These guys didn’t mean any harm, but when it came to teasing someone, they never held back. If it were just one or two Henry Clark, he could handle it, but with the whole class ganging up on him, he really had no way to fight back.

“Come on, Henry Clark bro, let me toast you. My admiration for you is as boundless as the Yangtze River.” A short male classmate with black-rimmed glasses stepped forward and, without giving Henry Clark a chance to refuse, insisted on clinking glasses with him.

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Henry Clark’s face. In just half an hour, he had already downed two bottles of beer. For a seasoned drinker, that was just an appetizer, but he didn’t like alcohol, so his tolerance was nothing to brag about. Two bottles was already a bit much; if he kept drinking, things would get ugly.

Normally, Henry Clark would have politely declined. After all, they were classmates, and the other party wouldn’t have forced him. But today was different. If he didn’t drink, this guy would definitely start mocking him.

Henry Clark glanced around and saw a line of classmates waiting their turn. He immediately understood: these guys were determined to carry him out of here today.

With nowhere to hide, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept the admiration and congratulations, his smile looking even more miserable than if he were crying. “Cheers!”

The other guy downed his drink in one gulp, but Henry Clark had only taken two sips before his stomach started churning uncomfortably.

That’s it, I’m done for today.

His mind grew a bit hazy, and in that instant, he inexplicably thought of the beginner’s cultivation manual from his dream.

If you want to cultivate immortality, eat more.

If nothing else, that line had left a deep impression on him—enough to shatter his worldview.

As ridiculous as it sounded, Henry Clark remembered the contents of the manual with perfect clarity, and the so-called incantation seemed quite simple to him.

Simply put, the first step in cultivation was to build up strength.

But where does strength come from? Henry Clark didn’t know if the world of cultivation had a law of conservation of energy, but in any case, human strength doesn’t come from nowhere.

Cultivators can ride clouds, command mist, move mountains and fill seas, pluck stars and fish for the moon, but all these magical abilities are earned through hard training.

Spiritual energy was still far out of reach for a beginner cultivator. The first step was to honestly build up strength and temper the body.

There were certainly no magical pills—rogue cultivators couldn’t get them, and even disciples of prestigious sects wouldn’t be given such things by their elders.

If you just started cultivating and took rare treasures with a mortal body, you’d only end up unable to handle it, suffering a disastrous backlash with no hope of recovery.

So where does strength come from?

Simple: eating. At the beginning, you just eat ordinary food. The human body has a digestive system that can absorb the energy from food and turn it into strength.

Everyone knows this, but here’s the problem: ordinary people eat every day, but you don’t see them cultivating immortality.

It’s simple—they lack the opportunity and the right cultivation method, so naturally, they can’t embark on the path of cultivation.

Ordinary people eat just to survive, and the strength they gain is pitifully small. Even if they eat more, they won’t get much stronger; in fact, the side effects are obvious… gaining ten pounds every holiday.

Cultivators are different. With the right method, all the food they eat can be converted into energy, building up strength and tempering the body. In short, even ordinary food can have a body-refining effect, though the process is gradual.

The records in the ancient texts seemed reasonable, but what was cultivation anyway? Henry Clark was long past his adolescent fantasies and had a sound mind, so he would never try it… well, not under normal circumstances, but this moment was an exception.

Two bottles of beer was Henry Clark’s limit. At this point, his mind wasn’t exactly fuzzy, but he was definitely dizzy and unable to think straight.

So, almost unconsciously, Henry Clark started following the instructions from the manual.

Though he was past the age of wild imagination, deep down he still had a sliver of hope, a bit of curiosity, or maybe he was just desperate enough to try anything.

He took another gulp of beer, but this time, Henry Clark didn’t burp—instead, he felt great, as if… as if he’d just gulped down an ice-cold drink on a hot summer day.

Every pore in his body opened up. It felt wonderful.

Even his drunken, foggy mind suddenly cleared, his thoughts sharp. The earlier haze felt like nothing but an illusion.

It actually worked? Was the incantation real?

Henry Clark’s first reaction wasn’t delight, but doubt. After all, it’s not easy to overturn a worldview built over eighteen years. Maybe it was just a coincidence—how could cultivation really exist in this world?

But before he could finish the thought, something else happened. The beer turned into a warm energy that flowed through his limbs and bones, making him feel like he was soaking in a hot spring—cozy and warm all over.

The only downside was that the feeling came and went quickly. In the blink of an eye, the comfort vanished without a trace, but his mind was now completely clear.

Beer is brewed from wheat. Wheat is a grain, but it doesn’t contain much energy, so it could only provide a very faint body-refining effect.