In Jianghu, there are two paths of cultivation: Qi Cultivation and Body Cultivation.
Martial artists who follow the path of Qi Cultivation use Qi to perform external techniques and skills, while body cultivators possess raw strength, durability, and superior physical attributes.
Most martial artists follow the path of Qi Cultivation for multiple reasons, such as the vast number of techniques and the endless creative methods to regulate Qi. However, the most crucial reason is that it is a less painful path. Body cultivation involves the modification of muscles, bones, and blood, which inflicts pain that most martial artists cannot endure.
Martial artists with a Yang body constitution favor Body Cultivation because Yang excels at forging the body. The opposite is true for Yin, which excels at refining Qi. Therefore, the rare martial artists who possess a Yin-Yang body constitution do not face the same difficulties regardless of which path they follow. This is also why Mu Jin calls this body constitution a gift of the heavens.
Now, the question is, which cultivation path would Mu Jin follow?
Of course, he would follow the path of Dual Cultivation.
Mu Jin closed his eyes and focused on his dantian. Slowly, he guided the small amount of Yang Qi he had absorbed and spread it throughout every muscle in his body.
The strained muscles from training instantly absorbed the Qi. They began stretching and reforming, becoming thicker and stronger. Excruciating pain erupted from every part of Mu Jin's body. His eyebrows twitched, veins bulged on his forehead, yet he did not move from his position. The moment he moved, his control over the Qi would falter, and he would suffer permanent damage to his body.
His skin twisted as the absorption of Qi continued, forcing groans of pain from his lips.
Only after ten minutes did the Qi fully integrate into his body, and the pain finally subsided.
He opened his eyes and leaned on his hands, placing them on the ground. Drops of sweat fell from his chin, his breathing heavy, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
"Th-this was terrible," Mu Jin muttered.
Once his breathing stabilized, he removed the robe from his upper body to examine himself. He was still lean, but no longer skinny. His muscles had formed in perfect proportion. His ribs were no longer visible, and his chest had broadened. His flawlessly sculpted abs glistened under the moonlight, highlighted by the sweat clinging to his body.
"I finally look like an average human now," Mu Jin murmured, a faint smile forming on his lips.
Just as he was about to move, he fell forward, his face hitting the ground first.
"Fuck, I'm hungry. I need food," he muttered.
Qi manipulation consumes energy provided by food. Mu Jin was already malnourished, not to mention he had only eaten half of the dinner given by Min Ji, which was the reason for his immediate loss of strength after reforming his muscles.
With whatever strength he could muster, he pushed himself to his feet and moved toward the kitchen at the corner of the hall.
Eating outside designated hours was against the rules. If caught, the punishment ranged from cleaning the training hall to cleaning the entire outer hall, including the toilets. The rule existed to teach disciples patience and discipline.
However, Mu Jin, whose intestines felt like they were shrinking from hunger, could not care less about any punishment.
Outside the kitchen door, an elderly man with a long white beard slept while sitting on a chair. In his hand, he held a wand that was clearly not meant for support. He was both the cook and the guard protecting the food. Throughout his long life as its protector, he had captured and punished countless disciples who tried to sneak food.
Despite his frail appearance, he was a second-rate martial artist, strong enough to capture the young third-generation disciples, who were mostly third-rate martial artists.
After using his Inner Qi to modify his muscles, Mu Jin's reserves were completely depleted. He only retained a tiny trace of Inner Qi, so little that low-level martial artists like the cook would not be able to detect it.
Mu Jin casually walked into the kitchen through the front door. His steps made no sound. Thanks to his previous life as a lightning thief, he had naturally adapted to move without producing any noise.
Upon entering the kitchen, he instinctively opened the shelves that contained the food.
He placed everything onto the large wooden table at the center, which was used for food preparation.
"Now, it's time to use the Art of Stealing Late Night Food," Mu Jin murmured, the corner of his lips glistening with drool.
Over the next hour, he devoured meat, bread, vegetables, and even wine, which had been stored in a hidden shelf for the cook. He made sure not to consume more than thirty percent of any dish and even refilled the half-empty wine bottle with water before returning everything to its original place.
The cook would surely sense that something was off, but since Mu Jin had not altered the appearance of any dish, it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what had changed.
Mu Jin could have ignored caution and consumed everything, but that would have guaranteed his capture. Among the third-generation disciples, only he and Meok Jin's group were absent from the hall. Since Meok Jin's group was in the Medicinal Hall, any suspicion of food theft would have fallen squarely on him.
Now that Mu Jin had restored his body to that of a normal human and filled his stomach, he finally felt a bit satisfied.
He left the kitchen and returned to the hall, where the other disciples had already fallen asleep.
"Tomorrow, I need to find Qi of Yin nature," Mu Jin decided as he lay on his mat and finally drifted into sleep.