Holy body, start with the Five Animal Exercises

18: Source of potential pointsQin Jiang looked at the newly appeared Iron Arm Fist with an unreadable expression.

Do I not need to Cultivate it personally, but only need to read through the Martial arts and gain a certain understanding of it to add points?

Thinking this, he put down the boxing manual and took out paper and pen from under the table.

’The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao.’

A moment later, he put down his pen and spread the paper flat.

He looked at the potential panel:

【Current Martial arts】

Longevity Five Qi Skill (First Layer) (2 / 250)

Iron Arm Fist (Not Initiated) (5 / 100)

Tao Te Ching (Not Initiated) (1 / 1000000000)

【Potential Points: 2.8】

Hiss~

A billion! Ten million potential points!

Rubbing his brow, he accepted reality and hid the Dao De Jing from the panel, focusing his attention on the Iron Arm Fist.

It requires 100 experience points just to be Not Initiated, which shows the gap between it and the Five Animals Play.

He was not in a hurry to add points, because according to the boxing manual, merely getting Initiated was not too difficult and not worth spending potential points on.

Currently, there was no stable source of potential points, so he had to ensure they were used effectively.

For example, when nearing a Breakthrough, directly using potential points to Breakthrough the Bottleneck, or using them for the final Martial arts deduction.

He got up and walked to the window. The night wind ruffled his hair as he carefully recalled his battle with the two fox demons today.

Apart from being affected by the illusion at the very beginning, his performance in the actual combat was not good enough—no, it was far from enough.

His knife strikes were not concise enough, and his attack angles relied more on feeling than on finding vital spots.

If he could aim to sever limbs first instead of going for the kill, the fight wouldn’t have been so difficult after they were injured.

Moreover, he hadn’t anticipated or deduced the fox demon’s attacks during the battle. If he could do that, with the sharpness of Blackwater, he might have been able to kill them without taking any damage.

He subtly clenched his fist.

’My combat awareness is too poor; I’m far from being able to fully utilize my strength.’

Thinking this, his brows furrowed slightly. He knew that combat awareness could only be improved by experiencing enough battles.

And he, in fact, lacked this aspect; he didn’t have many opportunities for actual combat.

Given this, his current goal should be to primarily enhance his Physical Body strength, thereby increasing his own tolerance for error.

In other words, he needed to diligently practice Iron Arm Fist, combining it with Longevity Five Qi Skill. Even if he encountered opponents stronger than himself, he would still be able to wear them down.

Closing the window, he blew out the candle and lay on the bed, pondering why potential points increased.

Based on what he knew, it could be roughly divided into two types. The first was when he killed the fox demon, potential points directly increased without an absorption process.

However, when he subsequently killed another fox demon and the shape-shifting fox demon, it indicated that potential points did not come from the fox demons themselves, but had another source that he could not yet ascertain.

The second type was absorption-based potential points, which occurred when he touched the tombstone, the statue, and the painting.

If there was a commonality, it was that they were all inanimate objects; he was unclear about anything else.

In short, there must be a commonality between these two types of potential points, but he hadn’t figured it out yet.

A moment later, he really couldn’t figure it out, feeling a bit frustrated as he pulled the quilt over his navel.

The next morning, Qin Jiang arrived at Baiyun Clinic early.

Baiyun Clinic was not open today. The Old Doctor sat in front of the clinic with a bundle on his back.

Seeing Qin Jiang arrive, he stood up and waved.

“You’re here. Shall we go?”

Qin Jiang looked at the Old Doctor, who was so thin he could almost be described as withered, and couldn’t help but say, “Old Doctor, why don’t I go pick her up instead?”

He actually felt a hint of guilt for killing the Old Doctor’s old lover… uh… old lover demon.

“No need. I only look old; in reality, my body is better than that of an average adult,” the Old Doctor refused Qin Jiang’s suggestion.

He had no intention of bringing Shuanger back. Black Mountain City was not peaceful now; if he brought her back, he wouldn’t be able to look after her properly.

It was better for her to stay in Dahei Mountain. Though it was a bit lonely, at least no one would disturb her.

“Alright then.” Qin Jiang said no more.

The two left Black Mountain City and headed straight for Dahei Mountain. At first, Qin Jiang controlled his speed, fearing the Old Doctor wouldn’t be able to keep up.

But after walking for a while, he realized that not only could the Old Doctor keep up, he wasn’t even out of breath, so Qin Jiang immediately quickened his pace.

