Chapter 6: The Ever-Changing Sword Bones of Wu Xiang

  Under Wang Lu's pressure, Master did not want to avoid the topic of beauties and began to seriously expound his teaching philosophy.

  "It's only when I tell you that you understand, this child really hurts my heart... Not to mention other things, these two years of continuous medicinal baths, do you know how much money I've spent?"

  Wang Lu smiled and said: "Definitely not as much money as you have for wine."

  "...The master suddenly stopped talking, obviously choked back his words. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, "But the effect of the medicine bath is undeniable. This point, Xiaoling, you can also see it, right?"

  The boss's wife, who was watching from the sidelines, sighed and said: "Yes, an ordinary person has been cultivated by you into a rare martial arts talent that is hard to come by in a hundred years. You've really put in effort on this matter, it's rarely seen!"

  Wang Lu was somewhat puzzled: "Please elaborate."

  The boss's wife said, "Two years ago when I met you, I could see that although you may have a good talent for cultivating immortality, but as for your potential in martial arts...you're just at the level of an ordinary farmer. Although your comprehension is not bad, your innate physique is really insufficient."

  Wang Lu was shocked: "What?! You can actually separate these two innate talents?!"

  "Isn't this nonsense? You've studied cultural courses on the mountain for two years and you don't even know this much common sense? Warriors cultivate their physical bodies, while Taoist cultivators cultivate the Tao. How can they be lumped together?"

  Wang Lu, as the top student of Ling Jian Mountain, naturally knew this common sense, but he just couldn't think that his own proud and free-spirited nature would also be bound by common sense! The rhythm of being completely carefree has been broken, ah dear!

  But then another question arises, even if one's own martial arts talent is average, are all the black and white ones who entered the mountain at the same time martial arts geniuses? How can others achieve great success in body refinement after two years, while oneself can only run quickly like Wang Lu?

  The boss's wife explained: "It's different, those people only improved their cultivation and not their innate talent. Cultivation is a very vague thing, at least in the tempering period. Swallowing a spiritual pill can bring out several years of deep power... These stories are very realistic! Although the Lingjian Sect attaches more importance to basic skills and will not rely solely on taking medicine to become a congenital martial artist, their cultivation process is still greatly simplified. And you're different, with your current talent, even if you don't rely on any external force, it would take at most one year to cultivate to the great completion of tempering body... I think your master must have had other intentions when he went to great lengths to improve your physique."

  Master nodded vigorously, with a moved expression: "Oh oh little Ling'er we indeed have a deep sisterly bond, and our hearts are connected! You guessed it right, I've been helping him bathe for two years to let him directly cultivate the Wu Xiang Jian Gu."

  The four words "Wu Xiang Jian Gu" came out, and the boss's wife took a cold breath: "You, you're not joking, are you? Let him start practicing now? That's a Golden Elixir-level body-refining technique!"

  "Oh, that's the old Huang Li calendar. A few years ago, I just improved the Wu Xiang Jian Gu, and in theory, it can be cultivated during the foundation-building period, although it will take a bit longer."

  The boss's wife said: "That was also a matter of the foundation period, okay? He hasn't even reached the Qi Refining Period yet, Wang Wu, you explain it clearly to me."

  "Who would have thought that Wang Wu would sigh and say, "This is also an unavoidable method. His empty Ling Root, if not cultivated with the No-Phase Sword Bone, will be unable to practice Qi, let alone build a foundation. Although in theory, the Empty Ling Root is the top-notch spiritual root quality in the cultivation world, possessing the best spiritual energy adaptability, its adaptability to spiritual energy is too high, resulting in rapid loss during rapid absorption, ultimately gaining nothing. According to legend, the Qin Shi Huang and De Sheng Taizu of the Xian Qin were the ones who transmitted the method, officially opening up the path of cultivation. I don't have the skills of a true immortal, so I can only use my own unorthodox methods to try, treating a dead horse as if it were alive."

