103: The fruit of enlightenment!

Originally, Wu Shen's suggestion of sunbathing during the day and watering at night was, in fact, to strengthen the inner Yin and Yang Qi.

As for why it was ten days, it was because with this method, the Yin and Yang Qi would accumulate to its peak within ten days; repeating the process for twenty days would not further increase it.

When Gong Qing thought of this while cooking, he stir-fried the bitter apricot fruit in a pot under the sun, then watered it.

This experiment allowed him to break through the ten-day limit; bitter apricot fruit stir-fried with an open flame could be watered for fifteen days, meaning the effect increased by 50%.

Since an open flame could increase Yang Qi, what about a fire burning with stronger qinggang wood?

Thus, the scene before them unfolded.

Jiang Hanwen took one and put it in his mouth, activating his Divine Breath.

A chaotic aura, different from Spiritual Qi and mixed with Yin and Yang Qi, was drawn out from within; this chaotic aura was even finer than one percent of an ox's hair, yet it was indeed present under the perception of the Divine Breath.

It was like an archaeological site where an extremely thin, rolled-up piece of parchment slowly unfurled in a bone glue solution, revealing itself to be a broken title page with a few words written on it.

This wisp of aura slowly expanded in Jiang Hanwen's mind, revealing its inner mystery: the convergence of Yin and Yang is the very source of creation.

Just as he was about to delve deeper, a thin membrane blocked the aura, giving Jiang Hanwen the illusion of being disliked; even with his Divine Breath and a sense of closeness, this aura seemed beyond his current comprehension.

After a while, something slipped away.

In a trance, Jiang Hanwen saw his past self fluently performing the "Zhuangli Fist"; the image disappeared about a third of the way through.

Jiang Hanwen was immersed in the memory, closing his eyes and slowly replicating the boxing moves according to the posture he had just seen.

By the end, his hands were held at varying lengths, his knees slightly bent, and his posture became still.

The benefits of having all twelve main meridians open became apparent; he could maintain a clear grasp of his body at all times.

At his left knee, it was like a grain of fine sand dropped into a vast ocean, creating an almost imperceptible ripple—discomfort.

He tried again; this time, his left knee bent half a degree deeper, but the fine sand sensation was still there.

He repeated and adjusted countless times, and an hour later, the fine sand disappeared.

Despite making only a minuscule adjustment, the first third of Jiang Hanwen's "Zhuangli Fist" became extremely fluid and harmonious; what had already surpassed the original "Zhuangli Fist" was now further elevated to a state of complete mastery.

Jiang Hanwen opened his eyes; this was not bitter apricot fruit at all, but clearly a Dao Comprehension Fruit!

He struck it rich! He struck it rich!

He took the bitter apricot fruit out of his mouth; the fruit, which had been plump and firm that morning, was now completely shriveled into a ball, its volume reduced by ninety percent.

Could it be strengthened even further?

Jiang Hanwen, addicted to his clever trick, gently broke it.

"Crack ~"

The bitter apricot fruit split open, revealing an empty interior; there was nothing inside.

Jiang Hanwen gave a wry smile; the bitter apricot fruit was completely consumed, his processing method had reached its limit, and the Yin and Yang Qi would not increase further.

However, Jiang Hanwen was already very satisfied; with this item, his future learning speed would likely be terrifying.

Looking at the five full pots of bitter apricot fruit, Jiang Hanwen's eyes turned green, like an old lecher seeing Diao Chan on a spring bed.

Time to get to work!

Cultivating was addictive; besides eating, from mid-spring to mid-summer, Jiang Hanwen stayed holed up in his courtyard for three months.

"Swish!"

A brilliant, flowing silver light flashed, and over forty bitter apricot fruits fell to the ground, all broken in half, with smooth cuts, demonstrating the precision and swiftness of the force.

"Clang!"

The Chixiao Sword was perfectly sheathed.

Up to this point, all the Body Tempering Cultivation Techniques Jiang Hanwen had learned were now at Perfection!

This Cultivation brought immense progress, and at the same time, it allowed Jiang Hanwen to discover the bitter apricot fruit's fatal flaw—it was useless for Spells.

During these days, he had eaten over a thousand bitter apricot fruits, and even after mastering the "Cangyun Sword Technique," he still hadn't gained any insights regarding the Spirit Rain Technique or the Gathering Life Technique.

