After returning to the bamboo house, Han Shuangjiang and Chu Huaixu parted ways.
The fox-faced man entered the room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began attempting to cultivate the "Refining Sword Formulas."
He was a bit curious, how much experience points could he gain from "auto-cultivating" this way?
So far, Chu Huaixu had spent a total of 79 experience points, leaving him with 121.
Breaking through the second acupoint would require 140 experience points.
It's worth mentioning that his character panel displayed the option to "freely allocate experience points."
Experience points gained from cultivating the "Refining Sword Formulas" could only be used to upgrade this technique.
They could not be used to upgrade other techniques or skills.
After adjusting his state of mind, Chu Huaixu took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself.
"It should be quite painful, right?" he thought to himself.
Instantly upgrading with experience points was equivalent to compressing the entire cultivation process, allowing one to reap the rewards in an instant.
The previous pain, akin to being repeatedly run over by a motorcycle, was because he experienced all the accumulated pain of cultivation at once.
Chu Huaixu was simply curious now: "What would normal cultivation feel like?"
Hmm, it's not that he's addicted.
The "Refining Sword Formulas" began to operate within him, and the heaven and earth spiritual qi rushed into his body.
The reason why the Acupoint Opening Stage is not considered a proper practitioner is because one cannot retain spiritual qi within the body, and therefore does not generate spiritual power.
At this moment, the only purpose of this spiritual qi entering his body was to help open the acupoints.
Once all nine acupoints in the human body are open, the Profound Yellow Secret Collection can be accessed, marking the entry into the path of cultivation!
Throughout the Acupoint Opening Stage, the most noticeable improvement is in physical fitness. That's why it's called the Body Refining Stage.
At this very moment, just as Chu Huaixu began to operate the technique, his body involuntarily trembled slightly.
He began to feel the pain.
"How should I put it, it feels like countless hands are twisting my flesh?"
"Every piece of flesh on my body!"
Damn it, are they trying to rid me of all the dampness in my body?
Chu Huaixu was just starting to let his mind wander when he suddenly realized the accumulating spiritual qi was beginning to dissipate.
This made him understand why the reviews for the "Refining Sword Formulas" were so bad; it was either "don't practice" or "heed the advice."
"So in the entire cultivation process, I have to maintain mental focus?"
You must endure throughout, otherwise it's all for nothing!
In this way, all the pain suffered would have been for naught.
Chu Huaixu immediately gathered his thoughts and tried to adjust as best as he could.
And as the cultivation deepened, he clearly felt the pain index still rising.
The excruciating feeling seemed as if countless invisible hands weren't just twisting his flesh.
After twisting the flesh, they continued to twist it back and forth...
Chu Huaixu initially thought that as time passed, he would gradually grow numb.
But strangely, he didn't!
Running the technique for just one circulation felt like a day dragged on forever.
He began to miss the days when he was just a player.
Damn it, give me back my pain modification settings!
As a result, when Chu Huaixu's emotions flared up, the surrounding spiritual qi again showed signs of dissipating.
"..."
By the time he successfully completed a circulation and suddenly opened his eyes wide, he could only support himself with one hand on the bed, breathing heavily.
"I really didn't pick the wrong nickname, this 'Dysmenorrhea' is really killing me."
"In the future, I can't cultivate on the bed anymore, better sit on a cushion on the ground, damn it, I'm covered in sweat, even soiling the mattress!" This virtual male model is quite particular about cleanliness.
He was even contemplating the possibility of practicing naked because he was too lazy to do laundry and worried about his clothes smelling from too much sweat.
Putting aside these distractions, Chu Huaixu checked the cultivation experience points he had gained.
"9 points?" He slightly twitched his mouth.
This was with a base of 1 point in Spiritual Embryo Attribute; otherwise, the cultivation speed would be even slower!
"This 'Refining Sword Formulas' is really quite damnable!" he gritted his teeth.
He calculated that after two rounds of exercise, his total experience points would be 139.
The experience points needed for the technique upgrade were 140.
