Chapter 111: Chapter 109: Life Fire Accumulated, Derivation Begins

### Step 1: Contextual Analysis

**Literary genre:** Chinese cultivation/xianxia web novel - focusing on martial arts, cultivation techniques, and supernatural abilities.

**Language style:** Casual narrative with descriptive passages about daily life, training, and some action sequences. Includes technical terminology related to martial arts cultivation.

**Tone:** Straightforward, matter-of-fact storytelling with some introspective moments from the protagonist.

**Plot keywords:** Hunting, mountain resources, cultivation, training, market visit, medicine brewing, system abilities, command fire accumulation

**Characters:**

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, skilled in martial arts with supernatural abilities

- Wu Mengchan (武梦婵): Female, appears to be Wu Liangchen’s younger sister

- Yang Lian’Er (杨莲儿): Female, appears to be a companion or associate

- Jin Cui (金翠): Female (based on context), seems to be responsible for cooking/household matters

- Konghui (空慧): Mentioned briefly, seems to be someone who taught or wrote about the Golden Body Cross Training Skill

- Xiao Rong (萧荣): Male, deceased official from the Ministry of Justice in the capital, killed by the protagonist

### Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing

Now I’ll translate the text, following all the guidelines mentioned in the prompt.

The text describes Wu Liangchen hunting in the mountains, gathering resources, visiting a market town, and preparing a medicinal brew to increase his "Life Fire" (命火), which appears to be a cultivation resource for advancing his martial arts. The story takes place in a rural mountain setting near Thousand Waterfall Mountain, and includes references to a system that helps him track his resources and abilities.

I’ll translate section by section:

First section (about hunting with stones instead of arrows):

The protagonist is planning to hunt in the mountains but has limited arrows. He decides to use stones as projectiles, using his enhanced strength to make them deadly weapons. He successfully hunts many animals.

Middle section (about the market visit):

Wu Liangchen visits the Bapan Town market, purchases medicinal ingredients, and hears rumors about incidents in Dinghai City involving himself (though people don’t know his identity). He learns that officials from the capital have come to investigate.

Final section (about brewing medicine):

He returns to brew medicine according to a recipe, which successfully increases his "Life Fire" resource. Once he reaches 70 units, he activates a special ability related to the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod.

Let me now proceed with the full translation:

Now he only had the few arrows his sister had picked up, and he wasn’t sure if they sold any at the Bapan Town market.

Even if they did, they wouldn’t match the quality of the arrows he currently used. At best, they’d just be crude hunting arrows used by hunters venturing into the mountains.

So if he wanted to hunt, he’d need to come up with a different method.

That’s right.

Wu Liangchen planned to take advantage of his free time over the next couple of days to explore the mountains.

After all, Thousand Waterfall Mountain covered a vast area and produced abundant resources.

It wasn’t just home to various game animals but also many valuable medicinal herbs and mountain products.

Red Leaf Village, for instance, made its living by digging up a medicinal herb called Red Leaf Fern from the mountains.

Wu Liangchen wasn’t after money, but rather accumulating Life Fire.

Of course, if he happened to stumble upon valuable medicinal herbs, that would be even better.

And to hunt, he needed the right tools.

Thousand Waterfall Mountain didn’t have fierce beasts like tigers or black bears. The largest animals were wild boars, but Wu Liangchen was confident he could take one down with a single punch.

Most common were pheasants, hares, and small game like muntjacs.

Wu Liangchen had collected these stones specifically to deal with them.

He gripped a river pebble and flung it with tremendous force.

With a whoosh, the stone flew at incredible speed, empowered by his immense strength, and struck a large tree on the opposite bank.

A loud THUD echoed as the tree shook violently, causing the accumulated snow on its branches to cascade down.

When he approached for a closer look, Wu Liangchen found the pebble deeply embedded in the trunk, and he nodded with satisfaction.

This kind of destructive power could bring down not just a hare, but even a person.

It seemed he could keep some of these stones as a supplement to his bow and arrows.

So Wu Liangchen leapt into the mountains. With his exceptional eyesight, no wild pheasant or hare could escape his detection, no matter how well they hid.