  By this point, even Wang Lu had roughly figured out his master's train of thought, while the boss lady seemed to have grasped it even more.

  "So that's why you've been trying to improve his martial arts talent. Indeed, if he has an unparalleled natural ability, it's possible for him to break through conventional wisdom and start practicing the Wu Xing Jian Bone earlier... Hmph, I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful in your planning."

  "So I just want to ask, is that old silly beauty's promise reliable or not?"

  "...... Ah, Wang Lu, you also heard that, your master is actually not so bad, still treating you with kindness."

  Wang Lu sneered coldly: "Then I'll ask another question, Master. At the current pace, when can I cultivate the Wu Xiang Jian Gu?"

  The master looked a bit embarrassed and muttered to himself: "It's just thirty or forty or fifty or sixty or seventy or eighty or ninety years..."

  "My god! Ten years?! Are you trying to stir up trouble?"

  The boss's wife was also a bit surprised: "So long? Hey, you're not planning to use the current formula to soak his feet for ten years, are you? The efficacy will decrease continuously, and you need to upgrade the medicine!"

  The master also became anxious: "Upgrade again?! Now this prescription has already cost me my entire fortune, and you want to upgrade again? Are you trying to force me to sell myself, Little Ling?!"

  Wang Lu coldly interjected from the side: "If it can't be sold, then give up, Master."

  "Awesome!"

  For a moment, the five elders almost got blown up by their own disciple, but before they could get angry, a certain sisterly affectionate girl ruthlessly exposed her.

  The boss's wife glanced inside through the wooden window, saw the wooden bucket in the bedroom, and curled her lips: "Isn't it that exaggerated? It's just a tendon-washing marrow soup, which is priceless in the mortal world. In the cultivation world...it's just that the formula is more expensive, the materials aren't that pricey, and relying on Wang Lu's true transmission should be enough."

  "You're actually betraying me for a man!? Abandoning our sisterly bond of over ten years, I'm truly heartbroken!"

  Wang Lu sighed: "No more nonsense, give me the upgrade formula!"

  "......Ah ah ah but I beg for death!"

  ——

  The five elders of the Lingjian Sect, if their shortcomings are summarized, can be described as numerous and difficult to enumerate. The only thing that is worthy of praise is that they keep their promises, especially when they are caught in bed with someone else and forced into a corner, at which point they will display genuine integrity.

  After being squeezed by the beloved disciple Wang Lu and his sister-in-law, the boss finally agreed to upgrade Wang Lu's medicine formula, and it was a one-step process. That night, he brought out a bucket of fragrant and refreshing medicinal soup. Wang Lu only soaked in it once, but felt refreshed all over, as if he were floating on air. Although his physical strength had not increased directly, he could vaguely feel that there was infinite potential hidden within him.

  At this point, Wang Lu was already considered one of the top martial arts prodigies, a once-in-a-century genius.

  Wang Lu was both delighted and sighed at this, delighted that the solid foundation work had finally been completed, but also sighing that the previous two years had been a waste of time.

  "It's not that simple, without the uninterrupted medicinal baths for the past two years, this Super Easy Tendon Washing Marrow Soup of mine wouldn't have been able to take effect. It's a matter of gradual accumulation and sudden breakthrough, all in all, it would have delayed you by at most one or two months."

  Master said while painfully calculating how long he had to abstain from alcohol in order to make up for this bucket of super medicinal soup.

  Wang Lu temporarily accepted this explanation: "So what's next, is it the Wu Xiang Sword Bone you mentioned?"

  "Exactly, it's the Wu Xiang Sword Bone. It's also a fundamental skill of our Wu Xiang Peak lineage. Speaking of which, you've been with me for two years now, and I still haven't introduced my system to you."

  Wang Lu nodded: "Yeah, it's been a year and I haven't seen you sober for more than a few days. Either you're drunk or dead asleep, so there really isn't much time for you to introduce me to things."

