After about half an hour, the aroma began to waft through the air. Just then, a child ran over, squatted down in front of Lu Xuan, staring intently at the soup in his earthenware pot, swallowing hard. It was the same child who had called him "bandit" earlier.
"Want some?"
"Hmm..." The child nodded, his eyes wide.
"Then go get a bowl. I only have one bowl."
The little boy dashed off to find a bowl. Lu Xuan, however, calmly served himself a bowl first.
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Chapter 182 I want that gun (Third update, please subscribe)
The Miao people became polite to Lu Xuan again. This was because Lu Xuan had a bag of salt on him. Salt was extremely scarce in the Miao village. Most of their furs and mountain products had to be traded for salt.
He extracted this salt from a salt mine he stumbled upon deep in the mountains. However, the place was too far from any village, and the terrain was treacherous; only someone with his skills could mine it.
Seeing that the villagers found him unusual, Lu Xuan casually gave the bag of salt to the old chieftain. Instantly, he went from a stranger to a friend of the village. The old chieftain immediately arranged for him to stay in an empty bamboo house and even provided him with a quilt.
Lu Xuan casually gave the old village chief a few more hides he had on him. This further increased his popularity with the village chief. When Lu Xuan woke up the next day, he was already dressed in Miao ethnic clothing. A Miao boy who called him "brother" was also with him.
The boy's name was Rongbao Yixiao, a typical Miao name. He spoke Mandarin quite well. In fact, many people in the Miao village spoke Mandarin well, which proved that they were frequently in contact with the outside world. Lu Xuan wasn't in a hurry to leave and planned to stay here for a while. He hadn't been living a secluded life for some time and needed to readjust.
Since Rong Baoyi ate his stewed meat, his relationship with him has become much closer. In addition, Lu Xuan is generous and often manages to get all sorts of rare wild game to treat him to meals. Naturally, the child is close to him and often runs over to his place.
Life in the village was simple. Everyone worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. They tended some of the mountain land and hunted. Lu Xuan naturally took on the role of a hunter again. To be honest, he also started as a hunter in his previous world. But that was too unrealistic; he never actually lived a single day as a real hunter. He was always hunting Khans or Emperors. This time, he was finally living the life of a real hunter.
That day, Lu Xuan was meditating at home. This was something he did every day: consolidating his cultivation and trying to take it a step further.
The Ape Strike Technique has only three levels, and he has already mastered the first level, the Small Cycle. A vital energy cycle has formed in his abdomen's Qi Sea, allowing him to constantly connect with the surrounding天地元气 (heaven and earth vital energy) to maintain his own state.
The second layer is the Great Circulation. This involves expanding the circulation of vital energy from the Qi Sea to the entire body, clearing the meridians, but not only the meridians. According to the theory of the Ape Strike Technique, after the Great Circulation is completed, every part of the body—meridians, muscles, and skin—is included within the circulation. At this point, there are no weaknesses left in the body. Every movement can draw upon the vital energy of heaven and earth. Only then can one truly achieve the state of immortal cultivation. However, at Lu Xuan's current progress, the Great Circulation is a long way off.
As for the third level, which involves drawing in the essence of the sun and moon, there aren't many changes in technique. The difficulty lies in the fact that Lu Xuan's own body cannot withstand the essence of the sun and moon.
Regarding this, Lu Xuan, who was well-versed in various classical texts, actually had a guess. Although those texts were mostly theoretical, they still gave him some guidance. Lu Xuan believed that it wasn't his physical body that couldn't withstand it, but rather his soul. After all, when he made his attempt...
It felt like being burned by fire or in an icy hell. But afterwards, my body wasn't burned or frostbitten. This indicates that the pain or injury didn't simply originate from the physical body, but rather corresponded to a deeper level of the soul.
The frustrating thing was that the Ape Strike Technique didn't include any methods for cultivating the soul. Lu Xuan couldn't even draw qi into his body before, let alone cultivate his soul. He did find quite a few methods for cultivating the soul in Taoist classics. They generally focused on visualization techniques. You choose a certain image and visualize it in your mind... Lu Xuan tried dozens of them... but none of them worked.
He didn't know if it was the wrong pattern he chose, or the wrong method of visualization. In any case, he didn't feel any change in himself. He still couldn't withstand the essence of the sun and moon. Helpless, he could only temporarily abandon the cultivation method of the soul and focus on the cultivation of physical energy.
When Lu Xuan finished his cultivation and opened his eyes, he saw Rong Baoyi standing in front of him, staring at him.
"Big brother, what are you doing?"
"Practice your skills."
"Practicing martial arts, like the kind you read about in folk tales?"
"almost."
"Can you scale walls and rooftops?"
"Barely acceptable."
"You're lying, I've never seen it before."
"Hehe." Lu Xuan chuckled lightly, offering no explanation. Instead, he reached out and twisted his ear.
"Why are you here instead of going up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs?"
"We're not going today. A merchant has arrived. Everyone's gone to exchange goods. Go check it out, there are lots of good stuff."
"Merchants?" Lu Xuan's tone was slightly delighted. Finally, he'd met some outsiders. He'd been staying here for half a month. He roughly knew that this era was during the warlord era of the Republic of China. But no one knew the exact timeframe. The people in the village were mostly uneducated; very few could read. Even their commercial activities were limited to barter. Lu Xuan had long since given up on relying on them.
He got up and followed Rong Baoyi outside. Sure enough, there was a group of merchants who had set up a row of containers in the village. Various kinds of salt, ironware, and some small items such as mirrors were displayed in a row that was about ten meters long.
However, when Lu Xuan saw the leader of the merchants, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
The merchants' group was led by three men. One was a burly man with a face full of scars and two fierce marks. He wore a turban, had a full beard, and a slightly unrestrained smile. A revolver was tucked into his belt, exposed, clearly indicating a man who acted without restraint.
The other was a refined young man in a long robe. He wore glasses and had a friendly smile on his face. He perfectly embodied the role of a merchant guild leader. He gave off a warm and welcoming feeling at first glance.
However, Lu Xuan saw deeper. Beneath this refined and amiable exterior, this man possessed a hidden aura: strength, domineering presence, and shrewdness. That restrained yet powerful aura was something no small mountain merchant leader could possess.
The third was a woman. She wore a magnificent black cloak over a smart, tailored outfit. Although she wore a smile, it was slightly stiff, giving off an aura of unapproachability. When Lu Xuan first saw her face, he was even momentarily stunned. It really was... somewhat similar.
As Lu Xuan was observing the crowd, a slight commotion broke out. A man from the Miao village reached out and pulled the revolver from the rough-looking man. This enraged the rough-looking man. Immediately afterward, the bespectacled leader stepped in to smooth things over.
"Gentlemen, these are also the mountain goods we're exchanging for: American-made revolvers. The grips are even made of ivory. Using these to hunt birds and rabbits would be a piece of cake. Come, come, take a look."
“We don’t want guns, we want salt,” the Miao man said.
"Yes, we want salt." The other Miao people chimed in.
"Alright, alright, salt. Put it all out for me." He said, and was about to put the gun away. At this moment, Lu Xuan stepped forward.
"I want that gun."
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Chapter 183 Let's eat first, then talk business (Fourth update, please subscribe)
Lu Xuan had become well-acquainted with the villagers, and several Miao people had even greeted him. They basically considered him one of their own. Plus, he was dressed in Miao clothing, so the merchants didn't notice anything amiss.