This body must have only recently begun practicing martial arts, yet the cold energy within it is so intense, it's truly baffling. Xiang Wan recalled the martial arts manuals the original owner had cultivated, and was at a loss for words.
This isn't the Frost Palm at all; it's just a basic Qi cultivation mantra in disguise. No wonder the original owner was so easily defeated later on, captured without even being able to escape. How could Shen Meier be so kind as to give a bastard child a real ultimate skill?
Although it's the most basic exercise, it's better than nothing; at least it can help the body recover a little.
With her mind at ease, Xiang Wan guided her internal energy according to her memory, starting from her lower abdomen and gradually pushing the stagnant Qi Sea in a specific direction.
The cold air was also mixed in, and whenever Xiang Wan slightly pushed her vital energy, the cold air would interfere, freezing it in place. The process of mobilizing her vital energy was like stirring hardening cement with a stick—the difficulty was unimaginable. Fortunately, Xiang Wan had considerable mental strength; although the process was difficult, as long as she persisted, she would definitely be able to fully mobilize her vital energy.
I tried little by little, failed again, tried again, failed again. Countless times, I finally managed to circulate the Qi in my lower abdomen, and the coldness moved with the flow of vital energy. The coldness in my lower abdomen finally stopped, and instead, I felt a sense of comfort.
Following the same method, Xiang Wan slowly pushed the vital energy from her dantian to her limbs and bones. This time, it went much more smoothly than before. As the vital energy circulated through her meridians, her limbs began to warm up, and her body gradually adapted to the cold air, showing faint signs of absorption.
After an unknown amount of time, once sensation returned to all her limbs and bones, the vital energy and cold energy began to surge towards her head. This time, the pain was extremely intense, but Xiang Wan did not intend to give up. She knew that for her body to fully recover, her brain had to adapt to the process. Moreover, she discovered that since her body could absorb the cold energy, her brain must be able to as well. Once her entire body had absorbed this cold energy, she intuitively felt that some kind of benefit would occur.
With a "pop" sound in her mind, Xiang Wan felt something in her sea of consciousness being opened. A gentle energy burst forth from the depths of her consciousness, following the path of vital energy to her lower abdomen, gradually forming a small vortex, while the other energies were slowly absorbed by her body.
After absorbing all the energy, Xiang Wan felt full of power, ready to break through the ice at any moment.
This energy came from nowhere, and Xiang Wan's first thought was of the system.
"Xiao Qi, thank you!"
"Hey, seeing you're about to die, this system couldn't resist lending you some energy, but you have to pay it back. I'm going to take a nap now."
The system went silent. Xiang Wan knew that this arrogant system must have given its own energy to her and couldn't hold on any longer, but it didn't say so.
She knew the system wasn't malicious; she always liked to tease it, and aside from being a bit of a pain, it was pretty good. She'd just let it sleep. She'd originally planned to complete this task alone anyway, since she was such a responsible person.
Footsteps sounded again outside the cell. Xiang Wan didn't move, wanting to hear what these people were up to.
"Tell me, how come he hasn't frozen to death after all these days?"
"No way, we can't just take the money and do nothing. If Young Master Li finds out, you and I will be in big trouble."
"Then tell me, what should we do?"
"Let's throw him into the lake behind the mountain, and no one will know."
"Boss, that's forbidden territory. What if someone finds out..."
“If you don’t tell and I don’t tell, who will know? Nobody goes there. If his body is found, it’s considered trespassing, and it has nothing to do with us.”
"Hehe, great idea!"
It was the same two people from last time. After discussing how to deal with her, they unlocked the chains, put her on a stretcher, covered her with a cloth, and carried her out.
Along the way, some people greeted them, and the two men said that someone had died in prison and they were being taken out for burial. The others, finding it unlucky, muttered something and walked away.
Once the surroundings quieted down, the two men tilted the stretcher to one side, and with a "plop," the ice block was pushed into the lake and slowly sank.
The lake was quite deep, with rocks and undercurrents at the bottom. Xiang Wan was stuck among the rocks. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was dark all around her, and the light overhead was very weak.
After waiting for a while, and hearing no other sounds except for the sound of flowing water, Xiang Wan circulated her vital energy to her limbs and kicked hard, completely breaking open the ice layer.
The gurgling water was extremely cold, unbearable for a normal person, but harmless to Xiang Wan. After absorbing the cold air, a faint current of coldness circulated within her body along with her vital energy. The external stimulation accelerated this current, causing her body to involuntarily absorb the cold air.
After feeling around in the water, Xiang Wan discovered that her internal energy circulated with the cold current, and she didn't feel short of breath; on the contrary, she felt quite comfortable. Therefore, she decided to cultivate at the bottom of the lake first, and only come ashore when her martial arts skills were sufficiently developed. That way, even if she were discovered, she would have the ability to protect herself.
This place was very quiet, just as the two people had said, and few people came here. Xiang Wan usually cultivated at the bottom of the lake, and when she was hungry, she would catch a couple of fish and eat some raw fish slices.
Cultivating here yielded remarkable results. In less than half a month, Xiang Wan felt her Qi Sea expand again, and the vortex of her vital energy spun more slowly than usual, constantly changing shape, as if it were shifting to a different mode of operation. Xiang Wan was very excited and decided to continue her efforts, striving to complete her level-up here.
Indeed, in Xiang Wan's eyes, each higher level of martial arts was like leveling up. If her journey from nothing to something was level 0, then her current state was roughly at the peak of level 1. The original owner's memories were filled with basic cultivation techniques; anything beyond that was completely haphazard, a matter of trial and error. Xiang Wan hadn't systematically studied this area either, and this was her first time entering a martial arts world. Having experienced the superpowers of the apocalypse, she could roughly guess the levels of martial arts training, but compared to the natives of this world, she was still far behind. To avoid going astray, Xiang Wan decided that after leaving, she must cram in this knowledge.
That day, Xiang Wan was focused on cultivating at the bottom of the lake. Just as another form of the Yuan Qi vortex was about to take shape, the cold energy entering her body suddenly diminished significantly, severely impacting the circulation of her Qi Sea. Xiang Wan had no choice but to pause her cultivation and investigate.
It was already night, and the bottom of the lake was very dark, but a very strong current of water was rushing towards her in waves, like a huge fish slapping the surface of the water.
Ah, perfect timing! She was just worried about not having any big fish to eat, and she also wanted to test how well she had practiced her martial arts. So, she bent down, circulated her inner energy into her legs, and with a leap, she jumped upwards and caught the fish.
The fish stopped moving, but its size was far greater than she had imagined, and it was completely naked. Xiang Wan ran her hands over it, and was so shocked she almost swallowed a mouthful of lake water—this wasn't a fish at all, it was clearly two naked human legs, radiating an astonishing heat!
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