Chapter 238- Ice
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Nora
Ouyang Shuo walked out of the Confucius Temple and entered the Martial Temple at the other end.
The design of the Martial Temple was similar to the Confucius Temple. It paid respects to martial artists and generals. It had Jiang Ziya as the saint, Zhangliang as the secondary saint, along with 10 sages and 72 generals.
Shanhai City's Shi Wanshui was included as one of the 72 generals. As E’Lai was from a dynasty too long ago, he wasn't included, which was a pity.
Ouyang Shuo took out his last incense pill. A system notification sounded in his ear.
"System Notification: Found that player Qiyue Wuyi has an incense pill, will you use it?"
"Use it!"
With a ‘Shua’ sound, the pill turned into a while light and entered the General statue.
"System Notification: Incense pill has enriched General Statue. Martial Temple birthed a speciality—Martial Arts (Raises chance of generals breaking bottlenecks by 30%)."
This new specialty was a huge blessing for generals like Sun Tengjiao and Zhao Sihu, who were stuck at the basic general level. Ouyang Shuo was looking forward to them breaking the bottleneck one by one.
Ouyang Shuo didn't expect that the five incense pills that Di Xin gave him would be so effective, and it made him feel very thankful.
After dinner, Ouyang Shuo called all the girls in the back courtyard, including Siqin and Siqi. He looked at Yingyu, “Yu'er, after the Financial Department sets up the Industry Division, the shops and inns under the department will be under the Lord's Manor." The shops and inns were all businesses that lost money; Ouyang Shuo taking them up helped to show the magnanimity of the Lord's Manor.
Although Yingyu felt that it was weird, she nodded in reply.
During the military and governance meeting, Ouyang Shuo's criticism was something that Yingyu felt bad about. She wanted to make good work of the industrial businesses. Naturally, not having the shops and inns was good.
Ouyang Shuo looked at all the girls and said, “As the businesses under the Lord's Manor increase and the internal storeroom becomes more and more full, it will get busier and busier. Hence, we have to set up rules to regulate the matters here. I've decided to set up the Housekeeping Division, which will purely be in charge of the internal matters of the Lord's Manor."
Ouyang Shuo's point naturally garnered the agreement of everyone. As the organization structure of Shanhai City matured, the internal affairs of the Lord's Manor didn't seem structured. Yingyu had brought up this point to Ouyang Shuo before.
Ouyang Shuo looked at Song Jia and laughed, “The Housekeeping Division is its own organization and focuses purely on the Lord's Manor and nothing else. As for the position of secretary, are you okay with it?"
Song Jia blushed, as she heard the hidden meaning in his words. Him asking her to be the Housekeeping Secretary was similar to accepting her as the female owner of the Lord's Manor.
Actually, these matters were all hidden and kept quiet, but now Ouyang Shuo had placed it in the open. Obviously, it made her feel embarrassed.
"Okay!" Song Jia didn't hesitate much and agreed.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. He admired this the part of Song Jia. Once she regarded Ouyang Shuo as her husband, she wasn't afraid of others gossiping, “Apart from the Secretary, there will be a manager and two assistants. The manager shall be Zisu, while Siqin and Siqi will be the assistants.”
"Thank you, my lord!" Zisu and the other two kneeled and thanked Ouyang Shuo.
As she had just established the Dongli Sword Sect, Song Jia didn't have much time to bother with the Lord's Manor duties. Hence, the manager actually did most of the work. Zisu felt very emotional and thankful to receive such an important role.
It was unknown how Banxia felt, as she stood behind Song Jia and watched her few sisters gain such important roles. If she didn't choose to practice martial arts, she would also have a place in the Housekeeping Division.
"My lord, there's still a week till the mid-autumn festival. Do you have anything in mind?" asked Zisu, as she made use of this chance.
Ouyang Shuo froze, he didn't expect it to be mid-autumn so quickly. As a traditional Chinese festival, it was very important. It was a time when you reunited with your family.
"I don't have any requests, just do so as usual," Suddenly, Ouyang Shuo felt a little downhearted.
"Yes, my lord!" Zisu nodded.
"Disperse!" Everyone went off to do their own things, while Ouyang Shuo returned to his room.
Ouyang Shuo sat cross legged on the bed and took out the cooling bead. He placed it in his palm and closed his eyes. Then, he started to cultivate. He activated the internal strength in his meridians and rotated them in accordance with the . He started to slowly rotate it.
Right at that moment, cooling jets of air spread out from the palm of his hand. It spread into his meridians. After the stimulation of the cold air from the bead, the golden internal strength seemed to rotate a lot faster.
