“Long Shifu... are you sure this information... is correct?”

Li Cheng颐 almost dropped the printed papers.

The densely packed earthworms in the picture made his skin crawl.

“It’s correct.”

Yu Long, with his hands behind his back, bent down and took a sip of milk tea in a rather strange posture.

“Earthworms are also dragons. Dragons can bend or stretch, grow large or shrink small. What? Do you look down on earthworms?”

“It’s not a matter of looking down on them, it’s just… can we not be so disgusting?” Li Cheng颐 said, speechless.

“Alright, then I’ll change it to leeches.”

“Why does it have to be like this?” Li Cheng颐 asked helplessly.

“Soft-bodied creatures make it easier for you to feel the flow of power,” Yu Long smiled.

“Or should I change it to snakes for you? Snakes are also fine. Legend has it that shedding their skin can transform them into dragons.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Then how about rice field eels?” Yu Long moved his hands, wearing a considerate expression.

“Can’t we just use water? Isn’t it said that water is the softest?” Li Cheng颐 asked helplessly.

“Water is everywhere. You’ve been drinking it since you were little. What have you comprehended now?” Yu Long rolled his eyes.

“Nothing.”

“That settles it. Listen to me, compared to snakes, rice field eels, and leeches, earthworms are the best.” He patted Li Cheng颐 on the shoulder. “As your teacher, I’ve been there. It’ll be disgusting at first, but you’ll get used to it.”

“…” Li Cheng颐 felt like he should retreat first.

No one could handle this kind of training...

“I’ve prepared a room for you. Stay here for the next two days, don’t run around, and get used to it,” Yu Long continued.

“I…”

“Don’t ‘I, I’ my! It’s just a change of place to live, is it worth making such a fuss?”

Yu Long’s face turned serious. “There are a total of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine earthworms in the room, collectively called the Myriad Dragons Formation. As long as you adapt and get through it, you’ll basically understand what flowing power is like.”

What the hell is the Myriad Dragons Formation…?

Li Cheng颐 wanted to complain in his heart, but looking at Shifu Yu Long’s expression, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Okay… then…” He reluctantly agreed.

He was willing to risk everything to practice the Dragon Whisker Strength.

No wonder the old man kept drawing him big promises before. It turned out it was so he could withstand the test at this time.

Three days later…

No one knew how Li Cheng颐 had spent the last three days.

Only after actually entering the room did he understand what the old man Yu Long meant by living together.

There was no bed in the room, so he could only sleep on the ground.

To keep the earthworms alive for a long time, the room was very humid and accompanied by a foul odor.

He had to do nothing in the room but stare at the earthworms, observing their movements and crawling.

Actually, it was okay at first, after all, they were just earthworms, and he would get used to it.

The key was what came later!

During these three days, Li Cheng颐 lived with earthworms, ate stir-fried earthworms, drank earthworm juice, and was even required to dissect a few to observe their internal structure.

And he had to study fluid mechanics and conduction mechanics in a room full of earthworms. For three whole days!

He didn’t know how he had survived.

Now that he was released for a nap, all he dreamed about were earthworms.

But even so, Li Cheng颐 actually persevered.

Even Yu Long, who had been waiting for him to say he couldn’t take it anymore, was very surprised.

When the time was up and he came out, Li Cheng颐’s hands were constantly eager to try, wanting to wriggle like earthworms.

He would rest for three days at a time. Then he would continue to live together like this until he could truly make the power in his body flow and form soft qi (energy), and only then would it stop.

“However, it seems I don’t need to wait until the next cohabitation…”

In the empty space of the villa, Li Cheng颐 lay on a lounge chair, basking in the sun, constantly recalling the wriggling feeling of the earthworms in his mind.

That soft, twisting feeling gave him a faint touch.

“Few people know that earthworms use bristles to crawl. The cooperation of muscles and bristles, and the use of peristaltic contraction principles, allows them to move freely in the soil.”

Yu Long pulled up a chair and lay down beside him.

“How is it? Feeling anything?”

“Mm… the transfer of power, flowing through the muscles like water…” Li Cheng颐 moved his arm gently, feeling a little uncomfortable.

He felt that he seemed to understand a lot in his mind, but his body couldn’t keep up.

“What you’re feeling now is just memorization. You still lack the physical hardware to keep up.” Yu Long picked up his milk tea and took a big gulp.

“You have talent. Only people with a strong sense of physical perception can comprehend things so quickly.”

“Then what should I do next…” Li Cheng颐 looked at him with a glimmer of hope.

“Mm, you don’t need to live together anymore,” Yu Long nodded.

“Really!?” Li Cheng颐 was overjoyed, his expression becoming much more lively.

“Really,” Yu Long nodded again, “You don’t need to live together, but you have to exercise your body and make it keep up with your mind.”

“How should I do it?”

“It’s very simple,” he smiled mysteriously.

“Learn to dance!”

“!?!”

“Don’t be so surprised,” Yu Long said nonchalantly, “To experience the flow of power, your great-grandmaster took inspiration from many female dancers and created the Golden Snake Dance. And I, after modifying and improving it, integrated it into my system and formed the unique Dragon Dance.”

He sighed.

“When it comes to training soft power, who in this world can compare to those female dancers who have been dancing their whole lives? Aren’t they much better than us who only spend a little time researching soft dance?”

“That makes sense…” Li Cheng颐 nodded in agreement.

“If you want to become soft yourself, you have to learn to get along with soft people and things often, and have more contact,” Yu Long said, “Fierce strikes will only make your muscles tense and your whole body contract to counterattack. But soft words can unconsciously relax your body and mind, and relax your vigilance.”

