Chapter Eleven Cultivation
Early in the morning, Gan Ping got out of bed, washed up and prepared a basin of water to bring into the house. Mr. was still not awake, so Gan Ping put the basin on the shelf. For days now, Gan Ping had been getting up at dawn and setting off on his journey, it had become a habit for him. He covered the mouth of the fire monkey which wanted to shout loudly with its hands and feet, and carried it out of the door.
The sky was just beginning to brighten, but Mrs. Ma had already gotten up and started busying herself with breakfast. Seeing little Gan Ping in the courtyard next door, her eyes couldn't help but smile until they became slits. From the moment Gan Ping was carried home unconscious, she had taken a liking to this boy in her heart. Yesterday, seeing Gan Ping's clean and handsome appearance, she almost took him for the son heaven had sent her, nearly embracing him and calling out "my child" with abandon.
At the crack of dawn, Zhang saw Gan Ping and hastily asked: "Ping'er, why are you up so early? Didn't you sleep well?" Gan Ping hastily replied with respect: "Auntie Zhang, I slept very well, it's just that I'm used to getting up this early." He was a bit intimidated by the woman in front of him, as Ma Zhang's enthusiasm made him feel overwhelmed.
Seeing Gan Ping being so well-behaved and polite, Madam Ma's heart liked this little boy even more. She hurriedly said: "Ping'er, don't forget to go to your aunt's house for dinner later." After finishing speaking, she turned her head to take another look at him, then busied herself with starting the fire to cook rice.
Gan Ping let out a sigh of relief, he really couldn't handle the excessive concern from Ma Zhangshi. He took a glance outside and then walked out of the courtyard. The entire Ma family village had only about 300-400 households, it was really small. Gan Ping circled around the village in no time, from yesterday's conversation he knew that the talkative old man Ma was the village head.
Actually, the village head didn't have much to do, as most of the villagers were surnamed Ma, and the rest were outsiders who moved in later. Over time, they all became one big family. Mali's grandfather was the oldest, so he naturally became the village head, but he didn't need to take care of many things either. The village was surrounded by a high earth wall, with several small ditches outside to prevent wild animals from rushing in and harming livestock. Everyone in the village was related, so even minor incidents like losing a chicken or duck rarely happened, leaving Old Ma with nothing much to do.
Back at the private school, Mr. Zhang had already gotten up and saw the water on the shelf, nodding silently in approval. As a disciple, Gan Ping was quite aware of his duties and didn't need to be told to serve his teacher. After cleaning up, he accompanied Gan Ping to the Ma family's house for dinner. The private school did not have cooking facilities, so the villagers would send food to the village head's house as a sign of respect for the private school teacher. Mr. Zhang could just go there every day to eat, and any leftover food was considered his reward. In this way, Gan Ping also ended up staying in the village.
The sound of hearty laughter echoed through the sky above Majiacun, in a small square on the west side of the village, dozens of children were practicing boxing under the supervision of a sturdy man, one move at a time, with a certain rhythm. The oldest of these children was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the youngest was only six or seven years old, Gan Ping was also among them.
It's been over two months since I arrived at Majiacun, and now it's already the end of the year. During these two months, Gan Ping has spent every morning practicing martial arts with other children here, and every afternoon reading books and learning to recognize characters with Mr. Zhang. The villagers of Majiacun usually go to the fields to farm during busy seasons, and when they have free time, they go up the mountain to hunt, so practicing martial arts is also a necessary course for these children every day.
Actually, the main source of income for Majiacun is not farming or hunting. Farming only provides enough food to eat, and hunting is just a way to earn some extra pocket money by selling it in the city. The largest source of income for Majiacun is actually ironwork. On a nearby small mountain, there is a small open-pit iron mine. Due to its limited output, no other forces have come to occupy it. Every day, the strong men of Majiacun go to carry back some ore and forge farm tools and weapons to sell. These children practice boxing every day, also to temper their bodies and become apprentices in the future, becoming blacksmiths.
