Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 401: Chapter 401: Reconstruction Complete

However, quite a few disciples on Hundred Desires Peak knew that this newly initiated disciple possessed an incredibly vigorous Pure Yang Aura.

In the days that followed, the area outside Xu Yunfan’s tiled-roof hut gradually grew lively.

Disciples from Hundred Desires Peak, dressed in light, gauzy robes, would either lean against peach trees gently waving round fans or recline against corridor pillars while toying with their Jade Pendants. Yet, their gazes would always drift, as if by chance, toward the tightly shut wooden door.

"Junior Brother Xu, are you there? Your senior sister here has acquired a new pot of Spirit Wine and came especially to invite you for a drink..."

"I’ve heard you have a strong physique, Junior Brother. I have a copy of the ’Dragon and Tiger Harmony Art.’ Why don’t we study it together?"

"My qi channels always feel blocked during my Cultivation. I was hoping Junior Brother could help me take a look..."

"..."

The cloying scent of cosmetics mixed with the fragrance of the peach grove, lingering around the hut without dispersing.

An effeminate-looking male disciple pretended to knock boldly on the door, a Replenishing Magical Artifact hidden up his sleeve, while the Female Cultivators, with their fluttering skirts, deliberately jingled the Silver Bells on their ankles.

In the dead of night, fingernails would even scrape lightly against the window lattice, accompanied by panting breaths as faint as Floating Threads.

Through it all, Xu Yunfan remained behind his closed door.

More and more silk handkerchiefs were tied to the peach branches outside, resembling a cluster of spiders spinning a web, patiently waiting for their prey to emerge.

Disciples came and went outside his courtyard gate.

Seeing that Xu Yunfan never responded, they could only depart, unwilling to give up.

On Hundred Desires Peak, you could attack each other in private, but if the commotion got too big and a residence was destroyed, it was a major offense.

All the buildings on Hundred Desires Peak were arranged according to the preferences of Daoist Master Bai Hua.

Until one day, a Golden Hairpin suddenly pierced through the window paper, its tip glinting with a sinister, blue light. It was stopped just three inches from his brow, caught between two fingers.

"Junior Brother Xu, I’ve discovered a fortuitous opportunity. If seized, it might allow you to step straight into the Late-Stage Qi Cultivation realm. Aren’t you going to take a look?"

"An opportunity?" Xu Yunfan sneered and crushed the Poisoned Hairpin. "More like a Soul-Summoning Banner on the Yellow Springs Road."

He didn’t even bother to respond, simply allowing his Pure Yang Aura to slowly diffuse outward.

A Late-Stage Qi Cultivation woman standing outside the door sensed it, and her expression immediately turned foul.

This seemingly pure Pure Yang Qi had become somewhat impure. It was obvious he had lost his virginity.

She instantly threw her decorum to the wind, stood outside Xu Yunfan’s door with her hands on her hips, and cursed, "Which little slut beat me to the punch? If I ever get my hands on you, I’ll skin you alive and pull out your tendons!"

A thought stirred in Xu Yunfan’s mind. Having thoroughly refined all of Hua Xiangrong’s True Essence, he couldn’t help but entertain a new idea.

But he quickly suppressed the thought.

The woman cursing outside his courtyard gate had an unusual background. Unlike Hua Xiangrong, who was a fringe disciple from the bottom rungs of the Primordial Demon Sect, this woman was part of Daoist Master Bai Hua’s Direct Lineage.

Although a Late-Stage Qi Cultivation cultivator would still be treated as an expendable resource, she was at least given some measure of importance. After all, with proper Cultivation, a Late-Stage Qi Cultivation disciple might become another Foundation Establishment Daoist Master.

Even though they cultivated the same technique and followed the same path, it didn’t mean there was only room for one person to reach Foundation Establishment.

’What a pity...’

’If I were to replenish myself with—no, subdue and devour the demon—this woman at my door, it would make my True Essence even denser. And with an opportunity, I could rely on the Martial Dao Profound Crystal to forge a Divine Martial Dao Foundation.’

On this day, Xu Yunfan finally awoke from his Meditation.

Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes. A golden light swirled in his pupils like surging molten gold, and the aura around him was far more condensed and profound than it had been a year ago.

As he stretched his body, a continuous series of cracks erupted from his bones, sounding like a thousand Profound Iron Beads rolling and colliding inside a Copper Furnace.

