Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

Late at night, around 9 PM.

Chen Ping stood in the center of the courtyard, his chest still heaving.

The back of his light blue shirt was soaked with sweat, and when the cold wind blew, it felt as cold as a damp cloth against his skin.

He stared at the two lines of text in front of his retina.

It's not surprising that he entered the Cloud Piercing Climbing Technique.

But as he walked, Chen Ping turned and sat down at the stone table, the moonlight making the tabletop appear white.

He looked down at his feet. He had been here for so long, walking every day, but the control panel had never reacted.

Tonight, while practicing the Cloud Piercing Leap, I deliberately incorporated the power generation method into my footwork, and surprisingly, I unlocked a new skill.

The reasoning is actually not difficult to understand.

The same goes for moving things. When I first came to the dock, I was exhausted every day carrying sacks, but the panels never moved at all.

It wasn't until Liu Laoguo taught him the method of releasing force, bending his knees and sinking his waist, and lowering his breath, that the panel popped up after he repeated it hundreds of times in the correct way.

It's not about doing this, it's about doing this in the right way.

Chen Ping suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the courtyard, his mind churning with thoughts.

What about breathing? Standing? Even... eating and sleeping?

If we can find the right way to break free from the shackles of instinct, can all our daily actions be transformed into skills that can be upgraded indefinitely?

There may be more than one way to do it, but as long as you find one, you can break the shackles and turn this most basic action into a skill.

Without further thought, he immediately began the verification process.

He stood in a corner of the courtyard, holding his breath and recalling the power exerted by the Cloud Piercing Leap. He pushed off the ground with the ball of his foot, and his waist and hips followed suit, allowing his qi and blood to flow along his meridians.

Take the first step... the second step... the third step.

He walked each step with extreme deliberation, strictly controlling his muscles and blood circulation.

As I landed on the third step, a line of small text appeared before my retina as expected:

Walking Proficiency +1

Current progress: Beginner 2/100

Chen Ping's heart skipped a beat: "It really works!"

His guess was confirmed, and he began to walk around the courtyard wall, round and round, his steps deliberate and steady.

At first, I was a bit stiff, my waist and hips weren't moving smoothly, and I couldn't quite get the angle of my feet landing right. But as I walked, it gradually became smoother.

The panel pops up a prompt every three steps, at a steady pace.

However, after walking about thirty steps, Chen Ping suddenly felt a strong hunger in his stomach.

This feeling of hunger was much stronger than when I was walking normally.

He immediately realized that deliberately practicing the power exertion method of the Cloud Piercing Leap, with each step mobilizing the flow of qi and blood, resulted in a qi and blood consumption far exceeding that of ordinary, haphazard walking.

He didn't stop; he gritted his teeth and continued.

Fifty times, seventy times...

The hunger grew stronger and stronger, like fire burning in my stomach.

Chen Ping's leg muscles began to ache, and his calves were cramping slightly, but he didn't stop walking.

Eighty times, ninety times, ninety-nine times...

The hundredth time my foot landed, my whole body jolted.

A surge of scalding warmth rose from the soles of my feet, traveled down my spine to the back of my head, and made my scalp tingle.

[Skill: Walking]

Walking Proficiency +1

Current progress: Minor completion (1/500)

[Effect: Makes walking steady, allows for long journeys without fatigue, and increases walking speed by two]

The joints of my legs became more coordinated, as if something had quietly opened up the connection between my ankles, knees, and hips.

Chen Ping took a few steps casually, without needing to consciously control his pace. His speed was about 20% faster than before, and his landing was more stable.

But immediately afterward, before the joy of the breakthrough had even faded, a strong sense of weakness swept over him like a tsunami.

Chen Ping's legs suddenly went weak, and he almost knelt down.

The hunger pangs in his stomach made his vision blur, and a fine layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

He briefly assessed his internal condition and was horrified to discover that in just five hundred repetitions, his vital energy and blood had decreased by nearly 30%.

He didn't dare to delay, staggered into the kitchen, and by the moonlight streaming in from the window, he took out half a piece of pickled fish from the stove. The fish still had the rough texture of salt grains on it.

The salty, fishy flesh exploded in my mouth and fell into my stomach.