“So softness is the thing that can most easily enter the depths of people’s hearts and minds. Fierceness will only be blocked by us.”

“That’s philosophical,” Li Cheng颐 said solemnly.

“So, sometimes, soft power is more hidden and more deadly than fierce power. You should pay more attention to it in the future,” Yu Long instructed.

“Let me master soft qi first,” Li Cheng颐 didn’t care. It was too early to talk about these things now.

“Alright. Rest well. Starting tomorrow, go learn to dance. Before you practice, remember one sentence.

The Dragon Dance is not for beauty, but for better accumulating power, and then, swallowing the enemy in one gulp,” Yu Long said finally, then leaned back and said nothing more.

Li Cheng颐 was thoughtful and lay down as well.

The sun was warm, although it was a bit hot, it slowly dissipated the dampness in the room he had been in for the past few days.

Not long after lying down, the old man Yu Long next to him began to snore.

Accompanied by the rising and falling snores, Li Cheng颐 also unconsciously fell asleep.

He slept until the afternoon.

When he opened his eyes, it was already past four o’clock.

The sun was setting, and the red light penetrated the clouds, like a large field of red terraces.

Looking at Yu Long on the side, the guy was still asleep, drool dripping down the chair, already forming a small puddle on the ground.

Li Cheng颐 got up, packed his things, and prepared to return to the Forever Botanical Garden.

He finally had a day off, so he had to go out and relax.

Anyway, he didn’t want to see this place again for the time being.

In addition, he had to see how the injured Sima Gui, Turtle Bro, was doing.

“That’s right, I haven’t had time to look at the things I took out from the Silent Shop last time. I’ll go back and take a look.”

The items in the Silent Shop were recorded in Zhong Hui’s notes, and they all had pitfalls.

They seemed to have very strong effects, but there were big problems inside. After taking them, there might be irreversible and huge changes.

But at the same time, there were also a few things that were really useful.

Zhong Hui also recorded this in that notebook.

For example, certain super-powerful active reagents, the shielding mechanism of the dead corner, seemed to only exist on the first level.

When using the active cells of the dead corner person’s body to create active reagents and enter a new individual, there would be no more shielding.

Without disturbing Shifu Yu Long, he slowly took a taxi and left the Garden Villa.

It was already past eight o’clock in the evening when he arrived in Suiyang from Qinggang City.

In the Forever Botanical Garden, Li Cheng颐 brought his own key this time. It was no longer just Old Li watching over it like before.

Manager Chen Yuqin had also arranged for a group of security guards to work the night shift.

Walking on the path between the greenhouse sheds, he ran into a new security guard patrolling with a flashlight. “President Li, you’re here so late?”

The new security guard was a young man with a slightly green stubble, probably about the same age as Li Cheng颐, twenty-four or twenty-five, and even a little thin.

“I have some things to get, so I came over to pick them up. I’ll rest here for one night,” Li Cheng颐 replied. Seeing that the other party was thin, his brows twitched slightly.

“By the way, let me ask, how did Manager Chen recruit you?”

“I don’t know about others, but I came in through a local online recruitment website. Manager Chen is very nice, offering whatever conditions she promised, without any discounts. That’s great,” the young security guard replied quickly.

Facing Li Cheng颐, who was the same age, he seemed a little restrained and nervous.

“Recruitment website…” Li Cheng颐 was thoughtful. If he wanted to build his own team, he would first need many people to handle chores and relatively safe but complex tasks for him.

This required many people to complete.

“I have to find a good foothold to make a profit, otherwise I won’t be able to support the expenses of so many people on the team.”

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but think of Zhong Hui’s notes.

Using the items in the Silent Shop to research unique sales products that were suitable for him was one way.

Saying goodbye to the security guard, he followed the dimly lit path and walked all the way to the accommodation area – a three-story building.

The previous structure here was already relatively complete, with clear divisions between the greenhouse area, the staff area, and the public area. His accommodation room was also in the staff area.

He took the elevator back to the top floor of the small building.

As soon as he entered the room, Li Cheng颐 saw the three items he had placed on the living room floor.

The Blood Exchange Bottle, the Greed Heart Canned Food, and the newly obtained Kumquat Mango Juice.

The three items were placed openly on the ground, without any cover.

At night, the moonlight was dim, and the light in the living room was very dark, but the three items were still clearly reflected in his eyes.

They all emitted a faint, different glow.

The Blood Exchange Bottle had a purple fluorescent glow.

The Greed Heart had a faint red glow.

The Kumquat Mango Juice had a pale golden glow.

Li Cheng颐 closed the door behind him, walked over, and bent down to pick up the Kumquat Mango Juice.

The patterns and words on the packaging quickly began to twist and change.

In just two seconds, they turned into words he could recognize.

‘Three-Eyed Potion’

“Effect: After taking it, a third eye can grow, seeing a certain level of景象 (xiàngjǐng, scenery/scene/sight).

Visible range, visible level, visible dimension, are all random.”

This thing…

Li Cheng颐 frowned.

The previous Greed Heart was fine, its effect was obviously for specific use. But this one seemed to have some effect…

Looking at the golden drink in front of him, he thought for a while.

Suddenly, he stretched out his hand and gently covered the bottle with his right hand.

‘Huayu (Flower Language): Radiant Force Field.’

Hiss.

An invisible light was instantly released, shining on the small bottle.

Vaguely, he saw some tiny wisps of black smoke escaping from the gap in the bottle cap.