The fat man named A'Bao was quite the talker; his words poured out like a torrent, eloquent and unceasing.
What's more, he was the son of a naval family from the Maritime Division, a long-time local of Hunzhou Island, a streetwise loafer through and through.
Though he wasn't particularly skilled, he had wide connections and decent knowledge; he knew a bit of everything.
Starting from the topic of storage treasures, he branched outward and gave a surprisingly well-structured explanation of Hunzhou Island's economy.
Jing Qian listened carefully, occasionally asking questions and engaging him in discussion.
Thus, what began casually turned into a full-fledged seminar.
During this process, Jing Qian absorbed bit by bit of knowledge about this new world, preparing himself.
Ten days were too precious a period; it would be a waste if it were spent only on idle chatter.
Standing on the deck, he stretched his body and set his stance in a firm, proper frame.
The Jing Clan's Eight Trigrams Sword combined training and combat, a refined school of internal martial arts.
Though it could not compare with the extraordinary paths of this world, it still had much of value.
From the knowledge he had seized, Jing Qian had sorted out more than twenty different methods of nurturing essence.
These included medicine refinement, dietary supplements, body-forging, and yuan drawing, each subdivided further, forming a complete spectrum.
Yet compared to the inner martial arts of his previous life, the methods of this world leaned far more on external reliance.
In terms of cultivating the body without depending on energy or magic, the internal martial arts were, in fact, more meticulous.
Therefore, once Jing Qian found himself somewhat settled, he immediately carved out precious time to open his path of essence-nourishment with internal boxing.
That's right, he was Fatebinding first, then nourishing essence, the complete opposite of other cultivators.
One might think that since he had already Fatebinding and was rapidly advancing in Life Essence, he could skip the essence-nourishment stage altogether.
But in Jing Qian's understanding, forging a strong physical foundation was essential, no matter when, no matter where, no matter what world.
Since he had the means, the methods, and the time, he would not let the chance slip by.
His present body had been tempered by surging Life Essence.
This inevitably carried the danger of pulling up seedlings to force their growth.
Thus, he had already set a long-term plan: to invest as many resources as possible into nurturing his physical body.
The stance he now assumed was the Subduing Dragon Post, a secret Jing Clan exercise within the Eight Trigrams Sword style. It was especially suitable for children and beginners to set their frame.
Taking advantage of the calm days at sea, Jing Qian used this stance as the starting point for training his body.
As soon as he assumed the stance, strength welled up within him. His muscles tightened, coiling around his spine like a great dragon.
Then, torrents of Life Essence surged from the sea of consciousness at his brow, transforming into pure innate qi, dispersing into his body.
He knew clearly that this was an extremely inefficient and wasteful way to use Life Essence.
But only this most basic, most pristine qi could temper his body in a way Jing Qian truly trusted.
Slowly, he stilled himself, closed his eyes, and let the mingled flow of blood and qi rush through his body.
A'Bao, seeing Jing Qian give no response, gradually stopped speaking.
But Jing Qian said at once:
"Don't stop, I'm still listening. Unless I tell you otherwise, keep talking. Talk for the full ten days."
The fat man had no choice but to continue.
Fortunately, he was himself a novice cultivator who had just entered the Fatebinding Realm. Otherwise, he would never have had the stamina for a ten-day lecture.
As for Jing Qian, practicing while listening was no problem. At his current level, being of two minds at once was easy.
His expanding spiritual sense had sped up his thought processes.
Combined with the abundant qi infusing him, he was nearly at the point of total recall.
Indeed, while holding his stance, he was also listening to the lecture, while at the same time preparing for his training in the Yuan Drawing Technique.
This was already a true case of threefold focus!
Time slipped by quietly.
A'Bao had gone from talking about economics to politics, from military affairs to everyday livelihood, from the government offices to the city streets, from mortals to cultivators.
At Jing Qian's request, he even spent two full days focusing on everything he knew about the Jing Clan.
All of this information proved extremely useful for Jing Qian's upcoming plans.
When the agreed ten days finally passed, Jing Qian lowered his stance and only then allowed A'Bao to rest.
The fat man collapsed to the ground, utterly drained, not wanting to utter another word.
In sharp contrast stood Jing Qian, spirit clear, body relaxed, and bones well-tempered.
Though it had only been ten days, with the aid of qi, he had easily mastered the basics of the stance training.
The strengthening of his body was only part of it; what truly pleased him was the newfound control he had gained over his flesh.
Looking at the fat man before him, Jing Qian raised his hand. With the power of his Tidal Life Pattern, a stream of water leapt from the sea into his palm.
The water gathered into a sphere, within which writhed a strange aquatic worm.
Jing Qian asked calmly:
"Friend, do you recognize this creature?"
The moment the insect appeared, A'Bao's face changed; his beaten, pitiful look vanished instantly.
Just as he was about to speak, Jing Qian gave him no chance. A strand of silk shot out, stitching his mouth shut.
With ease, Jing Qian bound him tightly with the threads, then said:
"In these ten days, you secretly released one hundred and twenty-four of these water-worms. Truly persistent, aren't you?
"But I never intended to let you live. Only by your death can my masquerade remain hidden.
"And since you struck first… don't blame me for what follows."
With that, he manipulated the silk threads, channeling his power directly into A'Bao's body.
By now, Jing Qian had thoroughly studied the clan's inherited scripture, the Morning-Dusk Dawn-Breaking Fate Sutra, and had gained new insight into its core Life Pattern: Soulweaver.
This Life Pattern carried traits of both mortal life and spirit life, specializing in striking at a cultivator's soul and consciousness.
Cultivated to a high level, its threads could bind an enemy's spirit itself, turning them into puppets.
Yet since forging the Soulweaver, Jing Qian had rarely used this particular ability.
Instead, he found himself using its secondary function, thread manipulation, far more often.
Now, however, he chose A'Bao as his experiment for Soulweaver's true power.
As his energy poured in, A'Bao's body trembled violently.
The next moment, the silk threads tugged at him, forcing him to move.
At first, Jing Qian was clumsy in controlling a living person this way. A'Bao's movements were stiff and puppet-like.
But gradually, as Jing Qian grew more practiced, the man's motions became smoother, more lifelike.
His mastery of Soulweaver was rising at an astonishing pace.
Capturing his first foe of equal rank, a ninth-rank opponent, marked a crucial milestone in his Soulweaver cultivation.
With a flick of thought, new threads sprouted from both of Jing Qian's hands, doubling the number to four.
His control over A'Bao reached a new level.
Ignoring the man's venomous glare, Jing Qian swung him about over the endless blue sea like a giant pendulum.
Only after that did he tear apart A'Bao's soul completely, annihilating him on the spot.
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