At this very moment, Charles Warren could vaguely sense that the newly generated mysterious energy in his qi sea had grown slightly stronger than before, and the fatigue he had felt today seemed to have faded considerably, as if he had become a bit more powerful.

　　This marked the completion of one full cycle of cultivating the "Xuan Yuan Art." The cultivation of a Xuanwu practitioner is an extremely long and accumulative process; every strong individual is forged through such gradual accumulation.

　　However, this process consumes a tremendous amount of vital energy and blood. Xuanwu practitioners must replenish themselves by eating food or taking elixirs to restore their vitality. Otherwise, such cultivation would not only be unhelpful to the body, but would also deplete vital energy and lead to physical collapse.

　　The more advanced a Xuanwu practitioner becomes, the greater their need for food and nutrition. This is why Xuanwu practitioners always establish family clans, using the clan structure to amass wealth and abundant resources to support themselves.

　　Fortunately, Charles Warren had enjoyed rich nutrition recently, with abundant vital energy and no need for further refinement.

　　Assessing his own condition, he immediately began a second cycle...

　　By dawn, Charles Warren had completed four full cycles of cultivation in about two hours. By this time, he felt extremely energetic, as if he had endless stamina within, and could clearly sense some progress in his cultivation level.

　　However, the originally abundant vital energy in his body had been greatly depleted. He could feel a wave of "hunger" coming from his body—a sensation different from ordinary hunger, yet strangely distinct and clear.

　　At the same time, he also felt some "soreness and swelling" and discomfort in his acupoints and meridians. Experience told him that in this state, no matter how abundant his vital energy, he could not continue cultivating. He needed to let his overburdened acupoints and meridians recover naturally.

　　But the progress was gratifying. Judging from the memories and experience of his predecessor, Charles Warren felt that if he could make such progress every day, he would have a chance to break through his bottleneck and reach the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm within three months.

　　Unfortunately, achieving such an ideal state is nearly impossible under normal circumstances. After such massive consumption of vital energy, relying solely on ordinary food to replenish it is extremely slow; a large amount of spirit rice and spirit food is required.

　　But even as the top priority in the family's cultivation resource allocation, Charles Warren currently only received five jin of white jade spirit rice, five jin of spirit fish meat, and five jin of spirit-horned yak meat each month!

　　This much high-energy, premium food was enough for at most five meals, meaning he could only replenish once every six or seven days on average. In addition, as a key member of the family's top cultivation sequence, he also received one "Small Essence-Nurturing Pill" per month.

　　The Small Essence-Nurturing Pill is an even higher-grade cultivation resource than spirit food, but each one costs ten Qian gold, making it extremely expensive. Those further down the cultivation sequence in the family can only apply for one to assist with breakthroughs when they are about to reach a new cultivation level.

　　If he could eat spirit food every meal and have a Small Essence-Nurturing Pill every day, Charles Warren estimated his cultivation speed would skyrocket...

　　"Patriarch, your breakfast has arrived." The young servant George Warren knocked on the door from outside.

　　"Come in."

　　Charles Warren got up from bed. At the same time, after George Warren entered, he set the breakfast aside, first serving clear water for the patriarch to wash up and brush his teeth, then opened the food box and laid out the dishes one by one.

　　"Huh? A big bowl of white jade spirit rice porridge, and steamed spirit gan pickled fish pieces?" Charles Warren looked at the dazzling array of breakfast items with some surprise. In addition to the two precious spirit foods, there were also some pastries, snacks, and side dishes for the porridge.

　　He knew that this breakfast was not the standard arrangement. While eating spirit food every meal could quickly replenish vital energy and maximize cultivation progress, in reality, there is a principle of diminishing marginal returns at play.

　　Especially if eaten every meal, it would inevitably lead to a great deal of wasted nutrition, reducing the cost-effectiveness ratio.

　　The Wang family was too poor to afford such a luxurious cultivation regimen. Moreover, the family had its own rules—even the patriarch could not arbitrarily drain the resources of other clan members.

　　"Patriarch, this was sent by Miss Xia He, who serves Lady Gongsun," George Warren answered honestly. "She said Lady Gongsun got up early and personally prepared this breakfast. She also brought a message from Lady Gongsun, saying that the patriarch is at a critical stage in breaking through to the late Qi Refining Realm, so don't be stubborn."

　　As expected!

　　George Warren's words confirmed Charles Warren's guess—this was Lady Gongsun Hui saving some of her own rations for him. Especially the words "don't be stubborn" blocked any attempt by Charles Warren to refuse.

　　Forget it, he shouldn't let down Lady Gongsun's kindness.

　　Besides, he believed the family's future would only get better. At the very least, thanks to his efforts yesterday, the fishing and hunting team's profits under David Warren would more than double, greatly alleviating the family's resource shortage.

　　After eating a meal of spirit food, his depleted vital energy was immediately replenished somewhat. As the food was digested and transformed, his vital energy would become even more abundant.

　　After eating and drinking his fill, Charles Warren considered going to inspect the other family businesses. Whether he liked it or not, he was now completely bound to the Wang family of Ping'an.

　　As the clan leader and helmsman, he naturally had to be thoroughly familiar with every aspect of the family. Only then could he take everything into account and find ways to revitalize this declining clan.

　　……

Chapter 9: Me! Golden Finger

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