Every inch of his muscles and sinews glowed with a dark golden luster. Beneath his skin, his True Essence could be faintly seen surging through his meridians like liquid mercury.

As the great dragon of his spine stretched segment by segment, it actually sent visible ripples through the air, causing dust within a thirty-foot radius to tremble and float up. The entire hut shook violently from the force.

"HUUUFF!!"

A single breath of Dirt Qi, when exhaled, actually etched a web of cracks onto the stone wall.

Xu Yunfan looked down at his palms. Rivulets of crimson-gold True Essence flowed through the lines of his palms. With a gentle clench of his fist, several blasts of Gang Qi that distorted the air shot out from between his fingers.

Most astonishing of all was the True Martial Grinding Disc in his Dantian. It was now as solid as if cast from crimson-gold, and every rotation caused all three hundred and sixty-five major acupoints in his body to resonate in unison.

The Protective Gang Qi, which once had to be deliberately activated, now flowed as naturally as breathing, forming a layer of True Essence Armor over his skin that was as thin as a cicada’s wing yet harder than Refined Steel.

He suddenly flicked a finger, and a wisp of True Essence, condensed to its absolute limit, shot out. A peach tree a hundred feet outside his window snapped in two.

The severed surface was as smooth as a mirror; the instantly vaporized wood had formed a glazed, crystalline layer under the intense heat.

’The True Martial Demon Devouring True Scripture... is almost at the Minor Achievement stage.’

The corners of Xu Yunfan’s mouth lifted slightly as he felt each beat of his heart resonate like the thrumming of an Earth Vein.

Now, walking the True Martial Dao, his physical body alone was strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a Late-Stage Qi Cultivation cultivator’s Magical Artifact. Moreover, his True Essence reserves were more than three times that of an ordinary Qi Cultivation Great Perfection Cultivator.

But what excited his Heart and Spirit the most was that the Hundred Bone Profundity Technique had finally reached the Great Success Realm.

Performing Introspection now, he saw three hundred and sixty-five main meridians shining as brightly as a river of stars, and one hundred twenty-nine thousand, six hundred branch meridians spreading out like a dense spiderweb, all of them glowing with a glazed luster as True Essence flowed through them.

Each acupoint had transformed into a miniature vortex, its every pulse echoing the True Martial Grinding Disc in his Dantian, forming a profound chart of the Stars of the Celestial Sphere in motion.

The changes brought by reaching Great Success in his meridians far exceeded his expectations. The flow speed of his True Essence had increased more than tenfold. A cycle that previously required three full Circulations could now be completed in an instant.

The most wondrous part was the micro-channels hidden within his muscle fibers, which allowed every inch of his flesh and blood to directly absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, completely shattering the traditional Cultivation shackles that required all qi to pass through the Dantian.

Xu Yunfan suddenly formed a sword with his fingers, and a stream of True Essence shot forth from their tips.

Unlike its previously straight trajectory, this stream of True Essence actually carved seven winding arcs through the air, ultimately striking seven different falling peach blossoms at the exact same moment.

This was the profound mystery of the Hundred Bone Profundity: it allowed one’s True Essence to be controlled as easily as an extension of one’s own limbs, switching and flowing between any meridian at will.

’No wonder. No wonder things like the Hundred Bone Profundity Technique and the Meridian Opening Pill exist.’

’I bet many Primordial Sect disciples must rely on this to reshape the meridians in their bodies.’

"Success!"

Xu Yunfan let out a long breath. The knot of frustration in his chest had finally dissipated into thin air.

He felt the True Essence surging within him. His three hundred and sixty-five major acupoints shone like stars, and his one hundred twenty-nine thousand, six hundred branch meridians flowed like mighty rivers.

This body, forged through a thousand trials, had now become the most perfect Dao Foundation for cultivation.

Although others might consider it to be acquired and thus incomparable to an Innate one, for Xu Yunfan, whose aptitude was merely average, it was already exceedingly good.

’The foundation of the Great Dao is laid. The rest will follow naturally.’

The day his Cultivation Technique reaches Great Success will be the day he condenses the Martial Dao Profound Crystal and forges his Divine Martial Dao Foundation.

Only then could he truly escape the cage of being mere "talent" and establish a firm foothold in the dog-eat-dog Primordial Demon Sect.