Chapter Eleven: Refining Essence and Transforming Qi

  In front of the palace, there is a large open space, and further ahead, a lush and dense forest, with trees towering above, and a refreshing breeze blowing.

  The open space is the central area of the valley, facing upwards directly opposite the exit of the valley. At noon, the scorching sun pours down from above, giving people a warm feeling.

  At this moment, a barbecue rack was placed on the empty ground, with a raging fire below and the roasted meat above emitting an enticing aroma.

  Zhao Ji and Ding Dian moved a small wooden stool to sit in front of the barbecue rack, constantly flipping the rows of roasted meat on the rack to prevent them from getting burnt.

  There are many kinds of barbecue on the grill, including rabbit meat and wild chicken meat, but most of them are wild boar meat.

  The valley is not very large, only a few dozen miles in circumference. In this small area, there are many kinds of animals and they are quite numerous. All the above-mentioned animals were hunted by Zhao Ji and Ding Dian.

  "Ding brother, I didn't know that cultivating the Divine Light Sutra would have such a huge side effect. My appetite has increased several times compared to before."

  While flipping the barbecue, Zhao Ji smiled wryly and said.

  Zhao Ji has always been a foodie and can be considered a gourmet. In the past, without exaggeration, he had tried all sorts of representative and characteristic foods from all over the world.

  However, for nearly half a month now, with the cultivation of Shen Zhao Jing, Zhao Ji's appetite has been increasing, and he can eat over ten kilograms of meat in one meal.

  Falling into this valley, Zhao Jiuke didn't bring any seasonings or cooking utensils. Based on his previous appetite, it was extremely difficult to have a good meal.

  Now Zhao Ji's appetite has increased greatly, wanting to steam, boil or stir-fry something is not very realistic, so he can only make roasted meat. The worst part is that there isn't even salt, so the flavor of the roasted meat might not be that good.

  Moreover, having barbecue two or three times is fine, but if you have it every day, you'll get tired of it sooner or later. After half a month, Zhao Ji had already gotten a bit fed up with it.

  "This is not unique to Xiuzhen Shenjing, generally, most internal skill methods will have this kind of side effect."

  Ding Dian smiled and said naturally, "A big increase in appetite represents the abundance of a martial artist's vital energy. Cultivating internal skills, the source of internal energy production is the vital energy inside the martial artist's body. Therefore, the faster the progress of a martial artist's internal skills, the bigger their appetite will generally be."

  After a pause, Ding Dian added: "Of course, there are exceptions to everything. If you have tonic ingredients like deer antler or he shou wu, eating them can replace the essence of food and provide even better effects."

  After Ding Dian's explanation, Zhao Ji suddenly understood that the cultivation of internal strength and the realm of Daoist practitioners' refinement of essence into Qi have a similar subtlety, both transforming the body's essence into internal energy.

  "You say it's easy, but how can you easily come across heavenly treasures like hundred-year-old ginseng, he shou wu, and zhu guo?"

  Shaking his head slightly, Zhao Ji said with a bad tone.

  The cultivation of internal power is a long-term process. Among the many that Zhao Ji has seen, those who want to achieve the highest level of cultivation without decades of practice are indeed unlikely to succeed.

  Some rare treasures can greatly shorten this process, which is naturally what Zhao Ji hopes for, but such treasures are hard to come by.

  In the following period of time, Zhao Ji practiced hard while exploring the valley all over. Except for not finding a way down the mountain, the urgent need for water source was solved.

  A small stream flowed from the edge of the mountain valley, and although the stream was not large, the water was very clear. Zhao Ji took a sip and found it to be slightly sweet.

  It's indeed the case that in a mountain valley with such thriving vitality and numerous animals, it's impossible for there to be no water source. Earlier, Zhao Ji was too flustered to think of this.

  This stream is flowing down from the top of the mountain peak. Where is the source of the creek water? At present, Zhao Ji really doesn't understand.

  During this process, Zhao Ji encountered the Black Tiger twice again, and both sides had conflicts. The situation was different from before, however. After entering the Divine Illumination Scripture, Zhao Ji's strength greatly increased, and with the Soft Sword in hand, the Black Tiger was completely no match for him.

  After being tricked twice, the black tiger had learned its lesson and avoided Zhao Ji from afar, not daring to show its face again.

  It was the purple squirrel Zi Xing who became increasingly close to Zhao Ji, a person and an animal, although they couldn't communicate with each other in language, but could be intimate without distance.

  They wolfed down the food, Ding Dian and Zhao Ji competing with each other to finish off an entire rack of roasted meat in a matter of minutes. Zhao Ji alone ate over ten kilograms, while Ding Dian was not far behind.

  "Ah, I'm full and satisfied, it's great! Now it's time to get down to business."

  After tidying up slightly, Zhao Ji stretched his waist and said with satisfaction.

  "Alright then, let's have another exchange."

  Ding Dian smiled and stood up straight.

  In half a month, Zhao Ji and Ding Dian had become familiar with each other. The two men got along well as they were trapped in the mountain valley, unable to find a way down. Practicing martial arts became their daily routine.

  Ding Dianhui's martial arts, apart from the Shen Zhao Jing, are not particularly outstanding, but as a member of the Ding family, he still has a considerable amount of ordinary fist and footwork skills to lay the foundation, which is more than enough.

  As for Zhao Ji, he mastered the Eight Extremes Fist, Bagua Palm and Taiji Fist, and also understood some later ideas. He exchanged them with Ding Dian, and both sides gained something, belonging to a win-win situation.

  Zhao Ji and Ding Dian made a stance, without using internal energy, simply exchanging moves, you make a move, I counter it, fighting with great joy.

  Shen Zhao Jing entered the door, and after another half month of cultivation, Zhao Ji had not accumulated much deep internal energy, but in terms of martial arts, he was considered to be at a beginner level. If it were still in the past, he would have absolutely become one of the top existences in the national special forces.

  But this internal energy cultivation is far inferior to Ding Tian's, it can be said that it is like a firefly competing with the bright moon. If the two were to engage in an internal energy showdown, Zhao Ji would not stand a chance.

  Relying solely on their techniques, the two were able to exchange blows for a while. Zhao Yi combined various ancient boxing methods and free fighting skills, and his battle with Ding Tian was surprisingly prolonged.

  The two men fought fiercely, and when they finally stopped, Zhao Yi bowed to Ding Dian and laughed loudly: "Brother Ding, your boxing skills are still as sharp as ever. My Bajiquan has gone mad, but I still can't beat you, and instead fell into a disadvantage every time we exchanged blows. However, it's fortunate that each time we fought, I gained something."

  "I'm the same, your Baguazhang, Tai Chi and free combat are all great martial arts routines. In these two weeks, I've also gained a lot of inspiration."

  Ding Dian smiled faintly and said.

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