Chapter 7: Three Thousand Spirit Stones!?

  Time flies, and Wang Lu's cultivation life has returned to the past two years. The repetitive cycle of day and night continued, with him being a top student on Mount Fang during the day and returning to Mount Wúxiàng at night to refine his bones. His days were simple yet fulfilling.

  After going through the first trial of hardships, Wu Xiang Jian Gu's cultivation finally got on the right track and became gradually humanized, at least not making people die and come back to life in pain.

  However, according to the master's words, it's not that the Wu Xiang sword bone has no side effects, but rather that when one reaches the first level of cultivation, their endurance for pain has already reached the point where they are unperturbed by honor or shame. To say nothing of the pain of the old body breaking down and the new body being born, even if someone were to cut off a small companion while they slept, they wouldn't wake up in pain because of it!

  Wang Lu listened to this explanation and was immediately stunned along with his little friends! If people didn't have a sense of pain, wouldn't that be even more terrifying than being a numb-headed idiot? However, looking on the bright side, it's still better than suffering every day. Let's just make do with practicing. But when they got to the third level, Wang Lu discovered another pitfall of this skill.

  There is no attribute bonus at all!

  Logically, this foundation should be the basis for the Body Tempering Technique of the Building Foundation Stage, and its ability to strengthen the body should far surpass that of ordinary martial arts. Wang Lu has been cultivating for a week and broke through three layers, not to mention having the power of a dragon or an elephant, at least he should have the strength of an ox and be able to run like the wind. As a result, his efforts over the past week were like throwing stones into the ocean, and what's even worse is that his long-distance running speed seemed to have decreased slightly!

  When asked about his master, the master said with a heavy heart that the Wu Xiang sword is profound and cannot be effective in a short time. You need to look far ahead, ten years later you will understand your teacher's kindness.

  I'll understand your paralysis, ten years later I'll be waiting for you to dig out your bitter heart and drink with me!

  So Wang Lu left home that night and went to his boss's wife.

  As for Wang Lu's surrender, the boss's wife accepted it with pleasure. In her words, to train a martial arts prodigy who appears once in a thousand years is an irresistible temptation for any martial arts master.

  "Don't worry, I will definitely pass on all the knowledge I've accumulated in my lifetime. Although I don't understand much about cultivating immortality, even if it's just mortal martial arts, it's enough for you to use until you reach the foundation building stage."

  Wang Lu had also heard of this, that the top martial artists in the mortal world could kill cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, until they successfully built their foundation and formed their Jade Mansion, at which point their internal and external powers would be connected and the martial arts of the mortal world would basically be ineffective... But even in a place like the Lingjian Sect where the elite gathered, it wasn't possible to go from cultivating one's body to building one's foundation in just three to five years. Therefore, Boss Lady's kung fu would at least be effective for another three to five years, and even if he himself successfully built his foundation in the future, the martial arts of the mortal world would still not be directly effective, but some of the underlying principles would still be somewhat applicable.

  So the formal practice began, still starting from the Dragon Subduing Technique - after all, it was the basic technique that the boss's wife had solemnly recommended. It was said to be able to comprehensively enhance physical strength, and as long as one could master the first level, they would have the power of a tiger or leopard, comparable to that of an ordinary great martial artist.

  Then Wang Lu spent three days practicing the first level of the Dragon Slaying God Technique, and on the day he succeeded, the boss's wife specially made a whole pot of braised pig hands to celebrate his success, her thoughtful gesture making him feel warm inside.

  However, after eating pig's hands and performing martial arts with the boss's wife in the mountains, the problem arose.

  "I'm saying, boss lady, according to your words, I should now have the speed of a cheetah, the strength of a tiger, and the tenacity of a wild bull... right?"

  The boss nodded: "Yes, after completing the first level of Dragon Subduing Divine Technique, at least there should be this standard, how?"

  Wang Lu fell silent for a long time: "I always feel like nothing has changed."

  The boss's wife was shocked: "Impossible! Your dragon pulse has just formed, and your true energy is born internally. I can see it clearly, how could there be no effect? Unless..."

  At this point, the boss's wife seemed to remember something, a pair of willow eyebrows twisted deeply together, like a young daughter-in-law with a hundred thoughts.

  "I think I understand what's going on now, this is a cover-up phenomenon."

  Cover phenomenon?