Walking casually through the forest, he would often spot prey with just a peripheral glance, send a stone flying, and instantly kill pheasants and hares on the spot. His efficiency was astonishingly high.

Soon the forest echoed with continuous whooshing sounds...

By evening, just as Jin Cui was worrying about what to prepare for dinner, Wu Liangchen walked in carrying an enormous sack, which he dropped on the ground.

"Is this enough?"

Jin Cui stared at the sack full of wild game, dumbfounded.

"This is..."

"I had some free time this afternoon and took a stroll in the mountains. I just happened to catch these," Wu Liangchen said.

Free time... just happened to catch...

Jin Cui suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

Red Leaf Village had many hunters, but even the most experienced ones would struggle to find much game with the mountains sealed by heavy snow.

"It’s more than enough! I’ll start cooking right away."

With the ingredients secured, the rest was easy.

That night, Wu Liangchen and the others enjoyed delicious pigeon soup and sizzling, oil-dripping roast muntjac meat.

For the next two days, Wu Liangchen continued wandering the mountains whenever he had free time. Besides several sacks of game, he also dug up a few rare winter bamboo shoots.

Thousand Waterfall Mountain did have bamboo groves, but not many, making these winter shoots especially precious.

Seeing such a rare ingredient, Jin Cui became excited. She washed and split them, then took out some preserved meat, sliced it thinly, and stir-fried it with green onions and ginger until fragrant. She then added bean paste and continued stir-frying. Once the meat had slightly changed color, she added the winter shoots and stir-fried everything together.

Although the dish only had preserved meat and green onions with ginger, its flavor was exquisite.

Each bite combined the fresh aroma of winter bamboo shoots with the rich flavor of preserved meat, creating a delightful experience.

Even Wu Mengchan, who usually ate little, had two large bowls during this meal.

After eating, Wu Liangchen returned to his room to continue studying the Golden Body Cross Training Skill.

He had already memorized all the movements thoroughly and had attempted to practice it multiple times.

But as Konghui had stated at the beginning, while the Golden Body Cross Training Skill was powerful, progress was extremely slow, often taking decades to achieve any success.

So it was almost impossible to master it in such a short time.

Wu Liangchen wasn’t hoping for that; he just wanted to use this method to minimize the consumption of his Life Fire as much as possible.

A moment later, Wu Liangchen completed the final movement and exhaled deeply.

「Estimated consumption: 69 strands」

Wu Liangchen frowned, because yesterday it had also been 69 strands. After a day of refinement and improvement, the required amount hadn’t changed at all.

It seemed this was as good as it would get!

There must be a lower limit to the Life Fire consumption needed to deduce such a superior Cultivation Technique, and it couldn’t possibly go any lower.

But the more this was true, the more Wu Liangchen looked forward to it.

Because the system was always fair—the more Life Fire invested, the more powerful the deduction would be, without exception.

The next day, Wu Liangchen woke up early, as today was market day in Bapan Town.

Wu Liangchen told his sister and Yang Lian’Er to watch the store while he set off.

He didn’t need to ask for directions, as people were already heading toward Bapan Town along the mountain path.

Wu Liangchen didn’t take the mountain road but moved quickly through the forest alongside it.

The dozen or so miles of mountain road passed in an instant, and after rounding a ridge, the view suddenly opened up before him.

Surprisingly, there was a large flat area among these towering mountains, and Bapan Town was situated right there.

The streets of Bapan Town were now crowded with people, and vendors lined both sides of the street, one after another, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The scale of this market was truly impressive for being so deep in the mountains.

Wu Liangchen stepped into the crowd. The outer area was mostly filled with stalls selling wild game. After passing through that street, he reached the section selling various mountain products.

In addition, there were many vendors selling medicinal herbs.

Some large merchants had even hired physicians to provide roadside consultations, attracting many people.

Quick-witted assistants called out to passing customers from the roadside, creating a lively atmosphere.

Wu Liangchen only had a rudimentary understanding of medicinal herbs, but fortunately, there were specialists here who could prepare prescriptions. Since the herbs recorded in his prescription weren’t rare, he quickly gathered everything he needed.