Since Gan Ping was living in Majiacun, he could be considered a villager. Of course, he had to complete his daily tasks, but fortunately, his physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary children, and he didn't feel too tired every day. Reading books and recognizing characters every day also allowed young Gan Ping to gradually understand the situation on the entire Tianfu Continent. The Majiacun where he lived was just a small village under the Xiangyue City of the State of Yanrong. The entire Tianfu Continent was vast, with twelve states and three major countries, but there were many small vassal states like cow hair, attached to these three major powers, constantly waging war, and the struggles between the three major powers of Gaotang, Yunmeng, and Dashu often made these small countries cannon fodder.
But these three major forces divided into twelve states, are only a small part of the Tianfu Continent. In the north, there is the Heaven's Ridge, and in the south, there is the Qinghuo Flame State, both of which are forbidden areas where ordinary people cannot live due to the gathering of ferocious beasts, with no path but death for those who enter. On the western side of the continent lies a majestic mountain range that pierces the clouds, where even birds find it hard to fly over, said to be the dwelling place of immortals. The western edge of the continent is boundless ocean, with towering waves and extraordinary danger.
But all of this has nothing to do with Xiao Ganping. In these two months, he had another episode of syncope. This time, from the primordial spirit fragments of Xuanmingzi and Huolong, he gained a lot of insight. Ganping felt that if he continued to gain such insights, one day he would recall his original life. However, this was just his wishful thinking. Considering that Xuanmingzi and Huolong had lived for thousands of years across two realms, their memory fragments were not so easily understood and absorbed. At this speed, it's likely that even if he lived to old age, he still wouldn't be able to fully comprehend them.
This time, Gan Ping finally grasped the complete formula of the Fire Dragon Forging Body after integrating these fragmented memories. This set of physical cultivation techniques, named "Binghuo Rongyuan Zhenjue", was the secret method passed down through the ages by the Fire Dragon clan. By gathering the flames of all spirits in his chest and abdomen, he formed a single, original dragon pattern of Bing fire, which was extremely yang and powerful, with no equal. When cultivated to the realm of Mahayana, it would be released during battle, unleashing a boundless sea of flames that would reduce even gold and iron to a pool of molten metal.
Unfortunately, Gan Ping had absorbed some of the Fire Dragon's essence, but he couldn't withstand the true might of the Dragon Seal Tri-fire. Now, his only hope was to use this technique to refine his body, absorb the stray fire spirits, and temper his physique, relying on the Triple Heater Heart Fire within him to strengthen his internal organs. He hoped that one day, he could cultivate his body to a higher level and withstand the scorching of the Dragon Seal Tri-fire.
In the daytime, when Gan Ping practiced his fist, a weak True Yuan flowed through his body, circulating throughout his entire being. At night, when Mr. Zhang fell asleep, he would quietly get up and practice the Fusion of True Essence technique in the outer room. Although Gan Ping's cultivation was extremely arduous, the effect was minimal. This set of techniques was originally prepared for the Dragon Clan, a heavenly born divine beast. Among the twenty-four levels of demonic beasts, the Dragon Clan could reach level seventeen at birth if their bloodline was pure, showing its incredible strength. Compared to such a powerful creature, Gan Ping's physical body was too fragile, and he couldn't even withstand the most basic technique of drawing fire into his body or refining a single spark of his innate flame.
Kaiganping did not give up, and every day he still practiced diligently. He had other techniques, but they were all passed down from the memory of Xuanmingzi, a master of the evil path who had been rampant in the world for over a thousand years, killing countless people. His techniques were also extremely evil, often requiring the sacrifice of hundreds or thousands of lives to practice. Kaiganping did not dare to practice such cruel and unjust techniques, but instead practiced the "Binghuo Rong Yuanshen" technique every day with honesty and integrity.
Even so, his body has undergone tremendous changes. The Dragon Clan's life-transmitting skill is by no means comparable to a low-level magic spell. Although Gan Ping can only run a small part of this skill, it also has a huge effect. Now his strength is nearly a thousand kilograms. In the western square, there is a giant stone, Gan Ping secretly went to try it out, and he lifted up this thousand-kilogram giant stone with just a bit more effort.
