Days melted into one another, and with the right manual in hand for practice, Ye Wen spent almost all his hours sequestered in his room, diligently cultivating his internal energy.

Perhaps influenced by the Wuxia novels he’d devoured, Ye Wen placed immense importance on the role of Neigong (internal arts). He firmly believed that when comparing mastery of external techniques versus the depth of internal power, the profundity of the latter impacted combat effectiveness far more than flashy moves.

Especially within the martial traditions of the Jin Yong school, the benefits bestowed by truly formidable internal cultivation were simply incomparable to what external arts could offer. Moreover, many exquisite and powerful external techniques required a substantial reserve of internal strength to execute, among the most famous being the manifold supreme skills of the Xiaoyao Sect and the Six Meridian Divine Swords of the Duan family of Dali.

Ye Wen felt that unless he raised his internal energy cultivation to a certain echelon, even if he managed to summon some peerless martial arts, he would likely just stare at them, utterly incapable of using them.

To prevent this scenario, he tirelessly tempered his own meridians, meticulously studying this Quanzhen Xinfa (Complete Truth Heart Method), which wasn't considered profoundly advanced, hoping to become a true master of internal arts in the shortest possible time.

During these days, occasional conversations with Ning Ruxue revealed just how formidable true masters of internal arts were in this world. Especially on Mount Shushan, there was virtually no genuine master of internal cultivation. The martial artists holding sway in this region had at best learned some superficial breathing techniques; fundamentally, what they learned wasn't much deeper than the Tuna (breathing) manual Ye Wen and his junior sister had practiced initially.

It was simply that these people had practiced for longer, so the internal Qi within them was considerably deeper than that of the siblings. Coupled with their wealth of combat experience, they could naturally overwhelm inexperienced and weak youngsters like them.

But things were completely different now. Ye Wen was confident that once he mastered the initial stages of the Quanzhen Xinfa to completion, he would become an upper-tier presence among all the factions on Mount Shushan.

He drew this conclusion entirely from the "deeds" he constantly recalled to bolster his morale by thinking about the masters who had practiced the Quanzhen Xinfa while he was bored.

What boosted his confidence the most was Guo Jing. The Great Hero Guo, after only two years of training the Quanzhen Xinfa with Ma Yu, had already become a reasonably proficient fighter.

Although many said that Great Hero Guo’s aptitude for martial arts was probably demonic-level genius (specific examples were too numerous to list here), achieving that level in two years was purely a testament to his personal talent.

Ye Wen didn't consider himself a fool, and based on recent progress, his own aptitude seemed quite exceptional. At the very least, without any guidance, his progress with the Quanzhen Xinfa had remained consistently rapid, showing marked improvement almost every few days.

“This speed of progress shouldn’t be much slower than Great Hero Guo’s, should it?”

Furthermore, the Tai Chi Fist he learned from the park grandfathers—a technique with significant health-preserving qualities—actually provided considerable assistance to his internal energy training, speeding up his progress even more. As a result, just six months after obtaining the Quanzhen Xinfa, Ye Wen had truly reached the entry level of mastery.

After this long period, even Ning Ruxue, who had initially harbored complaints against Ye Wen for his excessive spending, stopped grumbling much. As the weather grew colder and snowflakes began to fall, the warmth of the heated kang and the heating system made Ning Ruxue realize the true value of these strange items.

Moreover, these devices, which also relied on burning coal for warmth, lacked all the drawbacks of a fire basin—the lethal fumes that could overwhelm one in an instant were safely vented outside through the iron chimney, allowing people to enjoy the warmth without worry.

Because of this, Ning Ruxue hadn't given Ye Wen the cold shoulder lately and even offered smiles from time to time.

Of course, the more significant reason for Ning Ruxue’s improving mood was the Xiaoyao Xinfa (Carefree Heart Method) and a set of potent yet visually appealing techniques, the Yunu Jianfa (Jade Maiden Sword Art), which her martial brother had given her three months prior.

Both of these were, naturally, manuals Ye Wen had ‘summoned’ during this time. Besides the Xiaoyao Xinfa and Yunu Jianfa, he had also summoned the Hengshan Xinfa (Mount Heng Heart Method), a set of saber techniques called the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber Art, and a set called the Grand Ancestor Long Fist, claimed to have been created by Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.

Among these martial arts, the best was arguably the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber Art. Although in countless Wuxia novels this skill was treated as generic fare—so much so that practitioners barely qualified as background extras.

Still, it possessed some renown and name recognition in the Jianghu (though regrettably, it had zero influence in this world). The only thing that annoyed Ye Wen was that this skill was a saber art, yet neither he nor his junior sister practiced with sabers.

Coupled with his own lack of interest in saber techniques, he set the manual aside, continuing to focus on internal arts, and also practiced the Grand Ancestor Long Fist. While this technique was unremarkable, it served well enough as a foundational boxing method for beginners.

