After nearly a month of rest, Ye Wen’s injuries had fully healed, with absolutely no lingering effects. During this time, in addition to recuperating, he supervised the work of the artisans, occasionally offering his own suggestions.

Things like the fire pits and heating systems within the houses—all of those stemmed from his designs.

The impetus for creating these necessities arose from the realization that heating during winter at this time relied heavily on braziers, a fact Ye Wen had confirmed during conversations with the craftsmen.

The location of Shushan, once winter arrived, while not brutally cold, would still see snow. Furthermore, the spot they had chosen was halfway up the mountainside; while pleasantly cool in the summer, relying solely on fire pits in the winter would likely prove quite uncomfortable.

Therefore, Ye Wen was willing to spend extra silver to prepare these basic winterizing implements—if they waited until winter to prepare them, the silver they possessed would likely be far less abundant than it was now, leading to worries about running out of funds.

So, it was better to utilize the current surplus of money to get everything necessary done. In Ye Wen’s view, as long as he continued to live there, these things would need to be installed eventually; after all, he had no desire to freeze in the coming winter. Even from watching television in his previous life, he could tell the heating efficacy of mere braziers was quite poor.

Sitting on the huokang—the heated brick bed he had personally designed to connect almost the entire main house—Ye Wen calmed his mind, concentrating intensely as he carefully guided the internal energy within his body, slowly directing it towards his fingertips.

During these past days, he had gleaned from his fragmented memories that the brother and sister duo he was now among had never practiced any profound internal arts; they only knew some rudimentary breathing and circulation techniques. And even those meager methods were something the fifth-generation Sect Master—their grandmaster—had acquired from a notorious bandit during a trip down the mountain.

Although the grandmaster had managed to kill the bandit without losing his own life, bringing a sum of money and a set of introductory circulation mantras to the Shushan Sect, the grandmaster himself suffered severe internal injuries from the encounter and passed away shortly thereafter.

This set of mantras merely facilitated a basic circulation within the body, its primary function being to cultivate sensory awareness of qi and strengthen the physique—it was absolutely not a cultivation method intended for combat. Ye Wen had been practicing almost since childhood, and even at twenty years old, he only possessed a hazy sense of qi; the internal energy within him was pitifully weak. If Ye Wen’s soul hadn't endured the trials of transmigration and partially fused with the lingering spirit of the ‘Sect Master Ye,’ granting him much stronger mental power than the average person, he likely wouldn't even be able to command such feeble neili.

Even so, Ye Wen was immensely pleased. In his original world, internal energy was a thing of legend, known to many only by name. Who would have thought that upon transmigration, he would instantly inherit the fruits of nearly twenty years of someone else’s arduous cultivation? What could he possibly be dissatisfied with?

As for the internal energy seeming a bit weak—so weak it wasn't even enough for combat—these were details he ignored. In his mind, as long as he could use the ring to summon an internal cultivation manual, all problems would be solved.

“I just wonder if this thing can summon a cultivation manual.”

Glancing at the index finger of his right hand, Ye Wen refocused on manipulating the internal energy within his body. Because the neili was faint, he had to concentrate fully just to ensure its smooth passage, especially since the meridian route he was currently taking was one he hadn't used much before; the channels felt stiff and blocked, making the flow difficult.

“Maybe if I practice until it’s more familiar, I can coax out some profound skill…”

Such an admittedly dubious thought flashed through his mind. Ye Wen gave a wry smile, dismissed it, and continued to guide the energy forward.

This weak stream of internal energy moved relatively smoothly up to his shoulder, but the journey toward the palm became increasingly difficult. This was entirely related to Ye Wen’s shallow cultivation and his lack of knowledge regarding the methods used to channel internal force into the palm for combat; thus, the meridians in his arm remained largely unblocked. These were considered basic requirements in many major sects, clearly illustrating just how weak the Shushan Sect truly was.

However, since many martial arts emphasize the channeling of force and power, the flow of neili slowed down upon reaching this area, but generally, there were no major issues. Things became much more troublesome once the energy reached his palm.

Ye Wen’s ring was worn on his right index finger, meaning he had to deliver the neiqi to that finger to transfer it into the band. Along this path were several blocked meridians he needed to force open himself, necessitating another bout of strenuous exertion and consumption.

By the time he managed to drive the internal power all the way to his finger, Ye Wen was drenched in sweat, and the meager internal energy he possessed was completely depleted.