  The boss's wife explained helplessly: "This is not hard to understand, right? High-level martial arts have a covering effect on low-level martial arts. For example, if you cultivate the Six Yang Merging Snow Technique and then practice the more profound Nine Yang Divine Technique after some time, your internal energy properties will manifest the characteristics of the Nine Yang, and the Six Yang Merging Snow Technique will be covered by the Nine Yang Divine Technique. Now... although the Descending Dragon God Technique is the closest to a Xian Dao technique among martial arts, the Wuxiang Sword Bone is an authentic Xian Dao technique, so it's been covered."

  Wang Lu heard this and almost vomited blood, how treacherous was this Wu Xiang sword bone? Not a single attribute was added, but instead it covered up the cultivation method that crazily increased attributes! Master, you can actually create such a freakish cultivation method, I truly want to kneel down for you!

  The boss's wife also smiled bitterly: "Be more open-minded, I understand Wu Xiang Jian Gu somewhat. Although it was indeed a bit of a pit in the early stages, it is not ashamed to be called a cultivation method, and it is not comparable to the Dragon God function."

  Boss lady, instead of using this lame excuse to comfort me, why not be more direct and tell me to fantasize about a scene where my master is being gang-raped... forget it...

  The boss's wife saw that her persuasion was ineffective, so she hastily said: "Forget about practicing the Dragon Subduing Technique, anyway it's just a technique to enhance basic attributes. We can directly practice combat techniques... I happen to have several sword techniques here that are quite suitable for you."

  Wang Lu shook his head: "Forget it, my master has another set of Wuxiang Sword Techniques waiting to be used to trick me."

  "Uh, indeed, let's practice footwork! This shouldn't be a problem, Wang Wu has always neglected agility techniques, and there is no lightness skill in the Wuxing Fist, so let's practice this!"

  What about the footwork? Adding flash steps and short bursts of speed? This can be done! Although in the future when cultivation is successful, one can travel freely between heaven and earth, ordinary footwork is basically a joke. However, until the foundation is established, even the cultivators of the Lingjian Sect generally do not have the ability to fly.

  It's enough if you can use it in the foundation period, Master is above, and I'll take another bow from you!

  Then Wang Lu once again inserted his chopsticks into the rice bowl and bowed his head in respect.

  In the following days, Wang Lu followed Boss Dan to start his footwork training. Strangely, the footwork that Boss Dan taught was neither the legendary Ling Bo Wei Bu, which was said to be the strongest in dodging, nor the Gui Ying Bu, which could transform into a shadow and confuse enemies with residual images. Instead, it was a kind of footwork called Chan Si Bu, which required astonishing balance and flexibility to perform, and was known as a strange and wonderful footwork.

  As the name suggests, the key to wrapping silk steps lies in the word "wrapping". Once wrapped around the opponent, no matter what, do not let the opponent shake off, like a sticky cowhide glue, without emphasizing dodging and lacking explosive power. However, in one-on-one combat, it often plays an unexpected role.

  Wang Lu wasn't clear why the boss's wife was specifically teaching him this footwork, but in any case she wouldn't be like his own master who had been a complete waste of time, so he just learned the silk wrapping step and that was it.

  Thus, Wang Lu began his intense life of balancing academic excellence, swordsmanship, and silk-stepping, with morning long-distance running, medicine baths, and bone refinement, followed by afternoon cultural classes on Mt. Lingyun to earn sect points, then heading down the mountain to practice silk-stepping with the boss's wife, before returning to Mt. Wuyou to sleep at night.

  Two months later, Wang Lu's mastery of the Coiling Thread Step reached perfection and he successfully completed his training. Although he didn't possess any extraordinary abilities like flying or teleportation, after truly grasping the essence of this step, Wang Lu didn't think that the Coiling Thread Step was inferior to those superior steps like the Lingbo Micro Steps.

  This is a magical footwork that can bring the user's power to its peak, and this feeling was especially deep when picking herbs on Wuyue Peak. In the past, when going up the mountain to pick herbs, Wang Lu could only bully some wild monkeys, rabbits, and pheasants. When encountering wild boars or wolves, he could only run around like a lost dog. But now that the silk footwork has been mastered, even without practicing any attacking martial arts, and with his master's Wuyue sword bone being especially useless, he still had the power to fight against those ferocious beasts.

  To prove himself, on the third day of his perfect cultivation in the silk-stepping skill, Wang Lu ventured into the desolate area of Wuyou Peak and found a one-eyed black bear with whom he had a two-year-old vendetta.