If Old Man Ma, the village chief, were to find out about this matter, he would surely be astonished and left speechless. Majiacun is close to Tianyiling, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant, and wild beasts are numerous; from time to time, even ferocious beasts emerge. Therefore, every man in the village has been practicing martial arts since childhood, and they all have a good physique. Their ancestors also passed down a set of skills, which can be said to be a community of martial artists without exaggeration. Within a radius of hundreds of miles, it is also famous. Even so, the most outstanding martial artist could only lift that giant stone above his chest, but Gan Ping was able to lift it above his head before showing slight signs of exertion. This cannot help but be described as astonishing and shocking.
That night, Gan Ping heard Mr. Zhang fall asleep and quietly sat up to practice the Bing Fire Rong Yuan Zhen Jue. As he entered a meditative state, threads of true fire flowed into his body from the outside world, spreading throughout his limbs and refining every inch of skin, flesh, and membrane. With each breath, he saw the turbid energy in his body being expelled, and only when his body was refined to be as transparent as crystal did he consider the first step complete.
At the time of his cultivation, Gan Ping felt that the spiritual energy around him had suddenly become much thicker. The scattered True Fire that was originally attracted from afar had suddenly gathered together in large quantities. He couldn't help but feel a surge of joy in his heart, and although he didn't know what was happening, he accelerated the speed of his cultivation technique. The surrounding scattered True Fire continued to gather, surging towards Gan Ping like a tidal wave, increasing the pressure on him exponentially. He desperately ran his cultivation technique, but unfortunately, the endless True Fire spiritual energy came pouring in, leaving him secretly lamenting.
Although Gan Ping was born with a fire spirit body, his absorption and accommodation of fire attribute spiritual power far exceeded that of ordinary people. However, there were limits to this as well. Moreover, he was currently running the incomplete Binghuo Rongyuan Decree, which was only used for tempering the body and not for accumulating internal spiritual power or transforming true yuan. Therefore, Gan Ping felt that the fire attribute spiritual power was becoming more and more overwhelming, already showing signs of being unable to keep up. If this continued, he would absolutely explode and die.
At the moment when he was anxious, he suddenly heard a cry of a monkey, and the spiritual power that was originally directed at Gan Ping suddenly changed its target and rushed towards another direction. With a lighter pressure on his body, Gan Ping quickly slowed down the operation of the law and stopped cultivating.
Chang Chang let out a long sigh, Gan Ping opened his eyes to find Huo Er lying on the bed in front of him, its body emitting a faint red glow, its monkey-like eyes tightly closed, motionless. Gan Ping felt the fire attribute spiritual energy beside him entering into its body with each breath, and he couldn't help but be shocked. It seemed that earlier it was Huo Er who had saved him, taking his place as the master.
Gan Ping didn't dare to disturb Huo Er, so he could only anxiously wait aside until the sky was about to brighten up. The surging thick spiritual energy finally dissipated gradually. However, Huo Er showed no signs of waking up at all. Gan Ping hastily picked him up and checked him, only then did he let out a sigh of relief - this little guy had just fallen asleep. Having obtained the memories of two great masters, he also gained some insight, and understood more about the Mihuo Monkey. Gan Ping knew that Huo Er was absorbing too much spiritual energy and was using deep sleep to digest this energy. Moreover, this spirit beast with the bloodline of an ancient divine beast would activate a thread of its inherited bloodline every time it slept deeply. The last time in the mountain forest, after Huo Er had slept for several days, he woke up and could drive away the black panther to make way. Gan Ping was now especially looking forward to what changes would occur when Huo Er wakes up this time.
Gan Ping, who was anxiously worried about Huo Er, did not know that the surge of spiritual energy earlier had caused a huge stir in the cultivation world. That night, the spiritual energy on the Tianfu Continent went berserk, and in one night, countless cultivators exploded and died, but those who survived made great progress in their cultivation. According to Tian Leng and Qing Huo Yan Zhou, many of the demonic beasts had advanced in rank, precisely because their bodies were strong enough to withstand the violent surge of spiritual energy. As a result, a beast tide was imminent, and a demonic beast riot was looming.
