New Weapon +1

Early the next morning, He Chunhua dispatched men to transport grain to the northern front. Zhao Pan's troops were short on food and clothing. Though the five thousand dan contributed by the Zhan clan wasn't much, it was at least enough for them to hold out for ten more days. Military supplies were morale. With this shipment of grain, Zhao Pan could breathe a momentary sigh of relief. That left three main dilemmas before He Chunhua: raising funds and provisions for the front lines, recruiting and outfitting troops for his own post as Chief Administrator of Xiazhou, and assisting Zhao Pan in driving the Xunzhou army out of Xiazhou's borders. Yet right at this critical juncture, He Lingchuan went into secluded cultivation for four straight days. Even he hadn't foreseen it beforehand. He had only sensed that during his recent breath-regulation exercises, an impending fullness kept swelling within him, lacking only that final touch of heat. When he sat to cultivate that day, he at last forgot both self and surroundings. True power circulated through his body in an unbroken cycle until, finally, he broke through! Everyone had been rather worried at first, and even He Chunhua had taken time out of his frantic schedule to check on him three times. Fortunately, Lingguang diagnosed that He Lingchuan showed no signs of qi deviation, so they had no choice but to let him be. Only He Chunhua found it strange: "Our family's ancestral Qianyin Formula has never produced symptoms like this in anyone who practiced it." Lingguang explained, "Cultivation depends on the individual. The master possesses extraordinary talent, so his manifestation naturally differs from the ordinary." It was bound only by He Lingchuan's letter of employment and worked solely for He Lingchuan. Concerning the astronomical sums their master spent in private to procure rare medicinal herbs to aid his cultivation, it didn't utter a single peep. Taking pills for cultivation was commonplace anyway, so the rest of the He family found nothing amiss. The medicine apes of the Qianxin Sect were just that committed to professional ethics. Even He Lingchuan felt this session of cultivation had been extraordinarily long. Its most important result was that the twin serpents of yin and yang, which he had painstakingly nurtured for so long, finally achieved a triumphant rendezvous in his dantian. After four days of probing and tangling—shifting from mutual disgust and flinging mud at one another to deep, inseparable intimacy—they achieved profound fusion. The process had gone unexpectedly smoothly. He Lingchuan had heard Mr. Man of the Tizhen Office in Panlong City say that the Ziwu Formula was very particular about who practiced it. Though its progression was swift, its power immense, and its cultivation time short, it made steep demands on the practitioner's constitution. Taking it step by step was fine, but some people poured vast sums into alchemy like He Lingchuan did, gulping down exorbitantly priced herbs as though they cost nothing to force rapid progress. As a result, when the twin serpents of true power met in the sea of qi, they literally blew it apart! That moment of fusion was the most critical hurdle. Overcome it, and everything would blend like honey and oil; fail, and one would become a half-cripple, requiring years of painstaking, grindstone effort just to slowly repair the sea of qi. Aside from natural talent, He Lingchuan's greatest asset was still his virgin body. In the octopus demon's original words, his "vital blood was rich and vigorous, his essential qi naturally replete." He could seal his sea and lock his gates, letting the twin serpents of yin and yang thrash as they pleased, thereby reaping double the yield from a single harvest. The convergence of these twin serpents in his sea of qi signified that they had cleared the twelve primary meridians. After fusing, they would cycle through several full heavenly circuits before attempting to charge through the eight extraordinary meridians. Clearing primary meridians and extraordinary meridians were not tasks on the same level of difficulty. If opening the primary meridians was like steering a small boat down a river to skim floating leaves and pluck duckweed, then charging into the extraordinary meridians was facing a riverbed so heavily choked with silt that even a boat couldn't pass, leaving no choice but to dredge it by hand and spade. Only now did He Lingchuan realize the novels hadn't lied: opening the Ren and Du meridians was truly no easy feat. After digging away for two or three days, he hadn't even breached the first node. After attempting