Chapter 231: New Weapon +1

Early the next morning, He Chunhua sent people to transport grain to the northern front.

Zhao Pan's army lacked clothes and food. Although the five thousand shi of grain contributed by the Zhan family was not much, it could at least enable them to hold out for another ten days.

Military supplies boost morale. With this batch of grain, Zhao Pan could temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.

So, He Chunhua's immediate challenges were likely threefold: raising money and provisions for the front lines, recruiting troops for himself as the Governor of Xiazhou, and assisting Zhao Pan in expelling the Xunzhou army from Xiazhou.

At this critical moment, He Lingchuan surprisingly went into seclusion for four days straight.

He himself didn't know beforehand, only that his recent meditation always brought a feeling of approaching completion; just a final touch was needed. On this day, during his cultivation, he finally lost all sense of self and surroundings, his true energy circulated continuously throughout his body, and he finally broke through!

Everyone was initially a bit worried. Even He Chunhua, despite his busy schedule, found time to check on him three times. Fortunately, Lingguang diagnosed that He Lingchuan showed no signs of qi deviation, so everyone had to let him be.

Only He Chunhua found it strange: "I've never heard of a cultivator showing such signs with my family's ancestral 'Traction Art'."

Lingguang explained: "Cultivation depends on the individual. The master has excellent talent, so his performance is naturally unique."

It only accepted He Lingchuan's retainer and worked solely for him, never mentioning that its master privately purchased sky-high-priced herbs to aid his cultivation. Cultivating with pills was too common; the He family members didn't find it strange.

That's how professional the Medicine Ape of Thousand Hearts Flow was.

Even He Lingchuan himself felt this cultivation session was unusually long. The most important outcome was that the Yin-Yang Twin Snakes he had painstakingly cultivated finally converged victoriously in his Dantian. After four days of probing and entanglement, they evolved from mutual dislike and "throwing mud at each other" to a state of deep intimacy and unity, meaning a profound integration.

This process was unexpectedly smooth. He Lingchuan had heard from Mr. Man of the Upliftment Department in Panlong City that the "Zi-Wu Art" was very selective. Although its cultivation was fast, powerful, and brief, it had requirements for the cultivator's physique. If one proceeded step by step, it would be fine, but some people, like He Lingchuan, would invest heavily in refining pills, swallowing sky-high-priced medicines as if they were free, wanting to forcibly accelerate, only to have the true energy twin snakes, upon meeting in the sea of qi, literally burst the sea of qi!

That moment of fusion was the most critical. If one could pass through it, it would be like blending honey with oil; if not, one would become half-crippled, and it would take several years of painstaking effort to slowly repair the sea of qi.

Besides his natural talent, He Lingchuan's greatest asset was still his virginity. In the Octopus Demon's words, it meant "abundant and vigorous qi and blood, and overflowing essence," which allowed him to seal the sea and lock the gates, letting the Yin-Yang Twin Snakes do as they pleased, thus achieving a merging effect.

When these true energy twin snakes met in the sea of qi, it meant they had already cleared the twelve main meridians. After fusion, they would circulate for several cycles before attempting to assault the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

Clearing the main and extraordinary meridians were not on the same level of difficulty. If clearing the main meridians was like navigating a small boat on a river, collecting floating leaves and picking duckweed, then assaulting the extraordinary meridians was like a severely silted river channel where even a boat couldn't pass, requiring shovels and bare hands to dredge.

Only then did He Lingchuan realize, truly, that clearing the "Ren and Du meridians" was indeed not an easy task. After digging for two or three days, he hadn't even cleared the first node.

After several rounds of attempted clearing—no, attempted assaulting—this true energy would revert into the two Yin-Yang snakes, each returning along their old paths to their respective territories to re-gather Yin and Yang qi, accumulating power for the next assault.

Relying solely on their own power was a bit slow. Within the limits of his financial capacity, the master should also offer assistance by trying to acquire extreme Yin or extreme Yang substances to aid the transformation. The True Solar Fire (sun's essence) that was readily available by looking up was naturally out of the question; He Lingchuan couldn't withstand it yet. Even just drawing a tiny bit into his meridians would likely cause his meridians to explode and him to spontaneously combust and die.

He could only proceed step by step, and later, as his own strength gradually increased, he would need to absorb more powerful external Yin and Yang forces.

When would he be able to perfectly recharge just by basking in the sun? He Lingchuan greatly yearned for that.

The breakthrough in the first stage of the Zi-Wu Art elevated his true energy circulation to a new level. If it was usually like a trickling stream, it was now like a small river flowing. As for his six senses and spiritual perception, they were much broader than four days ago.

He Lingchuan stood up, stretched his limbs, and then called for someone to prepare bathwater for him.

However, when he was halfway through his bath, the window suddenly opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in.

The Medicine Ape Lingguang stood on the windowsill, grinning at him: "You're out of seclusion!"

"Close the window, I'm freezing!" He Lingchuan saw it with one hand behind its back. "What are you hiding? It's not... what I asked you to get, is it?"

Lingguang quickly shook its head and pulled out a grappling hook from behind its back, tossing it over.

"Li Fubo came yesterday and asked me to give this to you." Lingguang closed the window. "He went with Marquis Songyang to prepare a storefront; he won't be coming these two days."

"A storefront?" He Lingchuan was surprised. "She settled it so quickly?" Truly worthy of Marquis Songyang, a master at business negotiations.