The bitter apricot fruit's Dao comprehension assistance seemed to remain at the aura level, only effective for Body Tempering Cultivation Techniques.

Perhaps, one day, if he could break through the membrane blocking his Divine Breath, he would be able to utilize the bitter apricot fruit further.

However, being able to assist Body Tempering Cultivation Techniques was already sufficient for now.

During these three months of Cultivation, all his energy was focused on his body, and Jiang Hanwen noticed that while his physical strength no longer showed explosive growth,

his appetite grew larger and larger, and he often felt an itching sensation in his chest, as if something wanted to emerge.

As an experienced physician, he naturally knew what this was: the Tanzhong acupoint, also known as Huangting, the location of the Middle Dantian as described in ancient texts.

The ripple effect of the bitter apricot fruit's processing had just begun; Jiang Hanwen had experimented, and by drawing out the Qi from ten bitter apricot fruits with his Divine Breath and nourishing them with the Spirit Rain Technique, he could dilute them into ten catties of tea with special calming and brain-refreshing effects.

With the "Divine Breath True Scripture," this tea was useless to him.

But for other cultivators, its ability to calm the mind and refresh the brain made it an essential item for Cultivation!

It's just that—

Jiang Hanwen looked at his empty storage ring; all the bitter apricot fruits he had processed were eaten, and it was time to restock.

He glanced at the calendar; today was the twenty-ninth, tomorrow the thirtieth, the day for the Council Hall meeting; it was time for him, the Chief Steward, to make his move and stir things up.

Dawn.

Amidst the brilliant golden light, a shadow moved straight north, its destination—the Council Hall... "Chief Steward Jiang!"

"Chief Steward Jiang, it's really you!"

The medicine farmers along the way greeted him excitedly, their old Faces flushed.

They hadn't seen the creator of this Medicine Field legend coming from this direction for too long.

It was like a drifting boat finally securing its mooring ropes on shore.

"How's the harvest recently?" Jiang Hanwen asked with a smile.

"Chief Steward Jiang, ever since you..."

Walking and listening the entire way, what was originally a fifteen-minute journey was dragged out for over an hour before Jiang Hanwen finally reached the Council Hall.

"Ji—"

"Shh!" Jiang Hanwen gestured to the Black-Robed Guardians to be quiet.

As soon as he reached the main entrance, he heard intense arguing.

"Song Shuming, this is Young Master Zhuang's wish; do you not want to work anymore?"

"Yang Changshan, this is the Medicine Field; don't bring your ways here. If so many people come in, the entire Medicine Field will be in Chaos."

"You, surnamed Song, are you implying that this Medicine Field belongs to the Song family?"

...After listening for a while in the courtyard, Jiang Hanwen roughly understood why they were arguing.

Yang Changshan, who had replaced the Elder as a Black-Robed Guardian.

His intention was to bypass the assessment and select a portion of the people who planted qi gathering grass in the outer fields, directly promoting them into the Medicine Field.

Song Shuming, on the other hand, insisted on the rules he had set: entry after a year-long assessment to ensure the Medicine Field's production efficiency and management.

After all, under his adjustments, the entire Medicine Field, though seemingly large, was a single entity, where one move affected the whole.

Transforming ordinary soil into soil suitable for Spiritual Plants required time and cost, and adjustments had to be made constantly according to the planting plan; it wasn't a place where people could be arbitrarily inserted.

One wanted to insert people, the other refused, and so the two sides were at an impasse.

"Song Shuming, you've been arguing with me about this for a month. I gave you Face by letting you handle it, and you've dragged it out until now to give me this answer.

If I can't deliver to Young Master Zhuang, I'll make sure you can't deliver either!"

Just then.

"Creak~ creak~ creak"

The Council Hall doors pushed open.

"Who the he—"

Turning his head and seeing it was Jiang Hanwen, Yang Changshan swallowed the 'hell' that was on the tip of his tongue, his fierce expression freezing.

Song Shuming and the three Elders abruptly stood up, looking at Jiang Hanwen with a mix of grievance and excitement, shouting the long-awaited phrase, "Chief Steward Jiang!"

Yang Changshan and his two companions also stood up, their Faces red, awkwardly calling out:

"Chief Steward Jiang."

On the left was Song Shuming leading three old men, on the right was Yang Changshan with two Black-Robed Guardians, and the main seat in the middle was empty.

"I heard you all talking lively outside. Tell me, what's going on?" Jiang Hanwen slowly walked to the main seat and sat down.