Destiny in Cinders

"These roots are edible too! They taste rather spicy. They're like onion roots, but refreshing and slightly tougher." He was so hungry that he couldn't wait for the meat to cook thoroughly. So, he bit down on the roots that grew out of the back of the boar, only to be delighted by his discovery.

The roots tasted strongly salty too, and though tough, martialists like him could easily chew through them and break them down. "This meat came with its own seasoning."

As he munched away at the roots, he controlled the strength of the flame. The fangboar was covered in layers of fat and simply roasting it over a fire was enough to get it to sizzle and cook. He used a blade to scrape away some dust and plant matter on the surface, exposing the purple-gold-colored flesh that oozed with delicious fats that fell into the flame, further seasoning the meat.

An Jing ignored the heat and gave it a large bite, relishing in the oily deliciousness of the meat. Even though the roots in the fangboar's flesh appeared black and slightly burnt, biting into it only released the salty flavor within. It was as if it had a salty, caramelized layer on top.

He wolfed down the food and quickly finished a large piece. He couldn't wait and snapped up the next piece that finished cooking and put the whole thing into his mouth, bone included. Then, he bit down until he hit the bone before pulling it out, tearing all the flesh from it. The thick scent of fragrant fats spread out within his mouth, mixing with the meat and cooked roots as they entered his stomach.

He could almost feel the nutrients being absorbed rapidly by his digestive system as he did so. His organs converted the nutrients into energy that spread all throughout his body, renewing him completely. As he stood there, his body gave off quite a bit of heat.

"Phew!" He was no longer pale and famished like before. Blood returned to his cheeks. He took deep breaths rhythmically and began to execute the martial techniques from the Imperial Sky Classic. He coordinated his mind with his body, exerting considerable force. Synchronizing his breath with his pulse generated a scathing aura all over his body.

As time went on, sounds of flames and heavy objects breaking could be heard in concert with his deep breathing. He kept on moving as if he was fighting invisible enemies, expression stern and serious. He gave it his all in performing the moves to the point that he began to sweat from his back and forehead. His vaporized sweat even distorted the light around him slightly.

When he performed those moves with full focus, traces of the purest aura spread through his lungs and meridians. Aura, qi essence, vigor, physical strength and innate qi all required different techniques to access and refine, but they shared one quality: Strengthening them was crucial. It was three parts training, seven parts cultivation.

Qi essence could only be generated by a healthy and powerful body that was given appropriate nutrients. If not for the fey meat that Direlife Manor served, there was no way An Jing could make such rapid progress. Consuming beasts with decent bloodlines similar to that of the fangboar also more than made up for the nutrients and energy that his body had expended.

In fact, it had even helped alleviate the side effects of using stimulant pills. An Jing felt a tingling sensation throughout the muscles in his body as it recovered, especially near his chest. The stimulant pills had affected those areas by forcing aura out of him, so the mild pain he felt was a sign of recovery.

Had he waited for these inner injuries to recover on their own time, the traces of lingering damage in his body would set in and become rather hard to heal. That was why he actively channeled his aura to speed up the recovery. As he breathed, his aura flowed like a river along his bloodstream meridians to the damaged areas, dousing them in a warm and slightly painful sensation.

An Jing rather enjoyed the sensation. He groaned without meaning to when he took a firm step forward, raising two fingers in one hand and pointing it towards the wall of the cave.

His aura surged and gathered all traces of his internal damage around the chest before concentrating them near the tips of his fingers in an instant. His palm expanded slightly as his veins rose to the surface. Then, there was a loud bang as a stream of invisible qi shot out, boring a hole in the distant wall and turning some of the rock into powder.

He got an epiphany as he realized that he had just awakened his proper spell: Ailment Swordfinger!

"Phew, that feels amazing!" He breathed out deeply and felt that the feeling of pressure near his chest had been expelled in one go, leaving him in an incredibly relaxed state.

Though sweeping his injuries with aura had felt painful, it was a good sign of recovery. Most people would rather endure a single moment of intense pain than an extended period of mild pain. What An Jing had done felt like popping an incredibly itchy blister.

"Not bad," Yvelbane said after observing the whole thing. "Your ability, Qiform Arsenal, doesn't necessarily need you to use blood lethal qi. You can also use aura and vigor, though they might not be sustained as long. Not to mention, you actually managed to gather the ailments in your body using aura and expelled it using Ailment Swordfinger. It's both a combat and healing technique. Maybe you can even develop it into a curse technique in the future. Though this is something only people with the Qiform Arsenal ability can master, the fact that you're able to grasp it without any instruction proves that you're a true genius!"

An Jing raised his right hand that fired Ailment Swordfinger and looked at it with some awe. "This lifearc ability is much more convenient than I imagined."

Some blood trickled out of the tip of his index finger, but it didn't hurt at all. It also smelled of stale blood with a hint of rot. Looking closer at his rapidly healing finger, he said, "I was only trying to expel the discomfort. It's just like making my liver sneeze. Who knew that this ailment qi can also synergize with my ability to become a weapon..."

The side effects he had suffered from taking stimulant pills had fully recovered and would not affect him negatively in the future. As long as he didn't suffer internal injuries that were too heavy, he would be able to expel things like corruption or toxic qi from his body and even use it for combat. Naturally, it would only work until a certain extent and wouldn't be effective on major poisons or heavy damage, but it was still something he could do to mitigate the harm.