Chapter 052 – Aftermath
Inside the secluded chamber, Li Yuan set aside his stray thoughts and focused on memorizing the method for circulating blood at the eighth rank of the Spirit-Release Technique. It was an internal practice, not apparent from the outside.
Meanwhile, he continued to build up his vital energy just as he had at the ninth rank, so in the eyes of the maids, he was still training at the ninth rank of the Spirit-Release Technique.
A few days earlier, while chatting with Yu Mao, Li Yuan had casually asked how long it normally took to break through to the eighth rank.
Yu Mao had told him that with a solid manual, decent resources, and genuine talent, reaching the ninth rank usually took about a year. The key factor was always talent.
Many people, no matter how hard they tried, could never generate shadow blood, the trait that set true martial artists apart.
As for breaking through to early eighth rank, one typically needed at least three months, and reaching the peak could take over three years. That matched both the memories in Li Yuan’s mind and Xi Yan’s earlier comment, “You’ll need the eighth rank to train with puppets, which is still three or four years off.”
In other words, not making it to the ninth rank in under a year would actually be considered normal. If he did break through sooner, everyone would call him a genius. If he somehow managed it now, it would cause too much attention and trouble.
For now, Li Yuan was still officially at the ninth rank, so using ninth rank abilities didn’t raise any eyebrows.
After some time training quietly in the chamber, he moved to the training platform to continue tempering his shadow blood with the ninth rank cultivation technique. Time flew by, and before long he was drenched in sweat.
As usual, Xi Yan brought out a wooden tub for his bath. She helped him disrobe and slipped into the bath alongside him, carefully massaging herbal lotions into his tired muscles.
Li Yuan let the alluring woman tend to him, her gentle care washing away his fatigue, while his thoughts drifted to the problem of acquiring demonic beast meat, how to get the money and how to make discreet purchases in the black market.
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