"That missing 1 point is the most frustrating one! It's really driving me fucking crazy!"
In a fit of rage, Chu Huaixu grabbed a small booklet and started venting his frustrations.
He opened to the third page and added a big exclamation mark after his comment on "Supreme Divine Skill" to emphasize.
...
...
"Hoo——!"
In the bamboo house next door, Han Shuangjiang, who was also diligently cultivating, opened her beautiful eyes and exhaled a long breath.
Her considerable chest rose and fell slightly as a result.
At this moment, she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, her long and beautiful legs elegantly crossed, exuding boundless beauty.
This woman's natural wide hips and her golden waist-to-hip ratio contributed to a shapely and full figure. Sitting on the bed, her hip flesh was slightly squished to the sides, making the garment appear bulging, as though its fullness was about to overflow.
The female sect leader of the Joy Sect, known for her ample behind, most admired Han Shuangjiang for this trait, feeling she had found a worthy successor.
——She could impart the Guanyin Sitting on a Lotus, creating universal transformation.
At this moment, joy glinted in Han Shuangjiang's beautiful eyes.
Every time she cultivated, she felt a complete comfort, exceptionally pleasant.
More importantly, she broke through the second acupoint effortlessly.
Opening acupoints, for her, was indeed a bit too easy.
"A pity though, every time an acupoint is opened, the body needs some time to adapt."
"Perhaps I'll only be able to attempt the third acupoint tomorrow." Han Shuangjiang speculated inwardly.
Today, she had already come to an agreement with Chu Huaixu to temporarily live and cultivate together, striving to break through the Acupoint Opening Stage sooner and become proper cultivators.
"I initially thought with the unreasonable prices of the Outer Sect, one hundred taels of silver wouldn't be enough, and time would be very tight." She mused.
"Now it seems I was worried for nothing."
From beginning to end, she hadn't considered Chu Huaixu's cultivation progress.
To her, being taken up the mountain together by the Sixth Elder meant he couldn't be too bad.
"Still, I should spend money frugally."
"Cultivation emphasizes wealth, law, companion, and land."
"In the future, income channels will increase, but so will places to spend." Han Shuangjiang was well aware of this common knowledge.
After some thought, she felt she might as well cook for herself.
"Walking over there for a meal also takes up a lot of time, I could easily make a meal myself with that time." That's what she thought anyway.
Spending other people's money should be done even more sparingly.
Han Shuangjiang could tell from Chu Huaixu's appearance and attire that his family background was probably quite ordinary, only his temperament seemed extraordinary.
"This one hundred taels of silver, perhaps it's the savings of his parents?" she could only speculate as such.
Other people's parents' hard-earned money should be spent more carefully.
Each coin and each tael cobbled together reflected the earnest hopes they had for their child.
With this thought, her gaze dimmed as she recalled being sold into a brothel by her parents during her childhood.
She glanced down at her ankle, white as jade, bare and unadorned.
Han Shuangjiang knew that some sisters in the brothel would tie a red string to their ankle.
Many patrons, during their pleasure-seeking, found these red strings extremely attractive, adding a touch of allure to their delicate feet.
However, only those within the industry knew that red strings tied to the foot signified an unresolved attachment.
For some women of the streets, they might have been kidnapped or had families in trouble.
A journey of thousands of miles begins with a single step, and tying a red string on the foot symbolizes not forgetting the way home.
But for her?
She didn't even have such a simple longing.
...
...
Near noon, Han Shuangjiang walked out of her bamboo house, determined to discuss her budgeting strategy with Chu Huaixu.
Chu Huaixu opened the door upon hearing the knock.
He glanced at her, feeling like something about her was different.
Chu Huaixu directly cast an "Information Detection," and the system informed him that Han Shuangjiang had already opened the second acupoint.
"You've broken through?" he asked.
"Mm." She nodded slightly, not sure how he discerned it, as if she truly had no secrets before him.
"What a coincidence, I just opened one too." Chu Huaixu leaned against the door with a nonchalant expression.
...