several rounds of dredging—no, several rounds of charging—this surge of true power split back into the twin serpents of yin and yang. Each retreated along its familiar route to its own domain, gathering fresh yin and yang qi and building strength to await the next assault. Relying on their own power alone was somewhat slow. Within the limits of his financial means, their master ought to lend a hand, finding ways to procure objects of extreme yin or extreme yang to aid the transformation. The true solar fire burning right overhead was out of the question, of course; He Lingchuan couldn't withstand it yet. Drawing even a single thread into his channels would almost certainly rupture his meridians and cause him to spontaneously combust. He had to take things step by step. As his own strength steadily grew in the future, he would also need to draw upon even more formidable external yin and yang forces. When would he be able to simply bask in the sun and get a perfect recharge? He Lingchuan looked forward to that immensely. Breaking through the first stage of the Ziwu Formula elevated the flow of his true power to a higher tier. If it had previously resembled a trickling brook, it was now a steadily flowing stream. As for his six senses, they were far more acute and expansive than four days ago. He Lingchuan rose, stretched his limbs, and called for servants to prepare bathwater. He was only halfway through washing, however, when the window suddenly flew open and a gust of chilly wind swept inside. Lingguang the medicine ape stood on the windowsill, grinning at him. "You're out!" "Shut the window, it's freezing!" He Lingchuan noticed it had one hand tucked behind its back. "What are you hiding back there? It wouldn't happen to be what I asked you to fetch..." Lingguang shook its head quickly, pulled a grappling cord from behind its back, and tossed it over. "Li Fubo came by yesterday and told me to hand this to you." Lingguang reached back and pulled the window shut. "He went with the Marquis of Songyang to prepare the shopfront and won't be coming around for the next couple of days." "A shopfront?" He Lingchuan was surprised. "She settled the deal that fast?" As expected of the Marquis of Songyang, truly a master at negotiating business. Lingguang shrugged. It was merely passing along the message. He Lingchuan slowly uncoiled the grappling cord in his hands. This was the new weapon he had commissioned Li Fubo to forge before entering seclusion. Li Fubo had agreed readily, mentioning he already had a finished piece on hand that could be delivered after minor modifications. The main body of the weapon was a cord woven from three types of spider silk. At its tip was a five-clawed, tiger-headed golden grip capable of opening and clenching just like a human hand. Though it looked simple, it was actually a magic artifact. Once He Lingchuan dripped his blood onto the handle, the object bound itself to him as its master. From then on, he could shoot out the cord like a spider—or rather, shoot the grappling cord out—to climb and swing from external objects, and the tiger-headed golden claws at the tip would open and close at his mental command. He could finally get a taste of playing Spider-Man. Lingguang watched him fiddle with it in high spirits. "Works well?" He Lingchuan flicked the cord out. With a wet crunch, the claws crushed a crystal honey peach sitting on a plate, sending sweet juice splattering in every direction. "..." Lingguang stared at him with profound resentment. Did he know how hard it was to buy fresh peaches in winter?! "A misfire!" He offered a dry chuckle. He had intended to snatch the peach and pass it to Lingguang. It seemed mastering this technique would require grinding a massive amount of proficiency; there were no shortcuts to take. Back in the Panlong dreamscape, two of his teammates, including Willow, carried grappling cords at their waists. When executing missions, they moved like apes, far more agile and maneuverable than anyone else. The skill was relatively uncommon on the battlefield, but it was exceptionally practical. Exchanging for it at the Pengcheng Office would have cost military merits. Seeing how envious He Lingchuan was, they had taught him everything they knew about using the cord without holding anything back. The stronger their comrades were, the safer the squad would be. If he had been equipped with a grappling cord when he fell into the spider burrow, he could have hooked and swung his way up with ease instead of resorting to a maneuver as perilous as Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach. After all, if he hadn't thrown the