Chapter Ten: Jiang Old Brother

  "Who are you?" Xu Hua immediately activated the "Life Devouring Technique" and instantly felt the majestic life energy within the old man's body. This was absolutely a top-notch strong expert among the Martial Honored Ones, the strongest person Xu Hua had met aside from his father.

  The old man smiled faintly as he looked at Xu Hua, nodding his head and then shaking it. "The kid's boxing skills aren't bad, what a pity!"

  "What a pity!" Xu Hua guessed the identity of this old man in her heart.

  "It has the form but not the substance!" The old man said with a smile, yet it gave people a sense of conviction.

  Xu Hua gave up his guard, after all, if he wanted to harm himself, he could have done so earlier when Xu Hua hadn't noticed him!

  "What's the meaning of this!"

  The old man shook his head, "Cannot be said, cannot be said, can only rely on yourself to understand! You are walking the path of a Body Refining Cultivator! Can you comprehend the true meaning of Body Refining?"

  "What is the true meaning of refining one's body? Only when the body is refined to its utmost limit can it be the foundation of everything! No matter how many techniques you have, I will defeat them all with a single move!" Xu Hua said after some thought.

  The old man smiled and said, "At your age, it's not easy to have such understanding. Cultivating the body is about tempering the flesh, enhancing one's vital energy and blood, grasping the flow of internal force, developing the potential of the body, and mastering oneself!"

  Listening to the old man's words, Xu Hua suddenly seemed to have gained some insight, and muttered to himself: "Endure physical hardship, enhance one's vital energy, grasp the power of inner strength..."

  The old man looked at Xu Hua with increasing delight, thinking to himself: "What a wonderful insight! Given time, this young man may reach my level." Suddenly his expression changed, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. "How is it possible? He's had an epiphany! I've spent over 200 years and only had two epiphanies, and he's had one just from listening to me speak a few words!!!! What a monster! Compared to him, I've been living like a dog all these years!"

  The old man did not dare to disturb Xu Hua, and waited patiently on the side. However, Xu Hua was not suddenly enlightened, but more and more supplementary information about "Nine Deaths to Heaven Record" appeared in his mind.

  "True Dragon Body Building Fist", a top-notch fist technique used by warriors in their early days to temper their physical bodies.

  Martial artist's seven major realms of physical refinement: Refining the flesh, Transforming tendons, Replacing blood, Tempering bones, Refining skin, Condensing spirit, Opening orifices, True body.

  ……

  Xu Hua gradually regained consciousness, but there were some memories in his mind that he didn't have before. On the surface, Xu Hua seemed no different from before, but inside, he had changed a lot and became aware of many shortcomings that he had previously overlooked.

  Xu Hua used to be a nouveau riche, only pursuing strength in one flavor, but took the wrong path, which also led to some drawbacks. Fortunately, he discovered it in time, otherwise Xu Hua would find it very difficult to climb the true peak of martial arts in the future.

  Xu Hua looked at the old man in front of him and bowed deeply!

  "Thank you, sir. May I ask who you are?"

  The old man accepted with pleasure, but after seeing Xu Hua's monstrous talent, he didn't take advantage of him too much. After all, with his current achievements and his innate talent, he will surely surpass himself in the future! As long as he doesn't die, his great revenge may...

  The old man thought more and more likely, looking at Xu Hua getting more and more excited.

  "Little friend is being polite, if little friend doesn't mind, just call me Old Brother Jiang!"

  Xu Hua naturally saw that the old man was sincere, so he also didn't pretend and called out: "Old Brother Jiang!"

  "Haha! Xiao You Xu, why didn't you invite your elder brother in for a chat?"

  "It was me who forgot, let's go in and sit down together, big brother!"

  The two came into Xu Hua's separate courtyard, Xu Hua brewed a pot of tea, and the two chatted while drinking.

  "Old Ginger, how did you suddenly come to find me, this unknown little kid, and also know my identity." Xu Hua didn't know Old Ginger's main purpose either, but Xu Hua thought that Old Ginger must be a high-ranking official in the Imperial Academy.

  "Originally, I heard that a freak had appeared in the school, so I came to take a look. If possible, I would have taken you as my disciple. But unexpectedly, Brother Xu is too much of a freak, and even I don't dare to claim that I can teach you much."

  "Don't say that, big brother has already benefited me greatly. If it weren't for big brother, I don't know when I would have woken up. What other teachings do you have, Xu Hua will remember!" Xu Hua looked at Old Brother Jiang with great anticipation.

  Elder Jiang listened intently, his mind and body feeling refreshed: "Since you've taken the path of a Cultivator, do you know its drawbacks?"

  Xu Hua nodded, "Cultivators who haven't reached the Condensation Period can't comprehend the Heavenly Laws, which is extremely disadvantageous for them. Furthermore, the third stage of Blood Transformation and the sixth stage of Condensation are both massive hurdles that block the majority of cultivators. It's uncertain whether anyone on the entire Tianxuan Continent has truly reached the Condensation Period in their cultivation. Before this, encountering a Martial Emperor who has comprehended the Laws would put body-refining cultivators at a great disadvantage. Even now, those who know the way of body refinement can only cultivate up to the first two stages at most. After all, the time required for Blood Transformation is too long, and most people can't wait that long."

  "Now that you know, I won't say more. Just hope you don't relax the True Qi Path, after all, this is the mainstream now. The Body Refining Path is strong, but it's only after the Condensing Spirit Phase, and the Condensing Spirit Phase is equivalent to the Martial Emperor level. Nowadays, on the Tian Xuan Continent, the Martial Emperor is already the strongest, that's too unrealistic." Then, Old Jiang changed the subject and said.