  “……Haha, kid, you're really humorous! Anyway, my cultivation foundation is Wu Xiang Gong, as you know, it's my self-created technique. I know that many people now have biases towards self-created techniques, always thinking that the more ancient a cultivation method is, the stronger it is. But in reality, cultivating immortality is like drinking water - one knows whether it's cold or warm themselves. No matter how excellent someone else's technique is, it's still someone else's. Only what you create yourself is truly yours.”

  Wang Lu nodded as if he understood: "This story teaches us that it's better to not mess with other people's wives, right?"

  “……You can interpret it to this extent, I think you're right! In short, the Wu Xiang Gong is the most suitable cultivation method for me. Over the years, through my continuous improvement, it has included a series of branch methods such as Wu Xiang Jian Jue, Wu Xiang Jian Gu, and Wu Xiang Xian Xin, forming a complete and not inferior to the Star Sword Classic system.”

  Haha, fellow disciples and seniors of the Tianjian Hall, among the ten elders, one is in the Nascent Soul stage, eight are in the Embryonic Breath stage, and one is in the Golden Core stage. You still have the nerve to boast that your Wuxiang Technique is not inferior to the Xingchen Sword Classic? Truly worthy of being my master, with a bottom line that's forever unfathomable.

  "Damn it! What do you know?! The Star Sword Classic has been passed down for thousands of years, and indeed has endless wonders. It's the top cultivation method in the immortal world, but the method is rigid, with a very fixed cultivation routine. Except for a handful of geniuses with suitable innate talents, others can't even bring out a fraction of its power. Otherwise, we could just cultivate the Star Sword Classic together and forget about Sword Heart Transparency and Hundred Flowers Luoshen! But my Void Technique is different, its biggest characteristic is its strong adaptability, it can evolve with the times!"

  "Still keeping up with the times?"

  Master nodded in approval: "Not bad, do you know how many times I've revised the Wu Xiang Gong cultivation method?"

  "...Are you still updating?"

  "That's right, if there are better ideas, why not change? The greatest advantage of my Wu Xiang Gong is its strong framework inclusiveness, so I can modify it as I like! Now, just the most basic method of spitting and swallowing the heaven and earth spirit, I have revised more than 70 times! As for this set of Wu Xiang Gong, it has already been revised to version 98 - I basically revise it once a year. As for the branch methods such as Wu Xiang Sword Intent and Wu Xiang Immortal Heart, they can be changed at any time without hesitation, haha!"

  "...". For such a bizarre thing, Wang Lu had no comment.

  "Then, Little Wang Lu, at present, throughout the Nine States Continent, only this door can change at any time, adapting to local conditions, the Wú Xiāng Gōng (Infinite Void Skill) that can cover your Empty Spirit Root... For ten thousand years in the Cultivation World, there has been no cultivation method for the Empty Spirit Root that has been passed down. Your cultivation can only be done by feeling the stones while crossing the river, and the one who can accompany you to feel the stones is none other than the Wú Xiāng Gōng. Do you understand?"

  Wang Lu naturally understood. In fact, when his master mentioned that adaptability was strong, he already knew why the Ling Jian Sect would choose such an eccentric master to guide him.

  "The Wu Xiang Gong is vast and profound, requiring gradual progress to achieve success. In theory, one should start with the Ling Qi Tu Na, then cultivate the Qi until it's full, and finally learn the Wu Xiang Jian Gu to transform the physical body. However, your situation is different, as your physical body under the Kong Ling Gen is like a leaky pot, unable to retain spiritual energy, making it impossible to form internal power.

  My plan is to have you learn the Wu Xiang Jian Gu first, to block the leaks before practicing Qi... Of course, I must declare that the Wu Xiang Jian Gu is still an imperfect cultivation method that requires continuous improvement, incomparable to the heavenly transmission. Although in theory, it can help your leaky pot of a body retain spiritual energy, on the other hand, your Kong Ling Gen's dominance over the world's spiritual energy will somewhat affect its adaptability.