Furthermore, Ye Wen was now eagerly hoping to summon a sword technique—even just some introductory one—because he had become intimately familiar with the Three Immortals Sword. To complement this deadly sword art, he needed a commonly used enemy-engaging skill to pair it with.

Otherwise, he couldn't exactly fight with his bare fists, and then suddenly draw his sword to unleash the Three Immortals Sword to end the fight, could he? The very nature of the Three Immortals Sword relied on suddenness to kill; where would he find the time to switch weapons? Yet, the Shu Mountain Sword Art he currently knew was so rough as to be unacceptable.

As for the only sword art he had summoned, the Yunu Jianfa, he felt that a grown man using something called the 'Jade Maiden Sword Art' sounded better than it felt to say. He practiced it roughly but didn't study it closely, reasoning that with the ring in his possession, he wouldn't lack a sword manual for long.

“It would be best to summon a Quanzhen Sword Art, to perfectly complement my internal heart method…”

However, life is full of disappointments. This time, having finally endured until the summoning date, Ye Wen carefully regulated his breathing, hoping to bring his condition to its absolute peak.

He then checked the doors and windows to prevent anyone from discovering his manual, finally locking the door bolt before returning to the kang to perform this summoning.

He took a deep breath, then channeled the internal energy within his body.

After half a year of cultivation, Ye Wen’s Dantian had stored a considerable amount of internal power. Compared to the faint, almost thread-thin flow of weak internal Qi six months ago, the internal energy Ye Wen possessed now was immeasurably greater.

Simultaneously, the intensity of his internal Qi was incomparable to before. Back then, although Ye Wen had some internal power, he couldn't use it in combat; it only served general body-strengthening purposes.

Now, things were vastly different. After studying an orthodox internal art manual, Ye Wen could mobilize his internal energy when engaging an opponent, making his attacks stronger and faster. He could even directly injure enemies with his internal force, inflicting internal wounds instantly.

Moreover, the internal damage inflicted by his current direct palm strikes was slightly different from the internal injuries he sustained half a year ago. Back then, Ye Wen was injured in the organs by an opponent’s palm force. But if the current Ye Wen struck someone with full power now, the victim wouldn't just suffer organ damage; their meridians might even be bruised or destroyed. This, of course, assumed the opponent lacked internal force protection or possessed weak internal energy.

In summary, Ye Wen's internal cultivation now was incomparably superior to what it was six months ago, and his overall power level had advanced by countless tiers.

And this was after only half a year of practice. Despite numerous advantageous conditions, this still demonstrated that Ye Wen’s natural talent was truly enviable.

However, his luck seemed to be merely average.

“What the hell is this? Boss, are you messing with me?”

Looking at the object rolled up like a baton in his hand, this was the first time Ye Wen had summoned a manual in this shape. But these were not what truly concerned him.

After all, regardless of its outward appearance, this thing was still a martial arts manual. As long as he could cultivate it and use it to improve, the appearance could be ignored.

The problem was the five large characters written on it, which left Ye Wen utterly speechless. He even suspected someone was playing a joke on him?

“Shīzi Páoxiāo Dàn (Lion’s Roar Bomb)? How could I summon such a ridiculous thing?”

Staring at the manual in his hand, Ye Wen slowly unfurled it, pinning his hopes on the possibility that the name was merely a coincidence and it wasn't the ‘technique’ he thought it was.

But when he read the introduction—which was simple and almost laughable—his last sliver of hope vanished.

“Damn it, how am I supposed to practice this?”

Ye Wen’s aptitude was indeed exceptional, and his martial arts progress was swift, but for this 'martial art' originating from a comic world, entirely outside his known framework, he was helpless.

He didn't even know how the 'low, deep air' described on it was supposed to transform into an external Qi force capable of attacking others. He reviewed every martial arts story he knew; only Yang Guo's skill, the Sorrowful Sigh Palm, had a vaguely similar effect. But that was a technique based on internal energy, vastly different from this one, which seemed to be entirely centered around emotions like depression and low spirits.

“Crap, I finally summoned a famous supreme skill, but I can’t practice it.”

Flipping through it again and again, he finally had to declare that he couldn't comprehend this supreme technique and gave up on cultivating it.

This summoning confirmed one thing for Ye Wen: besides martial arts manuals that he needed or could temporarily use, the ring might very well summon things that he absolutely couldn't utilize.

“It seems this ring just throws out something it deems appropriate for the energy level expended, without any guarantee that the item fits the user’s needs.” Thinking this, he wondered if, once his cultivation became formidable, it might even summon the training methods of a Jedi Knight.

Because of this incident, however, he became curious about the ring’s ultimate limits: “I wonder what the best manual it can possibly produce would be?”

P.S.: I went out with friends yesterday and fell asleep right after returning, which is why I only posted one chapter. I will make up for the missing chapter.