Divine Tang Era

Yunniang also took a chair and sat down next to him, mending clothes while watching him work.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him wasting money on buying things recklessly. I thought to myself: This young man really doesn't know how to manage his money. I must find some time to give him a good talking-to. He shouldn't spend money like this.

The dissolved mineral water flows down the wooden basin into the coarse sand inside the wooden bucket, seeps into the charcoal and fine sand below, is filtered by the thick cotton cloth at the bottom, and flows out from a hollow wooden tube on the side of the bucket, falling into the clean wooden basin next to it.

After multiple filtrations, the mixed-color mineral water became pure, but it still didn't reach the clear and bright state that Xu Dan had imagined.

It seems it needs to be filtered again, but before filtering, the filtered brine must be boiled dry to evaporate the harmful substances.

Before the brine in the bucket could be filtered out, he quickly went to wash the pot to prevent any unpleasant odors. Yunniang immediately put down her mending and ran over, grabbing the brush and scrubbing the pot. If the young man was going to do this, what was the point of having her?

Xu Dan smiled and didn't argue with her.

After Yunniang finished washing and cleaning the pot, he brought over the filtered mineral brine, poured it into the pot, and started cooking it.

When boiling salt, do not use high heat; use low heat to simmer it slowly to prevent the bottom from burning.

After a while, the water in the pot decreased, and grains of white salt slowly appeared inside. The little magpie stood on tiptoe, craning its neck to peer inside. The black bear, unable to see, paced anxiously in circles, while Yunniang was astonished to see the salt slowly appearing in the pot.

A little while later, the water boiled away.

Xu Dan picked up a spatula and scooped up the salt stuck in the pan, then started frying it until the moisture in the salt dried out and it became loose before putting the salt away.

I picked up a little bit with my hand and tasted it. It was salty, like the taste of my past life.

Just to make it whiter, Xu Dan filtered it again. He also dissolved and filtered the other five catties of mineral salt water for Yun Niang. After reprocessing the ten catties of mineral salt, he only got about seven catties of salt, which was three catties less.

"Young master, you mustn't tell anyone about this method, or someone will steal it." That evening, Yun Niang came to Xu Dan's room and whispered a warning.

"I know," Xu Dan nodded.

Refined snow salt sells for one tael of silver per pound outside. If you spend twenty coins to refine seven pounds, you can sell it for seven taels. If people knew this, they would be scrambling to buy it. "A gentleman is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime"—that's exactly what this is about.

Yunniang was still worried, so she gave her some more instructions before returning to her room.

Back in the room, he didn't forget to brainwash Xiao Que'er, telling her not to tell anyone about what happened today.

That night, Yunniang couldn't sleep soundly, because what the young master had done was truly terrifying.

Early in the morning, Xu Dan sat on the roof with his little magpie, facing east, breathing naturally. A gentle breeze carried the scent of the grassland, a sweet aroma that lifted their spirits.

After a while, the sky turned white.

As the rising sun leaped above the horizon, a burst of purple energy followed.

"swallow"

Xu Dan spoke, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the purple energy, drawing it into his dantian. After nurturing it for a moment, he slowly exhaled the stale air from his body. This was a breathing technique he had devised based on miscellaneous books he had read before. Regardless of whether it could actually cultivate qi, inhaling fresh air and expelling stale air from the body would certainly work.

"Brother Xu, I feel a warm feeling in my tummy, it feels so comfortable," Little Magpie said, touching her little belly.

"As long as you're comfortable, you should do this every day as long as it's not windy, rainy, or foggy, okay?" Xu Dan said, patting her head.

"Yes," Little Magpie nodded vigorously.

"Come on, let's go down and practice our boxing." Xu Dan picked up Xiao Que'er and jumped down. She wasn't scared at all; instead, she happily shook her two little braids.

Taibao Divine Fist has a series of routines, but a solid foundation must be laid before practicing the routines. Without a foundation, the routines are just for show and are of little use. That's why Xu Dan learned the routines first, and then went back to learn the basics.

He also started teaching Xiao Que'er from the basics, but the basic stance training was boring, so today he planned to teach some routines.

This way, after she gets tired of standing in the stance, she can practice some boxing techniques and familiarize herself with them.

Taibao Divine Fist has thirteen forms, the beginning being simple and the end complex. Xu Dan plans to teach Xiao Que'er the three simplest forms first: the first form is Wuji, the second is Yin Yang, and the third is Cangshan Fuhu.

"Little Magpie, watch carefully."

The first form, Wuji, is the simplest; you just stand with your hands and feet together. The second form involves stepping out with your left foot and squatting into a horse stance. The third form is a bit more complicated.

The little magpie watched intently, afraid of missing a single movement. The black bear beside it seemed to understand, its eyes following along without blinking.

Taibao, in Taibao Divine Fist, is an official title, one of the Three Dukes in ancient China, ranking below Taifu, and was a title held throughout history. Jia Yi said, "Bao means to protect one's body." In ancient times, "Tai" was interchangeable with "Da," so Taibao can be understood as greatly protecting one's body. The thirteen forms of Taibao Divine Fist incorporate the meanings of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, exhibiting numerous variations and boundless mysteries.

Xu Dan practiced twice and then began to teach Xiao Que'er.

She doesn't have a photographic memory, but she's very smart and can learn something after just a few tries.

Yunniang stood beside her, watching her daughter practice her boxing, and smiled happily. This kind of life was something she could never have imagined before.

After teaching the boxing, Xu Dan took out the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer and started practicing.

The eighteen figures that appeared on the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer were actually eighteen hammer techniques. The hammer techniques combine the functions of a spear, a staff, and a hammer, and can be used to perform actions such as striking, pointing, sweeping, pulling, stabbing, swinging, blocking, circling, grabbing, twisting, entangling, lifting, hanging, picking, intercepting, sealing, pressing, pivoting, striking, chopping, etc. They are truly infinitely varied and unpredictable.

On the field, the hammer fell in a flurry of motion.

The Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer moves like thunder, changing in an instant, crisscrossing back and forth, fast yet slow, combining strength and gentleness.

At times, it might resemble a dragonfly skimming the water, a carp leaping across a stream, a tiger lying prone on the ground, or a lion turning its head; or it might resemble a giant spirit carrying a pagoda, or a force splitting a thousand mountains; or it might resemble the Seven Stars facing the Dipper, or the bright moon soaring in the sky; or it might resemble the vanquishing of demons or the illusory world of immortals and gods.

The first six forms of the Eighteen-Form Hammer Technique are relatively simple, but from the seventh form onwards, they begin to become more complex.

When you reach the thirteenth move, Seven Stars Facing the Dipper, the difficulty increases exponentially, becoming even more challenging.

Xu Dan had only read the information about the hammer technique and roughly practiced a few moves, without actually demonstrating it. Today, when he actually started practicing, he realized it wasn't that simple, and sweat poured down his face.

Because it was difficult, the movements started to slow down, but I still kept practicing each move one by one.

Fortunately, he was strong and could barely hold on.

He stopped practicing after finishing the eighteenth move. Because the hammer technique was too complicated, he planned to practice it separately and then combine it together later, so as not to practice slowly like an old man walking today.

Since he still had some money, he wasn't in a hurry to make more. Instead, he planned to master his boxing and hammer techniques before considering these issues.

As the days went by, his boxing and hammer techniques became more and more proficient.