Volume 1 Southern Border Chapter 20 Tiger Pattern Blue Leopard

  In Wenzi's understanding, the cultivation of 'building the foundation' is divided into three steps:

  Muscle training: As the foundation of building, there are 639 pieces of muscle in the human body, distributed throughout each part of the body. When all muscles in the body are exercised to be strong and full, the reaction becomes agile, and it is necessary to freely mobilize all muscles in the body, and also to integrate the strength produced by the muscles into one force.

  Tempering the tendons: This step requires that the "true yuan" stored in the dan tian and qi hai be transmitted through the meridians throughout the body, entering the limbs and hundred joints, allowing the refined "true yuan" to merge with the "tendons", nourishing the entire body's tendon network, making it strong and resilient, bursting forth with fierce power, and the body agile.

  Practicing the membrane: A training method for the skin, also known as practicing the membrane, is a dense layer of connective tissue that covers the surface of the bones. Through long-term accumulation and refinement of vital energy, it aims to enhance the body's ability to withstand impact. When the entire body's skin membrane becomes solid and powerful, one's skin becomes as tough as cowhide.

  Tempering the bones: to temper iron and steel, it is necessary to melt the iron into red-hot liquid at high temperatures. Similarly, for a person to practice and transform their body, the true yuan must be refined, inside and out, so that the entire skeletal system is like molten fire, hot and scorching, just like a red-hot iron rod, ultimately causing a qualitative change in the body's skeleton.

  Refine the organs: Through specific rhythmic breathing, with the flow of qi and blood throughout the body, fill the five viscera and six entrails with pure true yuan, making breathing continuous and far-reaching, physical strength long-lasting, walking swiftly like a galloping horse, jumping agilely like a flying bird.

  Marrows nourishment: The growth of human blood essence mainly relies on the bone marrow, and the purpose of marrows nourishment is to transform marrows into gas. Under the continuous stimulation of "original energy", the maximum limit is reached to refine the impurities in the body, so as to purify the body.

  Blood transformation: The final stage of foundation building is the process of refining blood essence from the blood, and the blood essence is the origin of human body! After the bone marrow becomes strong, the true yuan will endlessly circulate throughout the four limbs and hundreds of bones in the body. Through continuous practice, one's own vital energy is full, and the whole body's blood is renewed, the blood essence constantly grows and increases, which is called "practicing marrow like frost", "practicing blood like cream", "shedding the old shell and changing the bone", "shaving hair and washing the marrow".

  Laying the foundation is the starting point for Daoist cultivation, just like building a house or pavilion, one must first lay the foundation before being able to complete the construction.

  The foundation is stable, the structure is solid, and only then can the pillars be erected and the tiles covered, so it is called "building the foundation". First, one must consolidate their own physical body, fill up their original vitality, and then cultivate to higher levels, in order to have sufficient guarantee. Therefore, the method of building the foundation is the key to the Daoist cultivation, directly related to the height or depth of future achievements, extremely important.

  Outer strength requires constant exercise of muscles, tempering of tendons and bones, and refinement of skin and membranes to achieve a renewal of the marrow and blood.

  When internally strong, one must practice Qi and transform spirit, transform spirit return to emptiness, return to emptiness merge with Tao.

  Internally and externally cultivated, only then can the tangible muscles and bones merge with the intangible essence and spirit, becoming one with heaven and humanity.

  The world's martial arts and Taoist cultivation methods are countless, but the foundational steps of all these methods are the same. The differences lie in which one is more suitable for oneself. What truly sets them apart and has value is the method that comes after the 'foundational period', this is the core secret of the myriad schools.

  Of course, even if it is a foundational period of gongfa, not everyone can cultivate successfully. There are still differences in individual talent within this.

  The speed of cultivation and success or failure depends on the individual.

  Those with excellent qualifications can naturally go all the way smoothly and unimpeded, even without any external help, they can reach a higher level by relying on their own hard work.

  As for those with poor qualifications, after practicing to a certain extent, without the help of other external forces, they can only become stagnant and spend their whole lives stuck at this level.

  Of course, there are more people who will not have any achievements even if they cultivate for a longer time. This kind of person is not suitable for cultivating the Tao from birth!

  The foundation-building method is often referred to as "3000-day foundation building". This means that even for people with excellent innate abilities, it takes almost ten years of time to complete the foundation-building work.

  Wen Ya had been cultivating in the Xiangyang Peak for nearly six years and had reached the pinnacle of blood transformation, just half a step away from entering the final stage of Building Foundation Great Perfection. His talent was undoubtedly among the best!

  But at this time he fell into a bottleneck, just like looking at flowers in the fog, and gazing at the moon in the water. Although he had already caught a glimpse of the entrance, he found it difficult to step inside!

  ……

  The dense woods in the forest are lush and green, with large tracts of dense branches and leaves that cover the entire sky like a canopy, also providing the most favorable hiding place for various ferocious predators.

  A large cat-like animal with a coat as blue as lake water, over three meters long, silently and stealthily walked along the winding tree trunks, its long tail slightly raised, its body light and agile like goose down, elegantly traversing the dense forest.

  The azure fur under the dim light seems to be rippling like a lake's waves, looking beautiful and mysterious!

  But that pair of emotionless, spindle-shaped pupils and the five pale blue, razor-sharp claws hidden in the thick flesh of its paws told people that this seemingly beautiful creature had an extremely frightening killing ability!

  Through the tiny gaps in the dense foliage, a pair of golden eyes greedily stared at the figure standing upright on the tree trunk below!

  Right at this moment!

  Suddenly! The azure-colored big cat moved, its sturdy and powerful hind legs kicked violently, "Whoosh!" In an instant, it was like a blue lightning bolt, speeding to the extreme, just in the blink of an eye, its sharp fangs flashed like a stone and bit towards the person's neck!

  He sighed, and Wen Ya was about to jump down from the trunk. Suddenly, a sense of crisis rose in his heart, his feet shifted, and his body spun abruptly, a strong gust of wind brushing past his back.

  Wen Ya raised his hand, and the Ghost Head Great Knife that he was tightly gripping immediately chopped down. A flash of lightning illuminated a massive arc-shaped pale purple blade aura, making a "piē bóu" sound as it flashed towards the front in a swift slash.

  "Whoosh——!" A strange noise, followed by a low growl of a wild beast, a black shadow dripped down a few drops of fresh blood.

  "What a fast speed!" Wen Ya saw clearly that the one who had just ambushed him was actually a leopard with a dark blue body.

  Two blood-colored sharp fangs protruded from the lips, and on the forehead of this azure-furred leopard, several curved red marks resembling ghostly symbols converged to form a mysterious crimson "king" character. This was the rare beast known as the 'Tiger-striped Blue Leopard' unique to the Zhāi Jiǎo mountain range!

  The tiger-striped blue leopard was born with an unusually ferocious and extraordinary beast, with boundless strength, astonishing speed, able to tear apart ordinary lions and tigers. But to grow to such a size and still be so fast, moving silently and stealthily, it's clear that there's another reason, having eaten some kind of magical herb or elixir that opened up its spiritual intelligence.