Chapter Twenty-Four: Refining the Body

  "You're really ready, I'll tell you in advance, the great 'Nine Turns Five Elements Body Refining Technique' that I'm passing on to you is a technique that focuses on refining the body, but it's extremely painful. Especially when absorbing the Golden Energy, it's different from absorbing other powers and even more painful. You'd better be mentally prepared." Last time when absorbing the golden energy from the ring, he didn't say anything, but this time he repeatedly reminded Zhao Long.

  "Nothing is more important than life, I won't mention that I also want to pursue that great power, the power to control my own destiny. Just the fact that my life is threatened, I have no choice, you tell me what to do. I believe I can do it." Zhao Long said with unwavering confidence, a firm conviction that he would charge forward bravely in the face of any difficulty or challenge, never retreating.

  "Alright, for now, this ordinary Golden Qi doesn't require you to do anything. Your left arm is special in itself, and I absorbed that bit of Golden Qi earlier to test it out - otherwise, would you think that someone as great and awesome as me would casually mess around? Using the Golden Qi to cultivate the body with the 'Nine Revolutions Five Elements Body Refining Technique', mainly focuses on refining the bones, increasing the strength of your skeletal system, and incidentally driving up the power of other parts of your body. The pain from this is slightly better than the feeling of your left arm devouring your body."

  "Let's get started," Zhao Long said, getting down from the bed and sitting on the floor. Because Lao Shi had been reminding him repeatedly earlier, he was also worried that if it became too painful later, he might accidentally damage the bed with his current strength.

  Lao Shi didn't ask for any particular posture, but Zhao Long thought about it and felt that only sitting cross-legged was more formal. This time, Zhao Long's eyes were fixed on the gold bar in his left hand, while feeling the changes within his body.

  I can clearly feel a special heat flow in my left arm, and the heat flow gradually forms a whirlpool-like existence in the palm of my hand. The yellow light on the golden bar in my hand gradually disappears, and I can feel a sharp breath flowing into my left arm. I can feel that my left arm is slightly sore, but it quickly passes, however, when this golden energy leaves my left arm and enters my body.

  In an instant, Zhao Long was like being electrocuted, and his whole body almost jumped up. The airflow was like scraping bones and biting flesh, entering the body, it was like devouring the body inch by inch, penetrating into the bones and crushing them inch by inch.

  It was just a moment of pain, but it had already made Zhao Long's body sweat profusely, as if he had just taken a sauna. Due to the massive loss of heat, his entire body was like being in a steam room, and the sweat emitted by his body was evaporated by the rapidly rising temperature inside his body, producing that mist, which was also quite an amazing situation.

  This golden energy flowing inside his body made Zhao Long feel as if he was better off dead, and he wished he could die immediately to be free from the pain.

  "No... death is the most cowardly act, I still have parents and two younger sisters... I still have many unfulfilled wishes..."

  "This little pain is nothing, as long as I'm still alive, I don't believe there's any pain that can't be endured."

  "I'm still alive... I want to stay alive..."

  ……

  In Zhao Long's mind, he was desperately shouting, at this moment he didn't have the heart to care about anything else. The only thing he could do was tell himself to hold on. From his left arm all the way to his feet, and even a weak golden energy entered his head, which was the smallest amount of golden energy. Compared to the little golden energy absorbed, it was only one-thousandth, but it had already made Zhao Long unable to sit cross-legged, covering his head and falling directly to the ground.

  Between the rolls, the body strength was out of control, and the ceramic tiles on the ground shattered one after another.

  "Nine Turns Five Elements Body Refining Technique", the first turn of Metal Energy requires a total of nine body refinements to complete, and this is just the beginning of the first turn of Metal Energy.

  Zhao Long wanted to shout out, but he couldn't, and had to endure it. Otherwise, if someone else found out and interrupted him, it would be troublesome. He should have known better than to find a cave with few human tracks, at least then he could have shouted out loud and reduced some of the pain.

  At this moment, in Zhao Long's body, the golden energy was actually slowly merging into his body. However, this golden energy was too pure and had disrupted the original balance within his body. Mainly affecting his bones, the process of absorbing the golden energy to enhance them was almost like having his bones crushed and reformed, a painful process.

  This golden energy had traversed Zhao Long's entire body in less than a minute, but he was already suffering to the point of near collapse. This was also why he was strong enough not to have fainted during the first cycle of refining his body with the Golden Energy.

  "It's good that I didn't pass out, although passing out would have reduced some of the suffering, but it also would have missed an opportunity for self-cultivation. Now I can continue. The first cycle of Golden Qi hasn't been fully completed yet, and I need to go through nine complete cycles of Golden Qi cultivation to successfully complete the first cycle." Lao Shi said with a hint of satisfaction.

