe. Shan Wuju brushed it off, lit the tobacco with a piece of fire paper, took a few puffs, and walked with a limping gait into the third courtyard.

Wei Tu was still holding the stone lock he had used to test his strength. Seeing Shan Wuju walk away, he froze for a moment, unsure of how to conduct himself.

The third courtyard was the inner residence of the Shan family, where the women of the house lived. The rules of wealthy families were all the same: men from the outside were forbidden from entering without permission.

However, before Wei Tu could dwell on it, a beautiful young woman in her twenties walked out from the courtyard gate and greeted him.

The woman had fair skin and wore a blue cloth jacket and trousers with black trim. She had a long, oval face, her hair was done up in a bun, and she wore silver earrings—a very affluent look.

"My surname is Gao; you can just call me Third Mistress."

"Follow me, I’ll arrange your lodging. The long-term laborers in this courtyard are under my management; the First Mistress hasn't handled affairs for a long time."

After Shan Gao-shi briefly introduced herself, she led the way for Wei Tu.

Hearing that this woman was a concubine of Shan Wuju, Wei Tu lowered his gaze instantly, no longer looking around or casting wandering eyes.

A short while later, Shan Gao-shi led Wei Tu to the first courtyard and walked to the west room.

She pushed open the door.

A long-term laborer in his forties was already staying in the west room. Upon seeing Shan Gao-shi enter, he immediately scrambled off the earthen kang and called out, "Third Mistress."

"Deng An, you’ve been working at the Shan house for a long time, so look after Wei Tu."

"We only hired the two of you as long-term laborers this year. The wheat harvest is in a few days, so save your energy these next few days and don't slack off when the time comes."

After giving a few warnings, Shan Gao-shi swayed her waist and left the west room.

Seeing that Shan Gao-shi had left, the laborer named Deng An climbed off the kang and hurriedly took a deep breath in the spot where she had been standing.

Wei Tu saw this and remained silent. He did not stop him, nor did he chase after them to report Deng An’s disrespectful behavior to Shan Gao-shi.

Shan Wuju had married a young woman in his old age; the twenty-something Shan Gao-shi was like a pretty widow in a village of bachelors—it was perfectly normal for people to have designs on her.

Although Shan Wuju was full of vigor and walked with a steady gait, Wei Tu could still tell that he must be sixty or seventy years old; he just didn't look his age because he practiced martial arts.

After a moment, Deng An finally snapped out of it and greeted Wei Tu.

The two exchanged names and hometowns.

"From Changming Township? That’s quite a distance from Sanyuan Township."

Deng An was a bit surprised.

It was uncommon for someone from Changming Township to come all the way to Sanyuan Township to work as a long-term laborer. Long-term laborers were not seasonal harvesters; they usually worked within their own townships and rarely left their homes.

"Two days' journey."

Wei Tu nodded and replied casually.

He did not tell Deng An about his plan to take the martial arts examination this term.

You can know a person's face, but not their heart.

Based on what he had just seen, Wei Tu knew that Deng An was not a person of pure character.

He had to be on his guard.

Some people might not be able to accomplish anything, but they were certainly capable of ruining things for others.

After putting his luggage away, Wei Tu stepped out of the room and, under the moonlight, began to practice the stance work of the "Turtle Breath Nourishing Qi Technique."

Although he was tired from the journey over the past few days, diligence is the path to excellence, while play leads to ruin. Wei Tu did not want his health-cultivation exercises to fall into neglect.

Furthermore, the requirement for the health-cultivation technique was "nine practices a day." Wei Tu did not know if this was a prerequisite for entering the Qi-Sensing Realm, but he dared not gamble on it.

He had to perform the health-cultivation technique at least nine times a day.

If he lost the gamble...

Even though he hadn't wasted the last five years and his physique had improved significantly, the feeling of falling short at the final hurdle would be unbearable.

In the courtyard, Wei Tu stood in his stance, starting from the opening move of the health-cultivation technique. His movements were slow and meticulous.

If Master Ruan were present, he would surely notice that Wei Tu’s movements were identical to those in the "Turtle Breath Nourishing Qi Technique" manual, without the slightest deviation.

Once.

Twice.

After the third and fourth times, Wei Tu began to perform the moves through muscle memory, while his mind became immersed in the essence of the stance work and the flow of the warm current through his body.

Gradually...

Wei Tu’s mind began to empty.

His steps crossed, his movements grew faster and faster, and the warm current in his body condensed into a force that traveled from his spine to his leg bones, then back and forth through his chest and abdomen.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

As his fists and feet alternated, the air around Wei Tu was shaken, emitting a humming, whistling sound, much like the roar of a tiger or leopard.

【Turtle Breath Nourishing Qi Technique (81/100): Nine practices a day, success in five years.】

"Great success?"

Half a quarter of an hour later, Wei Tu finished his practice and habitually checked the progress of the technique.

At this glance, he was stunned.

The progress of the "Turtle Breath Nourishing Qi Technique" had soared from 63% yesterday to 81% now—an increase of nearly twenty percent.

In other words, the short while he had just practiced was equivalent to months of hard work.

"It must be the result of accumulated effort finally bearing fruit. I wonder if I can bring the technique to perfection and enter the Qi-Sensing Realm ahead of schedule, within five years."

Wei Tu’s face lit up with joy.

Since he began practicing the "Turtle Breath Nourishing Qi Technique," he had not slacked off for a single day. He didn't just practice nine times a day; he practiced over a dozen times, far exceeding the requirements of his "Late Bloomer" destiny.

Now, with only half of the five-year period gone, he had already reached 81% progress. How could he not be happy?

"I cannot relax!"

"The later stages of the health-cultivation technique are where the real difficulty begins. It is entirely possible that I could practice for months and not see the slightest improvement in progress."

Wei Tu warned himself.

In every trade, it is easy to get started, but becoming a top expert is incredibly difficult.

It means having to put in even more grueling effort.

It is easy to become a painter, but difficult to become a great master; the same principle applies here.

It is precisely because the health-cultivation technique is easy to learn but hard to master that it is looked down upon by martial artists, and few people practice it.