  For two years, Wang Lu has been picking herbs in the mountains. What he hates most is this blind bear occupying the spiritual grass growth area. The other party is not a high-level spirit that can summon the wind and rain, but a stupid bear that is both lazy and stupid. It just so happens that in the Lingjian Mountain where the spiritual veins converge, it has a beastly understanding of the benefits of spiritual herbs. Every day, like a gardener, it patrols the mountain to protect the spiritual grass, and has an irreconcilable feud with Wang Lu who relies on picking herbs to make a living.

  In the past two years, whenever he encountered this stupid bear, Wang Lu could only turn around and run away. Relying on his geographical advantage, plus the agility and endurance unique to young people, he wasn't afraid of being hurt by the wild bear, but his plan to collect medicine was repeatedly hindered. Now that his silk-stepping skills have greatly improved, Wang Lu's confidence is bursting, thinking that revenge is at hand today, and he doesn't even bother to wait for the black bear to appear, directly charging into the black bear's cave with large strides.

  Wang Lu got up very early that day, and the sky was still dark when he reached the mountain. In the cave, the black bear was sleeping soundly with drool flowing from its mouth, having a wonderful dream. Wang Lu didn't hesitate, and kicked the bear right on the nose!

  Waaaah!!!

  Heart-wrenching wails and a fountain-like gush of nasal blood made Wang Lu feel extremely refreshed. The black bear covered its nose, stood up straight, and shot out a blood-red beam of hatred from its only eye that was streaming with tears.

  "Mom, it's been two years, are you done yet? Normally, sneaking up the mountain to steal my spiritual grass and medicine is one thing, but now you're coming to my door again with another sneak attack?! I'm calling you out! Go die, you bitch!"

  Ahh-ooo!

  The black bear let out a loud roar, its paws waving wildly, stirring up a foul-smelling gust of wind. The beast's pounce was enough to split metal and shatter stone, but Wang Lu remained calm and composed, taking a step forward and swaying his upper body to lightly avoid the bear's sweeping paw.

  The black bear, seemingly clumsy, is actually much more agile than an ordinary human. Missing one strike, the black bear immediately follows up with another palm, and its massive body pounces forward, squeezing the opponent's space to dodge. Just as Wang Lu was about to retreat a step, his center of gravity unstable, he had no way to avoid it.

  But in the next moment, Wang Lu's figure flashed and he slipped away like a ghost, taking advantage of Hei Xiong's slow reaction to climb onto its back!

  The twisting silk step has a high requirement for the body's flexibility, and the essence of this stepping method is that when needed, it can move close to the body, yet seemingly be far away and out of reach.

  After two successful dodges, Wang Lu had already figured out the opponent's bottom line... without any pressure, as long as he relied on this set of footwork, even in a narrow space like a mountain cave, there was no need to fear this hair-crazy fierce beast.

  The only problem is that, although he won't get hurt, Wang Lu, who has never learned any fighting skills, can't possibly hurt this thick-skinned and sturdy black bear either - no choice, then let's just exhaust it! After all, Wang Lu has incredible endurance, don't believe it? Let's exhaust it to death!

  Two hours later, when Wang Lu felt a bit hungry, the black bear that had been punching wildly all morning finally couldn't hold on and fell to the ground with a thud.

  This slightly spiritual black bear was thoroughly worn out by Wang Lu, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't hit him. It ran, but that kid wouldn't let up, always following closely behind, occasionally using his mysterious skills to trip himself up, making himself fall like a ***, and then he would take the opportunity to kick his own nose.

  Two hours passed, the black bear's nose was almost kicked rotten, and it fell to the ground in a mess, covered in mud. Wang Lu, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, still standing on its back.

  Waaah...

  The black bear let out a listless wail and finally reluctantly showed weakness. After Wang Lu heard this, he walked down from its back, the black bear struggled to prop itself up, slowly crawling back to its own cave, then somehow pulled out a white cloth, grasping it with its paws, shaking it slowly.

  Damn it, this bear still has this trick!？

  Even Wang Lu was shocked, thinking that the Xian Dao sect is indeed the Xian Dao sect, even a bear with a bad temper has become human-like and can still pretend to be cute!

  Alright, since you've admitted defeat, I don't need to annihilate you. We've been neighbors for two years, let's get along well from now on.

  Wang Lu patted the black bear's head and turned to leave, leaving only a lonely figure in the distance, reflected in the black bear's blurry vision.