Furthermore, the calming effect of the cold air seemed to pacify the devil bloodline. It didn't affect his rotations any longer.
A full two months had passed since he had cultivated the technique to the 3rd layer. The upper limit of the 3rd layer was 5 thousand points, five times that of the 2nd layer.
During this time, Ouyang Shuo had diligently read the Buddhist scriptures. As such, cultivation had become much easier for him. The scriptures helped and made the clearer to him. It allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of it.
When he started cultivating this technique, he had totally relied on the cultivation knowledge that Gaia had placed in his head. He learned based on filling the blanks.
As he gained more knowledge in regards to Taoism, he tried to look at the cultivation technique in a new way. Slowly, he gained his own understandings, which made cultivation different.
In his dantian, the strands of internal strength had coiled up together, and they flowed everywhere like a haze. It looked very illusionary.
Till date, Ouyang Shuo could rotate for seven cycles. Each cycle would give him 8 points of internal strength. After he gained the cooling bead, his cultivation became quicker. The bead allowed him to rotate nine cycles.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo could gain 72 internal strength points a day. With this speed, he could soon train the to the 4th layer.
From this, one could see the importance of the cultivation path. External tools to help cultivation were also important. One small little cooling bead could help him a lot.
Unfortunately, one could only chance upon such a treasure.
Early in the morning, Ouyang Shuo started to practice.
To not affect the sleep of Bing'er, Ouyang Shuo changed his practice area to an empty area in the backyard garden. To help in his Bajiquan practice, he also placed some dummies there.
Ever since Song Jia had come, two people would practice in the back garden.
Song Jia was a princess in real life, but there was a deep motivation and viciousness in her bones. Her motivation to practice was not less than someone like Ouyang Shuo.
The back garden in the early morning was a place filled with birds and the scent of flowers. When one stepped on the ground, the fresh smell of the grass and flowers would fill one’s nose. One had to say, Gaia was amazing, this virtual environment was the same as real life.
The two of them greeted each other and walked beside one another. Then, they started their practice.
As he started to get deeper into the , the internal strength brought out an external strength. His body quality improved day after day, be it boxing or spearmanship, they all grew better and better.
Ouyang Shuo's fast learning ability started to show in his training.
Be it Bajiquan or the Yang Family spearmanship, they all improved at a tremendous speed. His Bajiquan had already reached the ‘Perform with ease’ level, and the Yang Family spearmanship had reached the ‘Become proficient’ level.
Ouyang Shuo's current strength was comparable to Lin Yi’s.
The only regret would be that he hadn't found a suitable spear. The elite iron spear in his hand felt light. He felt like he couldn't exert any power with it.
Especially the normal wooden pole. It lacked any complicated crafting processes that could allow it to handle Ouyang Shuo's rotation of his internal strength.
If he imbued his internal strength into the spear, there would be an obvious buzzing noise. Then, the wood patterns and structure of the pole would break.
Helplessly, Ouyang Shuo could only give up on using his internal strength on the spear for now, as he couldn't change a spear every time he trained.
Although Shanhai City was prosperous, it couldn't afford such an expenditure.
After he finished his training, Ouyang Shuo was sweaty, and his shirt was soaked. He took a towel by the wooden rack and wiped off the sweat on his face.
On the other side, Song Jia was still practicing her sword. She was getting better and better with the Yuenu sword technique.
A breeze blew past, which blew a small leaf up. Then, it drifted in the air, just nice hitting the sword in Song Jia's hand.
The exquisite iron sword seemed to have merged with the air itself; it did not face any restrictions, as it moved through the air. He looked at the leaf again. Her sword had already cut the leaf into two like it was originally two pieces. Upon closer infection, the cut was covered in frost, which was an effect of the .
Both males and females could cultivate this technique, but different sexes would result in different results. Song Jia's internal strength had an ice effect. If she trained it to its extreme, the ice could imbue itself into one's heart and bones.
Compared to the iron spear, the iron sword in her hand could handle much more internal strength. Hence, Song Jia could use it without thinking.
“Pa pa pa!” Ouyang Shuo clapped in awe, “Good sword skill!"
Song Jia kept her sword and laughed, “How is it? I'm good, right?"
"Sect Leader Song's sword technique is too good. I'm envious." Ouyang Shuo didn't hold back with his compliments.
Song Jia was like a proud peacock. She giggled as she sheathed her sword. After she nodded at Ouyang Shuo, she turned around with style and the aura of a heroine.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head in amusement. He picked up his spear and returned to the back courtyard. Zisu had ordered someone to prepare cold water for Ouyang Shuo to bathe and wash up.