After buying the herbs, Wu Liangchen made another round, purchasing candied fruits, rice crisps, and other snacks to bring back for his sister and Yang Lian’Er.

It was only eight in the morning, and remarkably, today was sunny. Sunlight shone down on the marketplace, mixing the gamey odors of wild meats, the medicinal smells of herbs and mountain products, and the manure smell from the cattle and sheep market into one heady mix. It was headache-inducing but not unpleasant.

Wu Liangchen made his way to the food section of the market, where an entire street was dedicated to food vendors.

Steaming mutton soup pots sat next to vendors making flatbread; oil sticks tumbled quickly in woks, gradually becoming crisp and golden; white glutinous rice cakes were dotted with dark red jujubes; and crowds gathered around the he-lao (a type of noodle popular in Hebei and Shanxi, made from sorghum flour, chewy and elastic) stalls.

But the most tempting was the donkey meat flatbread stall. Bapan Town’s flatbread was unique, made in hanging ovens. The kneaded dough was sprinkled with sesame seeds and stuck to the top of the hanging oven, with burning pine sawdust below.

Once baked, the bread was scraped down with a large spatula and placed in bamboo baskets for later use.

The donkey meat had been stewed since the previous day and kept in a pot.

When needed, a piece was taken out, placed on a wooden chopping block, and cut cleanly, then stuffed into the freshly baked flatbread to make a donkey meat sandwich.

One bite into the crispy flatbread combined with the rich, fragrant donkey meat instantly satisfied any empty stomach.

Add a bowl of freshly pressed he-lao noodles, and it was simply heavenly.

This was exactly what Wu Liangchen ate—five flatbread sandwiches and two bowls of he-lao, which he consumed in large mouthfuls.

By now, the sun had risen higher, warming people pleasantly. The market was noisy, but with the New Year approaching, there was an air of festivity.

Although not as prosperous as Dinghai City, the area benefited from the abundant resources of Thousand Waterfall Mountain, so the common people lived reasonably well.

Especially being far from the turmoil of war, it was quite peaceful.

While Wu Liangchen was eating, he suddenly heard people at the table behind him discussing matters in Dinghai City.

"Hey, have you heard? There was a big incident in Dinghai City recently. They say someone killed two experts who came from the Capital."

"Of course I’ve heard. I have a relative living in Dinghai City who said it caused quite a stir. The atmosphere in the city is still very tense. Apparently, many experts have been sent from the Capital to maintain order, fearing more troublemakers might cause problems."

Although these were just two brief comments before the men moved on to discussing this year’s harvest, Wu Liangchen had gained very important information.

First, there were no wanted notices for him in these mountains; otherwise, these commoners would know his name.

This suggested that the powerful families in Dinghai City had backed down.

Second, the Capital was outraged and had dispatched many experts to maintain order.

This wasn’t surprising, considering that Xiao Rong, whom he had killed, was a renowned figure from the Ministry of Justice in the Capital.

Wu Liangchen remained composed, finished his flatbread and he-lao noodles, paid the bill, and left the market.

After returning to Red Leaf Village, he gave the snacks to his sister and found a sand pot to brew medicine according to the prescription.

He first cleaned the herbs of dust, then ground what needed to be ground and cut what needed to be cut. After a busy effort, Wu Liangchen kept watch over the medicinal pot until midnight.

Finally, the medicine was ready, and a rich medicinal aroma spread throughout the room, smelling refreshing and invigorating.

Wu Liangchen took a sip and felt a warm current flow through his abdomen. After waiting a while to confirm there were no toxic effects, he drank the entire bowl of medicine.

Soon, sweat appeared on Wu Liangchen’s forehead, and his Qi and Blood began to surge. A prompt appeared before his eyes.

「Life Fire +6 strands」

Wu Liangchen was delighted—it was working.

He brewed two more pots of medicine overnight. Although the Life Fire gained from the later bowls decreased slightly, by dawn, his Life Fire had finally exceeded 70 strands.

Without hesitation, Wu Liangchen triggered the prompt and chose to deduce.

In an instant, his sea of consciousness shook violently, and the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod floated in mid-air, emitting countless rays of light.

Above the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod, the image of a fierce golden warrior gradually appeared.