  ——

  Returning home with a satisfied smile, Wang Lu was surprised to find that his usually drunk master at this time of day was actually sitting in the living room reading a book! "The Golden Elixir Technique"!?

  My god, this idiot can actually read! He didn't even hold the book upside down! And he's actually reading a serious cultivation manual, not some ***! Dear master, your shameless rogue image has collapsed!

  But Master saw Wang Lu and was also surprised: "Huh, this spring light is full of face... Could it be that you went to ask for flowers and willows?"

  What's with your face?!

  "Hmm, you've been practicing hard during this period. Although I still insist that mortal martial arts are a waste of time, it's good that you haven't neglected your cultivation of the Wu Xiang Sword Bone. That's great." The master said, closing the "Jin Dan Yao Shu" in his hand, "By the way, I also have some good news to tell you. Congratulations, your Wu Xiang Sword Bone has reached the final stage before refining Qi."

  "Last hurdle?"

  "Alright, once you've completed the eighth refinement of your sword bone, you can officially start cultivating Qi. And there's another thing, aren't you always complaining that the Wuxiang Sword Bone is useless and doesn't add any attributes? Actually, the changes to the sword bone have already been quietly taking place, it's just that you haven't realized it yet. However, once you've completed the eighth refinement, there will be a noticeable improvement. Unless you're blind and ignorant, you won't be saying anything stupid about the sword bone being useless again."

  Wang Lu was taken aback by his master's straightforward and confident tone, the little guy spoke as if it were true.

  Then let's wait and see, at the speed of the previous seven layers, it will be clear in a week at most. Whether your Wu Xiang sword bone is a real extraordinary skill or a pure scam will be obvious by then.

  "It's not that easy." The master said coldly, "The cultivation of the Wu Xiang Sword Bone is not something that can be completed by just closing up and practicing bitterly."

  "What else can be done?"

  "First, it's the elixir. From the eighth realm onwards, the cultivation of Wuxiang Sword Bone must be assisted by elixirs. For daily cultivation, you need to take a dose of Wuxiang Strengthening Bone Powder every day, and when breaking through, you need to take Wuxiang Strengthening Bone Elixir. Second, it's spiritual stones. When breaking through, you need to use the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy to quickly flush your meridians. The efficiency of gathering spiritual energy with the Yuanyuan Array is not enough, so at least a few low-grade spiritual stones are needed. Finally, it's a famous master. When breaking through, the spiritual energy will go wild, and you need a famous master like me to suppress it in order to be completely safe. For these three conditions, I can easily solve the last two for you, but as for the elixir, you need to work hard yourself. The refinement of Wuxiang Strengthening Bone Elixir requires a Zhu Guo fruit, which I don't have and can't afford - sorry, even if you scold me as a dog's blood, it's still unaffordable. Even if I could buy it, the internal price of our sect's elders is 3,000 spiritual stones per piece, so I wouldn't buy it even if I could afford it. Do you understand?"

  Wang Lu was shocked: "This Zhu Guo, priced at 3,000 spiritual stones, is indeed not expensive. If it were to be sold outside, a tenfold increase in price wouldn't be unusual. The problem is, that's a spiritual elixir suitable for cultivators who have formed their foundation, but I'm just a Qi Refining stage small fry, and I actually need to use Zhu Guo, or rather 3,000 spiritual stones, to assist my cultivation!?"

  The master sighed and didn't explain anything, continuing to say: "This Zhu Guo thing actually grows a lot on Qingyun Peak, but that's the sect's strategic resource reserve point. Even the sect leader can't go there to pick herbs at will. Only you newly-practicing disciples with weak cultivation levels are not restricted. I think it's unnecessary to explain the reason."

  It's indeed not hard to understand, encouraging young disciples to dare to explore and challenge their limits.

  "It just so happens that in a few days, Lingfeng Peak and Xianyao Peak will be organizing new disciples to go to Qingyun Peak for training. Why don't you come along too? Try to pick some Zhu Guo fruits on the way back, I'll help you refine the Bu Gu Dan and Bu Gu San."

  "What if it can't be picked?"

  "Actually, it's nothing. Even without the Bu Xue Dan, you can use a lower-grade dan medicine as a substitute, but your cultivation speed will be at least ten times slower. You weigh the pros and cons yourself."

  What else is there to say? Now all we lack is time! Let's go, up the mountain!

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