I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Cultivation Is Addictive

Duan Rong used a key to open the spring latch and unscrew the furnace lid. Instantly, a more intense and strange fragrance wafted into his nose.

Duan Rong was slightly intoxicated, feeling a tingling sensation.

Using a towel as padding, Duan Rong grasped the copper furnace’s side rings with both hands and poured the brewed black potion into a previously cleaned clay basin.

After draining the liquid, Duan Rong removed the bamboo core rack from the copper furnace, dumped the medicinal dregs into a corner basket, and then rinsed the furnace with clean water, discarding the waste water outside. He then replaced the lid and put the copper furnace back in place.

Only then did Duan Rong walk to the stone table, look at the black medicinal soup, pinch his nose, and drink it down.

The medicinal soup had a strange fragrance when smelled but was exceptionally bitter to taste.

After ingesting a basin of the medicinal soup, Duan Rong felt as though his gall bladder would be expelled by the bitterness, tears and snot immediately flowed.

”Why is this medicine so bitter!”

Duan Rong quickly scooped some water, using the ladle to gulp down half of it, which barely diluted the bitterness in his mouth. By this time, the sky was already faintly bright, and Duan Rong returned the key to the old man before heading to the Martial Arts Arena, to a secluded corner.

”Let’s see if you’re effective?”

Duan Rong’s expression was calm; he arched his legs, sat slightly with his hips, held his hands as if embracing air in front of his chest, and began practicing the Complete Round Pile Skill with closed eyes.

Duan Rong stood like this for three whole hours, even missing breakfast.

It wasn’t until the intense hunger stimulated Duan Rong’s stomach that he finally opened his eyes and dispersed his skill with an exhale.

Duan Rong’s eyes glowed with joy; the medicine was not only effective but also very potent.

He had stood for three hours without feeling any exhaustion; his energy coursed through his body akin to an earth fire, filling his chest and internal organs with a warm, surging sensation!

Duan Rong left the Martial Arts Arena, exited the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, bought a large bowl of beef offal soup at a street stall, and ate three pancakes until his stomach was full and warm. Only then did he wipe his mouth and leave.

After filling himself up, Duan Rong returned to the Martial Arts Arena to continue standing in pile stance!

He stood again until nearly 3 p.m., just in time for the appointment he had with the geishas from the Huaying Building.

Duan Rong had to disperse his skill, he couldn’t stand them up, could he?

Duan Rong felt the medicinal power still surging within him; he even felt he could continue standing non-stop, all the way until midnight.

People say cultivation is tedious, but Duan Rong felt that cultivation was addictive!

This feeling of powerful advancement repeatedly stimulated you with positive feedback; how could one not get addicted?

Is there anyone who doesn’t want to become stronger?

Duan Rong returned to his dormitory, wiped his sweaty body with a towel, and then transformed into a walking shelf, leaving the Escort Agency under the strange gazes of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency personnel, and reached the old locust tree opposite Huaying Building.

Just as Duan Rong reached the old locust tree, he saw a group of geishas already gathered there waiting for him.

As soon as Duan Rong arrived, everyone chirped greetings, and the atmosphere turned lively with laughter.

”Line up, everyone, one by one,” Duan Rong said while setting down his things.

Once he set up the easel and looked, he saw not only the six geishas who served last night but also seven or eight more, obviously alerted by the news.

Duan Rong selected ten people from the queue and said to the remaining geishas, ”Today, I’ll stop at Sister Chunming. The rest of you don’t need to line up; come back early tomorrow.”

”Why...”

”We’ve been waiting for so long...”

”Painter Duan, you can’t play favorites!”

The remaining geishas were obviously dissatisfied, feeling that since they all came out together, they should get a painting even though they let others go ahead in line. Isn’t this bullying the honest people?

”It’s not that I don’t want to paint for you, dear sisters. It’s just that in one hour I can only do ten paintings. If I continue afterwards, Hu Mama will break my stand if I delay Huaying Building’s business, and won’t all of you suffer penalties too?”

The chattering geishas instantly quieted down when Duan Rong mentioned Hu Huanhuan, and left grumbling in disappointment!

Duan Rong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Three women make a drama; ten women, that’s a hornet’s nest!

Better not provoke them, really! Better not!

Duan Rong immediately began grinding, mixing colors, and threw himself into creating.

While standing in a pile stance, Duan Rong didn’t feel it, but sitting down to paint, his heart beat wildly, and he couldn’t help but glance at the geishas’ necks and chests.

His lower abdomen frequently stirred with heat.

”Could it be due to the potion?”

”Not necessarily! After all, it’s the age of youthful vigor, it’s normal! Normal!” Duan Rong reassured himself internally.

Duan Rong suppressed the fiery feeling and hurriedly completed the last painting just as Huaying Building opened, handing it over to Chunming. Then, two Turtle Slaves walked out of Huaying Building, yawning.

The Turtle Slaves of Huaying Building worked in shifts too.

Duan Rong watched Chunming happily leave with the painting and patted his inner pocket. Just this one hour, he had earned another hundred taels of silver.

Duan Rong packed up the stand, returned to the Escort Agency like a walking shelf.

He first placed his things in the dormitory, and it was only 5:45 p.m., the time for dinner. After eating in the central courtyard cafeteria, Duan Rong went to the Martial Arts Arena.

The Martial Arts Arena was busiest during twilight hours, and as Duan Rong passed through, many whispered and discussed about him.

Duan Rong, however, didn’t mind at all. He went straight to his usual spot and continued practicing the Complete Round Pile Skill.

Duan Rong stood like this until midnight.

When Duan Rong opened his eyes and dispersed his skill, silence enveloped the surroundings; the lanterns under the eaves emitted a dim yellow light...

A weary crow nestled in the parasol tree not far from where Duan Rong stood, as if asleep...

Duan Rong calculated quietly. From the 5 a.m. to now, it was midnight. Minus the one hour spent at Huaying Building, he had practiced the pile stance for nine whole hours.

Yet at that moment, he felt no exhaustion.

”That prescription Guan Yun provided is indeed useful!”

Moreover, Duan Rong discovered that whenever he practiced the pile skill, his inner breath and the medicinal power would clash, and his restlessness would disappear.

Although he still didn’t understand why he felt restless, the most urgent cultivation issue was resolved, so he was in a good mood.

Duan Rong returned to the dormitory courtyard, stripped naked, washed himself clean by the well, and then crawled into the bed under a blanket.

By the oil lamp, Duan Rong randomly picked up a book to read a few pages before sleep.

Opening the book, Duan Rong realized it was the Secret Manual for the Inner Breath Second Level that Xiao Zongting had given him.

Duan Rong initially wanted to switch to another book but suddenly noticed the handwriting, gently elegant, with faintly scented ink on the paper.

Duan Rong’s eyes brightened, thinking: This must be hand-copied by Xiao Baijiao!