  "Nowadays, although there are no martial saints on the mainland, the martial emperors are actually stronger than those of ancient times. Do you know what makes a martial saint unparalleled among other martial artists? It's their will! The will of a martial saint is incredibly strong, to the point where sword intent, knife intent, and fist intent are merely child's play for them. A martial saint's mastery of their will greatly enhances their overall strength. Many geniuses who aren't even martial saints can grasp some degree of will, although it may not be complete, it still significantly boosts their overall strength. Every time a martial artist gains insight into their will, their own strength increases, with the maximum being ten times for a complete and perfect will. I don't know why, but nowadays, once you reach the peak of martial emperor, you can no longer continue to increase your strength. However, the path of a martial artist is endless, and if one's realm cannot be elevated, then they must comprehend the laws and temper their will. Over the years, the major powers on the Tianxuan continent have begun to focus on the comprehension of will and laws among martial artists. Some prodigies can even grasp sword intent, knife intent, and fist intent at the martial honor level... They are absolutely capable of killing some martial honors who haven't grasped the 'intent' across levels. However, such geniuses are extremely rare, with only a handful on the entire Tianxuan continent, so there's no need to worry."

  "There is also 'intention', I don't know when I can master it." Xu Hua's heart was filled with longing.

  Xu Hua was very curious about the levels of 'yi', but didn't understand it at all, and Old Jiang himself didn't understand either, so naturally he couldn't demonstrate it to him.

  "Xu Xiaoyou, let's stop here for today. I'll take my leave first, and I'm sure we'll meet again soon!" Jiang Ge said with a hint of mystery, but in his heart he was thinking: I hope you can grow up as much as possible! Maybe my family feud will still need to rely on you!

  It wasn't until Jiang left for a long time that Xu Hua realized he was gone. Today, Xu Hua received many unbelievable messages and needed to digest them well. Now he just wants to sleep well and calm his mood.

  When the first ray of sunlight on the second day morning shone through the window onto Xu Hua's face, he was already awake. Getting up early, he came to the back of the other courtyard and started practicing fist techniques. This time, Xu Hua performed not the Dragon Elephant Fist, but the True Dragon Body Building Fist that he had just obtained yesterday.

  This "True Dragon Body Building Fist" does not have levels and only has one layer, with only twelve forms!

  Xu Hua began to perform the twelve forms in sequence.

  Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

  At first, Xu Hua not only stuttered but also had a somewhat uncomfortable feeling, as if there was an inexplicable lump in his chest. He didn't know why, but he didn't stop and kept repeating it. After one hour, two hours, three hours, the initial discomfort gradually disappeared until evening when Xu Hua felt that the discomfort had completely vanished.

  For five consecutive days, Xu Hua had been practicing the "True Dragon Body Fist" in the backyard of another courtyard. Starting from the second day, Xu Hua felt more and more comfortable as he practiced, and his whole body felt warm and cozy, with his physical strength gradually increasing! Until the fifth day, after finishing a round of fist practice, Xu Hua suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, but after spitting it out, Xu Hua not only didn't feel weak, but instead felt extremely comfortable, feeling that all the repression he had been experiencing had disappeared!

  In the two years of being tempered in the Earthly Fire, Xu Hua only refined his physical body and absorbed the Earthly Fire, which caused great harm to his body. Although his physical body was repaired by the life force under his crazy compression, it still buried some underlying diseases, such as the accumulated evil energy that was suppressed in his heart and couldn't be released. This is also one of the reasons why he hasn't recovered from this injury yet. After spitting out this mouthful of black blood, Xu Hua felt much better all at once, and as long as he continued to persevere, he would be able to fully recover in just a few days.

  Another five days have passed, and Xu Hua feels that his injuries have improved a lot. Now he can at least exert 80% of his peak strength.

  These days, although he only practiced the True Dragon Body Fist and did not cultivate true energy, Xu Hua unexpectedly condensed a drop of true liquid in his body. For Xu Hua, it was really exciting. He tried again to blast the mysterious gate in his body, but although that mysterious gate was blasted violently, it still didn't show any signs of being opened, and Xu Hua could only give up.

  Xu Hua decided to go out for a walk today after not leaving home for over ten days.

  Xu Hua was walking on the road, but found that many people were staring at him, and he didn't know what was going on!

  "See that? That's Xu Hua. He was promoted to core student in less than a month after entering the school, and not only that, he also gained the favor of Miss Feng Fei!"

  "Really? Isn't it said that Xu Ning is pursuing Feng Fei? He dares to compete with Xu Ning for a woman? Is he tired of living?"

  "Ah, now many of the core disciples of the Gun Hall are saying they want to teach this ignorant kid a lesson! Just in these past ten or so days, no one has seen him around, and some people even thought he was hiding out of fear! Who would have thought that he'd come out today. Just watch, soon someone from the Gun Hall will come looking for trouble!"

  Xu Hua's eyebrows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. He had no relationship with that Feng Fei Miss, they just exchanged a few words when receiving the task. Yet someone was looking for trouble with him because of her? It seemed he needed to show off his skills a bit, or else people would think he was easy to bully.

  Several people in front of "station" suddenly roared at Xu Hua.

  Xu Hua looked at the three people blocking his path, one late-stage Martial King and two early-stage Martial Kings.