Era of Mist

The four of them fell silent. They really didn’t dare. If they pissed that guy off and ended up in a piss bucket as pickled chicken feet, they wouldn’t even have a place to go cry.

"If you don’t dare, then just be his obedient little grandsons. Keep at it until he gets sick of you, or until certain people are expelled from school." Zhou Nan whistled, gloating. "Who knows how long that will be? You’re going to get your fill."

"Don’t you fucking act like this has nothing to do with you! You were the one who told us to go after him in the first place!"

"That’s right! If we go tell him, you’re not getting away with this either!"

The four of them began to clamor.

Zhou Nan let out a cold laugh. "What a bunch of idiots. Let me teach you a little something: Did I tell you to go after him? I only told you that he was the one who brought Zheng Big Head around. You’re the ones who went looking for him, you’re the ones who challenged him to a fight in the bathroom, and you’re the ones who ended up getting your asses kicked. It has nothing to do with me."

"You—!" The four were so enraged they looked ready to strike.

"Alright, you morons, don’t be in such a rush. Let me teach you another thing." Zhou Nan said unhurriedly, "Do you want to get rid of that guy or not?"

The four exchanged glances. After a long moment, they all nodded sullenly. One of them said defiantly, "Get rid of him? What fucking great plan could you have?"

"I call you stupid and you still don’t admit it. Think about it. When a student gets beaten up, extorted, and threatened on campus, who are they supposed to go to?"

Hearing this, the eyes of the four boys opposite him went wide, as if stunned by Zhou Nan’s brilliant scheme.

Zhou Nan grinned like a fox. "That’s right. Go find *that* person, and you can get Shi Tiexin taken care of."

The four stared at one another. After a long moment, the chubby one finally spoke up cautiously.

"Find who?"

"Damn it! You’re all complete morons!" Zhou Nan was about to lose his mind. No wonder these guys were such failures; their brains were clearly useless. He crooked a finger, beckoning them closer, and whispered a name.

Hearing the name, the four of them were truly stunned this time. They all began shaking their heads in unison. "No way, absolutely not. Are you kidding? You want us to go to *him*? That’s suicide, isn’t it?"

"What are you afraid of? This time, you’re the victims, not the aggressors. What’s wrong with defending your own rights? Besides, the old Champion Scholar Stone is now the Five Finger Mountain. You can’t beat him, and with your social standing, who could you possibly call for backup? You’re public enemy number one, bros!

"You have no other choice. Unless you really want to be pinned under the Five Elements Mountain for the next five hundred years." Zhou Nan slapped the dining table, sending the messy plates on it CLANGING and clattering. "From now on, you’ll be living like monks."

The four of them stared at their own plates and food bowls, falling silent in unison.

In their hearts, it seemed they had made a decision.

Meanwhile, after leaving the cafeteria, Shi Tiexin didn’t head back to his dorm. He turned and went to the athletic field instead. The first stage of nourishing one’s essence is called "Essence Storage," which is the accumulation of unrefined, primal vital energy. In ancient texts, this stage was called the "Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment," as it typically took about a hundred days to complete. The entire process was precise and complex. There was no room for error, and one absolutely could not leak any vital energy, or all their progress would be lost, and they would have to start over from the beginning.

However, in the world Shi Tiexin came from, Foundation Establishment no longer took a hundred days. It was a golden age where martial arts texts were constantly being refined and innovated upon. Many even used scientific methods to deduce and improve Nourishing Essence Techniques. Even the most widespread and common Basic Essence Nourishment Technique was far more efficient than what was recorded in the ancient tomes.

The time required for Essence Storage varied depending on one’s constitution, diet, and mastery of the Basic Essence Nourishment Technique. The first time Shi Tiexin went through Essence Storage, he had estimated it would take him about seventy days, assuming no other influencing factors.

Back then, however, he had only just started cultivating the Basic Essence Nourishment Technique, his mastery barely reaching the Passable realm. Now, having practiced it to the Excellent realm, his efficiency was far greater. Combined with his experience, he figured he could be another thirty percent faster.

The Basic Essence Nourishment Technique required performing special movements and stances, with a careful balance of static and dynamic exercises. But upon reaching the Excellent realm, some of the more tedious procedures were simplified, making the process less rigid.

As he walked slowly around the field, he subtly performed the simplified corresponding movements while concentrating his attention on his lower abdomen. While circulating the technique, the meat and vegetables in his stomach were digested and absorbed at a superhuman rate, transforming into nutrients that flowed from his small intestine through his bloodstream to the rest of his body.

Transformed by his internal organs, the nutrients from the water, rice, meat, and eggs converted into an imperceptible, yet tangibly real, primal vital energy. This primal energy was like clusters of thin mist, drifting and circulating throughout his lower abdominal cavity. With every slight increase, he felt his body grow more solid and his spirit more vibrant.

’Hm?’

After half an hour, Shi Tiexin had completed one full cycle of the Cultivation Technique when he suddenly noticed something.

’The speed... It’s so fast!’

Shi Tiexin was stunned. This time, as he recultivated his Essence Storage, his progress was much faster than he had anticipated. Even with his experience, and even at the Excellent level, the Basic Essence Nourishment Technique shouldn’t have such an absurd effect.

’After all, a basic technique is just a basic technique. How could something so common have such a miraculous effect?’

And yet, after actually trying it, he found the efficiency of nourishing his essence was extraordinarily high.

’Could it be that because this is the first time this body has cultivated, the effect is better? Will it slow down after a while?’ Shi Tiexin was perplexed and decided to continue with his Essence Storage.

Losing track of time in a trance, Shi Tiexin completed another cycle of the Cultivation Technique, adding another wisp of primal vital energy to the mist in his lower abdomen. He focused on the sensation, once again feeling perplexed. According to his rough perception, the speed of his Essence Storage hadn’t decreased at all after this second cycle.

’What in the world is going on?’

’It’s a shame my mind-arts level is too low...’

If his mind-arts level were high enough and his mind was filled with ample psychic energy, a Martial Artist would have much greater control over their own body. At that point, they could accurately calculate the degree of growth in their primal vital energy after each cultivation cycle.

Shi Tiexin’s current mind-arts cultivation was far from sufficient, making precise measurement impossible. But based on his rough estimates alone, Shi Tiexin had already discovered that his current Essence Storage speed was about thirty percent faster than he had predicted.

Thirty percent! That was a world of difference!

If he could maintain this speed, Shi Tiexin estimated that he would only need about ten days to complete the Essence Storage phase, the first stage of nourishing his essence.

Completing Essence Storage in ten days... In the Orphanage—no, even at the Star Worker Union School—that would be an absolute record that no one had ever achieved. Shi Tiexin’s heart soared, but then he was filled with doubt again. ’Where on earth is this thirty percent bonus coming from?’

In his experience, the only thing that could boost the cultivation speed of physical arts was "Body-Nourishing Essence Food." The more of this Essence Food one ate, and the higher its quality, the faster one’s essence-nourishing speed. Shi Tiexin had never had any, so he had no idea how much of a boost it could provide. But at the moment, it was the only factor he could think of that could possibly be affecting his speed.

’Don’t tell me the garbage-tier set meal I just ate in the cafeteria was actually the legendary Body-Nourishing Essence Food?’

’Impossible. No way. Absolutely impossible.’ Shi Tiexin refused to believe something so absurd could happen.