Chapter 5: The Possibility of Mechanizing Dou Technique Release!
This bun... is it a proper, respectable bun?
Jiang Lin took a big bite out of the soft, plump steamed bun and nodded, "Mm, definitely a wholesome, well-bred bun!"
"What nonsense are you spouting again?" Xiao Yi Xian, dressed in a light white gown, kicked open the door with a tray of buns in her hands. She glanced suspiciously at Jiang Lin still lying on the bed, then placed the buns on the table inside the room. "You didn't get up all afternoon. Mr. Yao said not to disturb your rest, so I figured you probably hadn't eaten. The kitchen only had these buns left, so I brought them to you. Don't go starving to death on the bed."
"Hehe, thanks a bunch for feeding me, Boss Xian'er." Jiang Lin got up from the bed, grinning happily.
Seeing that Jiang Lin hadn't starved after her delivery, Xiao Yi Xian didn't say much more. Noticing it was already late outside, she turned around and went back to her room.
Chomping down a bun with each bite, Jiang Lin glanced at the bright moonlight outside the window and quickly took a sip of tea to avoid choking himself.
"Although this body is healthier than my half-dead couch potato self from my previous life, I'm still young—my stamina isn't fully developed yet. This forging work is exhausting..."
After eating and drinking, Jiang Lin noticed that, while tired, his body wasn't as sore as expected. A question rose in his mind: "Logically, forging is physically demanding work, but why do I also feel mentally exhausted? Is it from maintaining such high concentration?"
Unable to figure it out for now, Jiang Lin simply stopped thinking about it. Once his belly was settled, he sat cross-legged on the bed and silently recited the Dou Qi cultivation method Mr. Yao had taught him. He began guiding his Dou Qi through the meridian points marked in the technique, using his mind to manipulate that mysterious energy from the environment, slowly cycling it through his body.
As the mysterious energy flowed inside him, Jiang Lin could feel his meridians gradually heating up—as if tiny flames were simmering within each of the twelve main meridian nodes, gently softening and strengthening them.
The cultivation method Jiang Lin was using was Forging Fire Art, a mid-tier Yellow Rank fire-type technique that Mr. Yao had found for him. Though not high-grade, it rivaled some lesser high-tier Yellow Rank methods in effectiveness. Uniquely, it was a rare dual-path (Qi and body) cultivation method. The only drawback was the persistent, simmering sensation it produced—like being a frog slowly boiled in warm water.
The faint flame-type Dou Qi spiraled slowly inside Jiang Lin, tempering his meridians and increasing his body's adaptability to Dou Qi. At the same time, it drenched him in sweat, as though he'd undergone intense physical exertion.
One reason his ten-year-old body was in better condition than his past self in his twenties was that he had persisted in cultivating the Forging Fire Art for half a year.
In this world, mysterious Dou Qi energy truly existed—it wasn't like his previous life where the air only contained invisible PM2.5.
Buzz~
Under the pale moonlight pouring through the window, the faint yellow jade ring on Jiang Lin's chest emitted a dim glow and a trace of warmth. Unfortunately, soaked in sweat as he was, Jiang Lin didn't feel the warmth at all. To him, the jade his mother had left behind felt cold.
At that moment, as he circulated Dou Qi through his body, Jiang Lin suddenly felt a faint coolness wash over him, and a sense of clarity filled his mind. The weak seed of Dou Qi within him seemed to grow stronger.
He had broken through—Second Stage of Dou Qi!
He had just reached First Stage that morning, and now by evening, he was at Second Stage? Breakthrough in a single day?
Of course not. If Jiang Lin were really that incredible, he would've long gone into seclusion for two or three years, then come back to sweep all of Qingshan Town. How glorious would that be?
To be exact, Jiang Lin had spent half a year reaching the Second Stage of Dou Qi.
More than two months ago, he had already successfully internalized Dou Qi and formed his first wisp of energy, making him First Stage then. He just hadn't tested it, and Mr. Yao hadn't pushed him either.
During that time, Jiang Lin had quietly used his tiny amount of Dou Qi to test the various ores he had picked up from the Qingshan Town market—trying to see which ones had "Dou Qi compatibility." In the end, he successfully identified several ores that reacted with Dou Qi. Blue-gold ore was one of them. He also discovered that some rarer, higher-grade minerals had different efficiencies, attributes, and effects when conducting Dou Qi energy.
In other words, if Dou Qi was electricity, then he had discovered the equivalent of conductive materials like iron, copper, and silver over those two months.
Additionally, this world's magic cores—containing the berserk Dou Qi that even Dou Wangs dared not absorb—were essentially the best energy storage units on the planet!
A Dou Wang couldn't absorb the frenzied energy from a Grade One magic core—not because the amount was too great, but because the intensity would tear their flesh and meridians apart. But… while flesh is weak, machines can—err, no, no, no. What the body can't handle, a weapon can! That made magic cores the perfect energy source for Dou Qi weapons.
As the saying goes: "Born of the same root, why harm each other?" Using tools to conquer tools—that is the beauty of human technology!
"Half a year to reach Second Stage of Dou Qi… Well, I'm already ten years old, and started cultivating late. Given my body's maturity, this pace should be considered average."
After the breakthrough, Jiang Lin stopped cultivating and slowly opened his eyes. He was completely soaked, red all over like a cooked shrimp.
The Forging Fire Art couldn't be cultivated for long. Jiang Lin would always stop after completing a full cycle to cool himself down. Mr. Yao had warned him: if he didn't want to become "Qingshan Town's smartest idiot," then don't overdo it. It was said that the last person to cultivate this technique had become... a genius of idiocy.
"If I view the human body as a form of bio-material, then in theory, the release of Dou Techniques could be mechanized…"
Jiang Lin, whose potential to become a "super genius" was peeking through, rubbed his chin, his eyes glowing with the light of scientific obsession.
(END CHAPTER)
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