The Divine Efficacy of Refining Incense

Chapter 24 The Divine Efficacy of Refining Incense (Please add to your favorites and read on)

That night, Alphonse did not intend to use the sleeping acupoint on Tessie.

While the maid was busy making the bed, Alphonse called the silent Tessy outside the door. "When you talked about your dreams, your eyes were shining. Don't think about dying together anymore. Living is better than anything else. If you die, you won't have any dreams anymore. Just stay with me. I'll give you your freedom in the future. Think it through carefully."

Tessie remained silent, and Alphonse, regardless of whether he had listened or not, had made his point clear to him.

If he refuses to listen to advice, then you can't blame anyone but yourself; there are ways to deal with him.

Back in his room, Alphonse couldn't wait to look at the four sticks of Refining Spirit Incense hanging on the windowsill.

After being exposed to the wind and sun for two days, it has completely dried.

The large bag of herbs I brought back couldn't fit on the windowsill to dry, so I had to open the bag to let it air out and decide what to do next morning.

Alphonse took the longsword from the wall and carefully cut the now-dark-colored Refining Incense into small pieces.

They found another box and put the incense sticks away.

Then he took out the incense burner from the cupboard.

Unlike the tripod-shaped incense burners commonly seen in the Central Plains of my previous life, the incense burner in this other world is teardrop-shaped, with a four-leaf clover decoration on top and a stemmed base. The whole thing is cast in bronze, and there are several small holes on the lid. You can put the spices in by opening the lid.

It was originally bought by the previous owner to appear cultured and to imitate the manners of the nobility.

This is a perfect opportunity for Alphonse now.

As soon as night fell, the maid lit candles in her master's room.

There is no shortage of fire.

Even today, servants still use the ancient method of striking flint with steel to create sparks, which are then used to ignite tinder.

Alphonse had considered developing an easy way to start a fire, but he couldn't recall the specific materials needed to make match heads, only remembering that phosphorus and sulfur were required.

In those days, extracting phosphorus was not an easy task. The only options were to find phosphate mines, collect human bones, or collect urine, mix it with sand, charcoal, lime, etc., and then heat and distill it to obtain white phosphorus.

Not only is it troublesome, but it can also easily damage one's reputation.

Who knows what the lord collects urine for? It might give rise to unpleasant associations.

Alphonse took two small pieces of incense, added them to the shavings from cutting the stems, and put them into the incense burner, then lit them with a candle.

Only then did I put the lid on.

After the incense has dried, it resembles withered wood, but it doesn't burn quickly. Just like incense sticks, these two small pieces can last for two hours.

Wisps of smoke seeped from the small holes in the incense burner and gradually spread out.

It has no special taste, but it can accelerate the flow and gathering of Qi, which is why it was hailed as a rare treasure in the martial arts world of my previous life.

Alphonse sat cross-legged beside the incense burner, assuming a posture with his palms facing upwards.

Concentrate your mind and begin your practice.

As expected, the speed of internal energy circulation increased by more than twice.

Alphonse first activated his internal energy, starting from the dantian, passing through the Xinkan acupoint, going horizontally from the heart meridian below the armpit, and then turning into the meridians of the arm.

It circled back and forth twice in the already connected Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian before turning into the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian to expand and connect it.

Buddhists focus on cultivating their inner strength, primarily through mental training. Taoist esoteric schools, on the other hand, emphasize both physical and mental well-being, prioritizing both physical training and character development. Confucianism, meanwhile, emphasizes rectifying the mind, cultivating sincerity, and refining oneself.

Therefore, the righteous methods of cultivation are slow to learn, but their foundation is extremely solid.

However, the Innate Formless Divine Skill created by the extraordinary Yan Kuangtu broke with convention, forging his own unique path and creating his own style.

Start by practicing the Yang meridians in your hands. Once all the Yang meridians are open, then move on to the Yin meridians.

If it were a righteous sect, they wouldn't dare to practice like this.

Every school of martial arts has its own internal cultivation methods and procedures. It must begin by gathering Qi in the Dantian and training the internal meridians. There is no room for error.

Who starts cultivating from the meridians in their hands?

Anyone in the martial arts world who witnessed the mental cultivation method of the Innate Formless Divine Skill would be astonished, believing that such haphazard practice would lead to demonic possession.

But Yan Kuangtu was not acting recklessly. According to legend, he secretly infiltrated major sects such as Shaolin and Wudang, compiled various scriptures and classics, and gathered the essence of various martial arts techniques. Only then did he create this innate formless divine skill based on his own internal energy cultivation method, "Xuantian Huaqi".

This unique internal skill allows for rapid progress, but it is also extremely dangerous. A single misstep can easily lead to the loss of all previous efforts, or even permanent disability, and it also comes with significant side effects.

However, Alphonse had experience from his previous life, and he was already very skilled at circulating his inner energy.

That strange feeling is back again!

A faint, scorching heat entered the dantian (lower abdomen) from the abdomen.

It followed the flow of true qi and merged into it.

My body was not only warm, but also slightly hot and dry, with a strong internal heat.

Alphonse didn't understand what was going on either.

These strange auras did not strengthen the true energy, yet they merged into it without any hindrance.

That's really weird!

It should be noted that the internal energy condensed by the Innate Formless Divine Skill is most vulnerable to invasion by foreign true energy, and will definitely counterattack and block it. However, these energies did not trigger this at all.

For the time being, it doesn't seem to be harmful to my health, so I can only ignore it.

In other words, Alphonse was so focused on his practice that he couldn't see his own condition.

If he could see it, he would definitely be shocked.

At this moment, a faint red glow emanated from his body, like a dim yellow lamp.

After practicing until late at night, Alphonse finally felt tired and stopped to rest and finish his practice.

The results are very encouraging. A large section of the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian has been opened. With another day of practice, it will definitely be able to be completely opened and reintegrated into the original circulation.

Alphonse happily extinguished the incense in the incense burner before climbing into bed.

As soon as it was light, Alphonse got up, quickly washed up, and went to the courtyard outside the castle.

It's not time to slack off yet.

Yesterday, the fat creditor mentioned that he had no money to repay his debts and decided to mortgage and sell the castle.

This castle was not built by the late Baron Tartarus, but was the property left by the previous lord, who went to the guillotine for taking the wrong side in the struggle for the throne, and his family did not have a good end either.

That's why the Queen bestowed the land and castle upon Baron Tartarus, which is now considered the old baron's legacy and cannot be sold off so easily.

It would be very strange if, after being sold, the largest building in the territory didn't belong to the lord.

The courtyard in front of the castle, which should have been a small garden, was not planted with many flowers. Instead, several vegetable plots were planted with beets, radishes, and other vegetables, all done by the mother, Lady Mary.

She still couldn't shake off her farmer's habits. During her illness, it was probably the maid who took care of the vegetable garden, and she did a pretty good job.

Alphonse didn't get up early just to play around.

(End of this chapter)