  So don't expect to become as powerful as the Qin Shi Huang or De Sheng Taizu of old, who became immortals in just twenty years and swept across the nine provinces unopposed."

  Wang Lu sighed: "It's okay, we can be open-minded. If we can't become a real immortal, it doesn't matter. At least we're better than being a specimen."

  "Hey, actually this Wuxiang sword bone has another wonderful place, I'm afraid even the immortal method is not as good as it. After you practice it, you will know, and you won't regret it!"

  ——

  What other wonderful places Master said, Wang Lu really couldn't feel it, only knowing that since he followed her to practice the Wu Xiang sword bone, as a professional adventurer, he had a faint sense of regret.

  What the heck is this crappy kung fu, from the very first day of practice, every single day feels like my whole body is broken, it's so painful I don't want to live. What's even more ridiculous is that I was just following Master's demonstration, practiced a few moves like Dragon Subduing Hand, and then had a few dishes of Master's cooking... but didn't expect that by the third day, I'd be in so much pain I couldn't get out of bed.

  It's rare that the shameless master didn't mock and tease at my bedside - if it were me, I would definitely be teased without any suspense!

  On the contrary, Master said with a comforting tone: "My method of not practicing internal energy first but rather external body training goes against conventional wisdom. In the cultivation world, there's almost no precedent for this approach because without spiritual energy to protect the body, the pain from destroying and rebirthing the body is unbearable when training externally. However, after brewing you a Two-Year Easy Tendon Washing Marrow Broth that elevated your talent from trash to martial arts prodigy, in theory, your body should be able to withstand drastic changes with little burden. I thought it would take at least one or two weeks for you to show some results when practicing the Wu Xiang Sword Bone technique, but unexpectedly, you've already entered the door after just two or three days! The Kong Ling Root indeed lives up to its reputation as the world's number one cultivation spiritual root; once involved with spiritual energy and law, progress is especially fast!"

  He sighed after finishing speaking: "Unfortunately, you haven't learned the introspection method yet, otherwise you could have witnessed the miracle of Kong Linggen with your own eyes."

  Wang Lu was uninterested in witnessing the miracle and lay on his bed like a vegetable for two days, he only wanted to ask one question: "Does this count as me cultivating successfully?"

  "Master nodded: "The first heavy burden of Wu Xiang Jian Gu, is almost a great success. When your severe pain gradually subsides, it means that your cultivation is stable and can be effective... To be honest, I was really worried that with your physical constitution, you wouldn't be able to withstand the hardships of the first heavy burden, let alone concentrate the changes of ten days and half a month into just three days! I didn't expect you to actually survive."

  Come on, are you kidding me? Where did all these unexpected things come from?!

  But the first heavy Wú Xiāng jiàn gǔ just so great achievement, really some unexpected. According to the master's meaning, Wú Xiāng jiàn gǔ is repaired, can formally cultivate immortality, that is to say, the original entanglement of the entire Líng Jiàn Pài elder group all helpless Kōng Líng Gēn difficulties, has been solved?

  "How can you be so impatient? You've just mastered the first level and you want to fly already? Without at least ten or eight levels, your big leaky pot can't even be plugged up. Let's take it slow, from now on, follow me in cultivating the foundation of Wu Xiang Gong. If you can cultivate Qi within three months, that'll be considered good luck."

  "Wang Lu couldn't help but ask: 'Ten layers? Eight layers? Just how many layers of boundary does this Wú Xiàng sword bone have, anyway?'"

  "So far I have designed 112 layers, and personally cultivated up to the 103rd layer. However, Wu Xiang Gong is all about inclusiveness and progress with the times, without any limits on the level of attainment."

  I'm still not satisfied with this, dear!?! Your "Wu Xiang Gong" is really unreliable, isn't it?!?!

  But having gone to bed with the thief, Wang Lu had no choice but to follow along with the practice. After three days of practicing the first level, wouldn't he be able to complete the tenth level in a month and escape his suffering?