Chapter 28 – Su Ning: I Know You're All Very Tough

Su Ning had no idea what was going on inside the heads of the three fallen creatures.

He assumed that, being proud and haughty by nature, they wouldn't submit so easily.

Little did he know — all three of them had already caved, at least on the inside.

They had eaten well, drunk well, and there was even a little food left over.

Su Ning glanced over at the three fallen creatures.

Their eyes immediately lit up with barely concealed hope.

Here it comes… here it comes…

Finally.

Just say the word.

We'll follow you without question.

Please, just say something.

They waited eagerly for Su Ning to speak.

This was their chance.

But!

Su Ning merely glanced at them and sighed. "Ah… I was thinking of inviting you all to share a bite, but knowing your temperament, you'd probably look down on it. You'd likely see it as an insult to your dignity… Never mind, never mind. I won't make that mistake."

He let out a soft sigh, then added, "I do hope the three of you come to your senses soon. Going without food in this world — you really can starve to death, you know."

With that, Su Ning picked up his tray and walked away.

The three fallen creatures were completely dumbstruck.

They had thought… this was their moment.

All Su Ning had to do was offer them a way out. They'd put on a show of reluctance, then gracefully accept — and everyone would be happy.

But instead, Su Ning had said that given their proud natures, they'd surely look down on the offer — that inviting them to eat would be an insult?

This was a masterclass in flattery-as-a-trap. He'd placed them on such a high pedestal that they couldn't possibly climb down without losing face.

He had completely boxed them in.

The three fallen creatures were on the verge of tears.

You never even asked us. How do you know we wouldn't dare speak up? How do you know we'd never agree? And why does accepting food have to be an insult?

We don't think it's an insult at all…

Please, go ahead and "insult" us.

We're absolutely starving. It's been two or three meals now.

The three fallen creatures simply couldn't bring themselves to swallow their pride and give in.

Su Ning, of course, had no idea what was going through their minds.

Nor did he particularly care.

Truth be told, he only found the three demonic beasts amusing to look at — keeping them around might be entertaining, nothing more.

He wasn't desperate for them to submit.

If they truly chose defiance unto death…

Well, there was nothing Su Ning could do about that.

In this world, death by another's hand could be prevented — but a creature determined to die by its own will? There was no cure for that.

He tossed the leftover scraps to the chickens in the coop.

Washed the dishes.

Then Su Ning walked out to the fields, settled cross-legged on a large flat stone in the middle of the plot, and began cultivating as he faced the morning sun.

"This Cultivation Technique still doesn't have a name, does it?" Su Ning always forgot what the technique was called — because it had no name to begin with. It had been created by the Nine Great Saints only after they arrived in the Immortal Realm.

He had tried to give it a name before… but he could never remember what he'd come up with. After a while, he'd forget entirely.

"Forget it… I can't be bothered. It's just a technique. From now on, let's call it the Nameless Heaven Art."

Su Ning faced the rising sun and began circulating the technique.

His speed had been improving steadily.

It no longer took three hours.

He could now complete two full Circulation Cycles in a single morning.

With each completed cycle, his body underwent a qualitative transformation.

Blood, qi, sinew, bone…

A complete rebirth!

"Hmm… I think I've noticed something…"

During the second Circulation Cycle, as Su Ning drove his inner force forward, he sensed something unusual within his body.

Something resembling inert matter.

It lay dormant within his meridians and blood vessels, utterly inactive.

Like sticky putty clinging to everything it touched.

This inert matter was scattered throughout his entire body.

Whenever his inner force passed through it, it got "stuck" — like a tiger mired in mud, its movement sluggish and labored.

"Is this… the culprit behind why my circulation speed can't go any faster?" Su Ning wondered.

Every time his inner force reached one of these spots, it took a long time to push through.

"If I could scrape away this inert matter, would my speed improve?"

Su Ning's eyes lit up.

If he could increase the speed at which the technique circulated, that would in turn accelerate his own growth in strength.

What Su Ning hadn't even noticed was that, without realizing it, he had evolved from a passive cultivator who simply followed instructions by rote into someone who could think for himself.

That was a tremendous step forward.

It meant that as he walked further down the path of cultivation, he was beginning to draw his own conclusions from experience.

He had become a true cultivator.

"But how do I clear away this inert matter?" Su Ning pondered.

"A hundred thoughts are worth less than one attempt!" He couldn't figure it out through reasoning alone.

He lacked the experience.

So he would try through action.

Su Ning closed his eyes.

He circulated the qi within his body — but this time, instead of following the usual route, he directed it toward the deposits of inert matter.

Qi was a part of his body.

Like his hands and feet.

Through it, he could sense the internal state of his body to some degree.

Of course… Su Ning was still far from being able to achieve true inner vision.

He could only feel things vaguely.

His qi sank into the inert matter lodged within his blood vessels.

He used his qi to envelop the inert matter and tried to dislodge it.

But the inert matter clung like a parasite to the bone — pressed tightly against his body as if it were a natural part of him.

Immovable.

"It's so hard to budge — I can't even shift it a little… solid as a rock!" Su Ning sighed.

But he didn't give up.

If it were easy to remove, the flow of qi would have flushed it away long ago. How else could it have persisted this long?

He increased the output of his qi.

If he couldn't dislodge it as a whole, he'd work from the base.

Su Ning located the point where the inert matter adhered to his body.

It was firmly attached.

He used his qi to try cutting and severing it.

Still hard as iron. The force of his qi against it was like a gentle breeze — seemingly without effect.

Su Ning struggled for the better part of the morning without managing to separate even a single fragment of inert matter.

"Can this stuff even be removed?"

"Is it innate? Something that exists alongside every cultivator?"

"I'll ask the Nine Great Saints about it at lunch."

He had been pushing with everything he had, to no avail, and was just about to give up — when the inert matter suddenly… separated, pulled free by the full force of his qi.

It detached from his body.

Whoosh.

Just a tiny fragment.

"Oh… it worked!" Su Ning was overjoyed.

He immediately focused all his concentration and used his qi to guide the fragment of inert matter through his meridians toward his intestines.

He intended to expel it from his body through the natural function of the large intestine.

The process was enormously complex.

The human body was complicated to begin with.

And it took no small amount of time.

One hour…

For that tiny scrap of inert matter, it took him a full hour to transport it to the processing point.

By the end, Su Ning was exhausted.

Drenched in sweat.

But what delighted him was this: once that small piece of inert matter had been cleared, when he circulated his qi through that spot again, it flowed completely unobstructed.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

But his entire body felt more agile — as if it had loosened up by a whole degree.

If he ran the technique again right now, the time required would surely be shorter.

"Just clearing out that tiny bit of inert matter already made this much difference. If I cleared it all out — what would that be like? Would I eventually be able to complete a full Circulation Cycle in just a minute?"

"And my body's agility… would it become swift as lightning?"

Su Ning was excited.

This was a monumental discovery.

This unexpected windfall filled him with joy.

It seemed there was yet another new path to advancing his cultivation.

He took stock of his body — it really did feel more agile.

His strength had increased as well.

He was very satisfied.

He decided not to continue cultivating for now, and looked up at the sky.

"Time for lunch. I wonder what those three demonic beasts have decided…"

"Forget it… I won't think about them. Let things take their natural course."