  Zhao Long lay there weakly, his body limp and powerless. Except for his left arm, every other part of his body felt like it was being cut by a knife whenever he tried to move. His whole body was drained of energy, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. He lay there for over half an hour before Zhao Long finally managed to prop himself up, wincing in pain with each movement. He persisted and managed to drink some water.

  After that, it slowed down for more than two hours, drank a lot of water and ate some food before feeling slightly better. The pain is not worth mentioning, the body's self-protection mechanism alone was terrifying, coupled with intense stimulation and physical reactions.

  The dullness and length of self-cultivation compared to the pain of rapid body refinement is really hard to say which one is better. However, Zhao Long understood that in this world, there's no such thing as a free lunch, if you want to gain something, you must pay a price, it's just that the way of paying might be different.

  Zhao Long moved slightly, and his strength increased a bit, but it wasn't that kind of significant increase, feeling like it only went up by about one-twentieth.

  "Let's start again." Zhao Long gripped another gold bar with his left hand and continued without paying attention to anything else.

  This time, with psychological preparation, although the same pain, it feels like it can be better. With a calm mind, the body's reaction is also more controllable, and there is no longer the scene of profuse sweating like steam as before. This also saves Zhao Long a lot of physical strength, just like a hungry person will feel colder in winter, but after eating, it feels much better.

  The body has gained more strength and mental preparation, and the suffering has decreased a lot. After this ordeal, Zhao Long rested for only an hour before continuing. Although he had mentally prepared himself, when the Golden Qi's first cycle of refining his body was completely over and started again, the suffering also increased significantly.

  As the day began to dawn, and in the blink of an eye a night had passed, Zhao Long had already begun absorbing the golden aura from the fifth gold bar. He was now grateful for his decision, if he had bought gold ingots at the beginning and absorbed a large amount of golden aura into his body all at once, he might have been in danger of losing his life.

  "Little Zhao... Little Zhao..." Aunt Li called out twice, and when she realized no one was there, she said to her daughter: "Looks like he's gone out. This child is really considerate. You hurry up and eat, these days our work has been quite a lot too, we'll have to rush off soon."

  "Oh." Li Youyou responded with a sound, but her eyes were looking towards Zhao Long's window. Last time she heard Ma Xiaoru and others say that Brother Zhao was unemployed. But where did he get so much money from? And yesterday winning 500,000 yuan from Lei Xiangyu, Brother Zhao seemed to have changed into a different person recently, unlike before. However, Li Youyou couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was different about him.

  ……………………………………

  In the Presidential Suite of Blue Ocean Club, Lei Xiangyu opened his eyes in the morning and found Ma Xiaoru lying naked beside him. Lei Xiangyu's eyebrows furrowed slightly. Ma Xiaoru was still clinging to him like an octopus, Lei Xiangyu directly pushed her away, got up, grabbed a robe from the side and put it on, then walked towards a small bar nearby.

  "Hmm..." Ma Xiaoru was already awake after being pushed by Lei Xiangyu, and she looked at him as he got up to get water from the small bar. She quickly said: "You were drunk last night, I helped you in, and then you...".

  Ma Xiaoru's voice gradually became somewhat aggrieved as she spoke, but at this time, Lei Xiangyu had already drunk half a bottle of imported mineral water. Listening to her words, he suddenly stopped and stared at Ma Xiaoru with a fierce gaze that seemed to be suppressing his anger.

  Ma Xiaoru was originally prepared, but suddenly couldn't say anything because Lei Xiangyu's gaze seemed to see through everything about her. She thought about what she had done before and Lei Xiangyu's identity and situation.

  "Alright, I admit it was me who actively came over to let you take advantage of me, I don't think there's anything wrong with me." As she spoke, Ma Xiaoru also stood up directly, her figure was indeed not bad, plus intentional exercise and young age, really impressive.

  "Hmph." Lei Xiangyu let out a cold snort, casually tying his pajama pants and saying: "In a bit, I'll have someone give you some money, then you can leave."

  "I like money, but I like successful men like you even more. I know you want Li Yuyou. I didn't plan on competing with her for your attention, but there are many things I can do that she can't. I just want to be by your side before you get her. Because I can help you get her, help you deal with Zhao Long, make you happy and let you have your way. When you're tired of me, all you need to do is pay me a little more money and I'll disappear from your sight." As she spoke, Ma Xiaoru had already walked over, stuck close to Lei Xiangyu, speaking while making flirtatious movements towards him.

  Lei Xiangyu was already furious, especially when Ma Xiaoru mentioned Li Youyou again. With Ma Xiaoru's teasing, he immediately reacted. Hearing Ma Xiaoru speak so bluntly, he actually looked at this woman with new eyes.

  "You still have some self-awareness." Lei Xiangyu said, suddenly embracing her tightly, Ma Xiaoru cooperated and let out a joyful cry, which made Lei Xiangyu even more unbearable.