Master of Strange Dao

Yu Ziqing sighed inwardly, thinking that this fellow must have been pretty strong once.

But that sort of talk was a bit like stating the obvious, as those who weren't strong wouldn't even qualify to become a Jade Tomb after death.

"Fine, if you don't remember, then you don't remember."

"I'll say it again, now that you've regained some consciousness and have had a very rare great opportunity, seize it and stay here well."

"The day will eventually come when you will return.

As long as Jinlan Mountain stands, you can rest easy here and recover, to our mutual benefit."

"Don't cause trouble for me, everything else is negotiable."

"If I find out you're doing anything detrimental to Jinlan Mountain, you can try and see if I can dig you up and send you to keep the Evil Lord company."

"Indeed, I don't remember, the time I regained a bit of consciousness was too short,"

Yu Ziqing couldn't be bothered to say more to the Jade Tomb, having said both good and bad things already, if something were to happen in the future, it couldn't be said he had punished without teaching first.

Whether the Jade Tomb truly couldn't remember or was pretending not to, it didn't matter, say or don't say.

Yu Ziqing turned to leave, and the Jade Tomb reverted to its original state.

Upon leaving the mountain, Yu Ziqing went to find the village chief.

"Village chief, try hitting me with Nourishing Body Fist,"

"Hm?" The village chief was puzzled, thought for a while, and said, "Can Nourishing Body Fist even be used to hit people? Anyway, I'll just lower my power a bit, don't worry, I won't kill you."

"No, use just Nourishing Body Fist, but with less force, you'll know when you try,"

The village chief didn't understand why, but he did as told.

Nourishing Body Fist Skill, which focused on nurturing the body, was actually a bit awkward to use in combat, much less straightforward than just swinging punches directly.

The village chief moved, starting to practice with Nourishing Body Fist, with his fists continuously landing on Yu Ziqing's body.

In an instant, black energy surged out from Yu Ziqing's body, and each punch drew out a part of the black energy.

After the black energy surged out, it naturally burst towards the mountain and returned to the Jade Tomb.

Moments later, Yu Ziqing felt sore all over, with not a trace of black energy left inside him.

Suddenly, he sensed a feeling of thorough clarity throughout his body, a tangible sense of nourishment, clearer than when consuming Yellow Rice Cakes.

The effect was slightly less than that from eating Yellow Rice Cakes, the process wasn't quite as comfortable, but the result was actually about the same.

"Nourishing Body Fist can be used like this?" The village chief was shocked, as he had never heard of this before.

"Couldn't it be used this way before?"

"No, I remember that I've used Nourishing Body Fist to hit Er Han before, but it didn't have this effect. To force out the power of the Jade Tomb, one could only consume Yellow Rice Cakes."

"Hm?"

Yu Ziqing was taken aback and felt a chill in his heart.

The influence that had been subtly created after resolving that catastrophe was bigger than he had thought.

According to what Xu Hang had said, the Nourishing Body Fist was created by the Evil Lord, which probably happened after he was sealed.

That is to say, the Nourishing Body Fist was actually taught to others by Xu Hang in the Sealing.

Perhaps some official from Dadui had entered the Sealing and learned the Nourishing Body Fist.

But everything in the Sealing was history yet to settle, and things created inside were likely the same, not yet solidified into real and objective existence.

Thus, now, Nourishing Body Fist can fully exhibit its power.

"Village chief, you don't have to worry about those things, nor do you have to worry about Yellow Rice Cakes every year anymore."

"And no need to worry that as your strength grows stronger, the power of Yellow Rice Cakes might not be able to force out the Jade Tomb's power within you.

"You continue to cultivate your body with ease, there's no harm in it."

"I get it, but the Yellow Rice Cakes, we still have to keep making them. Qingqing will need them for cultivation in the future, and if others don't need them, we won't let them eat it, as they're anyway scarce."

"Village chief, who actually invented the Yellow Rice Cakes, do you know?"

"I don't know, the recipe and the method of making them have always been passed down in the village, for a very, very long time, there are no records in the village."

Yu Ziqing felt a tinge of regret but wasn't surprised. Villages of the past didn't bother with records, important matters were passed down by word of mouth, and literacy was scarce. When scarcity of resources made it hard to secure clothing and food, who had the luxury to learn to read and write?

After finishing the conversation with the village chief, he saw Er Han walking out from the village, looking like a ruffian.

Yu Ziqing said goodbye to the village chief without drawing attention. He knew without thinking that the village chief would surely continue trying the Nourishing Body Fist.

Indeed, moments later, Yu Ziqing glanced back and heard screams from afar, similar to a pig being slaughtered, robust and full of vitality; watching the black energy roll out and fly towards the mountain's Jade Tomb.

This time it was thoroughly confirmed, Nourishing Body Fist could, to a certain extent, replace the role of Yellow Rice Cakes.

The process was just not very comfortable.

In the future, Yellow Rice Cakes should be reserved for the weaker people in the village, or for those who wish to follow the path of the Hard-working Ascetics.

Everyone else, forget it; if I have to take a beating, why should others get off comfortable?

What a nice thought.

Yu Ziqing squatted at the entrance of the village, teasing the Little Tree Demon, waiting for quite a while before seeing Er Han, uniformly swollen, stagger out of the village.

"Brother Er Han, did you upset Grandpa Village Chief again?"

Like pouring salt on a wound, Er Han's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, wordless.

Yu Ziqing laughed cheerfully and waved at Er Han.

"Come here, Er Han, come over."

"Bro, why did Grandpa hit me again? Now, he doesn't even bother to find an excuse."