Chu Li was surprised. He stared at Prince An who was sitting in the ancient cauldron, channeling his energy with his eyes closed.
The cauldron was taller than him, so it seemed like he was in the cauldron.
Prince An’s inner energy was rolling like waves of a strong current. It was several times faster than usual. In an instant, the inner energy was shaped into the form of a ball.
His rushing inner energy was flowing in his meridians, getting increasingly faster.
Arching his eyebrows, Chu Li delved deeper into the Omniscient Mirror.
Strands of golden hair seemed to be floating in the cauldron, as if a haze was surrounding him. The strands met between Prince An’s eyebrows and his flow of inner energy did not seem to want to stop.
Further activating the the Omniscient Mirror, he sensed a shapeless energy coming from the void. The cauldron absorbed it as if it were smoke, transforming it into strands of golden hair and gathering it in the cauldron.
Chu Li knew that the strands of golden hair was the energy of vitality. They entered Prince An through the spot between his eyebrows, increasing his inner energy and quickening the flow.
Chu Li was shocked.
Chu Li was very proud of his own vitality. He had the soul of two lives, which meant his vitality was levels above others. That was the reason he could successfully cultivate the Scripture of the Root of Wisdom, the Omniscient Mirror, the Scripture of Life and Death, and the Art of White Tiger.
If it were not for his vitality, he would not have been able to achieve what he did. He would have been weaker than the average person.
He realized that he was proud of what he had achieved. What he thought was unique to only himself was actually achieved by Prince An as well. Naturally, he felt uncomfortable about it.
He swiftly calmed himself down. Furrowing his brows, he started thinking.
Even with the cauldron, why did Prince An’s vitality not amount to his?
Suppressing his own curiosity, he quietly observed the cauldron and Prince An.
Sitting in the cauldron, Prince An’s face was beet red, as if he had been drinking. His expression contorted as if he was suffering. He held on for two hours before he could not take it any longer and exited the cauldron.
Landing next to the cauldron, Prince An’s wound had recovered significantly. However, Chu Li noticed that the strange inner energy still did not dissipate. It was still inside the prince. The moment he got out of the cauldron, it started growing rapidly.
Through the two hours of observation, Chu Li figured out how it worked.
Prince An had the pit between his eyebrows concentrated inwards. All of his vital energy were like golden strings that floated in strands, bit by bit. After he entered the cauldron, all the golden strands bug into the pit between his eyebrows, increasing the density of golden strands in his pit.
The density of the golden strand was very high, causing him headaches as if his head was about to explode. It was quite rare to have Prince An hold on for two full hours.
The moment Prince An left the cauldron, all the golden strands left and returned to their initial density with no significant changes.
This situation was similar to how he assisted Xue Ling’s cultivation. It increased the speed of one’s inner energy and boosted the speed of cultivation, but it did not help in increasing one’s inner energy level.
The odd thing about the cauldron was that it turned the energy in the void into another’s energy. What was the energy from the void? Could the process be done manually? What were the principles behind it?
He activated the Omniscient Mirror and looked at the cauldron, inside out.
The cauldron was casted with bronze, but there was an odd aura circulating within the bronze. The aura continued to circulate in the bronze, drawing out a strange symbol.
This made Chu Li think of the human body. Inner Energy circulated in one’s meridians and the symbols were the cauldron’s meridians. The aura circulated along these symbols, absorbing energy from the void then transforming into golden energy that stayed dormant within the cauldron. It was like a water storage.
The strange symbol was the secret of the cauldron.
The cauldron was an amazing piece of work. If not for the Omniscient Mirror, it would have been impossible for anyone to peer into the cauldron. If the cauldron was split open, there would be nothing inside as the aura would have spilled and scattered. The symbol was not a physical entity, but was constructed from the aura.
Chu Li suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of the training room. He entered the cauldron.
Immediately, the strands of vitality rushed into his head. A vivid picture of the Art of White Tiger formed in his mind. The spirit tiger leaped into him, along with the power from the void, consuming his body in the blink of an eye.
He could hear his bones cracking as his body was crushed. He would be squished like a meat dumpling in one moment, and expanded until it felt like he would burst in the next. This continued on and on, forcing his body to train.
After four hours, Chu Li realized that it was already dawn. He wished to continue, but he had to leave. Disappearing from the cauldron, he appeared in his room. He took off the outer layer of his clothing and wore a pale blue shirt as he sat on the couch, feeling the changes in his body.
Even with four hours of cultivation, he felt no trace of exhaustion. It felt as if his energy was not expended at all. The cauldron was amazing.
It was no wonder Prince An had already achieved Grandmaster in his mid-forties. Of course he would have with the help of the cauldron.
——
He stayed there for another day. When Prince An left during the night, he utilized the cauldron to train himself again. The Art of Tiger was more vivid this time and his body was even stronger.
As his body grew stronger, so did his base. Even if the people around him were Innate Masters, they would be no match for Chu Li.
On the third morning, he left the Imperial Residence of Prince An.
He had figured out who Prince An really was in these two days, but could not find a way to kill him yet.
Prince An was in trouble. The inner energy within his body was odd. No matter how he tried to remove it, it would still be there. He was a Grandmaster but his inner energy was exceptionally pure. It was even more so than the rest of the Grandmasters, so nobody could do anything to help.
Chu Li allowed the horse to break into a brisk trot by itself as he tried to look into the symbol on the cauldron.
He tried visualizing the symbol in his head, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
He initially thought that successfully visualizing the symbol in his head would cause his inner energy to circulate endlessly, generating a huge amount.
Unfortunately, he was disappointed as nothing happened.
He always thought that this was possibly the Art of Talismanic.
In the evening, he arrived at a small town, the Town of Golden Crow.
With no matters he needed to attend to, he was in no rush to return. He entered the town in a leisurely pace. Reaching the best inn in town, he asked for a small courtyard.
Night descended as the streets lit up. He purchased some vermillion and proceeded to the best restaurant in town — Domain of Greatness.
With a window view on the third floor, he started observing people. He occasionally sipped on some wine and downed some snacks.
Some people seemed to be in a hurry, while others were taking their time. Some bored, others having the time of their lives. Seeing all the people living their everyday lives made Chu Li feel extremely relaxed.
Although he left the temple and stepped back into civilization, he was still living an unordinary life.
Living in the Imperial Residence, he usually spent his time in the Glory’s Will Courtyard to train and read. He rarely visited the Sky Inn and had never been to the New Moon Brothel. It was as if he had nothing to do with the bustling Chong Ming Town at all.
He poured his heart into martial arts, craving for more power. Even though he was rank two now, he felt there still was not any time to enjoy. On top of him was Prince An and the Emperor, he couldn’t do as he wished.
All the people around him are martial artists, even the ones who sold food in small stalls on the street. That was how common martial arts was.
He noticed three women with magnificent bodies wearing green gowns coming from one side of the street. They glanced up to him, and entered the restaurant.
The girls were wearing face veils. They took small, gentle steps. Nobody could see their faces, but they seemed to be beauties whom every guy would dream of.
They stepped onto the third floor and sat at a table not far away from Chu Li’s table, Xiao Er passionately served them, the women that ordered dishes have a very gently and soft voice.
They ascended to the third floor and seated themselves on a table not far from Chu Li’s. Xiao Er served them with booming enthusiasm. The girl who ordered was soft spoken with a gentle voice.
Everyone present kept on glancing at the three beauties. Even though they had veils on, they would have to take it off to eat. Everyone wanted to see how they looked like, if they were actual beauties.