If not for the ring suddenly sensing the process at the last moment and emitting a powerful attraction that helped Ye Wen successfully open the necessary acupoints, and if he hadn't actually felt the neili flow into the ring, he would surely have believed he had failed.

Immediately afterward, a voice echoed in his mind, confirming his success.

“Absorbing energy. Initiating energy intensity scan… Scan complete…”

The string of sounds was delivered almost instantly. If Ye Wen hadn't listened carefully to discern each word, he might have dismissed it as mere tinnitus. “No wonder I didn’t notice this voice during the first summoning.”

Furthermore, the voice was curt and completely devoid of emotion. Ye Wen found it oddly reminiscent of the synthesized electronic sounds from his own era. Perhaps the ring was just a pure tool, like those electronic products, utterly lacking in sentiment. Its ability to speak was merely a form of prompting, meaning the possibility of building any rapport with the object had vanished completely.

“I thought this was some legendary spiritual treasure; turns out it’s just an inanimate object.”

Holding the booklet that had materialized in his hand, Ye Wen glanced back at the ring. Those few sentences had given him a clearer understanding of the item.

Since he determined the object was an unintelligent, inert thing, he no longer needed to spend effort researching it or worrying that it might be some demonic implement waiting to seize his body should he let his guard down. It appeared to be a device he could use with confidence.

“But if it’s just an inanimate object, by what criteria does it decide which manual to give me?” This was the question that concerned Ye Wen the most.

If the ring distributed manuals entirely based on random chance, then Ye Wen would have to rely on luck for the foreseeable future. While summoning a peerless martial art within a few years would be fortunate, if it didn't happen, he would effectively be wasting time on this object. Luck was ethereal and uncontrollable. If Ye Wen proved unlucky and continuously failed to summon anything truly exceptional (though items worse than what he currently practiced were almost nonexistent), his ultimate achievements might fall short of his expectations, and many goals might become difficult or impossible to reach.

It could be argued that if this ring operated purely on luck, it was an item whose risk level couldn't even be calculated. It might make him instantly rich—summoning a supreme martial art and setting him on the path to becoming a top master. Or, it might completely cap his development—seeing no trace of elite or even top-tier manuals for decades, leaving his cultivation perpetually stuck between second and third rate. Devoting excessive focus to the ring would also sap his motivation to venture out to seek other manuals or improve himself through conventional means.

“In that case, I can’t pin all my hopes on it. Its role should only be as a foundational tool.”

Ye Wen had harbored this exact worry throughout the past month, as the ring was the only thing he could rely on. However, today’s summoning brought an unexpected surprise, resolving some of his recent concerns in part.

“Energy intensity… Since it needs to check energy intensity, it means there is a fixed standard required for setting that standard. That proves this thing doesn’t just hand out any random item to complete the task.”

Ye Wen stroked the ring on his finger and finally drew this conclusion.

“Perhaps the manual the ring gives is determined by referencing the amount of internal energy the user inputs during the summon. The stronger the inputted neili, the better the manual provided?”

This outcome was precisely what Ye Wen most desired. The ring was a completely controllable manual-summoning device, one with a complete tiered structure.

“If that’s the case, I can choose a suitable martial art based exactly on my current strength.” With only one chance per month, he could summon repeatedly when his strength reached a certain level, then select the most suitable manual from the array to continue advancing. Once he hit a bottleneck, he could summon again—a cycle of continuous, endless progress.

“What a wonderful treasure.”

He couldn't help but kiss the ring, delighted by his discovery. However, these were still just his conjectures, not final conclusions. He needed to conduct a confirmation.

The method of confirmation was, naturally, to summon again. According to his theory, this previous summoning wasn't the result of using his full internal power. Before the summon, much of his neili had been consumed clearing meridians and acupoints; most of it was spent on the ‘journey’ to the ring, leaving very little to be absorbed by the artifact.

If his meridians and acupoints had already been cleared, he should receive a better manual than this one—Ye Wen had already seen the title on the cover: Basic Internal Cultivation. The four characters brought a touch of disappointment; his cultivation level had apparently only earned him a foundational manual.

Yet, he wasn't displeased with this manual. If his theory was correct, then one month from now, completing the summon with greater power would yield a better result, and this manual—designed to lay the groundwork, clear the channels, and cultivate basic internal energy—was the most perfectly suited technique for that preparatory stage.

P.S.: I intended to take a short nap this afternoon, but when I opened my eyes, it was already this late…