In less than an hour, the two had already arrived at the entrance of the blood metal mine.

“She’s inside,” Qin Jiang said.

The Old Doctor looked at the mine entrance, hesitant and somewhat nervous. After a long while, he finally spoke, “Let’s go.”

Walking into the mine, they proceeded for a moment. The candlelight at the end was still bright. The Old Doctor quickly walked over, and his body stiffened the moment he saw that figure.

He had imagined their reunion many times, but he never expected that when it finally happened, they would be separated by Yin and Yang.

Walking closer, he reached out his wrinkled hand and gently touched Shuanger’s cheek.

Silence lingered for a long time.

Half an hour later, a new tombstone had been erected inside the mine.

The Old Doctor personally carved the inscription and took out two cloves of garlic from his pocket, placing them in front of the tombstone.

Qin Jiang leaned against a nearby statue, watching the Old Doctor pay his respects.

After paying respects, the Old Doctor stood up, “Let’s go back.”

Qin Jiang nodded, pushing off the statue to straighten himself.

【Potential points absorbing... 0.10 ... 0.20 ... 0.2】

???

He turned back to look at the statue; its lifelike face seemed to be smiling.

What’s going on?

Looking at the statue, he suddenly remembered that when he touched the statue yesterday, it was in an illusion; in reality, he hadn’t actually touched a statue.

The Old Doctor looked at Qin Jiang, who had a puzzled expression, then glanced at the statue. “This is a Fox Immortal statue, an Immortal Ancestor from the fox clan’s legends. Erecting this statue for worship is a kind of inner spiritual sustenance.”

Hearing the word ’sustenance’, Qin Jiang was struck as if by lightning, and a look of ecstasy appeared in his eyes.

Spirit, faith, tombstone, thoughts, sustenance! Yes! It’s sustenance!

The source of absorption-type potential points is the inner sustenance of living beings!

Whether it’s a tombstone, a statue, or that portrait, they all generate potential points because they contain the inner sustenance of living beings!

In that case...

He already had some plans and would try them out after returning.

If it was feasible, he would gain a large amount of potential points!

He placed his hand on the statue. A moment later, the potential points absorption was complete, and the total had reached 4.8.

“Let’s go back…”

Qin Jiang began to speak, but before he finished, he suddenly looked up, his gaze filled with surprise as he stared at the Fox Immortal statue.

“What’s wrong?” the Old Doctor asked.

Qin Jiang shook his head, “Nothing, shall we go back?”

The moment he finished absorbing the potential points, he distinctly felt a sensation of being spied upon.

He didn’t know the source of the feeling, but his intuition told him it came from this Fox Immortal statue.

“Good, it’s time to go back. The medicinal herbs prepared a few days ago should be harvested.”

At noon, Black Mountain City, Master Li’s pawnshop in the south of the city.

Large red couplets were pasted outside the pawnshop, inscribed with ‘New opening brings joy, peace and good fortune as desired’.

Inside, the counter, nearly two meters above the ground, was sealed with a railing, allowing only glimpses through the wooden slats.

The ticket counter inside was recording, while the appraiser sat upright nearby, examining a mink fur cloak in front of him.

“Write—one dog-skin ragged coat, dirty, old, and broken, with much oil and mud, worm-eaten and rat-bitten, bare and without fur~”

“Hey! Shut up! What are you shouting?! Are you blind?!”

A middle-aged man in cloth clothes, standing below the counter, showed an angry expression.

“To pawn or not to pawn~” The appraiser pushed the mink fur cloak forward, drawing out his words, and squinted ahead.

The middle-aged man frowned, hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand, “Pawn it, pawn it! Give me the money quickly!”

“Three taels of silver for pawn~ three fen interest~ twenty-four months pawn period~”

After saying that, the appraiser folded and put away the cloak. “Ragged coat received~”

The ticket counter nearby immediately handed over a wooden tray, holding the pawn ticket and pawn silver.

“Pawn ticket paid, pawn silver paid.”

The appraiser pushed the wooden tray forward, “Three taels of refined silver~ please take it~”

The middle-aged man angrily picked up the silver and pawn ticket, tucked them into his bosom, and turned to leave.

Qin Jiang walked into the pawnshop. The appraiser looked over, “Young master, you’re here.”

Qin Jiang nodded, “Looking for some things, do you have any good items?”

After much thought, items that could contain potential points were most likely antiques or old objects.

He had considered going to an antique shop, but unfortunately, there were no antique shops in the outer city, only this pawnshop opened by Master Li.