About five minutes later, the burning hunger subsided slightly.

Chen Ping closed his eyes and felt his energy and blood recover by about 30%, but his limbs still felt weak and sore.

"Relying solely on ordinary food is too slow to replenish nutrients."

Chen Ping frowned, took out a bottle of Blood Qi Powder, poured out twice the usual amount, and drank it.

The medicine quickly dissolved in his stomach, and a surge of hot, warm current rose suddenly from his dantian, flowing rapidly through his blood vessels to his limbs.

After about half a cup of tea, the weakness dissipated, and his legs regained their strength.

Chen Ping stretched his legs and his gaze fell on the panel showing "Small Success 1/500".

"It takes 500 practice sessions to go from minor to mastery, and the consumption of qi and blood will likely be even greater..."

"But this skill is so useful; I need to figure out its consumption pattern tonight!"

He stood up and started walking around the yard again.

After achieving a minor success, my steps became lighter and more brisk, and my footsteps on the bluestone slabs felt springy, while the panel still bounced rhythmically.

But this time, my energy was depleted much faster than before. After only two hundred repetitions, that familiar feeling of hunger resurfaced, and it came even faster than before.

Chen Ping gritted his teeth and continued.

Two hundred times, three hundred times...

My legs began to tremble slightly uncontrollably, and each time I lifted my leg, it felt heavy and stiff, as if I were carrying a soaking wet sack.

Four hundred times, four hundred and fifty times, four hundred and ninety-nine times...

Upon landing for the five hundredth time, a surge of intense heat rose suddenly from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his foot, far more powerful than the last time, as if something had exploded between his flesh and bones.

[Skill: Walking]

Walking Proficiency +1

Current progress: Mastery (1/1000)

[Effects: Makes walking steady, allows for long distances without fatigue, increases walking speed by three times, and makes footsteps lighter]

Chen Ping tried taking two steps.

Wearing coarse cloth shoes, stepping on the bluestone slabs, there was almost no sound when the shoes landed, only a very slight rustling of the fabric, like a cat's paws stepping on damp soil.

He paused for a moment.

The sound of footsteps becomes lighter.

The significance of this for night travel is self-evident.

But this time the weakness was even more intense than before; my legs went weak and a churning sensation surged through my stomach.

He could only lean against the rough wall and stagger back to the kitchen, trembling as he used up all the blood-purifying powder.

He grabbed two dry, hard steamed buns and a piece of raw cured meat, and swallowed them down with cold water.

He could feel that his blood and energy consumption had increased by about 10% this time.

He grabbed two dry, hard steamed buns and a piece of raw cured meat, and swallowed them down with cold water.

The cured meat was raw, and when I chewed it, it tasted fishy and salty. When I rinsed it with cold water, the alternating hot and cold sensation in my stomach was very uncomfortable.

After an incense stick's time, his blood and energy had finally recovered by about 70-80%, and the feeling of near-death weakness slowly subsided.

Chen Ping slumped down beside the stone table in the courtyard, panting heavily, sweat dripping onto the stone slab.

He looked down at the numbers on the panel and mentally reviewed them.

The higher the realm, the greater the consumption of vital energy; each breakthrough feels like being completely drained.

But the benefits of walking are tangible: a 30% increase in walking speed and the ability to land silently.

It only consumes his vital energy, which is hardly a price for him.

The eastern horizon was already tinged with a pale gray, fish-belly white, which clearly outlined the shape of the eaves.

It's almost dawn.

Chen Ping stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, pushed open the courtyard gate, and walked into the empty street in the early morning.

The town of Qingkou was deserted, and the stone-paved road still carried the chill of the night. Only the occasional crowing of a rooster echoed through the thin mist in the distance.

He took a step, pushing off with the balls of his feet and using his waist and hips to move, his footsteps landing almost silently.

My pace was much faster than yesterday, and the cool morning breeze brushed past my ears.

Walking Proficiency +1

Current progress: Mastery (2/1000)

The panel bounced steadily.

Chen Ping raised his head and looked at the blacksmith shop, which was gradually emerging from the morning mist.

The fire in the stove hasn't been lit yet.

But he already knew the answer to that question.