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Chapter 21: The Jade Bone Bottleneck, The Diary, and the Fierce Beast
Chapter 21: The Jade Bone Bottleneck, The Diary, and the Fierce Beast
Li Xuan's words resonated deeply with Xu Yan, who perceived them as guidance from his master on how to perceive and break free from his constraints.
"Capture the hidden spirit within your surroundings, perceive the essence of every grass and tree, and contemplate the wonders of nature..."
In a moment of enlightenment, Xu Yan felt as though he had gained a newfound understanding.
"Thank you, Master, for your guidance. I understand now!"
Xu Yan expressed his gratitude respectfully.
Li Xuan, pleased that he had once again convinced his gullible disciple, nodded in satisfaction.
For the next two days, Xu Yan did not cultivate. Instead, he wandered around the small village, feeding chickens, tending to the crops, and gazing at the stars in the night sky while seated on a stone.
His mind felt unusually calm and serene.
Without the obsession to break through the constraints of the Golden Bone or the drive to cultivate, his mind seemed to have shed a burden, and he felt lighter and more relaxed.
At one point, he even felt a profound sense of awe for the wonders of the world.
This sense of peace lasted for three days. As Xu Yan finished weeding, he was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a worm retreating into the soil and a small insect digging a hole in the earth.
A sudden insight flashed through his mind, and he felt as though he had stumbled upon a brilliant idea.
"Nurturing the true intent, letting the qi and blood flow like a dragon... I understand now!"
In that moment, Xu Yan felt as though he had achieved enlightenment, with his mind illuminated by a sudden realization of the profound meaning within the cultivation technique.
"I will definitely be able to temper the Jade Bone!"
"Thank you, Master, for your guidance. It is because of your teachings that I was able to attain enlightenment, capture the hidden spirit within my surroundings, and understand the true meaning of the technique and how to break through my bottleneck!"
Xu Yan was thrilled by this revelation.
The next day, even before dawn, Xu Yan began his cultivation.
Li Xuan was surprised to see this, wondering how his foolish disciple had regained his motivation so quickly and continued with his persistent efforts. As long as Xu Yan didn't realize he had been deceived, everything would be fine.
As the year-long deadline approached its end, Li Xuan planned to sever their master-disciple relationship, bringing an end to the deception and allowing him to live a quiet life in the State of Wu.
He knew that he would likely never see Xu Yan again.
At that moment, Xu Yan was focusing on infusing his qi and blood into his skeletal system, nourishing his bone marrow. He did this slowly and steadily, allowing the qi and blood to permeate his bones and enrich his marrow.
It took him three days to sense a tingling sensation in his bones, after which he began the tempering process.
As Xu Yan entered a state of cultivation, he seemed to forget everything else, his mind focused solely on the mysterious and wondrous spirit of the world around him.
Boom!
The qi and blood within his bone marrow roared like a dragon, causing his marrow to surge and pulse as if it had come alive.
In that moment, Xu Yan felt an indescribable pain throughout his skeletal system.
It was a mix of tingling, stabbing, and throbbing sensations.
His bones felt alternately swollen, as if they would burst, and then contracted, as if they were shrinking, even to the point of compressing and solidifying his marrow.
With each expansion and contraction, purer and more refined qi and blood were generated.
Xu Yan felt as though his bones were giving birth to a nameless essence.
The sensations he experienced were more painful and unbearable than the first time he had tempered his bones.
Beads of sweat rolled down his face.
Biting down hard, Xu Yan persevered until he could barely hold on any longer, and then he ended his cultivation session.
"The Golden Bone has loosened slightly..."
Xu Yan noticed that his Golden Bone, which had previously reached its limit and could not be further tempered, now showed signs of loosening, becoming slightly stronger.
"I understood the insight correctly. The Jade Bone is within reach!"
Filled with excitement, Xu Yan redoubled his efforts in the following days, cultivating with even greater dedication.
The pain he endured also intensified.
Seven days later...
The once golden bones had faded in color.
Although the Golden Bone had lost its luster, the strength of Xu Yan's skeletal structure had increased by more than 30%.
After half a month, his bones returned to their original white color but were now more than twice as hard as they had been during the Golden Bone stage.
His qi and blood were now purer and more potent.
Ten days later, a crystalline sheen appeared on Xu Yan's bones, indicating that he was just one step away from achieving the flawless Jade Bone.
However, at this final step, Xu Yan once again encountered resistance, as if he had hit a bottleneck that prevented further transformation.
Being just one step away from the final transformation, how could Xu Yan give up? So, for the next two days, he continued to temper his bones relentlessly, but to no avail. It seemed like he needed to break free from some kind of shackle to complete this final step of transformation.
...
Li Xuan had no idea that his foolish disciple was on the verge of achieving the Jade Bone stage.
On this particular day, with nothing much to do, he rummaged through some of the village elders' belongings and came across some books.
The villagers had sought refuge in this village, and among them were literate individuals who had brought along their precious books. Although the collection was not extensive, these books were highly valued by the entire village.
Flip! A rolled-up piece of cloth fell to the ground, and as Li Xuan bent down to pick it up, he noticed writing on it.
"Whose belongings are these? I don't think I've seen this before."
Intrigued, Li Xuan unrolled the cloth.
The cloth was quite long, and when fully unfurled, it revealed writing from end to end, resembling a diary. "Is this Da Niu's diary?"
Li Xuan's face was filled with surprise.
Da Niu, a rough and uncultured man, kept a diary?
"Da Niu died in the Evil Forest, but that tiger has been killed now, so at least he got his revenge."
Li Xuan sighed inwardly.
Initially, a group of villagers had left the village, including Da Niu, but only he had managed to escape back.
As he flipped through the diary, reading Da Niu's entries, Li Xuan considered it a way to pass the time and indulge in some gossip.
"Da Niu wanted to marry eight wives? Quite an ambitious fellow, what a pity."
As he reached the end of the cloth, Li Xuan suddenly paused, his expression turning solemn.
The last entry in the diary mentioned how Da Niu had once left the village alone, intending to go to the city.
Outside the Evil Forest, he had encountered a fierce beast!
"The beast Da Niu saw wasn't the tiger!"
The villagers had always believed that there was a fierce tiger lurking in the Evil Forest, and Li Xuan subconsciously assumed that it was the only dangerous creature within.
However, it seemed that there was another beast besides the tiger. "That beast is even bigger than the tiger, with fiery manes and fangs as long as a ruler..."
As Li Xuan read Da Niu's description of the beast, he was shocked. This creature seemed even more terrifying than the tiger.
Why was there another beast in the Evil Forest, aside from the tiger?
The tiger was the king of the forest.
How could it allow another beast to exist within its territory? And how could such a powerful beast tolerate the tiger occupying its domain?
"The first time I heard about a beast in the Evil Forest was from Da Niu. He mentioned it more than once, and when we were planning to leave the village together, he was the one who warned us about the danger posed by the beast.
"It was only after that guy returned, claiming to have learned a tiger-killing technique, that we felt confident enough to leave the village..."
Li Xuan considered a possibility—could that tiger be a subordinate of the beast in the Evil Forest?
"I wonder if my foolish disciple and his companions encountered that beast when they went to hunt the tiger. It seems not, or perhaps the beast hid itself due to their large numbers."
"This won't do. I need to find my disciple and ask him about it. I must have him lead a search party into the Evil Forest to make sure that beast is killed!"
Li Xuan carefully put away the diary and set out to find Xu Yan.
(End of Chapter)
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