ghost shadow cicada slough with pinpoint accuracy, he would have been smashed into meat paste on the spot. Having had his fill of testing it, He Lingchuan climbed out of the tub and dressed. Lingguang hopped over to check his pulse and examine his qi. It nodded repeatedly. "You've advanced another stage, indeed. Your vital blood is growing thicker and more robust. Ten ordinary Auxiliary Army soldiers wouldn't be a match for you anymore." He Lingchuan couldn't help recalling the sand leopard he had encountered at the bottom of the cliff on the day he first arrived. The original Eldest Young Master He had essentially died at its claws. If he faced that beast now, killing it would probably be effortless, wouldn't it? "By the way, did you manage to buy the ghost shadow cicada sloughs?" Lingguang produced a small cloth bundle from who knew where, untied it, and revealed three cicada sloughs resting inside. "These are rare goods. I had to run to seven medicine shops before I found them. What kind of medicine are you trying to concoct?" He Lingchuan picked one up and held it to the light. Yes, this was the real deal. He had finally managed to procure ghost shadow cicada sloughs in reality as well. "It's for casting a technique." "Thirty taels each." The slough in his fingers instantly felt burning hot. He Lingchuan smiled ruefully and pulled out silver to reimburse it. Anything that touched upon supernatural techniques commanded prices that defied ordinary logic. Three unremarkable cicada sloughs had eaten up more than half of his monthly stipend. He had to figure out a way to make money—make lots of money! Lingguang added, "While you were in seclusion, Sun Hongye came looking for you twice." "What happened over these past four days?" "A lot." Lingguang blinked. "Though I can't explain it all clearly." It only cared about matters within its own scope of duty. He Lingchuan patted its head, then turned to inspect the broken saber. The "mountain of sabers" molded from golden mud appeared to have brightened in color, gradually revealing an undertone of pure gold. It had been blended with several materials, including wujin, which He Lingchuan remembered was pitch-black. That meant the broken saber was slowly absorbing the metallic essence within the golden mud. Up to this point, the process of restoring the broken saber had gone quite smoothly. Highly satisfied, He Lingchuan stepped out of the room, ordered someone to fetch fruit for Lingguang to reward it for guarding him over the past few days, and went to pay his respects to Madam Ying. After exchanging a few words, he returned to his courtyard to practice with his newly acquired toy—that coil of grappling cord. This gadget was a classic example of something that looked effortless when others used it, seemed simple enough when observed, but proved utterly disastrous the moment one tried it oneself. Fortunately, He Lingchuan had spent the past month practicing his throwing techniques day and night without pause. Since both involved the act of throwing, the underlying mechanics shared common ground. By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, he had developed a feel for it. Neither He Chunhua nor He Yue returned home tonight, and Madam Ying was worn out from a full day of supervising renovations. She simply ordered the kitchens to deliver meals to everyone's respective courtyards so they could bathe and turn in right after eating. He Lingchuan had just shoveled down his dinner when a servant arrived to announce that Sun Hongye had come. "Have you eaten?" Not having seen him for several days, He Lingchuan went out in person to usher him inside. "Should I have the kitchen make you some dinner?" "No need. I just had mutton soup and steamed buns this evening." Sun Hongye looked He Lingchuan up and down. "Master, you look radiant. It seems your cultivation has reached another level." "Yes, I broke through without even meaning to." He was simply stating the facts. Sun Hongye offered congratulations at once. He Lingchuan didn't bother exchanging pleasantries and cut straight to the chase: "You came looking for me twice earlier. Was there an urgent matter?" "You picked a poor time for seclusion; quite a lot has happened over these past four days." Sun Hongye reined in his smile and held up a single finger. "First, Li Rong has been thrown into the holding cells. Lord He didn't even grant him a single extra day of leeway." "When I threw Li Shuang's gifts back in his face, they should have seen it coming." He Lingchuan wasn't surprised in the least. "The old man needed someone to establish his authority on, and Li Rong was the target."