Chapter Three: Soaking in the Bath, Idling Away

Watching the two depart, Li Linliu could not help but exclaim, “Senior brother, you… actually accepted both of them as disciples!”

He had originally thought his senior brother would only take in Chen Fan.

Dong Guzhi replied, “Feng Yuancheng’s foundation is solid; he’s mastered two top-tier manuals—a rare achievement in all of Yandu City. Among my five disciples, two cannot match him.”

These words implied, of course, that three of his five disciples possessed even stronger foundations than Feng Yuancheng.

“As for Chen Fan… if what you’ve said is accurate, then not only is his foundation even more profound, his talent is unparalleled. Unless his natural endowment is truly lacking, he might well be the one to inherit my legacy in the future…”

Li Linliu narrowed his eyes, nodding, but then seemed to recall something. “But senior brother, you can’t be entirely at ease. Talent and temperament are equally important. If you end up teaching another rebellious disciple like Tao Xian, you’d be better off not teaching at all!”

Dong Guzhi could only let out a wry smile, knowing what Li Linliu was alluding to.

“Xian… don’t blame him. It’s I who wronged him. I am, after all, a product of the ‘sect.’ Though I’ve now left, it will never be possible for me to draw close to the court or the martial academy… That he seeks something greater is, in truth, a good thing.”

At these words, Li Linliu sighed. “The sect’s requirements are so harsh… If you ask me, senior brother, you’re too generous by nature. In the end, it was the sect that wronged you, not the other way around…”

“Let’s speak no more of this!” Dong Guzhi shook his head, raising a hand to cut Li Linliu off, his expression complex. “The sect never wronged me; it was I who lacked the means to safeguard Master’s Baiyun Peak…”

Li Linliu sighed again, falling silent.

For a while, neither spoke.

Then Dong Guzhi changed the subject. “Your training is finished, and you’ll soon be returning to the sect, yes?”

Li Linliu let out a faint sigh and nodded. “My time among the common world is over; I must depart within three months. Once we part, who knows when we’ll meet again…”

Dong Guzhi smiled and shook his head. “You have already grasped the Realm of Unity, able to commune with the forces of heaven and earth. Soon, you’ll step into the Realm of Shedding the Mortal. In time, with further tempering, you’ll break through again. When you reach the Tenth Level of Martial Dao, you’ll preside over your own peak. That will be a life of true freedom!”

A look of longing and anticipation flashed across Li Linliu’s face. “When I become a peak master, I’ll bring you back to the sect, senior brother. But who knows when that will be.”

…

While Li Linliu and Dong Guzhi conversed, Chen Fan had already parted ways with Feng Yuancheng and arrived at the main hall’s library.

The library was divided into three floors.

The first floor mainly housed strength-building techniques and foundational martial arts. On the second floor, one could choose core disciplines and martial skills; the third floor contained even higher-level true arts and martial techniques.

Disciples had different levels of access.

As a direct disciple of the hall master, Chen Fan’s permissions were unrestricted. With the token bestowed by his master in hand, he could freely access the third floor.

However, Chen Fan did not rush up to the second floor to select a core discipline. Instead, he lingered on the first floor, examining the strength-building manuals.

These foundational manuals were used to cultivate one’s essence and blood, laying a solid base.

Chen Fan’s talent was unique; not only was his cultivation speed astonishingly fast, but his vitality had not even reached its limit. Naturally, he wished to push himself as far as possible.

At the Baiyun Martial Hall in Feiling County, there had been only thirty-three foundational techniques, but here, there were many more—at least sixty or seventy! There were even five top-tier manuals!

Chen Fan was amazed. “Is the branch hall truly so inferior to the main hall that even the foundational manuals aren’t shared? The branch offered only one top-tier manual, ‘White Cloud Pine and Crane Palm.’ Why is that? Is it to ensure disciples focus on a single art, or because the branch lacks the strength to safeguard more?”

Setting aside his doubts for now, Chen Fan borrowed all the top-tier manuals except for ‘White Cloud Pine and Crane Palm’ and headed to the main hall’s exclusive training room to begin practicing.

After his duel with Yan Linsu, he had broken through nearly every manual he could, but those were mostly average in grade.

In less than a month, he would have finished fully automating those. He was mentally prepared—even if it took another year or two, he would continue strengthening his foundation before beginning core discipline cultivation.

He practiced each technique thoroughly. As expected, these top-tier manuals were extraordinary; even now, running them through his system would take considerable time. The longest one required even more time than ‘White Cloud Pine and Crane Palm,’ and the shortest still needed four months!

Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough slots to automate all of them at once.

After practicing and unlocking the techniques, he wandered about, familiarizing himself with every corner of the martial hall.

As a personal disciple of the hall master, Chen Fan received a monthly supply of medicinal decoctions to aid his cultivation.

Since he hadn’t begun core discipline practice, he could claim energy pills for free, as well as a special herbal pack called a Vitality Infusion Pack, which, as the name implied, was used for bathing to nourish his essence and blood.

Additionally, decoctions were still available here—secret formulas of the Baiyun Martial Hall, but with even stronger effects than those at the branch. One could consider them an enhanced version of the Baiyun Secret Broth.

Chen Fan drank a bowl on the spot, significantly improving his automation efficiency and extending its duration.

By his calculations, a single bowl saved at least three days of training!

The medicine could be claimed and consumed at any time, but unfortunately, it also contained toxins, so after drinking one bowl, a waiting period was required before taking another.

The energy pills and Vitality Infusion Packs, however, were much safer. They had almost no side effects and could even be drawn in advance.

After collecting his decoctions, darkness began to fall.

Chen Fan had dinner in the core disciples’ dining hall, then returned home and took out the energy pills he had just received.

Back in Feiling County, Chen Fan had heard from Bao Tianyou that He Hongshan took one energy pill daily to stay vigorous and reduce sleep.

Chen Fan swallowed one immediately, feeling a surge of energy—almost no trace of fatigue remained.

“This is really something!”

Eyes bright, he turned to the special panel before him, only to discover that the energy pill did nothing to improve his automation efficiency…

His delight quickly froze.

Useful as it was, it served him no purpose!

“All my advancement depends on automation; personal effort matters little. Even if I stayed awake all twelve hours of the day, my progress wouldn’t speed up at all…”

Without the pills, he still had enough time for enlightenment opportunities or sparring.

“Unless there’s a special situation, I really don’t need these things.”

For ordinary people, these pills could nearly double their training speed; for him, they were of little value.

Shaking his head, he put the energy pills away and began testing the effects of the herbal bath packs.

His room came with a bathing chamber, inside which stood a large wooden tub.

Chen Fan heated a pot of water, poured it into the tub, then tossed in the herbal pack. Soon, the clear water turned red and released a strong aroma of herbs.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan undressed and stepped into the tub.

“Ahh… that’s incredible!”

Encased in warm water, Chen Fan couldn’t help but cry out in comfort.

At the same time, he felt his essence and blood surging energetically within him, rising and rolling.

Though not as potent as the Vitality Elixir he’d once taken, it far surpassed the slow progress achieved through ordinary meals.

More importantly, the herbal pack increased his training efficiency!

The effect was impressive.

Symbols flashed before his eyes; during the bath, all his techniques automated five times faster. Sadly, the effect could not last indefinitely. After about an hour, presumably because the medicinal strength had been absorbed, the automation slowed back down.

Eyes shining, Chen Fan immediately set another pot of water to boil.