Lingguang shrugged. It was only relaying a message.

He Lingchuan slowly uncoiled the grappling hook in his hand.

This was a new weapon he had commissioned Li Fubo to craft before going into seclusion. The latter readily agreed, saying he already had a finished set that could be delivered with minor modifications.

The main body of the weapon was a rope braided from three types of spider silk, with a five-clawed tiger-head golden grip at the tip that could open and grip like a human hand.

Although it looked simple, it was actually a magic artifact. When He Lingchuan dripped his blood onto the rope handle he held, the item automatically recognized him as its master. Thereafter, he could shoot out the grappling hook like a spider, using external objects to climb and swing, and the tiger-head golden hook at the tip of the grappling hook could also open and close freely according to his will.

He could also get a taste of being Spiderman.

Lingguang watched him play with it delightedly: "Is it useful?"

He Lingchuan shot out the grappling hook, and one claw crushed the crystal peach on the plate, sweet juice splattering everywhere.

Lingguang looked at him with resentment. How easy was it to get fresh peaches in winter!

"My mistake!" He gave a dry laugh. He had originally intended to grab the peach for Lingguang. It seemed he would have to furiously grind for proficiency to master this skill; there was no shortcut.

In the Panlong Dreamworld, two teammates, including Willow, were equipped with grappling hooks, and when carrying out missions, they moved like apes, with far greater mobility than others.

This technique was relatively uncommon on the battlefield, but actually very practical, and exchanging it at the Pengcheng Department would cost military merits. He Lingchuan also felt envious, so they generously taught him how to use the grappling hook, holding nothing back.

The stronger the companions, the safer the team.

If he had been equipped with a grappling hook when he fell into the spider's lair, he could have easily hooked himself up and swung out, and wouldn't have needed to use a dangerous move like "substituting a plum for a peach." After all, if the ghost cicada exuvia hadn't been thrown accurately, he would have instantly turned into minced meat.

He Lingchuan finished playing, got up, and put on his clothes. Lingguang came over, felt his pulse, and checked his vital energy, nodding repeatedly: "Indeed, you've advanced another stage. Your qi and blood are increasingly robust; ten ordinary support soldiers are no match for you now."

He Lingchuan couldn't help but recall the sand leopard he encountered at the bottom of the cliff on the day he arrived; the original He Dasha was essentially killed by it. If it were his current self, killing that sand leopard should be effortless, right? "Oh, by the way, did you buy the ghost cicada exuviae?"

Lingguang pulled out a small cloth bag from somewhere, untied it, and inside lay three cicada exuviae.

"This is a rare item; I ran to seven pharmacies before finding it. What kind of medicine do you want to refine?"

He Lingchuan picked one up and held it to the light. Yes, this was it. In reality, he finally got ghost cicada exuviae. "For casting spells."

"Thirty taels each."

The cicada exuvia in his hand immediately felt incredibly expensive. He Lingchuan gave a wry smile and pulled out silver to reimburse it.

Anything related to supernatural abilities had prices that defied common sense. Just these three inconspicuous cicada exuviae cost him more than half a month's allowance.

He had to find a way to make money, make money!

Lingguang added: "During your seclusion, Sun Hongye looked for you twice."

"What has happened these past four days?"

"A lot," Lingguang blinked, "but I can't explain clearly." It only concerned itself with matters within its own responsibilities.

He Lingchuan patted its head and turned to look at the broken saber.

The saber mountain, solidified by golden mud, seemed to have brightened in color, gradually revealing a pure gold base. It was mixed with tungsten gold and various other materials. He Lingchuan remembered that tungsten gold was pure black, which meant the metallic materials within the golden mud were slowly being absorbed by the broken saber.

So far, the repair process for the broken saber had been relatively smooth.

He Lingchuan was very satisfied. He left the room and asked someone to find some fruit for Lingguang, rewarding it for its protection these past few days. Then he went to pay his respects to Madam Ying and exchanged a few words, before returning to his courtyard to practice with his new toy—the coil of grappling hook.

This thing was typical of something that looked easy when others used it, but you'd think you understood it at a glance, only to fail miserably when trying it yourself.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan had been practicing projectile throwing relentlessly day and night for the past month, and since it involved "throwing," there was a similar principle at play. By sunset, he had developed a bit of a feel for it.

Tonight, neither He Chunhua nor He Yue would return to the manor. Madam Ying, tired from supervising renovations all day, merely instructed the kitchen to deliver meals to each person's courtyard, so they could eat and then bathe and rest directly.

He Lingchuan had just finished eating when a servant came to announce: Sun Hongye had arrived.

"Have you eaten?" After not seeing him for many days, He Lingchuan personally welcomed him inside. "Shall I have the kitchen prepare you some dinner?"

"No need, I just had lamb soup dumplings this evening." Sun Hongye looked He Lingchuan up and down. "Master, you look radiant; it seems your cultivation has advanced another level."

"Yes, I accidentally broke through." He was stating a fact.

Sun Hongye immediately congratulated him.

He Lingchuan didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point: "You looked for me twice earlier. Is there something urgent?"

"You picked a bad time for your seclusion; a lot has happened these past four days." Sun Hongye's smile faded, and he held up a finger. "First, Li Rong was sent to jail. Master He didn't even give him an extra day."

"They should have known when I sent back the gifts Li Shuang gave," He Lingchuan said, not at all surprised. "Dad is going to use him to establish his authority."